Chapter 7: Whether you capture a pawn or not, you're going to get blasted!

Letme felt depressed.

At the start of the game, he had only been thinking about how to beat the Zilean into the ground, but he hadn't expected to be suppressed by the Zilean like this.

However, a few waves of trouble could not shake his firm resolve.

As a veteran who had been through many battles on the professional stage, Letme quickly steadied his mindset.

He decided to play it safe for now and wait until level three to put pressure on the Zilean.

Thinking of this, Letme simply ducked into the brush and popped a potion to recover health.

He hadn't been last-hitting in the early game, while the Zilean had been doing so constantly, which meant the minion wave would inevitably push toward the red side.

He just needed to wait for the wave to reach his tower.

Seeing a low-health minion, Letme hesitated for a moment before deciding to step up and take the last hit.

Letme was very meticulous; he only stepped up to last-hit when both sides had low-health minions.

This way, the Zilean would be forced to use auto-attacks to last-hit rather than auto-attacking his Shen.

This was a small, unspoken agreement between top laners.

But...

Things were developing a bit differently than he had imagined.

The moment he maneuvered Shen to step up, the Zilean threw a bomb directly onto the low-health minion.

Just as Shen reached the minion and raised his hand to last-hit, the minion died a step early, simultaneously detonating the time bomb attached to it.

Boom!

The time bomb once again caught Shen in its blast radius, and the health Shen had just recovered from his potion vanished in a chunk.

Letme:?

At the commentary desk, Guan Zeyuan couldn't help but tease after seeing this scene: "Honestly, I really didn't expect this hero, Zilean, to be so disgusting in lane. Letme didn't get the minion, and he got bombed himself; he really lost the girl and the army."

Rita nodded: "Yes, but Zilean's Q skill is also too accurate. From the start of the game until now, every single Q has hit Shen. I guess this rookie player must have practiced quite a bit in private."

"That's for sure," Guan Zeyuan echoed. "To bring out this kind of 'black technology' in an EDG do-or-die game, he must have something up his sleeve. However, Zilean is destined to only be annoying in the early game. Once Shen hits level two or three and gets his E dash, it's not certain who will be suppressing whom."

The two commentators chatted away.

————

【Received +5 Torture Points from Letme】

【Received +8 Torture Points from Letme】

Su Mo felt delighted as he heard the notifications in his mind.

Letme was just too easy to farm!

Aside from Letme, Su Mo also occasionally saw some from his teammates...

【Received +1 Torture Point from Clearlove】

【Received +1 Torture Point from Aaron】

【Received +1 Torture Point from Meiko】

He was a bit surprised, but he didn't dwell on it; it wasn't a bad thing, anyway.

Su Mo looked at Shen, who was hiding behind the minion wave, and after a moment of hesitation, he gave up on the low-health minion in front of him and walked over to land a basic attack on Shen's face.

Although it was just a simple auto-attack, it made Letme curse internally.

You're a damn rookie!

Can you please just focus on last-hitting?!

Can you pay attention to your own arrogant behavior and tone it down a bit!!

————

Letme was miserable, but as Su Mo's teammates and coach, they weren't doing much better.

In the EDG lounge, Coach Aaron's mouth had been twitching slightly for a while now.

As a coach, although he couldn't communicate with the players during the match, he could hear all of their communications.

However, this game for EDG was a bit different from the usual.

In past matches, although there wasn't much communication in the early game, everyone would say a few words here and there.

But in this game, he had only heard one person talking from start to finish.

Su Mo!

"Heh, trying to ambush me? Take a bomb!"

"Yo, want to last-hit? Take a bomb!"

"You get bombed if you last-hit, and you miss minions if you don't. Let's see what you do now!"

"Hehe, hit him, nice!"

"He's actually not going back to base to resupply? Not bad, not bad, I like this playstyle of yours."

"No, I have to find a chance to remind the officials to release a 'Weak' emote first!"

"..."

From the moment the top lane laning phase began, Su Mo's self-talk in the headset hadn't stopped.

Those demonic whispers made Aaron feel dizzy and bloated.

It was just too damn torturous.

At this moment, Aaron wished RNG could hear Su Mo's voice chat.

If they could, the RNG players' mental states would absolutely, definitely be significantly affected.

Especially Letme...

Being bombed from the start until now, if he heard Su Mo's demonic whispers, he'd probably be fuming with rage.

"Brother, please, say a little less. My ears are buzzing and feel like they're going to explode."

Suddenly, Clearlove's voice rang out in the headset.

Aaron's mouth twitched.

Alright, it seems Clearlove and the others weren't doing any better than he was...

"Oh, okay." Su Mo was quiet for three seconds.

Then...

"Eh, why did Shen stop coming over to last-hit? How am I supposed to bomb you like this?"

"Cough, the cooldown isn't up yet, I'll bomb you again in a bit!"

"The cooldown on this level one Q is too long, I have to suggest the officials buff it."

"..."

The demonic whispers coming through the headphones made Aaron's head ache even more.

He simply took off his headset and turned his gaze to the game screen.

The screen was still focused on the top lane.

The director today seemed to have a special preference for the top lane; usually, they focused on the bottom lane, but today, they were giving most of the screen time to the top.

Aaron knew very well that this was Su Mo's doing.

Or rather, the credit went to him and his top-lane Zilean.

On screen, the second wave of minions had arrived, and Letme's Shen had ducked into the brush near the red side.

Looking at the situation, it was clear he wasn't planning to last-hit and had chosen to just soak up experience.

For a top laner to give up last-hitting just to soak experience, only a professional player could be this rational and patient.

With only half health, Shen was giving up the gold from the first few minions in exchange for stable development later, minimizing his losses.

Letme's decision was undoubtedly correct.

This was the most stable way to play.

But laning is a two-person affair.

After Shen ducked into the brush, the Zilean simply gave up on last-hitting—he didn't even take the two low-health minions—and walked right past the minion wave.

Immediately, he tossed a Q into the brush.

*Plap!*

This time, the time bomb landed on Shen's head once again.

"Huh?"

Even Aaron, who was watching, felt it was a bit bizarre. "Is there a magnet on Shen? How does he get hit every single time?"

As a coach, Aaron had a very clear understanding of Letme's strength.

Although Letme had a gap compared to top-tier top laners, he could still be considered a second-tier top laner.

As for Su Mo, he was just a rookie who had just started his professional career!

This was his first appearance...

The gap was not small.

From the moment Su Mo insisted on picking Zilean for the top lane, Aaron had prepared himself for him to be crushed for the entire game and become a walking ATM.

But now, things were developing a bit differently than he had imagined.

The one being crushed was actually Letme?

Thanks to all the big shots for the recommendation votes!

(End of chapter)