The sun was just about to disappear
Outside the clubroom windows, darkness had almost swallowed the campus grounds.
The volleyball courts sat empty.
The baseball field was quiet.
Even the teachers had mostly gone home.
Only a few lights remained visible throughout the school.
One of them belonged to the Gaming Research Club.
Inside the room, the glow of computer monitors illuminated two students who had completely forgotten what time it was.
Empty drink bottles sat on nearby desks.
Strategy notes were scattered around keyboards.
The digital clock mounted above the whiteboard quietly displayed:
5:43 PM
Neither Ruko nor Risa seemed to care.
They were hunting.
Not for victories.
Not for rankings.
Not even for strategies.
They were searching for something far more difficult.
A hero.
A hero that fit Risa.
Hours had passed since Ruko discovered the truth behind her jungle style.
The realization had completely changed how he viewed her gameplay.
Risa wasn't a standard jungler.
Trying to force her into traditional jungle heroes was like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
It technically functioned.
But it was wrong.
Every meta jungler relied on optimized paths.
Pre-established tempo.
Predictable progression.
Risa's greatest strength was the exact opposite.
She thrived in chaos.
She excelled when plans broke apart.
When routes became impossible.
When the map transformed into a puzzle.
She adapted.
Constantly.
Naturally.
Instinctively.
Which meant she needed a hero capable of doing the same.
A hero that rewarded improvisation.
A hero that could abandon traditional play patterns.
A hero capable of changing form depending on the situation.
Unfortunately—
Such heroes were extremely rare.
"...No."
Ruko closed another character page.
"Too linear."
Risa nodded.
"Agreed."
Another page.
Another hero.
Another rejection.
"Too dependent on item spikes."
"Agreed."
Another.
"Too objective focused."
"Agreed."
Another.
"Too predictable."
"Agreed."
Another.
"Too normal."
"Agreed."
The search continued.
Dozens of heroes.
Hundreds of statistics.
Win rates.
Professional usage.
Competitive analysis.
Patch histories.
Strengths.
Weaknesses.
Everything.
And every time—
Something felt wrong.
Either the hero was too straightforward.
Too optimized.
Too rigid.
Or simply lacked synergy with Risa's unique thought process.
Eventually even Ruko began rubbing his forehead.
"...This is harder than I thought."
"Statistically speaking, that was expected."
"..."
"..."
"...You really talk like a computer."
"I've heard that before."
"I'm not surprised."
The room fell quiet again.
Only mouse clicks filled the air.
Hero after hero flashed across their screens.
Fighters.
Assassins.
Mages.
Marksmen.
Supports.
Hybrid picks.
Experimental builds.
Nothing worked.
Nothing clicked.
Until—
Risa suddenly stopped moving.
The mouse froze.
The scrolling stopped.
The room became silent.
Ruko noticed immediately.
"...What?"
No response.
"...Risa?"
Still nothing.
Her eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Unmoving.
Focused.
Almost mesmerized.
A strange expression had appeared on her face.
One Ruko rarely saw.
Curiosity.
Genuine curiosity.
Slowly—
Ruko leaned over.
Then looked at her monitor.
The moment he saw the hero profile—
His eyebrows rose.
"...No way."
Displayed on the screen was a female character dressed in elegant black and crimson stage attire.
Long silver hair flowed behind her.
Musical notes floated around her like living spirits.
A microphone-shaped weapon rested in one hand.
The hero's splash art looked less like a warrior and more like the lead performer of a grand concert.
At the top of the profile:
Melodious
Role:
Support / Assassin
Difficulty:
9/10
Ruko immediately sat upright.
"...Absolutely not."
Risa didn't move.
"...Why?"
"Because that's Melodious."
"...I can read."
"No, I mean that's Melodious."
"...You're repeating yourself."
Ruko pointed at the screen.
"Do you know who that hero is?"
"...Melodious."
"I know her name!"
Risa blinked.
"Then why ask?"
Sometimes talking to her felt impossible.
Ruko exhaled.
Then pointed at the difficulty rating.
"Ninety percent of players avoid this hero."
"...Interesting."
"Professional players avoid this hero."
"...More interesting."
"The current number one player literally said playing her feels like solving math while someone throws rocks at you."
"...Very interesting."
"Stop sounding interested."
Unfortunately—
That only made Risa more interested.
Her eyes remained glued to the screen.
Reading every detail.
Every skill.
Every mechanic.
Every number.
Then—
A small spark appeared in her eyes.
The kind that appeared whenever she found an interesting problem.
A dangerous sign.
A very dangerous sign.
"...Ruko."
"...What."
"I think this hero is calling to me."
"...Heroes don't call to people."
"This one does."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"...I hate this conversation."
Ignoring him entirely, Risa opened the skill descriptions.
Her eyes scanned the information rapidly.
Skill One: Musical Harmony
A fan-shaped magical attack.
Applies an H Stack.
Low cooldown.
Skill Two: Tempo Melody
A spinning dash.
Deals physical damage.
Applies an M Stack.
Mobility skill.
Skill Three: It's Showtime!!
Combination skill.
Requires three stacks.
Different combinations produce different abilities.
Maximum combinations:
Eight.
Ruko watched her expression.
Then immediately noticed the problem.
Or rather—
Problems.
Plural.
Many.
Far too many.
"...You see it, right?"
Risa nodded.
"The stack system."
"That's not even half of it."
She continued reading.
The deeper she went—
The more absurd Melodious became.
Because unlike normal heroes—
Melodious wasn't designed around individual skills.
She was designed around combinations.
Players needed to constantly build sequences.
H-H-H.
H-H-M.
H-M-H.
M-H-H.
M-M-H.
M-H-M.
H-M-M.
M-M-M.
Eight different combinations.
Eight different effects.
Eight entirely different abilities.
And every one needed to be memorized.
Not eventually.
Not over time.
Immediately.
In combat.
While fighting.
While rotating.
While dodging.
While calculating objectives.
While surviving.
While thinking.
And if that wasn't difficult enough—
There was more.
Much more.
Risa scrolled downward.
Then stopped.
Her eyes landed on the passive.
Silence filled the room.
"...No."
Ruko had already read it.
And his reaction was immediate.
"No."
Risa continued reading anyway.
Passive: Sing To My Melody
Every second, Melodious releases a harmony beat.
Players must synchronize Skill One or Skill Two with the rhythm.
Successful timing applies a Music Mark.
Each mark increases spell vamp and skill damage by ten percent.
Maximum three stacks.
Missing the timing resets all stacks.
Failing to cast skills for three seconds resets all stacks.
The room became silent.
Very silent.
Because both of them understood exactly what that meant.
This wasn't merely a difficult hero.
This was a hero actively fighting against the player.
The player needed to:
Memorize eight combinations.
Track rhythm timing.
Manage two damage types.
Monitor passive stacks.
Track cooldowns.
Control jungle tempo.
Watch objectives.
Watch enemy movements.
And somehow remain useful.
All at the same time.
Ruko leaned back.
"...This hero is insane."
"Objectively."
"No wonder nobody plays her."
"Her pick rate is 0.08%."
"That's horrifying."
"The win rate is also horrifying."
"Exactly."
Risa continued reading.
Professional opinions.
Hero analysis.
Tournament reviews.
Community discussions.
Every source repeated the same thing.
Hard.
Ridiculously hard.
Unnecessarily hard.
Several content creators had listed Melodious among the hardest heroes ever released.
One famous professional player had once joked:
"The optimal Melodious strategy is playing her as roam and praying. Otherwise just don't pick her"
And the frightening part—
Many people agreed.
Because even if someone memorized every combination—
Timing the rhythm remained a nightmare.
Players often lost stacks.
Misplayed combinations.
Pressed skills too early.
Pressed skills too late.
Everything fell apart.
The hero was notorious.
Infamous.
A monster.
Yet—
Risa continued staring.
Almost affectionately.
Like she'd discovered treasure.
Ruko immediately recognized that look.
"...Don't."
Risa stated silent
"Risa."
Ruko tried calling out but Risa ignored him.
"Don't....."
He sighed knowing full well the girl beside her had made her decision.
"You already decided, didn't you?"
Finally—
Risa looked at him.
Then quietly nodded.
"...I did."
Ruko covered his face.
"Of course you did."
Without hesitation—
Risa clicked purchase.
Confirmation appeared.
Purchase completed.
Melodious unlocked.
The room fell silent.
Neither moved.
Neither spoke.
Eventually—
Risa opened Practice Mode.
Selected Melodious.
Entered the battlefield.
The elegant singer appeared on screen.
Musical notes floated around her.
A melody softly played.
The character looked beautiful.
Graceful.
Refined.
Dangerous.
Almost immediately—
Risa smiled slightly.
A very rare sight.
"...I like her."
Ruko groaned.
"That's exactly what scares me."
The practice match started.
The timer began.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Risa pressed Skill One.
Nothing happened.
"..."
She tried again.
Missed.
Again.
Missed.
Again.
Missed.
Again.
Missed.
The passive immediately reset.
Silence.
"...I have discovered a problem."
Ruko couldn't help it.
He laughed.
A genuine laugh.
The first one all evening.
Risa slowly turned.
Her expression remained completely serious.
Which somehow made it funnier.
"...What?"
"You."
Ruko replied still laughing
"...Clarify."
Risa annoyedly asked.
"You're terrible at rhythm."
"...That is unfortunate."
Ruko nearly laughed again.
Because after spending hours discovering Risa's incredible adaptability—
After discovering her talent for jungle pathing—
After finding a hero seemingly designed specifically for her unconventional thinking—
They had uncovered the one weakness nobody expected.
Risa Suzuhara.
The girl who could calculate jungle routes three minutes into the future.
The girl who could instantly adapt to enemy invasions.
The girl capable of rebuilding strategies on the fly.
The girl whose brain functioned like a supercomputer.
Had absolutely no sense of rhythm.
And judging by the determined look now appearing in her eyes—
That only made her want to master Melodious even more.
Which worried Ruko greatly.
Because every time Risa became interested in something—
She never stopped until she solved it.
And Melodious?
Melodious might have just chosen the worst possible person to challenge.