READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 9
[Game starts!]
Unexpectedly, the game began.
“Are they not going to dodge this?”
Momentarily irritated, as the loading screen popped up, I realized why the opposing team did not dodge.
───────────────
MAX WooChan – Nyar
yytvxxiaojin – Rek’Sai
qq7785dd55 – Cassiopeia
IlIIIIlllllIIIIlll – Jinx
SY GuineaPig – Thresh
───────────────
A strange mid-jungle duo.
After checking their records, I found a ridiculous 90% win rate.
“It seems like they set up this duo from placements since wins and losses are fairly balanced.”
They likely seemed like a pro player’s smurf account, and the IDs suggested a high probability of being a Chinese pro.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter.”
Currently, my Prisoner account’s score was 1613 points.
In fact, I found it harder to face opponents who weren’t pro.
-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!
As the game started, I examined our team’s and the enemy team’s invade matchups.
[Allies / Enemies]
Top: Lee Sin / Nyar
Jungle: Kindred / Rek’Sai
Mid: Orianna / Cassiopeia
ADC: Samira / Jinx
Support: Nautilus / Thresh
“Not bad.”
Though it depended on the supporters’ grabs, I figured we could manage with this.
I pinged the bush on the bot side.
[↓] [↓] [↓]
The enemy team must know their invade matchup was unfavorable, so they would likely play defensively.
Defensively means spreading out and checking vision.
When Nautilus turned on his lens and entered the bot three-way bush, an enemy ward was spotted.
We’ve been revealed.
But it didn’t matter.
Being in an advantageous fight means you can throw unreasonable claims with confidence.
[↓] [↓] [↓]
Even though our position was discovered, I pinged again.
“The enemy ward is one down. Since it was a bot bush, it’s probably a support or ADC ward.”
I usually don’t like aggressive invades.
Level 1 fights often become a battle of sharp blades, and until now, I had always been weak in those knife-edge struggles.
But not anymore.
With a favorable matchup, I no longer needed to step back like in the past.
Moving from the bot three-way bush, we advanced all the way into the bot lane bush.
“One more ward.”
We wiped out two enemy wards.
You could say we’d already gained enough advantage, but I didn’t stop.
[↓] [↓] [↓]
I communicated through my movements.
“That red is mine.”
“If you don’t like it, come and fight me.”
Of course, anyone would be compelled to act if I insisted like this, even if they were a nice guy.
As we pushed deeper into the enemy’s red jungle, Thresh’s Death Sentence launched from the straight bush.
Whoosh!
If I had dodged, it would have been great, but regrettably, the sudden Death Sentence from the bush was rather sharp.
Ping!
The one hit by the Death Sentence was Nautilus, who was in the front.
As soon as Nautilus got hit, the enemy Thresh charged in confidently.
By now, they must think we’ve walked into the trap they set, but it’s the opposite.
Time had slipped to 1 minute and 20 seconds.
A normal top laner should have headed to lane by now.
But you know what…?
Our Lee Sin hasn’t gone home yet.
Even with the invade meant to sacrifice the top, the “Jungler’s Slave,” no, “LaLaLa,” joined the invade without hesitation.
When Nautilus got ambushed, Lee Sin stylishly appeared as a protector.
You could clearly see the enemy team was visibly flustered by our movement.
They thought it was a 4v4, but it was actually a 4v5.
Swish—
Did they feel it was a fight they couldn’t back out of?
The enemy top, who had just shown up on the top lane, teleported with a ward in the red bush.
The top laner who joined the invade with the intent to sacrifice his teleport ended up in a better situation instead.
[!] [!] [!]
The ping for retreat went out from our team, having noticed that the enemy top was joining.
Normally, with enough gain from having baited the enemy top’s teleport, we could have retreated.
Our Lee Sin could teleport back to top lane, and that would create an unbeatable difference.
But did we really need to do that?
Whether it’s 4v5 or 5v5, the outcome is never going to change: I’m winning.
[⊙] [⊙] [⊙]
As I pinged again, Nautilus understood and moved forward instead.
This was a divine realm.
Whether the order was right or wrong, it was best to follow it.
Boom!
With a heavy hook sound, Thresh, the closest enemy, got pulled.
When Nautilus’s grab succeeded, Samira followed up with her passive for an airborn combo.
And then came the swarm.
-First Blood!
-You have slain an enemy!
I racked up sweet assists and my mark stacks increased.
It was worth placing my marks ahead of time.
The situation was now 4v5.
Even though we lost our support, the enemy team didn’t appear to be retreating, thinking our skills had not faded significantly.
-Our ally has been slain!
Amidst the skirmish, our Orianna fell.
Being a champion that just walks around, she died even after flashing to escape.
Of course, the enemy also fell into our grasp due to their reckless pursuit.
-You have slain an enemy!
The fierce level 1 skirmish continued.
-Our ally has been slain!
Since the jungler pulling back here faces immense losses, the enemy wouldn’t back down either.
However…
Rek’Sai is a champion that can do absolutely nothing but walk around at level 1.
Because of that, the skirmish that should have started as a normal 5v5 felt more like a 5v4, and that difference ultimately determined the outcome of the skirmish.
-You have slain an enemy!
The result was 3:2.
From a kill count perspective, it might just seem like a slight gain of one kill, but in reality, it was practically the end of the game.
Our Lee Sin returned after recalling and immediately teleported back to lane, gobbling up every wave, while the enemy Nyar had to walk back to top after resurrecting.
Looking at the lane situation, with that scenario, there could be a temporary level 2 gap between Lee Sin and Nyar.
It was practically the end of the top laning phase.
The concerning part was the jungle side too.
Usually, when playing Rek’Sai, after clearing the 3 red camp logos, the subsequent ganks become very threatening.
But with the early jungle phase getting messed up during the invade, Rek’Sai’s options became almost nonexistent.
Now, I was in an area where I could shine.
I read the enemy’s psychology.
I read their emotions.
“They must be really mad.”
Even pros are human.
No, it’s precisely because they’re pros that when they suffer losses, they instinctively try to find a way to recover from that loss.
Commonly, since I stole the enemy red, they’d likely think I’d continue to farm their jungle or head towards my blue.
But I wasn’t that easy-going.
After taking their red, I returned home and headed towards my red.
If I was right, Rek’Sai should be on the red by now.
“There’s no red.”
It wasn’t consumed. The timing just didn’t match.
“It’s in the bush.”
And sure enough, just as I dropped a ward in the bush, Rek’Sai appeared, hitting the red.
[Rek’Sai – Level 1]
“Nice to meet you, you little rascal.”
It’s a given that a level 1 Rek’Sai is no match for a level 2 Kindred with red buff.
“Not even close.”
Level 1 smite versus level 2 smite.
If it had been the old me, I might have lost even with such an advantageous position, but not now.
Boom!
With the crisp sound of smite, I secured the red.
Rek’Sai remained at level 1.
Of course, there was no way she could put up a fight.
-You have slain an enemy!
That exhilarating feeling.
Hearing the sound of Rek’Sai’s keyboard breaking played a sweet melody in my ears.