Chapter 4: Solo Rank (1)

Prisoner has joined the lobby.

SY Rainbow has joined the lobby.

meiuvanfairer55 has joined the lobby.

SCV BlackDog has joined the lobby.

SCV WhiteCat has joined the lobby.

There are a few familiar IDs.

Among them, the most pleasant one is, of course, Rainbow.

The two-time Red Cup-winning mid-laner.

He’s someone who occupies a spot on my friend list, and as expected, the moment I queued up, he was matched into the same game as me.

Normally, he would’ve whispered to me first, but for some reason, today he was silent.

“Well, maybe he’s busy.”

It’s not unusual for people to queue and then do other things.

Next, my gaze naturally shifted to the SCV bottom duo.

The so-called beast duo from SCV.

SCV is a team that ranks in the mid-upper tier of the domestic league, and they even reached the semifinals in this Red Cup.

If their opponent in the semifinals hadn’t been the champion team, SY, their performance could have easily led them to the championship.

Among them, the power of their bottom lane is considered world-class.

“Looks like we’re winning.”

A Red Cup-winning top-laner and a semifinalist bottom duo. Even if I wanted to lose, it was almost impossible with these teammates.

“The top is a bit concerning, but… it should be fine.”

Given that I’ve never seen this ID before, it seems like a Chinese player, and I just hope they don’t throw.

“I’m first pick.”

Blue team, first pick.

It’s a pick with many pros and cons.

The advantage is that I can take the OP champions according to the patch first, but that’s something that applies more to team games, and in solo rank, first pick usually means I’ll be countered.

So, when I’m first pick on the blue team, my pick options are a bit limited.

I either have to pick an OP champion that has no counters,

Or pick a champion that can play multiple positions, someone who can swap lanes,

Or pick a safe champion that works well in first pick.

“Hmmm.”

It’s the same for any lane, but I don’t particularly like first pick.

As I mentioned earlier, there are too many limitations on what I can pick.

If I were to swap with a teammate, it’s obvious that the synergy of my allies’ lanes would suffer, so I silently looked at the pick window.

[Ban List]

Sylas / Kai’Sa

Shaco / Sylas

Karthus / Morgana

Talon / Aatrox

Kai’Sa / Thresh

“This one survived.”

Recently, there’s been a champion that has been banned so often, it’s almost a must-ban, but for some reason, it didn’t get banned this time.

I must go there.

Reshuffling.

The champion I picked was one that required significant physical skill, a champion I wouldn’t usually choose. However, since the game seemed like an easy win, it was the one I selected.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I had any intention of trolling.

Reshim was considered an OP champion in the current meta and was also a versatile pick that could handle lane swaps.

The bans and picks were completed.

[Allies / Enemies]

Top: Jason / Sion
Jungle: Reshim / Allison
Mid: Zhui / Orianna
ADC: Tristana / Samira
Support: Nautilus / Leona

Overall, it was a decent pick and ban phase.

Our team lacked a tank but focused on a poke composition, while the enemy team had a classic team fight composition with a tank.

If asked which was better, we had the advantage in the laning phase and skirmishes, but the enemy team had the edge in late-game team fights.

• Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.

The game officially began.

As expected from a high-tier game, no one was slacking off or wasting time.

The pings rang loudly.

We boldly entered the enemy red jungle through the top bush.

It was an unexpected invade that caught the enemy off guard, but the enemy team was composed of high-tier players and active pros. They had anticipated this and had all five players grouped together, leading to a level 1 skirmish.

• First Blood!

The standout player in this skirmish was, of course, Zhui from Rainbow.

Flash, Ignite, Flash, Exhaust, Flash…

‘Did they level up W at level 1?’

Typically, I would expect Zhui to level Q or E first, so this was a crazy decision.

• Double Kill!
• Triple Kill!
• Massacre!

Literally wreaking havoc in the middle of the battlefield, Zhui earned a triple kill.

The result was a dominant 4:1 victory.

[MidMokkeMame: Zhui is such a broken champion]
[ORD Ruma: ox]

It seemed the enemy team didn’t expect to witness Zhui’s flash plays at level 1, and they essentially gave up on the game.

But the snowballing didn’t stop there.

Nautilus, who had switched to a vision detection item, cleared all the wards in the enemy red area.

At this point, the enemy jungler was forced to start at blue and had to make decisions based on limited options in the upcoming routes.

The enemy team had no idea where I was going, essentially leaving it up to chance.

In these situations, it’s usually necessary for laners to help the jungler, but with the laners having already donated a triple kill to Rainbow’s Zhui and burned all their summoner spells, they didn’t have the energy to do anything.

As expected.

The level difference between the enemy jungler and me, who had failed to make a choice beyond the easy one, had now grown to 3 levels.

[Reshim – Level 7]
[Allison – Level 4]

It was a rare sight in a high-tier game with top-level players, but the game had gone so badly after the invade that this situation arose.

Perhaps realizing there was no way out, the enemy team of five gathered and attempted a dive on our top lane.

• Our ally has been slain!
• Shutdown!

Normally, if the enemy team is unseen to this extent, it would be natural for laners to play a little more cautiously…

But, as expected, we couldn’t count on our top laners to do that.

[meiuvanfairer55: sorry]

At least they had a sense of conscience.

‘In that case, it’s only right to repay them.’

It was now time for the mid and jungle to take action.

As the five enemies, who had finished diving top, hurriedly retreated, Reshim and Zhui blocked their escape route.

A 5v2 situation.

However, the enemy’s health, ultimates, and summoner spells were in a poor state.

Without hesitation, I made my move.

‘Now.’

In the blink of an eye, with a combo, three enemies were taken out.

It was the combo often referred to as Reshim’s flashy combo on YouTube.

Then, it was Zhui’s stage, practically.

As the enemy team retreated, I carefully collected their summoner spells and closed in on them.

Soon, Samira, hit by a sleep, was taken out in one shot.

• Dominator of the battlefield!

The enemy team, losing their ADC so easily, became disoriented and was hunted down one by one.

After my skill cooldown, I used my skills again and joined the chaos.

• Avatar of the battlefield!

Perhaps sensing defeat, the enemy attempted to retreat, but there was no place to run.

Could this be called a team fight?

Wouldn’t “hunting” be a more fitting term?

Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.

• The legend appears!
• Finish!

The result was, quite literally, a massacre.

A 5v2 fight ending in a result that seemed almost unbelievable.

Shortly after, countless hooks were being marked.

[?][?][?][?][?][?][?][?]

There are two possibilities when hooks are marked.

It was either ridiculously bad, or it was some ridiculous super play.

Of course, the play we showed was the latter.

Two of us overwhelming five enemies—that was what it meant.

…What is this? Why am I doing so well?

I couldn’t hide my slight bewilderment.

At first, I thought it was just an easy game.

After all, the difficulty of the game is different between favorable and unfavorable situations.

But the more I played, the more an inexplicable sense of dissonance wrapped around my whole body.

My fingertips felt light.

It was as if the champion and I had become one, and the champion moved according to my will.

The movements of the enemy champions were crystal clear, and responding to them wasn’t difficult at all.

A sensation I had never felt before.

Of course, objectively speaking, I am good at the game.

But that skill was always a result of long experience, practice, and personal research—not from fighting or physical prowess.

But now, something had changed.

It felt distinctly different from my previous self.

It was fun.

The game was so much fun.

‘If it’s like this…’

I gradually slipped into a state of rapture.

Little by little, little by little.

To be continued.