[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 425

“Whoa…”

“This is me.”

“Oh, that just sounded like a jaem-min right now.”

“That’s a bit much.”

Baek Seong-an shrugged his shoulders dramatically.

No particular jungler or other laner got involved.

The opposing jungler was nowhere in sight, and Baek Seong-an’s jungler was hurriedly coming to mid after doing some jungle farming.

Pure solo kill.

Of course, seeing solo kills between laners in solo rank happens countless times, so it wasn’t that surprising, but it was pretty encouraging that the opponent was a pro gamer from the first division.

Until now, Baek Seong-an usually relied on defensive plays against opponents above a certain level, rather than being aggressive.

And the fact that he took down Tristana while playing Sylas, a champion that’s relatively weak in the early lane phase, was strikingly different from the Baek Seong-an I had witnessed up till now.

‘Especially… Sylas was practically nonexistent in Baek Seong-an’s champion pool until now.’

If Sylas had been a tier one pick, it would be a different story, but in a time where the tier is ambiguous, very few players could pull out Sylas.

So the fact that Baek Seong-an’s card hand was increasing like this was a huge boon for the team.

In the Legends of League, the champion pool can have astronomical effects on a player’s season performance, and conversely, there were quite a few players who were well-regarded but faltered in crucial multi-game moments because of a narrow champion pool.

‘This… is fun.’

I half-heartedly glanced at my game’s ban/pick phase while quietly observing Baek Seong-an’s play.

Even though there was a solo kill in mid, the overall situation was still unfavorable.

However, that situation slightly loosened thanks to the mid solo kill, and Baek Seong-an’s team’s jungler managed to ambush the opponent’s jungler while they were doing dragon, successfully stealing it.

It could be seen as snowballing from the mid solo kill.

The opposing jungler probably attempted to take dragon, given that the mid and bot lanes had control, but the sudden mid solo kill disrupted that balance.

‘It would’ve been enough just to eat and run, but… Baek Seong-an’s jungler really capitalized on that.’

Anyway, thanks to that, a way out opened up in what was previously a tough game.

No matter how much the Sylas vs. Tristana matchup might be in favor of Tristana, in a situation where Sylas secured a solo kill and had a level advantage, his damage exchanges would be extremely threatening to Tristana.

Especially since Sylas is known for his great gank response.

‘Now, if we start to play around mid… there’s a chance.’

Mid was the kind of lane that could drastically change the game.

Even if it couldn’t carry as destructively as it used to, winning mid alone could alter a lot in-game.

And Baek Seong-an was one of the few who knew well what needed to be done in mid.

After all, the pro gamer Getback wasn’t known for incredible crack plays or powerful laning, but rather for being a reliable, foundational player who always did what was required.

‘Speaking of which…’

While I blankly stared at Baek Seong-an’s screen, my game’s ban/pick phase wrapped up.

Watching Baek Seong-an’s game was interesting, but since my game was about to start, I needed to focus on that.

─────────────

[Allies / Enemies]

Top: Renekton / Aatrox

Jungle: Lee Sin / Lillian

Mid: Galion / Zed

ADC: Zayan / Kai’Sa

Support: Rakan / Nautilus

─────────────

Since it was solo rank, the picks were mostly more aligned with solo rank than league picks.

‘Zed…’

A representative AD assassin, Zed was honestly someone I hadn’t faced in a while.

The ban/pick ended, and the game began.

“Hmm?”

Seeing the opposing jungler’s nickname in the loading screen, I couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised.

[SY YunGi (Lillian)]

The opposing jungler was Yoon-ki.

I wanted to shout, “Not you again?” but in reality, I hadn’t encountered Yoon-ki in solo rank for quite some time, so it felt like a long time.

-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!

The game started.

[⬇] [⬇] [⬇]

Right from the start, the ping was chaotic.

Since our team composition was quite strong for invading, that ping was for an invade.

‘Well… can’t hurt, right?’

The target for the invade was top bush.

Considering that Renekton had an advantage early against Aatrox, it seemed like they intended to solidify their lead from the laning phase.

Or maybe the ping came from top.

‘Hmm, is that right?’

It didn’t really matter, so my team and I ran straight to the top bush.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the enemy didn’t show up, and we managed to easily secure the top bush.

It was a very favorable situation for Renekton, but unfortunately, it wasn’t for the jungler or bot.

‘Looks like I gotta play for top now.’

Sensing this, the bot lane seemed to instinctively realize the situation, and surprisingly, they gave me a leash.

‘Thanks a lot.’

And as a jungler, it’s common sense to meet those expectations.

[⬇] [⬇]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) is on the way]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) is on the way]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) is on the way]

Intensely pinging.

The destination was, of course, bot.

As the bot had even provided a leash, they were being pressured by the enemy Kai’Sa-Nautilus combo, which meant that the lane was definitely pulled enough.

‘Now.’

Just when the enemy was about to ward to prevent a gank, I swiftly emerged from the three-way bush.

The startled Nautilus shot his hook the other way, but our support Rakan used his flash to prevent Nautilus from hitting the wall.

That was a super play.

Nautilus, with his uselessly missed hook, hurriedly flashed to escape, but there was no paradise where he fled.

-You have slain an enemy!

-Double kill!

The kill went to me.

‘Nice.’

No matter how much they talk about the bot meta, early kills starting with first blood almost always benefit the jungler.

Because the breadth of impact a jungler can have utterly dwarfs that of other laners.

Ordinarily, at this point, the opposing jungler would likely be attempting to gank our top or mid, but as expected, Yoon-ki was different.

‘Just as I thought.’

Yoon-ki was waiting, having anticipated I’d come to the upper camps after my gank.

However, there’s one thing Yoon-ki didn’t know: I had already read his route.

Because I had experienced Yoon-ki the jungler way too much.

‘Here.’

Having anticipated the enemy would be waiting, I played cautiously and called our laners even faster.

[⨷] [⨷] [⨷]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) has targeted SY YunGi (Lillian)]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) has targeted SY YunGi (Lillian)]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) has targeted SY YunGi (Lillian)]

Galion and Renekton were arriving.

Sensing that something was up, Lillian tried to escape.

‘Not a chance.’

I intentionally cornered Lillian, making it difficult for her to escape the trap easily.

As a result, while trying to dodge Lee Sin, Lillian accidentally put her head right where Renekton and Galion were joining.

-You have slain an enemy!

Lillian tried to burn her flash in a desperate attempt to survive, but of course, Renekton and Galion had flashes as well.

While both Renekton and Galion lost their flashes in this process, that wasn’t crucial for now.

What mattered was that one of the keys to this game—Renekton—had secured a kill right from the start.

‘Let’s do this.’

*

SY Practice Room.

Park Yoon-ki felt a sense of déjà vu when facing the familiar yet unfamiliar jungler on the monitor screen.

‘As expected… feels similar.’

This feeling, this pressure.

Too much like the Prisoner.

But what Park Yoon-ki couldn’t assert carelessly was that Outlaw was probably a better jungler than the Prisoner.

If I had to put it another way, the Prisoner was probably the ideal version of preparing for professional play.

For whatever it was worth, that was the case.

‘But…’

Still, I’m gonna win.

With that confidence, Yoon-ki dove back into the game.

*

[Victory]

Finally stretching as the victory text appeared, I noticed Baek Seong-an who had just wrapped up a lengthy match that lasted over 40 minutes as well.

“Whew…”

“Did we win?”

“Yup. Barely.”

“I did too.”

“Oh really?”

Baek Seong-an and I exchanged smiles.