Chapter 196 - Because of Their Support

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The surge of vines tumbled along the ground, pulling up waves of earth as it did.

What surprised people was that the vines weren’t going toward Ashe, but instead, toward Thresh who had been about to launch his scythe.

Side step and avoid Thresh’s scythe.

Luocheng was confident in his ability to side step because for these kind of champions that hooked, he was able to accurately predict where it would come from and where it would go!

Just as Ashe moved back and forth to juke Luocheng’s skill shots, who knew Luocheng would actually turn and launch his Grasping Roots toward Thresh instead, completely ignoring Ashe.

This completely threw Ashe and Thresh off.

The vines shuffled over Thresh’s feet, wrapping the lower part of his body and rooting him in place.

A poisonous flower emerged like a sharp tongue from the earth, spitting at Thresh which applied a slow effect on him.

Jinbei had originally intended to shoot Ashe, but once he saw that Luocheng had rooted Thresh, he switched targets immediately!

With her long range, Caitlyn had no problems in shooting Thresh even if she didn’t cross the creep wave. Thresh had yet to consume a lot of souls, so his armor was not any higher than usual.

One Head Shot and Thresh’s health was down to two thirds, eating a Q—Piltover Peacemaker and then his life was down to less than half.

“Chase him, I have Exhaust!” Luocheng didn’t hesitate, using his auto-attacks on Thresh.

Thresh’s health was dropping rapidly and Jinbei saw that there was an opportunity to kill. Turning around and using E to propel himself forward, he advanced a distance toward Thresh who had his movement impaired.

Thresh turned tail and ran toward the turret. As Exhaust had been thrown on Ashe, she wasn’t dealing much damage. The two of them pressed forward, passing the creep wave and going all in with their assault.

Just a little more…

There wasn’t much distance, but a fresh wave of creep reached, Luocheng and Jinbei then lost the chance to kill Thresh.

Ashe, who had been Exhausted, didn’t have much health left and was forced to retreat under the turret. Being forced to back up at level one or two, it was no different than dying. You would have lost only a little farm, but the gap in experience gain would be the downfall.

You must understand that Luocheng had managed to use a champion like Morgana to pressure the opponent, and now, Zyra who had more harassing abilities gave an even higher pressure!

“Luocheng is so aggressive!” Jian Feng exclaimed in shock, watching the display.

Fudan University’s top team was notoriously strong, and they were the ones normally oppressing the lanes until there was no room left to breath. They had never expected to be the ones being pressured instead, and forced to go back to base!

This was somewhat unbelievable, as Fudan University’s top team bot pair were on par with the top professional players. How could their rigorous defense be so easily toppled by a freshman?

Was it because he was underestimated?

Or was Luocheng a godlike arrogant as*hole?

“Damn, there’s a feeling of unrest here.” Someone said in a low voice.

Shanghai University’s students could only nod in agreement.

The last experience had made them unable to lift their heads from the shame, all three lanes had collapsed. If Fudan University’s team had picked up their pace, they probably would have struggled to even last twenty minutes.

For them, if they could get even one kill against this strong team, it was a victory for them.

This time, Luocheng and Jinbei hadn’t managed to get a kill, but not even four minutes into the game, they had already managed to force them to back. This really boosted their morale!

***

On Fudan University’s side, Huang Lin glanced at Siyong from the corner of his eye. Siyong looked calm, not looking concerned about the fact that he was just forced to back.

“I underestimated them,” Siyong said, his voice light.

Counting experience at the bottom lane was a bit harder than the other solo lanes, and Zyra had accurately estimated the difference between one or two creeps when she engaged. She had also made good use of the Exhaust in her skill set…

“Let’s play more seriously then.” His Support—Lei Qingyi said.

Throwing his lantern backward, he pulled Ashe toward him from the fountain. They continued to hurry back to their lane. The lane had been pushed to their turret, and they wouldn’t be able to farm nor gain experience from this wave. They would have to farm fast to catch up so that the difference between them was not too big.

Thresh and Ashe had bought a few red pots, they could tell that Zyra was good at harassing. Without the red pots, they wouldn’t stand a chance. With the difference in levels, even if Thresh landed a hook, they wouldn’t be able to fight.

Finally, once Zyra ran out of mana, Ashe and Thresh could finally breathe easier. Their level and farm slowly came up, Siyong’s fundamental abilities were solid, even in this situation, the difference in CS was only about twelve creeps.

The gap in CS of twelve was obvious in the early game, but in the later game, this kind of small gap was insignificant.

Once Ashe got her Vampiric Scepter, she wouldn’t need to be so afraid of attacks as she could lifesteal back by farming the creeps. It was also obvious that Jinbei’s CS was not as good as Siyong’s.

***

They returned to the base to buy items and get wards.

Unfortunately, a 3v3 fight broke out between Top, Mid and Jungler on both sides. Yang Ying, Xiao Jia and the top lane’s corpse lay on the ground, while only the opponent Jungler was sacrificed.

Getting killed was a trivial matter, the problem was the experience lost at the middle lane. Top and mid lane matchup outcomes were normally determined by whoever had the higher level!

Luocheng had paid attention to the 3v3 when it happened, it was clear that the three from Fudan University team had fast reaction, good support timing, and spreading of damage taken better than Shanghai University’s team.

This 3v3 in this five-minute match, Luocheng could clearly see the difference between the strength, cooperation, and map awareness between the two teams.

You could say that this was a lost cause, not because of the difference in score, but from the battles he had seen so far. It could be understood that the later teamfights would still give the same outcome. Even if their items were more or less equal, their chances of winning wouldn’t be any higher.

Nevertheless, Shanghai University’s strength was beyond Luocheng’s imagination. When he was fighting against Yang Ying in the cyber cafe competition, Yang Ying had given him the impression that he was a player with a ranking that was above 2,000 points.

After watching their training in the E-sports club, Luocheng realized that the team under Yang Ying’s command was very professional. They could basically be on par with the third rate professional teams, and this was something difficult to achieve with a university team.

If Team Scarlet had gone against Shanghai University’s team, it was very likely that they would have lost before the twenty minute mark.

Shanghai University’s strength actually surprised Luocheng, and the fierceness of Fudan University surprised him even more.

In such a match, it was impossible to save the game with a Support.

Also…

Apart from forcing Ashe and Thresh to return back to the base in the beginning, bottom lane couldn’t get another advantage over them anymore.

***

In the later half of the game, Luocheng as a Support felt more powerless. Hunting at the bottom lane, invading their jungle, stealing the Dragon right under their noses, pushing the lane together as a team…

After seven minutes, the game was controlled completely by Fudan University. With the collapse of the other lanes, even the bottom lane was not spared.

The most ridiculous part was that, with a score of ten against two, one of the kills was actually taken by Luocheng who was a Support.

Although the match lasted for twenty minutes, there was no need to continue anymore. Yang Ying pressed the button for surrender, because even if they continued to fight, it was just letting their opponents trample on their self-esteem again and again.

You just had to admit defeat when you know you’re inferior to them.

***

Luocheng didn’t have the habit of surrendering, and he had already predicted how the match would go in the first five minutes of the game. Even if he lost, he didn’t feel much. He had already given his ADC a lot of opportunities at the bottom lane to widen the gap between them, there was nothing else he could do if they still lost.

And it wasn’t like Luocheng hadn’t gained anything from this match.

At the very least, he was able to experience the strength of a truly strong team. This experience would be the best baptism for Lin Dong’s Team Skycrown.

***

Yang Ying stood up, clapping Luocheng on the shoulder. As the ADC, Jinbei now had a whole new view of Luocheng’s abilities.

Luocheng had formed a lot of opportunities for him to take Thresh’s life, but he couldn’t find the courage to take that chance given…

It couldn’t be helped, facing Siyong’s Ashe, he could feel a tremendous pressure weighing him down. He couldn’t even perform at his usual level.

He was thinking that if they didn’t have Luocheng’s skills, the bottom lane would have easily collapsed like the other lanes.

This defeat was in everyone’s expectation, but when it really happens, your heart would definitely still feel it strongly.

Fudan University’s members also stood up, launching into a tactical discussion immediately. Luocheng thought that both sides would glare at each other like enemies wanting revenge, but after Yang Ying’s shameless tactics to pull the female analysts into their discussions, all the shameless guys from Fudan University started surrounding Meiqi as well.

There was no deep hatred between the universities. If you lost, then you lost. It wasn’t such a bad exchange, especially since they got to build some more relations between the guys and girls.

“Your Support was not bad,” Siyong said, standing in front of Luocheng and sticking his hand out.

“Main Support,” Luocheng said, not bothering to be humble as he shook the hand offered to him.

Siyong’s Ashe was good, and it was the best that Luocheng had seen so far. His kiting abilities and the use of his W had Luocheng rethinking his perception of the champion.

“It seems that one of the top eight teams will be kicked out in this year’s university competition,” Siyong said, his voice still as light as ever.

Huang Lin was taken aback from where he stood beside him, only understanding Siyong’s meaning later.

Luocheng was pulled away by a girl from Fudan University after a while, for in fact, they had never seen a Support who was able to hold their own against Siyong, as well as pressure his farm.

***

“President, you’re saying that Shanghai University will be able to enter the top eight this year?” Huang Lin asked in a low voice.

“If nothing goes wrong, they should be able to,” Siyong replied.

“Is it because of their Support?” Huang Lin asked, watching Luocheng as he was surrounded by the Fudan University girls.

Siyong only nodded his head.