[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 363

One of the most easily observable advantages when a jungler roams to another lane is the kind of sensitivity towards the enemy jungler’s psychology.

The mental state of the opposing jungler.

The mental state of our jungler.

All of it was as clear to me as looking at the palm of my hand.

Thus, my role as a mid-laner was to make our jungler comfortable and make the enemy jungler uncomfortable.

Currently, I was positioned just at the edge of Zac’s jump range.

Although Zac’s position wasn’t visible on the minimap, I believed he was already there.

‘This is inevitable.’

I intentionally kept my distance at the very edge of Zac’s jump range.

And just as I anticipated, before long, Zac took the bait.

-Hooong!

The instant Zac leaped in.

Since I was already slightly adjusting my distance, I easily moved out of reach of Zac’s E.

Of course, I couldn’t completely escape the range of Zac’s crowd control.

He still had his Q left.

‘I can’t dodge that.’

Zac’s Q is non-targeted on the first use, but if connected with a basic attack, it effectively becomes targeted crowd control.

Since I had already given Zac some distance, I couldn’t avoid that.

But it didn’t matter.

Zac using his Q meant more time had elapsed, which gave me a window for reinforcements to arrive.

[⨷] [⨷] [⨷]

Pings started hitting one after another.

Along with them, Hecarim appeared and pounced on Zac.

Just like that, Aatrox came to help Zac, who was suddenly exposed to danger, but Zac was already being focused by Hecarim and me.

Even Zac, in such an early timing, was too squishy.

With the concentrated damage, Zac fell, and soon after, his passive activated.

However, we had already positioned ourselves to surround Zac, so there was nothing Aatrox could do at that moment.

Even if Viktor’s early game isn’t that strong, Aatrox was in the same boat.

-First Blood!

-Enemy eliminated!

And just like that, we successfully snagged first blood, even taking Zac’s passive down with it.

Consequently, Zac was virtually done for.

‘But this is just the beginning.’

Zac’s gank failed, and during that skirmish, Aatrox’s health situation worsened.

Of course, since Aatrox’s summoner spell was Teleport, I couldn’t say the mid-lane matchup was over, but it had become very favorable.

The laning phase continued.

Considering that the matchup of Viktor versus Aatrox itself leaned towards Viktor, and with the enemy jungler’s gank being thwarted, the balance in mid-lane began to tip drastically.

Above all, the skill gap between the opposing laner and me was significant, making the game flow easily.

Of course, even so, the game didn’t tip into a guaranteed win.

The recent meta had bottom lane wielding a huge influence, and unlike before, winning mid-jungle didn’t mean the game was won.

Thus, if mid-jungle’s pressure was released, the first thing to do was to liberate bottom lane.

‘Shall I go?’

There was no need to go to bottom lane directly.

Simply pushing the mid lane every now and then and disappearing from the enemy’s vision was enough to put pressure on the enemy bottom lane.

Naturally, this would make our bottom lane’s laning phase more comfortable.

‘But they must be mad.’

However, the opponents aren’t pros.

Even if they feel pressured in this way, if they accidentally miss something on the minimap or get careless for a moment, they’d reveal openings.

That exact moment was when I would pounce on them.

When mid goes to roam, the most important thing is to synchronize movements with the jungler.

If our jungler is on the opposite side, a reverse move might lead to unexpected accidents during a counterattack.

‘Of course, such plays can be effective, but not right now.’

Even though the enemy’s power had diminished, there’s still Zac and Aatrox who are strong in counter-ganks and messy skirmishes.

It was better to make a sure play rather than risk carelessly.

What came next was the expected play.

Whether the enemy bottom couldn’t withstand the pressure anymore or it was simply a map reading mistake, they were late to withdraw.

I didn’t miss that gap and crafted a dive play at bottom with Hecarim, but just as Zac came to cover late, we ended up with a 4v3 disadvantage and lost three of us.

That was the moment the game went off the rails.

And whether it was due to an internal conflict, the enemy Aatrox stood still in mid and opened himself up.

Such a strangely familiar sight.

‘This place is surely… still the same.’

Not wanting to linger any longer in such a section, I swiftly took the Rift Herald and wrapped up the game neatly.

[Victory]

Another peaceful day unfolded in Summoner’s Rift.

*

[Victory]

[Victory]

[Victory]

.

.

.

[Victory]

Time raced by amidst the monotonous days of Solo Queue.

It was a little less boring since this was a smurf account, but if it were my main account, I would’ve long been worn out and given up.

‘But that doesn’t mean I can do scrims.’

Naturally, all the other teams are enjoying their vacations.

Let alone the fact that nobody knows how the meta will shift next year, investing time in practice isn’t exactly the most efficient thing, to be honest.

‘Yet our team is doing it.’

One of the critical aspects for a pro is champion pool.

We set our practice direction to widen our champion pool as much as possible during this time.

‘And I’m going to practice other lanes a bit too.’

The reason for me to practice other lanes is to prepare for any possible situations.

Anyway, thanks to spending time like that, the day of the All-Star voting was upon us.

I was secretly looking forward to this day, so I couldn’t help but be interested.

“It’s about that time, isn’t it…?”

I stared blankly at the computer screen which only showed the wallpaper.

Just how long had I been zoning out?

“Sister!”

Yeah, I knew this would happen.

It was obvious that Kim Jae-min would come rushing in, so I humbly accepted that fate.

“Is it because of the All-Star?”

“That’s right, but it’s not just that!”

“What?”

“Did you see the voting rate?”

“I figured I’d show you when you came, so I didn’t look.”

“Right? I knew it!”

Kim Jae-min was so excited about something that he hurriedly grabbed my mouse and went to the Legends of League official website.

“Check this out!”

What he pulled up was the pre-vote for the All-Star jungler position.

──────────────

[Jungle]

1st place – OLZ Outlaw (Yujin) 97.3%

2nd place – SY YunGi (Park Yoon-ki) 1.2%

3rd place – MYE Trainer (Mr. Kim) 0.2%

──────────────

An overwhelming first place.

Even though it was just the first day of voting, this staggering voting rate was completely beyond reasoning.

“What the…?”

“Right? Surprising, isn’t it? I was totally shocked to see this.”

Kim Jae-min bragged proudly.

Well, regardless, I was genuinely surprised that the voting rate could be this high.

‘I thought I might come in first, but… I didn’t expect it to be this much…’

Kim Jae-min moved the mouse, and the mid-laner list showed up.

──────────────

[Mid]

1st place – SY Rainbow (Ryu Jin-hyuk) 52.1%

2nd place – SCV AllDay (Park Ki-hyun) 18.2%

3rd place – OLZ Getback (Baek Seong-an) 14.5%

──────────────

This was also the expected flow.

However, it was slightly surprising to see Baek Seong-an at 3rd.

“See? Surprising, isn’t it?”

“…He managed to get third?”

“Our team is incredibly popular, you know?”

“Looks like it.”

I knew we had some popularity, but seeing it with my own eyes felt different.

It almost felt like the future of LCKR rested on our team’s shoulders.

‘The next Red Cup… I definitely won’t miss it.’

I would, and our team would make that happen.

Regardless of what I was thinking, Kim Jae-min couldn’t hide his excitement.

“Oh, also!”

“…What else is there?”

“Actually, this is the real deal. Look at this.”

Kim Jae-min clicked the mouse again.

And this time, I genuinely couldn’t hide my shock.

──────────────

[AD Carry]

1st place – SCV BlackDog (Baek Joon-young) 32.1%

2nd place – OLZ Jammin (Kim Jae-min) 29.8%

3rd place – SY Longbow (Lee Soo-han) 27.5%

──────────────

Kim Jae-min was in second place.

Not only that, but he was nearly neck-and-neck with BlackDog in first.

“Wow…”

“Cool, right? What if I end up going to the All-Star? Wow…!”

Kim Jae-min was theatrically loud.

But the real surprise was still ahead.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“…Show me the top and support standings.”

“Oh right. I haven’t checked Yeon-woo and Ji-hoon’s yet.”

“Haven’t checked yet?”

“Yeah, I rushed over as soon as I saw yours.”

“Then let’s see.”

And finally, after looking at the All-Star votes for top and support, we couldn’t hide our astonishment.