[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 421

[“Sorry, can you cover mid for me?”]

“I’ll take care of the house time.”

[“Thanks.”]

Mid was still a struggle.

But leaving the mid lane open against Tristana would blow the mid turret and the game along with it, so I couldn’t ignore mid.

No matter how many patches increased the importance of other lanes, at least the first mid turret was the most valuable among all the turrets.

However, I couldn’t just waste turns without any purpose.

Even if I used the same turn, I had to make the enemy feel bad and take damage.

That, after all, was the essence of Legends of League.

“Ji-hoon.”

[“Yes.”]

Without saying much, Nautilus, who had completely taken control of the bot side, came to mid first.

Not long after Nautilus disappeared from sight, I took the opportunity to clear vision around the bush below where Nautilus would be moving, and he successfully slipped completely into the darkness.

“Now.”

With that signal, Nautilus’ grab from the bushes snatched Tristana.

This angle was made possible because our mid, Nikon, was teasing the enemy Tristana just enough to give an opening.

As Nikon approached while using his ultimate from a distance, Tristana obviously had no choice but to use her ultimate on Nikon.

If I allowed Nikon to approach while he was casting his ultimate, it would result in a CC combo that would literally blow up.

Even during that time, I saved my Q until the very end.

Until Tristana used her jump.

Tristana’s only chance to survive right now was to push Nikon back with her ultimate and gracefully escape using her jump.

“I interrupted the jump.”

Interrupting Tristana’s jump was an easy feat if I was prepared.

Rakan seemed to know I was going to cover mid and was nearby, but given the 2:3 situation, and the fact that Rakan didn’t have his only engage tool, his ultimate, all he could do was watch Tristana get wrecked.

He had become a bystander in one of the worst situations a jungler could experience.

-Enemy slain!

-Executed!

The execution gold from Tristana landed in my pocket.

“Delicious.”

As the steadfast protector of SCV, Tristana fell, and while Rakan sadly entered the turret to cover the lane, we naturally snowballed for the first dragon.

Well, that was the plan.

[“Rumble went back home.”]

At that moment, Rumble who had hard-pushed the lane swiftly caught a timing to return home and disappeared from sight.

And Rakan, who had come to cover the lane, was actually pushing mid.

If this were solo queue, Rakan might be seen as angrily devouring the mid lane, but in a team like SCV, that kind of nonsense wouldn’t happen.

In other words, there was a reason for his actions.

‘Just when Rumble gets a timing to go home, Rakan, the jungler, pushes mid hard…’

The follow-up conclusion was only one.

“I think they intend to stop this?”

[“True. What’s the plan?”]

I calculated Rumble’s path.

‘With basic boots, Rumble’s movement speed is 370. If I calculate the time it takes for him to get to the dragon pit while continuously using W after heading home, including return time, it’s about 35 seconds.’

Rumble’s power at this timing was immense.

Not to mention, we currently had both Nikon and Nautilus without their ultimates.

Even though we had an advantage in numbers by cutting down the enemy’s key dealer Tristana first, we were in a situation where we couldn’t utilize that numerical advantage properly.

‘Then…’

There was no need to rush the dragon.

If we tried to hit the dragon and accidentally got caught by Rumble’s ultimate, we could pass over an opportunity as well as the dragon to the enemy.

“Let’s fold a turn. Let’s get top advantage.”

[“Okay.”]

If we gave up on hitting the dragon here, we would force a decision on the enemy.

Would they risk getting the top turret of OLZ, whom we had just managed to pin down, in order to try for the dragon?

Or would they be content to fold a turn and block the dragon instead?

SCV’s choice was the latter.

If the situation were urgent, SCV would have no choice but to take a high-stakes gamble, but it seemed they felt it was still not that kind of situation.

Rumble’s power still remained, and using this power, it was a fact that we could easily take the Rift Herald.

There was no need for OLZ to risk a fight in an advantageous bottom side.

Of course, in the meantime, we did gain quite a bit in the top lane, so the top that had taken damage had recovered somewhat.

The strength from the bottom seeped into mid and then back up to top.

‘But the enemy isn’t down yet.’

No, rather than down, it was fair to say the overall situation wasn’t bad for SCV.

Looking at global gold, they were probably at a similar level.

While we had damaged the enemy bottom quite a bit, the CS difference in top and mid was enormous, and the enemy bottom had also taken all the CS they could, so the gap wasn’t as big as expected.

In other words, our proud ADC Jaem-min had let go of some CS he could have taken.

“Hey.”

[“Huh? Why, sis? Something up?”]

“Nothing.”

To think the fate of this game rested on such a Jaem-min…

It was truly a pitiful thought, but now was not the time to grumble, it was time to trust.

[“Enemy bottom just went back home.”]

[“Got it.”]

[“Wow, I must be so scary that they already went home? Acknowledge?”]

[“Shut up, Jae-min.”]

[“Sure.”]

Before I knew it, it was time for Rakan’s second ultimate.

Due to the extremely long cooldown of the first ultimate, it felt like he arrived a bit late, but now was when Rakan’s true terror would show.

‘If Rumble’s ultimate gets laid down in the dark, we could lose without even being able to fight and end up being swept away.’

To achieve that, we would need to put a lot of effort into vision and setup, but SCV was a team capable of handling that.

‘Wait.’

When I realized something was off about the enemy bottom’s timing, it was already a step too late.

“Ji-hoon.”

[“Yes. I suspected as much.”]

As soon as I spoke, Kim Ji-hoon seemed to understand and immediately pressed recall.

[“Kim Jae-min, recall.”]

[“Yes!”]

Kim Jae-min seemed totally oblivious to what was going on, but immediately followed suit as soon as Ji-hoon spoke.

Whether that was trust or something else, it was a relief they hadn’t clung to mining the turret.

“I think they’re trying to swap with their top.”

[“Huh? Rumble is still at top though?”]

Baek Seong-an’s question was valid.

Rumble was still at top, and if the enemy suddenly moved their bot to top in this situation—

“I think they want to take the Rift Herald too.”

[“Oh, is that it?”]

The enemy’s intentions were simple.

By making a quick top-to-bottom lane swap to gain an advantage in numbers, they aimed to take the Rift Herald and break the unfavorable bottom layout.

Of course, the bottom lane would likely be evened out in the meantime, but considering that Rumble with Teleport would cover the lane after the swap, that was the plan.

‘The response was a bit late.’

Even knowing that the enemy wouldn’t continue a purely unfavorable bottom lane battle like this, I naively trusted the surface-level appearance.

The enemy was SCV.

If the situation was unfavorable, they were a strong team capable of creating opportunities even in adversity.

[“What’s the plan?”]

It was too late for our bot to join the Rift Herald fight.

That meant that in this situation, swapping the Rift Herald for the dragon was the best option.

“Let’s match their tempo. That’s the best option now. Let’s get the dragon first.”

[“Got it.”]

Chasing after SCV half-heartedly would lead to the Rift Herald being taken, and there was a significant risk of being caught in a numbers disadvantage fight.

The enemy had a Nautilus-Rumble combo, which was optimized for ambushing enemies from range.

Give what needs to be given, and take what can be taken.

While it was a shame to loosen the reins on an enemy bottom lane that was already winning, this was what we had to do.

If the enemy had decided to pump up Vayne, there was nothing we could do to stop it.

-The enemy has slain the Rift Herald!

The enemy took the Rift Herald, and shortly thereafter, we took the dragon.

-Our team has slain the Flame Dragon!

Generally, before 14 minutes, the Rift Herald is valued a bit higher than the dragon, even though the dragon can be a great help for later operations.

That’s because the Rift Herald provides a significant advantage in immediately pulling in gold, which is key for snowballing.

‘The blockage on Vayne’s growth has been lifted.’

Of course, given the massive damage done, it would take some time to recover, but the important thing was that we had lost the leash we had on Vayne.

And anyone playing Legends of League knows.

The kind of power Vayne, who had grown slowly like that, can unleash in the late game.

‘The remaining time… is not much.’

While the power of our bot was still sufficiently in play.

We had to finish the game.