Chapter 17: Look at this?

After a small commotion in the pick screen, the game finally began.

[Game Start!]

As soon as the screen transitioned to the loading screen, I instinctively checked the enemy team’s ranks through a stats site.

(D3) |||||||||| – Renekton
(D2) DiamondOrDie – Lee Sin
(D2) ZedMaster Kim – Zed
(D4) 2021.06.07 – Samira
(P2) TidalWave – Nami

‘If I had to average it out… it’s roughly mid-Diamond level.’

The highest rank was Diamond 2, and the lowest was Platinum 2, so that estimate seemed about right.

In contrast, my team’s ranks were relatively lower, excluding myself.

(P2) DiamondGatekeeper11 – Sion
(C1) Prisoner – Sylas
(D4) TriangularMidLaner – Talon
(P4) JaeHyukGod123 – Kai’Sa
(G3) DahyeThumbPrincess – Lulu

‘Platinum, Diamond, Platinum, Gold.’

It was to be expected.

Even though normal game MMR is said to be separate from ranked MMR, in my experience, they often correlate closely.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

Regardless of the situation, I was here to test the performance of my new gear.

[Loading…]

The loading screen took quite a while.

This was likely because most players here didn’t care as much about their gaming environment compared to those in my usual games. It was to be expected.

• Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.

After waiting through loading for around three minutes, the game finally began.

Maybe because it was a normal game, but even 20 seconds into the start, I was the only one moving in the fountain.

!!!

Pinging didn’t get any response.

Smoke break, bathroom, who knows what the reason was—but as a jungler, this wasn’t exactly a pleasant situation.

If we got invaded, the enemy would gain vision in our jungle, which would severely restrict my pathing.

‘Man… this neighborhood hasn’t changed.’

It had been so long since I last played a normal game that I even felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

If this had happened in a ranked game, I might have felt like leaving right away, but this was a normal game.

This level of unpredictability was already within my expectations.

‘Now, let’s see.’

I checked the invade matchup.

[Our Team / Enemy Team]
Top: Sion / Renekton
Jungle: Sylas / Lee Sin
Mid: Talon / Zed
ADC: Kai’Sa / Samira
Support: Lulu / Nami

If someone unfamiliar were to see it, they might wonder what the point is in analyzing invade matchups when our team isn’t even moving. But that’s far from the truth.

The fact that our team isn’t defending against an invade due to their “smoke break” or rest period is something only we know.

In other words, whether or not our team defends against an invade, how the enemy reacts to the situation depends entirely on the early skirmish matchups between champions on both sides.

Thus, I made my judgment.

‘Based on matchups, they’re more likely to invade first.’

Our team was on the lower side of the map.

I placed a ward in the bush near my red buff and retreated.

It would’ve been too risky to try and defend the red alone when my team wasn’t around to back me up.

It was right around the one-minute mark when the game had started.

[All][ZedMaster Kim (Zed): ?]
[All][ZedMaster Kim (Zed): Is it real?]

The enemy team finally seemed to have completed their stat-checking, and peculiar reactions started coming through.

At the same time, our teammates, who had just begun moving, also chimed in on the chat.

[All][TriangularMidLaner (Talon): LOL]
[All][TriangularMidLaner (Talon): Guys, it’s over now.]
[All][TriangularMidLaner (Talon): FF at 15 GG]
[All][ZedMaster Kim (Zed): Why is a Challenger in normals? LOL]
[All][2021.06.07 (Samira): Wow… Such a distinguished guest in this humble place…]
[All][2021.06.07 (Samira): Just kidding.]
[All][DiamondOrDie (Lee Sin): I’m a huge fan. Please teach me a thing or two.]

As the chat continued, it was only after 1 minute and 10 seconds into the game that our bot duo finally started moving.

It was already too late for a leash, and the vision around our red buff was in a precarious state. So, I pinged a retreat.

!!!

Despite my retreat pings, it seemed Lulu either left her character moving or was distracted again, as her movements were off.

• First Blood!

Of course.

Our support was caught and sacrificed by the enemy team, who had been lying in wait just out of ward vision.

[DahyeThumbPrincess (Lulu): Ah.]
[DahyeThumbPrincess (Lulu): Sorry.]
[JaeHyukGod123 (Kai’Sa): It’s okay, let’s do our best!]

It was such a familiar scene that I didn’t even react much.

While I was hitting our blue buff for my first clear, something caught my attention.

‘Hmm?’

Suddenly, the enemy Renekton and Zed appeared near my blue buff.

It seemed they had placed a ward beforehand and were lying in ambush.

‘Well, well, look at this.’

Meanwhile, the enemy jungler and bot duo were at my red buff.

This meant that only these two were here right now.

If our team had helped counter the invade, it would’ve been a 3v2 situation, and we could’ve turned the tables on them. Unfortunately, our top and mid-laners were already committed to their lanes.

‘This is getting interesting.’

It was clear they were willing to sacrifice some lane advantage to hinder me as much as possible.

Considering the stark difference in rank between the players across all roles, this was a valid and effective strategy for a normal game.

After all, the enemy laners, excluding their jungler, had relatively higher ranks than our team.

Moreover, being Diamond-level players, they didn’t charge at me recklessly—they approached with caution.

If the allies were to join in, it might actually become more dangerous, and the enemy seemed to have accounted for this possibility.

‘They’re keeping their distance and harassing me.’

In other words, their goal wasn’t to steal my blue buff but to disrupt my jungle pathing as much as possible.

‘In this situation, allies should come to help even if they lose a little lane advantage… but I can’t expect that.’

Since I couldn’t continue hitting the blue buff alone, I had no choice but to stop jungling and back off temporarily.

• Ha ha ha!
• Ka ka ka ka!!

When I retreated, the enemy Renekton and Zed taunted me with laughter emotes.

It was infuriating.

After the blue buff reset, my teammates, who had cleared one wave, finally started moving in a hurry.

Of course, by that time, the blue buff had already reset, and the enemy top and mid-laners had returned to their lanes.

As a result, while the two enemy laners suffered minor lane losses, I was heavily delayed in my jungle pathing.

‘This is going to be tough.’

Sylas is already a jungler who struggles without a leash.

On top of that, the blue buff I was working on had reset, leaving me with very few viable options.

‘There’s a reason Sylas isn’t commonly used in the jungle.’

Who would’ve thought the enemy would play like this in a normal game?

In some ways, I was paying the price for picking a low-tier champion out of frustration.

‘I’ll have to start with the wolves.’

Since my health was already significantly low, there was no way I could solo a buff monster, even with Smite.

Finally, after taking down the wolves and reaching level 2, the enemy Lee Sin, who had already hit level 3, showed up in our bot lane.

• You’ve been attacked! Allies slain!
• Enemy double kill!

In an instant, our bot duo was wiped out.

The enemy effectively blocked our strengths and exploited our weaknesses.

At first, I thought such tactics were unheard of in normal games.

But on second thought, maybe it was because it was a normal game that they could afford to play like this.

There were no penalties for losing, so they could gamble freely without concern.

‘This is getting interesting.’

In League of Legends, there are games where, no matter what you do as an individual, you simply cannot win.

For me, this might be one of those games.

There was barely any justification for trying to win.

After all, it was just a normal game with no ranked points at stake, and I was simply testing out new equipment.

But…

[All][2021.06.07 (Samira): Don’t feel too bad. It’s me you’re up against~]
[All][Renekton: Is this… the Challenger #2?]
[All][DiamondOrDie (Lee Sin): Teacher, do you think I can make it to Master with this level of play?]

Now, I wanted to win this game.

To be continued…