You call this thing stable?

[Designer, is this...]

[I don't understand, but I'm deeply shocked.]

With V5's lineup, falling behind by 3000 gold in 20 minutes, what's the difference from not falling behind at all?

At this point, V5 was clearly the team with the upper hand, and the offensive pressure was almost entirely on RA. At this crucial moment when both teams' carries were aiming for their third item, why did their bounty targets inexplicably appear?

"Holy crap, the Elemental Dragon can actually trigger the strategic point in advance."

Luo Zhen and the others were astonished.

When they first raised this question, they weren't entirely sure, as neither side had any match footage as a reference. It was just that Coach Homme had a vague feeling that something like this might be happening, so he casually mentioned it.

But now, what's the difference between this and confirmation?

Many people didn't understand what spawning bounty targets like this meant. First of all, in the early stages of S12, major teams relied on their understanding of the version's bounty targets, which gave teams more options for late-game hypercarries, such as Jinx, Caitlyn, and Aphelios. It also applied to Corki, Azir, and Viktor, because these late-game compositions were solid when ahead and could even turn the tide with bounty targets when behind.

What about now?

Clearly, V5's disadvantage wasn't that significant. Originally, the gold was concentrated on the team's main damage dealers, but if the opponent's bounty targets appeared first, it would lead to a situation where the same tower takedown would give the team behind more gold for their hypercarry than the team that was ahead.

In other words, at the same 26-minute mark.

Through the exchange of map resources, V5's dual carries might reach their third item faster than RA's dual carries. However, the gold of RA's other three players would be greater than the gold of V5's other three players. This was putting the cart before the horse.

My hypercarry comes online first, and my functional component items are slightly worse than yours, is there a problem?

No problem.

Seeing this, do you have a general understanding of how outrageous the strategic points are? I can only say that this thing was truly designed without any thought by the designers, produced from their rear ends.

At least now, RA was starting to get a headache.

But Luo Zhen's eyes gradually began to shine.

As the saying goes: you can't hide the look in your eyes when you're about to stab someone, and it's the same for dirtying a tower for gold. But if you try to dirty a bunch of towers at the same time, then on the surface, you won't be able to see your intentions, which is very practical.

He would politely accept this strategic point!

Chapter 10: Big bro, I'm about to start spinning~

The appearance of strategic points was an absolute nightmare for teams with poor mid-game macro.

Clearly, both sides were exchanging resources as usual, and by combat power, RA still had at least a few minutes of lineup advantage remaining. But as time went on, in the period before the fourth Elemental Dragon spawned, V5's dual carries completed their third items before RA's dual carries. By 50 seconds before the fourth dragon spawned, Luo Zhen and Rookie had a Stopwatch in their pockets, more than the opposing carries.

The speed at which the gold accumulated left the RA members exclaiming that they couldn't understand.

They absolutely had to secure the Dragon Soul from the fourth Elemental Dragon, because this was the latest Chemtech Dragon Soul. Countless new version RANK experiences had taught them that once this Dragon Soul was obtained, it was hard to lose the game.

Therefore, before the Elemental Dragon fully spawned, RA had already begun to contest lane priority with V5 in various lanes.

They couldn't do anything about the lane where Jax was split-pushing on the side, so they'd let it go. But they weren't going to let RA take mid lane priority, were they?

Qiyana protected Lulu as they began to contest vision in the river. Azir protected Jinx as they began to contest the mid lane with Aphelios. Looking at the Galeforce, Bloodthirster, and Executioner's Calling in his inventory, Luo Zhen's mind fell into thought.

With his current equipment, it seemed like he could try to pull off something big against the enemy.

So...

"Hey, Diao Shen."

"What?"

"Do you know, I don't have a mother."

"And then."

"I've always felt that true resolve is about carving out a bright path forward in a dark wilderness."

"Can you speak human?"

"Human talk is: Big bro, I'm about to start spinning~"

"???"

At this moment, Aphelios had the Runaan's Hurricane and The Bloodthirster. Considering that Gwen, Qiyana, and Azir made it difficult to engage, Luo Zhen's original intention was to act as a long-range grenade launcher in the river. But now, it seemed like being a Tanya wasn't bad either.

So, as Luo Zhen positioned himself at the corner of the wall, just as Azir and Jinx were close together to last-hit minions, Luo Zhen suddenly engaged.

R [Moonlight] was cast.

Blue moonlight shot out from Aphelios's hand.

Then...

"Swish~"

He Flashed over the wall and used Galeforce, arriving near RA's dual carries almost at the same time as his ultimate.

Q [Frostfall]

He sprayed forward with the flamethrower, and two marks unique to Tongbi appeared on Azir and Jinx. The ultimate [Moonlight] that was cast earlier also exploded at this moment.

Finally, he clicked on the Lantern thrown by PPGOD behind him and safely retreated. He switched to Tongbi, and the Soul-Returning Flash's attack began to chase the previously marked enemy dual carries.

It seemed complicated, but in reality, it was only a few seconds of operation: cast ultimate, engage, cast Q, retreat, switch weapons, and follow up with auto-attacks.

RA's dual carries didn't react to this sudden assault at all. In their minds, they would never have imagined that an ADC would play like a Trickster LeBlanc and come at them with such a combo. By the time they came to their senses, Aphelios had already returned to a safe position via the Lantern.

They endured a two-stage ultimate ability, the damage from a flamethrower Q skill, and an Aphelios auto-attack from an extreme distance.

The dual carries were left with critical health.

[Holy crap, AK!]

[Trickster LeBlanc?]

[An AD is entering the fight like this to deal damage? They have an adaptive talent, and you're adapting to being steady.]

[It's really cool, just a tiny bit short on damage.]

The combo didn't quite bring the enemy dual carries below the execute threshold, but it did push Azir and Jinx's health down to a quarter. With the Elemental Dragon Soul about to spawn, having both carries at low health was equivalent to handing over the tempo advantage.

Then, something even more terrifying happened.

The sky went dark.

Seeing this, Strive's Azir immediately cast his ultimate, [Wall of the Imperial Guard], directly towards the dragon pit. Jinx, before the screen went dark, blindly threw her ultimate at the position of Nocturne visible on the minimap.

If they died now, this entire tempo would be completely ruined.

Silence, a deathly silence.

IBoy and Strive were prepared for Nocturne's arrival, as they couldn't imagine the opponent would let this chance slip by. Even Qiyana and Lulu had rushed back to protect the dual carries from being flanked.

But... Nocturne didn't dive.

"What's going on? Is he just using his ultimate to scare us?"

"No, we've been tricked!"

It wasn't until Nocturne's ultimate completely ended without any V5 members charging in that the RA players finally sensed something was wrong.

The next second, the mournful cry of the Chemtech Dragon echoed from the dragon pit. A few seconds later, just as RA's dual carries were one or two seconds away from recalling, they finally saw the positions of the V5 members.

They... were heading straight for Baron Nashor, completely disregarding RA's presence.

Nocturne's ultimate wasn't meant for an engage and cleanup from the start; it was a feint to lure them away. Combined with the illusion that he was going to clean up, it stalled RA's dual carries from recalling while allowing his teammates to quickly transition from the dragon to Baron Nashor.

Karsa was too experienced!

"Nice teamwork, the enemy dual carries actually stayed foolishly and used their ultimates." 369's smile was practically splitting his face. He thought he would be the one getting the most resources and bearing the most responsibility this game, and he had prepared for a tough fight.

But then the AD made a play, leaving the enemy dual carries crippled.

And the jungler made another play, breaking the enemy's minds.

With V5's three-core lineup, they had enough damage output to secure Baron Nashor before RA's dual carries could return from base. Even if it dragged on until the enemy dual carries arrived, Azir, without his ultimate to defend against engages, would have significantly less threat.

Nearly perfect execution and macro play.

"The enemy is too arrogant. They probably saw your positions through their trinket ward and thought, 'I'm just an AD, I'm not much of a threat,' and gave us an opening." Luo Zhen wouldn't hold back against them. No matter what style an AD player has, from the moment they decide to play AD, they're always thinking about making flashy plays and saving the world.

Not defending against his solo flank?

Well, that just means the enemy underestimated his damage.

It's like saying "flying dragons are charging," which sounds invincible; but in reality, the flying dragons can't beat any unit that can fight back.

"Good, good, Xiao Zhen, you did great this wave."

"Quick, quick, take Baron Nashor, and the bounty should be gone. Let's snowball this huge advantage and finish them."

"Understood, Templar, unsheathe your blades!"

"Ulla~"

With Baron Nashor secured and the 131 formation, the pressure from the super minions alone started to overwhelm RA.

The 2v1 on top couldn't stop Urgot's push, and Corki was demolishing towers on the bottom lane. This split push strategy completely confused RA.

If they sent someone, Nocturne would fly in mid, and Galeforce Aphelios could easily follow up with damage.

If they didn't send anyone, they could only watch as the side lane high ground towers and inhibitors were destroyed, with no chance to retaliate.

Under this desperate macro play, RA finally couldn't bear the humiliation. On the final push with Corki carrying the Yordle Snap Trap, they launched a suicidal assault without hesitation.

Even as the Nexus exploded, their minds were still reeling.

It felt like they hadn't made any wrong moves, yet the game was inexplicably lost.

1:0

V5 took the first victory.

Chapter 11: The Quirks of the Wealthy

After taking the first game 1-0, RA, having lost the blue side advantage, couldn't compete with the stronger V5 in the second game.

In the second game, 369 finally found his moment to shine. His Gragas pick was full of meme potential and successfully achieved two solo kills in lane.

Although his team fight performance was still a bit inconsistent, considering he had just transferred to V5, perhaps under Coach Homme's guidance, he could gradually improve and become stronger.

At least, V5 was now showing its youthful vigor.

2:0

V5 had completed (1/8) of their journey towards securing a playoff ticket. Amidst the joy of victory, the team atmosphere within V5 was harmonious.

Competitive games are like this. Whether it's esports or traditional sports, as long as you can maintain continuous victory, the atmosphere in the training room will definitely not be bad.

This is also why many clubs like to buy players who have already made a name for themselves. Because fame represents strength, and strength indirectly means win rate, and win rate means avoiding many things you don't want to face.

"Brother 9, you're pretty good. I don't know if you learned Gnar in a season, but you play Gragas really well, right, Brother Ka."

"Indeed. I didn't expect your rebellious phase to be over in just a few months."

Karsa was also a seasoned memer. Faced with the Gnar meme he himself had brought up, he handled it with ease. Of course, 369 didn't dare to retort. Karsa, as his former teammate, truly knew what his performance was like last season.

Moreover... if V5 hadn't pulled him out of TES, then TES would have had Zoom, Qing Tian, and himself, three top laners.

Wouldn't he have been stuck on the bench, dominating the sidelines?

"Alright, alright, stop teasing 369. He played quite well today." Rookie stepped in, acting as a peacemaker and drawing attention. Then, under the gaze of everyone in the room, he comforted 369, "It's okay, you need to believe in your potential. If you can't sleep tonight, you can try punching the air a couple of times. Not for anything in particular, just to conquer this world! That's how you'll quickly build up your confidence."

369: ???

You're starting too, old man?

The post-match interview was, as usual, handed to Rookie. It was, after all, his debut with a new team, and countless Incheon people were waiting online to shed tears. And the switch from white to black uniforms truly fit the narrative of a "blackened" identity.

Yeah, just market it, push the marketing.

During the time Rookie was finishing his interview and would return for the review, the bored group started chatting and gossiping while playing on their phones. Among them were teammates who were very interested in Luo Zhen.

Most of the others had been playing in the LPL for a while, so they knew a bit about each other. But Luo Zhen had genuinely come up from the second team, and no one knew what his life was like before.

"Me? Let me think," Luo Zhen pondered for a moment, organizing his thoughts before slowly saying, "When I first started playing professionally, it was because they provided food and housing here, and I could get paid. After all, there was really nothing else I could do."

At the beginning of his transmigration, he only had 200 yuan and his identification on him.

He didn't want to work in a factory, and he couldn't compete with the older uncles and aunties for scrap metal. So, he could only start by playing games for money and being a companion, trying to survive while waiting for an LDL tryout notice.

Ultimately, it was all for the money.