"Welcome back to the qualification finals of the International Tournament for the world's largest multiplayer online battle arena game, Legends of Heroes. Today, millions of players from around the globe are competing for a fifty-million-dollar prize. I'm your host—"
The lovely Melinda StarFrost… The most beautiful girl in the world… were the thoughts that ran through Landen's head as the live broadcast played in the background. He was sitting in front of his computer, playing in the current qualification finals.
Listening to the broadcast while competing in the tournament was an instant disqualification. But for Landen, he didn't care, not because he wanted it to snipe information. He did it because he wanted to hear Melinda's voice and pretend that she was his girlfriend, cheering him on.
"We got this…" a voice said inside his headphones. "Everyone, get the Red Dragon. Go! Go! Go!"
"Landen, what are you doing?" another voice said. "Rotate over, we need you here."
Landen didn't respond. He was focused on playing his favorite hero, Zephyr Knight—a versatile swordsman capable of filling nearly any role: jungle assassin, roaming support tank, farming lane ADC, or solo-lane frontline fighter. At the moment, Landen's character, Zephyr, was in the bottom lane, pushing into the opponent's base.
"Yoo, Landen, what are you doing?"
"Landen, you still there?"
Landen shook his head. "Bro, shut up. I can't hear Melinda's voice over your yapping."
"Are you serious right now?" the muffled voice said.
"And stop trying to call the shots," Landen said angrily. "This is my team, and I'm the captain. Just stop feeding, and I'll carry this."
No one responded, and the team stayed silent after that.
At the top of the leaderboard was a single name—
Landen Thorne.
Every season, the rankings reset, yet Landen Thorne always reclaimed the top spot. He had held that position for years, and no one had ever come close to surpassing him. Known as the Lone Knight for his solo-que spam of Zephyr Knight, his identity remained a mystery—no one knew what he looked like or where he came from. But everyone knew his name. To the community, he was a legend, widely regarded as the greatest player to have ever played the game.
But there was one thing that he had never done, and that was play in the International Tournament. It wasn't that he didn't try, because oh, did he try.
At one point, every top-tier team had invited him to play for them, but no matter which roster he joined, the team always fell short of qualifying. The community couldn't understand how a player of his caliber kept losing, and eventually rumors spread that he was cursed by the International Champions.
However, the truth was far simpler: Landen was a terrible team player. Whether it was ego or pride, he refused to follow orders. He played however he wanted, regardless of what the team captain said. And with that, no team wanted to play with him.
But this year was going to be different. This time, Landen built the team himself, Team Thorne—a roster of random pub players, and for the first time, he was the captain.
"I'm taking the tower," said Landen. "Someone push top, then push mid after you guys finish the dragon."
No one responded.
"Guys, can you hear me?"
He glanced at the team chat and saw a red slash through his microphone icon.
"Shit, they fcken muted me… Whatever. I'll win this game myself."
The only voice he heard now was Melinda and her co-hosts Jake and YaphetS.
"Team Thorne has taken the dragon," Melinda said, "and all lanes are pushing into Team DG's tower."
"Landen needs to get out of there now," Jake said. "He's really pushing his luck."
"DG has wrapped around him. Are they going to get him?"
"He finally activated his Recall to Base," YaphetS said.
"It's seven seconds before he gets out. The longest 7 seconds of his life. Is he going to make it?"
Landen was gritting his teeth. "Come on, come on, come on," he said as he watched the teleportation animation. "No!!!!"
"His Recall got canceled with a 2-second stun," Jake yelled, ecstatically. "All five members of Team DG completely annihilated him."
Landen tossed his head back in defeat.
"Well, it's going to be 50 seconds before he respawns," Melinda said.
"Right," Jake said. "It's not looking good for Team Thorne."
"But fortunately for Landen, his team has the dragon."
"Yeah, we'll see if it's enough for them to finish it. Without their carry, Landen, it's going to be tough."
"Here they come all mid."
Landen stood up yelling and pounding the table. "RETREAT YOU IDIOTS! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"
"The minions are now attacking the mid tower, and here comes the dragon," Melinda said. "Wow, DG took down that dragon faster than expected."
"It's because of that kill on Landen," YaphetS said. "That was his first death, and he was already level 15. Take a look at the gold swing. DG just took the lead."
"Oh no! Team Thorne's support jumped in and completely missed his ultimate. The team is looking confused. They don't know whether they should fight or retreat. And now their back line is falling apart… It's a disaster!"
"A complete team wipe in favor of Team DG."
Landen clawed at his face. "What the fck! You've got to be kidding me."
"I don't think they recover from this," YaphetS said.
"It sure doesn't look good for Team Thorne," Melinda said. "But DG, they didn't push out the top and bottom lanes. They're rushing mid to try to end it."
"What happened back there, YaphetS?" Melinda asked.
"Team Thorne had a false pretense that they were in the lead. Well, technically they were, but only because Landen was so much ahead. Everyone else on his team is actually all under-farmed and under-leveled. Just look at their levels compared to DG, they're all one level behind. And with it being 4 versus 5, Team Thorne never had a chance."
"Yeah," Jake said. "That's what happens when you pick a bunch of random pub players to play against pros. And now it's going to cost them. DG is melting their towers. I think they're going to end it here."
"But look at Landen's respawn timer," Melinda said. "He's coming back in 10 seconds."
"Do you really think Landen can hold his own against five?"
"I have a feeling… he can."
Landen's expression shifted from despair to joy. "Thanks for believing in me, love. I'm going to the International Tournament no matter what. This is the only way we'll ever get to meet, and I'm not going to lose this chance."
4 seconds.
"Here is the last wave of minions," said Melinda.
3…
"They're in Thorne's base at the edge of the last tower."
2…
"It's gonna be close."
1…
"Here comes Landen!"
Landen's face turned serious. "Let's do this."
"AAAAHHHH!" the announcers screamed.
"Landen just dashed into the middle of them all!"
"IT'S A FIVE MAN STUN!!!!!"
"He just took out their ADC in a blink, and now their mage is on the run! But you can't run from the best player in the world."
DOUBLE KILL!
"Now it's three vs one. They're attacking him, but they have no damage."
TRIPLE KILL!
They can't beat him.
QUADRAKILL!
THEY… CAN'T… BEAT… HIM!!!"
PENTAKILL!
"And just like that folks, the tables have turned again."
"I can't believe it. Team DG only needed one more hit on the tower and it would have been game."
"Unbelievable skills by Landen. This is why he's ranked number one in the world."
"And why people call him the Legend!"
Landen looked over to the stream to see the view count. "Twenty million viewers just witnessed the best solo comeback in history," he said, smiling.
"Landen is rushing straight to DG's base," Jake said. "He forgot to clear the wave."
Landen looked at the mini-map. "Aww shit. I shouldn't have looked away. Oh well, it's too late, I need to keep moving forward."
"I think he's okay," Melinda said. "The top and bottom lane is pushing deep into DG's base."
"I don't know, this might be Landen's loss," YaphetS said. "One hit to Landen's tower from DG's minions, and it's GG."
"I agree," Jake said.
"Landen is dashing forward quickly, and now he finally made it into DG's base. Oh my goodness! His hits are hitting hard."
"But the minions have entered Thorne's base and they're about to hit the tower…"
"It's going to be close!!!"
"Come on Landen!" Melinda yelled.
"I'm coming for you, Melinda!" Landen yelled.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah"
"He did it!!!!!!"
Landen jumped up and raised his hand high.
"LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled, staring up at a purple sky.
A purple sky?
This was strange. Why is he looking up at a purple sky?
Then he felt a cold breeze in his lower regions.
HONK!!! HONK!!!
"Get out of the road!" the driver yelled at Landen as he flew by.
HONK!!! HONK!!!
Another strange vehicle swerved, almost hitting him.
He was standing in the middle of the street, surrounded by strange buildings unlike anything he had ever seen before.
This wasn't his room.
This was an unknown city.
"What the hell? Where am I?"