Chapter 25: This is a game.

Renekton and I joined forces, but the opposing Akali, who had been lurking around aimlessly, ran away the moment Karthus got caught.

That’s the nature of a level 2 Akali.

No strong crowd control, no meaningful combat ability—practically a spectator.

There’s a reason Akali is called a late-game champion who shines after level 6 or her first core item.

While Renekton and I couldn’t catch Akali, as both of us had already used our spells, it didn’t matter much. After all, Akali is a champion known for her strong survivability.

Later, Sion and Galio joined belatedly but returned to their lanes shortly, as if they deemed the situation resolved.

In their own way, they were spectators too.

I promptly stole the toad and wolves in the enemy jungle.

I also made sure to leave a small wolf behind for Karthus, a little token from our early skirmish victory.

“Until I finished eating the toad and wolves, Karthus didn’t reappear. He’s probably headed to the lower jungle.”

It was a perfectly logical decision, yet it seemed slightly surprising since the enemy jungler was Yuri Lee.

Usually, I would’ve expected Yuri to double back into the upper jungle, considering his playstyle.

“Is it because of GuineaPig?”

The wild horse trainer.

Even if not as deeply connected as Rainbow—the mid-laner with a close relationship to the jungle—GuineaPig, as a support, could play a somewhat similar role.

So, at this point, it might seem like Karthus just died once and the jungles were split evenly.

But there’s a critical fact hidden here.

That single death of Karthus wasn’t just any death.

“A level 2 Karthus without a blue buff…”

Just imagining the struggle of jungling in that condition was painful.

In other words, Karthus was effectively doomed early due to an overly reckless decision.

“No matter how good Yuri is, recovering from this will be no easy feat.”

And snowballing is all about amplifying such disparities and locking in the advantage.

“Now then…”

I assessed the situation.

Karthus headed to the lower jungle after his death, while I counter-jungled the upper side and even took the top scuttle crab.

The bot lane seemed to be struggling slightly, the mid lane was even, and the top lane had turned into a heavy dive line.

This was partly due to the Renekton and Elise combo, but also because Sion had to play cautiously after losing the early top-side skirmish.

From now on, I had free rein to do as I pleased.

I could choose to return to base and relentlessly harass Karthus as I had done with other opponents before. Or, I could commit to diving the top lane, where a perfect dive opportunity had formed.

I glanced at the bot lane.

“Hmmm… I could go back and focus on annoying Yuri, but the bot lane is bothering me.”

Heading to the lower jungle to harass Karthus might result in the enemy Lulu joining the fray, potentially turning the tide.

The current bot lane matchup was no joke, warranting such concern.

[SCV BlackDog – Jinx]
[SY GuineaPig – Lulu]

No less than a Red Cup semifinals ADC and a Red Cup champion support.

Actually, having two world-class players together meant that even for top-tier celestial players, enduring this matchup wouldn’t be easy.

“Just staying alive is already commendable.”

Holding the lane without crumbling and only conceding minor control against world-class players already proved their skill.

“Let’s head to the top.”

For now, I decided to stick to a textbook play.

With that judgment, I pinged the map.

[@] [@]
[Prisoner (Elise) has targeted 3-Minute Top Church Honorary Disciple (Sion)]
[Prisoner (Elise) has targeted 3-Minute Top Church Honorary Disciple (Sion)]

Renekton, who had been slow-pushing the lane to set up the wave, began aggressively shoving the lane as if he had been waiting for this.

It was a classic top-lane dive setup.

[Elise – Level 3]
[Renekton – Level 4]
[Sion – Level 4]

Normally, Sion should’ve retreated from the lane before it reached this point, regardless of whether the wave got pushed in or not.

From Sion’s perspective, he had already lost the early top-side skirmish, and the opponents were Elise and Renekton—an intimidating duo.

Moreover, Karthus had retreated toward the lower jungle, so the right move to avoid death would’ve been to leave the lane at any cost.

But I knew Sion.

More specifically, I knew the player controlling Sion in this game.

[3-Minute Top Church Honorary Disciple – Sion]

A top-laner from my friends list.

As their eye-catching nickname suggested, 3-Minute Top Church Honorary Disciple firmly believed that every top lane matchup was decided within the first three minutes by the actions of the junglers from both sides.

[®]
[Prisoner (Elise) has targeted 3-Minute Top Church Honorary Disciple (Sion)]

Soon after I emerged from the brush along with the dive wave, Sion flailed desperately, trying to dodge my cocoon.

If I missed the cocoon and Renekton accidentally took turret aggro first, the dive could fail.

Remaining calm, I closed in on Sion and lined up the cocoon.

“I’ll go first.”

Even without voice chat, Renekton seemed to understand and patiently waited for the perfect moment.

Though I couldn’t tell if the unfamiliar username belonged to a professional player, they definitely displayed the poise of a high-ranking player.

– Thwang!

The cocoon landed perfectly.

Renekton followed up seamlessly with his empowered W and a series of skills, as if orchestrated.

Sion, in a last-ditch effort as a tank, resisted fiercely, but he was still just a level 4 tank without any items.

There’s a reason the Elise-Renekton combo is considered a textbook strategy.

As Sion’s Q skill charged and was about to hit me, I skillfully used my rappel to draw turret aggro and then escaped with ease.

– Enemy slain!

Just like Karthus earlier, Sion briefly revived through his passive after death.

Now that I think about it, the top side was stacked with bully champions.

However, unfortunately for Sion, since he had taken Grasp instead of Glacial Augment as his rune, he couldn’t use his passive effectively as a threat, like our team’s Sion had done in the past.

Sion’s passive now served no other purpose than to help him farm the remaining minions.

– Hahaha!

Renekton’s laughter echoed across the Rift.

Renekton and I exchanged friendly emotes before simultaneously recalling back to base.

After returning to base, I immediately purchased tier-2 boots.

I felt the need to move as quickly as possible.

“There’s a dive setup forming in the bot lane.”

Moreover, Karthus’s pathing was heading downward.

Combining these two clues led to an unmistakable conclusion.

“The enemy is planning a bot-lane dive.”

In League of Legends, there’s a theory often referred to as the “diagonal rule.”

Simply put, if your team gains an advantage on one side of the map, the other side may suffer a loss, so you need to play cautiously.

The current bot-lane dive perfectly exemplified this diagonal rule.

Well, in recent times, the rule has become a bit of a meme, with people sarcastically calling it the “King’s Diagonal.”

Nonetheless, in this moment, the diagonal rule was being proven true as Karthus emerged from the tri-bush near bot lane.

[Karthus – Level 3]
[Elise – Level 4]

For Karthus, a champion strong in jungle clearing, to be a level behind Elise, a gank-focused jungler, indicated just how far Karthus had fallen behind.

Thus, the upcoming bot-lane dive was of paramount importance.

If the dive succeeded, all the setbacks Karthus had experienced would become irrelevant.

[√] [√] [↓]

I pinged repeatedly.

“I’m on my way, just hold out a little longer.”

“Can they hold out?”

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve arrived just in time, but there was one critical factor:

The opponents included Yuri Lee, BlackDog, and GuineaPig.

Together, these were players with the credentials of two Red Cup winners and a semifinalist laner—a terrifying combination.

There was no room for complacency.

Retreat pings sounded repeatedly.

With the dive wave, the enemy Jinx and Lulu pushed forward aggressively.

Meanwhile, Karthus cut off the escape route.

At the critical moment, when Karthus’s W landed on our Ezreal and Maokai—

– Wiiiing…

A light began to glow on the ward planted in the bot-lane bush by our team.

It was a teleport.

“I didn’t expect them to go this far.”

There was no need to guess whose teleport it was.

Among our team, there was only one laner who still had teleport available.

[@] [@]
[qwdkmqwojfte (Renekton) has targeted SCV BlackDog (Jinx)]
[qwdkmqwojfte (Renekton) has targeted SCV BlackDog (Jinx)]

With the teleport animation complete, Renekton, muscles rippling across his body, made his appearance.

Top difference had arrived.