Legends Rise - Chapter 6 The Seoul Gladiators Pt. 2

The man glared daggers at Li Ming.

‘Eh? Did I say something wrong?’

What Li Ming said wasn’t anything outrageous. In fact, it was actually a very common game tactic used by beginner players and professional players alike. Mages generally chose to use middle to long cast time spells while distancing themselves from the enemy, in a technique known as Kiting*. It was similar to guerrilla hit and run tactics.

This had been the most efficient tactic available* since the creation of the mage class. Clerics, as a subclass of mages, possessed the same properties. As a mage player himself, Li Ming was very familiar with these strategies.

The man stared at Li Ming’s confused face in a raging fury.

“You have the nerve to make fun of me?” he began, “How DARE y-”

He was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. Ah! It was Mato! She had come to save him! He could finally have his meal!

“Why don’t you explain your objective to him first?” she suggested, “Its not right to ask someone to watch something without explaining it.”

‘Huh… Was there something I missed out on?’

Li Ming was even more confused now.

“Che… Useless support staff. Can’t even help out in times like this” the man spat.

Mato shot him a hateful glare.

“Alright listen up. I’m trying to create a new play style here. You know how I tried to engage that fight at melee range? Well, I’m trying to incorporate a fighter style with a mage setup. That way, I’ll get the best of both worlds.”

The three of them were silent. He did have an inkling that the man sitting in front of him was the legendary Resonance himself, but if he wasn’t sure by now, his brain must be made out of rocks.

Li Ming reached for the phone to watch the video one more time. Sure enough, Resonance had been trying to execute a block with his elbow while reaching towards his trinket, but he had done it so poorly, the block didn’t even exist!

Li Ming replayed the video again.

Mato gazed inquisitively at Resonance.

*tap tap tap*

Resonance tapped his finger impatiently with his arms crossed.

“I think…” Li Ming began, “You sh-”

“Don’t you dare try to say that I should go back to my old play style. I’ll get you fired if you do.”

‘But I’m not even an employee of yours though! I’m just here to eat!’ Li Ming’s frustration nearly burst forth. But this was a chance he got to talk to a High Tier player, he wasn’t going to throw this chance away.

“No, no…” Li Ming explained, “I was going to say that you should go and learn one or two martial arts in real life. Maybe that will help with your close combat. It also seems like you reacted to the move, but didn’t know the proper response to it. So yeah, having some proper combat experience in real life should help quite a bit.”

Resonance’s face looked like he just ate a bitter melon and took a shot of lime juice at the same time. He was very clearly perturbed by what Li Ming said.

He grabbed the phone from Li Ming’s hands and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

“Hahhhhh…” Mato sighed, “Our captain’s paranoid that he’s getting old, ya know? If ya suggest somethin like that, he’s really going to go at it! Hopefully he doesn’t injure himself too bad.”

‘…’ Li Ming froze. ‘Did I just send a pro player to his demise?’

“More importantly, what are you going to do about your food there?” Mato smirked, “Looks like it already went lukewarm!”

“AH!” he exclaimed, “I got too held up in that discussion, I didn’t get to eat it.”

“Hahaha,” she giggled, “give it here, I’ll warm it up again for you.”

—

Li Ming got into his bed, ready to go back to sleep.

As he tucked himself in, he could feel the entire weight of a meal coaxing him to instantly pass out. While eyes were closed, he slowly recounted the day again. It had been a wild one, after all. He had gone out to a convenience store to buy food, but encountered a pro player as he was debating what to eat.

The pro player then dragged him all the way to her team’s practice room to feed him, but he encountered their outrageous captain who interrupted his meal time and forced him to act as a support staff.

After being put under such heavy pressure while acting as a supporting staff, he then had to deal with reheating the food and rushing to finish eating as the pro player who let him in also had to sneak him out without their General Team Manager finding out. But even while leaving, the pro player also forced him to take a photo of the player with her signature on it. With how pushy the pro player was, he naturally couldn’t refuse. She also bugged him to exchange phone numbers until he gave in and finally obliged.

Li Ming heaved a sigh and reached over to the side of the bed. He felt his hand glance over a glossy surface amidst the wooden grain. It was the photo that was forced onto him by Mato earlier. In the photo, she was holding onto a trophy while blowing a kiss to the camera. Apparently, the photo was taken at a regional tournament.

‘Haaaaaa… wouldn’t it be cool if I could be a pro player too?’ He imagined himself, standing on the winner’s podium, hoisting a trophy into the air as confetti rained down upon him and the crowd cheering his name.

His face went red with embarrassment! What a bold thing to to think about! As a mere top 2% player, how could he ever hope to contend against or with a top 0.01% player like Mato. Even a low tier team would only have top 0.1% players at worst.

‘Hm..?’ Li Ming’s eyes opened for a moment, ‘have I forgotten something?’

After thinking about it for a while, he fell asleep not figuring out what he forgotten.

That night, he dreamed of a warrior charging straight into a group of enemies. After slashing out at one of them, he shot out some kind of laser at another enemy, and followed that laser with another slash. As the enemies retreated, the warrior cased forwards with his sword turning into a spear. He launched the spear forwards, followed by a couple of ice arrows and wind blades. Only the cry of agony accompanied the pillars of lights that signaled the death of a player.

The warrior had done it! He had single handedly eliminated a group of enemies all by himself!