[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 221

Who is the best jungler?

Most people would mention SY’s Yoon-ki, SCV’s Vendetta, or the likes of GRS’s MaBing, who is sweeping through China, as well as Lua from Europe’s SU5, and RONO’s Snoit, who used to be with LCKR but has now moved on to North America and is making waves.

But Ryu Jin-hyuk was different.

Although he didn’t show it on the surface, in the distant past—way before Prisoner hit 2000 points—Rainbow had always considered Prisoner to be the best jungler.

Of course, objectively speaking, Prisoner before hitting 2000 points was undoubtedly a player with many flaws.

But still, in Ryu Jin-hyuk’s eyes, Prisoner embodied the essence of the jungler position better than anyone.

Most importantly, his form when Prisoner actually did hit 2000 points… even Ryu Jin-hyuk himself, alongside Yoon-ki, couldn’t stop it.

In other words, Ryu Jin-hyuk considered not just the Prisoner on the verge of disappearing but also the Prisoner of the past to be the best.

And then…

For some reason, the Outlaw before him mirrored that gameplay of Prisoner perfectly.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t strange to imitate a player of Prisoner’s caliber.

After all, it’s something anyone would aspire to, especially given that Prisoner was the first jungler to hit 2000 points.

Therefore,

There’s nothing casual about Outlaw’s gameplay that resembles Prisoner so closely.

Soon, if this is a team game, then the team members must also avoid playing casually.

“It’s clear. Something’s fishy.”

Hum…?

Ryu Jin-hyuk had seen this sort of situation many times before.

When the enemy seemed weak, and he thought he could go for a strong trade, only to find it was a trap.

Due to his rising recognition, opposing mid laners often opted to focus on other parts of the game instead of their lane.

For instance, they might go for ganks.

“Everyone be careful. The opposing mid seems off.”

It could very well be a psychological ploy to fake the mid and target the other lanes instead.

If Outlaw’s team was indeed capable of that level of synergy, it would be expected.

But…

[“Can someone confirm the enemy jungle’s position?”]

[“I don’t know.”]

Even with Ryu Jin-hyuk’s warning, all his teammates fell into a defensive posture, yet Outlaw was nowhere to be seen.

Despite not showing up anywhere, it felt like the imagined Outlaw’s Lee Sin was already ganking all lanes.

[“…This isn’t good.”]

TheOne spoke up.

Ryu Jin-hyuk agreed.

What was expected to be an easy game was beginning to unravel bit by bit.

*

Surprisingly, a rather uneventful laning phase continued, and I thought to myself,

“Hm. I shouldn’t go mid.”

Unless Rainbow had kept up some strong pressure, the opposing side was playing cautious, so I didn’t need to do anything.

Most importantly…

[“See, I told you I could do it.”]

Baek Seong-an’s overly confident attitude irritated me a bit.

Maybe that’s why, but not only mid but the entire opposing lane showed signs of playing safe.

Despite expectations of a tough early game due to the difference in tiers between the two teams, it surprisingly turned into a balanced standoff.

“Yeon-woo, apply more pressure.”

[“Yes.”]

Given the situation, our post-pick Jax was given a chance to put pressure on the opponents.

Pressuring against SY… something that wouldn’t even have been imaginable originally, but this game was heading that way.

“I didn’t expect the enemy to play this cautiously.”

That said, while the ganking angles might not be there, there was no need to feel discouraged.

There were countless roles a jungler could perform beyond just ganking.

As top Jax started increasing the pressure intensity gradually, an opportunity arose for me to move into the enemy blue-side jungle.

‘Oh, there’s the frog.’

The fact that jungle monsters were regenerating in this position meant Yoon-ki would be coming this way soon.

“Bot can play more comfortably.”

[“Got it.”]

[“Yeah.”]

While there was nothing wrong with our bot composition gearing up for late game, there was a difference between playing with awareness of the opposing jungle and not.

That’s when it happened.

[“Ah.”]

With a quiet sigh, Yoon-ki’s Jarvan III revealed himself in mid.

Utilizing his flash for the gank, Baek Seong-an, who was already lacking in condition, was caught off guard.

– First Blood!

– Our ally has fallen!

The already precarious mid collapsed.

[“…I’m sorry. I’ll focus more.”]

After dying once, Baek Seong-an’s voice returned to normal, as if he had been shocked back into reality.

“It’s okay.”

[“Phew… I’ll teleport right back.”]

“Yes. More importantly, Yeon-woo.”

[“Yes.”]

Without exchanging many words, Seo Yeon-woo seemed to realize this was a dive signal.

Diagonal law.

If you get hit, you hit back.

There were various ways to put it, but what was certain was that the opposing jungle had used their summoners, and I still had mine left.

“Let’s go.”

[⨷]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) targets SY TheOne (Graves)]

Jax from the top and Lee Sin from below began to pressure Graves, who was under turret.

No matter how strong Graves might be against AD champions, it’s only relative.

[“I’ll go first.”]

“Okay.”

Seo Yeon-woo’s Jax, saving his Q, walked up slowly to circle around.

Graves tried to escape the stun range no matter what, but Seo Yeon-woo calmly saved his Q until Graves’ escape ability was used up and then charged in.

Stunned, Graves was nearly a target for sonic wave.

After landing the sonic wave, using E and weaving in auto-attacks, Graves quickly reached a near-death state.

“Now, back off.”

[“Yes.”]

As soon as Jax backed off, I finished off Graves with a follow-up Q.

– Enemy slain!

If Graves had been at full health, even a perfect dive would have been a bit tricky; however, Seo Yeon-woo had already set up solid trades, making the dive relatively easy.

[“Nice!”]

[“Neat!”]

[“Good good.”]

[“That’s great!”]

Even the usually quiet Kim Ji-hoon chimed in, so this dive had significant meaning.

After all, we had just dealt SY a hit.

Considering the importance of the team SY holds in the current Legends of League scene, it couldn’t be overstated.

Of course, that was that, and I wasn’t planning to stop here.

“Ji-hoon.”

[“Yes.”]

It was time for the bot to return.

Yuumi, who hadn’t even bought boots yet, rushed toward the top.

To meet Yuumi, I devoured the Raptor and Golem and headed back towards the upper river, that is, towards the Rift Herald.

“I’ll go for it right away.”

With Yuumi joining, there was no reason to hesitate.

As the Rift Herald’s health reached about 2/3,

[“Raise is on the move.”]

“Understood.”

Soon, as the opposing mid and top noticed Yuumi wasn’t returning to the bot lane, they began to move.

While they might not visible yet, Jarvan was definitely on his way too.

[“I’m going bot.”]

The opposing bot had also caught onto this fact and after briefly pushing the wave, Jhin Leona disappeared from bot ward.

That meant they were moving to join the Rift Herald fight.

Typically, the first Rift Herald fight is said to determine the game’s fate.

In reality, the outcome of the first Rift Herald often decides the game’s victory or defeat.

Of course, while the value of dragons in the current 4-dragon meta isn’t negligible, the significance of the early Rift Herald was still immense.

Both teams at top.

Both teams in the jungle.

And mid as well.

Now the Rift Herald’s health was below 1/3.

With the opposing bot still a decent distance away from joining, the enemy couldn’t easily engage.

“Well, considering Leona and even thinking about Jhin’s ultimate, we don’t have much time left.”

Once Jhin uses his ultimate, the numbers would even out at 4:4.

As time dragged on while Jhin delayed, Leona would join as well, flipping our current advantageous numbers upside down.

[“We’re getting an advantage in bot.”]

Of course, due to that, our Ezreal had been growing extraordinarily well, so even if we lost the Rift Herald, it wouldn’t be too bad.

But did we really need to do that?

The moment the Rift Herald’s health dropped below 1000,

Yoon-ki’s Jarvan III began to approach like a waiting hyena, seeking an opportunity.

He was aiming for a smite battle.

“No way.”

I kept my Q lined up on the Rift Herald and, using warding to block Jarvan, kicked him away and immediately followed up my Q to secure the Rift Herald.

– Our team has slain the Rift Herald!

[“Nice!”]

[“What was that just now?”]

[“Yujin, nice one!”]

Amidst the cheers from my teammates, I quietly said to myself,

“Let’s back off.”

The instant I declared withdrawal after securing the Rift Herald,

Zzzzzzz─

Jhin’s ultimate unfurled.

What this meant was crystal clear.

The enemy had no intention of letting us leave unscathed.