Over on Lightless Heart’s stream, they were watching CN?HOOK2’s 5th game, where he was ying Zed in the Mine. CN?HOOK2’s opponent was a Korean yer named Clue, who was ying Lenc. The viewers on Lightless’ stream immediately recognized the name and chat went into an uproar over it.
「It’s Clue!」「I can’t believe it! Is Hook2 gonna be able to win this!?」「Korea bringing out the bgi guns to stop hook2!!!!!!!!!」「they doin our boi hook dirrtyyy!」「crap, such bad timing too!」「is there really a good time to get cockblocked????」「Hook gonna cuck Clue」「Yesyesyesyesyesy! Hook gonna give Clue a clue!」
Lightless was just as stunned as his viewers that Clue was ying against CN?HOOK2. “Yeah… this is definitely going to be a tough game, guys! Or maybe not! Let’s see what CN?HOOK2 can pull out against Clue!”
Clue was currently ranked 15th on the Korea Challenger Ladder, which already made him a great yer. But he was far more well-known for being the Miner on a professional NLB team. Not only was he a professional yer, he was one of the top-rated Miners in the NLB and considered to be good enough to hold his own against some of the OGN Miners.
Lightless Heart shook his head and pped his cheeks to get himself back into a streamer mindset. “Yeah, that’s right guys. Clue is ranked 15th on the Korean Challenger Ladder. But he’s also a professional yer on an NLB team. For those of you that have no idea how the Korean League scene works out, they’ve got two divisions. NLB stands for NiceGame League of Legends Battle, which is a tournament hosted by NicegameTV Company. It’s considered the 2nd division or minor league for the professional scene.
“OGN, on the other hand, is the OnGameNet Champions League. This is another tournament hosted by OnGameNet, and it’s considered to be the 1st division or premier League for teams to y in. This is also the tournament where teamspete to win tickets for the League of Legends World Championships!” “There’s two ways for teams to get into the OGN. The first is to qualify for the league during the two qualifier rounds. The second is to win in the NLB and automatically receive a ticket for the next OGN. It also gets a lot moreplicated with sub-tournaments hosted within the NLB, but that’s not really important for now. What you guys need to know is that Clue is a professional yer, and one that’s good enough to fight for one of Korea’s spots in the World Championships! This is going to be a true test of CN?HOOK2’s abilities!”
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Back in Team Rapids’ gaming house, Aurous frowned. “Shit! Your boy Lin Feng pulled a bad straw this time. He’s up against Clue. This isn’t going to be an easy game for him to win.”
“Clue? Never heard of that dude. How do you know who he is?” Shi Hang asked while looking straight at Aurous.
Aurous nodded, his expression grave and tone serious. “I definitely know him. Light Dynasty yed a few scrims against some of the NLB teams. Clue was one of the Miners we faced.”
“And? How’d it go? Or are you going to keep ying up the suspense for the imaginary audience in your head?” Shi Hang asked.
Aurous wryly smiled. “Alright, alright. Clue was pretty good. Our miner was getting pushed back more. During thening phase at least.”
Shi Hang cocked an eyebrow. “He’s that good? On an NLB team? Light Dynasty’s Miner is somewhere at the bottom as far as LPL Mine yers go… but even then. He’s still an LPL yer. Beating him inne isn’t a small aplishment. Neither is an NLB team pushing an LPL team around. What is happening over in Korea, Aurous?”
Aurous sighed. “The Koreanpetitive scene is intense. They’ve gotten stronger than ever. Honestly, it’s a little scary. The NLB is supposed to be their secondary league for amateurs and yers looking to gain enough experience to break into the primary division, but their standards are insanely high. Underestimating a team from the NLB these days is a mistake. Some of the NLB teams regrly beat OGN teams...” His voice contained hints of helplessness and mncholy as he trailed off.
Shi Hang narrowed his eyes, focusing his attention back on the stream. He slowly opened his mouth and said, “He’s strong. But I doubt this Clue will be able to get any sort of advantage in this game.”
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Back in Team Shanghai’s hotel in Beijing, Lin Feng’s expression was still calm and his eyes were still shining brightly as he heard the announcer’s voice ring through his headphones.
《Wee to Summoner’s Rift!》
That small audio clip and the words it contained flipped a switch. Lin Feng’s eyes zed with intensity and fighting spirit! Tonight, nothing would get in the way of his climb.
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The game started. Lin Feng’s Zed was on the Blue Team, up against Clue’s Lenc on the Red Team. Thening phase started with a few pokes back and forth between Lenc and Zed as Lin Feng and Clue felt each other out. And then the pokes grew into progressively more intense fights as both Champions pushed for an early advantage.
4 minutes after the start of the game, the Red Team’s Jungler, Lee Sin decided it was time to roam into the Mine to gank Zed and secure an early roll for his teammate Lenc. By the time he arrived, Zed and Lenc were already deep into a heated tussle to im first blood.
Lin Feng’s Zed brought forth a Living Shadow, a clone formed entirely of shadows. The Living Shadow was in front of Lenc, and Zed was behind her. A perfect pincer! Then Zed used Razor Shuriken! Both Zed and the Living Shadow sent a shuriken out that sliced through Lenc and tore through her health.
Then Lin Feng tapped the W key to recast Living Shadow, which allowed his Zed to switch ces instantly with the Living Shadow! His Zed was now directly in front of the Lenc. Zed stabbed into Lenc with a quick auto attack, then shed out in a wide circle with his metal ws—Shadow Slice!
Just as the attack animation for Shadow Slice ended, Lin Feng used Ignite on the Lenc. The fires from the Summoner Spell ticked away thest few drops of Lenc’s health!
《First Blood!》
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The viewers on Lightless’ stream held their breath as they watched the fight between Zed and Lenc unfold, and then they all cheered as CN?HOOK2 managed to secure first blood by killing Lenc. But their joy was very short-lived.
In all the excitement, no one noticed Red Team’s Lee Sin creeping up into mine and then pouncing on the dangerously low-health Zed just as Lenc died. CN?HOOK2 had no chance of survival, and his Zed was killed in short order by Lee Sin.
“Alright guys, that was a 1 for 1 exchange between the two teams. Zed died to Lee Sin, but CN?HOOK2 still came out ahead despite the 1 for 1.” Lightless exined to his stream. “Zed got the kill and First Blood. Lenc only managed to get an assist because Lee Sin did the cleanup there. This means that Zed got more gold. It’s a small advantage, but CN?HOOK2 is still in danger. Both Zed and Lenc burned their sh in thatst exchange, which is a neutral change. But Zed is now more vulnerable to another gank, and the Lee Sin also got gold for that kill. Lee Sin is probably going to roam into mid again!”
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Lightless was either a prophet or an extremely skilled analyst. 6 minutes had psed since the start of the game. Both Zed and Lenc had respawned at the fountain and gotten back to theirnes to dance the dance of death once again. Which is when Lee Sin decided it was time to scurry over to the mine for another gank, just as Lightless predicted.
Now, this was probably not the smartest decision that Lee Sin had made. He’d just finished clearing out a few monster camps, and his health had taken a bit of a beating. But for some unknowable reason, Lee Sin had enough confidence in his ability to sessfully gank Zed that he still roamed over to the mine. He flew out of the top side river brush where he’d been hiding and dashed in with Safeguard.
Lee Sin’s dash ced him right in front of Zed. And then he sent a Sonic Wave flying out!
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Back in Beijing, Lin Feng watched Lee Sin fly out of the brush with middling health and smiled a small smile. Then he watched the Lee Sin dash over and throw out a Sonic Wave, and his smile widened. Just before the projectile of waves connected with his Zed, Lin Feng pushed down on the R key to activate Zed’s Ultimate—Death Mark!
Zed’s Ultimate, Death Mark, was an interesting ability. It rendered Zed untargetable for a brief instant and then caused Zed to dash over to the closest enemy champion. Right before the dash, four Living Shadows would converge on the enemy champion in question and ce a Death Mark on them. Three secondster, the mark would trigger and repeat a portion of the damage Zed had dealt to that enemy champion.
And since Zed was now untargetable, Lee Sin’s Sonic Wave missed entirely. And four blood-red Living Shadows converged onto Lee Sin to ce a Death Mark on him from all four cardinal directions!
A bright red mark appeared over Lee Sin’s head just as Zed dashed up to his face. But Lin Feng’s situational awareness tingled. Instead of attacking Lee Sin, he pressed down on his R key again. His Zed dashed back to his original position, just barely avoiding the Ethereal Chains snaking towards him from Clue''s Lenc!
Now that the danger from Lenc was narrowly avoided, Zed threw a Living Shadow out that dashed over to Lee Sin. Then both the Living Shadow and Zed threw out Razor Shurikens that sliced the air as they whirled towards Lee sin! But before they could connect, Lenc jumped at Zed using Distortion.
Lin Feng, now so focused that it appeared that the Lenc was moving in slow-motion,nguidly tapped the W key to recast Living Shadow. The Razor Shurikens sliced through Lee Sin, and his Zed switched ces with the Living Shadow. Zed had avoided the ssh damage and pin-down by Lenc while also positioning himself in front of Lee Sin!
Zed stabbed Lee Sin with an auto attack, then shed out in a circle with Shadow sh. He continued thebo with a second auto attack, and then a third. All of this had taken ce in the three seconds since the Death Mark was ced on Lee Sin. Now that three seconds had expired, the Death Mark triggered and repeated a portion of all of the damage Zed had done to Lee Sin. Which, coincidentally enough, just happened to be enough damage to whisk away thest of Lee Sin’s health.
《You have in an enemy!》