[You have obtained a Relic.]

The moment Almond picked up the shield, his body began to glow.

Woooong!

As the light faded, he was clad in full plate armor.

Ding.

[Shield Lv. 1]

==== ====

Attack Power +20

Defense +10

Movement Speed +30

CC Duration Reduction 25%

==== ====

It boasted excellent stats. Good enough to understand why beginners were told to take the shield.

[Tutorial Tip]

[You chose a shield? The most reliable weapon there is! Shields excel at high mobility, protecting allies, and charging straight at enemies to block incoming fire.]

That last line stuck with him.

“Block incoming fire...”

This style didn’t exactly suit him.

“Looks like I need to decide before I contract a champion.”

If he ended up contracting a tank champion, even against bots, the twenty-kill mission would be a lost cause.

— Decide against who?

— Why are you competing with your own team...

— He just likes bows

— Bow addict!

— Can’t play tank even once, absolute gigachad

Almond continued plotting something on his own.

Yoyoyo took the bow, Baegi took the spear, Hampunch took the sword, and OstrichEgg took the staff.

Leader Bot Baegi gave a briefing. “Uh... so we’ve got a ranged DPS, tank, assassin, mage... and even a bruiser. That’s a pretty balanced setup. Nice.”

He seemed pleased with the team’s spread of relics.

***

The match started relatively peacefully in the beginner zone.

“Should we have the tank contract a champion first?”

If the tank contracted early, the team could secure an advantage quickly. This was the most common build order.

Almond shook his head desperately. “No. I’m a beginner.”

“You’re a beginner, so you should contract first...”

“What if I suddenly end up needed in a different position later? The skilled players should go first.”

— Only calls himself a beginner at times like this

— Sudden beginner declaration

— “Suddenly needed later”

— He is a beginner at Survival mode though

“No, I mean, why are you saying that while staring at me?!”

Almond’s gaze was still locked on the allied archer, Yoyoyo.

“I was just looking at the bow.”

“That’s me!”

“Alright, alright... Hooo.” Baegi sighed and declared that he’d go first. “We don’t have time for this. The enemies are moving even now. If we can’t decide, I’ll contract first. Follow me.”

Baegi took the lead.

“Oh. As expected of the Leader Bot.”

Almond didn’t harbor a shred of doubt that Baegi was a bot. To make matters worse, a tutorial message popped up the moment Baegi moved.

Ding.

[Tutorial Tip]

[Once you’ve acquired a relic, defeat monsters scattered throughout the Abyss to gain experience and rune boxes to upgrade your relic!]

— The timing is insane

— LOL

— Beautiful

— You can’t call a bot a bot, that violates bot rights

— The bot moved and the tip popped up!

— Such a systematic tutorial! Life is Legend!

The viewers seized this divine timing and went all-in on making Almond look like a fool. With modern AI NPCs so advanced, they could easily trick him if everyone conspired together. Even university professors failed to distinguish NPCs from real players in an experiment. Almond wouldn’t be considered dumb for being fooled!

“Let’s hunt.”

“Following the Leader Bot.”

Following Baegi, they soon encountered a few monsters.

[Abyssal Fish Lv. 1]

The weakest monsters around were only level 1. These fish swam through the Sanctuary energy like water and resembled flying birds more.

Baegi stepped up and began attacking without a word.

Thud!

As if on cue, the other members joined in against the Abyssal Fish. Almond went in last and smacked them a few times with his shield.

Boom!

— Why is the shield coming in last? lmao

— Late-engage with shield, legendary

— Blocking allies from escaping, is that the role?

Late engagement was a DPS player trait. Tanks were supposed to engage first, but Almond usually played DPS. Entering late was second nature to him. It seemed like blatant trolling.

“Gyaaa!”

They instantly cleared the weak monsters like killing minions in Siege mode.

“Sir, go in front if you’re using a shield. Seriously! Don’t you know that?”

This was Life is Legend. Players weren’t patient and wouldn’t accommodate Almond’s circumstances. Leader Bot Baegi was no exception.

“Ah. Okay.”

“Next pack. This time, go in front.”

They faced another group of Abyssal Fish. This time, Almond went first.

Thump!

He swung his shield at them, but somehow drifted back as he did.

— ?

— Why is he backing up? lol

— Shield kiting

— Fadeaway

“Damn it!” Baegi’s patience was wearing thin. “Shield! Front! FRONT! We’re all dead if you do this in a team fight!”

Positioning mattered far more in Survival mode than in Siege mode. Playing sloppily would still work against Abyssal Fish, but it would be disastrous if they suddenly ran into other players.

Ba-bam!

Regardless, their levels went up.

[Level Up!]

[Lv. 1 → Lv. 2]

Normally, leveling up in LIL meant assigning skill points.

[Tutorial Tip]

[Without a contracted champion, you cannot assign skills upon leveling up. However, your equipped relic will level up and enhance its abilities.]

Without a champion, they didn’t have any skills to learn. This reminded Almond of Raina’s story mode. He recalled how weak an uncontracted civilian had been. Thankfully, relics existed and grew stronger instead.

Ding.

[Shield Lv. 2 — Conditional Passive acquired: Parry!]

[The attacker will be stunned for 2 seconds if you precisely knock away an incoming projectile while unguarded (shield lowered). Cooldown per target: 18 seconds.]

The Parry skill truly belonged to a tank.

Baegi said, “Everyone, report on your skills now that we’re level two.”

Skills were randomly assigned, so coordination mattered. The team reported what they received.

“Headshot.”

“Charge.”

“My staff has... elemental magic.”

The skills suited their weapons perfectly.

“And I got Parry.”

“Parry?”

“Yes.”

“We’re screwed...”

“Huh?”

Baegi looked devastated. “Of all people, it goes to the newbie.”

Almond’s eyes, on the other hand, lit up. “Then, should I use the bow?”

He saw this as a chance to swap weapons.

— There it is

— Hahaha

— Just say you want the bow

— LOL

“No, that won’t work. Even without skills, the shield’s stats are still good. Stick with it. Alright, the next stop is the red turtle side. Position yourselves properly.”

The red turtle sounded like a tougher monster.

The nearby bot named OstrichEgg leaned in and whispered the information to Almond. “Sir, killing the turtle gives a buff. It’s an early epic monster.”

“Ah... okay.”

‘This one is pretty nice, unlike Baegi.’

Almond said to the viewers’ channel, “Looks like a good-bot, bad-bot setup. Some bots are prickly, some are friendly.”

— Good bot, bad bot LMAO

— Fact: In LIL, Baegi is basically Buddha tier

— LOL

— Hahaha yeah true

— Good servant, bad servant

Almond hadn’t mentioned anything special, but laughter flooded the chat. He didn’t pay much attention and busily sprinted after the leader.

Tadadadak!

***

Early Survival mode in LIL was designed to minimize early encounters to help beginners. Thanks to that, they didn’t meet any enemies while running.

‘This is bad.’

For Almond, this help was a problem.

[Twenty kills since it’s just bots]

[370,000 won]

‘I need twenty kills.’

Getting twenty kills in a fifty-player match wasn’t easy. It would only get harder if he didn’t start meeting other players soon.

‘Is this doomed? People keep adding money.’

The mission had started at 200,000 won and climbed to 370,000. Almond’s stream usually didn’t see many donors stacking extra money onto missions, but today was different.

Ding.

[+10,000 won]

Another add-on appeared. The rising prize didn’t make him happy. When money went up, it usually meant the mission was getting harder. Viewers liked betting on impossible tasks so they could tease the streamer without actually paying out.

— They’re piling money like demons lool

— I get why they’re adding

— It’s bots anyway...

The growing pot had nothing to do with the difficulty. It wasn’t the twenty kills that mattered, but the part that declared the other players as just bots. The viewers were paying to keep that line visible. In other words, they were paying to keep fooling Almond. And Almond was falling for it beautifully.

‘This will be easy if I just meet enemy bots.’

He thought everyone else were bots.

‘Huh?’

Then, it happened.

Piiing!

A sharp, tearing sound cut through the air.

‘An arrow!’

Almond reacted instantly. He dove into the bushes and hid.

Whoosh!

The arrow sliced through empty air.

‘Where are they?’

His eyes were already searching.

Piiing!

Another arrow flew.

‘There.’

Almond charged forward, but arrows weren’t the only things flying.

Boom!

‘A cannon?’

Puuung!

Dust exploded and obscured his vision as the enemy team emerged.

“Kill them! Kill them!”

“Push, push!”

The enemy squad went heavy on ranged damage.

‘Three ranged, one tank... and the last is a mage?’

They had an extreme composition with three ranged DPS, one tank, and one mage.

‘Then...’

***

Leader Bot Baegi shouted, “Three ranged! Everyone get behind the shield!”

A ranged heavy squad would be easy to take care of as long as they hid behind a shield.

“We’ve won! Just stay behind the shield!”

The enemy would have no other options if they slowly advanced behind a shield. If they had been ambushed during a turtle fight, the chaos would’ve tipped things. However, this was the beginner zone. No other tactics existed.

Baegi was confident as he moved forward.

“Huh?”

However, their shield had disappeared.

“F-fireball incoming!”

BOOM!

The fireball slammed into the clustered team.

“Guhk!”

“Damn it...!”

“What’s our mage doing?! Use a barrier!”

“You think magic is easy to cast?!”

The magic staff required spinning a roulette-like wheel. It had to be timed correctly to freely cast any of the eight spells. It was an incredible relic, but playing that mini-game in mid-chaos wasn’t easy. A beginner would struggle even more with it.

The staff user screamed from behind a rock, “Tank! Where’s the tank?!”

To use magic properly, the tank needed to hold the line and buy time.

Baegi bellowed, “W-where’s our shield?! Damn it! You bastard, LazySoldier!”

“Huh?”

“What?”

The others panicked too after their tank vanished. Where did the tank go? What kind of trolling was this? Then, they all reacted the same.

“Huh?”

“What?”

[First Blood!]

[LazySoldier → Dolphin]

The missing troll tank had just killed an enemy.

— Kya

— Killing with a shield?!

— the shield is busted

— True bug cut~

— This is hilarious

— Assassin shield, what the hell?!

— Backstab shield!

***

[Beginner Tip: The Sanctuary has no fixed roles. You are granted infinite freedom. However, a renowned magitech scholar of Taran once said, “Freedom is an illusion.”]