Chapter 68

〈 Chapter 68 〉 It Can't Be (2)

* * *

‘...No. It can’t be.’

Li Zishan shook his head.

The hypothesis that the Raze he was seeing now was a Prisoner was simply absurd.

Li Zishan knew this.

He knew that what he was seeing was merely a kind of delusion created by his obsession with the Prisoner.

‘My state of mind is not normal right now.’

Li Zishan coldly assessed his condition.

‘I haven’t slept properly for days, and I’ve barely eaten anything.’

Given the circumstances, it was correct to conclude that his obsession with the Prisoner had become so excessive that he was seeing the Prisoner in everything.

A healthy mind comes from a healthy body.

As a professional who had always been meticulous about self-care, Li Zishan knew this better than anyone.

But why?

Despite thinking he was being rational about his condition, for some reason, he kept seeing the Prisoner in Raze.

Especially, that unique movement.

‘Clearly, he’s dodging skill shots by seeing them, not predicting them.’

Was it even possible for a human to react that fast? But the Prisoner had always done it.

If he were to ask if there was anyone else who could do that...

‘Ah.’

There was.

And it was in the same game, right now.

‘Rainbow.’

The cause of Li Zishan’s obsession with the Prisoner and his ultimate rival, whom he had envied, hated, and admired so much, now evoked a rather indifferent feeling in him.

Probably because of the Prisoner.

‘Ah.’

A thought that came to mind.

Could Rainbow know something about the Prisoner’s disappearance?

While investigating the Prisoner, he had learned that the Prisoner and Rainbow had played together since the early days of League of Legends.

If that was the case, could Rainbow know where the Prisoner was?

‘...I’ll ask after this game.’

Where the Prisoner had gone.

Or if he was even still alive.

It felt like the cause and effect had been reversed, but what did it matter?

What was important now was finding the Prisoner.

‘First, this game.’

Li Zishan refocused his attention on the screen he had been staring at blankly.

* * *

[“I told you, that Raze is fierce.”]

[“No, it’s because you fed him.”]

[“Come on, if the mid lane is pushed, the jungler should naturally be cautious, right?”]

[“Ping for a missing champion.”]

[“Jungle difference.”]

[“GG.”]

While the team members exchanged friendly banter, Ryu Jinhyeok couldn’t help but frown.

It wasn’t just because the mention of a jungle difference made his teammate Yun Gi flinch.

He was also still thinking about his mistake in the previous skirmish, but more importantly, he had a strange sense of déjà vu from the opposing Raze.

‘What is it?’

It wasn’t just that Raze was good.

Good players could be found in solo queue or in scrims.

But this feeling was clearly against Ryu Jinhyeok’s instincts.

‘This feeling, I’ve definitely felt it somewhere...’

In the end, Ryu Jinhyeok searched the opponent’s match history.

+

[GameMaster4148]

[Level 29]

Solo Queue

­ Unranked

Normal Games

­ 116 wins 0 losses

­ Win rate 100%

+

Should he have expected it?

A 100% win rate alt account.

And not just 100 games, but an unbelievable 100% win rate over more than 100 games.

“...”

Of course, objectively speaking, creating a 100% win rate alt account wasn’t difficult for someone of Ryu Jinhyeok’s caliber.

Especially since these were normal games, not ranked games.

‘But.’

Surprisingly, the opponent hadn’t won with a duo.

It was a pure solo queue, or rather, a solo normal game.

That would naturally increase the difficulty.

Creating a high win rate in the wilds of normal games, where anything could happen, was one thing, but a perfect 100% win rate was a different story.

‘The opponent is at least Challenger.’

And not just any Challenger, but a top-tier Challenger with over 1,000 points.

‘Was there someone like that?’

Ryu Jinhyeok’s mind ran through the countless mid laners he knew.

But no one stood out immediately.

Instead, for some reason, one nickname flashed through his mind.

‘...It can’t be. It’s impossible.’

Despite thinking this, Ryu Jinhyeok felt his heart racing.

‘But.’

Even as the champion respawned, Ryu Jinhyeok didn’t stop searching.

‘What position? Which position does he usually play?’

However, it seemed that GameMaster4148 didn’t have a fixed position.

While the jungle and support roles were slightly more frequent, this was common in normal games where players often take the remaining lane.

‘...That makes sense.’

He didn’t know why he had seen the Prisoner in that Raze, but in fact, Ryu Jinhyeok already knew.

The Prisoner wasn’t coming back.

It was impossible.

After trying so hard to move on, to see the Prisoner in a random opponent in a normal game...

‘I should stop.’

The game was already heading into the mid-game.

Despite a dominant early game, the cracks starting to form in the mid lane prevented them from rolling a proper snowball.

While they had secured the bottom lane’s first tower and the dragon, they had failed to take the mid lane’s first tower and the herald, which were crucial for snowballing.

[“This is bad. Jungle difference.”]

[“It’s clearly a mid lane difference.”]

[“Both of you, shut up. You’re just blaming each other.”]

[“That’s true.”]

The opposing Raze and Lissandra were strong.

Karma, who had been struggling, had recovered thanks to the growth of Raze and Lissandra.

In contrast, their team’s Yasuo and Jarvan were slightly behind.

A typical top-bottom split push formation had formed.

Of course, compared to the completely destroyed enemy bottom lane, their top lane was relatively strong, but the overall situation was as described.

[“Don’t worry. I’ll carry.”]

As if to prove Yun Gi’s confident words, their team’s Ezreal was growing at an incredible rate.

­Enemy eliminated!

­Double kill!

Yun Gi, despite being a jungler, was unusually good at playing the ADC role.

This was due to his unique status as a jungler who was unreasonably one-dimensional and a brute force one-trick.

[“God, is he Yun Gi?”]

[“Just a moron, isn’t he?”]

[“That’s too much.”]

While Ryu Jinhyeok was serious, the team members laughed and teased each other, regardless of how difficult the game was.

Yes, this was that kind of game.

Winning was good, and losing was fine.

It was rude to be so uptight in a game where everyone was having fun, so Ryu Jinhyeok shook his head.

‘I shouldn’t care.’

Even as he resolved not to care, it felt like he was still caring.

With the well-developed Ezreal at the center, their team naturally took control of the mid lane push.

This was crucial as it would lead to control over objective fights.

However,

Despite having control of the mid lane, as the game entered the mid-game, the opposing Raze and Karma began to wreak havoc as a roaming duo.

­Allies have been eliminated!

[“Ah, what?”]

A game that should have ended long ago was being dragged out by the efforts of these two roaming duos.

The Raze and Karma duo was very tricky.

If they sent in too few players, they would be wiped out by the Raze and Karma combo, but if they sent in too many, the duo would use their mobility to escape.

Two players were holding the world’s best team, SY, at bay.

Of course, their team was the world’s best team, SY, and they knew how to counter this.

The solution was simple.

If the enemy lacked initiation, their team had Jarvan, Yone, and Yasuo, a powerful initiation combo. They just needed to break through the main force of Ziggs, Nami, and Lissandra.

However,

[“Ah, the mid lane difference is huge. They’re killing again?”]

[“Agreed.”]

[“Good job not joining.”]

...These guys need to join properly.

Despite the game being dragged out despite their favorable position, the team members remained calm.

The reason was simple.

No matter how much the enemy Raze and Karma roamed, the objective game situation was still very favorable for their team.

‘There’s no reason to be desperate anyway.’

This is just a normal game.

Ryu Jinhyeok smiled bitterly at this obvious fact.

* * *