novelraw Chapter 195 : Perfect Scrim (4)
Chapter 195 : Perfect Scrim (4)
Perfect Scrim (4)
As soon as the game started, the five members of PerG-Day quickly headed to their lanes. As always, the first priority was to assess the opponent.
Genome spoke up in a playful tone along the way.
"Hey, why is no one worried about getting invaded on my side? I feel left out!"
Unlike during the Plus Alpha match, no one was worried about an invade now.
- Ah lol, why would anyone try to check you?
- For real, lol. Only someone like Godple needs to be checked, not you.
- Hyung? Just focus on your jungling!
- Blocking Genome vs Responding on each lane
- Isn't this totally unbalanced? lol
As a jungler, Genome's value was not that high. He knew this well and used it as a running joke.
Demonstrating this fact, lattePro's teammates on each lane were the first to show up.
"Mr. Ji, focus on jungling to gather resources for now. Everyone else, focus on sizing up your opponents."
Lee Gyeongbok repeated his orders to his teammates. Since it was too much of a threat for Genome to try counter-jungling, he was instructed just to farm creeps.
― Godple unionized value assessment lol
― That's exactly him, that's what I'm saying
― Lol, Genome is only good for jungling?
― Don't stick your nose in it unnecessarily, just do what the boss says!
While the viewers teased, Lee Gyeongbok explained as he dashed toward mid lane.
"I'm not disrespecting Mr. Ji. It's just that, when it comes to Caffeine, I don't think he'll insist on staying in lane, even during the early game. He'd back up the jungler, so it'd be too risky."
― True, lol.
― If it's Caffeine, there's real potential.
― But does Genome even win if it goes 1v1? Not at all lol.
― Shaka has good burst but is way too squishy lol.
― That's what being an assassin is about (nod).
― Ah lol, if you don't have physical skills, then play safely.
― But if it's Godple's Shaka?
― He'll be a "mad clown" in another sense lol
While the viewers chattered merrily, Lee Gyeongbok arrived at the tower.
He arrived at more or less the same time as his opponent: In the distance, a champion appeared, composed of a metal staff, a silver mask, and mechanical appendages sprouting from the back of his armor.
Caffeine's champion―the "Arcane Engineer,"
Victor.
'He really is fast.'
Lee Gyeongbok glanced at the minimap and confirmed the minions' arrival.
― Are they fighting right away!
― This is what's great about being mid, lol.
― For real, lol, this is why you watch the mid lane.
― Im.me.di.ate. clash.
Unlike the other two lanes, the mid lane directly linked both bases in a straight line.
This meant the traveling distance was short, minions reached quickly, and skirmishes were frequent.
'Early CS determines the size of the snowball.'
Frequent skirmishes meant more opportunities to generate gold. All other things being equal, the mid laner was bound to grow the fastest.
That's why mid laners focused on securing their own CS and harassing the opponent to prevent them from getting any.
Both Lee Gyeongbok and Caffeine understood this very well.
― Can Godple win his lane phase!?
― Let's gooo!
― Oh! They both advance at once!
Both of them stepped forward, following the minions into the center. With both being mage characters, there was no melee skirmish.
Lee Gyeongbok tossed his auto-attack card, then drew a skill card. The marking on the card was "Diamond K," with a chain lightning effect.
― Wow, perfect clear!
― Not missing a single one, insane.
― Really love the sound of money coming in lol
As soon as the card hit, lightning arced among the minions, damaging them. Caffeine immediately stepped back and pulled a small metal orb off his belt to throw it.
Lee Gyeongbok retreated at once; with a bang, allied minions were wiped out.
It was Victor's skill, "Tech Grenade."
― Wow, caffeine clears the wave so well, too.
― He calculated the Tech Grenade's range before throwing it?
― Doesn't look like he left anything, incredible.
Both sides cleared the wave perfectly and seemed even, but in reality, that wasn't so.
The minions Lee Gyeongbok killed vanished without a trace, but on the other side, it was different.
On the spots where the allied minions died, pieces of metal floated in the air.
― Wow, took 10 shards at once, lol.
― So, just ten times and he upgrades?
― Caffeine Victor's tempo is insane!
― This is why you need to ban him right away;;
The "Shards," metal fragments, zipped toward Caffeine like iron to a magnet.
This was the effect of Victor's passive skill, "Shard Collection."
Minions, creeps, or even enemy champions all grant different numbers of shards when killed.
Every time the shard count passes a hundred, victor's skills upgrade.
"Don't worry about it too much."
Lee Gyeongbok flashed a smile to reassure worried viewers. The more time passed, the stronger Victor got, but there was also a penalty to this trait.
"If he dies, he loses half, right? It'll take quite a while."
Victor lost 50% of his accumulated shards upon death. For this reason, he was often heavily targeted.
― Godple announces a kill!
― Here it comes, the killer smile right from the start!
― Half of a half of a half... (infinite repeat)
― Isn't this Zeno's paradox?
― Ah lol, then he'll never reach it!
― Loving this fresh Purple confidence!
Most viewers seemed satisfied with his explanation, but a few thought otherwise.
― But isn't this hard as DD?
― Yeah, there are too many variables.
― Honestly, dD can be too luck-based sometimes.
― For real lol, if he pulls a bad card at a crucial kill angle, it's over.
― But if it's Manhae's Godple?
― If it's about luck, it's still Godple, right? lol
With DD, every card shuffle dealt five random cards. No matter how perfect the situation, you might miss an opportunity if you drew the wrong ones.
While the viewers were discussing this, caffeine placed wards on both sides of the lane.
"Mr. Ji, I've warded both sides of mid. Keep an eye on your pings, please."
Lee Gyeongbok immediately pointed at the minimap and signaled to Genome the locations.
― Ganking is fully covered.
― That's some precise warding lol
― You can tell he's got the Jamba, huh?
― We're not warding?
― Wait lol, why would we ward?
― Godple never even bought wards to begin with.
― Ah lol, he'll just dodge by physical skill anyway!
― For real lol, total waste of money.
Heading back to the tower, Lee Gyeongbok chuckled as he checked the chat.
'Not like I need wards, anyway.'
He was good enough to react to ganks, but more importantly, he could sense the enemy jungler's location using divine energy.
That itself was a walking ward.
'And, the shuffle isn't truly random.'
To replenish his hand, Lee Gyeongbok activated "shuffle" again. Five cards immediately came into his hand.
― Oh?
― Getting five skill cards at once?
― And they're all different types, lol.
― All the suits are there, lol.
― Lol, he's proving it right here.
― Does he see something others don't?
The cards DD used were based on a trump card deck.
Spades had a "stun" effect, diamonds triggered "chain lightning," hearts caused "explosions," and clubs "slowed."
Of course, not every card was a skill—numbers were just regular attacks, and only J, q, k, and A had effects, getting stronger in that sequence.
'It's working, as I thought.'
Lee Gyeongbok's smile deepened.
Viewers attributed this to pure luck, but the reality was different.
According to the "wish" he focused on, his gut feeling when pulling from the deck would shift; so he could "choose" the card he wanted.
"These are good cards for poking."
Before the next wave arrived, Lee Gyeongbok darted out again.
Caffeine hesitated but stayed back under his tower, preparing to counterattack rather than face him head-on.
"Just as I expected!"
Lee Gyeongbok drew and threw a card. But it wasn't aimed at Caffeine.
There was a loud explosion, and the tower itself was hit.
― Tower poke?
― Lol, twisting things again right here
― He's actually pushing this early?
― But for real, the heart card is meant for buildings, lol.
― Can't waste that bonus damage!
― I thought it was a diamond since it's red, lol.
The card he tossed was Heart Q, and its explosion effect dealt bonus damage to buildings.
As a result, the tower's stamina dropped noticeably for a first strike.
"Wh-...!"
Caffeine groaned, immediately trying to retaliate. The tower cannons fired in response, but Lee Gyeongbok dodged effortlessly and escaped beyond range.
― Ah lol, so cheeky!
― Genome's poke gets on your nerves, but this is even worse, lol.
― The difference between employee and boss is huge, lol.
― If you're going to poke, at least get hit once, be human!
― Godple is post-human, you know?
― Ah lol, that's why he didn't get hit.
― Is he going to push already?
The viewers savored the situation. But when Lee Gyeongbok spoke next, they were confused.
"No, I'm watching for a kill angle."
All of this, just groundwork for dealing with Caffeine.
* * *
Caffeine's mind was working rapidly.
'I've never had an experience like this.'
The match against Purple in lane was unlike anything he'd known.
He tried several times to coordinate ganks with his jungler, but every attempt failed.
'There aren't even wards, so how does he know?'
At first, he thought it might have been coincidence. Then he wondered if it was something audible.
'How keen must your senses be?'
To test it, he triggered a grenade and set up a gank at the same time. Even that, Lee Gyeongbok easily slipped away.
Of the pro gamers he knew, no one had such sharp instincts.
'That's not even the real problem.'
Missing the gank was disappointing, but not fatal. The bigger issue was Lee Gyeongbok's "tower poking."
'Is it because it's his first time laning?'
Normally, the priority would be to target champions. Tower poking is simply inefficient in terms of damage to time spent. Harassing a champion is more impactful.
'No, he must have something planned.'
Anyone else could be dismissed, but this was Purple. His mechanical skill thus far was simply too outstanding to take lightly.
'Plus, he's lucky on top of that.'
Strangely enough, whenever Purple approached to poke, the card he threw was always a heart. More likely, he only went in to poke when he had drawn a heart.
Either way, his tower's stamina was already halved.
Caffeine wasn't just sitting back, either. Now, whenever Purple came to poke, he would step forward and pressure him.
'This way, it's hard to recall.'
Thanks to repeated lane fights, both had built up ample early gold, but recalling was impossible.
If Lee Gyeongbok returned to base, he'd surely demolish the tower along the way. The only comfort was that his opponent wasn't recalling either.
If Lee Gyeongbok left, he could recall too and shop for items.
'We're both tied down. I might as well stall it out and get a power spike in one go.'
Caffeine wasn't discouraged; other lanes were going well.
'Top's lagging a bit, but with backup, it'll hold.'
Eclipse was handling Kaiser Mode more skillfully than expected.
Their top laner had their ban card taken away, falling behind, but the jungler's frequent support made up the difference.
'We're ahead at bottom.'
His team was ahead in CS and steadily growing in the bottom lane. If they could maintain this, they could decide the game in the late stages.
But there was an unknown factor making Caffeine uneasy.
'What is Shaka up to?'
Genome's Shaka was a wild card.
His signature stealth skill and slow-inducing poison dagger were hard to deal with.
'Is he jungling? True, it's early for any ambitious plays.'
With wards still in place, any attempt at a gank would be obvious.
Both sides cleared another wave; once again, Lee Gyeongbok shuffled his cards and rushed forward.
'Again?'
Caffeine braced for the encounter, stepping up.
But this time, Lee Gyeongbok threw a card faster than before.
"What...?!"
He caught the card flying in. It was red—yet its suit was diamond, not heart.
Diamond cards had longer range. Chain Lightning's effect was actually halved against structures.
But its "chain" would still take effect even after hitting a building.
"Ugh!"
The shock bounced off the building, and Caffeine wasn't able to dodge the aftershock. Thankfully, it only chained once, so he didn't take too much damage.
But there was another problem.
"How about we say, whoever loses has to recall!"
Lee Gyeongbok rushed forward, brimming with confidence. Caffeine's eyes darted fast.
'Where's Shaka?'
Unlike before, Lee Gyeongbok was going in for a dive. Which could mean Shaka was backing him up.
But wards on both sides of the lane indicated nothing unusual.
'A solo dive?!'
Caffeine's mind worked even faster. A subtle smile suddenly lifted at the corners of his mouth.
'It's a kill angle!'
Unbeknownst to Lee Gyeongbok, his own jungler was coming down for support. If he could hold him there for just a moment, both could collapse together.
And Caffeine had a way to pin down his enemy.
"That was a mistake."
He twisted off the head of his staff and tossed it. The blunt head popped open into a disk and landed on the ground.
A humming drone filled the area, and space itself seemed to warp.
It was Victor's skill, "Gravity Field."
'He's caught for real!'
It applied continuous damage and a slow to everything in its area―including champions and projectiles alike.
Lee Gyeongbok tried throwing cards in retaliation, but Caffeine dodged easily.
Gravity Field's slow even affected projectiles fired within its range.
"That was too reckless... Ugh!"
He was about to throw another grenade when he was suddenly hit by a sharp shock.
'Was that another diamond?!'
The card he thought he'd dodged struck the tower behind him.
The resulting chain shock further reduced his stamina, but he still had the advantage.
"Come now!"
He called to his jungler, activating his third skill, "High-Energy Beam."
The appendages behind him started to glow red-hot. Even though it took time to charge up, it dealt tremendous damage to a single target.
"Team leader!"
Just then, his nearly-arrived jungler called out in alarm—not in relief.
"It's a threat!"
At that warning, the tower fired at something else.
For a moment, caffeine didn't understand.
'The tower?'
Lee Gyeongbok, whom he was aiming at, stood safely outside the tower's range.
So what had triggered the tower to fire?
'Shaka...!'
Unable to move while charging, caffeine turned and looked back.
Revealed by the tower's targeting, the stealthy Genome—looking like a mad clown—was rushing straight for him.
'He came looping up our side of the lane?'
Behind Shaka was a train of minions, while the tower's cannon fired at him.
Genome didn't have the skills to dodge every attack like Lee Gyeongbok.
But even so.
"Boss! Going in!"
For a stationary target, he certainly had the skill to land a poison-tipped dagger.
* * *
Lee Gyeongbok smiled in satisfaction.
The plan was a success.
[Tower GENOME]
Genome had ended up being sacrificed in the process, but that didn't matter.
As soon as the Gravity Field faded, Lee Gyeongbok twisted his body and leaped forward.
Caffeine's High-Energy Beam barely missed his former position—thrown off by Genome's poison dagger.
[〉Mission accomplished!]
Checking Genome's message in chat, Lee Gyeongbok tossed a card.
"Nice work!"
With a blast, caffeine's body was swept away in an explosion.
[PerfectPlay Caffeine]
A kill message popped up.
But the danger wasn't over.
"Damn!"
The enemy jungler was diving for him. But Lee Gyeongbok remained calm.
"I've still got one left."
He grinned and threw a card at the enemy—there was a thunk, and a star mark appeared over his head.
A spade card: the stun landed.
Unfortunately, he didn't have another card left to also get the jungler, so Lee Gyeongbok shuffled and quickly retreated under his tower.
His survival sent the chat into a frenzy.
― Wow, he actually lived, lol.
― I admit it! I doubted when you first called a two-sided order!
-???: Even after this, you don't believe? You still don't?
― For real, this is Godple we're talking about, so we trust, lol.
― Never thought he'd actually use Genome as a one-use pawn, lol.
Thanks to allied minions, his safety was assured. Choosing to recall quickly, he spoke up.
"Given the difference in value, this is actually more profitable. Mr. Ji understood it right away, didn't he?"
The order to follow their lane and dish out damage. Genome didn't hesitate to accept.
If sacrificing him meant taking out Caffeine, the overall gain was huge.
― Seriously, Genome instantly agreeing was hilarious, lol.
-???: If you keep doing this, everyone will go nuts!
― But honestly, it's Godple, so he'd survive anyway—okay?
― Ah lol, if you're not skilled, you gotta tank it with your body!
― He's literally grinding down an employee for results, lol.
― Is this the Black Company style strategy?
― A smurf who blends concept into strategy!?
Viewers had a new realization:
― Isn't he a broadcasting genius, lol?
― This guy, for real, is a genius www
-???: Mr. Genome, please be happy there... (actually said)
― LOL, so the GunG foreshadowing was real all along!
― Editor-nim! Please raise the transparency to 80% for Genome's spirit this time!
When PerG-Day enters a tournament, you're guaranteed not just top skill but entertainment.