Chapter 19 "No one understands V5's top laner better than I do."

“What's the meaning of ‘you’ve arrived’?”

“Arriving just means arriving~”

Almost simultaneously, as Viktor reached level six on the bottom lane, the mid lane’s two sides also nearly hit level six around the same time. At this moment, the ecology of the mid lane had already shifted.

Before level six, Viktor’s long-range poke was solid, no complaints there. But after level six, if Viktor’s positioning was even a bit flashy or reckless, he’d instantly become a three-hundred-gold donation to Akali’s wallet.

We often call this transformation “a woman’s eighteen changes.”

Once level six hits, the ability to one-shot emerges.

If you then add a flashy skin with a high KDA, or switch over to playing in the moderator zone or even the 3D zone, a seemingly defenseless young woman can instantly become a terrifying presence capable of wiping out billions of lives with a flick of her hand.

At first, Rookie was resistant.

However,

he quickly realized this strategy actually held promise, and his words gradually shifted to “can’t argue with that.”

An Akali just hitting level six wouldn’t rush to gank so quickly. At the very least, she’d push the lane first. With her ultimate’s threat looming, she wouldn’t dare to push so aggressively as before. But if you bring the wave over, wouldn’t Kennen’s gank be perfectly timed?

More than that—

even the little tiger didn’t immediately suspect that Kennen was heading down to gank.

The top laner’s route had many possibilities.

Especially after pushing the wave over, he could recall to buy items, or head to the river to consume a Scuttle Crab for health recovery. The least likely option was a gamble to gank mid lane—but he seized that opportunity just the same.

So,

when Gori in mid lane, relying on his ultimate, finally pushed the wave past the center,

not far behind, around the corner of the jungle,

there was already a purple-skinned electric mouse speeding towards his position with “Electro-Q Flash” activated.

Maybe it was because Battlefield was on sale during the New Year,

his muscle memory instinctively cast a Smoke Screen, thinking he could safely hide within it.

However,

the Kennen + Viktor combo soon made him understand what it means when technology changes life—electric shocks curing gaming addiction.

“Don’t underestimate our synergy!”

“Think you can hide?!”

“We’re about to unleash the Dragon Emperor’s dimensional prison!!!”

R [Sanguine Storm Prison]

R [Arcane Storm]

A massive lightning storm engulfed the area including Akali’s smoke screen. At this moment, Gori finally sensed something was wrong and tried to escape with an ultimate and E.

Too late!

The instant his figure appeared, Kennen’s W was activated at lightning speed. With the ultimate’s passive marks on the target, simply pressing W was enough to stun him.

“Sizzle.”

Akali’s idol career hadn’t even begun before both of them already locked her down with stuns from their electric toys.

Follow-up damage then struck.

V5’s Rookie secured the kill on FPX’s Gori.

Kill secured!

“Seriously, are you top lane or jungle?”

“The most desperate episode for AKL—zapped along with her smoke, couldn’t even run.”

“She even used her ultimate while fleeing. I’m crying—not because of AKL, but for the bot lane’s brilliance.”

“Honestly, feels bad for Xiang, the captain.”

Truly.

LWX in the bottom lane was really struggling.

Bottom lane 3v3 is tough, and they were relying on AKL hitting six to come down and change the situation. Viktor tends to farm up, but AKL plays more ‘business-oriented.’

But what does it mean when you use your ultimate like that? It’s fine if you die, but mid lane is short and can keep playing safe.

What about the rest of us?

But since things had come to this, they had to resort to drastic measures.

“Hang, roam. Don’t worry about bottom lane for now.”

“Xiang ge…”

Hearing LWX’s command, the support Hang was touched.

He was clearly the one in best form on the team, yet he willingly took the sacrificial role.

But there was no other choice.

In this predicament, someone had to make a sacrifice. Luckily, LWX was playing Jhin this round, a champion who could manage solo lane alone.

As for the left-behind support?

Just consider him out there practicing his skills.

“Oh, by the way.”

As if recalling something, LWX continued, “If anything goes wrong this game, you know what to do after the match.”

“I understand.”

Hang nodded seriously. “You’ll be the first name I call out.”

LWX: ...

Bottom lane.

With the support Rell joining the roam, the days of Xiao Yan and PPGOD on bottom lane blossomed completely. Not only did they claim the entire lower half of the map’s resources, but even the turret’s plating was theirs for the taking.

However, according to the theory of relative society,

if someone feels their life is peaceful and calm, it’s because someone else is bearing the burden for them.

Indeed.

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The unlucky one was Luo Ji.

Mid lane was short and Viktor hard to gank. Beichuan and Hang didn’t even think about targeting Rookie. But your electric mouse top just used the ultimate, right?

A roaming top laner?!

Just a Rengar and a Jayce, diving under tower against a Kennen without ultimate, already had a high chance of success. Add a support Rell, and it was basically a top lane invitation.

They came!

Just as Gori didn’t expect Kennen to gank so early, Luo Ji didn’t expect the enemy support to cross such a distance to dive tower with his teammates.

What grudge could it be?

The journey was almost as long as the six great sects besieging Bright Summit back in the day.

Is he Mingjiao’s true disciple?

Laughter.

So much laughter.

If FPX’s game on the blue side showcased the phoenix rebirth of veteran LWX,

then V5’s blue side displayed a surging youthful storm.

Both Luo Ji and Xiao Yan showed the vigor and spirit of young rookies in this BO5.

The difference was:

Xiao Yan played AD, always protected.

Luo Ji played top lane, constantly being sold out.

No choice.

That’s top lane for you—taking the most hits and the most blame. But that’s also why the top laner dares to call himself the father of his four teammates.

“You okay, I’meng?”

“I’m fine, just a bit weathered.”

When his death notification sounded on the top of the screen, Luo Ji merely took a deep breath and silently lifted the water cup beside him.

One death was nothing.

After all, the enemy Jayce also died once, and Luo Ji had one more assist than his counterpart. KDA didn’t matter—just be better than the opposing top laner.

Until—

on his way back to lane, he was ambushed again by the enemy top, jungle, and support.

1/2/1.

Compared to the enemy Jayce’s 0/1/2, Luo Ji still led in KDA, but watching Rengar’s two kills made his mouth twitch uncontrollably.

Damn, I’ve become an ATM.

[LOL.]

[Poor I’meng, so miserable.]

[I’ve noticed, besides loving to roam, top laners are especially good at drawing hate. You have to prioritize attacking the minions with ‘taunt.’]

[I’meng: I’ve sacrificed too much for this ‘home.’]

For V5, Luo Ji’s two deaths were just rookie mistakes.

Strictly speaking, not even mistakes—who would expect the enemy to lie in wait and strike again? And at that moment, Kennen’s ultimate wasn’t even ready; it was a decent opportunity.

But—

FPX still miscalculated.

Their plan was to force a flash out of Kennen as he finished his ultimate, so even if they wasted time not recalling to buy items, they could still contest the Rift Herald without Kennen’s flash.

But,

the enemy didn’t use flash—that was a huge problem.

Beichuan and Hang furrowed their brows, unable to understand why this rookie wouldn’t flash!

If flash had been used, Kennen could have escaped.

But without it,

Kennen came out with both flash and ultimate ready. Any attempt to catch him risked a counterkill with his team’s help. Even if they gave up, they dared not contest the Rift Herald.

A fully skilled Kennen was unstoppable.

“Thanks for your hard work, I’meng.”

“Not hard, it’s what I should do.”

Listening to Karsa’s consolation, Luo Ji sighed.

He understood exactly what the enemy was thinking—when his flash was about to come off cooldown, they had already planned how to break the stalemate.

But there was nothing he could do.

He could only think, unable to change the situation. He couldn’t just ignore the minion wave experience.

Fortunately, after this phase, the team still controlled the resource fights tightly. As long as the jungler didn’t forget his role, even with two deaths, he still had a chance to turn things around.

“Since you understand, you can take on a bit more responsibility, right?”

“Of course not... huh!???”

What does ‘take on more responsibility’ mean?

Before he could comprehend, Karsa, who had just controlled the Rift Herald, abandoned the top lane and rushed straight to bottom lane.

At this stage, the top half of the map was full of threats—Rengar and Rell would not only target the top lane but could invade the jungle to target him.

In that case, the safer bottom half was far more appealing.

There, he could coordinate with the bottom duo to pressure the enemy Jhin.

If no opportunity arose, just push the tower.

After pushing and freeing their own bottom duo, the Rift Herald would attack mid lane towers, setting the perfect early game rhythm.

That was the plan.

But for Luo Ji, facing a fighter, a tank, and two assassins, his fragile electric mouse seemed destined to live by the law of the dark forest.

So...

One minute later,

FPX’s players suddenly discovered something strange.

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Though they could see the enemy Kennen top lane, whenever they lost sight of him on the V5 minimap and tried to track him along the lane to hunt him down,

Kennen would always disappear just in time.

He even ignored the minion wave entirely.

Only viewers with a god’s-eye view could clearly see that as Jayce pushed minions into the tower and teammates crept forward,

Luo Ji’s Kennen was pitifully hiding behind a wall in the jungle, quietly soaking up experience.

He didn’t dare to touch a single minion—even though his skill could Q through walls, he didn’t dare to cast.

This!

This was!!!

The supreme technique of the God of War?

When playing blue side, hiding in the triangle bush to safely soak experience, while placing vision in the bush connecting to the river behind for early warning and escape,

this was the “Experience Smelling Technique” researched by God of War mains through countless days and nights.

“Damn, genius!”

Outside the screen,

Abu’s scalp tingled the moment Saint Gunner reminded him of what he missed.

If this player were under the EDG banner, and played something like Maokai,

even if they had to cut all current substitutes and buy him,

he would be willing!

Such professionalism.

If you can’t develop well at EDG, why run off to V5 as some avenger?

What a pure waste!

“Did you teach him this?” Abu turned back, staring hard at Saint Gunner, who was picking at his nails.

“No way.”

Saint Gunner shook his head, complaining, “Even when I screw up top lane, I’ve never played this humbly. He must have learned it by searching forums on his own.”

“No.”

Abu was puzzled.

“A talent like this, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I did, didn’t you guys not believe me? So I could only send him off to make a living.”

Saint Gunner waved his hand.

In truth, many timid top laners have played in EDG’s youth academy. Everyone knew EDG was recruiting Maokai players, so many unconventional players served as punching bags. Abu was used to it.

Looking back,

he hadn’t taken it seriously at the time.

But how was he to know someone top lane could be so gifted?

Top lane Luo Ji survived by the dark forest law.

Bottom lane,

LWX truly had no answer to the enemy’s Miss Fortune, Rell, and Xin Zhao combo. It wasn’t a question of tower defense; veteran Karsa simply circumvented the second tower to gank.

What could Jhin, with no mobility, do?

Nothing.

So,

with the help of his two ‘dads,’ Xiao Yan added another kill,

and riding this momentum, V5 successfully took down FPX’s next tower, secured the elemental dragon, then after buying items, launched a fresh assault on FPX’s inner and outer mid towers.

Perfect early game tower pushing, dragon taking, and lane rotation rhythm.

Even spectators felt V5’s bottom lane rhythm was extremely smooth, while coaches and analysts from various teams focused their gaze on the Kennen top lane.

At this moment,

they seemed possessed by the King of Understanding and simultaneously blurted out:

“No one understands V5’s top laner better than me.”

Indeed.

In their eyes, V5’s smooth rhythm was owed not only to Karsa’s perfect management but also to the intelligent playstyle of V5’s top laner.

From baiting trades early to help the jungler create gank opportunities,

to pushing lane at level six and roaming mid to set up AKL’s ultimate,

to playing safely and farming when unsupported,

don’t think this came without cost.

With FPX fielding two assassins, failing to secure kills meant continuous economic loss.

They had hoped to treat Kennen as an ATM to withdraw gold, but this style made cashing out far more difficult and time-consuming.

What did this lead to?

Rengar and AKL were essentially useless this game.

“Damn, why did V5 steal such a top laner?”

Managers were all breaking down.

Putting aside skill, this game IQ alone guaranteed demand from teams. Yet when they learned he had once applied for a trial with their team but was ignored because he’d never appeared in LPL, their hearts ached even more.

Just as coaches from all teams were banging their chests in frustration,

the next moment,

Kennen’s position shocked many LPL teams, as well as casters and viewers outside the arena.

When AKL and Rengar penetrated deep into V5’s jungle, planning to forcibly withdraw gold from Kennen,

from the god’s-eye view,

Kennen was stealthily sneaking into FPX’s jungle.

What is this?

The ultimate technique of the Alchemist—cutting the enemy’s minions for gold mining!?

The entire arena was stunned!

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