Chapter 165

CHAPTER 165

Two swords approached Pado from the front and back at a terrifying speed.

There was no way to dodge.

Watching their trajectories, Pado realized that no matter what he did, there was no outcome where he could avoid both attacks.

He blocked the sword coming from the front.

Seojun mercilessly chained into the next attack.

Pado and Seojun's gazes met.

No matter how a fight wasn't over until someone actually died...

It was over.

The moment his ultimate was interrupted, he instinctively knew that turning things around had become almost impossible.

Yet whether Jungle still hadn't given up or was simply acting on instinct, he aimed an arrow diagonally toward Seojun to protect him.

Piiing!

Once the mark exploded, Pado would certainly die.

Even one more basic attack would be enough.

The fight was already decided.

Seojun, who had briefly glanced to the side, didn't stop attacking and continued charging in to finish Pado off.

He probably wanted to end it quickly, figuring that even if he got hit by the arrow, it wouldn't cost him much health.

But at that moment, Pado couldn't accept it so calmly.

Even if the outcome of the fight was already decided, he couldn't just sit there and take it until the very end.

It would be better to gather as much information about his opponent as possible and prepare for the next battle.

And that next battle included not only future trades, skirmishes, and teamfights, but even the next game they might play against each other in the main tournament.

And then—

Clang!

The clone that had been behind Pado had somehow moved to the side.

The clone deflected the incoming arrow aimed at Seojun, while Seojun's sword pierced Pado's body.

The two shadows crossed within his vision.

'So that's why he wasn't even paying attention to it. But fighting while being tangled up like this seems even harder to deal with...'

Pado realized something instinctively.

Perhaps...

Perhaps his opponent had been holding back all this time.

[Sword God → Pado]

Roars erupted once again in the commentary room.

"Wow!! This is even crazier!!"

• He's just insane.
• Having at least two brains would be insane, wouldn't it?
• Doesn't everyone already have two brains? Left and right?
• I see. So it's the cerebrum and cerebellum. Learned something today.

How many brains he had wasn't important.

Bangju quickly regained his composure and continued commentating.

"The battle of mid-lane pride ends in a crushing victory for Seojun!"

People had expected him to win the fight, but this was beyond a simple victory.

It was a stomp.

• LOL
• So multitasking was actually possible.
• Heading off to play Zen right now lol.
• Zen again?
• Fighting two people at once? How can I resist that?
• Please resist!
• Nah, you guys just can't do it.
• But what happens if those clones actually synchronize like they did at the end?

Reading the chat, Bangju continued.

"Everything we've seen so far was basically two separate one-on-one fights. But if both bodies start moving like a single body, just like we saw a moment ago? If they're perfectly synchronized? I don't think anyone could ever fight that alone."

"But Bangju, wasn't that already the case from the start...?"

Who would willingly take that on one-versus-one?

"True. Even Dokkaebi avoided fighting him one-on-one, right?"

"Still, he won in the end."

"Then perhaps this game will be the same—"

"It's not over yet!"

Arin naturally reminded everyone that the game was still ongoing.

"That's true. The game isn't over yet. But if what we just saw continues into teamfights, it'll basically be six versus five. The wealth gap alone might just carry them to victory."

• Did the items get duplicated too? lol
• The Zen board is exploding right now.
• The Kael board is exploding too.
• Why is Kael involved again lol?

LOL

LOL

Among the various champion boards on Reben, the community for The League, it was only natural that the Zen board's activity had suddenly skyrocketed.

[Enlightenment is real!]

[Zen Solo Queue, just wait for me!]

[You can fight 2v1 every time your cooldowns come back. How am I supposed to resist that?]

• Strictly speaking, calling it a 2v1 isn't entirely accurate. That's a playstyle that gives up the skill's return mechanic.
• Doesn't matter.

You just have to reach that level.

• Multitasking is divine!

[But isn't it kind of ambiguous?]

Deflect arrow, block sword. Deflect arrow, block sword.

He wasn't doing 1 and 2 simultaneously.

He was doing 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 really fast.

• So could you do even that?
• Didn't you see the end? He attacked and defended at the same time.
• True synchronization exists...
• Ban this guy.
• Technically that's how our brains work anyway.

[So who's the owner of our board now?]

• (Picture of the handsome streamer Seojun eating rice)

Just this guy lol.

• "This guy"? Say "Master."

Why would I say that to you? (Original poster)

• The Kael fans handed over their board too lolololol.
• That's why I told you the secret method. We should at least learn some of their techniques.
• What about Epic?
• They didn't have enough regulars on their board for anything to happen lol.
• Actual posts from back then:
  • "Are you guys secretly hogging this broken champion for yourselves?"
  • "Why isn't anyone replying?"
  • "LMAO even the people replying are all viewers who came from the stream like me."

While secretly checking these posts beneath the desk in real time, Bangju suddenly felt a hand placed on top of his phone.

It was Arin.

Catching the hint, Bangju swallowed his disappointment.

'I still didn't get to check why the Kael board is going crazy.'

Though, judging from the situation, he had a rough idea.

It was thanks to the comment he'd read earlier.

• The Kael fans are claiming they're the true livestock of Streamer Seojun. Thoughts?
• We need to show them we're even bigger livestock.
• How?
• Don't know. Let's invade first.
• Even as a passing Demonic Cultist, I can't tolerate this.

'So they started fighting, huh?'

Not exactly an everyday occurrence, but not unheard of either.

Still, one particular post from earlier remained on Bangju's mind.

He knew that the human brain couldn't truly process two separate tasks simultaneously.

Just as that post had explained, tasks 1 and 2 could be alternated extremely quickly, but not actually performed at the same time.

And Seojun's play initially seemed to fit that explanation.

Rather than moving simultaneously, it could be explained as switching between actions with incredible speed and precision.

But what he'd shown at the very end...

Seojun had moved simultaneously.

That couldn't be explained by rapid alternation.

'Is he really a new species of human?'

Just like during the Blunt Sword incident, all Bangju could do was be amazed.

"Ah! He got picked off! The support, Mental! He pushed too far up the lane!"

"And at the same time, Seojun, who was back at base, purchases his second rune! The first rune strengthened the duration of Shadow Secret Art. But the second one?"

"It's not a Spell Rune."

There were two types of runes.

The first type granted a spell—a powerful ability with a cooldown slightly longer than normal skills but extremely useful when used properly.

The second type enhanced existing skills.

"This time, it's a rune that increases the duration of his ultimate! He's completely committed!"

"So he's saying he doesn't need extra Shadow Swap charges or additional mark damage."

"Looks like he's planning to show it off in teamfights."

The laning phase ended without any additional kills in mid.

HeavyMental and Wealth Gap focused on taking objectives and controlling the map, avoiding any large-scale battles worthy of being called teamfights.

"If they lose just one teamfight now, the game could be over, right?"

"Yes. They need to be very careful."

With even the second-tier towers destroyed and the game entering the mid-to-late stage, losing a teamfight near the base could easily lead directly to defeat.

Just as Mental respawned and rejoined the team, and Seojun was clearing jungle monsters in the bottom side, something unexpected happened on the top side.

[I'll go get vision.]

[Huh? That's a little deep. Be caref—!]

[Ah!]

[It's still 4 versus 4!]

A skirmish had broken out.

On the minimap, blue dots represented allies and red dots represented enemies.

Through the minimap, Seojun immediately noticed the enemy team appearing.

'That was a pretty dangerous area to walk into.'

The player who got caught was Alpaca.

He'd been too enthusiastic about establishing vision.

Seojun immediately started moving to join them.

[Sorry! I got caught in an ambush! Just leave me and—!]

There was no way the others could simply abandon him.

It wasn't some friendship-driven shonen manga moment.

They'd simply been nearby when the fight broke out, so they were inevitably dragged into it.

The problem was that Seojun wasn't there.

And the fight had started with Alpaca getting ambushed.

Which meant—

[Pado → Alpaca]

Alpaca died first.

The rest of the team immediately began retreating to avoid further casualties.

[Let's back off.]

[At this rate more of us will die. Their skillshots are landing too well. Damn it.]

[Ah, Fear used his ultimate on me, so I couldn't escape. He actually used it on me.]

[Aagh! Tali's mark!]

But Hayoonho died as well.

[1898 → Hayoonho]

[Pado → DurumiAnirago]

Lumi died too.

Only then did Seojun arrive nearby and spot Babam Sword retreating from the enemy team head-on.

The enemy players chasing him continued their pursuit, throwing out every harassment skill they had available.

At this point, the only thing Seojun could do was help Babam Sword create some distance, then watch the enemy team as they attempted to secure the strongest jungle objective and look for an opportunity.

The Rift's unwelcome guest, Crash.

Nicknamed "The Earthworm" by players.

A monster with such high health and attack power that it was difficult to kill alone, and even five players would take significant damage fighting it.

But it was a classic high-risk, high-reward objective.

The buff it granted was powerful enough that, with Seojun's team already suffering casualties, the enemy team would naturally prioritize it.

Their options now were simple:

Keep poking from a distance to prevent the objective.

Wait until the enemy became weakened and force a fight.

Or steal the final hit and take the buff away.

Those were the choices currently facing Wealth Gap.

• Can they steal the Earthworm?
• Just give up the buff. Nothing you can do.
• Alpaca, step it up.
• Why isn't the streamer making vision calls? Does he not know how to read the map?
• Feels like he's intentionally not doing it.
• Guess he's not on Pado's level when it comes to making plays. Pado basically handled everything himself.
• Didn't he get wrecked in a 2v1?
• They're gonna lose Earthworm and then lose the game lol.
• Three people died. It's 5v2. Just wait for respawns.

Seojun couldn't see the chat.

But he more or less knew what they were saying.

His viewers were always the same.

So—

"Everyone, why is it 5 versus 2?"

Seojun whispered quietly enough that only the stream could hear.

"And if we win here, the game's basically over."

• LOL stop trying to talk to us like we're in the game.
• Just give it up.
• How is it not 5v2 lol?

"Oh! It's Seojun!"

Just as Babam Sword shouted, Seojun checked the enemies' remaining health and immediately used his ultimate on the lowest-health target.

The enemy top laner.

[Shadow Ambush]

A shadow was created and immediately extended its arm.

But among the enemy team, one player had been waiting specifically for this.

As if he'd anticipated it all along, a skill flew out instantly.

[Bomb Maniac's Lunchbox]

It was the marksman's survival skill.

When the lunchbox exploded at the desired moment, it knocked back nearby heroes.

The thrown lunchbox detonated.

Right beside the clone.

At that exact moment—

Seojun swapped places with the shadow.

[Shadow Secret Art]

Leaving behind a clone at his original position.

Zen possessed a unique mechanic where, during the infinitesimally brief instant of swapping places with a shadow, he became untargetable.

Seojun had exploited that.

A niche trick commonly used by high-level Zen specialists with perfect timing.

Seojun appeared in front of the enemy top laner, who had turned around in surprise, and buried his Assassin Blade into the man's abdomen.

When another attack flew toward him, he swapped again.

This time with a skill-generated shadow rather than his ultimate.

"So now it's 4 versus 3, right?"

Standing back at his original location, Seojun looked toward the enemy team and addressed his viewers.

• But nobody died?
• Enemy top is literally one HP lol.
• There's still a clone. It's not 3 people, streamer.
• Tried to cook and failed.
• There's still a mark, though.

Everything had happened in an instant.

Now the enemy team had to make a choice.

If they killed the clone standing among them, the mark would explode and the enemy top laner would die.

If they left it alone to buy time for their top laner's health to recover, Seojun would wreak havoc through that shadow.

It was textbook Zen gameplay.

The enemy's decision came quickly.

Pado made his move.

Seojun willingly abandoned the clone.

Boom!

The mark exploded, stripping away the top laner's final sliver of health.

[Sword God → Kadon]

This had been his plan from the start.

Even for Seojun, maintaining all three clones at once was excessive.

It wouldn't hurt if he could, but trading one clone for an enemy player was more than worthwhile.

"Alright, Mr. Babam Sword. The numbers are about even now, so let's fight."

Smiling, Seojun placed a hand on Babam Sword's shoulder through the ultimate clone beside him.

"The numbers? Ah..."

Babam Sword glanced left and right before grinning as well.

"You're right."

• Damn.
• Certified assassin.
• The only two left are Babam Sword and the streamer? They might actually win.
• No chance lol. The enemy still has four people.
• And it's not even just three clones, right?
• Wanna bet points on it?

Meanwhile, Pado let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew! At least we got rid of one clone! It's not 4 versus 4 anymore—it's 4 versus 3! Let's fight!"

Of course, keeping all three clones alive had been unrealistic from the beginning, so it wasn't actually that meaningful.