LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 41
The situation isn’t looking good.
In what can be considered a pivotal 2v2 engagement in the early game, not only did we lose, but their key pick, Rakan, scored a double kill.
To make matters worse, the player controlling Rakan is none other than EZ.
Even without making it to the Red Cup, he’s often mentioned as a top carry due to his destructive performance.
Of course, many argue back, saying, “If he was that good, he would have made it to the Red Cup,” but the existence of such debates basically proves EZ’s worth.
It’s rumored as a joke that the name EZ originated because everyone felt like they were easily defeated by him.
[❔] [❔] [❔]
[❕] [❕] [❕]
[❗] [❗] [❗]
Having stood still for a while, I got bombarded by all sorts of pings from my teammates.
[Prisoner (Rek’Sai): sorry]
I had been idle for just over a minute. Considering what it means to be idle for that long in Legends of League, I had certainly caused us some significant damage.
‘Has it… gotten a bit better?’
Whether it was my resolve or just pushing my fear aside for a moment, the pain was slightly less than before.
However, I still couldn’t bring myself to smile. The situation was still terrible.
After losing the skirmish in the top lane, our jungler had also briefly stepped away, so morale among the teammates must be at an all-time low.
One good thing, though, was that I had secured a kill in that top skirmish and Xin Zhao had been taken down, so despite my minute of inactivity, the growth gap between our junglers wasn’t too severe.
‘…Well, the gap between the top laners is already decimated.’
If it hadn’t been for my mistake, it would have been smooth sailing and I could have claimed an easy advantage, but the poor top laner was left to handle the consequences.
‘Sorry about that.’
I headed towards the bottom jungle camps to try and make up for my mistake.
Let’s summarize the situation:
The enemy top Rakan has turned into a monster. The enemy jungler Xin Zhao is somewhat behind.
That means, in this scenario, the only reasonable choice for Xin Zhao is to leech off the top lane.
The basic principle of jungling is not to force a struggling lane to win, but to figure out how to snowball the lane that’s already winning.
The enemy jungler surely understands this logic as well.
Thus, my options are pretty much set in stone.
‘Going to the top right now would be foolish.’
Sure, Rakan isn’t the most resilient champion out there.
However, our top-side composition has Sett and Rek’Sai.
It’s a melee vs. melee situation.
While our champions do have strong crowd control, fundamentally, there’s no escape potential.
To target Rakan, you have to approach the monster directly.
Even if I were to find a perfect timing when Xin Zhao is absent, there’s still a chance I’d lose a 2v1.
‘Sure, the enemy Xin Zhao definitely has options, but rather than risking a variable in the bottom skirmish, it’s safer to focus on the guaranteed top kill.’
The game had become astonishingly simple.
At this point, it’s no longer a battle of wits—it’s just pure mechanical fighting.
‘I’ll go for the bottom.’
I had no time to leisurely clear jungle camps.
Unfortunately, this gank on the bottom lane came with a time limit.
The top Rakan and mid Rakan have a so-called “execute” combo.
First, he snuffs out the fire with his ultimate, then he teleports while keeping the enemy’s vision blocked, and finally, he joins with his ultimate.
This is commonly referred to as the ult+tele+ult combo.
It’s a devastating combo that shows the magic of a Rakan suddenly appearing at the bottom while obscured, and that’s precisely why the upcoming game had to be a race against time.
‘Of course, he could join the bottom skirmish before learning his ultimate, but an early Rakan isn’t particularly threatening.’
He’s inherently slow on his feet.
Plus, joining like that would give my top laner some breathing room, so there’s no downside.
Having sorted out my thoughts, I ate a Blade Beak and immediately dove through a tunnel toward Dragon.
I was doing so to avoid enemy wards.
The moment I entered the enemy’s bottom jungle—
A familiar champion was smiting the Frog.
It was Xin Zhao.
‘Was he really going to cover the top, or did he just predict my path?’
Or he might just be purely farming his camps.
‘Well, regardless, this means the top lane is free from dive pressure. Not bad.’
I quickly tunneled in and snatched the enemy Frog with Smite.
『👍』
[Xin Zhao – Level 4]
[Rek’Sai – Level 4]
With that, I’d somewhat closed the growth gap that had existed for about a minute.
‘If I hadn’t stolen it, there would have been a level gap of two.’
Of course, Xin Zhao, who just lost his Frog right in front of him, charged at me.
The traditional view is that after level 3, Rek’Sai has the advantage, but unfortunately, in the current meta, Xin Zhao holds quite a high tier, so I can’t be too certain.
Even though Xin Zhao’s health, mana, and skill state aren’t exactly ideal, I can’t afford to let my guard down.
Just as Xin Zhao’s E was about to hit—
-Whoosh!
By a narrow margin, I managed to knock Xin Zhao airborne before his skill connected and unleashed my combo.
Auto-Q-Q-E.
Xin Zhao tried to resist, but given that his health, mana, and skills were already in a bad state, taking the first hit meant he had no chance.
Ultimately, figuring out that it was hopeless, Xin Zhao decided to flee.
However, regrettably, I couldn’t pursue him all the way.
The enemy bottom lane had joined the fray.
‘Alright.’
Thanks to that, I couldn’t help but smile.
Because this basically opened the doors for the bottom skirmish.
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.
.
-Enemy slain!
-Double kill!
-Massacre!
The bottom fight was a success.
Although it was a 3v3 scenario, the enemy Xin Zhao was practically out of the fight, and our bottom laners’ aggro ping-ponging was spectacular.
But…
Where there are actions, there are reactions.
-Whoosh…
Flames erupted from the ward in the bottom bush.
Enemy Rakan had teleported in.
Our team had gone too deep, making it hard to escape.
-Our ally has been slain!
-Enemy, double kill!
-The enemy is going berserk!
What I had once experienced in the top lane had flipped on us.
Since our team was losing, the enemy secured the first Dragon as well.
It was an Ocean Dragon.
‘We’ll just have to be satisfied that we made a kill exchange.’
The game continued.
Our Sett had struggled early on, but while the enemy Rakan was teleporting to the bottom lane, he found some breathing room.
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.
Due to the imbalance between the top laners, we regrettably had to give up the first Rift Herald.
In exchange, we pushed the bottom turret.
Our ADC exploded in growth.
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.
With the snowball from destroying the bottom turret, our team secured the second Dragon.
It was a Wind Dragon.
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.
A large-scale fight erupted over the third Dragon, which was an Infernal Dragon.
I had the chance to pull off a super play but couldn’t due to the sudden pain that struck me.
We won the fight and managed to secure the Dragon, but we lost in kill exchanges at 2:3, causing our mid turret to fall.
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Our support, who was securing vision, got ambushed by the enemy and we immediately lost Baron.
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.
Trusting the Baron buff far too much, the enemy was greedily pushing forward, and we successfully clapped back, winning the team fight 1:5.
We took the mid turret and secured a Dragon.
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A battle unfolded over the Dragon.
If we secure this Dragon, it’ll mean four Dragons for us.
Moreover, it was the Infernal Dragon.
As long as we secured it, the flow of the game would firmly be on our side.
The battle raged on, but we lost the Smite fight by a hair’s breadth.
I lost my focus due to pain in my lower abdomen.
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.
Once again, we lost the Dragon.
Now, the Dragon count stood at 3:3.
Considering the initial difference of 1:3, I had almost lost every Smite fight.
Was it because of the consecutive Smite losses?
My previously silent ADC typed for the first time.
[qq7785dd55(Twisted Fate): jg are you okay?]
At first glance, it might seem like blame, but I knew he wasn’t one to chat much, so I took it as concern.
After all, GRS is a team that’s treated me well.
[Prisoner(Rek’Sai): okok no problem]
The game continued.
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.
We secured the fourth Dragon.
In the meantime, the enemy got the Baron.
They must have done it as an exchange.
With the team that took Baron advancing, our mid inhibitor was pushed.
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A fight broke out over the Elder Dragon.
We won the team fight, but unfortunately narrowly lost the Elder Dragon.
The enemy pushed our bottom inhibitor.
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After a grueling 50-minute battle, we finally smashed the enemy Nexus.
[Victory]
“I… won…!”
Maybe it was because the tension was released.
Or maybe it was just that I was finally grateful for having fortified myself till now.
I felt my legs turning to jelly.
[+14 LP]
[1806 LP]
1800 points.
I had finally stepped into an unexplored territory that no one had ever set foot in before.
“…Ah.”
Yet, that joy was fleeting.
I collapsed face-first on my desk.
The pain in my lower abdomen, which I hadn’t felt due to adrenaline, was now back with a vengeance.
“Ugh, oof…”
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.
‘Am I really… going to die?’
Fear enveloped me.
I didn’t want to die; there were still so many things I wanted to do…
Before long, everything in front of me became hazy.
I didn’t know if it was from the pain or the fear of possibly dying, but tears flowed down uncontrollably.
I needed to move; I had to reach out to someone…
But my body felt so heavy.
Within an unfamiliar wave of pain, I lost consciousness.