Chapter 202: Sub Position (2)
BlackTea was pleasantly surprised as she faced StrawberryShooter.
'... It's much easier than Almond.'
It was much easier to play compared to the previous game. She could clearly tell as she experienced them back to back. BlackTea understood why Tako made Almond their main ADC.
StrawberryShooter was holding up well and playing at his level. If anything, he was holding up better than Almond. It was harder for BlackTea to pierce through him, but that was it. He didn't make any sharp plays that dug into her openings like Almond. There was nothing to watch out for. Against BlackTea, there was nothing StrawberryShooter could do.
'This round is going to be much better.'
If the game continued to flow this way, BlackTea would have the advantage. Red Carpets had a 95% win rate once BlackTea started to snowball. If their mid lost badly, they lost the game. However, if their middle lane managed to survive, they would win. They were a simple team like that.
'Even though ChocoShroom is Silver, she probably won't lose to a guy who's playing mid for the first time.'
She was confident about her weak middle laner because it was Almond's first time playing mid.
[First Blood!]
[Ally has been slain.]
[LazySoldier -> ChocoShroom]
BlackTea had a large frown on her face.
***
'It worked!'
As soon as ChocoShroom fell helplessly…
— Wow, that was crazy.
— Ninja's instinct off the first kill!??
— That's insane.
— Wowwwww!
— Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond!
— Damn!
— The chakra will take over the world!
— He cut through the thunder...
Almond's chatroom went wild because he accomplished the Ninja's Instinct passive.
[Base chakra has increased by 10%!]
Players proficient with Storm Ninja could pull off the passive three times a game, but Almond managed to do it on his first try.
Haruki had an interesting response as well.
[Keke... interesting. Summoner, why aren't you using your right arm? Do you have something sealed up?]
Haruki had a high standard. Not getting insulted by him was a compliment in itself, but he even called Almond interesting. That was a compliment on its own, a rare dialogue.
— You're not using your right hand again?
— Taunt. That's one way to make fun of them, Almond!
— What the? Are you pretending to hold back or something?
— You're playing as Haruki while only using one hand?
— I've never seen this dialogue before.
Playing as Storm Ninja using only one hand was equivalent to reducing the potential play of the champion by half.
— He's sealing his powers...
— Are you taunting the enemy because they're silver?!
— Breaking News: Almond is making fun of silver players now that he's in gold!
— Playing one hand using Ran, and now Haruki?!
— Sealed powers, LOL
The viewers made memes about this situation, and he even received a large donation.
[CloudLord has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]
[It's over... he has a massive energy in his right arm and a massive peanut in his lower body, ready to be released.]
"Wow, thank you so much CloudLord. But I think you're going to be banned now. Peanut is a banned word..."
Before Almond finished his sentence, Ju-Hyeok moved his mouse, and CloudLord was banned for three days.
— Premium ban, LOL
— Hahahaha
— So merciless
— Peanuts are not allowed!
— (Deleted Message)
After he checked that the chatroom was being cleaned up, Almond changed the topic.
"Anyways, Storm Ninja is better than I thought. Maybe because the enemy is in Silver..."
— You were Silver too!
— Hey! Stop hating on us silvers!
— Almond is not really silver, but ChocoShroom is! Go easy!
— Almond: was silver two days ago.
— This guy forgets his roots!
The chatroom was filled with talk about how Almond was in Silver. He thought this was a better topic than peanuts, so he was satisfied. Almond focused on the game again.
"I’m returning to the base. I’ll come back."
Almond returned to the fountain and bought some basic items to upgrade his attack with the gold he earned. He also turned Level 3 and learned some new skills.
[Shuriken Storm Spray]
It was easy to use. All he had to do was throw the shurikens out from his waist while raising his thumbs. Then, the number of shurikens multiplied on their own by five at every level, then seven, then nine.
"I hear this is the skill to farm?"
— Shurikens multiply!
— Yeah, that's the main damage.
— It's an insane skill.
.
— It's because the cooldown is quick and easy to use.
Almond pictured the ability in his mind and met ChocoShroom again in the middle lane. ChocoShroom looked a lot more cautious than earlier. She didn't overstep from her lane.
However, after two minutes…
[Enemy eliminated!]
[LazySoldier -> ChocoShroom]
ChocoShroom fell again.
"Wow, the chakra increasing is really good!"
Since Almond's chakra increased, his overall speed increased as well. Because of it, ChocoShroom couldn't predict the range. The problem was that after she died again, Almond's chakra increased again.
[Ninja's Instinct Achieved!]
[Chakra level increased!]
Swoosh...
The strange wind surrounding him grew stronger.
'If it continues like this, the game's going to be an easy win.'
However, the enemy team didn't sit idle either.
[Ally has been slain!]
[Enemy double kill!]
[BlackTea -> StrawberryShooter]
[BlackTea -> Miho]
BlackTea killed Miho and StrawberryShooter.
— Wow.
— Strawberry...
— BlackTea really is in challenger~~~
— Damn! Strawberry and Miho getting double killed!
— Almond... what kind of battle were you doing in the previous game…
Afterward, Almond killed ChocoShroom two more times, and BlackTea killed Strawberry and Miho again.
[Ah, I'm sorry...]
[Sigh. It's not easy. Our turret is almost at half HP. Can we get some help?]
Their bottom turret was almost below half HP. Losing that much turret health this early was dangerous.
'What the. Things are going worse than I thought.'
— Almond needs to do something about this.
— For real.
— Well, the first game was won thanks to the middle lane... So Almond needs to pull his weight too.
— How are they supposed to beat a challenger ADC, LOL
Almond nodded after seeing the chat.
'That's right. The middle lane and jungler need to do well against Red Carpets.'
In their first round, Almond and BlackTea were going evenly. He didn't beat her because he pressured her, but because his middle and jungler helped him.
'I guess I need to help them out too.'
Mid-lane was very different from ADC. They influenced the game as a whole. Because they were in the center of the battlefield, if they had power, they could help the other lanes out. The game was influenced by the mid-lane's decision-making.
‘Where should I go? Should I go top where they’re barely surviving? Or do I help the bottom lane that is getting destroyed?’
It would've been easier to decide if Tako was beside him.
'It's a lot of weight to carry on my own.'
While thinking that, he could hear Tako from the voice chat.
[Almond. Let's go bottom together and fuck them up.]
***
"Lemon! The turret! Hit the turret!"
"Yeah!"
After BlackTea and Lemon pushed Miho and StrawberryShooter away, they continued to hit the turret. Miho and StrawberryShooter couldn't even get near their turret and stood afar uneasily.
'If we go, their jungler could come...'
'What should we do...'
They weren't sure where the enemy jungler was. If they overextended and tried to defend their turret, they could get divided 3 vs. 2 and lose it entirely.
Slam! Slam!
Every time the swamp octopus summoned by Cuifan hit the turret, it trembled harshly.
[HP 13%]
The turret was close to death.
"Hehe! Summon your team's octopus too! Huh?! Let's face off!"
Lemon, just like most Cuifan players, continued to taunt the enemy.
"Octo, octo, sticky spray—"
Chak!
A clashing sword noise cut her sentence off.
Pssht!
"... Huh?"
Red blood splashed everywhere as Lemon spread her arms. The figure landed on the ground.
Chiik!
The ground crumbled, showing the speed of the figure. After the sandstorm cleared, the ninja was revealed. Lemon tried to fight back, but Tako's hammer smashed into her head.
Slam...!
The hit sent a shockwave down her body.
"Arggh!"
Lemon fainted for a moment. Tako tried to finish her off, but BlackTea froze him.
Pabang!
An arrow struck his legs, freezing his lower body. However, Tako wasn't the only one in combat.
[Chakra Release Mode]
Slam!
The ground crumbled again as Almond's silhouette turned into a blur.
Shsh...!
She thought she saw something pass by and was greeted with Almond slashing Cuifan.
Chaaak!
This time, the blade perfectly struck her neck.
[Critical Hit!]
He got a critical hit.
Cuifan started losing balance. Then, StrawberryShooter ran up and shot his poison dart, trying to finish Cuifan off. Three players were all attacking Cuifan, but BlackTea came to the rescue.
Pang! Pang!
Her bow quickly moved. Two ice arrows were shot. Almond was stunned from flicking the arrow with his blade.
Kang!
The arrow deflected the poison arrow. BlackTea could freeze Tako and deflect Almond and Strawberry's attacks all at once.
'She's pretty good...'
Almond never thought anyone was good at a bow-wielding champion until he saw BlackTea. She was definitely different from the others. It wasn't even her main champion. She only picked the Frost Archer to take it away from Almond.
'How good is she on her main character?'
Almond realized how good Challenger players were again.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
BlackTea continued shooting. Her bow didn’t stop moving.
'It's me.'
All the arrows were coming for Almond. He was able to evade or deflect most of them.
Pung!
However, one arrow managed to slip by. Was it a coincidence?
'Huh?'
It was where he was hit earlier. If the Frost Archer hit the same area again, the champion froze.
[Status: Frozen]
'She purposefully aimed so I would dodge forward...'
BlackTea was aiming to freeze Almond's left hand. The earlier attacks were for him to dodge. While dodging, she perfectly struck his arm.
'I should learn this.'
A Challenger's tactics. Almond stored it in the back of his mind. As a result, Lemon managed to survive.
"Ehehehe! I'm alive!"
Cuifan ran away while being annoying as usual. He wanted to kill Cuifan.
[HP 27%]
However, Cuifan had too much HP left.
Tako was following him and shouted, "Almond! Back off! Their jungler is right behind them! It's a trap!"
‘A trap?’
Their jungler was hiding behind them. If their jungler, BlackTea, and Lemon all attacked, Almond would surely die.
'But I need to kill one to break even.'
Almond was hesitant. He was thinking of killing one and dying as well.
"No! If you die, you lose all your chakra stacks! Your life is more important!"
Just then…
[There's nothing more satisfying than finishing off a prey.]
The Storm Ninja's passive activated again.
Bzzt!
Everything in his sight turned black and white. He could see a red path again. At the end of the path, he could see Lemon running away.
"?!"
Surprisingly, the path connected to BlackTea beside her as well. Almond thought for a moment and ran with his sword in hand.
'Isn't it worth it if I can kill both of them?'
He was thinking of trading his life for two.