"It’s not me," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "It’s the teammates. Every game, a feeding Yasuo. Every game, a jungler with no smite."

He logged out of ShadowReaper99 and went back to his original account. It was Silver IV, messy, and frustrating—but it was his. He realized that if he wanted to be a Gold player, he had to actually be a Gold player.

The site looked professional enough—bold gold lettering and "Verified" badges everywhere. For the price of a few pizzas, he could bypass the "elo hell" he was trapped in. He clicked "Purchase," entered his card details, and five minutes later, an email arrived with the credentials for ShadowReaper99 .