Chapter 25: High-end enemies often appear in the form of teammates

After a double kill, Luo Ji was undoubtedly one step closer to his core item, Blade of the Ruined King.

Yet, in terms of economy, his opposite laner, Bin, was only leading by about three hundred gold. After all, earlier, to maintain his health and endure the pressure under pressure, he had consciously surrendered several minion waves.

So, aside from the three hundred gold, what else was he leading in?

He was leading in experience and a sixty-second discount on Magical Footwear, allowing him to successfully redeem his boots at the nine-minute mark.

And with the conclusion of that skirmish, RNG completely lacked the courage to contest the eight-minute Rift Herald with V5.

Their top laner had no Flash and no ultimate, the enemy top laner held an experience lead, and the Corki's Package delivery was delayed. If they were to contest a team fight under these conditions, it could only be described as a decision made by a divine being.

Although Ming's performance fluctuated between godlike and abyssal, he hadn't reached the point of utter confusion.

"YouMeng, trust me, you are getting closer and closer to being a top-tier LPL top laner." In high spirits, Karsa couldn't help offering some praise.

"Oh, you don't need to state facts that everyone already knows." Luo Ji feigned shyness and waved his hand.

The advantage of two kills completely stripped Bin of the arrogant demeanor he had previously maintained.

Luo Ji didn't bother trying to establish dominance or claim absolute victory; the moment the minion wave was pushed, he marched straight into RNG's jungle to hunt down the jungler.

To reiterate:

In this patch, the island effect in the top lane was exceptionally heavy.

Despite securing two kills in the previous skirmish, if he wanted to translate that advantage into benefits for his teammates outside of the Herald, his only option—aside from securing resources—was to do exactly this: push the wave and step into the enemy jungle.

Was it dangerous?

Naturally, it was dangerous.

However, simply by locating the enemy jungler—or even without finding them directly, merely checking whether the jungle camps were still present—suffered an impact.

If conditions permitted, dropping a stealth ward would suffice.

Karsa could deduce the enemy jungler's general location entirely on his own.

"It begins. Is this what you taught him?"

"No, he has surpassed his teacher."

Hearing Nofe's question, GimGoon sat cross-legged on the sofa and shook his head.

Back when he was on FPX, he indeed frequently abandoned the top lane to invade the jungle and gather information, making Tian's jungle pathing much more comfortable.

Yet at this moment,

Luo Ji hadn't abandoned resources to enter the jungle. He had shoved the wave straight into the tower, entering without losing a single minion—this was the absolute ideal supporting state for a top laner.

Of course,

This playstyle was also intensely team-oriented.

Because if he didn't roam, he could exert pressure in front of the tower, forcing the enemy Graves to miss cs or even finding an opportunity to execute a trade, laying the groundwork for a subsequent kill.

Yet he chose not to do so.

"Irelia has entered our jungle."

"Ignore him for now, focus on securing Gala's farm. Apply pressure so Gala can take plating."

As the ten-minute mark arrived, Xiaohu found an opening to recall and pick up his Package, while Wei began moving downward to apply pressure. Facing RNG's posture, V5's bot lane naturally could not contest.

Rookie followed them down, though not entirely; he descended only as far as the red buff to provide minimal coverage and simply go through the motions.

Then,

he blankly watched Gala enjoy the turret plating all to himself.

As for Karsa, he seized the opportunity to rush to the top lane and drop a Herald.

The gold lead from two kills wasn't substantial, especially since the enemy Graves was building a Hullbreaker, which only cost 2,800 gold. Meanwhile, Luo Ji's first completed item was the Blade of the Ruined King, whose cost had increased by 100 gold compared to the previous patch, now requiring 3,300.

As for its stats:

The melee damage multiplier on-hit was reverted from 10% back to 12%, causing Irelia players to rejoice.

Although the stats were improved, compared to the Hullbreaker, there was still a deficit of a full 500 gold.

In other words,

if Karsa hadn't come up to deploy that Herald and let him take plating, even sitting at 2/0, his completion speed for his first core item would have been slower than the enemy Graves.

"They really are willing to sacrifice so much. The moment the Package refreshes, they take it solely to feed Gala tower gold."

Xiaoyan was consumed with envy.

This approach was practically forsaking the contest over the second elemental dragon entirely just to nurture a hyper-carry in the bot lane.

Though Gala might ostensibly hold a low tactical priority within RNG's system, when pushed to the brink, they were always quite eager to treat him as their primary carry.

And himself?

Within V5, he seemed relegated to the third position.

"Stop envying him. Take that energy and play a few more solo queue games. If you could out-farm your opponent by a few dozen cs every single game like Uzi, trust me, Brother Karsa would permanently pitch a tent in your bot lane."

Before Xiaoyan could finish expressing his sentiment, Luo Ji interrupted directly over team comms.

"Straight to Uzi? Can we start with some transitional template first?"

"I've already lowered the expectations, at least I haven't forced you to evolve using the Bang template."

Hearing the exchange between the two, the three veteran members in the mid, jungle, and support roles couldn't help but burst out laughing.

It wasn't until Corki's Package expired, RNG's mid and jungle initiated a retreat, and the bot lane duo began recalling that Xiaoyan and PPGOD finally stepped out from the safety of their inner tower.

League of Legends is a turn-based game.

A moment ago, when your Corki had a Package, playing passively was the correct choice; now that Corki's Package had expired, I shall graciously accept this second elemental infernal dragon.

Karsa headed straight toward the lower river, while Rookie drifted toward the lower half of the map after clearing his wave.

Seeing this,

Luo Ji, having just completed a tour of the enemy jungle, was preparing to walk past the dragon pit back to the top lane.

Before his eyes,

his path was abruptly blocked by the familiar figure of Graves as he reappeared right in front of him.

...

Still coming?!

Luo Ji was stunned!

A level three dive failed, a level six dive also failed—didn't you know the saying about not making the same mistake thrice?

What was the meaning of showing up again now?

Yet Luo Ji wasn't intimidated.

For Graves to appear so boldly meant that Corki and Jarvan IV were currently rushing toward his position.

That being the case,

Luo Ji did not hesitate further. He instantly used his Q to dash onto Graves, executing a flawless combo of basic attacks woven with movement right from the start. Once the enemy's E ability was spent, he unleashed his ultimate point-blank.

Bring it on!

A worthless life is meant to be gambled!

On the minimap, Graves and Irelia instantly clashed in a violent brawl.

In the caster booth,

Zhao Junri raised his voice and shouted:

"The jungle!"

"YouMeng's Irelia has been cut off by Bin! Can he escape? He didn't run, Irelia chose to turn and fight back!"

"But Corki and Jarvan are on their way, and in a 1v1 jungle duel, Irelia has to absorb all of Graves's damage raw. It looks like YouMeng might actually be losing this trade!"

On stage,

realizing that Irelia couldn't win the duel wasn't just the observers outside or the audience, but also Bin, who was actively trading damage with Irelia.

From the initial moment when Irelia chased him down with auto-attacks to now, as Irelia slowly drifted back toward the dragon pit, it was obvious the enemy was trying to run.

He pinged the minimap, and Wei understandingly began moving toward the river.

Until—

at the moment when both Graves and Irelia had dropped to slivers of health.

"Swish!"

Luo Ji, pressing his body flush against the wall of the dragon pit, finally burned his Flash.

He's here!

He flashed down!

A flurry of pings erupted rapidly inside the dragon pit.

Bin simply stood atop the wall and waited.

His E cooldown was about to expire, and both Jarvan and Corki were nearly on the battlefield. In this situation, there was simply no way the enemy Irelia could escape!

Right at the exact microsecond his E cooldown was about to finish,

above the canyon,

accompanied by the dying wails of the second elemental infernal dragon echoing across the map,

the entire terrain,

altered by the influence of the second infernal dragon, successfully triggered a transformation in the ecosystem.

Patches of brush ignited and burned away under the waves of the infernal dragon soul.

Leaving behind

nothing but absolute, barren wasteland.

This would ordinarily have been an utterly mundane visual sequence, until that fiery wave also swept upward into the upper jungle.

At the exact moment when the patch of brush right beside the Graves controlled by Bin vanished into thin air amidst the flames,

before his eyes,

sat a low-health Irelia in the middle of recalling, staring at him in utter mutual astonishment.

Luo Ji: "Hey~ hello."

RNG Mid/Jungle/Top: "?"

Two seconds later,

RNG Xiaohu killed V5 Mebius.

At that moment,

Luo Ji's mental fortitude shattered.

[2333333]

[Absolute genius! When it comes to generating entertainment value, I, Uchiha Madara, declare you the strongest!]

[High-tier enemies often appear in the form of teammates! That's right, I'm talking about you—Karsa!]

[Although it feels like he couldn't have escaped anyway, once they arrived at the dragon pit and found no one, they would have figured it out. But still, the comedic effect is just too absurd, how can it be this hilarious!]

[What does this prove? It proves that in moments of life and death, you can always trust your teammate; but beyond that, remember to always be wary of your teammate.]

Never mind the livestream chat,

even within V5's own camp, the team comms plunged into an abrupt, heavy silence.

Karsa was mortified.

He had been entirely focused on watching Luo Ji style on the enemy with his Flash, completely forgetting that he was still actively clearing a jungle camp with his bare hands—and worse yet, it was the damn infernal dragon.

By the time he realized it, his Smite had already fallen out of pure muscle memory.

"Ahem, look, I really didn't mean to do that."

"I genuinely forgot I was hitting the infernal dragon. I was too busy watching you, I didn't even notice when I pressed Smite."

"You have to believe me!"

"You really have to believe me!!!"

Rookie and the others burst into silent fits of laughter on the side.

Yet knowing how comical the scene was, even with smiles plastered across their faces, they desperately bit their lips to keep from laughing out loud.

It wasn't until Karsa made various lavish promises—even offering to cover Luo Ji's late-night snacks for an entire month—that Luo Ji's composure finally recovered.

To be honest,

trading a kill for a dragon was actually a massive profit, even though that kill theoretically didn't need to be conceded. Still, it wasn't a net loss. For RNG, however, it was a different story entirely.

After securing the kill on Luo Ji,

Bin's mental state completely rebounded. Moreover, because the sequence had been so comical, the slightly strained RNG team comms instantly reverted to a lighthearted atmosphere.

Even the higher-ups at Riot Games were grinning from ear to ear.

They had originally thought JackeyLove was already the peak of the new generation's traffic draw, but it turned out there were even greater monsters hidden away. Whose subordinate was this anyway, that could attract such pure entertainment value wherever he went?

At this moment,

the one suffering the most was EDG's manager, Ah Bu.

This guy had walked right out of their EDG organization! This playstyle, this comedic flair, this insane ability to draw traffic!

If he were still at EDG!

Next year they would dare to build an entire roster around Luo Ji straight away!

Though EDG had always existed in a strange parallel dimension where tactical resources were never funneled into the top lane—where even Flandre's Jayce couldn't get a single jungle gank—

just imagine if they actually played around the top lane; perhaps it could only exist in dreams or other esports titles.

Yet!

They could at least try it out! After all, weren't you capable of absorbing pressure anyway?

Following this skirmish,

RNG's next interaction with V5 would come during the soul-point dragon contest.

Namely, the seventeen-minute team fight.

By then, Corki would have his Package, and Jinx's itemization would be quite respectable. As long as they protected their dual carries and played a controlled skirmish, they would possess formidable fighting power at that juncture.

"How do we play the soul-point dragon fight?" PPGOD asked.

"A 4v4 is going to be a bit problematic. My itemization doesn't have much damage at this timing." Xiaoyan was also harboring a headache.

"Or should I look for an opening?" Rookie frowned slightly.

"I initiate and you drop your ultimate; the two of us can chunk the enemy low without much issue, but we won't be able to secure kills." Karsa contemplated.

It was only seventeen minutes, and at this timestamp, both of their late-game AD carries lacked sufficient damage. Just as they were racking their brains, Luo Ji's voice rang out once more through their ears:

"Why don't you just add me to the mix?"

"You?"

It wasn't that Karsa wanted to doubt him, but he clearly remembered that both Luo Ji and the enemy Graves had recently burned their Teleports to return to lane, leaving both top laners currently without TP.

The top lane was always like this:

If you burn your TP, I burn mine; you can't afford to fall behind in experience.

If you save your TP, I save mine; a lone wolf cannot isolate himself from the cost.

With Teleports expended, the remaining four members in the mid, bot, and jungle roles on both sides tacitly assumed the top laners wouldn't be participating in this upcoming fight. However, Luo Ji pinged the Hullbreaker sitting in Graves's inventory and stated:

"It's fine, I can get down there."

"Even if he tries to follow, that item is completely useless in a team fight anyway. You guys just go ahead and look for an opening."

"That way, it'll be much easier for me to perform."

In many people's minds,

when two top laners without Teleports see one leave, the other—realizing their opponent has vanished—will naturally alert their teammates or follow right down.

Experience tells us, however, that this is not always the case.

Back in Season 12, within the historical timeline of the original world, ever since 369 joined JDG and took shelter under Homme, JDG's matches frequently featured 369's top laner sneaking down from the top lane alone to join a team fight, while the opposing top laner remained completely oblivious.

The core reason lay in the fact that not every player possessed such macro awareness.

Some players only had minion waves in their eyes.

Some players only saw turrets.

While others cast their vision much further abroad.

Why did RNG swap top laners with BLG in Season 12 of the original timeline, trading Bin for Breathe?

It was precisely because even RNG felt Bin was far too independent, believing Breathe would be a better fit for their system.

As it turned out,

Breathe was team-oriented indeed—perhaps a bit too team-oriented. Occasionally, when playing champions that genuinely required split-pushing, such as Fiora, he would frequently Teleport or run down to join fights prematurely, causing his own lane to collapse.

In contrast,

Bin had never changed his ways; after moving to BLG, he remained just as independent as ever.

Sure enough,

at the sixteen-and-a-half-minute mark,

as Xiaohu walked out of his base carrying a Corki Package toward the river, while the four members on both sides skirmished and probed one another in the frontlines, in the isolation of the side lane, no one noticed Irelia quietly vanishing from the lane.

Bin had an inkling of suspicion.

Yet, holding a Hullbreaker, his initial thought was simply that the enemy was lingering in some patch of brush to set up an ambush.

After all, if an Irelia wanted to participate in a team fight,

she should have gone down long ago; there was no reason to wait until this exact moment.

Thus,

Bin cautiously cleared the minion wave upward while keeping a wary eye on every shadow.

From the spectator perspective,

even the casters had their cameras completely locked onto the lower river.

In their minds,

this team fight was bound to be decided by these eight immortals showcasing their divine abilities.

Yet...

the exact next second the director entertained this thought,

beside them,

a fellow staff member suddenly widened their eyes and frantically pointed toward the area of the river closer to mid lane.

There, a familiar figure was rapidly closing the distance toward the bottom lane.

—86, has descended from the mountain?!