Chapter 54 – Jungle
Regular season, third week, Thursday, the 8:00 PM time slot featured the DCT team’s fourth match in the mid-season tournament.
They were up against the DW team.
The opponents were known for their focus on developing the ADC and support roles, and DW’s ADC and support were particularly dominant. The state of Phantom, who was about to face them, was like being injected with chicken blood.
Cheng Che’s suggestion to switch lanes and play the mirror matchup in the first game was mercilessly rejected.
Phantom: “I’ll give it a try in the first game.”
“And I’m here too, Brother Che, don’t worry,” Wu You made a scissors gesture and smiled, saying, “Xiao Pei and I can handle them without any problems!”
“Well, just be… careful.”
Helplessly glancing at his steadfast duo, Cheng Che turned around and fist-bumped Lin Xingling, saying, “Captain, the two of us… we’ll crush them!”
Lin Xingling moved his wrist slightly and nodded.
In the first game, both teams had stubborn lineups.
DW: Top lane – Old Master[mfn]
[/mfn], Mid lane – Yuan Ge[mfn]
[/mfn], Jungle – Luna[mfn]
[/mfn], Bot lane – Yu Ji[mfn]
[/mfn], Support – Da Qiao[mfn]
[/mfn].
DCT: Top lane – Hua Mulan[mfn]
[/mfn], Jungle – Yao[mfn]
[/mfn], Mid lane – Bai Li Shou Yue[mfn]
[/mfn], Bot lane – Di Ren Jie[mfn]
[/mfn], Support – Gui Gu Zi[mfn]
[/mfn].
Commentator Jiang Li: “Hmm… DW picked Yuan Ge for the mid lane, a surprise! There are no mage heroes on the field this game, both coaches are going with an aggressive approach.”
[“Reward: Yinger’s Bai Li Shou Yue”]
[“Doesn’t feel like it, why does it seem like it’s for Clear?]
[“Then what about 460?”]
“Oh my, Yao, the Child of Stars, I have a bold idea,” commented another commentator while covering his face.
After the players swapped heroes’ positions and equipped appropriate summoner spells, DCT’s strategic layout suddenly became clear.
Phantom – Hua Mulan (Flash remains the same)
uu – Di Ren Jie (Flash remains the same)
460 – Gui Gu Zi (Flash remains the same)
Clear – Bai Li Shou Yue (Flash remains the same)
Stars – Yao (Flash changed to Smite)
The other commentator marveled, “Yao also took Flash, ah, the Jungle role wasn’t switched for uu. What can we say about DCT’s side?”
Finally, Lin Xingling decisively changed Yao’s summoner spell to Smite. Otherwise, Jiang Li would have probably pounded the table:
“The marksman goes to the mid lane, the jungler goes to the bot lane, and the mage plays support… Yao took Smite! Stars is going to the jungle! The return of the strongest Jungle Dad!!!”
There was an instant uproar in the audience.
Stars’ glory as the strongest Jungle Dad was there: single-handedly turning the tide in a game with an almost 10,000 gold deficit, Li Bai’s pentakill from the flank, Sun Shangxiang soloing the dragon…
Countless amazing plays created the era of KPL junglers in the hearts of the audience.
Unfortunately, just when he was in the spotlight, he had to leave KPL and enter K League due to an irreversible hand injury… Although he later returned and led the team again, he changed his position from jungle to support.
This is forever a pain in the hearts of many fans.
“Captain, let’s coordinate between mid and jungle.”
Cheng Che’s mouth involuntarily curled up. For some reason, he initially thought it was great to have Stars support him, but now he felt that…
fighting side by side and dealing damage together with Stars was also good.
As long as he had Lin Xingling by his side, it was fine.
Lin Xingling adjusted his slightly nerdy, square-framed glasses and replied, “Wu You, focus on farming steadily, and I’ll pay more attention to the opponent’s ADC and support in the early game.”
Paying attention to the opponent’s ADC and support… In his past life, he should have given his teammates similar instructions.
Cheng Che felt a strange unease after hearing that.
After all, Stars had killed him countless times in his past life.
“Clear, stay focused.”
After giving instructions, Lin Xingling entered the game and started red buff.
Liu Ying first helped Cheng Che secure the first wave of minions in the mid lane, then took a look at the blue buff area, and finally headed to the bot lane to help relieve pressure for Phantom.
Since the enemy Gui Gu Zi had no vision in the jungle and their own jungler happened to be at the blue buff area, Old Master became a bit reckless.
Thinking of baiting Di Ren Jie.
Little did he know that Di Ren Jie had the same idea.
“Dad Star, level two gank, the enemy Old Master is easy to catch.”
Wu You cleared the minions and was on guard, ready to fend off Old Master’s attempted steal.
“No, you back off. The enemy jungler is also watching you. If I go, it won’t be an effective gank, just a waste of time.” Lin Xingling finished the three wolves and headed to the blue buff area.
Earlier, Cheng Che had helped scout Luna’s vision while she was taking the blue buff… Luna would normally start red buff, reach level four after taking blue buff, and maximize the effectiveness of the blue buff.
However, Luna with Divine Punishment started with blue buff, making her intentions clear—she might bypass the river and gank Di Ren Jie.
He had a clear understanding of all jungle playstyles.
After Wu You obediently retreated, just as Lin Xingling said, Luna from the opposing team came to gank as soon as he stepped back within the range of the defensive tower.
Ganking, Luna didn’t even catch a glimpse of Di Ren Jie.
Divine Punishment wasted a few seconds, and she left disgruntled.
“Dad Star is amazing.” Wu You continued to lane against the enemy Old Master.
“It’s thanks to Yinger’s vision.”
Lin Xingling, with the demeanor of a show-off, praised Cheng Che, “Yinger triggers ‘No Misses’ as soon as she lands the third shot, keep it up.”
Wu You exclaimed, “Awesome!”
Cheng Che: …
I want to ask Stars how many eyes he has. He’s watching the enemy jungler, our bot lane, and even paying attention to whether I hit my shots or not. Amazing.
After successfully clearing the first jungle wave, Lin Xingling calculated in his mind how long it would take for Luna to finish her red buff and estimated the approximate respawn time of the enemy red buff.
He pursed his lips and called Cheng Che, “Let’s go, it’s time for us to make a move in the jungle.”
Cheng Che took a few steps forward and asked, “Gank the bot lane?”
Lin Xingling replied, “No, let’s go for the top lane.”
Cheng Che: ???
Confused, he asked, “Do you mean the bottom lane or the top lane?”
Wu You, with the Red Falcon active, answered on behalf of Lin Xingling, “The top lane, Old Master.”
Lin Xingling said, “Xiao You is misleading.”
With a display of jungle temper, it was clear… Cheng Che knew that.
In the voice recordings of the SYG team from his previous life, Stars called himself a trash talker.
Now, mentioning Old Master in the same way as he did with Wu You, it was normal.
It didn’t bother him much usually, but it would provoke him during the game.
“Pressure the mid lane and push forward, I’ll go gank the trash talker.”
…
He unintentionally created a false vision by going to the top lane, and Cheng Che couldn’t help but smirk. He didn’t say anything and used the vision from the bush behind the river wall, sneaking down stealthily.
Yao joined him after crossing his own jungle.
Old Master cleared a wave and successfully leveled up his ultimate at level 4. It was his power spike moment. Utilizing the four-stack passive from the ranged minions, he flashed and bound Di Ren Jie.
Before he could even make a move on Di Ren Jie, he was suddenly hit by a shot… it was Bai Li Shou Yue.
At that moment, Old Master didn’t sense the seriousness of the situation. He still thought he could solo kill Di Ren Jie with half health before Bai Li Shou Yue arrived.
He held the idea of at worst a one-for-one trade and had no intention of backing off.
Then, out of the bush, Yao emerged: surprise!
The first blood was secured by Stars, and uu and Clear received assists.
Phantom and Liu Ying in the bot lane were caught by Luna’s gank. Liu Ying used his second skill to hold Luna and saved Hua Mulan, but he was focused and killed by the enemy mid and jungle.
Liu Ying sighed in relief, “Xiao Pei, be careful. When I respawn, I’ll go find the ADC.”
DW’s bot lane was cautious. They couldn’t find an opportunity to engage with Gui Gu Zi and Hua Mulan and
were instead countered by the enemy jungle and mid… this indicated that the bot lane was not the breakthrough point.
Phantom said, “Okay.”
The two who helped establish an advantage in the bot lane also agreed to have Liu Ying return to the farming lane to help Wu You apply pressure.
Wu You: That’s what I want!
…
Yao took the dragon, and Bai Li Shou Yue returned to the mid lane to clear the wave.
Suddenly, Cheng Che said, “I’m only two shots away from ‘No Misses’.”
Lin Xingling smiled lightly and asked, “Are you still daring to fight?”
“To be honest, not really, but…”
Cheng Che couldn’t finish his sentence before Lin Xingling interrupted, saying, “Now, take a shot at the enemy’s tower with one shot left.”
Without asking why, Cheng Che followed his instructions.
Clear trusted Stars’ prediction… and it worked.
“Alright, go all out now.” Lin Xingling said casually.
If you have fear in your heart, you won’t dare to make a move.
So that’s what it meant.
Cheng Che murmured in agreement and landed two consecutive shots, directly taking down half of Yuan Ge’s health.
“Nice.”
…
Commentator Jiang Li explained the current situation to the audience: “Currently, DCT has a lead of 5,000 in economy and can try to make a strong push since the mid-game is the power spike for the Vegetable Knife Team.”
[“DCT, charge!”]
[“We’re all Vegetable Knives, let’s see who’s more stubborn.”]
[“Definitely the six iron walnuts of my DCT [emoticon].”]
Everyone on the DCT team thought the same.
After Stars activated his Domination skill—
Bai Li Shou Yue cleared the wave and applied pressure to the enemy’s health bar. Yao used his ultimate under the tower, and Di Ren Jie passively targeted the tower, holding Gui Gu Zi, who was ready to use Wind Spirit Rune to engage.
DW helplessly watched their mid lane high ground being destroyed and was forced to engage in a team fight in front of their crystal.
Due to the economic disadvantage, they lost helplessly.
In the end, Bai Li Shou Yue was one shot away from triggering the “No Misses” voice prompt, but unfortunately, Yao wiped out the entire enemy team.
“Quadra Kill!“
Excited, commentator Jiang Li announced, “Quadra Kill! Stars got a quadra kill! Can he get a penta kill?!”
Another commentator said, “He’s so excited he forgot that Clear got the first kill in the team fight with a blind shot.”
[“Rounding up, Clear stole Stars’ penta kill.”]
[“Getting revenge for the stolen kill [emoticon].”]
[“I’ll always remember Lu Ban flashing to kill someone, only to be killed by Gui Gu Zi’s basic attack.”]
[” Dad Star: My shooter has grown up so much.”]
“Victory!“
The match ended, and the players from both teams went back to their respective backstage resting rooms.
On the way, Cheng Che asked Lin Xingling about the shot he was asked to take at the first tower in the enemy mid lane. Lin Xingling just smiled.
“It’s something to be understood, not to be explained.”
That was the answer Cheng Che deserved, and he nodded.
Author’s note:
【Mini Theater】
Hamster Lin Xingling (cute and adorable, clasping hands):…
What else can I say? Should I say that I predicted that the enemy Yuan Ge would take the health pack to restore his health, but it didn’t hit?
Cat Cheng Che:…
I’m going to smack you with a hammer!