NOVEL NEXT Chapter 79
When asked which lane in Legends of League is the most important, one of the first answers that comes to mind is definitely the bottom lane.
Of course, some might say mid lane is the obvious choice, but here it boils down to some simple math.
Why is bottom lane important?
Because there are two players.
Anyhow, putting aside the need for debate, the importance of bottom lane is something everyone can agree on.
The fact that the bottom lane has exploded means it has a significant impact on the game.
It’s fair to say that the game itself is half-blown as well.
“At this point, I thought at least one of the ADC or support would throw, but… not really.”
Typically, when you lose lane in bottom, even if you don’t show it outwardly, people’s feelings usually split into one of two categories.
They either blame each other,
or they blame the jungler.
In this case, it seemed like they were leaning towards the latter.
“Nidalee must feel unfair about it, though.”
While we were smashing the bottom lane, Nidalee, as if she had promised, successfully executed a top dive.
So at least the exchange was made.
Still, considering the top lane minimized the lane loss with teleport and the significance of bottom lane, it was true that our team was overwhelmingly ahead.
The opposing bottom lane was probably making the jungler scream, but the laners had to understand that.
Just because it’s Nidalee doesn’t mean she didn’t want to go to bottom.
She had already cleared all the vision on the bottom side and completely seized control, so even if she wanted to go, she couldn’t.
In other words, she was being chased out.
Of course, that said, I had no intention of defending the opposing jungler, Nadali.
By now, my feelings toward Nadali had dulled to the point of indifference, but back then, I was genuinely angry with Nadali.
“Still, he’s the guy who beat me three times, so it’s a bit heartbreaking to see him like this.”
No matter how poor my condition was at the time, and despite my slightly underwhelming performance in Legends of League compared to now, the head-to-head record is forever.
If someone were to say that ‘Nadali’ beat ‘Prisoner’ three times, would you believe it?
“Well, that’s that.”
I had no intention of letting it go.
After mining the turret shield plenty, the game’s pace began to pick up as the first return took place.
It was not an exaggeration to say that the balance in the bottom lane had completely ruined itself, so Xin Zhao easily grabbed the first dragon.
– The blue team has slain the Dragon!
It was a flame dragon.
As soon as the dragon slaying message appeared, the opposing bottom lane naturally felt pressure again.
And then, they dropped the first turret as if they had no choice under the continued dive pressure.
The influence of the bottom lane began to spread gradually.
The first target was mid lane.
Under the forced pathing of Nidalee, the synergy of Renekton and Nidalee was unable to manifest in mid lane.
Even though Renekton had an advantage in the laning matchup against Sylas, it wasn’t a vast enough skill gap to secure a solo kill, meaning it was a fairly even farming situation in mid.
Then, when bottom lane came to mid, Renekton must have felt like he stepped in something unpleasant.
The mid-jungle matchup was Xin Zhao/Sylas and Nidalee/Renekton.
The latter needed to yield some results, but now that it was disrupted, the meaning of the pick was wasted, and the influence from bottom surged all the way to mid.
Sylas headed to bottom without needing to say much, as if he understood effortlessly.
This led to a natural lane swap.
To keep up with this pace, the opposing bottom lane had to come up to mid as well, but naturally, they were bound to be a step behind.
During the continued pressure in mid, Renekton had to use his ultimate to clear the wave and survive.
With Renekton’s ultimate gone, it naturally conferred leadership over the Rift Herald as well.
[⚑] [⚑]
[q평e평우리집13평(제이슨)님이 도움을 요청]
[q평e평우리집13평(제이슨)님이 도움을 요청]
With options limited to only the top lane, Nadali began to exert diving pressure once more on the top side.
However, that was a foolish choice.
With our team having long since established vision over the upper river, diving the top laner in this situation was not a wise decision.
“He must have been desperate.”
If he did nothing, he would simply lose.
Nadali, being a somewhat experienced guardian, knew this well and, despite realizing it was a risky move, he still went all-in for it.
“It’s too late now.”
A sense of hesitation emerged in Nadali’s movement, feeling the foreboding.
“Can I even dive?
It feels like I shouldn’t…”
Hesitation leads to a delay in action, preventing the necessary plays from happening.
He missed the one opportunity.
In the meantime, Xin Zhao and I crossed the river.
From the perspective of a top laner, what is the most annoying position to face?
Many might scream at the jungler, as they typically represent the most common nuisance in the top lane, but the answer is surprisingly simple.
The answer is: all of them.
From a top laner’s perspective, every enemy laner visiting their lane is annoying.
And among those, the most frustrating are obviously those who shouldn’t be there at all.
For example… a supporter.
– Why is he here?
There’s a remarkably honest reaction from Sett’s movement.
But his surprise is short-lived.
Even having been caught from behind, Sett actually lunged at me.
“He must be planning to escape using his ultimate from behind.”
I read the opponent’s intentions.
At the same time, a flash flickered, and Sett moved towards my side, using his ultimate, drawing himself into my clutches instead.
Sett, taken off guard, tried to pull away but, having no ultimate left and getting caught by Kamal’s ult, there was no way out.
– You have slain an enemy!
– An ally has been slain!
As I caught Sett, Nidalee’s flash combo ended up killing the inattentive Jason.
This happened due to a lack of health management after the recent dive pressure, where he was caught unaware while responding to my gank.
– You have slain an enemy!
– Double kill!
– Maniac!
Although Nidalee had made a valiant effort, Jason was slain, but shortly after, Xin Zhao and Kamal took down Nidalee.
[All][Jungler: This guy reads well;;]
It seems the opposing top lane was quite impressed with the predictive play I showed earlier.
The game essentially exploded.
When situations get twisted like this, the solutions from the opposing team surprisingly simplify.
They can either pick off careless enemies,
or overcome it with a team fight,
or simply grit their teeth and persevere.
However, the enemy chose none of those options.
Instead, they opted for the simplest method.
[All][Nami Just: Surrender]
[All][Nami Just: Jungle difference LOL]
[All][Nadali: ?]
[All][Nadali: Ugh, tsk]
If it were the old days, I would have been showered with all sorts of insults by now, but it seems Nadali has aged a bit.
“Or maybe he could be typing in team chat.”
Considering Nadali’s fiery personality, that’s quite a possibility.
But that was none of my business.
And…
Even while the Rift Herald pushed down the enemy’s first and second turrets, surprisingly, no surrender was called.
[All][IIIIlIllIIIlI(Varus): Guys, but aren’t we surrendering?]
[All][MIDIA(Renekton): Who’s opposing it all the time?]
[All][Nami Just(Nautilus): Must be Nadali, LOL, such a sense of loyalty]
I wondered who was refusing to surrender until the very end, and it turned out to be none other than Nidalee, against whom I had clashed many times in the past.
“Unexpected.”
If it had been the old days, he would have surrendered long ago, yet here he was clinging to this game until the end…
“Must be because of ‘Prisoner’… right?”
No matter how much we crossed paths as rivals once, it was just a phase.
The games were so memorable that Nadali might recall those times, but still, it was an exaggeration.
“I should calm down.”
Perhaps because I had been riding high on a 2000-point streak for a while, I felt like my self-awareness had grown a bit.
“I better not kick the blanket later.”
There were already enough troubles coming my way, and I didn’t want to add to it.
“Looks like he wants to at least raise his tier now.”
It was a bit surprising that someone who had played the guardian role for several seasons suddenly had such thoughts.
[Victory]
Nidalee tried valiantly to hold on, but one hand can’t block ten.
The game ended in a hollow manner.
[Nami Just: Ugh]
[Nami Just: It was going to be like this anyway, might as well surrender, what a waste of time]
As I entered the game lobby, members of the opposing team started blaming the jungler endlessly.
[MIDIA: I don’t understand why Nidalee/Renekton isn’t coming to mid]
[Jungler: Don’t be like that, Nadali did well]
The reason why Nidalee couldn’t capitalize on the synergy with Renekton was due to the bottom lane control.
If the invisible Kamal, who had disappeared from sight, attempted to ambush mid with Xin Zhao, the game would literally explode.
“Well, I don’t need to defend anyone.”
Honestly, I didn’t feel particularly happy about it.
Sure, I was glad we won, but seeing an old rival like Nadali being blamed made me a bit uncomfortable.
“Tsk.”
I left the lobby.
A chapter of my past passed me by.
*
Monday arrived.
I reached Master 98 points.
“Ugh…”
Maybe I didn’t sleep well.
I just felt off.