NOVEL NEXT Chapter 68
‘…No way. That can’t be right.’
Li Zhi-Xuan shook his head.
The hypothesis that Raise was Prisoner was utterly absurd.
Li Zhi-Xuan knew it, too.
What he was witnessing was merely a hallucination created by his obsession with Prisoner.
‘I’m not in a normal state right now.’
Li Zhi-Xuan assessed his condition calmly.
‘I haven’t slept properly for days, and I’ve hardly eaten anything.’
Judging by the circumstances, it was fair to say that his obsession with Prisoner had escalated to the point where everything in the world appeared to be Prisoner.
A healthy mind comes from a healthy body.
As a pro who had always maintained rigorous self-management, Li Zhi-Xuan was acutely aware of that fact.
But why was it that, despite thinking he had a clear grasp of his state, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Prisoner was overlapping with Raise?
Especially the unique movements.
‘I’m sure he’s dodging skill shots by watching them instead of predicting them.’
Is that even possible with human reaction speed? Yet Prisoner had done that all along.
But if I were to ask if there was someone else like that…
‘Ah.’
There was.
And right in this very game.
‘Rainbow.’
The cause of his obsession with Prisoner and the rival he had never surpassed.
Even though he had envied, hated, and respected him so much, the feelings Li Zhi-Xuan held for Rainbow were surprisingly neutral.
Probably because of Prisoner.
‘Ah.’
One thought surfaced alongside that realization.
Could it be that Rainbow knows something about Prisoner’s disappearance?
He had found out while investigating Prisoner that Prisoner and Rainbow had played together since the early days of Legends of League.
Maybe Rainbow knew something about Prisoner’s whereabouts?
‘…I should ask him after this game.’
Where had Prisoner gone?
Or if he was even still alive.
It felt strange as if the sequence of events had somehow reversed, but what did it matter?
What was important right now was finding out where Prisoner was.
‘For now, this game first.’
Li Zhi-Xuan refocused on the screen, which he had been staring at blankly.
*
[“I told you, that Raise is fierce.”]
[“Shut up. Didn’t you raise him?”]
[“Isn’t it common sense for the jungler to be careful if the mid lane is pushed up?”]
[“Just ping Mia.”]
[“Jungle difference.”]
[“Throwing.”]
Even while the teammates exchanged friendly banter, Ryu Jin-hyuk couldn’t smile.
It wasn’t because Yoon-ki, sitting next to him, flinched at the mention of ‘jungle difference.’
Although he was feeling a sense of defeat due to his mistake in the previous skirmish, more than anything, he felt a strange familiarity with the opposing Raise.
‘What is it?’
It wasn’t just the level of being good.
You can encounter good players in solo rank or scrims anytime.
But this feeling was clearly unsettling for Ryu Jin-hyuk.
‘This feeling, I’ve definitely felt it somewhere….’
In the end, Ryu Jin-hyuk searched for the opposing team’s records.
+
[GameMaster4148]
[Level 29]
Solo Rank
– Unranked
Normal Games
– 116 Wins 0 Losses
– Win Rate 100%
+
It was as expected.
A smurf account with a 100% win rate.
And a ridiculous record of 100 games with a 100% win rate.
“……”
Of course, in cold logic, making a smurf account with a 100% win rate wasn’t that difficult according to Ryu Jin-hyuk’s standards, especially since it wasn’t in ranked games but normal games.
‘But.’
Interestingly, the opponent hadn’t achieved victory through duo play.
It was pure solo rank—or should I call it solo normal?
If that’s the case, then naturally, the difficulty level skyrockets.
Creating a win rate of over 90% in the wild of normal games, where any variables could occur, was a completely different story from having a flawless 100% win record.
‘The opponent is at least Challenger.’
Not just any Challenger, but likely a top-tier Challenger with over a thousand points.
‘Was there such a person?’
Ryu Jin-hyuk’s mind filled with countless play styles of mid laners.
But no one particular came to mind.
Instead, for some reason, the name of one person drifted through Ryu Jin-hyuk’s thoughts.
‘…No way. That’s impossible.’
Even thinking that, Ryu Jin-hyuk felt his heart pounding.
‘But.’
Even though it was time for the champion to respawn, Ryu Jin-hyuk didn’t stop searching.
‘What’s his position? What position does he usually play?’
But whether Ryu Jin-hyuk’s expectations were wrong or not, GameMaster4148 didn’t seem to have a fixed position he played.
While he tended to play jungler and supporter slightly more, it wasn’t unusual since those were usually the leftover roles in normal games.
‘…Well, that makes sense.’
Although he didn’t know why he kept seeing Prisoner in Raise, Ryu Jin-hyuk was already aware of it.
Prisoner wasn’t coming back.
It had simply become impossible from the start.
After trying so hard to brush it off, to see Prisoner in an opponent in a normal game was too much…
‘Let’s stop.’
In all these circumstances, the game had progressed towards the mid-game.
Despite having an overwhelmingly advantageous early game, the game was now dragging on because of the cracks that had begun to appear in mid.
Although they had secured the bottom tier 1 tower and dragon, they had failed to take the mid tier 1 tower and Rift Herald, which were essential for snowballing.
[“It’s dragging on. Jungle difference.”]
[“No one can deny it’s a mid difference.”]
[“Both of you, quiet down. Just blaming each other.”]
[“That’s true.”]
The opposing Raise and Lee Sin were growing strong.
Kamal, who had been hindered by kills, had completely recovered thanks to the growth of Raise and Lee Sin.
Meanwhile, their Yasuo and Jarvan had relatively been held back.
A classic top vs. bottom fight had formed.
Of course, to be precise, compared to the utterly wrecked opposing bottom lane, their top side was relatively intact, but at the very least, that was how things appeared on the surface.
[“No worries. I’ll carry.”]
Yoon-ki’s confident words were evidenced by their Ezreal’s extraordinary growth.
-You killed an enemy!
-Double Kill!
Yoon-ki was somewhat unusually good at playing ADC for a jungler.
Essentially, Yoon-ki had an exceptionally unusual playstyle that possessed extreme physical strength and a foolishly strong toolkit due to being a jungler.
[“God, is that Yoon-ki?”]
[“Isn’t he just a fool?”]
[“That’s harsh.”]
Unlike the serious Ryu Jin-hyuk, his teammates chuckled, mocking each other, regardless of how rough the game had become.
Yeah, this game was just that kind of game.
Win or lose, it didn’t matter.
In a place where everyone was having fun, it wasn’t proper for Ryu Jin-hyuk to sulk alone, so he shook his head.
‘Don’t worry about it.’
Even though promising to not worry felt like worrying itself.
With the well-grown Yoon-ki’s Ezreal at the center, their team naturally gained the push control in mid.
This was vital as it led to control over the objective fights.
However,
Even with a solid grasp of mid control, as the game reached the mid-stage, the opposing Raise and Kamal began to rampage with their own squad.
-Our ally was defeated!
[“Ah. What the?”]
What should have already ended had begun to drag on due to the key plays of those two rogue squads.
The Raise and Kamal duo was quite a handful.
If they carelessly sent people in, they could easily get shredded by the Raise and Kamal combo, but sending too many would allow them to escape with their unique mobility.
They were shaking the world-class team, SY, with just two players.
Of course, their team was SY, the world’s best team. They knew how to counter the situation.
The answer was simple.
If they didn’t have an initiating composition, it would be fine, but their team had Jarvan, Yune, and Yasuo, a powerful engage combo. They could simply cut through the core forces of Jinx, Nami, and Lee Sin, who were clearing the wave in mid.
However,
[“Ah, that mid difference is pretty crazy. Did he die again?”]
[“Agree.”]
[“The effort to regroup is in vain.”]
…These guys simply didn’t know how to join in properly.
The reason why the game was dragging on, despite the advantageous situation, was simple.
No matter how chaotic the opposing Kamal and Raise were, the objective situation was overwhelmingly in their favor.
‘There really wasn’t any need for urgency.’
It was just a normal game.
Ryu Jin-hyuk briefly gave a self-deprecating smile at such an obvious truth.