All-Round Mid Laner - Chapter 101

ALL-ROUND MID LANER

The game was about to begin. Both commentators spoke very excitedly as they watched.

“Friends of the audience, the prediction site for this round has already gone live. Everyone can check in on all major streaming platforms to guess the outcome!”

The digital currency earned from the prediction site could be exchanged for in-game skins and game merchandise, so many regular viewers of the league were very passionate about making their predictions. Sometimes, when they guessed the outcome correctly, they could rake in a ton of prediction currency. Of course, there were also those whose accounts would be zeroed out after wrong guesses.

For today’s games, the prediction site listed Tianhuan and Yueying as having approximately the same chances of winning.

[I’m going to bet a hundred thousand coins on Tianhuan. I’ve bet the house on this, so Tianhuan—you’d better not lose!]

[I’ll put fifty thousand on Tianhuan and fifty thousand on Yueying. Do you guys think I’ll win or lose? ^_^]

[You guys have so many coins. I was cleaned out in the last match. I only have two hundred coins that I randomly scraped up!]

While netizens discussed their predictions and bets, the game loaded up on the big screens. A commentator announced, “The game is about to start. Let’s all show both teams our support once more!”

A thunderous, ear-splitting roar of cheers went through the stadium.

The game finished loading. Tianhuan’s five players instantly split up, each making their way to their designated lane.

After the game’s last major update, each team had 90 seconds before the first buffs and minions spawned. During this time, five players could group up and target one specific lane, or they could each stay in their own lane and keep an eye on the enemy team’s movements. The support would put down the team’s first ward, which would increase the team’s visibility of the map; the positioning of this ward was extremely important. If it was placed in the upper half of the jungle, it would help protect the top laner and mid laner. If it was placed in the lower half of the jungle, it could prevent the enemy from ganking their marksman.

Qu Jiang was in the habit of using his first ward to protect Cheng Xing. He placed it in the woods in their own lower jungle.

In the middle lane, Ye Shaoyang established visibility for himself by the left side of the river. This allowed him to protect Chi Shuo’s blue buff, because it would allow him to know right away if the enemy came to steal their blue.

Chi Shuo opened this round by going after their own blue buff.

Yueying didn’t choose to invade Tianhuan’s jungle. Their lineup wasn’t too strong in Level 1 fights, so both teams chose to develop peacefully for now.

Chi Shuo wasn’t playing a support jungler in this game. He needed to swiftly reach Level 6 and learn his ult. So, he didn’t give Ye Shaoyang the first blue buff. He took it for himself.

As for Yueying, their jungler—the Brawler—left the first red buff for their top laner.

In this round, Yueying was the red team. Their red buff spawned in the top half of their jungle, closer to their top lane. After Xu Zhuo took the red buff, he reached Level 2. When he faced off against the Level 1 Qin Yizhu, he very easily pressured Qin Yizhu back under Tianhuan’s tower.

However, Old Qin had chosen a very tanky hero. Xu Zhuo couldn’t kill him.

In the bottom lane, Xie Weiyu played very cautiously. He moved quickly, and he farmed creeps very precisely. He cleared minions while hiding behind his own support. Once the first wave of minions was cleared, the two bottom lane duos started to fight over the crab monster that had spawned by the river.

Cheng Xing used his outstanding range to swiftly beat the crab down to low health. But then, Xie Weiyu suddenly shot a bullet from afar. He’d calculate the crab’s HP perfectly, and with that one shot—he took the kill for himself.

Cheng Xing was silent.

He’d hacked away at that crab for ages, only to have Xie Weiyu steal it away!

Back in the top lane, Qin Yizhu was enduring so much pressure that he couldn’t leave his tower. Xu Zhuo swiftly took down the crab that spawned up there.

And near the middle lane, both junglers coincidentally ran into each other while attacking the river crab there.

The three river crabs that spawned near the start of the game granted a great deal of experience points. Just as Yueying’s mid laner and jungler got the mid lane crab down to critically low health, Ye Shaoyang suddenly used a Q skill to stun the enemy jungler in place. Chi Shuo took a step up and killed off the crab with a smite, before boldly strutting away.

“In the early-game fight for the first three river crabs, Tianhuan took the mid lane one while Yueying took the ones from the top and bottom lanes. Yueying has taken a slight advantage here!”

“However, this gap in resources is as thin as a mosquito’s leg. The real key to gaining an advantage will be the first player kill!”

Chi Shuo moved towards the bottom lane. He swiftly took down their red buff and became the first player to reach Level 6.

S10 games had been underway for over a month already. This was the first time viewers saw Chi Shuo take both buffs at the start of a game!

Fans in the streaming room expressed their deep emotions—

[Captain Chi, shrouded in the glow of one blue and one red buff… it really has been too long since we’ve seen this grand sight!]

[I feel so bad for Captain Chi. It’s been so hard for him to find a chance to get two buffs. He’d better not give his life away!]

[Let’s congratulate Tianhuan-Shuoyue for finally taking two buffs and reclaiming the pride of a jungler~]

A jungler with both a red and a blue buff was very formidable when ganking an opponent. The blue buff could reduce the jungler’s cooldown times, and the red buff could deal damage over time. Chi Shuo swiftly made his way towards the bottom lane and hit the command for his team to group up.

Qu Jiang’s hero for this round, the Forest Envoy, had a soft control skill. He could use vines to slow the enemy. When he saw Chi Shuo circling around from behind, he instantly used his W skill, intending to inflict a slowing effect on the enemy. However…

Xie Weiyu had extremely good instincts. It was like he sensed a threat. He instantly used his cleanse to rid himself of the slowing effect, then retreated to his own tower!

He moved out of the range of Chi Shuo’s control skill. Chi Shuo had no way of immobilizing him.

Xie Weiyu truly was an extremely cautious marksman. It wasn’t easy to kill him.

But Chi Shuo’s main reason for coming down to the bottom lane was to prepare to contest the first minor dragon.

In the blink of an eye, Ye Shaoyang—who had been developing very steadily—also reached Level 6. At the same time, the top laner Xu Zhuo hit Level 6 as well. Just as Ye Shaoyang prepared to go down to the bottom lane to provide assistance, he heard Qin Yizhu’s voice in his ear, calling out a warning.

“Top laner’s gone!”

Ye Shaoyang put up his guard. He instantly started to retreat.

Suddenly, the Storm Goddess—who had been hiding in the woods to Ye Shaoyang’s lower right side—sent out a tornado that blew Ye Shaoyang forward, carrying him straight back to the middle of the river.

Immediately afterwards, Yueying’s jungler—the Brawler—leapt out and got in Ye Shaoyang’s face. He ferociously swung his big cleaver down on Ye Shaoyang’s head to stun him. And the Kung-Fu Master, who’d rushed down from the top lane, launched an attack against the fragile mage as well!

Ye Shaoyang was silent.

Weren’t you all supposed to be targeting the top lane?

What are the three of you coming down to fight the mid lane landlord for?

With this joint attack, the three Yueying players brought Ye Shaoyang down to his last sliver of health in an instant.

Ye Shaoyang decisively used his cleanse to rid himself of the immobilizing effects that had been inflicted upon him. He instantly hit his W skill to return to his tower.

However, Xu Zhuo didn’t let him go. He immediately used his flash, darting under Tianhuan’s defensive tower to hack this bloodied mage to death.

First Blood!

YY-OldXu (Kung-Fu Master) killed Tianhuan-Lieyang (Nightmare)!

All the spectators in the audience were stunned speechless.

The two commentators exchanged a look.

“Geh, three players ganging up on the mid laner? That’s too fierce.”

“Hahaha, is their hatred for Lieyang this strong?”

“Ahem, we just saw Yueying’s mid laner use an ult to displace Lieyang. Then the jungler attacked to stun him. The top laner took a hit from Tianhuan’s defensive tower in order to give chase and deal more damage, and he even used his flash while chasing Lieyang down. Lieyang really is receiving the VIP treatment here.”

Ye Shaoyang was silent.

Well, thank you.

Going 3v1, chasing me under my tower to kill me… good for you.

The instant Ye Shaoyang was attacked, Chi Shuo had started to race up to the middle lane. By the time he arrived at the scene, he could only collect Ye Shaoyang’s corpse. However…

In order to kill Ye Shaoyang, Xu Zhuo had taken quite a lot of damage from Tianhuan’s defensive tower. He’d just gotten the kill, and had yet to retreat.

Thus, when Chi Shuo arrived, Xu Zhuo was only at half-health. Chi Shuo’s eyes flashed. He used an E skill to blink across a great distance, instantaneously appearing behind Xu Zhuo. Immediately afterwards, with one fearsome skill combo, he took down this bloodied top laner.

Tianhuan-Shuoyue (Enchantress) killed YY-OldXu (Kung-Fu Master)!

A raucous round of applause exploded through the stands.

The bullet comments in the livestream went wild—

[Three people charging under their tower to kill Yangyang. Can you guys not be so cruel to an omega?]

[Tianhuan’s mid laner earned that with his incredible reputation!]

[I kind of want to laugh. Lieyang’s reputation as a ‘mid lane demon king’ has definitely already been spread up here from Group B. In this game, Yueying isn’t targeting the top lane. They’re targeting the mid lane!]

[Yueying’s jungler isn’t assisting in the top lane in their first fight. Instead, he’s forming a top/jungle duo to attack the middle lane? Three against one, that’s pretty rough!]

[Yangyang died so miserably. It’s a good thing Captain Chi took revenge for him.]

In the voice chat, Ye Shaoyang praised, “Beautiful!”

The two commentators at the venue were getting excited as well.

“This match is wild right from the start! Yueying took three players to kill Tianhuan’s mid laner, but in the end, Captain Chi came up to provide assistance very quickly. He counter-killed Old Xu. With this, the two teams come out with a one-for-one. Tianhuan hasn’t come out at a loss.”

“I wonder how the two sides plan on dealing with the first minor dragon?”

Before rushing up to the middle lane, Chi Shuo hadn’t initiated a fight against the minor dragon. Yueying’s players had taken a few shots at the dragon, but when they realized Chi Shuo was lurking nearby, they retreated. Yueying’s jungler had yet to reach Level 6, after all.

A moment later, Xu Zhuo and Ye Shaoyang respawned. Ye Shaoyang returned to the middle lane.

Xu Zhuo swiftly pushed down the top lane. After clearing a wave of minions, he disappeared again.

Qin Yizhu instantly reported, “Top laner’s gone!”

Ye Shaoyang was silent.

No way. Again?!

Mr. Captain Xu… have you set your sights on my middle lane?

Ye Shaoyang instantly retreated under his own tower. He used his E skill to scope out the nearby woods. Just as expected, he caught sight of a bit of fabric rustling through the trees. This was the hem of the enemy Kung-Fu Master’s brown robes. The Storm Goddess and the Brawler were probably lurking around nearby as well.

They wanted to ambush Ye Shaoyang again.

Ye Shaoyang laughed and said, “They’re really going to fight me until the end? They won’t take their eyes off my middle lane!”

Today, things were really getting hectic in the middle lane!

Three people had come to gank him once, but that wasn’t enough? They wanted to go again?

Ye Shaoyang could see that a wave of enemy minions was about to reach him. As soon as those minions arrived, the three enemy heroes could split the damage from Tianhuan’s defensive tower between them. They could definitely charge in and kill Ye Shaoyang again.

Chi Shuo instantly called out to his teammates, “Support the middle lane!”

Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing swiftly finished clearing the enemy minions in their own lane. Qin Yizhu finished killing off the minions in the top lane and rushed down to the middle lane as well.

Yueying’s bottom lane duo had come up too.

Inexplicably, a 5v5 had broken out in the middle lane.

The two commentators couldn’t help but laugh.

“There’s a real party in the middle lane today. Everyone is there!”

“One after another… they’re all running over to the mid lane!”

“We originally assumed Yueying would be targeting the top lane in this round. They like to run a top/jungle duo, after all. It would have been typical for them to break through the top lane first. But then, they actually defied all expectations and sent all their forces to suppress Tianhuan’s mid laner!”

“This strategy actually works too. If they force Tianhuan’s mid laner home, then Tianhuan won’t be able to get their mid/jungle duo going!”

The prerequisite for running a powerful mid/jungle duo was that the mid laner had to have the freedom to roam the map, traveling around with the jungler to gank enemies.

But right now, Tianhuan’s mid laner could hardly keep himself alive. How could he gank anyone else?

The best defense was a good offense.

Yueying’s ‘three against one, kill the mid laner at all costs’ strategy had indeed disrupted Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo’s rhythm. They had prevented Ye Shaoyang from leaving the middle lane for a Level 6 ambush.

But Chi Shuo had responded to their threats very quickly.

You want to take the middle lane at all costs? Then we’ll defend the middle lane at all costs.

Chi Shuo decisively ordered, “Attack! We can’t let them take the mid lane outer tower!”

At that moment, both supports had reached Level 6. The cores of the two teams had already reached Level 7.

The minions from both sides clashed in the middle lane. The two marksmen hid out in the distance and started to kill off those minions with their long-range skills. Xu Zhuo ordered the Storm Goddess to initiate the team fight, but in the next instant—he suddenly saw two shadows flash before his eyes!

The Enchantress could select one target and use her skill ‘Bewitch’ to stun the target for one second.

And when the Enchantress successfully ‘possessed’ an enemy, she could instantly summon one of her own teammates to her side. This essentially made her skill ‘Possess’ a movement skill that could move two players at once. And if she got a kill, her ‘Possess’ skill would immediately come off cooldown. She could instantly shoot over to another enemy, or she could escape a fight by possessing a teammate who was far away.

The main strength of the mid/jungle duo of the Enchantress and the Nightmare was that both of these heroes were assassins, and they both had movement skills. They could move swiftly, together!

A dazzling, chaotic display of skills flashed across the big screens. Everyone in the audience saw those two shadows flash across the map, practically disappearing for a second. When they reappeared—

The Enchantress had already possessed YY-Rain.

And she had brought the Nightmare with her.

The jungler had taken the mid laner in to kill the enemy marksman!

Xie Weiyu was extremely alert. The instant he saw that he had been possessed, he used his cleanse to try to run. However, Ye Shaoyang’s Nightmare had a ‘Sleep’ skill which could be used to create a seamless control effect with Chi Shuo’s ‘Possess’ skill—before Xie Weiyu could even use his cleanse, he was put to sleep by Ye Shaoyang!

Chi Shuo instantly used his explosive hand speed to beat the opposing marksman down to low health, working together with Ye Shaoyang’s ult, ‘Nightmare Descends’.

A black, nightmarish fog swiftly surrounded the enemy marksman. The two Tianhuan players linked up to attack, instantly slaying the enemy!

Tianhuan-Lieyang (Nightmare) killed YY-Rain (Machine Gun Huntsman)!

When Xu Zhuo saw his own marksman killed, he naturally wouldn’t sit back and do nothing.

He unleashed his ult and charged in, intending to slaughter these two fragile assassins.

Very quickly, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang were both brought down to low health. Ye Shaoyang suddenly used a W skill to flee into the nearby woods. Chi Shuo instantly used his ‘Possess’ skill to jump onto Ye Shaoyang’s back, fleeing with Ye Shaoyang to Tianhuan’s tower!

Qu Jiang used his healing ult at just that moment, and the two assassins quickly returned to full health.

Xu Zhuo was silent.

Damn it! Those two had been just a drop of HP away from death, but they’d gotten away!

The spectators at the stadium could barely tell what had happened. They only saw Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang suddenly disappear for an instant, before reappearing to kill Xie Weiyu. Then, the two from Tianhuan instantly returned to their tower.

One commentator called out, “Director, let’s get a replay in slow motion!”

A replay of that exchange started to play on the big screens in slow motion. It was only then that everyone realized how strong Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang’s tacit understanding was—their brainwaves must have been perfectly synchronized!

Chi Shuo had first used ‘Possess’ to stun the enemy, and he’d used that skill to drag Ye Shaoyang in with him. Ye Shaoyang seamlessly used his own ‘Sleep’ skill to continue immobilizing the enemy. Then the two of them joined forces to kill the marksman.

After that, Ye Shaoyang quickly used his own movement skill to escape. Chi Shuo possessed him next, and was safely carried back to their tower by Ye Shaoyang.

You carry me in to attack, and I’ll carry you out to retreat.

Each of them only had one movement skill in theory, but with the two of them working so well together, it was like they each had two movement skills.

Their synchronicity was truly unparalleled!

They’d dove in with an incredibly fast movement skill to take a kill, then retreated to safety just as swiftly.

Arriving without warning, leaving without a trace.

This was the truly terrifying thing about a pair of assassins!

Even Xie Weiyu, known in the league for being the hardest marksman to kill, had been taken down in an instant by their disgustingly good teamwork.

And Yueying’s players were subjected to a few headache-inducing voicelines as well.

The Enchantress said, “I’ve come to find you.”

The Nightmare said, “You’re tired. Sleep for a while. Hope you don’t have any nightmares~!”

Xie Weiyu was silent.

Don’t come find me, and I’m not tired. I don’t want to go to sleep!