Right Before Quitting: A Legends of Runeterra Story

A couple of months ago, my favourite character, Aurelion Sol the celestial dragon, was released into my favorite game. For those unfamiliar with what A-Sol is like, imagine the most powerful weapon you’ve ever seen in a game and raise that to the power of 100 with a little flair of beauty.

The catch is, in order to get A-Sol you need to go through a series of 70 boss fights a month, each requiring wits and might to overcome. What made it more challenging was the fact that I could only use each character I had 3 times. Meaning I had to have enough characters, in addition to saving the best ones I had for last. During the first month, I was only able to reach challenge 50, and while I was upset I could not go any further, thanks to the fact that I had managed to beat 50 boss fights, I was able to level up and strengthen my characters.

 “Next month will be a breeze” is what I thought. Little did I know, as soon as that thought crossed my mind, a countdown had started. The challenge in and of itself would soon prove to be the smallest part of the problem.

As time gave way to the next month, my plan was ready. Use up all my weaker characters on the early challenges, and keep the strong ones for last. Within a few days, I was able to reach where I had once been. Challenge 50. After which, the real issue started to rise. Challenges over 50 were abnormally tough. And while I had enough attempts saved up, I began to worry about whether I would make it or not. By challenge 60, I had most of my strong characters benched and ready and…

Failure. I witnessed it over and over and over as my previously overflowing pool of attempts was reduced to nothing. Not even my strongest characters were able to get through. The countdown had reached zero and I began to panic.

Brute force was not the solution. My “solid” plan had turned out to be a sham. And not only was I up against a race with chances since my attempts had also run out, I was also in a race against time.

So, again I try to brute force my way through the boss fights, getting more and more frustrated as I inch closer to victory, only to have it completely swept from beneath my feet. As I lost one of the strongest characters I had, I got super angry. It got to a point where I remember slamming the table and then hitting myself on the head a couple of times as I tried to cope with another loss.

Then, right as I was about to throw in the towel and call it quits.. My grandpa calls me to pray. Frustrated, I get up to get prepared with a great sense of disillusion towards myself. I had failed.. Or so I thought. After completing the prayer with gramps, I had the thought of going onto the community group for the game. Sure enough, they had a discussion thread for those interested in beating the challenge. I posted a screenshot of whatever characters I had left, and asked for advice seeing that I had no other recourse. 

Within a day, I had received an answer. And the very next day, in no more than a couple of hours. I had won. 

I haven’t experienced such a feeling before. Words cannot describe the joy I felt as I landed the final blow on the last boss. It felt impossible. I never thought I could make it. But I did. Somehow, Alhamdulillah I was able to get through. While this is nothing more than a game, the lesson I learned was worth gold. It is stupid when I say it, you probably already know it. But sometimes, we need help. Sometimes, to progress we gotta ask for help. We are not perfect beings, and no matter how foolproof we might think our plans might be, life will always take its own course. Finally, there’s no greater feeling than achieving your goals. But those goals need time and practice and effort to get to, the road will not always be easy even when you come prepared, and yet the feeling I felt that day as I sat in front of my computer, looking at a victory screen, is something you wouldn’t miss for the world.

 

 

 

 

The best part is, I get to do it alll over again :)