Chapter 30: Spread the Heavenly Net!

Professional activities are in full swing, even though academics are over.

“If we win this, we’re undefeated in the first half!”

The Master League is divided into Round 1 and Round 2, and the top split teams determined in that way determine the winning team through playoffs.

And today is the last game of Round 1.

Winning means that there is no team that has beaten us in the first half, and it also means that we have given at least one match defeat to each of the opposing teams.

Since the second half, that is, Round 2, starts in a week, it can be said that it is an infinitely important game for taking the initiative.

Especially if it’s ST’s eternal rival.

‘Milky Way…’

If you look at the team itself, it’s a caliber that’s too much for a 3rd division league member.

It’s a representative team that said they would beat ST and aggressively invested to sweep up promising players.

Even though I met Milky Way so many times when I was in the 2nd and 3rd divisions in my past life, I only beat them once, so that says it all.

Even now, it’s one of the only two undefeated teams in the Master League.

ST has no match losses, and the other side has lost a few sets, so we are the immovable 1st place in the standings, but. In the end, everything is decided in a head-to-head match.

The standings will change depending on who wins today.

‘Well, at least one person is gone…’

Fluke, who was the most threatening and reigned like an absolute in LOCK, came to ST.

Around this time, Fluke was emerging as a promising player in Milky Way S Academy, but now he has become the undisputed top laner of ST3, so it’s ironic in many ways.

Anyway, the opponent’s power has weakened and ours has strengthened a little, so I wasn’t particularly nervous.

All we have to do is win today’s game and solidify the standings.

“Is there anyone who’s not feeling well today? No, right?”

The coach looked at us with a good-natured smile.

“You don’t have to think of it as a rival team match, just have the mindset of winning today. You know?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Then let’s go.”

At the same time, a signal to leave the waiting room was given, and we headed to the stadium without hesitation.

[LOCK-affiliated Master League Round 1 final match!]

[Now that the match between DS Gaming and DFN Fight is over, the grand finale is the eternal rivals. Eternal enemies.]

[The match between ST and Milky Way S! It starts now!]

Even though it’s a lower league, it’s a big match, so the audience was full, of course, and the atmosphere of the commentators was somewhat excited.

[ST’s mid laner! The vanguard and conductor leading ST’s current rise! It’s True!]

I slowly walked in and waved to the fans.

The cheers that resonate every moment as I get closer to the main stage of the stadium make me feel that this is not just a game I play alone in a corner of my room.

‘…In a bigger place. To many people.’

And to do that, I can’t struggle here.

So everyone, including the coach, came up on stage, and at the same time, the devices were activated.

[The players are all ready! There are no problems with the devices!]

The cheers of the audience can be heard, but the moderately felt floating sensation and the ban-pick window that appeared in the air indicate that the game has started.

[The match between ST and Milky Way S, starts now!]

[Let’s see the ban-picks first!]

In Round 1, we are in the blue camp and have the first pick.

“Let’s cut as we prepared first.”

We neatly cut the OP picks—champions that are good in the current patch to the point of being unbalanced—first, leaving only two.

The blue camp, which has to choose only one champion instead of the first pick, and the red camp, which can choose two champions instead of the last pick.

The advantage of blue is that you can lead the ban-pick itself, and basically, my champion pool is abnormally wide by the standards of promising players and 1st division pros, so if we cut them all by sharing the OP picks one by one, we are the ones who feel good.

[With this, Milky Way has to choose.]

[That’s right? They have to choose whether to eat one each, or use two ban cards on two OP picks. Closing only one is the coaches’ dereliction of duty.]

As expected, the opponent banned champions that the hunter could use, focusing on aggressive ones, leaving the OP picks.

“First, I’ll take Kai’Sa as the first pick.”

Originally, it’s a champion that should be weak in the early game, but because of a bad patch, the early game is matchup-less, and the late game is a champion that can carry overwhelmingly.

It’s a champion that takes responsibility for the late game unless you mindlessly press a skill and charge into the opponent’s camp.

[ST, Fluke picks Kai’Sa as the first pick.]

[If ST’s usual victory plan is to bring a champion like Tristana to the mid lane and let True do the damage, today’s approach is a bit different.]

[Let’s see how this choice will lead.]

The opponent chose Jinx, one of the remaining OP picks, without difficulty.

Both are known for their late-game value, but if you just look at the laning phase, our side is a little happier.

And for the remaining pick, they took Zhao Xin, a hunter champion that can be used in the current meta and is good from teamfights to small skirmishes.

“Ugh. Then what should I do?”

Ox, who was openly sniped, tilted his head, but this was already within the expected range.

“Let’s test who breaks first.”
“What are you going to make me do.”
“A sturdy Sejuani.”
“……..Tsk.”

Anyway, we need a tank.

Since the knife champions were also cut, Ox quietly chose Sejuani, a tank champion that goes well with melee champions.

[A sturdy one here?]

[Not bad. I’m a little worried about ST’s next ban-pick, but still, this is okay.]

“Jihwan, shall we move the top to the next ban-pick turn?”
“No. It’s okay.”

Despite the coach’s concerns, Fluke decided on the team’s third pick without hesitation.

[The bear among bears! The bear that was stabbed a thousand times!]

[Bear tears people apart! An unexpected pick of Exbear appears in the 3rd pick!]

It’s based on auto-attacks, so it goes well with Sejuani, and it has the speed and ultimate to close the distance with the opponent’s AD Carry.

It’s the first time we’ve picked it in this round, but in theory, it’s not bad.

And I’ve never seen that guy lose in the laning phase, no matter what champion he picks.

[Now this is getting really interesting?]

[First, ST is AD Carry, top, jungle complete, Milky Way also thought for a moment, and then chose Malphite, a rock. It’s a bit hard to tear a rock!]

[Hit each other! The ban-pick feels like that, does the one who hits first really win?]

Ban-picks where they absolutely don’t back down.

In an instant, the second ban time came, and this time we banned several mid champions.

“Ban the opponent’s support.”
“Then it’s obvious what they’ll pick in mid.”
“…Eunseol, are you really going to do that?”
“The angle is out. So I have to.”

The ban time is over and it’s the opponent’s pick time.

[Milky Way chose Tristana!]

[We’re a double cannon! What are you going to do? That’s what they’re saying! It’s really ambiguous which mid champion to pick now!]

Of course, that doesn’t apply to me.

“Pick Yasuo for me.”
“…I don’t know anymore.”

Strike picked the champion as I requested, with a hollow laugh.

[Argh! They pick this here!]

[No, in front of Milky Way, which activated the double cannon, a theoretical counter appears!]

[Will the wind be by my side! Or will death be by my side! Yasuo reappears in the Master League after 369 days!]

[Even when it was used last year, it wasn’t mid Yasuo, it was AD Carry! And they even lost!]

[How will this really turn out?]

So, in the shock ban-pick, the remaining supports also quickly took the picks.

[Now, the ban-pick is over!]

[ST is saying, I’m going to charge forward! And they have champions who are good at charging, and Milky Way has activated the double cannon!]

[ST vs Milky Way, the first set starts now!]

“One, two, three!”
“ST fighting!”

The first start was uneventful.

[Sejuani charges! Yasuo attacks!]

[Freeze! Freeze it! Hit it hard! They even use Flash, but with a matching Flash, First Kill!]

[ST shows the reason for the pick and gets a score in the mid lane!]

It was good to cut off Tristana, the core of the opponent’s double cannon, once, taking advantage of the early game strength.

We also caught the rock in the top lane similarly.

But the problem occurred when the AD Carries of each team were growing up.

—The temptation that all AD Carries playing Kai’Sa receive.

Strike couldn’t resist it.

[Bisaaaaang! ST Bisaaaaang!]

[Why does Strike suddenly fire here! He was hit with concentrated fire and died instantly, leaving no corpse!]

“No, this. It was an angle to catch them all.”

It wasn’t a completely ridiculous angle. The health of the opponent’s AD Carry and the back line was below half or barely hanging on.

But the problem was that our team’s AD Carry wasn’t at half health, he was just gone.

Even without any particular orders, the fact that Strike’s apology, not an apology, was heard shows how urgent the situation was.

Fluke, who was trying to hold the front line and hold on, barely survived by going over the wall with Flash, and Sejuani was wandering around somewhere strange because there was no order for a moment, and was being hit evenly by the opponent’s support and jungle.

Of course, that didn’t last long.

[Argh! Fluke is caught in vision! He dies instantly! Followed by Sejuani!]

[With this, True is also in a position to be eaten from both sides!]

[Spread the dragnet! No one can escape!]

Bell, the support, is already dead and coming here again, but the time I have to drag out is very long.

There’s no time to think calmly.

I have to think about the opponent’s personnel placement until the moment the vision disappears and come up with the best result.

[Can she escape this!]

[Bell is coming to support, but how can she survive this!]

It will take some time for Ox to respawn, but that’s not enough time for the opponent’s hunter to kill the large monster alone.

Therefore, the opponent, who must eat the large monster this turn, cannot deploy more than two people to me.

‘…I think I can avoid it somehow.’

The CC skill that falls from the sky from the opponent’s support was used in the previous engagement, so now I have to worry about the opponent’s support throwing a sword at me and stunning me, and the opponent’s mid’s ultimate that pushes me away.

Fortunately, both are blocked by one of my skills, the high wind wall.

“Can you hold on until I get there?”
“I’ll try to trade a bit.”

I narrow the distance with the opponent who is chasing me using skills.

From the bush, I hit Q while riding the minions.

Then I approach the opponent’s support.

I avoid the support’s stun skill with Flash, and approach Tristana.

And the moment I hear the sound of the opponent’s ultimate, I switch to first-person for a moment, cast the wall, and at the same time, use the keyboard to press Q again, and switch back to first-person to cast Q, which hasn’t finished its cooldown yet.

Normally, it shouldn’t be cast, but the masters say it’s a trick if you do it and it’s not blocked.

The wind that shoots out in an instant.

Now there’s nothing more to worry about.

I cast the ultimate, entrusting my body to the wind.

I finally finish off the opponent that Strike couldn’t finish, and with the help of Bell, who arrived appropriately before the opponent’s support arrived, I also get a kill on the support.

[Argh! The dragnet is torn!]

[Why is this net so weak! It flew away in the wind!]

[How do we calculate this?]

[Fluke, who respawned, teleports and pushes the 2nd tower! Strike also pushes the 1st tower and pushes the minions into the 2nd tower…!]

[Baron will be out soon!]

[It’s still forty seconds until Tristana respawns!?]

[With this, ST is feeling very good!]

I had no intention of losing after doing this much.