Chapter 12

### Chapter 12: I Will Definitely Get It

* * *

The game has started.

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3MinTowerHonoraryNewbie - Nyar

yytvxxiaojin - Nidalee

qq7785dd55 - Renekton

Gatugikingbunja - Tristana

IlIIIIlllllIIIIlll - Leona

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Sure enough, the nicknames of the opposing mid and jungle duo were familiar.

It felt as if they had immediately queued up again, grinding their teeth after the ridiculous defeat they had just suffered.

"Welcome to the Summoner's Rift!"

I checked the champion matchups.

[Allies / Enemies]

Top: Sion / Nyar

Jungle: Ekko / Nidalee

Mid: Sett / Renekton

ADC: Senna / Tristana

Support: Nautilus / Leona

'Even... or rather, it might be slightly disadvantageous.'

Excluding myself, my teammates' picks were very strong in early skirmishes, but the problem was me.

Picking Ekko, who is relatively weak in the early game, was inevitable.

Our team's side is the bottom side.

[!］ [!］ [!］ [!］

After placing a few wards, I retreated and pinged a retreat.

It meant I had no intention of engaging in an invade fight.

Of course, with our strong picks, we could have tried, but... for this game, I planned to hold back a bit in the early stages.

"Isn't Prisoner a one-trick Ekko? I've seen all the winning games start with an invade."

I didn't pay attention to that comment.

Really, I didn't.

Really.

[!］ [!］ [!］

When I pinged, my teammates also placed wards and retreated.

The wards were placed at the Blade's Edge three-way and the upper river island bush.

With this much vision, we could tell how the enemy would move.

As soon as the clock hit one minute, the five enemy players appeared at the Blade's Edge three-way, scanning the area.

'They're coming in.'

I pinged a retreat again and abandoned the vision of our red side.

This would be a very difficult early game, unlike before.

'The enemy jungle starting point... I don't know.'

Whether they would start by taking my red or just take the vision and retreat.

The limited information due to the vision being cleared made it hard to tell.

'In such a situation, I have to minimize the risk.'

I headed to the upper jungle for a blue start.

­Haha!

At that moment, Nyar sneaked in and placed a ward on my blue.

As a jungler, it was a truly disgusting moment.

This way, the enemy knew my jungle starting point and managed to hide their own information.

The game had only just started, but as a jungler, it felt like the game was already half over.

'It's about the level I expected.'

In a way, the situation was the opposite of the previous game.

This could be a suitable game to prove myself.

1 minute 30 seconds.

The jungle monsters spawned, and I followed the standard camp rotation, starting with the blue, then the thick-skinned wolf.

[Ekko – Level 2]

This is the important part.

'Hmm.'

I carefully observed the movements of the enemy mid and bottom.

In lower tiers, it might be different, but in the upper tiers, where organic movement with the jungler is essential, the laners' movements often reveal the jungler's position.

'From what I can see, they seem to have split the map in half...'

But the problem is, I can't be sure.

Especially since the enemy vividly remembers what happened in the previous game.

There's no guarantee I won't face the same situation.

'There are three possible locations where Nidalee might be.'

The first is the same path as in the previous game, where she took my red, returned, and then went to protect her own red.

The second is the path where she took my entire bottom jungle and then rotated to her blue side, essentially splitting the map in half.

The third is starting with her own blue and then rotating through her jungle.

'So...'

I don't know where the enemy is.

But it doesn't matter.

No matter where they are, I can lure them out.

I waited in the bush heading to mid.

The moment a few minions died in the mid lane.

[Ekko – Level 3]

'Good.'

This was the magical path known as "that path."

Now at level 3, I pinged Renekton in mid.

'I'll take control of the mid lane.'

Ekko's W skill hit Renekton's back, and I closed the distance instantly.

Renekton, surprised by the mid gank at this timing, seemed a bit flustered but quickly used his abilities to start escaping.

'No way.'

When I used Flash to follow, Renekton also used Flash, realizing he couldn't save his spells.

[!］ [!］ [!］

It was a decent gank.

Renekton barely survived using his spells, but the mid lane control had long shifted to Sett.

'I was thinking of a 2v2 fight, but Nidalee didn't show up. That means she's far from mid.'

This gave me a rough idea of Nidalee's path.

Nidalee's path, which had been obscured like a fog, started to become clearer.

At that moment.

[!］ [!］ [!］

Nidalee, with both buffs, appeared at top.

[Nidalee – Level 4]

Nidalee's level was 4, as expected, indicating she had taken the standard buff path.

­Flash!

With Nidalee's gank, Sion used Flash and barely survived.

Nidalee's gank was relatively weak because Nyar hadn't reached level 6 yet.

This meant that Nidalee and I had exchanged blows.

Of course, I might be at a slight disadvantage right now.

After all, I had used Flash and was falling behind in leveling.

But the important thing was that I was playing Ekko, one of the best jungle champions.

'This is a pretty smooth start.'

If I had made a small mistake, I could have lost both the crab and the 3-buff control, which would have been the worst-case scenario.

How did I manage to bring it to a 50-50 situation?

'Let's try again.'

.

.

.

The game ended.

My final KDA was 13/0/11.

A crushing victory.

* * *

Beijing, China, GRS Dormitory.

Li Zixuan, the mid laner of GRS, couldn't hide his excitement.

He had achieved a 35-game winning streak on the Korean server, which is considered one of the top leagues.

However, that winning streak had just been brutally ended.

Of course, he knew this day would come eventually.

A 35-game winning streak in the Korean solo queue, where top-tier players abound, was impressive.

Even though it was achieved with a duo, he had expected it to end soon.

The problem was the process.

It was an utterly ridiculous defeat.

At first, he thought it was a fluke.

The enemy's early invade strategy had worked well, leading to the defeat.

He thought that was all it was.

Li Zixuan and his jungler, Huang Haoran, who had achieved the 35-game winning streak with him, decided to queue up again.

They couldn't just roll over and play dead.

Sure enough, they met Prisoner again on the enemy team.

Huang Haoran declared boldly.

"Let's get our revenge this time, brother."

"Of course."

And they lost again.

Although the form of the defeat was different from the first, it was equally overwhelming.

"......"

"......"

Red Cup runner-up.

35-game winning streak in the Korean solo queue.

For the first time, a long silence fell between the two, who had always been in high spirits.

The defeat was so shocking that even they, who had comforted each other after the Red Cup final, were at a loss for words.

"...I'm going to take a break."

"Y-Yeah, sure."

After Huang Haoran returned to his room, Li Zixuan replayed the game, dumbfounded.

Every movement was precise, the judgment was cold, and the skills were sharp.

"...Amazing."

The one who had brought such despair to the Red Cup runner-up team and the reigning champions of the Chinese league, GRS, was none other than Prisoner.

Surprisingly, the one who had brought them to this state of despair was neither a pro with an outstanding career nor a mysterious newcomer who had appeared like a comet.

Prisoner was a long-time player.

He had a certain level of recognition among the Chinese pros, and the general consensus was similar.

­Decent play, but relatively weak movement.

However, the Prisoner they met this time was far beyond the previous evaluations.

Li Zixuan thought.

'Although I feel bad for Haoran, the jungle difference was definitely significant.'

Of course, the skill level Prisoner showed was not something that could be attributed to just a jungle difference.

In a nutshell, GRS's mid-jungle duo had been toyed with by Prisoner.

"Is something wrong? You look serious."

At that moment, Coach Zhang Shihuan approached.

"Coach."

Li Zixuan thought it was a good opportunity.

Coach Zhang Shihuan was a former Korean pro player.

He might know something about Prisoner, who was also Korean.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you know anything about Prisoner?"

"Sure, I do."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I even considered signing him. Probably."

That was news to Li Zixuan.

"Signing him? Why didn't you?"

"Ah, there were some circumstances."

"What circumstances?!"

Li Zixuan's voice involuntarily rose.

He could have played with a jungler like that...

Li Zixuan couldn't hide his excitement.

"Prisoner can't be a pro. I heard he has a rare disease and can't move."

"......"

"So we dropped the idea. Other teams did the same."

Rare disease?

It was a significant issue, but Li Zixuan didn't hear it.

What's the big deal if he has a disease?

He plays so well.

Even if he can only play for a limited time each day, it doesn't matter.

There were plenty of substitutes who could fill in for the jungle, like Huang Haoran.

But Prisoner has no substitute.

An irreplaceable true jungler.

That was Li Zixuan's evaluation of Prisoner.

"Sign him again."

"What?"

"Sign Prisoner again."

It was a clear overreach, but it was possible because Li Zixuan's family was one of the main sponsors of GRS.

In other words, it meant that Li Zixuan's side would support the cost of signing Prisoner.

"If necessary, I'll offer him a salary of over 5 million yuan (about 87 million won)."

It was a generous offer, even for a promising player, let alone a newcomer who hadn't proven anything yet.

"...Alright."

Li Zixuan couldn't get the thought out of his head.

Prisoner, Prisoner, Prisoner...

I will definitely get him.