League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“This guy is pissing me off. I just can’t get a shot off on him!” Snowfall huffed.

“Relax. Take it easy. If you missed him then that’s that,” Yu Luocheng replied.

Versus Ezreal, Caitlyn had the advantage of longer range, which normally meant that she should be able to farm more easily than him.

However, Yi Qin hadn’t found this to be the case so far. Instead, she’d gotten hit a few times by Ezreal’s Q-skill, ‘Mystic Shot’, leaving her feeling deeply frustrated!

Yi Qin had a bad habit when playing MOBA games: If the enemy managed to score a few hits on her, she’d feel obligated to get something back!

After losing some health, Yi Qin’s Caitlyn began playing more aggressively. Whenever her passive skill ‘Headshot’ was ready, she had to use it on Ezreal!

Observing the flow of battle carefully, Yu Luocheng frowned when he noticed what was happening. It wasn’t that he had a problem with playing Caitlyn aggressively—if anything, that was how she was supposed to play, against Ezreal—she ought to make the most of her advantages.

However, she was making herself too predictable—after every seventh shot, she would begin moving towards the enemy! If the enemy Thresh was cunning enough to keep track of Caitlyn’s build-up towards her next Headshot, and Ezreal baited her in just a little… if Caitlyn kept up this routine any longer, her odds of getting hooked would be extremely high ! ¹

Sure enough, Thresh began to move over, at exactly the same time that Caitlyn’s Headshot became available!

Meanwhile, Ezreal was backing away, deliberately leading Caitlyn away from her minions!

It was exactly the play that Yu Luocheng had been anticipating!

“This Thresh is a pro!” That had been evidence enough for Yu Luocheng.

Although Snowfall was nearly good enough for 2,000 points, she obviously wasn’t aware that the enemy had learned her patterns, and moved to deliver the Headshot nevertheless!

Doing this meant Caitlyn had left the safety of her minions. Although she was only a couple of steps out of position, it was more than enough for a professional-level opponent!

Alarm bells rang in Yu Luocheng’s head. Snowfall was looking at a 70% chance of getting hooked by that Thresh.

Even through voice chat, it was too late to warn her of the danger. Yu Luocheng jammed his finger down on Q, bringing up ‘Deadly Spines’ in front of Caitlyn!

‘Deadly Spines’ had an effect delay of about half a second, during which time Yu Luocheng hit W twice, planting two Seeds within its area of effect!

The Deadly Spines burst out from the ground in front of Caitlyn, hitting no one. However, the skill caused both Seeds to instantly sprout into Thorn Spitters!

Just as Yu Luocheng completed this skill combo, Thresh sent his hook flying over!

Based on their respective positions, the hook was flying towards Caitlyn at a 45-degree angle—an ideal angle, not just for taking cute selfies, but also for landing deadly hooks!

Yi Qin was caught by surprise. By the time she realized that she was in danger, the hook was already soaring towards her!

The hooked chain slanted across her screen, and when Yi Qin instinctively moved backward, it only put her directly into the path of the skill shot!

That was it—the hook was guaranteed to hit!

Clang! The hook caught with a resounding metallic ring!

***

“And that’s a kill.” The young man with the dyed blonde hair smiled, and moved Thresh to drag its quarry back with him. First, he’d pull Caitlyn even further out into the open.

Asmodai was already prepared to follow up with Ezreal, but just as he was about to move in, he saw it.

“Holy crap, what happened?” The blonde one gave a great yelp.

Asmodai managed to keep his cool. “You hooked a plant.”

“What… what…” Blondie kept staring in shock.

Indeed, he’d caught something—but it wasn’t Caitlyn, it was one of Zyra’s Thorn Spitters!

There were a pair of plants at Caitlyn’s feet. Blondie wasn’t even sure exactly when they’d appeared!

And their sudden appearance had saved Caitlyn from what should have been certain death!

So… Zyra’s plants could block a hook? From what the blonde-haired youth had just seen, apparently they could!

And yet, even knowing that it was possible, he had to wonder how many people could have planted a Seed and sprouted it to form a defensive barrier like that, in the heat of combat—not in their own defense, but to shield a teammate—and quickly enough to block a sudden hook!

“That Zyra saw through our plan.” Asmodai’s fingers flew over his keyboard. The look in his eyes had gone from nonchalant to serious!

Calmly, he continued, “Like us, he noticed Caitlyn’s patterns—and he even foresaw the trajectory of your hook!”

“That’s… not possible!” Blondie stared at his computer screen, nearly forgetting to control Thresh.

“Not at all. At first, I thought it strange that our opponent would select a slow-moving Zyra to go up against a hook-using champion. Now I understand: he was planning to block with the plants.

“Honestly, there aren’t many in China who know about this trick. To be able to use it well enough to foil our attack, under those circumstances—even fewer,” Asmodai went on.

The blonde-haired youth turned to him. “What are you trying to say?”

“This guy is definitely a pro!” Asmodai’s usually serene eyes were alight with a blazing fire!

He only displayed this kind of enthusiasm and focus during official tournaments. The blonde-haired youth could hardly believe the one-and-only Asmodai was getting into it just for something like this!

“Maybe he just got lucky?” The blonde youth still couldn’t quite believe it.

Sprouting a Seed to block an incoming hook, it was impossible unless he had been able to think several moves ahead. How could any normal player be able to perform that level of strategic calculation?

Asmodai didn’t respond. Deftly, he continued to cut down each minion as Ezreal, waiting for the next fight to begin.

***

“That was close.” Snowfall breathed a sigh of relief.

“Careful with your positioning. Don’t make it too easy for the enemy to predict your movements,” Yu Luocheng advised her soberly.

“Alright, I get it. But how did you know Thresh was going to make a move right then?”

“A man’s instinct.” Yu Luocheng played it cool.

“A man?” Snowfall laughed. “Surely you mean a boy?”

Yu Luocheng didn’t respond to this. Yi Qin opened her mouth, thinking to taunt him some more—but there was just something odd about him today. She’d always thought of him as some kind of little pervert, so now that she was teasing him like this, how come she wasn’t getting much of a response from him?

Was he bashful because it was their first time on voice chat?

Yi Qin didn’t realize that Yu Luocheng had already begun his duel with Asmodai. Ever since he’d made that beautiful save earlier, Asmodai’s Ezreal had made several attempts to provoke Yu Luocheng himself!

‘He’s smelled me out!’ Yu Luocheng guessed that Asmodai had sensed the presence of another pro player. This was obviously meant to be a direct challenge against him!

It had been a long time since Yu Luocheng had played this seriously!

Every hair was standing on end, every ounce of his attention devoted to the game. His fingers flickered over the keyboard, one moment quick as lightning, one moment still as stone. His eyes, usually bleary and half-asleep, were now keen and sharp. He was like a statue who’d slumbered for centuries, now suddenly opening its eyes!

‘You would challenge me, Asmodai? Then let us decide a victor!’

1. Caitlyn’s ‘Headshot’ enhances every eighth basic attack she makes—well, it used to, but nowadays the count is lower.Both Thresh and Ezreal’s key abilities are blocked by enemy minions, whereas Caitlyn and Zyra aren’t hampered as much. This means Logan and Snowfall are safer while they have their minions to hide behind, and vulnerable otherwise.