Chapter 32

### Chapter 32: Eviction Notice

* * *

Checking the list of IDs in his friend list and deliberately sniping... It was certainly an action that would be criticized as a professional.

There was no grand reason for Ryu Jin-hyuk to snipe Prisoner.

He just wanted to see.

What he had seen from Prisoner before.

What had driven Prisoner to such lengths.

And,

Why he himself was acting this way.

So he queued up.

Amid countless reasons he couldn't even be sure of,

To meet Prisoner again.

[Game found!]

[Accept / Decline]

As expected, he was matched with Prisoner.

Moreover, this time, Prisoner was on the enemy team.

Even if they were the same player, the feeling was completely different when meeting as an ally versus an enemy.

Thus, Ryu Jin-hyuk felt his heart pounding roughly at some point.

'Come on, show me.'

What I saw.

What you're trying to show.

The game started, and Prisoner's early game setup was as sharp as he had expected.

'He forced Ellison to take the bottom path. As expected, it's Prisoner.'

The variable occurred right after that.

'Is he coming in for this?'

At level 1, the enemy Kha'Zix ignored the absolute matchup disadvantage between melee and ranged champions and attempted a risky trade.

Moreover, the enemy didn't even have Flash.

For a moment, he thought it might be a trap, but the enemy jungler was Diana.

She couldn't be there at this timing.

—First Blood!

As expected,

It wasn't a trap.

The enemy was just being reckless.

That's all it was.

"..."

Despite securing the kill, Ryu Jin-hyuk felt a deep sense of regret rather than joy.

He had known from the loading screen that the enemy mid laner, 3MinTowerCrossingHonorGod, was originally a top laner.

Whether it was because he was on an unwanted lane or for some other reason, he didn't seem to be playing the game properly.

Thus, it was regrettable.

So very regrettable.

If Prisoner had slightly better teammates, they could have played a much better game...

Soon, Prisoner appeared in the top jungle and targeted him, but this was also as expected.

'Not bad reaction.'

Dodging a skill with a Flash...

It's not a common sight even in professional matches due to the risk of wasting a spell, but Prisoner did it naturally.

Of course, that didn't mean he could kill me.

[Kha'Zix - Level 1]

As expected, Kha'Zix was still at level 1.

Although he had to take some line damage due to his ally Ellison not covering, it was still acceptable.

Then, another incident occurred.

—Enemy Eliminated!

His ally Renekton secured a solo kill on the enemy Kha'Zix.

The moment Prisoner's early game invasion plan fell apart.

'Tsk, should have been more careful if he didn't have Cleanse.'

Ridiculously, Ryu Jin-hyuk felt more sorry for the enemy's mistake than praising his ally's kill.

Top mid solo kill.

The game's balance, which was already tilting, completely collapsed with this solo kill.

'Is there no other chance?'

No matter how good Prisoner was, if the game's structure was this broken, there was nothing he could do.

Ryu Jin-hyuk was hoping for another chance.

'...Hmm?'

He felt a sense of dissonance when the enemy Diana completely disappeared from the map.

Usually, when the enemy jungler is not visible, the ally jungler should be more active, but that wasn't the case here.

Ryu Jin-hyuk soon realized why.

'While focusing on growth, he is also using the jungle to guide Ellison's path.'

What choice does a jungler have if all the jungle camps he needs to take are being taken by the enemy?

Prisoner seemed to be posing this question as he gradually ate away at Ellison's jungle.

Each time, Ellison seemed to enter the enemy jungle in anger and ate away at Diana's jungle in return.

Of course, most of what he ate were the leftovers from Diana.

Thus, Diana was able to focus on jungling while simultaneously tying down the enemy jungler.

This was only possible with a deep understanding of vision and psychological warfare.

When Diana first appeared, there was already a level difference between his ally Ellison and Diana.

[Ellison - Level 5]

[Diana - Level 6]

Even if there was a difference in jungling speed between the two champions, the level difference was due to the favorable and unfavorable team conditions.

With Diana reaching level 6, she began to actively engage.

—Enemy Eliminated!

—Ally Eliminated!

—Defeated!

The first engagement was at the top lane.

Of course, given the timing, Renekton was almost in a 1v3 situation, and he managed to secure the bounty on Renekton, who had been feeding and had a bounty.

Although the kill went to Diana, it didn't matter up to this point.

'After all, it's just a jungler. He can't carry the game alone in this structure.'

It didn't take long to realize that this was a delusional thought.

—Double Kill!

Prisoner, like a ghost, only engaged in fights when he was not present, or induced engagements when he was briefly back at base.

As if trying to avoid him.

Jui's bounty increased day by day, but so did Diana's.

[Jui - Bounty 150 gold]

[Diana - Bounty 300 gold]

The significant difference between the two champions was that Jui's bounty was based on pure growth and CS, while Diana's was based on kills.

—Triple Kill!

—Enemy Dominating the Map!

With the power of Prisoner alone, the balance that had been tilting was gradually shifting towards the center.

And...

It didn't take long for the center to collapse.

—Double Kill!

—Triple Kill!

—Enemy Legendary!

Ryu Jin-hyuk's sense of reality gradually faded.

Of course, as a two-time Red Cup champion, he had never experienced such a powerless defeat.

No matter how strong the opponent, no matter how overwhelming the despair, he always managed to win.

—Victory!

However, when he finally came to his senses, the only word that appeared before his eyes was:

[Defeat]

"..."

In the past, he would have joked about it and sent a whisper to Prisoner, saying it was a good game, but Ryu Jin-hyuk couldn't move.

It was that shocking a game.

"Ah."

After a long while, Ryu Jin-hyuk finally came to his senses.

And he made a decision.

To talk to Prisoner.

An apology would be good, a greeting would be good.

Anything, just say something.

However...

[Prisoner]

Offline

By the time Ryu Jin-hyuk made his decision, Prisoner was already gone.

* * *

[Victory]

+

[+16 LP]

[1715 LP]

+

After the grueling game, I had a brief conversation with 3MinTowerCrossingHonorGod.

[3MinTowerCrossingHonorGod: Carry]

[3MinTowerCrossingHonorGod: It's a joke]

[3MinTowerCrossingHonorGod: Carry gg. Wow, we won this]

[Me: ㅎㅎ;]

[3MinTowerCrossingHonorGod: I'm off. Really carried gg. Next time, I'll carry hard]

[Me: Sure]

[3MinTowerCrossingHonorGod: Bye]

I didn't really expect much, but...

Anyway, after 3MinTowerCrossingHonorGod left, I habitually accessed a match history site.

+

[Prisoner]

Rank 1

Solo Queue

— Challenger

— 1715 LP / 247 wins 172 losses

— Win Rate 59%

+

Finally, I guess.

I finally reclaimed the throne.

A quick glance showed that he was also a topic of discussion in the community.

—Breaking News: Prisoner Reclaims Rank 1

+

[Prisoner]

Rank 1

Solo Queue

— Challenger

— 1715 LP / 247 wins 172 losses

— Win Rate 59%

+

The content was, of course, a screenshot of my profile from the match history site.

There were many eyes watching each game...

I shifted my gaze to the comments.

—Fitting for the rotten one lol

—How many seasons has he been at rank 1? Pros can't even do that?

—He can do it because he's not a pro. Do pros have time to rot?

—It's just a troll

—Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner!

—Looks like the opponent in the rank 1 deciding match was Rainbow lol. How did he do it?

Most were compliments, but there were also comments criticizing the pros he played with.

—Rainbow is a has-been lol

—Wasn't the jungler GRS? Even with Rainbow in mid, they lost lol. Where does the bottom one-tool bus go?

—Info: In the previous match, Yoon Gi was also swept by Prisoner.

—What, both Yoon Gi and Rainbow got swept by Prisoner? And the mid was 3MinTowerCrossing lol.

'Tsk.'

I closed the community.

I had reclaimed rank 1, and decided to end today's games here.

The previous game was that grueling.

Of course, I wasn't satisfied with just this.

After all, rank 1 in solo queue was just a starting line for me.

My goal was a place no one had ever reached.

A place no one would ever reach.

I would end my career as Prisoner there.

—Ping!

At that moment, a message appeared in the lower right corner of the monitor.

—Mother.

It was my mother.

Since I rarely answered phone calls, she contacted me through a messenger app linked to my computer.

[Mother: Jin, I'll be coming home with a guest soon, so be aware.]

A guest, all of a sudden?

[Me: What do you mean?]

[Mother: They're coming to see the house.]

[Me: Why are they seeing the house?]

[Mother: What are you talking about? I told you a few days ago. We're moving. The house is on the market.]

Now that I think about it, I did hear something like that before...

“Jin, we're moving soon. Where do you want to go?”

“Uh, yeah, I know.”

“...Are you listening?”

“Yeah, do whatever. I'm fine with anywhere.”

...The problem was that I was in the middle of a soulful team fight at that moment.

Anyway, it wasn't hard to guess why the moving talk came up suddenly.

'It's because of me.'

To help me start a new life.

It was a long time in a familiar house and neighborhood.

To the point where my family was willing to leave without any attachment, they were making many sacrifices for me.

“...”

As I was trying to calm my momentarily stirred heart.

[Mother: So, there's still an issue with your problem. If there's a possibility, can you go out for a bit?]

An unexpected eviction notice was issued.

* * *