[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 398

K’Sante falls!

As the saying goes, no tree stands tall after being struck a hundred times; it was a hard-won opportunity, as I had persistently gnawed away at his sustain without losing focus.

-First Blood!

That bug usually happens when Viego devours K’Sante’s corpse after his ultimate, but luckily, that didn’t occur this time. If a bug had appeared at this moment, I might’ve faced a rematch at worst—or typically, a Chrono Break would be inevitable, so it was truly a stroke of luck.

‘Hmm.’

To some extent, this battle began as a one-sided poke war entirely orchestrated by me, but that didn’t mean I felt comfortable with my health situation after the fight was over.

Anyway, a life-and-death battle ensued when the item differences hadn’t exploded early on, and I wouldn’t emerge unscathed either.

[Viego – Remaining Health 23%]

With the item disparity involving Boots and Dorans coupled with the sheer destructive power of K’Sante’s ultimate, I would’ve been dead if I made even a minor mistake that allowed me to be pulled towards the enemy turret.

‘Truly an overpowered champ.’

I dodged all avoidable skills and landed every single one I could hit. Even with the best possible plays beyond mere proficiency on display, K’Sante’s resistance was nothing to scoff at.

Of course, part of that was likely due to the difference in items, but it didn’t absolve K’Sante from being an overpowered champ.

‘Regardless, what matters is that I got the first kill.’

Not only did I secure the initial kill, but I also gained a significant advantage in CS while inflicting considerable lane damage to my opponent. At this rate, I was bound to gain a level difference as well.

Though the opponent was K’Sante—a bundle of variables—I couldn’t afford to be complacent, yet it was fair to say that I had the upper hand.

Upon returning to the lane, levels between K’Sante and me had widened.

[K’Sante – Level 7]

[Viego – Level 8]

Furthermore, K’Sante was still in a state where he hadn’t regained his ultimate yet, so without any pressure, I resumed my assault.

‘Finally, some decent damage.’

I started with Boots to gain the upper hand in the Q fights against K’Sante, which allowed me to claim some control in those exchanges, but my damage was still rather weak.

However, now that was no longer the case.

Having secured an item beyond just Boots, my poking was exponentially fiercer than before.

Generally, early-game defensive items tend to outperform offensive items, yet it was even more pronounced due to the intrinsic level and item disparities.

This was essentially a scenario of keeping him locked down and beating him.

If this were Summoner’s Rift, I might’ve called for a gank to threaten him, or conversely, I would’ve drawn up a dive plan, but this was pure 1v1, and such shenanigans did not occur.

It signified—no variables.

‘Of course, that holds true only as long as this situation continues… which I doubt he intends to let happen.’

I watched my opponent.

To be precise, I perceived the Nightmare’s true intent through K’Sante.

At first glance, it seemed as if my opponent had completely lost the will to fight and was merely absorbing damage, yet the flame within him hadn’t extinguished completely.

Even if he might miss some CS, it felt as though he was managing his health to anticipate the moment drawing near.

‘So, that’s what he’s thinking.’

K’Sante’s W and ultimate have a crowd control effect.

Particularly for adept K’Sante players, it’s common to see them angle a shot to pull their enemy back towards the turret even from outside its range.

But at the coming sudden death, dragging me towards the turret isn’t necessary.

If he could endure long enough for sudden death, merely pulling me outside the zone would suffice for victory.

Soon, I couldn’t help but think it would create some variables during the sudden death if he played it right.

‘Of course, given K’Sante’s skill characteristics, if we both got dragged outside the zone, I’d be at an advantage… but still, I can’t let my guard down.’

Due to ongoing nerfs, K’Sante’s ultimate sacrifices more than half his health and significantly reduces his defenses.

He gets powerful offensive capabilities and destructiveness, but statistically, there’s a high chance I’d have the upper hand if we both got pulled outside together.

The reason being, once in that zone, both K’Sante and I would begin to lose health simultaneously.

A reasonably uneventful time passed.

I occasionally landed Q pokes toward K’Sante, but they weren’t lethal enough to put any real pressure on him.

K’Sante was deliberately playing defensively.

Typically, kills in a 1v1 come about when both parties see a kill opportunity, and time ultimately flowed until we reached sudden death.

‘Here it comes.’

The zone started to creep in from the edges of the map.

Usually, in such situations, the one with relatively weaker variable creation abilities—me—would get flustered, but it also required a higher degree of calm from me because of that very fact.

In this 1v1 tournament, the first to secure two kills is crowned victor, but once sudden death starts, even a single death means game over.

It’s because the resurrection point is outside the zone, which results in defeat.

However, the one kill I secured wasn’t entirely meaningless.

Unless I missed my chance to time my return, the experience and gold gained from that kill still contributed to my items and stats.

‘Most importantly, the onset of sudden death means K’Sante must also come out from behind the turret.’

True to that, as the zone reached right in front of the turret, lurking Nightmare K’Sante had no choice but to step out.

If he didn’t come out from there, it would be tantamount to suicide.

From now on, neither of us could escape.

In the encroaching zone, we would carefully assess each other’s distances while exchanging small skill shots, and suddenly, K’Sante made a fierce advance.

Yet that wasn’t my expectation.

As I dodged K’Sante’s Q with a light movement, I counterattacked, and K’Sante instantly flashed behind me.

Then came the ultimate.

The intended destination was mere inches from the approaching zone, and soon both K’Sante and I were drawn inside.

‘Just as I thought.’

Had I been even slightly flustered in this scenario, mistakes could’ve happened, but I didn’t plan on showing any signs of panic.

In any case, it was K’Sante who was clearly at a disadvantage here.

Calmly dodging and striking.

Those actions alone sufficed in a situation where we were both dying in the zone.

No surprises occurred.

-You have slain the enemy!

This was the best K’Sante could do, yet the outcome remained unchanged.

As the zone started to claim both K’Sante and me, it was K’Sante—the one with far less health—who fell first.

It was only natural, given that K’Sante had burrowed deeper into the zone.

[Victory]

With the sturdy K’Sante falling, the screen froze, and the game finally ended.

“Phew…”

From start to finish, it went exactly as I had orchestrated.

Yet, if you ask me if it was easy, not at all.

If it had been an easy game, there wouldn’t have been a need to drag it out to sudden death.

I had undoubtedly begun with an advantage and led the charge, yet the opponent was always on the hunt for a chance.

‘I managed to handle it well, but if K’Sante had grown stronger, it could have been a different situation.’

Nonetheless, the fact that I won remained unchanged.

As I removed my headset and stood, I felt the enthusiastic applause of the crowd envelop me.

-Outlaw! Outlaw! Outlaw!

-Your sister is beautiful!

-Wooaahhhh!

-Milk─ complex─ Out─ Law!

In the midst of it all, something that sounded suspiciously like an echo tier mixed in, but it was probably just my imagination.

Heading over to Nightmare’s booth, I found him wearing a somewhat relieved expression.

No, he even looked somewhat happy.

“This is a great match. You really are the best.”

Of course, I didn’t understand that statement, but I could catch the English words that followed.

“You’re the best player.”

The Red Cup winner, called the world’s best Mid Laner this year, Nightmare, said this to me.

*

-Rainbow unilaterally attacks the opponent and wins!

-It was an overwhelming game! Who can stop the rainbow? Oh, there was Outlaw!

-Outlaw and Rainbow finally meet in the one-on-one tournament final!

It was indeed as if the confidence he showed was reflected perfectly.

In the subsequent 1v1 tournament semifinals, Rainbow concluded the game smoothly with a kill score of 2:0 before sudden death ever began.

After relentless pressure from the start, the opponent couldn’t hold and exposed themselves, allowing Rainbow to seize the opportunity.

“Wow… Jin-hyuk hyung won. So it’s really going to be a final showdown between Jin-hyuk hyung and Outlaw-nim?!”

Yoo Sang-hyun exclaimed with excitement in his voice.