LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 12
The game has started.
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3 Min Top School Honorary Member – Nyar
yytvxxiaojin – Nidalee
qq7785dd55 – Renekton
Godtugi King Bunchang – Tristana
IlIIIIlllllIIIIlll – Leona
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As expected, the nicknames of the opponent’s mid jungle duo were familiar.
They had just suffered an absurd defeat, and I could feel through the monitor that they were eager to queue again while gritting their teeth.
-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!
I checked the invade matchup.
[Allies / Enemies]
Top: Sion / Nyar
Jungle: Ekko / Nidalee
Mid: Sett / Renekton
Bot: Samira / Tristana
Support: Nautilus / Leona
‘It’s even… Well, technically, I’d have to say we’re slightly disadvantaged.’
The picks of my allies were heroes that were very strong in early skirmishes, but the issue was me.
I had no choice but to pick Ekko, who is relatively weak in the early game.
Our team’s spawn was in the lower position.
[!] [!] [!] [!]
After placing a few wards, I retreated and pinged back.
That signaled I had no intention of engaging in an invade fight.
Of course, given that our picks were quite strong, we could do it if we wanted; however… I was planning to ease into things a bit in this match.
– “Isn’t Prisoner just an invader one-trick? All the games I see winning start with an invade.”
I wasn’t concerned about that comment.
Really, I wasn’t.
Honestly.
[!] [!] [!]
As I pinged, my allies also placed their wards and fell back.
The ward was placed near the Gromp tri-brush and upper river island bush.
With this amount of vision, we could tell how the opponents would be coming out.
Just as the timer hit 1 minute, all five enemies appeared at the Gromp tri-brush with their lens on.
‘They’re coming in.’
Without hesitation, I pinged to retreat again and relinquished vision on our red side.
This meant I was entering a challenging early game, unlike the usual.
‘The enemy jungle starting is… I have no clue.’
Whether they’d go for my red or just take vision and leave.
It was tough to gather information since our wards had been cleared.
‘In such cases, I must minimize risks.’
I headed to the upper jungle for a blue start.
-Nyahha!
At that moment, Nyar, who had been sneaking around, planted a ward at my blue and left.
As a jungler, this was undoubtedly an infuriating moment.
With that, the enemy not only knew my jungle starting spot but had concealed their own information as well.
It had barely been over a minute since the game commenced, but for a jungler, the game felt half over already.
‘It was somewhat expected.’
In a way, the situation had flipped entirely compared to the last match.
I could say it was a fitting game to prove myself.
1 minute and 30 seconds in.
Finally, the jungle monsters appeared and I cleared them in the standard order: blue, frog, and wolves.
[Ekko – Level 2]
Now the important part began.
‘Hmm.’
I closely observed the movements of the enemy mid and bot.
In lower tiers, this might not be apparent, but in higher tiers, the jungler’s position often reveals itself through the lanes’ movements.
‘From what I can see, it seems split in half…’
The problem was still the uncertainty, of course.
Especially since the opponent was likely vividly remembering what had happened to me in the previous match.
There was no guarantee I wouldn’t fall into the same trap.
‘Currently, I expect Nidalee to be in three potential locations.’
First, a path similar to my previous match, where she steals my red and then returns to defend her own.
Second, a path where she takes all my lower jungle and routes to her blue, aka the classic split route.
Third, starting directly at her blue and routing her jungle.
‘Then.’
I didn’t know where the opponent was.
But it didn’t matter.
No matter where they were, couldn’t I just lure them out?
I waited in the bush heading towards mid.
The moment a few minions died on the mid lane.
[Ekko – Level 3]
‘Alright.’
That was the so-called ‘magic route.’
Having reached level 3, I pinged the enemy Renekton.
‘Taking control of mid.’
Ekko’s W skill landed behind Renekton, and I quickly closed the distance.
Renekton seemed startled, not expecting a mid gank at this timing, but he soon regained composure and started to escape using his cut and dash.
‘Not a chance.’
As I used Flash to chase him down, Renekton realized he could no longer conserve his spells and used Flash himself.
[!] [!] [!]
It was a pretty decent gank.
Renekton barely escaped with the use of his spells, but control of mid had long since shifted to Sett.
‘I was thinking of a 2v2 skirmish, but Nidalee didn’t reveal herself. That means she’s far from mid.’
Thus, Nidalee’s routing began to take form.
What had been a cloudy haze now started to become clear.
At that moment.
[!] [!] [!]
The Nidalee with double buffs appeared at top.
[Nidalee – Level 4]
Nidalee’s level at top was 4.
Just as expected, she had gone for the full red buff route.
-Flash!
With Nidalee’s gank, Sion had to use Flash to barely survive.
Nyar had yet to hit level 6, so the response was relatively weak.
This meant that Fiddlesticks and Nidalee had exchanged blows once.
Of course, for the time being, I might be at a slight disadvantage.
After all, I had used Flash, and I was falling behind in leveling compared to Nidalee.
But the important thing was I was Ekko, a scaling champion.
‘This is a pretty decent start.’
Had I made just a slight misstep, I could have been in the worst situation, losing double scuttle and even 3 buff control.
I’ve managed to drag it out to a tie.
‘Okay, let’s do it again.’
.
.
.
The game ended.
At the end of the match, my KDA was 13/0/11.
A crushing victory.
*
In Beijing, GRS Dormitory.
Li Zhi-Xuan, the mid laner for GRS, couldn’t hide his excitement after a long time.
He had achieved an astonishing 35-win streak in the top-tier Korean server.
However, that winning streak had just been shockingly interrupted.
Of course, he knew a day like this would come.
A 35-game win streak in solo queue filled with high-flying monsters.
No matter how much they achieved as a duo, it felt about time for it to break.
The problem was the manner of the loss.
It had been too absurd.
At first, he thought it was a coincidence.
Perhaps they had gotten lucky, and the enemy’s early invade strategy had worked perfectly, leading to their loss.
He thought it was just that.
Li Zhi-Xuan once again queued up with Huang Haoran, the jungler who had been part of that 35-win streak with him.
Since he couldn’t just run away with his tail between his legs.
As expected, they encountered Prisoner on the opposing team again.
Huang Haoran boldly declared.
“Let’s get revenge this time, brother.”
“Of course.”
And they lost again.
Though the nature of this loss was different from the first, overwhelming defeat was the only similarity.
“…”
“…”
Red Cup runner-up.
35-game winning streak in Korean solo queue.
After all the camaraderie they shared, the first long silence settled between them, even after their disappointing loss in the Red Cup finals, they would still comfort each other, but this recent defeat left them speechless.
“…I’ll go rest first.”
“Uh, okay.”
After Huang Haoran returned to his room, Li Zhi-Xuan blankly watched the replay.
Every movement was efficient, every decision was cold, and the aggression was sharp.
“…Incredible.”
The one who had driven the team that was the runner-up in the Red Cup and a dominant force in the Chinese league, GRS, into despair was none other than Prisoner.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t a splendid pro with impressive career accomplishments, nor an unidentified newcomer appearing like a comet.
Prisoner was an active user for a long time.
Naturally, he held some recognition within the Chinese pro scene, and opinions on him were largely similar.
– decent gameplay, but relatively lacking in mobility.
Yet, the Prisoner they met this time belied all previous evaluations.
Li Zhi-Xuan thought.
‘I feel bad for Haoran, but the jungle gap was definitely real.’
Of course, it would be dismissive to chalk it up merely to the jungle difference, considering the skill Prisoner exhibited was extraordinary.
To put it simply, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that GRS’s mid-jungle duo had been toyed with by just Prisoner.
“What’s wrong? You look serious.”
At that moment, Coach Jang Seok-Hwan approached.
“Coach.”
Li Zhi-Xuan felt fortunate at that moment.
Jang Seok-Hwan was a former pro gamer from Korea.
Thus, he might know something about Prisoner, who was also Korean.
“What’s up?”
“Do you happen to know about Prisoner?”
“I do.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, now that I think about it, we almost signed him. I think.”
That was new information to Li Zhi-Xuan.
“…Sign him? Why didn’t it happen?”
“Oh, there were circumstances.”
“What circumstances?!”
Li Zhi-Xuan’s voice unintentionally rose.
The thought of potentially playing games with such a jungler…
He couldn’t hide his excitement.
“Prisoner can’t go pro. I heard he has a rare illness. Apparently, he can’t move at all.”
“…Huh?”
“Yeah, so we dropped the signing. Other teams are in the same boat.”
A rare illness?
That wasn’t a small issue, but Li Zhi-Xuan didn’t really hear it.
What does that illness matter?
He plays so well.
Even if he’s limited to just a few hours of gaming a day, who cares?
There would always be junglers to fill in like Huang Haoran.
But Prisoner had no substitutes.
An irreplaceable jungler.
That was Li Zhi-Xuan’s assessment of Prisoner.
“Bring him back.”
“What?”
“Sign Prisoner back, I said.”
It was a blatant overstep, but Li Zhi-Xuan’s family was one of GRS’s main sponsors, making such a request feasible.
In other words, that meant Li Zhi-Xuan’s side would support the funds necessary for Prisoner’s signing.
“If needed, even over 5 million yuan (about 870,000 USD) in salary.”
Even for a promising star, it was extreme conditions to offer someone without a proven track record.
“…Understood.”
Li Zhi-Xuan couldn’t shake the thoughts swirling in his head.
Prisoner, Prisoner, Prisoner…
I will definitely get him in my hands.