NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 24
If I back down here, I’ll undoubtedly be controlled by Karthus with a 3-buff advantage.
Top is Renekton and Sion.
Mid has Galion and Akali.
Even though the mid lane is getting pulled right now, when considering the matchup of the opposing top and mid, there was absolutely no reason to avoid the fight.
Not to mention, Karthus is holding the Blue Buff, while I have the Red Buff. There’s no need to think about which one would be more beneficial in battle.
This was clearly Yoon-ki being stubborn with Karthus, and it was originally a fight I shouldn’t have picked.
But still, Yoon-ki decided to go for it.
Even though he knew full well it was a disadvantageous fight.
‘That just means he’s confident.’
As always, he seemed to want to crush me with overwhelming force.
‘Same as ever.’
If it were the old days, I would have backed down even knowing his malicious intentions.
It turned out that playing a game at my own pace, even taking a slight loss, yielded better victory rates than responding to his bait.
But you know…
‘How long does he think I’ll keep running away?’
I know that Yoon-ki shows overwhelming strength in fights.
In fact, I’ve suffered countless defeats in the past under his sheer force.
“What, is he really trying to do this here?”
Even when the numbers are low, even when I’m behind in growth, and even when situations are unfavorable, if Yoon-ki believes he can win, he boldly jumps in.
“This is going to hurt.”
The moment I managed to get an upper hand against him was when I started calculating in his overwhelming might.
From the moment I saw the nickname Yoon-ki on the loading screen, I treated him as an opponent I couldn’t possibly defeat.
‘…I may have a one core disadvantage, but maybe Yoon-ki will let it slide. Let’s aim for lane advantage instead of engaging.’
‘But can I really overcome a 3-level difference? …No, I’ve gotten smashed like that before. Let’s be more cautious.’
‘Oh, he’s coming in like that? Fine, take it all. So dirty and cheap, I…’
Yoon-ki was that kind of opponent for me.
An incarnation of overwhelming martial force and one who thoroughly shatters conventional engagement wisdom with his super play.
No matter how perfectly I design my strategy, he finds a way to slip through and land the most lethal strikes through the tiniest of openings.
That’s why I wanted to avoid him if possible, but given the circumstances, I had no choice.
‘Let’s see what happens.’
After eating my Red, I arrived at the river at 1 minute 59 seconds.
Karthus finished my Blue and crossed mid, arriving at the top jungle river at 2 minutes 5 seconds.
There wasn’t enough of a time gap to safely eat their Blue and run away.
This means a confrontation is unavoidable.
[⚑] [⚑] [⚑]
I pinged for assistance.
A declaration of my unwillingness to back down.
As though he understood my signal, Renekton, who had been pushing the lane, began to join me.
‘The enemy top and our mid lanes are pulled. This means we’re set for a 2:2 matchup for now.’
Having completed my calculations, I started to hit the Blue.
I had no qualms about facing off for a smite fight if it came to that.
As Blue’s health dwindled to about 700…
Thwump!
Karthus began to make his appearance from the bottom side of the Blue jungle.
‘Akali hasn’t been visible for a while. She’s likely nearby to join in.’
Objectively, both Karthus and Elise aren’t that strong at the 2-level timing.
Elise can’t utilize her key E skill for a preemptive strike and escape, and Karthus probably lacks the W skill crucial for engagement, making it extremely difficult for them to land skill shots in small skirmishes.
2-level Karthus vs. 2-level Elise.
To put it simply, it’s a skill-shot fight.
In other words, it’s what’s commonly known as a “hands fight.”
‘If it were in the past, I would have dodged without question.’
Yoon-ki and a hands fight?
What a desperate joke.
I’d be afraid it’d show up in my dreams.
‘But that’s not the case anymore.’
It’s obvious, in a standoff like this with both Blue Buffs, Karthus would naturally have the upper hand.
The basic range would just not be comparable.
However…
‘That only applies if I let him hit me with his skills.’
For sure, during engagements, Yoon-ki’s skill shots are not just sharp; there’s something fundamentally different about them—something that makes me suspect he possesses transcendent instinct.
But originally, Karthus’s Q is a skill that’s tough to land without assists like slows or crowd control.
In the old days, I would have been hit by each shot he fired without fail, but now that’s behind me.
Now, I can see Karthus’s Q and dodge it instead of predicting where it’ll go.
Thwump—
Thwunk!
Even as Karthus’s skills were flying at me in succession, I dodged them effortlessly.
It wasn’t particularly difficult, but because it was Yoon-ki, it felt impressively challenging.
While weaving my movements, Blue’s health dropped to 600.
The moment of the smite fight arrived.
Typically, in a smite fight, the conventional combo is to use a skill + smite.
Especially strong in such fights are champions like Aatrox with fixed damage or Lee Sin with percentage-based damage skills when at low health.
So what about Elise and Karthus?
Elise possesses a damage skill proportional to lost health in spider form, while Karthus simply has massive base damage with his Q.
So essentially, it circles back to being a hands fight again.
[575]
[541]
.
.
.
Blue’s health continues to drop.
I watched carefully for Karthus’s movements, saving my skills.
‘Okay, show me what you got.’
At the moment Karthus’s Q hits Blue…
[437]
Thwump!
Karthus’s smite fell upon Blue’s head.
[Elimination]
The double buffs circled around Elise.
It was a victory for me.
As stated earlier, in typical smite fights, the textbook way is to go skill + smite.
But simply using textbook strategies won’t let you outplay Yoon-ki.
That’s why I chose to wait and then used my smite the moment Karthus’s skill hit, swallowing Blue from underneath him.
I slipped in during the brief moment between Karthus’s skill and smite.
‘That must’ve really thrown him off balance.’
Up until now, I, the Prisoner, would get utterly crushed whenever I directly clashed with Yoon-ki.
Naturally, Yoon-ki probably never even imagined this kind of scenario.
‘Alright, everything’s going well.’
Even though I didn’t show it outwardly, inside, I was celebrating.
I had actually won the smite fight against Yoon-ki.
Of course, just because I took Blue doesn’t mean anything dynamic like hitting level 3 is going to happen.
Neither of us had even finished our last camps yet.
‘So, what should I do now…’
Just as the smite fight ended, Renekton and the enemy Akali joined the fray.
[Renekton – Level 2]
[Akali – Level 2]
‘If Sion and Galion both finish farming the lanes, they’ll be setting out right after. Given the position, Sion will likely arrive first.’
The enemy’s reinforcements would be arriving slightly faster.
Under normal circumstances, I could retreat after winning the Blue smite fight.
Including the wasted movement from Karthus, I had already gained sufficient advantage.
But why should I?
Elise, now empowered by the double buffs, advanced toward Karthus.
[!] [!] [!]
My teammates were pinging for retreat in succession, but I had no intention of backing down here.
[⨷] [⨷] [⨷]
[Prisoner(Elise) has targeted SY YunGi(Karthus)]
[Prisoner(Elise) has targeted SY YunGi(Karthus)]
A 2-level Karthus and a 2-level Akali.
Depending on the perspective, this could be strong or weak, but generally, it tends to tilt toward the latter.
What about our composition?
2-level Elise and 2-level Renekton.
It’s a classic top-destroying combo.
That destructive power is more than enough even if they haven’t reached level 3.
‘Until now I’ve willingly endured, but no more.’
Yoon-ki needs to understand.
What it feels like to face the absurdity and injustice I’ve dealt with until now.
What it feels like to lose fights you should logically win, and to win fights you should inevitably lose.
‘You need to feel that too.’
Karthus kept casting his Q skill frantically, but not a single one of them hit me.
Renekton and I slipped through the skill shots like a painting, both using our flashes in unison.
Karthus, realizing he couldn’t hold back anymore, flashed in as well, but he had already been hit by Renekton’s empowered W.
-First Blood!
I casually tossed an emote at the now-phantom Karthus.
『👍』