Chapter Twenty-Two: As Long as I Can Hold You Back...

Both sides once again focused on farming and managing the map for several waves. With the mid tower taken down, it was difficult to establish vision in the central lane, putting Lin Hao’s team at a slight disadvantage.

Everything now hinged on the upcoming dragon pit team fight.

For the next few waves, Lin Hao could only continue split pushing the top lane. Unfortunately, with his game sense stuck at around the 2000-point level, he often found himself flanked and ambushed by the enemy without realizing it.

+500 happiness from Yifan!
+400 happiness from Li Ji-eun!
...

After being caught out twice in a row, Lin Hao’s side was solidly on the back foot.

Meanwhile, in Yifan’s stream, he was sporting a rarely seen smile. “This Old Master’s positioning is a bit odd, but his awareness seems lacking. These last two plays—because he got picked off at key moments—made it easy for us to secure the Lord,” Yifan said cheerfully to his viewers.

“Stick with me and pressure the tower next. Get us vision in their blue jungle. Zhang Fei, build Fleet Wolf. If Old Master tries to split push, catch him immediately,” Li Ji-eun continued to direct over voice chat.

They’d focused on ganking Old Master early, but that approach had caused issues, keeping Li Ji-eun’s Mirro’s tempo from getting off the ground. Now, however, he was gradually taking control of the game’s pace.

As the momentum shifted in Yifan’s stream, his diehard fans grew excited.
“Li Ji-eun’s macro is so clean—no wonder he’s KING of the Tigers!”
“And that tower dive mid was all thanks to our Yifan!”

Naturally, some viewers were curious about Yifan’s earlier comment. “But Yifan, I’ve watched you play Old Master in ranked. Every time you split push, you just feed—super int. Why do you call it drawing pressure, not inting?”

Yifan quickly noticed this in the chat. “Every split push I make is calculated. For example, if my teammates want to contest the top side dragon, I’ll push deep in bot lane. Old Master is nearly unbeatable in solo fights late game. For the enemy to catch me, they need at least two damage dealers, which gives my team an easier time contesting the top objective.”

“But the way the other team’s Old Master is playing is completely different. He’s pushing meaningless waves.”

While many viewers still didn’t quite get it, it was hard to argue since Yifan’s team was clearly in control.

“Look at this mid lane fight. The enemy actually dares to push out—Lan is diving our Xi Shi.”

“I don’t even need to watch to know—they’re about to collapse!”

In the mid lane, Lin Hao’s team saw the enemy start the dragon and come away battered. Lan darted out from the central brush, skipped over the minion wave, and used her second skill to drag Xi Shi back toward the enemy!

A team fight was about to erupt!

Seeing what was happening in mid, Lin Hao hurriedly cleared top and circled through the red jungle to join the fight.

Yixing landed a second skill, and together with Lan, instantly deleted the half-health Xi Shi!

Sun Shangxiang seized the moment to hit the tower!

The enemy’s mid-tier one finally fell with a crash!

But Lin Hao’s team had already used up most of their skills.

Yifan swung around from the right side of the river, immediately spotting the densely packed fight.

They counter-engaged!

Charlotte raised her rapier, and in the next instant, flew straight into the heart of the enemy team!

A flash plus second ability dropped her right in the middle of the fray!

Lan’s skills were on cooldown, and Charlotte followed up with her ultimate, summoning a pentagram and sending Lan flying!

Then came the Seven Star Slash!

Yifan was always aggressive, and this was a golden opportunity.

But why was Yifan so confident they’d win this fight?

Because Lan had burned her skills on Xi Shi!

Lan’s plan was to eliminate the most annoying midlaner first, then wait for her cooldowns and push with her team to cut through the backline.

But she’d forgotten—she was the only one who could dive Marco Polo!

With all her skills spent on Xi Shi, Marco Polo had the freest possible damage window!

If not now, then when?

So Yifan went in without hesitation!

Li Ji-eun seized the opportunity, firing Mirro’s long-range skill, while simultaneously diving Sun Shangxiang for a burst combo!

Sun Shangxiang reacted quickly; caught by Mirro, she instantly used Purify, spammed her freshly reset first skill, and rolled to safety!

Zhang Fei kept a close eye on his marksman, preemptively ulting to blow Mirro away for a moment!

“What a shame!” Li Ji-eun couldn’t help but pound his desk.

Zhang Fei’s peel was flawless!

Still, even though Li Ji-eun didn’t kill Sun Shangxiang, forcing her out of the fight meant she couldn’t contribute—almost the same as killing her.

Marco Polo and Yao calmly found a safe spot and opened fire!

At the center of the fray, Yixing dropped his ultimate, the massive chessboard engulfing all enemy players.

Unfortunately, the ultimate had little effect—Yifan’s team was already planning to chase down stragglers, and the chessboard did little to stop them.

Lan and Charlotte were locked in a heated duel; Lan was trading blows directly with Charlotte.

Yixing assisted Lan with extra damage, but on the other side, Marco Polo advanced, unloading a full burst of bullets into Lan!

At last, Lin Hao arrived at the scene.

“This fight is lost!” Lin Hao emerged from the red jungle toward the enemy’s inner mid turret, just as a fresh minion wave arrived before him.

He kept an eye on the mid brawl while clearing the wave with three fingers.

“What a clutch wave clear!”

“Even if we get wiped, at least we won’t get finished in one push!”

“Clutch? More like stacking Old Master’s passive. Watch—he’s about to 1v5!”

Lin Hao’s stream was blazing with over 900,000 viewers, the chat a flurry of debate, but he had no time to pay attention.

He wasn’t looking for trouble, but trouble found him.

Mirro, having missed the kill on Sun Shangxiang and still at full health, came hunting for Lin Hao.

“Stall Old Master here. If he ults me, it doesn’t matter; no one up front can threaten Marco. When we win the fight, they’ll come back me up!” Li Ji-eun thought to himself. “Just make sure Old Master can’t ult Marco.”

But what he didn’t know was that as soon as Lin Hao saw Mirro, his eyes lit up.

That killer stride—does she want to duel?

Heh, let’s start with a little taunt!

Without hesitation, Lin Hao tapped the recall button three times on the spot.

Seeing this, Li Ji-eun was exasperated but amused.

He wasn’t angry—just found it funny.

Your team is crumbling, disaster is upon you, and you still have the nerve to recall and taunt me here?

Maybe I can’t beat you in a duel, but if I just stall, once Marco the God of War arrives, you’ll be dead for sure.