Chương 86: Bonus Story : The Fighter of 4B : Part 4 : Aldric Becomes the Problem

A few days later, Aldric found himself standing outside the door of 4B once again. This time, he was wearing neither his armor nor Dawnbringer. He had finished work, eaten earlier than usual, and spent several minutes hesitating before going down one floor. Thomas had sent him a message that afternoon asking if he wanted to play a few more games. Aldric knocked twice on the door. Footsteps approached from the other side before Thomas opened it.

"You came."

"You invited me." Thomas smiled and stepped aside to let him in.

"Yeah, but I still thought you were going to change your mind." Aldric entered the apartment while Thomas closed the door behind him.

"Why?"

"Because last time, you died twenty-eight times." They went into the living room, and Aldric stopped when he saw the setup. Next to Thomas's usual setup was now a second table where he had installed another computer, a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. Two chairs had been placed side by side, and League of Legends was already running on both machines.

"I dug out my old PC for you."

"Does it still work?"

"It's old, but it runs LoL without any problems. That's all we need from it tonight." Aldric sat down in front of the second computer. Since their first session, Aldric had memorized the essential controls, understood the purpose of the minimap, learned how to move the camera, and memorized Garen's four main abilities. He still wasn't fast, but he no longer needed to search for the keys before every action. Thomas sat down at his computer.

"This time, we're playing together."

"Very well."

"And try not to die twenty-eight times." Aldric placed one hand on the mouse.

"I know the controls now." Thomas queued them up.

"I'm still going to guide you a little this time." Aldric placed his hands on the keyboard and mouse.

"That will probably not be necessary." Champion select began, and Aldric chose Garen again. A few minutes later, they appeared on the map. This time, Aldric didn't need to ask Thomas for help opening the shop. He bought a Doran's Shield and a Health Potion, then left the base while following Thomas. The beginning of the game went much better than the previous one. Aldric still missed a few minions, but his movement was now clean enough to avoid any major mistakes.

He checked the minimap almost as often as he watched his own champion, which Thomas noticed.

"You look at it a lot."

"It contains important information."

"Yeah, but beginners forget it exists." An enemy icon had disappeared from the map several seconds ago, and Aldric was already trying to determine why. Thomas left his lane and headed toward a dark section of the jungle.

"Where are you going?"

"To find their jungler."

"We have no vision." Thomas kept moving forward.

"There's probably nobody there."

"Probably?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"What do you mean, no?"

"We do not know what is beyond that area."

"That's the whole point of fog of war."

"Then why advance without information?"

"Because you can't ward everywhere." Aldric looked at the dark section of the map.

"So you are proposing that we voluntarily enter an area that may contain an enemy whose position we do not know."

"When you put it like that…"

"That is exactly what you are doing." Thomas continued forward.

"Look, there's nobody here." He entered the area. Three enemy champions appeared.

"AH." Thomas tried to retreat. Too late. Two abilities hit him, followed by a third. His health bar disappeared. YOU HAVE BEEN SLAIN. Thomas stared at his gray screen. Aldric continued farming his lane.

"I warned you."

"I'm starting to regret teaching you how to play…" Thomas sighed. Aldric returned to base and opened the shop. Until now, he had bought the items recommended by the game or whatever Thomas told him to buy. This time, he took the time to examine the different stats. +40 Attack Damage +15 Ability Haste +400 HP +30 Magic Resistance He scrolled through the options. Thomas, who had just respawned, noticed that Aldric was no longer moving.

"What are you buying?"

"I'm comparing."

"Take that one."

"Why?"

"Because it's good."

"How much better is it than the alternative?"

"I don't know. It's just good on this champion." Aldric looked at the stats. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"This one provides forty points of attack damage, while the other provides thirty-five as well as fifteen points of ability haste."

"Yeah."

"So its usefulness depends on how frequently I use my abilities and their ratios." Thomas remained silent.

"Does cooldown reduction scale linearly?"

"More or less."

"And is magic resistance applied before or after additional damage reductions?" Thomas placed both hands on his keyboard.

"I don't know."

"How long have you been playing?"

"Four years."

"And you don't know that?"

"Because normal people don't calculate efficiency in the middle of a game."

"That seems inefficient." △ NEW ACTIVITY DETECTED △ Optimization Compatibility with User: 100% Identified Risk: High Estimated Time Before Creation of a Comparison Table 23 Minutes Aldric eventually bought the item that offered the best option. A few minutes later, the game took a more interesting turn. Aldric now had enough control over the mechanics to devote more attention to the behavior of the opposing players. For the past several minutes, the Darius facing him had been playing cautiously.

He stayed behind his minions, avoided unnecessary trades, and backed away whenever Garen advanced. Aldric had identified this habit and had begun anticipating his movements. Then, for no apparent reason, Darius changed his behavior. He moved toward Garen. Aldric stopped his champion, and Thomas, busy elsewhere on the map, didn't seem to notice anything.

"His jungler is nearby," Aldric said.

"How do you know?" Aldric moved Garen back a few steps.

"For the past several minutes, he has avoided fighting whenever I advance. Now he is coming toward me even though nothing between us has changed."

"Maybe he just wants to attack you."

"Why now?" Thomas glanced at the minimap. Three seconds later, the enemy jungler emerged from a bush.

"But how did you see that?"

"I saw the one who knew he was there."

"That was a little unsettling." However, Aldric discovered something far less predictable: his own teammates. One of them advanced alone toward five enemies, and Aldric looked first at the minimap, then at the screen, before asking:"Why is he doing that?" Thomas shrugged.

"I don't know." The ally engaged the fight anyway and died. A few minutes later, the same player did exactly the same thing again.

"He now possesses the information that this strategy fails. Why is he repeating it?"

"Welcome to League of Legends."

"He gained no advantage."

"No."

"He was alone, all five opponents were visible, and he attacked anyway…" △ PRIMARY THREAT REEVALUATED △ Enemy Team: Dangerous Dragon: Manageable Baron: Manageable Teammates: Unpredictable THREAT LEVEL CRITICAL The game eventually ended in defeat. Thomas took one hand off his keyboard.

"Want to play another one?" Aldric checked the time.

"One."

"That's how it starts." The next game was much closer. For almost thirty minutes, neither team managed to gain a decisive advantage. Towers gradually fell, players grouped up more often, and every death could now have significant consequences. A dragon was about to spawn. Thomas checked the timer.

"Let's go." Aldric studied the minimap.

"Three enemies on the left."

"I see them."

"Their jungler is not visible."

"Do we start the dragon anyway?"

"No. He is waiting."

"Where?"

"I don't know, but if he were somewhere else, we would probably see him on another part of the map." Thomas looked at the minimap.

"Maybe he's just farming."

"Unlikely." When the dragon spawned, their teammates began moving toward the pit. Thomas followed them and positioned his champion nearby.

"Let's do it."

"Wait."

"If we wait, they're going to get here."

"That is precisely what he wants." Thomas sighed.

"You really see ambushes everywhere." Aldric watched the enemy movements. Two enemy champions were advancing on the left. A third remained farther away. The jungler was still nowhere to be seen. Then something changed. The third enemy suddenly backed away.

"Now."

"What?"

"Their jungler is coming." A figure emerged from the darkness. Thomas swore.

"HOW" The fight began. Spells lit up the river, champions threw themselves at one another, and health bars dropped under the barrage of attacks. Aldric was no longer watching only the icons. He was tracking movements, angles, and openings.

"Left!"

"I'M ON IT!" Thomas dodged an ability and Aldric used his own, forcing one of their opponents to retreat.

"That one."

"Why him?"

"He has no means of escape left." Thomas attacked immediately and focused his damage on the target. The enemy champion tried to get away, but he didn't have enough time to reach safety before his health bar disappeared. A second opponent engaged. Aldric backed away just before the impact.

"Now!" Thomas followed his movement, and they counterattacked together. A few seconds were enough to secure a second kill, but the dragon was still alive in the center of the pit, and its health continued to drop. The enemy jungler then tried to make his way back toward them.

"DRAGON!" Thomas shouted. Aldric looked at the monster's health bar.

"TAKE IT!" Thomas used his ability, and the dragon's health dropped sharply. One final attack was enough to finish the monster, which collapsed in the center of the pit as a notification appeared on the screen. DRAGON SLAIN Thomas raised his arms.

"YEEEEES!"

"YES!" The word left Aldric's mouth before he even had time to think about it. Thomas turned his head toward him while Aldric continued staring at the screen.

"You shouted."

"Yes."

"Very loudly."

"The volume was probably higher than necessary."

"You understand now?"

"Partially." Thomas burst out laughing. A few days later, it was almost ten in the evening, and most of the doors were closed. Then a shout echoed through the building from 4B.

"THERE ARE FIVE OF THEM!"

"BACK UP."

"DRAGON!"

"I'M COMING!"

"I'M DEAD!" Aldric shouted. In the hallway, a man who had just stepped out of the elevator turned his head.

"BUT WHY DID YOU GO IN ALONE?"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE FOLLOWING ME!"

"WE WERE THREE SCREENS BEHIND YOU!" Aldric was waiting for his champion to respawn. △ QUEST COMPLETE △ IDENTIFY THE THREAT FROM 4B Actual Threat Identified League of Legends Physical Danger: Negligible Danger to Sleep: High △ UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCE △ The User Is Now Part of the Problem.

"One more?" Aldric checked his phone. He had work the next morning, needed to wake up early, and had already played much longer than planned.

"Just one." Thomas queued them up again. △ ANALYSIS △ Additional Games Announced: 1 Probable Additional Games: 4 Estimated Bedtime: Compromised Probability That the User Will Regret This Decision Tomorrow Morning: 87% A new champion select appeared, and Thomas placed his hands on his keyboard.

"It's starting." Aldric straightened.

"The game is starting."