Chương 84: Bonus Story : The Fighter of 4B : Part 3 : The Terrible Secret of 4B

The door opened to reveal Thomas, a headset around his neck and a can in one hand. He was still slightly out of breath, probably because of whatever he had just experienced a few seconds earlier, but there were no visible injuries on him. His gaze settled first on Aldric, then traveled down to his armor before stopping on Dawnbringer.

"... Good evening?"

"You're alive."

"Yeah, I think so..."

"And yet you just announced your death." Thomas looked at Aldric, then at the armor, then back at Aldric.

"OH..."

"Is something wrong?" Thomas ran a hand over his face.

"You can hear me playing."

"I regularly hear you announcing your death."

"Right..."

"For how long?"

"Several days."

"So when I shout..."

"I hear you."

"Everything?"

"Probably not everything. Some parts are less audible. But I have heard the deaths, the dragons, the junglers, the destroyed towers, the attacks on your base, and several requests for resurrection."

"Oh..."

"Where are the five attackers?"

"The what?"

"The five individuals who entered your base."

"My base?"

"You announced that there were five of them, that a tower had been destroyed, and that they had entered the base before your death."

"You came armed because of that?"

"The situation seemed to warrant an investigation." Thomas turned to look inside his apartment, then back at Aldric.

"I think I need to show you something." Aldric stepped inside. The apartment was darker than his own. Several lamps cast red and blue light around a desk set against the living room wall. Two monitors took up almost its entire width. The first displayed a conversation, while the second showed a colorful environment filled with small creatures, structures, and characters. Thomas set his can down on the desk.

"There." He pointed at the screen.

"This is League of Legends."

"It's a game?"

"Yes." Thomas pointed toward the lower corner of the screen.

"That's our base."

"The base that was attacked."

"Yes."

"The five individuals were here?"

"The enemy team." Thomas then moved the cursor over a structure.

"That's a tower."

"The one that died?" Thomas tried not to laugh.

"Destroyed, yes."

"You said it was dead."

"It's just an expression..."

"And the jungle?" Aldric asked. Thomas moved the camera toward an area filled with trees and pathways.

"There..."

"So the jungle is inside the game."

"Yes..."

"That explains the absence of a jungle in Paris."

"You searched for a jungle in Paris?"

"I tested the hypothesis." Thomas moved the camera again.

"And that..." A winged monster appeared in a circular area.

"... is the dragon."

"The one that appears every five minutes?"

"More or less."

"It is considerably smaller than I imagined." Thomas burst out laughing.

"What were you expecting?"

"A dragon."

"That is a dragon."

"It would barely fit in a castle courtyard." Thomas laughed even harder.

"It can't get out?"

"No..."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes!"

"Very well." Aldric's hand finally moved away from Dawnbringer.

"You were actually ready to fight it."

"If necessary."

"In my living room."

"I did not know where it was."

"All right. Wait. We absolutely need to go through this from the beginning."

"That was also my intention." Thomas sat down at his desk while Aldric remained standing beside him. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Your twenty-three deaths?"

"All right. My twenty-three deaths... in the game."

"The resurrections?"

"In the game."

"The mana?"

"In the game."

"The destroyed towers?"

"In the game."

"The five individuals?"

"The five players on the enemy team."

"The jungler?"

"It's a role. A player who mainly moves through the jungle."

"So his role is to attack from less visible areas."

"Basically."

"Then my hypothesis that the jungler was potentially hostile was correct."

"You actually had hypotheses?"

"Several."

"How many...?"

"I did not count all of them."

"Do you have anything even worse to confess?" Aldric pulled out his notebook and opened it to the two-page spread dedicated to 4B.

"You took notes?" Aldric showed him the pages. Reported Deaths: 23 Dragons Fought: 7 Towers Destroyed: 11 Bases Attacked: 4 Mana Depleted: 9 Times Hostile Junglers: Several Baron: Nature Unknown"'Baron: Nature Unknown'..."

"I have not yet determined its classification."

"You're incredible."

"That description seems excessive."

"No, not at all."

"Since we are discussing Baron, what exactly is it?" Thomas moved the camera toward another area of the map.

"That's Baron Nashor."

"You could have started by mentioning that it was a creature."

"I didn't know we were going to have this conversation!"

"You only ever announced, 'Baron in five minutes.'""Because my friends know what I'm talking about!" Aldric continued studying Baron.

"It appears more dangerous than the dragon."

"It is."

"Why did you not mention it more often?"

"Because we don't fight it as often."

"I see."

"This is probably the most ridiculous and nicest thing a neighbor has ever done for me. Now that I know you're not going to destroy my monitor, I can explain the game to you."

"I had no intention of destroying your monitor."

"Good to know."

"Each player controls a champion."

"I understand."

"They have health points."

"Logical."

"Some of them use mana."

"Yes."

"You gain experience, level up, and unlock or improve your abilities." Aldric nodded.

"You also earn gold to buy items. Those items increase your stats: damage, armor, magic resistance..."

"Yes."

"Have you ever played anything like this before?"

"No."

"Then how do you understand all of this?"

"Health points, mana, levels, abilities, equipment, progression. All of that is relatively intuitive."

"Maybe for you." Thomas pointed to a small wall on the map.

"You normally can't cross that."

"It is less than two meters high."

"My character is clearly capable of fighting creatures much larger than himself. He is therefore physically capable of crossing that wall."

"Not without a special ability."

"Why?"

"Because that's how the game works."

"Who established that rule?"

"Riot."

"Who is Riot?"

"The company that makes the game."

"So a company determines the physical laws of this world."

"Technically... yes."

"Why does the dragon return after it dies?"

"So we can fight it again."

"That is not a justification..."

"Can I call you Aldric?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. Aldric, it's a game. Some things exist simply because they make the game more interesting." Thomas then showed him the ability bar, the summoner spells, and the minimap.

"Do you want to try?"

"Now?"

"Why not?" He had come to determine whether his neighbor was in danger. The situation had now been resolved. There was no reason for him to stay.

"Very well."

"Excellent." Thomas gave him the chair.

"I'll put you on something simple. Since you've never played before." Thomas scrolled through the list of champions before stopping on a heavily armored man wielding an enormous sword.

"We'll go with Garen. He's easy to play."

"His equipment appears reasonable." Thomas selected Garen and began explaining the controls.

"Right-click to move." Aldric moved the mouse and clicked. Garen crossed part of the lane before continuing far too much farther.

"Wherever you click," Thomas clarified.

"I understood."

"You're under the enemy tower." Aldric immediately clicked behind him and watched Garen return to his position.

"All right. Now Q, W, E, and R are your abilities."

"Why those letters?"

"Because they're close to your hand."

"That is not a system based on the abilities themselves."

"No."

"Unintuitive."

"You'll survive." Thomas pointed to the icons at the bottom of the screen.

"Your Q is Decisive Strike. You gain movement speed, your next attack deals extra damage, and it silences the enemy."

"Silences?"

"They can't use their abilities for a short time."

"Useful."

"Your W is Courage. It temporarily gives you additional defenses."

"A defensive ability."

"Exactly. Next, your E is Judgment." Thomas pressed the key, and Garen began spinning, his sword sweeping in circles around him.

"Why is he spinning?"

"To hit everything around him."

"He exposes his back to his opponent with every rotation."

"Yes, but he deals damage."

"That technique would be extremely dangerous in a real fight."

"Good thing this isn't a real fight." Thomas finally pointed to the last ability.

"And your R is Demacian Justice. That's your ultimate. You use it to finish off an enemy." An enormous glowing sword came crashing down on the training target.

"That one is acceptable." Thomas burst out laughing. When the match began, Aldric quickly discovered that while he understood the theory, putting it into practice was going to be catastrophic.

"Where am I?"

"Bottom left."

"Why is the camera here?"

"Because you moved it."

"I was trying to observe the enemy."

"Yes, but you sent the camera to the other end of the lane." Aldric finally found Garen again. An enemy minion was almost out of health, and Thomas immediately pointed at it.

"Kill that one." Aldric attacked too early, and the minion survived long enough to be finished off by an allied minion.

"Missed it." Aldric frowned.

"I struck it."

"Not with the last hit."

"It was already doomed."

"Yeah, but only the last hit gives you gold."

"Why?"

"Riot..."

"I am beginning to identify a recurring answer." A few moments later, the enemy moved closer. Thomas pointed at the screen.

"Use Q." Aldric pressed E. Garen raised his sword and began spinning.

"That was not my intention."

"You pressed E."

"I intended to use the attack that silences the enemy."

"That's Q."

"They are far too close together."

"That's considered an advantage." The enemy advanced and used an ability. One attack struck Garen, followed by another.

"Back up!" Aldric clicked behind him, but it was too late. His health bar dropped.

"W! Use your W!" Aldric pressed R.

"Why is it not working?"

"You don't have your ultimate yet!"

"Why is the ability displayed if it cannot be used?"

"Because you need to reach level six." Another attack struck Garen.

"Q!" This time, Aldric found the correct key. Garen accelerated and raised his sword.

"Now hit him!" Aldric clicked on a minion. Garen immediately changed direction and brought his sword down on the small creature. Thomas closed his eyes.

"Not him."

"He was between us."

"That wasn't a reason to kill him."

"You explained less than two minutes ago that I needed to kill these creatures to obtain gold."

"All right. Technically, you're right." The enemy took advantage of their exchange to attack again. Aldric tried to retreat, but one final ability struck him and Garen collapsed to the ground. The screen turned gray.

"I'm dead."

"It happens. Wait a few seconds and you'll be able to go back." Aldric watched the countdown until he respawned, then took control of Garen again. Unfortunately, that first death was far from his last. Over the next twenty minutes, he returned to his lane several times, tried to apply Thomas's advice, and gradually gained better control over his movement, but his opponents were progressing much faster than he was.

Every positioning mistake ended in another death, and each return to the battlefield seemed to make the fight even more difficult. By his eighth death, Aldric had stopped asking questions. By his fifteenth, Thomas was no longer laughing at every one of them. By his twenty-second, he simply advised Aldric to stay near a tower, which allowed him to survive for almost an entire minute before dying again. When Garen collapsed for the twenty-eighth time, Aldric stared at the gray screen.

A few seconds later, the enemy team entered their base and destroyed the final structure standing in their way. DEFEAT △ FIRST BATTLE EVALUATION △ Champion: Garen Real Combat Experience: Exceptional Performance 0 / 28 / 0 Minions Successfully Last-Hit: Insufficient Abilities Misused: Several △ CONCLUSION △ Real Combat Experience Does Not Appear to Be Transferable. △ EVALUATION △ Humiliating Thomas was trying to hold back his laughter. He managed for a few seconds before finally losing the battle with himself.

"Sorry." Aldric did not answer.

"It's normal when you're starting out..." Thomas said.