[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 59

Jjomal Deploys

Nickname Selection.

For every gamer, this is an incredibly important rite of passage and one of the biggest culprits for wasting time.

So much so that when a new game comes out, the first thing countless users do is, what is known as, snag a rare nickname.

Of course, someone will say.

"Nicknames, it's no big deal, just make one up and play the game, right?"

You don't know anything.

A game's nickname is one of the very important first impressions that represent me, the player.

To give an example, just looking at "3-Minute Top Tower Glory Devotee" shows the importance of nicknames.

From a jungler's perspective, if a top laner with such a nickname is on your team, it feels like your win rate drops by 10% statistically.

It's not an exaggeration, it's actually like that.

On the other hand, what about the top laner like "3-Minute Top Tower Glory Devotee" and MYE's LaLaLa, a player belonging to the first-tier league?

MYE LaLaLa's solo queue nickname is "Slave to the Jungler."

From a statistical perspective, it's a nickname that easily increases the win rate by 11%.

Naturally, my worries had to deepen as well.

'...What should I do?'

The reason why I, from the past, was able to get my hands on the relatively clean nickname "Prisoner" was purely because I was a very early user of League of Legends.

It was a time when, to put it simply, anything could be made.

But what about now?

League of Legends is one of the most successful games in the world, with a concurrent user count of 5 million, and the number of users who connect daily exceeds 12 million, and the monthly active users (DAU) are almost 100 million.

Even if we only consider the Korean server, how many nicknames are left among the meaningful words?

"Uuuuum."

At first, I was going to make something like Liberator, the opposite of Prisoner.

Or maybe Escape.

Or even FreeMan or Warden would have been nice.

'I even thought of things like Ex-convict if necessary...'

However, as I said before, League of Legends is now a game that's more and more stagnant, unlike the past.

There was no way those nicknames were still available.

[The summoner name is already registered!]

I checked just in case, but as expected, it was what I thought it would be.

'Let's give up.'

If I wanted it, I would have tried to get it no matter what, but the reason I easily gave up on those nicknames was none other than this.

Not long after Prisoner disappeared, someone appears with an opposite meaning or related ID?

It's the perfect bait for people who like to have doubts.

I felt the need to be as careful as possible because I thought that all the clues I was clumsily dropping could eventually mean a connection with Prisoner.

Let's not do anything foolish.

It's a hard-earned opportunity.

[The summoner name is already registered!]

Following that, I tried various other nicknames that I thought were cool, but of course, they were already taken.

'...Damn it.'

Ah, whatever.

[Pleazner]

[The summoner name is already registered!]

"……."

These guys, aren't they being too much to me?

'I can't do it.'

If this happens, I have no choice but to use a forbidden ultimate move...

[Lee Yujin]

[The summoner name is already registered!]

What is it, give my name back.

[The summoner name is already registered!]

Before I knew it, about an hour had passed.

I didn't know I would spend this much time just deciding on a nickname, but what's even more maddening is that I still haven't decided on a nickname.

"……."

I'm tired.

In the end, I scribbled down a random nickname as if in resignation.

[GoodAtGames4148]

[Available name.]

Now, completely exhausted, I pressed the nickname creation button as it was.

I can't possibly keep holding onto the nickname forever, right?

'Anyway, I can change my real nickname around the time I start ranked games.'

Or even later than that, when I debut as a pro.

'It would be nice to build a reputation of sorts with one nickname before debuting as a pro...'

What can I do?

My naming sense is limited to this point.

In the end, the decision I made was to postpone it.

It was a conclusion based on unfounded hope that a good nickname would come to mind someday.

[Welcome!]

"Hoo."

I felt a strange sense of emotion for the lobby screen that I hadn't seen in a long time, and immediately pressed the start game button.

[ PVP ]

[5 vs 5] [Summoner's Rift]

<◆> Blind Pick

[5 vs 5] [ARAM]

<◆> ARAM

─────────

[AI Match]

<◆> Beginner

< > Intermediate

< > Advanced

─────────

[Training]

─────────

'Alright.'

I pressed Summoner's Rift without hesitation.

[5 vs 5] [Summoner's Rift]

<◆> Blind Pick

Originally, there is nothing better than AI bot games to level up that low-level ID to level 30, which is required to play ranked games.

However, I didn't want to do that very much.

It's a life I got back with difficulty.

Naturally, each game is more precious to me, and I don't even have a thought of spending such precious time playing against mere bots.

'Of course, things like macro or boosting are out of the question.'

I'm going to be a pro.

Even though it's the training phase, I didn't have a single thought of leaving a small scratch with things like macro or boosting.

That's why I was going to play normal games from level 1 myself.

'Ah, right.'

Come to think of it, I didn't buy that.

[Shop]

I immediately went to the shop to buy IP and experience boosters.

Since I'm going to level up with normal games, not AI matches, if I don't have experience boosters, it will take ages to level up.

'I can't play normal games forever, either.'

As I went into the shop, I soon had this thought.

'Uuum, come to think of it, I need champions to play the game anyway.'

Unlike normal games where you can use the champion rotation, you need to have at least a minimum number of champions to play ranked games.

Most users buy the cheapest champions in that case and force the number, but then you can't proceed with the proper ban and pick.

You're already losing due to external factors, the number of champions, even before you start the game in earnest.

'I can't do that.'

After paying for about 1 million won worth of points and completing the purchase of all champions, including experience boosters, I suddenly had another thought.

'Ah, I don't want to play this champion without a skin.'

There are some champions in League of Legends whose default designs are so awful that they look weak without skins.

No-skin Lee Sin is a good example.

'I can't stand that.'

[Payment]

After paying an additional 4 million won, I bought all the skins that I could actually buy right away, excluding the ones that required box openings and the like.

How am I supposed to play the game without champions and skins?

'Let's see...'

The champion window, which had been empty, finally filled up, and I felt a strange sense of relief.

'I should be able to play the game with this much.'

I looked at my information with satisfaction and immediately started the game.

[Searching for a game……]

And, 2 minutes passed.

'...Why isn't the queue catching?'

Come to think of it, there was one fact I had forgotten.

It's been almost ten years since League of Legends started its service.

Not just ten years, but that's how long it has reigned at the top not only in Korea but also worldwide.

In other words, it can be said that there is almost no new user inflow in League of Legends now.

The game is stagnant.

Thanks to that, the normal queue, which would quickly catch when I was leveling up, didn't catch as much as the Challenger queue, to exaggerate a little.

"What a shitty game."

However, even in a stagnant game, raindrops falling from the sky seep in.

[Game found!]

[Accept / Decline]

It's the official Jjo-mal outing.

───────────────

The user Hororololololololol joined the lobby.

The user GoodAtGames4148 joined the lobby.

The user ProGamerWannabe joined the lobby.

The user ImSuhotheHero joined the lobby.

The user y3op3i53fgk joined the lobby.

───────────────

As befitting a stagnant game, even though it was a level 1 normal queue, none of the IDs seemed to be new to League of Legends.

'Alright.'

As I had simulated hundreds and hundreds of times in my head beforehand, I immediately spammed the chat as soon as the picks started.

[GoodAtGames4148: jg]

[Hororololololololol: I'll go mid]

[ImSuhotheHero: 45 pick bot duo]

As expected, thanks to the constant simulation, I was able to get my hands on jungle.

'What should I do?'

Just as I was slowly choosing my champion.

[Lee Sin]

The ally's third pick, ProGamerWannabe, picked Lee Sin without saying anything.

At first, I thought he was going to go top or mid, but unfortunately, the spells that ProGamerWannabe was holding were Smite.

[GoodAtGames4148: ?]

[GoodAtGames4148: Jungle first]

And the answer I heard.

[ProGamerWannabe: ㅗ]

[ProGamerWannabe: Unranked players, just get carried]

Look at this guy?