Chapter 30: Agent T mission complete.

‘Hmm.’

One thing I can be thankful for is that the opponent doesn’t have a full lineup either.

[SCV WhiteCat – Samira]
[MAX Lineover – Nautilus]
Support duo.

According to some statistical data, it’s said that support players generally perform much worse when playing other positions compared to players from other roles.

Well… it didn’t really matter much, since most supports have a good understanding of the bottom lane, so it wasn’t all that significant.

Even if weaknesses show up, they will only appear during mid-game or late-game team fights, not in the laning phase.

• Welcome to the Summoner’s Rift.

The game officially started.

Even without considering Rainbow, there was no one on the enemy team who could be taken lightly.

‘That jungler… I knew I recognized him, it’s that Chinese pro player.’

The players who made it to the Red Cup finals, runners-up, and top 4 are all gathered in one place.

This was definitely the gateway to rank 1.

‘This should be enough to get the game going.’

The game has already started.

There’s no need to make a fuss.

What’s needed now is only determination and focus.

‘The enemy jungler is Ellison. The key to the game will be top lane fights.’

What this means is that I cannot let the game flow smoothly without interference.

Ellison Renekton is called the standard combo for a reason.

If Ellison ever manages to gank top or dive top, the game will be hard to recover from.

Ellison’s standard path is buff-buff-toad, the so-called ‘Buff-Buff-Toad’ path.

This means reaching level 3 as quickly as possible and then intervening in the lanes. The outcome of Ellison’s success here will determine the flow of the rest of the game.

In other words, I must somehow prevent this standard path from going through.

‘Top lane can be left to 1v1, it’s a favorable matchup. What I need to do is stop Ellison from intervening in the top lane.’

There are several methods.

I can follow the same path as Ellison, the Buff-Buff-Toad, and head toward top lane together.

Or, I can clear the upper camps faster than Ellison and break the gank angle entirely by reaching top lane first.

Or I could even…

‘Completely prevent the Buff-Buff-Toad path by going for an early invade.’

Though it’s called a gamble, the early invade strategy is one of the best ways to win in solo queue.

After all, we have Alistar, known as the level 1 guardian angel, on our team.

‘And on top of that, we have Karma.’

Although his pilot skills might be questionable, Karma’s early-level invade power wasn’t to be underestimated.

Someone once said,
‘Prisoner may be good at this nowadays, but isn’t he just a one-trick pony with invades?’

Well,

I can’t fully agree with that opinion, but truth be told, sometimes games are at their best when they’re won early.

Especially when that victory is the gateway to rank 1.

[Prisoner (Diana) is on the way]
[Prisoner (Diana) is on the way]
[Prisoner (Diana) is on the way]

I ping diligently toward the bottom bush.

[↓] [4]

[3-minute top lane honorary disciple (Karma) is on the way]

[3-minute top lane honorary disciple (Karma) is on the way]

Someone pinged top lane in the middle, but I lightly ignored it.

They still think they’re playing top lane.

Before I knew it, we arrived at the bottom straight bush, and with Alistar leading the way, we entered the three-way bush.

• Whee-ing.

With Alistar’s lens, the ward in the three-way bush was revealed.

[+10G]
Nice 10 gold.

‘That’s not the important part.’

This was the important part.

By spamming retreat pings, I guided my team to make a retreating move.

After luring them to retreat just before the ward’s vision disappeared…

[Prisoner (Diana) is on the way]

We naturally re-entered.

These small techniques that sometimes create memorable plays are often seen from players who are called “masters of vision.”

Well, I think I know as much about vision as those players do.

27…

Nautilus, who had been hiding in the bush, started fleeing hurriedly.

“What’s going on? Wasn’t that a retreat?”

It looked like that was what everyone thought, with a confused expression clearly showing in their movement.

In that moment.

• Whoosh!

Karma’s hook attaches to the wall.

One of the reasons why Karma is so strong in an invade at level 1 is the long-range initiation.

• Whoosh!

Karma flies toward Nautilus.

‘It feels like the distance is just a little too short?’

When the distance difference was so obvious, anyone would think the same.

• Flash!

Karma’s ultimate move.

• Flash!

Did Nautilus sense the danger and immediately use his flash without hesitation?

In the end, Karma’s and Nautilus’ flashes crossed, and nothing happened.

Looking at Nautilus fleeing from a distance, Karma expressed his emotions.

J

Wasting his ultimate like that, how nice.

Of course, since it was a flash exchange, I could say it wasn’t necessarily a loss, but it was the mid-lane flash and the support’s flash.

The value isn’t the same.

Moreover, there’s also the value of flash for each champion.

Especially for Karma, depending on whether he has flash or not, certain gank responses become possible, so it was even more regrettable.

‘No mid-gank until flash is back up.’

Of course, I didn’t intend to voice this out loud.

Anyway, thanks to Karma’s aggressive movements, the enemy team retreated without hesitation from the Red Jungle.

The boldness of the top lane disciple caught the enemy off guard.

‘They retreated too casually. They were likely either planning to take the upper route or heading straight for my red.’

With that, I also made a bold decision.

‘I suspect the enemy has placed a ward either in the red bush or at the mid lane riverside intersection.’

If that’s the case…

• Whoosh.

As I moved to what I predicted to be the ward’s blind spot and pressed recall, I could see my team showing signs of confusion.

“Shut up, you guys.”

You should retreat appropriately too.

The reason I moved to the ward’s blind spot was to make sure that Lee Sin wouldn’t recklessly enter the red jungle again.

By doing so, they wouldn’t be able to easily start the red, nor could they target my red.

• Whoosh!

After recalling back to base, I immediately headed toward my red.

[Going] Prisoner (Diana) is on the way

[Going] Prisoner (Diana) is on the way

[Going] Prisoner (Diana) is on the way

Of course, I didn’t forget to bring Kun and Karma with me to be prepared for any surprise attack.

‘The enemy composition is Renekton, Lee Sin, and Juyi. Even if the enemy is waiting, we have an absolute advantage in a 1-level 3v3 fight.’

Juyi from Rainbow I could understand, but compared to Renekton and Lee Sin, who are known for their early-game power, they aren’t strong champions at level 1.

In fact, they are relatively weak champions at this stage.

What about our champions?

Diana, the Conqueror with a powerful auto-attack passive.

Kun, a ranged champion based on auto-attacks.

Karma, a champion that’s considered overpowered from the start.

Looking at all this, the early game is nothing but an overwhelming advantage for us.

‘As expected, nothing happened.’

Whether the enemy was waiting or they started with a blue jungle route, I don’t know, but the important thing is that the early game went according to my plan.

‘Still, I feel a bit disappointed.’

It was because of the recent patch to jungle experience.

Since the patch, even if you take the three camps on the blue side, you still reach level 3.

This patch improved the early game for junglers, but in this particular moment, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

‘If it were before the patch, I could have forced their jungle route… It’s a bit of a shame.’

If it were before the patch, even if Lee Sin cleared the blue side jungle, he would only reach level 2, forcing him to head toward the bottom jungle.

That would have forced a specific jungle route.

However, in the current version, this isn’t possible, and Lee Sin has a bit more freedom in his jungle route.

‘But the difference between having red buff and not having it is huge.’

The early game timing is crucial where one auto-attack can determine the outcome.

The slow and damage from the red buff, even with some exaggeration, feels like an early Elder Dragon buff in terms of its impact.

As Lee Sin, it’s highly likely that I’ll continue to jungle around the red buff.

‘I wouldn’t want to engage in a 2v2 fight with Diana who already has red buff in the top lane.’

The rest is simple.

Naturally, I leave the top lane to become a 1v1 match, while I spread my influence to other lanes and widen the gap.

However…

A variable is something we call a variable precisely because we couldn’t predict it.

• First Blood!
• Our ally has been killed!

It had barely been two minutes since the game started, and my mid-laner had already died.

They probably couldn’t escape since they didn’t have Flash.

• 3-minute top lane honorary disciple (Karma): Juyi Flash
• 3-minute top lane honorary disciple (Karma): Juyi Ignite

This is it.

The kind of absolute power that instantly breaks through any strategy or tactic.

That was the true strength that Rainbow possessed.

[All][3-minute top lane honorary disciple (Karma): Mission complete.]

I can’t allow the sacred rank 1 to be taken by a mere butcher.]

[All][3-minute top lane honorary disciple (Karma):

Now that I think about it, the current rank 1 might be the top laner…

‘…No, that’s not important.’

[Prisoner (Diana): Excuse me?]

[: How’s that? I just caught the enemy off guard.]

3-minute top lane honorary disciple (Karma)

Seems like they are being serious, doesn’t it?

[3-minute top lane honorary disciple (Karma): I just set up mid for a kill, come over right away ᄀ]

…Isn’t that muscle?

Looks like it could easily hit 500 in the bench press.

‘…Sigh.’

What can be done?

In this crucial moment, I truly regret accepting that suspicious duo proposal from that suspicious person.

‘Still, Juyi’s summoner spells are all down now.’

I quietly observed the mid lane.