Chapter 10: Not a Chance

For a moment, the thrill was replaced by some rather unsettling news.

• An ally has been slain!

Orianna was slain by Cassiopeia in a solo kill.

Of course, given the match-up, Cassiopeia holds an advantage, but being slain in a solo encounter is a different story altogether. This meant that Cassiopeia had outplayed Orianna in terms of lane skills.

‘Hmm.’

Is this the 90% win rate duo? Despite completely crushing the top and jungle, there’s still a glimmer of life on the mid side.

In League of Legends, the most impactful role is always the mid lane.

There might be times when jungle meta or other trends take the spotlight, but fundamentally, the mid lane has always been the most critical lane throughout the history of League of Legends.

‘This makes it a bit harder to set up a jungle invade.’

Just moments ago, I was planning to take control of all four buffs, but the situation has forced me to change my approach.

The jungle always demands choices.

Should I clear the camps, or should I go for a gank? If we have control, should I set up an invade, secure objectives, or completely clear up my base?

In other words, now I’ve lost one option – setting up an invade – due to the loss of our mid laner’s control.

However, for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction, and losing control in the mid lane doesn’t always have to have a negative impact.

Losing control simply means that the enemy is pushing their lane, which exposes them to ganking threats.

‘Let’s see how they react.’

I marked the enemy top lane.

This meant that even the struggling enemy top would have to play it safe, leading to a control of the upper crab.

No matter how much mid lane control they claim, the top lane is falling, and given that our jungler’s level is at 1, no one dares to start a fight for the upper crab.

‘Just as expected.’

Typically, in most games, controlling the upper crab often leads to an advantage in the game.

However, that’s only true in most cases – this game was already half-decided due to the invade.

I went directly to the upper crab, but the enemy Cassiopeia did not react at all.

Instead, she felt pressure that I might come gank instead.

Securing the upper crab, I reached level 3.

Normally, I shouldn’t be level 3 yet, but I gained experience from the multiple kills I secured.

I then moved directly towards the enemy blue buff.

It was to check Rek’Sai’s movements.

‘The blue buff is there.’

This meant that Rek’Sai had not taken the blue buff after dying, but rather had devised a route to escape towards the lower jungle to avoid me.

From here, I had to make another choice.

Should I play it safe, clear jungle camps that include the enemy blue, and then proceed with diving top to claim marks, or should I recall and head towards the lower crab to completely ruin Rek’Sai?

In the past, I would have chosen one of the two options.

However, my current form is at a level that is termed as ‘on fire.’

There’s no reason to avoid a fight, so new options naturally emerged.

‘I’ll go for the mid lane.’

Orianna has just respawned.

The teleport was also used for lane return after the invade, so it wasn’t available.

That meant I couldn’t respond to a gank.

But it didn’t matter.

After Cassiopeia secured a solo kill, she overextended and tried to push the lane, but she had nearly exhausted all her mana.

She had also used all her spells.

This meant that Cassiopeia was now just a swift, snake-like champion with nothing left to threaten.

• Swoosh!

Just as the poison zone was about to be laid before me, I decisively used my Flash, which I had saved for such a moment, and dashed forward.

Cassiopeia tried to escape by using her ultimate in a delayed reaction, but with the red buff’s slow and my E skill’s slow applied, the distance between us had closed too much.

• An enemy has been slain!
• Rampage!
• Dominated!

Since Orianna had almost returned to lane, I didn’t stop there and headed straight to the lower jungle.

[Rek’Sai – Level 2]

Just as expected, as soon as I entered the river, Rek’Sai, who had just respawned, was hitting the crab.

If Rek’Sai were level 3, it would have been a dangerous choice to target Cassiopeia, but Rek’Sai, who was already behind, had just cleared a single camp.

“Hmm.”

Rek’Sai, only level 2, trying to take the crab? How arrogant.

“Crab confiscated.”

The crab’s health was now down to about 600.

Another smite battle was about to unfold.

This time, it was level 3 versus level 2.

For Rek’Sai, this was an even worse situation than before.

• Squeak!

As expected, I won this smite fight as well.

And with the victory, my level increased.

[Kindred – Level 4]

[Rek’Sai – Level 2]

The outcome of the next fight was already decided.

• An enemy has been slain!
• Unstoppable!

Now, I could do whatever I wanted.

I could take the dragon nearby or continue clearing my jungle camps near the blue buff.

Most users at this point would likely be satisfied, taking the dragon and clearing their blue jungle camps.

But I decided to recall instead.

[2,144 Gold]

I had accumulated quite a bit of gold, and I wanted to make Rek’Sai, who hadn’t even dodged, taste hell.

“Rek’Sai is level 2. She has 4 CS and has only taken the Scuttle Crab.”

This meant that the enemy jungle camps were all up in the top side, and there was only one camp left in the bottom jungle.

Rek’Sai must have known this.

“And from here, it gets easier.”

After buying tier 2 boots and core items, I headed straight to the enemy blue jungle.

The reason I bought boots first was not only because kiting was crucial in a fight with Rek’Sai, but also to get into the enemy jungle as quickly as possible.

As I crossed the river, the enemy Cassiopeia’s movements changed.

She had started moving early to cover Rek’Sai.

“Looks like a ward.”

Of course, it could be a bluff, so I moved while rotating my lens.

It was indeed a ward.

“Then, I can counter…?”

As I pinged Cassiopeia aggressively, my ally Orianna started to pressure her.

“Peek-a-boo.”

Cassiopeia, who was moving to cover Rek’Sai, was quickly surrounded by Orianna and me.

Rek’Sai appeared too late, and at level 2, there was nothing she could do in this situation.

• Enemy slain!
• Unstoppable!

Once Cassiopeia was quickly taken down, Rek’Sai tried to escape.

Of course, it was futile.

• Enemy slain!
• Dominating the battlefield!

Having taken out the enemy mid-jungle in no time, I pinged the top lane.

I had placed a mark on the top lane, but the reason I didn’t head there was because the mark would naturally be collected once the enemy mid-laner was taken down.

[MAX WooChan(Nyar): Save me.]

Soon after, the enemy top laner, sensing their imminent death, typed in chat.

The game was virtually over at this point, and the chat was a sign of that.

[Jungler’sSlave(Lee Sin): Try hard.]

[MAX WooChan(Nyar): I’m trying hard.]

[Jungler’sSlave(Lee Sin): Not enough effort.]

[MAX WooChan(Nyar): ********]

Before the chat even finished, Orianna and I dived the top lane.

Lee Sin took the tower aggro first, making it a very clean dive.

• Enemy slain!

[yytvxxiaojin(Rek’Sai): open]

Finally, it seemed Rek’Sai’s mental broke, and she declared an “open.”

Even though the Herald hadn’t even spawned yet and the game was far from over, the result was already decided.

“That was easy.”

Though the enemy bot lane tried to stop us, they couldn’t stop the five of us, especially after we brought the Herald with us.

[Victory]

[+17 LP]

[1630 LP]

Having secured an easy win, I immediately queued up again without taking a break.

“I guess I’ll do some lurking for now.”

Due to the long queue times at the higher ranks, lurking in the community became one of my main activities during this time.

While browsing the community, I saw a strange post go up in real-time.

• Breaking news) Red Cup runner-up duo, 35-game winning streak finally ended.