A Fearless Professional

[S-So fast!] Ben gulped as he observed his lane opponent. [The wave has just arrived, but he's already all the way over here!]

Apprentece didn't waste any time getting around to Ben's backline. He even spent his Dodge Roll to travel faster.

Before Ben's bowmen even had the chance to nock their arrows, the Orc delivered the first strike! BAM! Apprentece swung a giant sledgehammer, sweeping through the entire backline!

This one hit deleted nearly half of the bowmen's HP, but it wasn't even the full extent of Orc's power. After the initial hit of the Sledgehammer skill, Apprentece's next hammer swing was a basic attack. It deleted the bowmen's remaining HP in one fell swoop.

[Every time I see Orc or DK pull things like this, it always feels so absurd...] Ben shuddered.

This was the opening of the game, the stage at which all players were supposed to be at their weakest. And yet, Apprentece unleashed such destructive damage as if it was nothing.

Classes like that shattered the game's conventions, and Appretnece made sure to drive this point home. After he erased the backline, he immediately went after the frontline.

"Huh?" Ben blinked. [Um, this is weird… right?]

There was supposed to be a rather lengthy recovery animation for that sledgehammer basic attack. Yet, Apprentece immediately stepped back after swinging.

[Did I see things wrong?] Ben blinked repeatedly. [He swung the hammer and then backstepped almost immediately. How is that even possible? Oh, maybe it was KC?]

Honesty, Ben had very partial knowledge about the Korean Step Cancel. He came across the term multiple times today, both in regard to AbsoluteWinner and Apprentece, but otherwise, Ben had barely ever seen it in action until now.

[So, that's what it allows you to do.] Ben nodded in understanding. [It's just a sidestep that happens in the middle of the recovery animation. Honestly, it looks a little eerie.]

The basic attack's recovery animation was cut prematurely, making it look as if the Orc short-circuited in the middle of the motion. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a bug that broke immersion. Yet, for some reason, the devs insisted on keeping this "feature".

[Well, it's not my place to judge. I'm sure the devs know better.] Ben shrugged. This was not the time to ponder the history of KC. [I have to focus on farming.]

Ben threw a big seed at one of the enemy swordsmen. This was Druid's basic attack animation, which seemed harmless at first glance… until the oversized seed came down crashing on the victim's head.

Unlike his opponent, Ben didn't take any risks here. He didn't try to optimize his farming by striking the enemy backline or anything like that.

For this difficult matchup, Ben was content with just shooting at the swordsmen. The seeds he tossed struck home, each erasing 5% of a swordsman's HP.

Yes, Ben's basic attacks only deleted 5% HP at a time. Meanwhile, his opponent's attacks? BAM! 60% deleted! BAM! The entire frontline was gone!

Not only did Orc's sledgehammer deliver insane amounts of damage, but it hit in an AoE to boot. Every swing blasted through Ben's entire frontline, deleting tons of HP in one fell swoop.

Ben didn't even have the opportunity to do much here. After firing three basic attacks, he was forced to retreat against the enemy's incoming forces.

[I'm going to lose so much farm from this...] Ben sighed as he fled from the scene. He had no choice but to return to his tower and confront the incoming minions there.

Unfortunately, the enemy minions weren't the only ones coming his way. The enemy captain, the Orc, was also on his way.

[Is he planning to push?] Ben gulped. [There's no way, right? That's way too risky to do on the first wave. A high-level player would never do that… right?]

Alas, it happened. Apprentece followed his minions all the way through, entering Ben's tower area. The guy even switched his weapon from a sledgehammer to a scourge along the way, so he could hit Ben's tower from mid-range.

[T-This can't be happening!] Ben shuddered. [This should count as a huge overextension! I have to punish him for something like this! But, I feel like I just... can't.]

Ben was petrified, unable to counter this bold yet brilliant play. The situation looked as if Apprentece was taking an unimaginable risk, yet in practice, the guy's position was actually rather safe.

What were Ben's options here, really? He could try shooting basic attacks at Apprentece, but that'll barely do any damage. Instead, all it'll achieve is attracting the attention of Appretnece's minions, which was the last thing Ben wanted to deal with right now.

Of course, another attractive option was to use Nature's Grasp in order to drag Apprentece deeper into the tower area. That sounded like an awesome play, but it'll probably achieve very little in this particular situation. Ben's Turret was currently busy firing bolts at the invading minions, so it won't bother targeting Appretnece even if Ben pulls that criminal closer.

[Then, what can I even do here???] Ben trembled as he watched the tower's HP plummet at an alarming rate,

For now, Ben's only response to this assault was to continue firing basic attacks at the minions. But, this was weak counterplay that barely slowed down the enemy's attacks.

"You should hit him," Yuel advised. "Half of his minions are gone by now, so you can get their attention and soak their damage with your shield."

"R-Right!" Ben nodded. This was a tactic he knew, yet his mind blanked out for a moment there. His brain struggled to process the absurdity in front of him.

"Also," Yuel added. "Once there's only one minion left, pull the Orc in if he doesn't retreat by then."

"Okay!" Ben nodded and took a deep breath. By focusing on Yuel's clear orders, it was much easier to deal with the unfolding situation. Ben knew exactly what he had to do, so he went straight for it!

First, he took a few steps forward in order to get the Apprentece within the reach of his basic attacks. Annoyingly, Apprentece mimicked Ben's movements and backstepped away, forcing Ben to walk farther than expected.

Nonetheless, in the end, Ben got the target within attack range and threw a large seed at him. It struck against the Orc's shoulder, triggering all the enemy minions in the vicinity.

To not lose too much HP to the minions' wrath, Ben activated Gaia's Protection, granting himself a shield. It had a decent HP for soaking early-game damage, so it successfully tanked all incoming attacks without Ben losing any HP.

The bowmen fired arrows at him and only hit his shield, while he fired seeds at them and delivered actual damage. Ben ignored the swordsmen because they were tankier, so it was best to leave them to the tower.

Shortly, all swordsmen fell and only one bowman remained.

[And yet, Apprentece is still here.] Ben glanced at the overextending Orc. The guy insisted on remaining within the tower's area and lashed at Ben's tower with the scourge. It seemed like he had no intention of retreating just yet even though he was down to one minion.

[This is rude.] Ben thought. [At first, I thought this push was brilliant. But now, I'm starting to think maybe he's just underestimating me. I'll show him!]

Ben stepped forward and aimed his Nature's Grasp. It was a very narrow skillshot, so it had to be aimed perfectly in order to grab the target.

Fortunately, as an avid Druid player, Ben was used to the process. He had a lot of experience playing Druid as a Support in the past, and he played it plenty in Top during club practice as well. Therefore, his aim with Nature's Grasp was quite decent despite the mechanical challenges of the skill.

[Okay, locked on. Here goes!] Ben shot branches toward the overextending target! He was going to drag that overconfident player deep into the tower area!

But, that didn't come to pass. As soon as Ben unleashed the branches, the enemy rolled out of the area. The response was instantaneous as if Apprentece had been waiting for this one moment his entire life.

[Oh, I see. He was confident he'd be able to roll away in time.] Ben nodded. [I guess it proves that he really doesn't think I'm anywhere near his skill level. And, so far, he's kinda correct…]

No matter how cocky Apprentece's push seemed, all of his plays had been perfectly on point. Disrespect or otherwise, Apprentece successfully got away with everything he believed he'd get away with.

[This is a little frustrating. He walked all over me like I was nothing.] Ben chewed his lip. [But, I can't even call him out on anything. He knew exactly what he was doing. It's me who wasn't good enough...]

After just one exchange against the Korean prodigy, Ben felt like a hapless rabbit challenging a vicious lion…