Chapter 22: What on Earth Is This Kind of Human Suffering! (4/5)
The IG players, who initially harbored doubts about Cheng Xian’s "slacking off" style of play, had now all transformed into sycophants.
The team voice chat was flooded with frantic praise.
"Nice kill!!"
"Mazi-ge, you’re god-tier!"
"Xian, you can take the top lane minions. If you’re tired of farming, just recall, no worries," TheShy laughed in his broken Chinese.
"Holy crap! Mazi-ge, that Smite on the minion for the instant level-up on your Q was so cool! Akali would have escaped otherwise!" Rookie was even more excited, heaping on so much praise that Cheng Xian nearly felt like he was floating.
The First Blood boosted IG’s morale significantly. Cheng Xian couldn’t have imagined it himself. He hadn’t intended to slack off or ignore the Scuttle Crab; he had just wanted to return to the mid-lane to catch a wave, only to find the enemy Akali pushed right into his face. The combination of Ziggs and Karma had pushed the lane incredibly fast.
(The protagonist’s strength will grow gradually; the story won’t always feature these Iron-tier, luck-based kills.)
Cheng Xian had a bad habit of liking to take Ignite. He had habitually tried to press Ignite, not realizing he was using Smite instead. An arc of explosive ordinance was tossed out, blooming among the minion wave and reaping the last sliver of health from the backline.
It was a heavily armored warrior wielding a massive broadaxe.
With the opponent running dual junglers, a three-man collapse on the enemy AD was clearly the wisest choice. As a result, the early laning phase saw the AD forced out of the experience zone. Although no kill was secured, Wink had almost no stage to perform on for the rest of the game.
Sticking to his slacking mindset, Cheng Xian had just wandered over, but without touching a single jungle monster, he turned back to head home. Just as everyone was secretly relieved that Wink had dodged a bullet, the remaining camp of Wolves in the top jungle, worth less than 100 gold, was left behind after being cleared.
He spent two minutes playing it safe, never once empathizing with his opponent's plight.
"Watching serious jungle mind games is just for fun; if you really want to see a chess match, you have to watch our Mazi-ge! Karsa’s secret strategy has been completely laid bare."
Life goes on, and the grind continues.
After having his blue buff stolen at the start and being unable to enter his bottom jungle, Karsa’s only remaining camp—the Wolves—was invaded by Nocturne.
"Damn! How am I supposed to play with this!" Karsa’s composure shattered. The moment his Akali was caught, he abandoned the half-cleared Wolves and tried to rotate toward the mid-lane.
"Oh my god, was this part of your calculation, Shaqima?"
"What a feint! You even managed to fool God."
Yet, the jungle monsters were just sitting there quietly waiting, while he, the penny-pincher, recalled to base.
————
"I was wondering why he ran into the enemy jungle and didn't touch the monsters. So it was mind games!"
Seeing Ignite usually made him want to retreat; even in a winnable situation, he would end up being chased down and beaten to a pulp.
(End of Chapter)
Left-hand’s Akali had already respawned and was rushing toward mid. Because Wink was left alone to endure the pressure in the bottom lane, the Darius had no intention of rotating down at all. Yet, he cowered in the brush, hitting 'B' to recall.
"Stay steady, don't panic. We have a huge advantage in the bottom lane! Focus your ganks around the bottom! Break the bottom tower, take the dragon, and then rotate to mid," JKL commanded Karsa in a deep, steady voice.
***
By level three, the Darius, combined with the sudden death in mid-lane, forced Karsa to abandon his bottom jungle. The wind of the comment section always blew this way; a few minutes ago, Cheng Xian had been pinned to the ground, with people practically digging up his family tree to bash him, yet now he was the darling of the chat.
After realizing what happened, he instantly leveled up his Q. Of course, this was just Karsa’s original plan.
"TES is trying to fish here. By using two large accumulated minion waves, they’re trying to bait Wink out for a kill. I have to say, TES’s tactical shift is very flexible. They instantly spotted the flaw in IG’s current dual-jungle setup, or rather, where the breakthrough point lies," Guan Zeyuan, holding the perspective of God, analyzed the situation for the viewers in the stream.
There was a high hope for a comeback.
Back in his youth, he didn't understand why Flame would hide in the brush. Ziggs and Karma, however, chose to retreat and press 'B' to recall.
"Exactly. If they succeed, they can reclaim all of IG's early-game advantage," Tong Xi nodded in agreement. "It just depends on whether Wink will take the bait."
With that, everything was ready; all that was missing was the east wind. Because Karsa started at the blue buff, all three camps in the bottom jungle were still there. He thought about heading to mid to soak up some minion experience.
From the God-view, everyone could clearly see that the monsters in the TES red jungle were all still standing, yet Karsa had pressed the recall key right where he stood.
(I promised ten thousand words, and I delivered! Time to sleep! Battle again tomorrow!)
He wondered if he could provide any rescue. After helping Rookie push a wave, Cheng Xian wandered through the enemy jungle again. In the Iron tier, who dared not take Ignite?
"Dual junglers are just an outdated gimmick after all. If they were really that effective, the existence of a support would have no value," JKL scoffed, his fingers tapping lightly to press the Q key.
300 gold! Plus enough experience to level up! He turned his head and headed toward the Wolves, clearing them before moving downward.
Smite the minion, level up to 3.
This brought Karsa’s early jungle rhythm to a near-total standstill. By the 10-minute mark, Wink had been out-farmed by 60 CS.
But good times don't last.
What kind of miserable mortal suffering is this!
Meanwhile, the protagonist in the spotlight, Wink. From the direction he disappeared, it seemed he had come to invade his own bottom jungle...
...
Of course, Cheng Xian, left in the dark, had no idea that his aimless stroll through the jungle had triggered such a chain reaction.
Bouncing Bomb.
He didn't know how it happened, but he had yanked Akali right out of the sky. It was a pity Akali melted too quickly; he could only act as if nothing had happened.
What kind of "slacking off" is it to farm someone else's jungle? If you're going to slack off, you should farm your own! Steal your own jungler’s gold! Force your own jungler to go AFK!
Although Cheng Xian was slacking off, Xun was sharp. Seeing Darius dive into his blue buff jungle, he directly chose to invade the opponent's top jungle.
Two large waves of minions entered the tower.
***
Another force of evil had just walked out of the fountain and was strutting toward the bottom lane. He could only shrink back, and when the opponent pushed too deep, Wink had to hide in the brush between the first and second towers.
With tears in his eyes, he turned toward the Wolves, only to run into the Nocturne invading Viego's jungle. Ever since he lost his support, Wink finally understood what that felt like.
The wolf lies in wait, feigning sleep to lure the enemy.
To be honest, Cheng Xian just habitually wanted to press Ignite...
A side note: If you think this book is decent, please cast a recommendation vote to support it and let me know someone is still reading. Ignite is the ultimate trump card in the Iron tier; its effect is comparable to an ultimate ability.
Why not hurry out and enjoy the benefits?
But sorry, as soon as you show your head, that will be your death sentence!
Of course, this wasn't the most miserable part.
What could he do then?
As for that final Smite on the minion to reach level 3, whatever his eyes saw were enemies, whatever his heart thought of were minions, and whatever his gaze landed on was full of regret.
His own jungler, Viego, was already crouching in the tri-brush behind him, placing a Control Ward to ensure he wasn't spotted by nearby vision.
The skill Cheng Xian practiced most last week was—Ctrl+QWER. In professional play, leveling up skills instantly is a necessary science to master, and it can be incredibly useful at critical moments. Generally speaking, hanging Ignite on an opponent can lower their IQ.
Darius!
Two waves of minions; I don't believe you, Wink, can resist that.
That will be where the opponent ends your life!
The comment section erupted in another round of heated discussion.
————
The greatest distance in the world is not between life and death. From this breakthrough point, it spreads from a point to a surface, radiating out to the entire team’s economy.
Turning his head to enter his own bottom jungle, he saw the Darius, having finished pushing the lane, vanish into the fog of war with long, purposeful strides.
Although I only posted four chapters today, the word counts of 2500+2200+3000+2300 totaled ten thousand words.
He just took a swipe at it while passing by.
Viego's blue buff start was stolen, and he had no choice but to farm a Gromp to reach level 2.
After all, the review section is sometimes as quiet as a ghost; I might not get a single vote all day... which makes me think no one is reading. This leads to thoughts of abandoning the story. Sob sob.
Save the child!
A new book has no recommendations in the early stages; I can only rely on the support and votes of you big bosses so that more people can see it.
More votes mean more updates; ten thousand words a day isn't impossible!
(End of Chapter)