Chapter Sixty: Turning Back at Yue Tower

"Oh?"

Seeing the apology sent by Shang Jie, Lin Hao raised an eyebrow, finding it rather novel.

In the past, it was always him racking his brains to provoke his opponents in every possible way. These in-game interactions were second nature to him—whether it was arrogant maneuvers, flashy apologies, showy recalls, or a barrage of emotes.

He never expected that, in this match, before he’d even started stirring things up, the streamer called Shang Jie on the opposing side had already fired off an apology.

The live chat instantly erupted with laughter.

“Ran into Shang Jie, haha! This is going to be good.”

“Founder of the Apology Playstyle, Shang Jie’s Yuan Ge, and Haozi’s gameplay share quite a few similarities.”

“Come on, Haozi, mock him back!”

But Lin Hao’s heart was calm as still water. In this situation, Yuan Ge had opened with his second skill, clearly preparing for a drawn-out skirmish.

Lin Hao’s priority was to reach level two while minimizing any unnecessary loss of health.

This was where his footwork came into play.

His Ma Chao began to dance in and out, each retreat perfectly timed to the moment Yuan Ge edged forward for a basic attack.

Though Yuan Ge was technically a ranged hero, his attack range was still shorter than a marksman’s. With Ma Chao constantly pulling back, Shang Jie’s Yuan Ge would move forward, trying to get that basic attack in, only for Lin Hao to catch his timing, swiftly turning back to close the gap. Then, with his second skill, Sunset Lone Spear, he struck from above, followed by a quick lunge to retrieve his spear and a sharp jab as he turned away!

Initially, it was Shang Jie trying to whittle down Lin Hao’s health at level one. Now, it had turned into a mutual exchange.

A bit of a loss for him, really.

After all, Yuan Ge’s health bar was paper-thin. A few pokes from Ma Chao and a third of his health was gone, while Ma Chao himself had only lost a quarter.

Shang Jie sent another apology before retreating under his tower to wait for the minion wave.

Apologizing in-game had become second nature for him.

Lin Hao ignored him. If he tried to recall and taunt back right now, he’d inevitably reveal flaws in his positioning or the skirmish, getting himself punished.

Having cleared the backline minions, Lin Hao turned to deal with the last frontline soldier.

Shang Jie waited under his tower for the wave to push in.

Once the wave was cleared, Lin Hao ducked into the nearby brush.

“Normally, at this point, Ma Chao should use this early wave control to go for the river crab,” he explained. “But when laning against Yuan Ge—especially one who knows what he’s doing—if he’s taken skills two and three, his kill potential is higher than ours. There’s a good chance the river crab gets stolen.”

What’s more, if you look closely, Fire Dance is already moving toward the top lane, but our Xi Shi hasn’t signaled anything.

With the wave crashing under the tower, Lin Hao had no more time to commentate. He activated Sprint, turning Ma Chao into a red-tailed whirlwind charging out of the brush, spear in hand, rushing at Yuan Ge with unstoppable momentum!

Now Lin Hao finally had a moment to open the chat and send an apology as well.

Shang Jie’s Yuan Ge was visibly startled.

Diving the tower at level two—this aggressive?

Shang Jie led with his second skill, hitting both Lin Hao and the minion wave.

But unfortunately, his earlier damage had all been spent poking at Ma Chao’s health; both ranged minions were still at full health, and his second skill wasn’t enough to finish them off.

He couldn’t hit level two quickly enough!

No matter, I still have Flash!

Lin Hao’s Ma Chao tanked the skill, then decisively chained his first skill with a basic attack—a quick jab!

The first burst of damage landed!

Yuan Ge’s health plummeted.

Meanwhile, Ma Chao had entered the turret’s range, and the red targeting line locked onto him, raining down the turret’s wrath.

Shang Jie began to retreat, having eaten Ma Chao’s burst but ending up directly beneath his own tower.

This spot was essentially the dead center under the turret; if Ma Chao kept chasing, regardless of whether he killed Yuan Ge, he’d certainly die there himself.

But Lin Hao didn’t hesitate—he kept chasing!

Picking up the spear thrown with his first skill, Lin Hao didn’t pause, jabbing again!

Then, straight away, he dashed behind the turret, toward the enemy’s second tower!

Sunset Lone Spear fell once more, striking Shang Jie!

Lin Hao escaped the turret’s range, but his position was awkward—behind the enemy’s tower.

From here, there was basically no escape; trying to run would mean circling through the red jungle, and that would depend on whether the enemy jungler and mid-laner allowed it.

But this maneuver had only one goal:

To avoid turret damage!

The moment he exited the turret’s range, Lin Hao immediately doubled back, charging in again!

Enough already!

Even in this crisis, Shang Jie managed to send another apology and kept up his operations, basic attacking Ma Chao as soon as he came into range.

Now, because Lin Hao had already left turret range once, and hadn’t dealt damage to Yuan Ge again upon returning, the turret continued to target the minions.

Lin Hao walked right up to Yuan Ge, picked up the spear, and paused.

Another burst incoming!

Shang Jie instantly used Flash!

His health was already critically low—if Lin Hao unleashed another first skill and basic attack combo, Shang Jie would have been killed under tower for sure.

But Lin Hao didn’t strike.

He hadn’t forgotten Shang Jie still had Flash.

His first tower dive had been decisive because he knew Shang Jie’s health was healthy enough that Flash wouldn’t be used lightly.

Now, though, it was a one-shot kill scenario—Shang Jie would have to anticipate and preempt!

Another crucial factor: the turret was still targeting the minions, and Lin Hao, on his second return, had only picked up his spear.

Seeing Shang Jie Flash away, Lin Hao finally smiled.

Now there was no suspense.

First skill, basic attack—a precise jab!

Yuan Ge’s health dropped to a sliver.

Still not dead?

Lin Hao thought he’d reached the kill threshold, but just barely missed it.

No matter—he still had the spear he’d just picked up. Another jab!

“First Blood!”

He’d secured the first kill!

After the kill, Lin Hao released the movement keys with his left hand, calmly began recalling under the enemy turret’s fire, and sent an apology in chat!

So you’re not the only one who can apologize, huh?

That last jab had left him deep under the enemy turret, with no spear in hand—there was no way out.

And Fire Dance had finally appeared from the river. There was no point in running.

In the end, Lin Hao was killed by the turret, giving the kill to Yuan Ge.

A one-for-one trade!