[Match Found.]
The screen dimmed for a moment before lighting up again, this time revealing the Hero Selection Interface.
A pulsing timer appeared at the middle top of the screen:
Select Your Hero – 0:58
Below it, a wide horizontal scroll bar displayed rows of vibrant hero portraits, separated by their role. There were assassins, mages, fighters, tanks, marksmen, and support types.
Since it was Classic Mode, all restrictions were off. Players could freely pick from their pool of owned heroes, regardless of role or lane assignment. In this mode, the players could play casually and try heroes that they want.
This wasn't like Ascension, the official ranked mode of the game where players were locked into roles and draft order determined priority. In Classic, there were no bans—just five strangers thrown together in one lobby, each picking based on impulse, comfort, and chaos.
"I forgot how messy Classic could be..." Seunghoon muttered as he shook his head. Still, it was better for him to play this when he just wanted to be familiar with the game again.
He was sure that a lot of changes had already happened.
Seunghoon glanced at the chat box on the left, where teammates were already fighting over roles:
[System]: Welcome to Classic Match
[Jamino]: Bot plz.
[WhiteLotus]: I'm going jungle
[Lolo09]: I go top
[YameteKudasai]: I'll mid or I'll feed
"Maybe some things never really changed."
Seunghoon smirked as he hovered his mouse over the heroes.
His four other teammates had already locked their heroes within 10 seconds of the picking.
Select Your Hero – 0:36
All that was left for him was support.
Seunghoon stared blankly at the hovering cursor of his mouse.
"What a good way to start my first game after two years," he muttered dryly, dragging the cursor toward the support tab so he could select who to use.
Either way, there was no point in analyzing drafts. This wasn't a tournament or a ranked game where there were some things at stake when you lose.
He scrolled past a few familiar faces and stopped at one he recognized the most.
Valea.
A divine support.
He hovered over her portrait.
A glowing woman in white robes stood with her arms outstretched, a halo of golden light framing her figure. Her eyes were soft yet commanding, her silver-white hair cascading down her back in elegant waves.
She looked... ethereal.
Beneath her portrait, her abilities's description showed automatically:
Light Burst (Q) – Deals damage and slows nearby enemies.
Sanctuary Touch (W) – Heals nearby allies over time.
Swift Wings (E) – Grants movement speed to nearby teammates.
Judgment Day (R) – Calls down divine energy to stun enemies in a wide radius.
"Alright, Valea..." Seunghoon said with a small smirk. "Let's see what you can do."
He clicked on the heroe's avatar and locked it in.
[You have selected: VALEA]
Select Your Spell – 0:30
The hero selection interface shifted slightly, replacing the hero portraits with a sleek grid of available spells. Three of them were already grayed out: Regeneration, Recall, and Flicker — core utilities available to every player in the match by default.
That left only one customizable slot. The options for it flickered across the screen. There were too many choices to choose from.
Seunghoon didn't hesitate long because there was only a limited time.
His eyes skimmed briefly past the offensive ones, but since he was a support, that would be useless. Instead, he shifted his gaze to the defensive ones.
Guardian Shield: A spell that grants a temporary shield to a nearby ally and himself, absorbing incoming damage for 3 seconds.
Perfect.
He clicked on it.
[You have selected: GUARDIAN SHIELD]
A soft chime rang out as the final seconds ticked down on the timer.
0:00
The timer ticked down to zero, and the screen began its transition to the loading phase.
Loading Match...
The familiar loading screen unfolded before his eyes. His team's heroes was on the left, while his enemies were on the right. Ten heroes stood frozen in mid-pose with the players IGN hovering beside them.
Jamino (Tharos) / Louigi0 (Kael)
WhiteLotus (Kaen) / Monsterhigh (Sura)
YameteKudasai (Eliria) / Sweetpie (Nexa)
Lolo09 (Siv) / Rauein (Orin)
Red (Valea) / Yeans (Mira)
Particle effects surrounded each one, some with glowing trails or animated backgrounds, indicating rare skins or high mastery.
The progress bar steadily filled as each player's system caught up.
Seunghoon took a deep breath as he waited patiently.
For his first game, he wasn't a carry. Instead, he was a support.
[Match Starting.]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
The screen faded to white, only for it to disappear in a second.
The battlefield quickly appeared.
It was time.
Seunghoon's screen pulsed gently as the base came into full view. It was an ornate circular platform glowing with golden light. Surrounding it were stone pillars inscribed with ancient runes and a fountain that restored health and mana.
A short distance away from it was their base's core, protected by two towers.
The map was divided into two parts by a river: Their territory, and the enemy's territory. The top-left corner held the enemy's territory while the bottom-right was their own.
There were also three lanes: Top, Middle, and Bottom.
The top lane was a longer and quieter path, usually reserved for fighters or tanks that can hold a lane on their own.
The mid lane was the shortest, but the most dangerous path. It was directly directed through the center of the map, often controlled by mages or assassins.
On the other hand, the bot lane was located at the lower part where marksmen and supports traditionally paired up together.
Between each lane, dense forest sprawled across the map. It was the jungle.
Tall trees, shadowed paths, and neutral monsters filled the space, offering both resources and danger. Jungle camps were scattered throughout with objectives like a Spirit Beast or a Magical Turtle waiting to spawn.
In key locations like in between towers and near river crossings stood bushes—patches of tall grass that granted invisibility when entered.
That was why vision control was crucial.
A well-placed ward could save lives while a missed one could lose the game.
The camera hovered over his character, Valea, as she stood on their base's platform, her radiant robes glowing.
[Welcome to the battlefield.]
[Minions will spawn in 30 seconds.]