The Mage Who Went to High School: Chapter 6
"I don't want to."
My firm rejection seemed to have been lost on Kevin. Or rather, he had decided to ignore it.
"Aww, come on! It'll be fun! I'll carry you!"
Shouting the strange word "carry," Kevin grabbed my arm and dragged me along. I could have resisted. If I had wanted to, I could have bound ten grown men without lifting a finger. But I didn't. The 500-year-old Archmage, a being of immense wisdom, had no idea how to refuse this pure, selfless goodwill and enthusiasm. In the end, I pretended to be overpowered by the boy's strength and went along with him.
Against my will, my eventful first "Friday Night" was about to begin.
As we stepped out of the apartment, the cool night air hit me. The moon was hidden by low-hanging clouds, its light faint, yet the city was wide awake. The streetlights flowed like a river of orange, and the storefront signs glowed in various colors, pushing back the darkness. This artificial night, illuminated not by magic but by a force called "electricity," still felt surreal to me.
"This way, dude. It's only a five-minute walk."
Kevin led the way excitedly. I followed him in silence, my mind racing. So much had happened today. The confrontation with Tyler, the teachers' suspicious looks, the curiosity of my classmates, and the warm dinner with Kevin's family. It all swirled inside me, a giant vortex of chaos.
I thought of the Shadow Cult that was hunting me. They must be going crazy, raging at the dimensional gate I disappeared through. They would surely find a way to track my magical residue and follow me to this dimension. I had to find a way to go back before that happened. I couldn't let myself get too deeply entangled in this world.
But my feet, against my will, were following Kevin to the unknown place called a "PC cafe."
As we descended the stairs into the basement of a commercial building, a rush of hot air and strange noise greeted us. A sharp, rapid-fire "tatatatat" from dozens, no, hundreds of machines blended with unintelligible shouts and cheers. The only sources of light in the dim space were the long rows of glowing, rectangular panels (monitors).
"Hey, two people, please! Three hours prepaid!"
Kevin shouted to the tired-looking man at the counter. He nodded. Kevin took a few pieces of paper (bills) out of his wallet, handed them to the man, and expertly led me inside.
I was speechless at the sight before me. Dozens of people sat in chairs, staring at the glowing panels, their fingers moving frantically. Their faces showed a wide range of emotions—euphoria, anger, intense concentration, and frustration. It was as if they were all under a collective illusion spell, their consciousness completely consumed by the rectangular world in front of them.
"Dude, let's get a spot in that corner. It's the best."
Kevin pushed through the crowd and led me to a secluded spot. As I sat down, a comfortable chair enveloped me. In front of me were a huge monitor and two bizarre tools: a keyboard and a mouse. When I put on the headphones, the external noise was cut off, and only the sounds of the machines filled my ears.
"Alright, dude. Let's start with my favorite game. It's called 'League of Legends,' or 'LoL' for short."
Kevin began to explain excitedly. The simple rule was to work in a team of five to destroy the opponent's base. You chose one of the many "Champions" to fight with. I listened to his explanation, my eyes fixed on the screen. Knights in flashy armor, mages, and monsters were fighting, unleashing what they called "skills," which were basically spells.
'…A combat simulation?'
I instantly grasped the essence of the game. It was a strategy simulation that used a form of virtual reality. In my world, mages would use golems or illusions for similar training. Of course, it wasn't this detailed or flashy.
"Cool, right? I'll pick an easy Champion for you. Garen, you just charge in and swing your sword."
Kevin manipulated my computer and started the game. A moment later, a majestic voice on my screen proclaimed, "Welcome to Summoner's Rift."
The game began. I was controlling a hulking knight named "Garen." I moved the mouse a few times. The character on the screen responded to my will instantly. When I pressed the Q, W, E, and R keys on the keyboard, the character would swing its sword or raise its shield, performing various techniques.
The principle was simple. The problem was proficiency. But for me, that was no issue.
As an Archmage, my reflexes and reaction speed were far beyond the limits of a normal human. The fast movements of my enemies looked like slow-motion drawings to me. My fingers, as if they were living creatures, moved across the keyboard and mouse, creating optimal movements even before my brain could give the command.
"You gotta get the last hit on the minions, dude. That's how you get gold to buy items."
Kevin's advice was unnecessary. In a matter of seconds, I calculated the minion's health and the attack speed of the turrets, perfectly landing the final blow on every single minion.
The enemy laner cast a skill to harass me. But I had already predicted its trajectory and easily dodged it with a split-second movement. It was a god-like movement, as if I could see into the future.
"...Dude? Have you played this game before?"
I heard Kevin's astonished voice next to me.
"No. This is my first time."
"No way! How can someone who's never played before move like that? You look like a professional gamer!"
Kevin couldn't believe his eyes. A beginner who had just started the game was moving like a seasoned player with tens of thousands of games under their belt.
I ignored Kevin's amazement and focused on the game. It was interesting. Although it was virtual reality, the essence of combat was the same. Predicting the opponent's movements, exploiting their weaknesses, and avoiding danger. My combat instincts, honed for 500 years, were reawakening inside this small monitor.
I soon grew bored of the simple combat. It was too easy. The enemies in front of me were no match. I abandoned my lane and began to relentlessly push into the enemy's jungle and other lanes.
"Hey, dude! Where are you going! You can't just leave your lane!"
Kevin's frantic shouts came through the headset.
"The enemy is over there, isn't he?"
"No, that's not what I mean! You're supposed to be farming right now! What if they gank you?!"
Unfamiliar words like "farming" and "gank" passed through my ears. But I didn't care. My eyes only saw one goal: "the enemy" and "victory." I charged into the enemy's turret at Level 1, harassed the enemy jungler, and initiated fights with every enemy I saw.
The result was a total disaster.
My god-like control was overwhelming in a one-on-one situation, but it was not enough for a one-on-two or one-on-three fight. I killed many enemies, but I died even more. My screen kept turning to black and white.
"Dude! Please be careful! Why do you keep going in alone!"
"What is this Garen doing? Is he trolling?"
"This guy's a troll, why are his items so bad?"
A stream of colorful insults appeared in the team chat. I didn't understand their words, but I could feel the anger and frustration within them.
"Dude! I'll tell you what to do, just listen to me, please!"
Kevin was on the verge of tears. He was in despair because this wasn't the scene he had imagined. He had imagined a glorious victory with a newbie, not a painful defeat with the worst troll ever.
The final team fight broke out. Kevin shouted desperately.
"Dude! Forget everything else, just protect me! I'll do all the damage! Just me, please!"
'Just protect him?'
I took Kevin's words literally. I positioned my Garen in front of Kevin's Marksman character. And I did nothing else. I simply used my hulking body to block all the skills the enemies were throwing at him. I didn't swing my sword or use any of my skills; I just stood there like a trusty meat shield, protecting Kevin.
The result was, of course, a total annihilation.
"Ugh... we're screwed..."
The enemy's Nexus was destroyed, and the word "DEFEAT" appeared on my screen. Kevin threw off his headset and buried his face in his desk.
I silently stared at my black-and-white screen. I couldn't understand. I clearly had better reflexes and control skills than anyone else in this game. But the result was a defeat.
"Dude... why did you do that... why did you just stand there without attacking..."
Kevin asked, his voice full of resentment.
"You told me... to just protect you."
At my answer, Kevin was speechless for a moment. He raised his head from the desk and stared at me blankly. His face didn't show anger or annoyance. It was pure confusion and sincerity. He truly believed that I had done my best to follow his instructions.
In that moment, Kevin burst out laughing. It was a hollow laugh at first, but it quickly turned into a fit of laughter, holding his stomach. He was bewildered, dumbfounded, and strangely... amused.
"Hahaha! Dude, you're… oh my god, that's just too much."
I stared at the laughing Kevin, my face showing a complete lack of understanding.
That night, we played LoL for three hours straight and lost every single game. Kevin lost the games, but in return, he gained a story he could make fun of me with for the rest of his life.
On the way back home from the PC cafe, the cool night air cooled my overheated head.
"Games aren't something you play alone, dude. They're a team thing. Teamwork is important, teamwork." Kevin lectured me.
"Teamwork... similar to a cooperative spell, perhaps."
"Huh? Well, I guess so. Anyway, next time, I'll show you how to do it properly."
I looked up at the night sky without answering. Today, I had learned another new thing. That in this world's battles, individual strength was not enough to win. There was another kind of magic, invisible trust and cooperation, called "teamwork."
In my heart, a door that had been tightly shut for 500 years creaked open just a little. The feeling of being "together" with someone, not alone. It was a feeling I had lost, or perhaps never had at all.