Chapter 109: Finals (5)

‘She must want to hit me by now.’

As soon as I hit level 3, I waited for the opponent to use her skills.
From Yone’s perspective, whose kit is all auto-attacks and non-targeted skills, there was no way to hit Akali if she had her shroud.

But at the level 3 timing, with both junglers spotted on the map, the opponent had no reason to hold onto her shroud.

As expected, she moved forward and took a Q hit. Seizing the opportunity, she used her shroud and initiated a trade.

Akali probably thought this was a golden opportunity to unleash damage, but…

‘Now.’

The moment Akali used her E to dash back after hitting me and crossed the mid lane river, I immediately used my E skill and dashed forward.

Even while taking damage one-sidedly, I mixed in Qs and auto-attacks. Using auto-attack Q one more time, Lethal Tempo was at full stacks.

I had poked her once before level 3, and Akali, who had taken damage from minions after crossing the lane, was already at half health.

As I kept following and kiting with auto-attacks, the flustered opponent used Flash to escape towards their tower.

But it was already too late.

[Vanish!]

Using my W, which was off cooldown, simultaneously with Flash.

“Got mid.”

I secured First Blood just like that.

“Nice.”
“That solo kill is huge.”
“Looking good?”
“Seo-ha, nice~”

As victory echoed from mid lane, my teammates’ voices grew louder.

Winning this set meant winning the championship. With a high-value champion like Yone getting a kill in that situation, morale naturally soared.

However, that atmosphere didn’t last long.

“Are you going for Grubs?”
“Mid and I both recalled without Teleport.”

After the solo kill, we both returned to lane using Teleport. I decided that it would be better to fight for Grubs without Akali’s ultimate, so I intentionally tried to bait her ultimate.

In that process, we both ended up at one-hit health, and Akali and I simultaneously pressed recall.

Therefore, this Grub fight was a 2v2 between top and jungle. The enemy’s composition had better team fight power, but I was reassured by

Caster’s lead in the top lane due to his K’Sante’s laning strength.

I was confidently running towards the mid lane, expecting to win, when…

“Look for Fiora first!”

“Wow, insane! I bought Plated Steelcaps, so my Q speed is fast, but she’s reacting to my Q Flash with Riposte?”

The narration announced a crushing defeat in the 2v2 fight at the Grub pit, stating that K’Sante and Lillia had died.

‘And Fiora got a double kill, too.’
Hearing the comms, it seemed they lost the Riposte mind game and were caught by a combo that used Flash to detonate the mark quickly.

“Since we have priority in mid anyway, let’s play slowly.”
Spread’s Fiora getting a double kill was a bit scary, but with Yone, I had the mindset that I had to carry anyway.

“Ah, this is a shame for ARK.”

“Indeed, K’Sante clearly had better health and mana, but VXG secured a clean team fight victory with just one Riposte mind game.”

“K’Sante actually anticipated Fiora would react and was watching Sejuani. He used a sudden Q Flash, but she countered it with pure mechanics.”
“Spread’s Fiora, be careful! She has a history of inflicting a painful defeat on RG, who reached the finals last year!”

[Can you handle the general’s 2 kills?]
[Seriously, Caster was locking down and bullying her all day, and then one fight changes everything?]
[That was just bullying with K’Sante’s early game stats ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Ah… You again, God of Top Lane, Worlds Finals MVP, Owner of the Fiora Skin, 4-time All-Pro First Team… just the God of Top Lane.]

“Para started with good news in mid, but ARK shouldn’t let their guard down. Their opponent right now is VXG!”
“ARK’s overall situation isn’t good right now. In bot lane, priority is completely gone due to the level 2 timing first move advantage, and with top and jungle also falling behind, all lane priority is about to be lost.”

[These guys are consistent.]
[Ah… Para’s solo carry mode ON. The familiar scent of ARK.]
[But honestly, Spread played incredibly well in that Grub fight.]
[You played Fiora~]
[If you don’t know, memorize this: Para <<< just the GOAT of beauty. She shows that face on LCK live broadcasts. If you try to unfairly criticize her, are you even human?]
.
.
.

“Ah, ARK is having a really tough time.”

“Can they push through this?”

“Hmm… It looks like they’ll give up this dragon.”

“It’s still the third dragon, so it’s okay to give it up. It’s putting off homework, but giving it up won’t end the game.”

[Still falling behind.]
[Is it possible to win by giving up everything?]
[If you’re Korean, let’s cheer for ARK.]
[Why is Para so pretty?]
[Seriously, if Pumpkin was in Para’s place, would they have won already?]

“And just like that, VXG secures their third dragon stack. For ARK, the time to start feeling the pressure is getting closer and closer.”
“ARK hasn’t given up more kills since the Grub fight, but the difference in ADC is too severe due to the one kill given up to a dive in bot lane and the lost lane.”
“It’s not just the ADC that’s the problem. Spread’s Fiora is simply the God of Side Lanes right now. She has three items at 26 minutes.”
“Caster is holding on well with K’Sante’s stats, but ultimately, K’Sante is a pick meant to join team fights and engage. But the moment he Teleports down, the top inhibitor turret is practically a highway.”

[But it’s strange that 2-item K’Sante can even contest 3-item Fiora lol.]
[The Long Thing.]
[He just built tank items.]

“First, confirming that the opponent has recalled after taking the dragon, ARK sends Yone to the bot lane.”
“Yone has also scaled well. He’s a monster even now, but with Guardian Angel as a fourth item, he can make aggressive plays using his ultimate.”
“It looks like he was short about 1000 gold, so we’ll have to see how ARK’s decision to send him to the side lane plays out.”
“Oh, oh? Is VXG not holding back? They’re not just clearing Baron vision, they’re taking it?”
“Are they trying to call out Para? A genuine Baron rush? Or just a threat?”

[That spot again.]
[PTSD is kicking in.]
[Uh oh.]

“They need to make a good decision here.”

“With Fiora also joining, it looks like they’re serious.”

[What are they going to do?]
[If they mess up here, the game is over.]
[Fiora is shaking up the side lane, and the moment Para goes to manage it, they immediately take Baron.]
[Can they win a team fight here? Fiora’s items are tough.]

“What are they going to do!?”

“Here, Para truly has to make a decision.”

“Given VXG’s composition, their Baron burst isn’t incredibly fast. Still, its health is slowly going down.”
“Varus, Varus needs to keep shooting. They have to shoot without taking a breath and drive them out of the Baron pit!”

“The opponent is taking Baron?”

“Seo-ha, what do you want to do?”

“I’ll keep poking for now!”

I was in the side lane with Teleport, and the opponent team was taking Baron to draw me out.
This situation was all too familiar.
Certainly, in the past, I would have panicked and pressed Teleport.

‘It’s enough.’
My decision was not to use Teleport. The conclusion was that my teammates could hold them off.
Furthermore, the opponent wasn’t genuinely rushing Baron.
What needed to be done now was:

“I’ll keep pushing to draw them out!”

Stubbornly pushing the side lane to draw the opponent out in reverse.
Moreover, even though our ADC was behind, it was Varus, who had reached two items.
Staying trapped in the Baron pit and taking continuous damage wouldn’t be welcome for the opponent.

“The opponent is recalling?”

“Seo-ha, can you keep pushing that?”

Then, hearing that the opponent had noticed something was off and pressed recall, the news spread.
As I was about to clear the remaining wave and press recall…

“Ah, they didn’t recall!”

“They’re hiding in the bush!”

“Wow, this is insane. They landed their ult the moment Edge of Night was removed?”

“Ah, I couldn’t press Zhonya’s and died.”

An urgent call came through that the opponent had faked recalling and was hiding near the Baron pit.
I quickly used Teleport, but the situation was already over.
It was a team fight where Varus and Lillia were burst down before they could even react. Fortunately, K’Sante managed to take down the enemy Sejuani and Akali in the chaos before dying.

‘…What do I do.’
It was pointless to stay here, so I quickly pressed recall.
And I bought my fourth item.
Looking at mid lane, the opponent seemed intent on finishing the game, approaching along with the minion wave.

‘Fiora, Ashe, Braum.’
There were three champions remaining, and Lee Yoo-chan’s count chat showed that most of their ultimates and summoner spells were gone.

I had two choices.
The first was to clear the wave and prevent them from finishing the game, but this was a choice that could fail if the opponent focused fire on me.
Furthermore, with a cannon minion in the wave, perfect clear was uncertain.

However, the other choice carried a greater risk.
It was a fight utilizing my scaling and the absence of the opponent’s spells and ultimates. It was literally saying I would take them all down.
If I messed this up, I would definitely be the culprit.

‘…I’ve decided.’
In the final moment, I made my choice.