The Kid's Impossible Tech

WHOOSH! A giant sword leaped at Jin, aiming for his torso! But, it failed to reach him.

[That sure gave me a jump.] Jin thought. [Good thing I didn't give her the benefit of the doubt.]

Even though he didn't think a pro would resort to an early RNG battle like this, he nonetheless kept a close watch on every move Ignis made. Thanks to that, he responded to her Dodge Roll in a timely fashion and distanced himself from the danger zone before the sword assaulted him.

And so, Ignis' attack failed. Or, at least, the first part of it did.

"Not too shabby," Ignis said. "But, this is only the beginning!"

She pressed her offense further. As the aggressor, the momentum was on her side. It was her opponent who had to adapt to this sudden burst of aggression!

[Tch. I see she's going all out with this offense.] Jin just barely evaded Ignis' second swing.

It was a close call, a very close one. Even though Jin was fully concentrated on evading the incoming assault, it took everything from him to just barely step out of range.

[The pressure is solid.] Jin thought. [I saw her use early aggression in pro matches before, but it's much more overwhelming in person. The offense is very polished. There's no hesitation in her attacks.]

Ignis swung her blade time and again. Each slash was clean and sharp. This woman knew no fear.

In such a risky early game situation, where both sides were vulnerable to damage, Ignis had no problem throwing her everything into this offense. It was as foolish as it was brave.

No doubt, the woman trained a lot to develop such a fearless attitude. Either that, or she was a natural fool.

Either way, her offense successfully piled pressure on Jin. Mentally, he was exactly where his opponent wanted him to be.

[This is one of the best things ever!] Ignis grinned. [Nobody ever expects a hardcore fight like this early on, so they're never ready. But, not me. I'm always ready. I've learned all these Lv.3 matchups, so I know exactly how far I can go and what I can get away with!]

[I wonder if she's looking down on me.] Jin wondered as he barely stepped out of another attack. [The offense is sharp but it hasn't achieved anything yet.]

Despite the relentless assaults, Ignis hasn't landed a single hit on Jin. He successfully maintained his cool and juked the attacks as they came.

But, no matter how many times Jin proved this offense was futile, Ignis continued throwing attacks his way. It's like she had absolute confidence she had the upper hand here, as if Jin was a random weakling who couldn't do anything but let himself get bullied in lane.

In other words, she was totally looking down on him.

[Do I let her continue?] Jin pondered. [I don't mind being underestimated for now if that eventually gives me an opening.]

Against a pro player, any trickery was fair play. Even exploiting Jin's status, that of "just a kid", was perfectly fine here.

[So, I'll take advantage of the way you underestimate me.] Jin turned around to face the attacker.

He could've simply rolled deeper into his territory to get away, but he didn't. Instead, he stood face to face with the bold assaulter.

"Oh?" Ignis blinked. [What's this? You challenging me, kid? Heh, you're ten years too young to even try that shit!]

Ignis went for another attack. She still had the momentum, so her opponent was the one who had to defend!

Besides, Warrior had the range advantage here. It was a tiny advantage, one that many players weren't even aware of, but it definitely existed.

[I bet the kid has no idea.] Ignis snickered. [C'mon, try counterattacking. I'm waiting.]

She threw all her body weight and swung her giant blade once more, but it whiffed again. This brat was not terrible at spacing, at least. He was evading Ignis's attacks by a hair's breadth.

[You lucky son of a...!] Ignis clicked her tongue. Her prey was right there, right within her reach! But, luck kept saving him time and again. Somehow, the kid was always just barely outside her reach.

[Or, is it really just luck?] Ignis doubted. [Maybe he has been spacing me out this entire time? Nah, no way. A kid can't pull it so cleanly. It gotta be luck.]

Nevertheless, it was peculiar. No matter how many times Ignis swung her blade, none of her attacks hit home. The kid's luck seemed endless.

Or, maybe that was his way of running away? After all, despite Ignis's countless whiffs, the kid hasn't launched a single counterattack at her yet. Maybe he was 100% focused on dodging and nothing else?

Without entertaining Ignis with a proper answer, the kid continued dodging.

[This is getting difficult.] Jin frowned.

He stepped outside the enemy's range in the nick of time yet again, but that alone didn't bring him any sense of satisfaction anymore. Because, once again, he didn't find an opportunity to mount a counterattack.

It's not like Jin wasn't shooting any counterattacks because he didn't want to. On the contrary, he constantly searched for an opportunity for a while now. But, he simply couldn't find one. Despite how savage the enemy's enemy's offense was, it left no obvious openings to exploit.

[I can't attack carelessly since she got the range advantage.] Jin was well-aware of Warrior's minor advantage over Knight in that particular area.

It was a niche piece of knowledge, one that he admittedly forgot about until recently. However, watching some of Ignis's matches reminded him of that obscure fact. The woman really liked abusing it, so much that this small advantage made Warrior seem like a viable pick.

In fact, the reason Ignis was allowing herself to swing her blade so wildly was that very range advantage. It was just half a step of a difference, therefore negligible in most people's eyes. However, in high-level duels, that tiny advantage allowed Ignis to press her offense nonstop without being afraid of retaliation.

On top of that, Ignis's swings were far from "random". Despite how they looked, these were all calculated moves. She always aimed to hit Jin within the very tip of her range, to keep her target out of counterattacking range.

In other words, Ignis was baiting Jin into taking a risk if he wanted to strike back. He had to step in in order to make his sword reach the target. It was extremely dangerous.

[The minions are almost here.] Jin glanced at the mini-map.

The next wave was about to arrive in a couple of seconds. So, should he just ignore Ignis's aggression and retreat for now?

[No, not like this.] Jin shook his head. [I want to land at least one hit on her. This woman is looking down on me right now, so I have to exploit that fact. Besides...]

Jin didn't have time to conclude that thought. Time was ticking.

In a few seconds, the lane will revert to a normal laning phase. Once that happens, the two of them will be forced to disengage and Ignis will walk about triumphantly. Not only will it give her more reason to continue looking down on Jin, but it will also look bad in the eyes of the audience.

[I have to rough her up, at least a little.] Jin waited for Ignis to whiff once again. And this time, he went for a counterattack!

As usual, Ignis didn't leave any easy openings. Therefore, Jin had to step forward to launch his counter.

He invaded Ignis's personal space and swung his blade. It cut through the woman's torso, erasing 12% of her HP. That's how squishy players were against each other in the very early-game, especially when both sides built power.

"Oh?" Ignis exclaimed. "Heh, bold whippersnapper! But, you walked right into my trap!"

Ignis had the boy exactly where she wanted him. The kid overextended in order to reach her, so she'll hit him on the way out before he retreats out of her range. It was a free hit!

[Take that!] Ignis swung her blade at the invader.

Really, what a blunder on the brat's side. The moment the kid stepped into Ignis's personal space, he was doomed to be counterattacked!

Admittedly, the kid did a good job striking Ignis from the very edge of his attack range. But, it was all for naught! With Ignis's longer reach, she'll hit the kid even if he tries to back away after attacking! Or, so she thought.

"What the-!?" Ignis exclaimed. It was impossible. She knew this situation like the back of her hand as she had plenty of Warrior vs. Knight experience. Therefore, it was a FACT that the Knight couldn't possibly recover in time to step out of Ignis' attack range.

And yet, somehow, her big sword whiffed. It missed the Knight by a hair's breadth. It was impossible.

[What the actual fuck!?] Ignis shook her head, trying to wake up from this unrealistic dream. But unfortunately, it was undoubtedly real. Somehow, the brat evaded her guaranteed hit!

[What the heck did he do!?] Ignis couldn't wrap her head around it. [I've tested a billion Warrior vs. Knight interactions like this. It's impossible to step out in time, that's a fact. And, the kid didn't build any Attack Speed either, so it's not like his recovery was supposed to be any faster than usual. Then, what in the bloody hell...?]

Alas, Ignis didn't have much time to stand there and think about it. The next minion wave arrived, so she had to switch gears and focus on that.

She returned to her side of the lane and patiently waited for the two armies to clash. Then, she ventured into enemy territory again to execute her efficient farming routine. Meanwhile, her lane opponent did the same.

[Okay, activate the shield. Now, push.] Ignis executed her routine by instinct. The routine has been beaten into her through years of practice. At this point, the motions were as natural as breathing.

While she was flawlessly clearing the enemy minions, Ignis couldn't help but wonder about the odd exchange she had with the kid earlier. It was an impossible situation. Shit like that only ever happened in online matches with high ping.

But, in an offline setup? Impossible. Straight up impossible.

[But, no matter how much I keep saying "impossible", it definitely happened. I gotta be missing something here.]

The kid didn't buy any early Attack Speed, so his attacks weren't particularly fast. In other words, there was no chance the kid recovered from his attack animation any faster than Ignis expected him to.

In the first place, she even tested counterattacks like this against a Knight with Attack Speed. The Knight player would have to build LOTS of Attack Speed in order to recover in time and step out of the Warrior's counterattack's range. So, Attack Speed definitely wasn't the culprit here.

Another potential culprit was Movement Speed. If the Knight had high Movement Speed, he could've quickly back stepped out of Ignis' range. However, same as with Attack Speed, the Knight would have to buy LOTS of Movement Speed to make that possible. Not to mention, the kid didn't even buy any Movement Speed in the first place.

Then, what else could it be? This was an offline setup like in tournaments, so lag was out of the question.

Did Ignis commit some sort of mistake on her end? Maybe she miscalculated the range or timing in the heat of the moment?

[Nah, no way.] Ignis shook her head. [I was eagerly waiting for that moment. No way I gonna mess it up.]

She swung her blade as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Her reaction speed was one of her stronger points, so she couldn't have messed up something as simple as that.

[I just don't get it.] Ignis frowned. [It's like the kid cheated the system somehow. He doesn't have extra Attack Speed or Movement Speed, yet it feels like he recovered hella fast and stepped out of range instantly. It's almost as if he canceled his basic attack into a backstep... ah.]

Finally, another possibility hit her. It seemed incredibly unlikely at first, so much that she wouldn't even bother considering it against most opponents. Especially, not against kids.

But, this Chinese brat was no normal kid. Actually, he wasn't even Chinese, was he? No, he was Korean. And, there was one advanced maneuver that was associated with Korean players, so much that it even had "Korean" in its name.

[It can't be, right?] Ignis chuckled nervously. [I gotta watch him carefully this time.]

Both players cleared the minions at about the same time. As frustrating as it was to admit, the brat did his job perfectly, landing a last hit on every single minion.

On the other hand, Ignis messed up one of her last hits this round. Thinking about the brat's impossible evade clouded her focus. Especially, the shocking realization she reached was very distracting.

[Damn, I'm thinking too hard about all this shit.] Ignis shook her head. [I just gotta see how he moves, then I'll know for sure.]

And so, with the minions out of the way, Ignis mounted another attack at her opponent!

This time, she didn't even wait for them to meet up in the middle of the lane. Instead, Ignis rolled toward her target and went all-in on the offense!

[So aggressive.] Jin responded with a Dodge Roll of his own. And so, while Ignis was rolling in his direction, he rolled toward his side of the lane.

"Shit!" Ignis ranted. [Nice reaction speed, kid. But, you're not getting away!]

Ignis gave chase as soon as she recovered from the roll. That infuriating brat rolled just far enough to stay out of Ignis' range, but that didn't mean she couldn't chase him down. [I'll smack you real good, just you wait!]

In the end, the situation became a repetition of last time. Ignis chased the brat down while swinging her blade at him, but the cowardly brat constantly stayed out of her reach.

[C'mon, show me that KC, if you even can.] Ignis urged. [Can you do it or not? You can't, can you? Of course you can't. That's the realm of godlike Korean pros. A brat like you can't possibly-]

That's when it happened. Just like last time, the brat methodically waited for Ignis to whiff, then he stepped in to deliver a counterattack. Another chunk of Ignis's HP was gone, but that didn't matter.

[This is where it gets interesting.] Ignis focused 120% of her sight on the Knight, to make sure she didn't miss a single twitch from that kid. Then, she swung her blade in retaliation just like last time.

From this range, with this perfect timing, Ignis was guaranteed to land this hit, unless...!

"No way!" Ignis definitely saw it this time. [I wish my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it actually happened...]

Ignis whiffed again. By the time she started swinging her blade, the Knight was already moving backward! He recovered from his attack almost at the same time Ignis recovered from her earlier whiff. That kind of development was impossible under normal circumstances, unless...

[That was it, right?] Ignis doubted her own knowledge for a moment. She hasn't seen this high-level technique that often, especially not from up close.

Nonetheless, the Knight's movements definitely resembled the moves from Korean pro matches. It was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the infamous... Korean Step Cancel!