Chapter 41: Are you okay?

The situation is not good.

In the early 2:2 skirmish in the top lane, which could very well decide the direction of the game, we not only suffered a loss but also gave a double kill to the opposing team’s core pick, Renekton.

To make matters worse, the player currently using Renekton is none other than EZ.

Even though EZ couldn’t participate in the Red Cup, he’s frequently mentioned as one of the top candidates globally due to his destructive carry potential.

Of course, there are those who argue, “If he was that good, he would’ve made it to the Red Cup,” but the fact that such debates exist in the first place is a testament to EZ’s undeniable value.

There’s even a running joke that the name “EZ” comes from his belief that all opponents are easy.

For a moment, I stopped at the fountain, and my teammates bombarded me with all sorts of pings.

[Prisoner (Rek’Sai): sorry]

I had been standing still for just over a minute.

If you think about what a minute of inactivity means in League of Legends, it’s clear that I had incurred a significant disadvantage.

“Am I feeling… slightly better?”

Maybe it was because I steeled my resolve or briefly shook off my fear, but the pain seemed a little less intense than before.

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to smile.

The situation remained dire.

Not only had we lost the early top-lane skirmish, but the allied jungler had momentarily left the game, which likely crushed my teammates’ morale.

The only silver lining was that I had managed to secure a kill in the earlier fight, and since Xin Zhao was killed, the gap in jungle growth wasn’t as significant as it could have been—even with the minute-long absence.

… Though the top-lane disparity had already spiraled out of control.

If it hadn’t been for my mistake, we could’ve secured a clean advantage and withdrawn safely, but now the top lane had to bear the brunt of the sacrifice.

“Sorry.”

Determined to make up for my mistake, I headed toward the lower jungle camps.

Analyzing the situation:

The enemy top-laner, Renekton, had become a monster.

The enemy jungler, Xin Zhao, had fallen slightly behind.

This means Xin Zhao’s options were now essentially limited to one.

He would likely camp the top lane.

The basic principle of jungling isn’t about forcing a losing lane to win; it’s about snowballing a winning lane to make it even more dominant.

The opposing jungler would undoubtedly understand this as well.

Therefore, my own options were just as clear.

“Going top right now would be foolish.”

Renekton is indeed a champion with relatively weak escape tools.

However, our team composition in the top lane consisted of Sett and Rek’Sai.

Both are melee champions.

While our composition has decent crowd control, it inherently lacks kiting capability.

To target the opposing Renekton, we’d have to get close to the beast itself.

Even if we timed it perfectly when Xin Zhao wasn’t around, there was still a chance we’d lose the 2:1 fight.

“The enemy Xin Zhao has options, but he’s more likely to play safe and camp top than risk creating variables in bot lane skirmishes.”

The game had suddenly become surprisingly simple.

This wasn’t about mind games anymore.

It was a pure battle of mechanical skills in skirmishes.

“I’ll target the bottom lane.”

There was no time for leisurely full jungle clears.

This bot lane gank was on a timer.

For solo lanes like the top-lane Renekton and mid-lane Galio, there’s a combo commonly referred to as their “ultimate play.”

First, use their ultimate to extinguish vision and teleport to join the fight while opponents are blinded. Then, follow up with another ultimate upon arrival.

This ultimate + teleport + ultimate combo, often called “UTU,” creates the illusion of Renekton magically appearing in bot lane out of nowhere, and its power is overwhelming.

This was why the game now felt like a time attack.

“Of course, Renekton could join a bot-lane skirmish before learning his ultimate, but pre-level 6 Renekton isn’t particularly threatening.”

His inherently slow mobility is to blame.

Moreover, if he did decide to join, it would free up our top-laner considerably, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad outcome.

Having finalized my plan, I quickly cleared the Raptors camp and tunneled towards the dragon side.

This was to avoid enemy wards.

As soon as I entered the enemy lower jungle, I spotted a familiar champion hitting the Gromp.

It was Xin Zhao.

“I thought he’d immediately cover top.

…

Did he predict my movement?”

Or maybe he simply wanted to clear his full jungle camps.

“Well, in any case, this frees up the top lane from dive pressure. Not bad.”

I swiftly tunneled in and smited the enemy Gromp.

[Xin Zhao – Level 4]

[Rek’Sai – Level 4]

This helped close the growth gap that had arisen during my minute-long absence.

“If I hadn’t stolen it, the level difference might’ve grown to two.”

Naturally, having the Gromp stolen right in front of him, Xin Zhao immediately charged at me.

In general, the Rek’Sai vs. Xin Zhao matchup favors Rek’Sai after level 3. However, in the current meta, where Xin Zhao’s tier is relatively high, I couldn’t be too confident.

Even though Xin Zhao’s current health, mana, and skill cooldowns were in poor condition, I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

Just before Xin Zhao’s E-skill connected—

A faint rumble echoed as I narrowly interrupted Xin Zhao’s skill with a knock-up, following it with a precise combo.

Auto-Q-Q-Q-E.

Although Xin Zhao resisted, he was already in poor condition, low on health, mana, and skills, and had taken the brunt of the first strike. He didn’t stand a chance.

Eventually, realizing he couldn’t win, Xin Zhao attempted to retreat.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t chase him down completely.

The enemy bot lane had joined the fight.

“Good.”

Still, I smiled.

After all, this skirmish had essentially opened the gates to a full-scale bot-lane fight.

• Enemy slain!
• Double kill!
• Rampage!

The bot-lane fight was a success.

Even though it was a 3v3 matchup, Xin Zhao had effectively been removed from the battlefield. Moreover, the synergy and aggro management of our bot-lane duo were spectacular.

However…

Every action has its reaction.

• Whoosh…

A ward in the bot-lane bush flared up.

The enemy Renekton had teleported into the fight.

Our team had already pushed too deep, making retreat impossible.

• An ally has been slain!
• Double kill for the enemy!
• The enemy is dominating!

What had been a top-lane gap earlier was now reversed.

As our team fell apart, the enemy secured the first dragon as well—a Ocean Dragon.

“At least I can take solace in the trade of kills.”

The game continued.

Our Sett had struggled heavily early on, but during the time Renekton teleported to the bot lane, he managed to recover slightly.

The imbalance in the top-lane matchup forced us to concede the first Rift Herald.

In exchange, we took down the bot turret.

Our ADC experienced explosive growth.

Using the momentum from breaking the bot turret, we secured the second dragon—a Cloud Dragon.

The third dragon, a Infernal Dragon, became the battleground for a large-scale team fight.

Though I had an opportunity for a super play, sudden abdominal pain prevented me from executing it.

In the end, while we secured the dragon, we lost the trade 2:3 in kills and subsequently lost our mid turret.

Our support, trying to gain vision, got caught in an enemy ambush, leading to the enemy team securing Baron.

Riding the Baron buff, the enemy overextended their push. We successfully punished them with a 1:5 team fight victory.

We took the mid turret and another dragon.

The dragon fight continued.

If we could secure this dragon, it would be our fourth.

And that dragon was an Infernal Dragon.

Securing it would solidify our victory.

The skirmish resumed, but we narrowly lost the smite battle.

The abdominal pain blurred my focus, causing us to lose yet another dragon.

The dragon count now stood at 3:3.

Given that the dragon gap had been 1:3 earlier, it wasn’t wrong to say that I’d lost every smite battle so far.

Perhaps it was due to the consecutive smite losses.

For the first time, our mid-laner, who had been silent all game, typed in chat.

[qq7785dd55 (Twisted Fate): jg are you okay?]

At first glance, it might seem accusatory, but knowing this player’s usual demeanor, I decided to interpret it as genuine concern.

After all, GRS was a team that had valued me highly.

[Prisoner (Rek’Sai): okok no problem]

The game continued.

We secured the fourth dragon.

In the meantime, the enemy took Baron.

It was an exchange of objectives.

The enemy, empowered by Baron, pushed forward.

We lost our mid inhibitor.

An Elder Dragon fight erupted.

Although we won the team fight, we narrowly lost the Elder Dragon.

In retaliation, we destroyed the enemy bot inhibitor.

After nearly 50 minutes of grueling back-and-forth, we finally destroyed the enemy Nexus.

[Victory]

“We… won!”

Perhaps due to the release of tension.

Or maybe it was a miracle I had held on until now.

I felt my legs give out beneath me.

[+14 LP]

[1806 LP]

1800 points.

I had finally stepped into the uncharted territory no one else had ever reached.

“…Ah.”

But the joy was short-lived.

I collapsed onto my desk.

The adrenaline that had masked the pain subsided, and I felt the abdominal pain surge back.

“Ugh, ahh!”

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.”

“Am I… going to die like this?”

Fear washed over me.

I didn’t want to die. There were still so many things I wanted to do…

My vision blurred before I knew it.

I couldn’t tell if it was from the pain or the terror of dying, but tears flowed uncontrollably.

I needed to move. I needed to contact someone.

But I had no strength left.

Lost in an unfamiliar agony, I fainted.