LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 431
After MAX’s bot dive.
Excitement was dripping from the commentators’ voices as they were broadcasting the match.
[“Protein───! Are you really planning to counter like this?!”]
[“No, it’s this way!”]
[“Protein’s super play! What a fantastic display right from his LCKR debut!”]
[“OLZ, looking good?! They’re not backing down at all against the great MAX!”]
[“Not backing down? More like OLZ seems to have the upper hand right now!!?”]
As Zeri and Nautilus went down, the situation became 3:1, yet MAX chose not to finish off Rakan and gave up their dive attempt.
[“It looks like the champions are struggling with their health management, and if they take too long to catch Rakan, Lee Sin and LeBlanc, who are at least a bit late, might just join in?”]
[“Yeah, that seems about right.”]
Ryu Jin-hyuk, watching this unfold, muttered softly.
“It’s not over yet.”
“Huh? Oh, right.”
After all, MAX was no push-over of a team.
Instead of retreating after abandoning the dive, Aurelion Sol and Rek’Sai had actually hidden in the enemy jungle.
The commentators noticed MAX’s intentions and couldn’t help but admire.
[“Wait, it’s not over yet?”]
[“For MAX, ending it here would feel absolutely terrible!”]
[“Looks like they’re aiming for Lee Sin? But then this might cost them some mid CS…”]
[“Yeah! There have been murmurs about Outlaw being incredible since his amateur days! He was also the second player in history to hit solo queue 2000 points.”]
Longbow, who was watching the screen, mumbled to himself.
“Huh? Outlaw is second? Then who’s first?”
“Prisoner.”
“Oh… right.”
Longbow awkwardly chuckled, not expecting Ryu Jin-hyuk to respond to his musings, knowing full well the pain Ryu felt over the rumors surrounding Prisoner’s death.
Anyway, MAX’s plan was simple.
Feigning weakness, their goal was to ambush Lee Sin, who naively came in for jungle or cover.
But it didn’t take long for the commentators to catch wind of the changes.
[“Uh…? But Rakan hasn’t gone home yet?”]
[“And LeBlanc’s positioning is quite suspicious. Instead of heading straight to mid, she’s circling back!”]
[“Wait, did OLZ predict this?! ”]
[“Was there vision? But if so…!!!”]
Rakan had not gone home.
And behind him, LeBlanc was lurking, while Rakan quietly waited below, something MAX’s players had yet to notice.
In a way, one might think MAX could afford a little fishing trip.
But that was only how it looked from an outsider’s fully-vetted perspective. In-game, it would be typical to assume MAX was just pulling back to regroup.
“Wow… did they really foresee this?”
“Epic.”
Even the SY players were impressed.
From SY’s perspective, MAX’s plan was quite sharp, yet OLZ managed to predict it, taking the risk of giving up Rakan’s return timing in their counter.
Such a feat would require strong conviction and absolute trust in orders.
[“Ah, I saw it! Rakan’s position was revealed by Rek’Sai’s tremor.”]
[“But can they actually escape? Can they?!!!”]
Thanks to Rek’Sai’s tremor detection, MAX was able to quickly catch onto the unexpected, but OLZ, seeming to have anticipated this, was already wide around LeBlanc.
[“They’re closing the net! Can Aurelion Sol and Rek’Sai both survive?”]
[“Are they thinking of fighting?”]
[“Ah… no, it seems not. Aurelion Sol just flew away alone!”]
[“Rek’Sai’s trying to tunnel and dome dive, but LeBlanc! LeBlanc!”]
LeBlanc’s chain, which had come back around, struck Rek’Sai.
Having already spent his Flash in the bot dive, Rek’Sai had no means left to escape, while Aurelion Sol abandoned him and fled.
And so, Rek’Sai was left lonely, chained up by LeBlanc, followed by the sound wave from Lee Sin.
[“Sorry. I’ll go first.”]
“No. You just survive. If I were Sol, I’d probably say that.”
Considering Rek’Sai had poor stats even when he had no items, it didn’t take long for him to fall.
-Enemy eliminated!
[“Ah… still, at least one person survived? I guess that’s how it is. OLZ’s counter play was incredibly sharp.”]
[“They should be grateful for that now, but… it’s really no comfort! MAX is in a state of emergency. Emergency!”]
[“Newcomer incoming! OLZ is boldly shouting at the great MAX!”]
[“The dorm is echoing.”]
[“Hahaha! Yes, exactly. If a newcomer is in the dorm, everyone pays attention, right? And right now, MAX is being brutally treated by that newcomer.”]
The SY waiting room was buzzing.
This was because OLZ’s performance was anything but ordinary.
“Wow, this is insane.”
“They’re really good, huh? I already kinda knew, but still.”
Even though they knew OLZ was a strong team, the players were impressed again, because scrims and tournaments are different.
Many teams had shown great performance in scrims but flopped in tournaments, while others would perform poorly in scrims yet deliver good results in every tournament.
But at least from the SY players’ viewpoint, OLZ was neither of those.
OLZ’s strength was not confined to scrims or rumors; it was proven in tournaments too.
And that also meant SY had one more strong rival to contend with.
Meanwhile, despite the buzz in the waiting room, Ryu Jin-hyuk stared coldly at the screen.
The game wasn’t over yet.
“……”
Although OLZ had taken a significant early lead, it was only the beginning.
Given the combination characteristics of OLZ and MAX, they still had a long way to go before they could consider themselves satisfied.
‘So, what now?’
Surprisingly, many teams considered weak actually have a decent early laning phase.
However, the biggest reason why those teams are labeled weak is that they lack the strength to carry the advantages gained early game all the way to the finish.
This was somewhat expected.
In Legends of League, to become a pro, one must basically reach at least Challenger level in solo queue, and those are precisely the elite players who make up pro teams.
There are plenty of players who excel only at laning.
That’s why the true strength of a team is revealed from this point onward.
Would OLZ be able to extend their early game gains into the late game?
Ryu Jin-hyuk’s eyes were fixed on Lee Sin’s portrait on the minimap.
*
The first crucial step towards victory had been secured.
But considering the characteristics of both friends and foes, a single mistake could plunge the game back into the abyss.
‘There must be no mistakes.’
True, we gained quite a lot in the top lane, but we also suffered some losses in the bot lane.
People sometimes say OLZ’s bot is essentially a bus lane, but that’s a clear misconception.
In fact, our bot lane often managed to hold up well even if they didn’t win outright, which allowed us to achieve good results during the second division.
‘But, we are up against MAX’s bot.’
Even when facing SCV’s beast duo, if such a strong team’s bot starts to grow, no matter how well the top performs, it would become impossible to stop them.
Especially when that bot has a pick as immensely valuable as Kai’Sa in the current meta.
‘And if that bot’s given time to allow Aurelion Sol to grow… that’ll be it for the game.’
That’s why we can’t afford to stop.
Even after this game ends, and before we burst the opponent’s Nexus, we must keep moving constantly, tightening the opponent’s throat.
And we mustn’t allow any mistakes in the process.
As time flowed, the first dragon timing finally approached.
In Legends of League, objectives typically become the grounds for a fight.
Of course, in unfavorable situations, there are often times when they just let it go, but at least MAX believes they still hold some control over the dragon side, unlike the Rift Herald.
“Okay, let’s watch for the dragon fight.”
[“Okay.”]
The moment of decision approaches.
It might not be an exaggeration to say this moment could decide the game.