Jaiden's Curiosity

For the fifth and final game of the day, Yuel and Lars finally reclaimed their rightful positions in Bot. With the two of them joining forces, they'll make sure to keep the enemy's "Triangle of Doom" at bay.

[The teamwork of their triangle is solid, but it's nothing we can't play around.] Yuel reasoned. [As long as we properly maintain our spacing and watch out for ganks, the Triangle won't be able to catch us off-guard.]

That was Yuel's resolution when the game began.

The laning phase started off peacefully in Bot. Both sides focused on clearing minions without poking each other much.

[They're cautious, just like us.] Yuel nodded.

Neither side was too confident about firing the first shot. Doing so involved a lot of risks and both sides understood that fact. At least, for the most part...

"Yo, when are we fighting these dudes?" Lars asked. "They're supposed to be hella good, they even gave Kai some trouble. We gotta fight them, yo!"

"In due time," Yuel said. "If we make any careless moves, they might trap us. These two always cooperate with the Jungler, so overextending is extremely dangerous at all times."

"Yeah, these dudes sure know how to gang on people." Luke nodded. He already had some experience going up against these trained cops. The barricade they erected to entrap him in Mid was top-notch.

"But, no sweat," lars insisted. "If they pull their tricks again, we just gotta fight them off and win! Easy peasy lemon squeezy."

"Sometimes, I wish I knew where you're drawing all that baseless confidence from..."

"From the heart, yo!" Luke gave a thumbs up. "Just gotta believe it!"

"Well, I believe that playing safe is best," Yuel said.

"Haha, ok boomer." Luke laughed. "Seriously tho, what's the master plan?"

"I want to observe them first. After that, I'll decide what's the best way to handle them."

"Okey-dokey. Just make sure to pick a strategy in which I get to shoot a lot."

"I'll do my best."

Meanwhile, the enemy duo was having a very similar discussion.

"Dang, they're not attacking!" Jaiden pouted. "But, I don't wanna be the first to commit."

"Yeah, let's wait for them to make the first move," Rio agreed.

The lane opponents were ex-StormBlitz players, they were even strong enough to play on StormBlitz's second-string last year. Worthy opponents, no doubt. Even the smallest amount of carelessness could lead to devastating consequences. Nevertheless...

"Dang, I so wanna test how good they are!" Jaiden jumped restlessly in his chair.

For him, this was a long-awaited, fateful battle. Finally, he had the opportunity to test his mettle against the two who made it into StormBlitz in his stead.

They were strong, there was no doubt about it. But, how strong? Did Jaiden surpass them after one year of intense training? He had to know! He had to know it now!

"Alright, let's attack them once we get our ults!" Jaiden suggested.

"Are you sure?" Rio made a face. "I don't think we should rush it."

"Welp, my ult is scary as heck in a fight, so they probably won't come at us themselves. So, I say it's only fair that we initiate first."

"Are you sure that's not just an excuse to fight them?

"Maybe it is." Jaiden smiled.

[So easy to read.] Rio sighed. [Well, I understand how he feels. This is like an important exam for him.]

Besides, there was some real logic behind Jaiden's reasoning. Pirate's ultimate was indeed the most dangerous tool currently present in Bot Lane. Gunslinger's ult was also plenty scary in the right hands but, in a 2v2 situation, its efficiency couldn't even begin to compare to Pirate's Kraken.

However, even with the ult advantage, there was no much incentive for a Pirate to initiate an early fight. It was a class that benefited the most from farming slow and steady until it gained enough gold advantage to overpower the competition.

With that said, Gunslinger was also a class that grew much stronger as the game progressed. Fan the Hammer gained more shots the more it leveled up, which turned Gunslinger into a killing machine in the later parts of the game. At least, provided the player had sufficient mechanical skill to nail headshots.

Given the skill level that Gunz has been exhibiting the entire day with other classes, he was probably proficient with Gunslinger too. As such, there was some justification for trying to shut down a Gunslinger early on. But, was it worth the risk?

[There's no correct answer here.] Rio concluded. Even though Jaiden's suggestion was clearly fueled by personal feelings, there was no 100% objective reason to deny it. [Besides, if possible, I'd like to make Jaiden's wish come true.]

That was the least Rio could do here to repay some of his infinite debt toward Jaiden. It was only thanks to Jaiden that Rio was here right now, instead of sitting in some isolated corner and sobbing all alone.

Jaiden was like a hero, always dazzling brightly as he overcame every obstacle on his path. This hero pulled Rio from the darkness that was holding him prisoner, back when he was a loner without any allies.

[I shouldn't be thinking about that right now.] Rio shook his head to dispel the negative thoughts. All of that was in the past. He was done with that depressing reality.

Rio had Jaiden and Nash now, and they were playing together on this grand stage as a team. They were even winning! They struck fear in the hearts of their foes and forced Stratus to take them seriously. It was an amazing achievement!

And, in the center of all this success stood none other than Jaiden. He was the core of their triangle, the glue kept them all together.

Therefore, Rio will keep supporting Jaiden. Even though Jaiden was getting a little emotional about this fight, Rio will provide his support as usual, for such was his role here.

"Alright," Rio said. "I'll provide back up. Go get him."

"Really!?" Jaiden smiled from ear to ear like an excited child. "Thanks! You're the best!"

"B-But, only as long as your attacks keep working." Rio awkwardly averted his eyes. "If things go south, we pull out."

"Sure thing." Jaiden flashed his teeth.

It was time. He'll finally face his fated adversaries. Will he come on top and prove he was actually worthy of getting into StormBlitz all along? Or, will he lose terribly and feel like total trash? It was now or never! [Let's goooooooo!]

During the next minion wave, Jaiden laid in wait for his big opportunity. He closely watched Gunz's movements, to be the first to spot even the faintest hint of that beast lowering its guard. That's when Jaiden will have to strike!

Some might say it was cheap of him, but Jaiden needed any advantage he could get. Finding the right moment to strike was skill too, so it was all fair game.

"I feel like I'm being watched," Lars said. His beastly instincts kicked in. He knew this feeling all too well from experience. When somebody was following his every move, they were usually preparing to jump him.

"Yeah, looks like their Carry is planning something," Yuel said. "Do you want to bait him in?"

"If that means we're getting some action, I'm all for it!" Lars nodded repeatedly. "I'm tired of playing nice. This is the last game, so I say we go hard or go home!"

"We're going home after this game either way."

"Haha, smartypants." Lars laughed. "Anyway, yeah. Let's do get this started! What's the plan?"

"We can use the oldest trick in the book," Yuel said. "When you get to farming the bowmen, go a little deeper than necessary into their territory and show your back to the Pirate. That should suffice as a bait."

"Oh, the 200 IQ back-turned strat! Lovin' it!" Lars ran ahead like an excited puppy before even hearing out the rest of the plan.

"I'll be watching Rengedae's movements, so you can see him on my monitor."

"Yep, figured it gonna be my favorite sekret tech!"

They used a similar tactic on this very stage before, against the Leopards of last year. Since then, Yuel integrated it into their training regime so they could master it.

The idea was simple: Lars will pretend he couldn't see the enemy with his back turned to them, but he'll actually be watching their movements on Yuel's monitor. Some would call it cheating, but there was no official rule against it. Besides, the usefulness of this tactic was extremely limited. It demanded godly mechanical skill like Lars's to pull anything amazing out of this advantage.

And so, the bait was set. Lars fearlessly turned his back to the enemy and focused his shots on the bowmen in front of him. He left himself wide open for attacks from behind.

"Here's my chance!" Jaiden dashed forth. He only needed a couple of steps to get Gunz within firing range. He gonna land that sweet preemptive attack! It'll immediately set him ahead of his opponent. [I got this one in the bag!]

[I have a bad feeling about this...] Rio silently followed Jaiden.

The enemy's defenses were fairly tight until now, so why did Gunz carelessly turn his back all of a sudden? Was it a slip-up? Or, could it be...?

"Got him!" Jaiden fired.

"Too slow, dude!" Lars saw that coming from a mile away... on Yuel's screen! He rolled aside just in time to dodge the bullet, then he immediately fired back. Headshot!

"Wha!?" Jaiden froze in place. His brain failed to catch up with this turn of events.

One moment, he was shooting his foe in the back. The next moment, his shot missed and he ate a counter instead. And, it was a critical hit, a headshot, to boot! "What in the-!?"

That wasn't the end of the bad news. In a matter of seconds, dark clouds covered the clean blue sky. It was Aquamancer's Rainfall!

"Dang, they got me good...!" Jaiden tried to backpedal, but he moved painfully slow. It's like he was stuck in the mud.

Before he could gain enough distance, another bullet pierced through his skull. Another headshot, another critical hit.

"D-Damn! Take that!" Jaiden fired a counter-attacked, but his Pirate was far too sluggish.

Gunz effortlessly sidestepped the slow counter. And, while sidestepping, he fired another bullet! A third headshot, another critical hit!

"H-Haha, you gotta be kidding me..." Jaiden twitched.

Three headshots in a row, just like that. In no time, he lost 30% of his HP. It was insanity! From the moment he initiated, the entire world flipped on its head. Somebody must have tossed him into a bullet hell.

"Retreat!" Rio implored. He cast Godspeed to cancel out the slowdown effect of Rainfall. It also granted Jaiden a boost of Movement Speed, exactly what he needed to flee the scene as quickly as possible.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver-" Jaiden froze mid-sentence. It was too early to celebrate. Just when he thought he was about to get away, water erupted from the ground!

"Whoa!" Jaiden found himself high in the air. It was Aquamancer's Geyser Eruption with its nasty knock-up CC. To make things worse, the eruption was carefully placed to kick Jaiden backward, sending him back into the bullet hell.

BAM! Another gunshot rang before Jaiden even made his landing. Gunz was like a hungry beast, he'd die from starvation if he didn't fire a bullet every other second.

And, to make things worse, the shots were all headshots! Yes, even this fourth shot perfectly landed on Jaiden's head. Even though he was still high in the air when it happened, Gunz sniped him without failure. How was that even possible!?

[I made a huge mistake.] Jaiden gulped. [I thought Gunz won't in top form when he doesn't play Shooter, but his Slinger is a monster too! Holy moly.]

This was all one huge mistake. Jaiden's curiosity led him to open Pandora's Box. A vicious beast was unleashed from within, laying waste to everything in sight!

Jaiden was a careless fool who overstepped his boundaries. He walked into a territory in which he had no power. This duo of Gunz and Chessmaster was on a whole different level compared to everybody else here, they were light-years ahead of his current skill level.

[Run away! Just run away! Quick!] The voice in his head shouted like a broken record. There was nothing he could possibly do against these superior opponents. Absolutely nothing.

As soon as Jaiden reached the ground, he rolled toward allied territory. However, no matter how agile he was, the enemy refused to slow down.

BAM! Another gunshot resounded. It was another clean hit, even though Jaiden was in the middle of a roll. Luckily, this one wasn't a headshot.

[So, even Gunz can miss sometimes, huh.] Jaiden smiled wryly. If only for a moment, Gunz's gunplay showed a hint of human imperfection. There's no doubt that guy was a god among men, but he wasn't invincible. Therefore, Jaiden will be able to get away!

Fortunately, Rio's buff was still in effect. With this buffed Movement Speed, Jaiden gonna get the hell outta here- SPLASH! Water hit Jaiden from the side! It was Aquamancer's Splash.

"Dang, these guys...!" Jaiden grit his teeth. That Splash removed his speed buff, leaving him with nothing. The only option left for him was to keep running normally while an aimbot was breathing down his neck.

BAM! Jaiden attempted to sidestep in response to the gunfire's sound, but he was far too late. HEADSHOT. CRITICAL HIT.

"Damn, I can't..." Jaiden hung his head.

The rain continued to pour a shower ahead of him. The dark clouds painted a bleak picture. There was no hope to be found anywhere in this scenery.

He had only two ways to deal with this obstacle: either cut through the rain and suffer a speed penalty, or take his time to circle around the rain area. Either way, he'll lose a lot of precious time. And, that'll give the enemy more time to- BAM! HEADSHOT! CRITICAL HIT!

He was already down to 35% HP. This felt like a bad joke. How could a single tiny misplay cost him so much life? And, it all happened so quickly, too. He barely even had a chance to blink before over half of his HP vanished without a trace.

Nah, the real joke here was Jaiden. What was he thinking to himself? He knew Gunz and Chessmaster were on a whole different level, especially when they played together. Why did he think he could challenge them? Who the heck did he think he was?

[Yeah, that's right. I'm just some failure who couldn't even get into StormBlitz.] Jaiden bit his lip. The goddess of victory didn't smile on him during that exam, and she didn't smile on him today either. He got carried away just because his team did well in the last two games. It was foolish. [He] was foolish.

[Guess I'll die.] Jaiden didn't see himself getting out of this situation alive. Whether he continues running through the rain or circles around it, the enemy will shoot him down before he gets away.

[Might as well just run straight through it.] Jaiden sighed in defeat. It was over for him either way...