FBPP C2

Chapter 2

Even so, having seen some potential in melee DPS during the first match, Ji-han queued for his second game with no prejudice, selecting “all positions.” This time, his assigned role was a ranged DPS with relatively short attack distance but strong damage, while the support was a long-ranged character specialized in initiating fights.

But the support never initiated. They were overly fixated on the official website’s position guide, which stated that the support’s foremost role was to protect allied damage dealers and that initiation was the tank’s job.

[Team] JiniHaniJihani (York): Go initiate with Pirene already, the game won’t move forward like thisㅡㅡ
[Team] WangBaBambaBbang (Pirene): ?;
[Team] JiniHaniJihani (York): Your range is long. If you see a tank or whoever, use your knockdown to initiate.
[Team] WangBaBambaBbang (Pirene): No vision

A chill ran down Ji-han’s spine as he opened the tab to check the support’s item build, and what he saw was despair itself. The support had equipped an ultimate-enhancing special kit—something unique items could vary by character. The rule of thumb for supports was to use either vision-expanding installation items or buff-type items. But this bastard had ignored even that principle. Ji-han had assumed, of course, that it was a vision item and hadn’t bothered to check. Now, his head throbbed.

Pirene’s ultimate was indeed useful. With the special kit that enhanced ultimates, it could incapacitate opponents for nearly five seconds. But that was only when used as a ranged DPS and stacked with offensive items. As a support loaded up with defensive gear, using that kit barely extended the ultimate by 0.2 seconds.

This bastard had forgotten the entire essence of being a support just for the sake of a measly 0.2 seconds added to a 3-second disable.

The game dragged on miserably, eventually ending in defeat for Ji-han’s team—made up of nothing but short-range fighters aside from the support. Since the one long-range character never made use of their reach, the enemy steadily chipped away from afar, widening the growth gap.

The third match ended in victory. The enemy team surrendered, granting Ji-han’s team a hefty score thanks to it being an upper matchmaking. But the process could only be described as disastrous. If not for the enemy imploding first and forfeiting, Ji-han’s side would have been the one to initiate a surrender vote.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

That was because he’d encountered one of those notorious mentally unhinged, chat-restricted melee DPS players.

Perhaps because the melee role itself was so incredibly stressful, a disproportionate number of chat-restricted users were melee mains. With no opportunities for proper engages and constant scapegoating for every problem, unless you were a saint, you inevitably snapped and talked back—ending up with chat bans.

Ji-han had no strong feelings about that part. Whether it was a melee who had been rightfully called out for incompetence and responded with insults, or one who had been stuck with idiotic teammates and lashed out until banned, he himself had been chat-restricted plenty of times.

But this particular bastard was the worst of the lot: spamming attack and retreat pings alternately on the minimap like a lunatic.

In the middle of a fast-paced game, there was no time to type, especially not during team fights. That was why pings existed: simple, concise signals for giving and receiving orders, not for harassing teammates.

To increase visibility, attack pings were green, retreat pings were red, and both came with sharp, piercing sounds designed to cut through all the noisy battle effects.

And yet this fucker spammed them relentlessly during fights, disrupting not just vision but hearing, leaving everyone mentally frazzled.

If it had only been him, Ji-han might have endured by abandoning sound play and adopting a monk’s patience.

But the real kicker was the crazy ranged DPS on their team, who might’ve been either a net-kama roleplayer or just some attention-seeking freak.

[Team] LoggingOutIsBetrayal (Yuji): Oh my, oppa, if your dumbass got sliced, at least swing your sword properly, booㅜ

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Team] LoggingOutIsBetrayal (Yuji): Ugh, reeks of pathetic man energy, can’t stand thisㅜㅜ
[Team] LoggingOutIsBetrayal (Yuji): Can’t even kill their DPS

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Team] LoggingOutIsBetrayal (Yuji): All you do is make noise;
[Team] LoggingOutIsBetrayal (Yuji): Can’t you just fucking die already? You’re wasting oxygenㅎ;ㅜㅜ

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Team] SometimesWins (Horeng): **; This is un-fuckin’-bearable, can’t you both just shut the hell up?

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Team] LoggingOutIsBetrayal (Yuji): Typical trash gameㅎ Nothing but pathetic men here

And so Ji-han’s stress reached its peak. Compared to the top-tier ladder, where the same small pool of players saw each other repeatedly, the level of communication here was like night and day.

In the end, Ji-han queued specifically as melee DPS. If nothing else, he figured he might as well be able to carry on his own terms. Splashing his face with cold water, he grabbed two cans of beer from the mini fridge.

Ding!

The moment the matchmaking sound chimed, Ji-han began typing rapidly.

Player 3 (JiniHaniJihani): Don’t ban Akasha ㅡㅡ
Player 3 (JiniHaniJihani): Don’t ban Akasha ㅡㅡ
Player 3 (JiniHaniJihani): Don’t ban Akasha ㅡㅡ

He stopped spamming just before a temporary mute could hit, and downed a swig of beer. The cold carbonation sliding down his throat almost cleared his head.

Then it happened. Ji-han’s brows twisted violently as he stared at the screen.

“Is this bastard insane?”

Crushing the beer can in his hand, he slammed the desk.

Despite his three clear warnings not to ban Akasha, that character’s face sat there in the ban slot. As infamous as trolls were, it was standard courtesy not to ban a character if your team’s melee DPS specifically requested it.

But Player 1 hadn’t even asked “why,” just stonewalled the chat and confidently banned Akasha.

His rage finally exploded. It hadn’t even been three hours since he’d been slammed with a 30-day suspension for abusive language, but his fingers moved on their own.

Player 3 (JiniHaniJihani): Why the fuck are you banning Akasha when I said I’d play him, you son of a bitch
Player 1: lol

“Are you fucking kidding me? Are you kidding meeee?”

Maybe things would’ve been different if the others had picked characters besides Akasha. But that no-name Player 1 was actually duo-queued.

Player 4: Sorry sorry, I was in the bathroom, just saw thisㅎ

“Bathroom? What the fuck, cut the crap.”

His furious fingers hammered the keyboard.

Player 3 (JiniHaniJihani): What, you crazy fucks use the bathroom together?ㅋㅋ Do you guys start shitting before ban-pick or what?
Player 2: Please, guys, I beg you, this is my promo match, please please please, stop fightingㅠㅠㅠ
Player 5: Can we dodge?

He was fuming. Out of the five, the sub-tank and ranged DPS duo were bastards ignoring their team’s melee, the support was some bottom-feeder from Gold rank who had crawled up here, and the main tank was a retard calling for a dodge before the game had even started.

Checking the average rank points, their team had 1900 while the enemy had 2000. This was clearly an upper matchmaking. He’d been planning to carry with Akasha, dragging the team across the finish line like a log, but instead these ungrateful pricks pissed him off from the start.

Player 4: Sorry sorry, our Player 1 has an allergy to Akashaㅜ
Player 3 (JiniHaniJihani): So what, whether he’s got an allergy or a mental illness, what the fuck’s that got to do with me?ㅋㅋ Don’t fucking play with me again

The fact that Player 1, the cause of all this, stayed silent was infuriating. But Ji-han drowned his anger with another beer. After all, this was the norm here, and once the match ended, he’d never see them again. Season end was approaching fast. Even if this was just his sub-account, the season-end rank would decide the starting rank next season. With every point precious, there was no reason to dodge and throw away 5 points just because he was annoyed.

Performance was the only proof.

After the tank line, support, and ranged DPS picked, it was finally the melee’s turn.

Ji-han gazed wistfully at Akasha’s grayed-out face, then selected a short male assassin character. Quick to close distance, with poison-based armor-piercing damage-over-time, the character was useful. But lacking an escape skill after entry, and having been nerfed repeatedly, its burst was too low for an assassin, making it unpopular.

Player 5: Todro? For real?

Player 5 immediately eyed him with suspicion. Ji-han scoffed, waiting for the picks to finish. He planned to remember the nickname of that so-called Akasha-allergic bastard.

Five on top, five on bottom. The enemy and ally picks aligned. Some characters had skins, others didn’t. Below them were listed names, positions, nicknames, and titles.

And Player 1, who had chosen a sub-tank specialized in diving into the enemy and pulling characters out of the battlefield—his nickname was none other than “AkashaPhilban.”

“Unbelievable.”

That bastard had definitely seen the chat telling him not to ban Akasha and ignored it on purpose. Ji-han had suspected as much, but seeing the nickname confirmed it, and the anger he had barely swallowed came roaring back.

The loading screen ended, and the five characters spawned at their base. The support, who had claimed to be in promos, typed a desperate plea.

[Team] TrashGameFuneralDirector (Lumencia): Brothers, I’m begging you, please carry me, I just want to escape Goldㅠㅠ

Ignoring him, Ji-han bought a movement-speed item first, adjusted his mouse sensitivity, and set his fingers on the directional keys. The countdown to the start ticked away, the barrier vanished, and the match began.

His character, adorned with nine lush tails, glided forward.