Chapter 15 - Playing with Them
The camera panned across the battlefield one last time as the enemy base exploded in a burst of light and flame.
[Victory!]
Seunghoon blinked at the screen, his heart still thudding lightly in his chest. The blue banner flashed triumphantly, filling his monitor in bright color as the final scoreboard loaded in.
29 | 13
He glanced at the breakdown of the scores.
Red (Seryn) – 13 / 2 / 10
A soft breath escaped his lips.
"Damn."
It was somehow a clean match. Much cleaner than he expected. Despite the one major misstep in the midgame, they managed to bounce back, group properly, and finish strong.
While him?
He knew that he didn't just play Seryn.
He used her as if he was his own hero.
Their final push to end the game had been a textbook execution. He used Equinox and Voidlash combos to hit enemies and topped it off with a burst of Black Boom that sealed the fight before the enemies could blink.
[Tetsu]: GGs everyone
[Luk4]: Seryn OP when played right
[KaiZen]: Red diff fr
Seunghoon stared at the last line, lips curling faintly.
'Red diff, huh?'
His mouse hovered over the "Continue" button when a notification popped up.
[Friend Request Received: Tetsu]
"Huh?" Seunghoon blinked.
He paused for a second, surprised. Then with a shrug, he clicked [Accept].
Another message appeared immediately.
[Tetsu]: Yo. Want to join our party? I'm with KaiZen.
Seunghoon's brow lifted slightly.
He sat back, folding his arms.
Join their party?
He wasn't sure why, but he could still remember how well Tetsu had played earlier. Mira was annoying in the best way. He was always in the right place, interrupting dives, landing knock-ups, and tanking damage when necessary.
Most support players in Arc rank just hovered around and healed.
But not this guy.
He supported with control, precision, and confidence.
Seunghoon narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking.
He wasn't the type to duo up randomly.
But he had a mission to accomplish.
[Mission: - Rank Up to Flare (Current Rank: Arc III ⭐⭐⭐☆)
[Reward: +1 Attribute Upgrade of your choice]
And more than that, he needed to climb ranks again.
He didn't know how long it would take. But he's do it as soon as possible.
Sleep? He didn't know that.
Grind is grind.
And if this Tetsu guy was competent, and his duo was that Kairo jungler, then they were exactly what he needed right now.
Two decent players.
Seunghoon cracked his knuckles again and leaned forward, fingers resting on his keyboard.
[Red]: Sure. Invite me.
A soft ping echoed from the top of the screen.
[You have joined a party with: Tetsu, KaiZen]
The voice comms option lit up, but he ignored it for now.
[Red]: Let's rank up?
[Tetsu]: Yeah sure. We can play a few more games.
[Red]: Nice.
[Tetsu]: Do you main Seryn?
Seunghoon glanced at the chat box and typed back without much thought.
[Red]: Used to, but I took a break from playing. Now I miss playing with her.
[Kaizen]: Ohh, so that's why. No kidding, bro. But it's been so long since we saw that hero.
[Tetsu]: Bro, the last time I saw a good Seryn, it was almost 3 years ago.
[Red]: Yeah, also noticed that. People just stopped learning how to use her.
[Kaizen]: Big respect.
[Tetsu]: Yeah. I mean, with the way you played the last game? I wouldn't be surprised if they start banning her now.
Seunghoon smirked, shifting in his seat slightly. He was feeling good because of their praises. He felt his ego rising.
It has been so long since he was praised. He had been bashed for so long that he didn't know what it felt like to be praised at all.
Seunghoon's fingers hover around the chat box.
[Red]: If they don't ban her, I'll take her again.
[Tetsu]: Sure, man. I'll queue.
Queueing for Ascension Mode...
The queue popped up.
Estimated Time: 00:30 seconds
A few seconds of silence finally befell them.
Seunghoon changed his tab for the meantime, picking out music to play in Ispotufy.
After a few seconds...
[Match Found.]
Seunghoon went back to the game's screen. They were taken to the hero selection.
Same as the first game, they were on the blue side, the first pick.
[Party] KaiZen: I'll lock jungle instantly, locking in Kairo again.
[Kaizen] has selected: Kairo (Jungle)]
As the picks moved down the line, the enemy team grabbed a tanky frontline and a ranged marksman. No signs of heavy CC yet.
Seunghoon clicked on Seryn's portrait again.
Her golden splash lit up, her voice echoing softly.
"A single thought, and the darkness arise."
[Red] has selected: Seryn (Mid)]
[Party] KaiZen: Oh boy. We're running it back.
[Party] Tetsu: That's our carry locked in.
[Party] Red: Lol.
[Party] Tetsi: I'll try to pick a better support to play around you.
[Party] KaiZen: Just feed me info, Red. I'll play around your lane again. Worked last time.
[Party] Red: Sure. Let's win fast.
The final picks were locked in. The enemy team's composition was slightly better this time. There is more crowd control, a slippery backline ADC, and a support that could interrupt combos.
Still, Seunghoon wasn't fazed.
He had Tetus and KaiZen on his side.
He flexed his fingers over his keyboard as the loading screen appeared.
[Party] Tetsu: If we win this fast enough, we can go again after.
[Party] Red: Good. I'm planning to climb.
[Party] KaiZen: You grinding or something?
[Party] Red: Planning to climb Flare tonight.
[Party] Tetsu: Goodluck. We'll see if we can play until the end.
[Party] Red: Sure.
As the loading hit 100%, the battlefield began to load in once more.
[Welcome to the battlefield.]
And the grind began.