APGD 32

Chapter 32

“99th Year Since Debut
Pro Gamer”

I created a ranked game lobby and invited Jung Jo-jun.

• Ahh, moshi moshi! (Hello!) Can you hear my voice?

His voice came through my headset as he joined the waiting room.

“Yeah, I hear you. How’s my mic quality?”

• Loud and clear! Good, good!
  “Okay, check. Let’s skip the small talk and just queue up first, yeah?”

• Hey, Penta! But seriously, I’ve barely ever played bot lane. I might mess up badly… You really okay with that?

I shrugged.

“I’m a mid laner anyway, so same deal for me. Don’t worry, just play comfortably.”

• But I’ve got a champ pool issue! I only played mid champs like Rizzreal or Varuso a few times. Everything else? Total trash.
  “It’s just preseason ranked. Even if we lose, no big deal. No pressure.”

Yeah, there was no reason for him to feel pressured right now.
Once the game started, he wouldn’t even have time to feel that way anyway.

I grinned meaningfully.

• Hm… alright! I’ll just pick whatever and play for fun then, like you said?
  “Yep. I’ll play lane so it works well for you, so don’t worry.”

Then I quickly added:

“Oh, but no picking Ryoso! We finally duo-bot together, so I want a normal lane phase for once.”

• Fair, Ryoso’s a gimmick pick, not a standard ADC.
  “Right. I’ll pick something standard too, so just grab a safe champ.”

• Okay, okay!

Not long after—

[Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.]

I locked in Alnistar and Jo-jun picked Varuso.
Enemy bot lane was Kalista plus Zairya.

From lane phase alone, the enemy had the better setup.
I was a melee support in Alnistar, while they had a ranged poke mage in Zairya.
No way we’d win a range battle.

And since the current matchmaking MMR was in the high GM/Challenger range, they definitely knew this matchup well.

“Jo-jun hyung’s gonna have a hard time here.”

And sure enough—

• Ughhh… this lane is brutal!

From the very start, Jo-jun was groaning in pain.

“Haha, don’t tell me you’re already scared?”

• Look at Zairya poking already! She’s terrifying! Let’s just play safe, okay? We’re better in teamfights anyway.

Jo-jun started hugging the tower while farming CS.
Clearly he wanted to play as defensively as possible, even if it meant falling behind.

“Play safe…?”

I snorted.

“No way!!!”

I wasn’t here just to grind LP.
The whole point of this duo was to awaken Jo-jun’s hidden potential as an ADC.
And his strength? He shone in skirmishes, big or small.

So there was no way I’d let bot lane turn passive. Not even a little.
Instead, I was determined to create situations where his strengths would come out.

“Hey, Zicole hyung.”

Like a raging bull in an arena, I readied my hooves.

• Huh?
  “Make sure you follow up.”

My lips curled into a wicked grin.

• W-wait, follow up? Right now?!
  “I’m gonna engage, so be ready.”

• Dude, hold on! I said let’s play safe! You promised to match my pace in lane!!

I copied an old actor’s dramatic tone—

“Do you… still trust people?”

And then, I moved.

• Wait, stop! You crazy bas—!!

Whoosh! Slam!
BOOM!

I shoved him straight into the middle of battle.

Whoosh! Slam!
BOOM!

“Is this guy insane?!”

Caught off guard by Penta’s sudden aggression, Jo-jun panicked.
But his hands moved instinctively.
He immediately followed up Alnistar’s engage.

It wasn’t even conscious thought—just reflex.

Whoosh, click-click!
Clack, clack!

Mouse and keyboard sounds doubled in speed.

“So this is his idea of ‘playing for fun’… He’s gone full bull mode!”

Bot lane requires synergy between ADC and support.
Even with a favorable matchup, if coordination fails, bot lane quickly turns into hell.

That was exactly what this felt like.
The Alnistar before him was like a mad bull, charging headlong into danger—
and Jo-jun had no confidence he could control him.

“Damn it!”

So this was what he meant by “let’s enjoy the game”?
Enjoy it alone, huh?!

“Should’ve just gone jungle and farmed in peace…”

Jo-jun’s face paled as panic set in.

But then—

Swish! Pew-pew-pew!

[Double Kill!]
[Triple Kill!]
[SwordAura is on a rampage!]

Even with the enemy jungler joining, they pulled off a 2v3 turnaround!
All Jo-jun did was charge Varuso’s arrows, backstep toward tower,
and keep pumping autos into anyone who overextended.

Somehow, it worked.

Even he was shocked by his own performance.

“Whoa! No way!! We actually won that?!”

• See? I told you! We win when we fight!

Still dazed, Jo-jun recalled, bought a ton of items, and returned bot lane.
He figured with a kill lead, now they’d play safe and keep advantage…

Crash!! BOOM!!

But Penta wasn’t slowing down.
Not at all.

“….”

He just kept diving in whenever enemies appeared onscreen.
And Jo-jun had no choice but to follow.

The crazy part?

“Why do we keep winning…?”

Every fight ended in their favor.
They snowballed hard, even winning a 4v5 dragon fight.

Shoooom! Thwip-thwip-thwip!

With insane kiting, Jo-jun scored a Penta Kill.

[Quadra Kill!]
[Penta Kill!]
[ACE!]
[SwordAura dominates the battlefield!]

• That’s it, Zicole hyung!!
  “Holy—!! Did you see that kiting?! Should I upload this to MyTube? That was montage material!!”

Jo-jun’s adrenaline spiked, and joy overflowed.

“Yossha!! (Hell yeah!!) ”

His earlier panic and frustration vanished.
Now his face was glowing with pure excitement.

“This is Challenger-tier, but why does it feel so easy?”

In teamfights, the ADC’s role is to maximize DPS from a safe position.
That’s why ADCs are nicknamed “spoonfeeders”—
other roles set the table, and ADCs scoop up the kills.

“No stress about playmaking, just pure damage output… This is way too fun.”

He tapped [Tab].
His Varuso stats stood out:

[10 / 0 / 4]

Best in the game, by far.

Sure, much of it was thanks to Alnistar’s insane vision control and nonstop playmaking.
Penta wasn’t a one-man army—he was a one-man platoon.

Still, Jo-jun realized something—

“Wait… maybe I do have real ADC talent.”

The sting of being rejected as an off-role was fading.
For the first time, he was genuinely enjoying himself as ADC.
Even his hangover felt forgotten.

By the third ranked game duo queue—

[Quadra Kill!]
[SwordAura is legendary!]

Fresh off another huge teamfight win, Jo-jun shouted in delight:

• NICEEEE!! That’s it!! Now give me the Penta! Penta, Penta, Penta!!

Like a kid begging for a toy, he whined for the “spoonfed” fifth kill.
Just hearing his voice, you could tell how much fun he was having.

It made me smile too.

Soon enough, the enemy Nexus fell.
Victory screen popped up, and we returned to the lobby.

Instead of queueing instantly, we chatted a bit.

“Seeing you genuinely enjoy this makes me happy too.”

• Hehehe! Seriously, ADC is way more fun than I expected! Majide! (For real!) And maybe it’s just ‘cause I’m duoing with you, but the games feel sooo easy. Three wins in a row, baby!

“You said you hadn’t played bot much, but you were really good. Your playstyle fits perfectly. Every teamfight, you had insane impact.”

At my heartfelt praise, Jo-jun couldn’t hide his grin.

“Hehehe!! I think I might actually have real ADC talent! Not bragging, but I even surprised myself!”

Then, with a fake cough, he continued:

• Ahem! At this point, I could join the first division as an ADC and still hold my own!
  “Mm, that part’s just arrogance.”

• It’s a figure of speech! Do you really have to shut me down so hard? You’re like a brick wall.
  “Well, if you practiced a bit more, you wouldn’t just ‘hold your own.’ You could carry 2–3 players’ worth even in first division.”

• Tch. Too late for that. And you’re getting cockier the closer we get, you know? Kuso namai-ki (damn arrogant brat).

We both burst into laughter.

But then, I suddenly shifted to a serious tone.

“I’m not joking. So, hyung… what if…”

I dropped the question bluntly:

“Have you ever thought about switching to ADC and debuting as a pro?”

It was finally time to get to the real point.