To Buy or Not to Buy

He hovered over the name, his fingertip anxiously resting on the left click of the mouse.

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Robin Hood: 2000 Coins

Passive Ability: Disperse the Wealth

Upon killing an enemy champion, Robin Hood steals a percentage of the slain enemy's current gold and could allocate it freely either to himself or any chosen ally. The amount of gold scales alongside the levels of the champion.

Level 1: 5%

Level 5: 10%

Level 10: 20%

Level 15: 50%

Level 20 (Maxed Champion): 75%

Q: Arrowed Shot

Robin Hood fires a ranged attack that deals damage.

W: Awaiting Prey

Robin Hood sets up a trap visible to the enemy team. If an enemy champion steps in it, they are trapped for 1 second. If the trap was placed in a bush, the trapped duration is increased to 2 seconds.

E: Ready, Set, Shoot

Fire five arrows consecutively in the pointed direction. If all five of the arrows hit the same target, critical damage is applied for the last shot.

R: Steal from the Rich

For three seconds, if Robin Hood is at a lower health than his targeted enemy, any basic attack, Arrowed Shot, or Volley deals 20% true damage to the enemy champion while healing Robin Hood for 20% of his missing health.

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Some of the skills had been reworked over the years since the game's initial release, but the general descriptions were comforting to Yu Pengkai in a familiar way, as if he was revisiting an old friend.

Even the concept art had remained largely the same, with the champion's slender figure, a daring smile, a volley of arrows casually slung over his shoulder, and the tell-tale ruby-red feather dangling off his green hat.

Sure, it was admittedly missing some of the special effects that certain newer skins gave to the in-game look, that extra pinch of hero-rascal duality. He thought fondly back to two his favorite Robin Hood skins, Steampunk Robin and Robin from the Hood. But ultimately, there was no question about the champion's identity.

He glanced over at other champions like Alexander the Great and grimaced. Now that one desperately needed a rework. The current version seemed more like a lumbering troll covered in golden armor, quite the disgrace to the historical figure if you asked him.

But his Robin Hood was perfect, so perfect from the start. He sighed, the temptation at clicking the [2000 Coins] price tag growing stronger by the second.

Suddenly, he raised his two hands up into the air, both facing away from himself, almost as if he got arrested by the traffic cops. Staying in that position, he took a deep breath as images of the gray screen with the respawn timer crept back into the center stage of his mind.

"No, not again," he reminded himself, barely able to keep his hands from quaking. Although it was a cool spring, with his uncontrollable shaking, he felt as if he was either thrown outside in the middle of winter or stuck in the Costco dairy cooler.

Shakily, he reached out and pressed his computer's power button.

Three…

He forced himself to look away.

Two…

He snuck one last glance to see Robin Hood's daring smile, almost as if he was teasing Yu Pengkai for being a coward.

One…

His computer screen faded back to black, and Yu Pengkai finally took a deep breath of relief, clearing the game from his mind.

6:20 AM. It was time to prepare for school anyway.

He cast a hard look at the papers on his desk: integrals, chemical equations, and what appeared to be a half-scratched out essay. Already, a dull ache took form inside his head.

After spending a few minutes of trying to figure out what was homework and what wasn't, he decided to go for the ultimate genius plan.

He did what every other high schooler would do on a near-daily basis.

He shoved every possible scrap of paper, notebook, and open textbook into his backpack, grabbing them from the desk and cramming them inside at every possible odd angle, not caring if they fit or not.

Although he didn't know it then, this would be a decision he would be sure to live to regret.

He tried to swing the backpack casually over one shoulder like he normally did to his gym bag, but much to his embarrassment, he found that he couldn't even lift it. He dropped it back onto the chair, deciding to go brush his teeth instead.

Standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror, there was a sudden moment of hesitation of whether to turn on the lights or not. He didn't know whether he could really confront his former self, much less treat it as himself. It was such a long time ago, one he only saw sometimes in old photos.

Would he even recognize himself?

"Can you hurry the hell up?" His sister screamed outside the bathroom, banging on the door.

He turned on the lights.

Inside the mirror, he found the image of the most typical Asian nerd he could find on the streets. Average-sized eyes. Average nose. Average mouth. A speckle of acne towards the forehead. About 5 feet nine. A bit of a stubble at his chin and above his mouth. Shaggy fringes that almost hung in front of his eyes. His skin looked like he hadn't seen the sun in a while, and with one look at his pitiful arm muscles, or rather the lack thereof, he couldn't even hide his expression of disdain.

No, there wasn't really anything wrong with him. But if you asked what was really good, he couldn't give you an answer either. Honestly, if he tossed this seventeen year old self onto the streets when he was twenty eight, he doubted he could pick him out from the crowds.

He was never one to care for looks, often forgetting to shave for days when busy practicing, but this just wasn't quite what he had in mind for rebirth. He shook his head, wondering what he could even do for the future.

I'll begin with a shave, he ultimately decided, reaching for his razor.

At least it was a start, one step away from the messy eSports player stereotype at a time.