Chapter Thirteen: In This Moment, Only the Words of the Sages Can Illuminate the Path

“On the move...”
“What does ‘on the move’ even mean?”

For Tarzan, the jungler of LNG, the current situation was far from comfortable.

In the previous round, OMG managed to break open the game from the bottom lane because V5's bot lane made a critical mistake at level one—losing their support right at the start—which allowed OMG to gradually snowball the advantage.

But in professional esports, except for a few rare cases, players don’t make the same mistake twice within a short span, much like Saiyans.

So naturally...

In this game, Tarzan had absolutely no way to deal with the heavily protected bottom lane duo of Caitlyn and Lux.

All he could do was look to other lanes.

Normally, Akali counters Gwen well, and by the time he could farm up, Gwen’s health should be at a point ideal for a tower dive.

Even if not, Gwen could have used teleport and arrived just in time to coordinate with the top lane to pressure Gwen’s health and establish an advantage.

But now?

What was this Gwen with half health and an unused teleport? Were you just AFK on top lane playing Akali?

“It’s not me.”
“It’s him.”
“He’s just too cautious.”
“He’s as steady as a turret.”

Although Tarzan’s tone wasn’t exactly complaining, Ale could still sense a hint of reproach in his words.

But he really had tried his best!

If Gwen barely takes any minion experience and just passively farms near the tower with Tarzan’s help, what could he possibly do against the enemy?

Tarzan remained silent and continued farming the jungle.

There was no other way.

No opportunities on top lane, mid lane was Azir—long-range and hard to catch—and bottom lane was so well protected. What else could he do but hope for a miracle?

Nothing at all.

LNG’s jungler was feeling frustrated, unable to make any impact.

On the other hand, for V5, as long as Karsa protected the bottom lane, he was essentially doing his job.

On one side, the bottom lane was chipping away at the enemy’s tower plating, with Caitlyn’s setup showing dominant strength.

Meanwhile, the jungler was farming, with barely any movement to report.

The gap was clear as day.

[Tarzan, do something, man!]
[LNG’s team is in such a bad state, no rhythm at all?]
[With such a huge bottom lane lead, the elemental drake must be theirs. If they give up drake, then the Rift Herald too. If both drake and Herald are conceded, mid lane tower falls even faster.]
[No worries, just wait until Ascent gets his tank items, then they’ll be unkillable (laughs).]

At the end of the day, most League of Legends viewers are Silver rank or below and don’t grasp all the complex tactics, so they don’t understand that Tarzan isn’t unwilling to act—he simply has no chance to do so.

After observing for a minute or two, they gradually understood what Ale meant by calling the newcomer a “turret”—this rookie was just too steady.

Apparently, due to being caught out in the first two games, Roji was playing extremely cautiously this time.

Faced with the minion wave and health bar, he chose experience without hesitation; confronted with the pressure, he accepted his fate without blinking—essentially a wise retreat in the face of danger.

His last hits were nearly ten behind Ale’s, yet his experience was intact and his health perfectly healthy. Ale could only find moments to chip away at him when the minion wave pushed under the tower.

And that’s it!

This guy’s first recall bought a magic resist cloak and boots.

“Is this Gwen a born tank?”

Ale’s face betrayed his disbelief upon seeing Gwen’s items.

Normally, before level six, this matchup is about 20/80 in favor of Akali; after level six, it swings to 90/10. But with such a playstyle and build, Roji forced the win rate down to around 50/50.

Courage is the anthem of the strong; cowardice is the confidence of the weak.

At least at this moment, Ale genuinely respected the rookie top laner, wholeheartedly and sincerely.

“Keep it up, brothers. I’ve got you locked down against that Akali.”

In the team voice chat, Ale’s sudden declaration stunned the other four teammates, who initially thought they misheard.

You’re Gwen, countered by Akali, saying you’ve locked down the enemy Akali?

Impossible, right?

But when their eyes turned to the screen...

With magic resist cloak, boots, and a potion, positioned perfectly in front of the tower and maintaining strong health, the enemy Akali really had no answer for him.

What the heck?

He Jin-yin locked down the senior brother, but the senior brother also locked down He Jin-yin?

“How did you pull that off!?”

“Nothing special, just strictly following the basics of jungle pathing.”

Roji’s response was casual, but only fellow pros really understood the weight behind those words.

---

Xiao Yan was completely stunned.

He had thought the enemy bot lane, led by “Lamp Emperor,” could hold off his Caitlyn’s setup well enough, but there was always someone stronger—his own top lane was even more impressive than the enemy bot lane!

As for the few minions lost?

No big deal.

That tiny amount of gold would be made up once Caitlyn’s setup took down two towers.

The key was to crush LNG’s momentum and prevent their Akali from flourishing.

Otherwise...

Their composition was prone to a rapid collapse, where the initial momentum would vanish quickly, spiraling into a complete breakdown.

Roji’s lane play gave them a perfect 100 out of 100, even though they were only expecting about 80 points.

“Well played, very smart.”

In the LNG team room, coach Poppy watched the screen showing Gwen stubbornly defending under tower, his expression thoughtful and admiring.

For some reason, he felt this style was very familiar.

As for Roji being a student of the “Holy Spear” player, few knew about it since neither had publicized it.

Caitlyn’s setup required time to develop.

Slowly chipping away at health and plating, it needed at least seven or eight minutes to accumulate an advantage.

The problem was this:

The longer Gwen could hold on top, the greater Caitlyn’s bottom lane advantage would grow. Now, with Tarzan visibly unable to help his teammates, they had to wait for Doinb’s level six to have the jungler and support roam together.

But...

That was too slow.

On stage, Ale understood this deeply, and after a brief hesitation, he decided to make a bold move on Roji.

After reaching level six, Ale had the right to solo kill Gwen—provided his E skill landed.

This kind of opportunity usually happened when the wave was pushed back, but the enemy preferred hiding in the top lane brush rather than giving him a chance. If the stealth approach failed, he would have to try openly.

He planned to call for jungle backup and attempt a tower dive kill.

“Huh? LNG’s going to make a move on ‘I Dream’?”

At the commentary desk, Tong Xi, who was carrying the broadcast, didn’t call Roji by his in-game name Mebius, but rather by his in-team nickname “I Dream,” which insiders found more natural and endearing.

This also meant Roji’s nickname had gained official recognition.

“Incoming?”

At top lane, feeling Ale’s obvious intent, Roji was far from oblivious.

His wave control and energy management were too conspicuous, and LNG didn’t seem to be hiding anything—after all, Akali plus Xin Zhao against Gwen was a straightforward matchup.

But...

“You guys!”
“Don’t underestimate my synergy with the basics!”

Facing the approaching wave under tower, Roji boldly stepped out of the safety zone and cast his ultimate, Needle Barrage.

Was he crazy!?

Ale instinctively moved Akali away, but quickly realized something was off.

The ultimate wasn’t aimed at him!

Though it initially seemed so, after he dodged, the attack hit the minion wave he was trying to bring into the tower.

Damn!

He was clearing minions!?

“Stop him!” Tarzan shouted urgently.

They had circled around, used valuable time, and finally made a decision. If the enemy disrupted it now, their early game rhythm would be completely shattered.

Ale said nothing, his eyes locked on Gwen’s position.

Again, as the ultimate counter to Gwen, Akali could still kill her if the E skill landed, even with the magic resist cloak—he just needed a little extra damage from the jungler.

If not under tower, he might even solo kill without jungle help once his cooldowns refreshed.

The problem?

The enemy still hadn’t used E.

With time tight, Ale had no choice but to gamble on his plan.

Starting his ultimate, Perfect Execution, Ale dealt damage while maneuvering Akali behind Gwen, diving into the red side’s tower range.

At the same time, Tarzan’s Xin Zhao emerged from the jungle brush, ready to coordinate a pincer attack with their top laner.

Here it comes!

First, he activated Ghost.

Then, he used E, Three Talon Slash.

The fluid connection between skills gave a sense of innate speed, as if the spirit of agility coursed through his bones.

Instead of running toward the tower, he moved in the opposite direction, distancing himself from Akali’s original position outside the tower. As the dash ended, he stepped down one minion’s width.

No experience involved—pure gamble!

Ale wasn’t a fool. From his perspective, the only escape was to run backward, so Akali needed to watch for the enemy’s displacement skill.

Now.

With displacement used, the enemy wouldn’t waste this rare chance to cast E.

Sure enough, the moment the dash ended, the shuriken flew precisely to where Gwen had just moved.

If he hadn’t taken that step down, that E would have been a deadly dagger to V5’s top lane defense.

But he dodged it!

“Damn!”

The empty E cast had both Ale and Tarzan uneasy. Akali could use her secondary ultimate to reposition, but what about Xin Zhao?

Thanks to Ghost and the backward movement, Xin Zhao couldn’t catch Gwen.

Now it was awkward.

If Xin Zhao retreated, Akali, with no E and tower aggro, might be chased down and killed by Gwen.

If Xin Zhao stayed and went all in, both could die trading for Gwen.

At this moment, only sage wisdom could guide them.

Ale, who hadn’t finished nine years of compulsory education, suddenly recalled a famous saying from school:

“Confucius once said: ‘Slipping without a slide is futile, sliding without a slip is death...’”

Meaning:

Since you're already in the fight, backing down only leads to a worse fate.

So the LNG duo on top lane, reckless and fearless, decided to trade their lives to take down Roji’s Gwen.

What could Roji do?

He gave them what they wanted.

V5’s Mebius killed LNG’s Tarzan.
LNG’s Ale killed V5’s Mebius.
V5’s Mebius killed LNG’s Ale.

At the cost of their lives, Gwen perfectly executed the tower dive, killing both LNG’s top laner and jungler. Due to the inheritance mechanic, Roji gained the full benefits of the two kills.

A one-for-two exchange.

And LNG had used all their skills in the fight.

Though Gwen was called “Akali’s daughter,” that was mainly because Akali’s burst and agility were so overwhelming.

At this point, Akali wasted her E, and Xin Zhao had to drag himself across the tower to reach Gwen, nearly exhausted by the time he arrived.

No one expected the first tempo attempt from LNG would backfire so badly.

“Ah???”
“Classic top-jungle duo: one dies, one feeds. I can do that too! Does that mean I can go pro?”
“You’re wrong. You might die once, but in the pros, they die both.”
“2v1 and get counter-killed? Can you even play? (Roaring尊敬.jpg)”

Not just the audience—Roji himself was amused by their banter.

To be clear, the entire sequence was because the enemy didn’t anticipate his dash and step down, and the preemptive Ghost was crucial at the moment of landing.

Within V5, the mood was even more jubilant.

Originally, they had hoped to open the game before top lane collapsed, but while the bottom lane was still locked, the top lane had already been cleared. Unexpectedly, it worked perfectly!

“I Dream!!!”
“How strong is he? Two-on-one and they both die, no lane left?”
“That’s I Dream for you, a name from the Three-Body Problem, an ID from the M78 Nebula—a monster, just too damn strong.”
“Xiao Yan, look and learn.”

Looking at the top lane scores and bottom lane progress, PPGOD wore a face filled with envy, like hearing a party next door all night while his own teammates only made noise for three minutes.

Are you even capable?

Roji, praised so much, didn’t dare brag. Though he wanted to, he knew this was partly because the enemy had been lax or overconfident.

As expected.

Since the De Cup wasn’t about honor, prize money, or fame, the opposing team’s focus was less intense.

In that case, he wouldn’t hold back!

Thirty seconds later.

When Ale returned to lane, he had transformed into a terrifying monster with full items: Ghostblade and Mercury’s Treads.

This was...

The legendary armor penetration Gwen!?