Chapter 165
Two swords closed in on Pado from the front and behind.
He couldn't dodge.
Pado watched their trajectories and realized that no matter what, he couldn't avoid both.
Pado blocked the sword from the front.
Thud.
Without mercy, Seojun immediately chained his next attack.
Pado and Seojun's eyes met.
Even if it technically wasn't over until death, still.
It was over.
The moment his ultimate was cut off, he instinctively felt that a comeback had become nearly impossible.
But the jungler, whether not yet willing to give up or just moving on reflex, aimed his bow diagonally at Seojun to protect Pado.
Pii-yung!
If the mark detonated, Pado would definitely die.
One more basic attack would be the same.
A fight already decided.
Seojun, who had glanced sideways, didn't stop his assault and came to finish off Pado.
It seemed he wanted to end it quickly, since taking an arrow would barely chip his health anyway.
But in that moment, Pado could not accept it calmly.
Even if the fight's end was certain, he couldn't go down without putting up a fight until the very last.
It was better to somehow extract more information about the opponent here and prepare for the next encounter.
Those next fights weren't just the upcoming trades, skirmishes, and teamfights—they extended to the next match they would meet in the main tournament.
And.
Clang!
The clone that had been behind Pado had somehow moved to his side.
The clone deflected the arrow flying toward Seojun, and Seojun plunged his sword into Pado's body.
Two shadows crossed in his vision.
'So that's why he didn't care. But fighting entangled like this seems even harder to deal with...'
Pado had a gut feeling.
Perhaps his opponent had been holding back all along.
[Sword God --> Pado]
* * *
The host's roar echoed once again in the commentary room.
"Whoa!! Even crazier!"
- Fr lol
- Just insane
- If he's got at least two brains, wouldn't that be insane?
- Doesn't everyone have two brains, left and right?
- Thought it was cerebrum and cerebellum, two of them. Learning something new.
The number of brains wasn't the point.
The host calmly but rapidly commentated.
"The mid-lane pride battle goes to Seojun in a landslide!"
The fight's victory was expected, but at this level, calling it a landslide was only fitting.
- Kyaa
- So he can multi-play after all
- I'm gonna queue up right now lol
- Is it Gen's turn again?
- Taking on two at once? I can't resist
- Please hold back!
- Yeah, you guys can't do it
- But the way he showed at the end, what happens if the clones coordinate together?
The host read the chat as he spoke.
"Up until just now, what we saw was each fighting one-on-one. But if two bodies move as one like they just did? If they coordinate? I don't think anyone could ever handle that alone."
"But host, I think it was like that originally..."
Who would face that one-on-one?
"True. Even Dokkaebi, who fights one-against-many, avoided it, didn't he?"
"Still, he won that one."
"In that case, this game too..."
"We still don't know!"
Arin naturally reminded everyone that the game wasn't over.
"Indeed. It's not over yet. But based on what we saw, if it goes to a teamfight, it's 6 vs 5—the gap in numbers alone means they'd just win, no?"
- Did his teammate get duplicated? lol lol lol lol
- The Gen forum is going nuts right now
- The Kael forum is going nuts too
- Why Kael? lol lol
In The League's community Riven, the sudden spike in activity on the hero-specific Gen board was a natural outcome.
[Stasis exists!]
[Gen solo queue, just you wait!]
[From now on, every time the skill comes off cooldown, he can turn it into a 2v1—can you resist?]
- Strictly speaking, calling it a good thing as a 2v1 is questionable; this is a playstyle that gives up the skill's advantage of returning.
└Shut up
└He must reach no matter what
└Multitasking is god!
[But isn't it a bit ambiguous?]
==
Deflect arrow, block sword. Deflect arrow, block sword. This isn't doing 1 and 2 simultaneously; it's swapping 1-2-1-2-1-2 incredibly fast.
==
- So can you even do that?
- Didn't you see the end? Attacking while blocking at the same time?
└Coordination exists too...
- Ban this jerk!
- Well, our brains actually do function that way.
[Who's our forum's owner now?]
==
(Roughly a handsome streamer Seojun meme) It's just this bastard lol
==
- 'This bastard.' Try calling him master.
└Why would I do that for you, stfu (original poster)
- The Kael guys dedicated their forum too lol lol lol lol lol
└That's why they shared the secret technique. Shouldn't we get some know-how too?
- What about Eric?
└Those guys barely have anyone on their forum, so nothing happened lol lol lol
└Actual list of posts back then: [Is it fair only you guys get to abuse this overpowered hero and reap the rewards?] [Why aren't you replying?] [Lol lol the ones replying are all viewers from the same stream like me lol lol lol]
As the host was checking these posts in real-time beneath the table, a hand of restraint came down over his phone.
It was Arin.
Taking the hint, the host swallowed his disappointment.
'I didn't get to see why the Kael forum went crazy.'
But seeing the general situation, he had an idea.
Thanks to a comment on the last post he saw.
- Kael fanboys say they're the true pigs of streamer Seojun, what do you think?
└We have to prove we're even bigger pigs.
└How?
└Idk, let's just invade first.
└As a passing demon cultist, I can't hold back either.
'Probably a fight broke out.'
That sort of thing wasn't exactly daily, but it wasn't rare either.
Anyway, one of the posts he'd seen earlier nagged at the host.
He knew the brain couldn't process two tasks simultaneously.
As the post claimed, you could rapidly alternate between tasks 1 and 2, but you couldn't do 1 and 2 at the exact same time.
And initially, Seojun's play seemed to fit that category.
Rather than simultaneous movement, it looked explainable as performing them alternately with astonishing speed and precision.
But that last move.
Seojun moved simultaneously.
That couldn't be explained away.
'Is he a genuine new breed of human?'
Just like with the blunt sword before, it was simply amazing.
* * *
"Ah! Cut down! The support! Mental! He went in way too deep in the lane!"
"Ah, and at the same time, Seojun, who was at base, buys a second rune! The first rune enhanced the duration of Shadow Stealth. What's the second?"
"It's not a spell rune."
There are two types of runes.
The first is a spell rune that teaches a useful spell with a cooldown slightly longer than a normal skill.
The second is a rune that enhances skills.
"This time it's a rune that increases ultimate duration! He's dead serious!"
"So he doesn't need extra shadow swaps or mark bonus damage."
"Seems like he's planning to show it off in a teamfight."
The laning phase ended without any additional mid kills, and Heavy Mental and Rich-Poor Gap picked each other off, navigating the game with no big fight worthy of being called a teamfight.
"Now if we lose one teamfight hard, it could all go south in an instant, right?"
"Yes. We need to be cautious."
With the tier-2 turret destroyed and the mid-to-late game underway, if a teamfight broke out near the base and ended in a crushing defeat, the game could end right there.
* * *
Just as Mental respawned and regrouped with the enemy, and Seojun was clearing a jungle camp below, a disturbance erupted above.
[I'll go secure that vision.]
[Oh! That seems a little deep, be careful...!]
[Ah!]
[For now, it's 4 vs 4!]
A skirmish had broken out.
On the minimap, blue dots marked allies, red dots enemies.
Seojun confirmed the enemies' appearance through the minimap.
'He did go a bit too far into dangerous territory.'
The ambushed player was Alpaca.
He had been too eager securing vision.
Seojun immediately moved to join.
[Sorry! I got caught in an ambush! Leave me...!]
There was no way the other teammates could abandon him.
Not out of some shounen manga camaraderie, but simply because they'd been roaming nearby and the fight had already started, so they were inevitably drawn in.
The problem was Seojun wasn't there.
And it began with Alpaca getting ambushed.
So.
[Pado --> Alpaca]
The ambushed Alpaca died first, and the teammates started retreating to avoid further losses.
[Let's disengage.]
[If this keeps up, more could die. Enemy skills are landing well! Ugh.]
[Ah. Fear used his ult on me so I couldn't escape. He actually burned it on me.]
[Argh! Tali's mark!]
But Ha Yunho died too.
[1898 --> Ha Yunho]
[Pado --> DurumiAnirago]
Rumi died as well.
Only then did Seojun, having just arrived nearby, spot Baramgeom disengaging from the enemy front.
And the enemy team chasing after him.
They were trading pokes and counter-skills while pursuing.
Seojun's options now were first to help Baramgeom create distance, then watch the enemy team go for the strongest jungle monster and wait for an opportunity.
The rift's uninvited guest, Crash.
Affectionately nicknamed "the Worm" by players.
A monster with high health and attack, tough to solo and damaging even with five people attacking.
But high risk, high reward—it grants an excellent buff, and with Seojun's teammates dead, the enemy team would naturally aim for that buff.
Poking from afar to delay them, engaging when they were weakened, or stealing the buff with a last-hit were the choices before Rich-Poor Gap.
- Can he steal the worm?
- Just have to hand over the buff, can't be helped
- Alpaca, let's do better
- But why doesn't the streamer give vision orders or call macro? Doesn't he know map reading?
- Looks like he's deliberately not doing it
- So game-making is beyond other A-rankers? Pado even set his own traps
- Yeah, and he got 2v1'd lol
- Yeah, worm lost and game lost angle?
- With three down, a 5 vs 2, the right play is to just do nothing and wait until respawn lol
Seojun couldn't see the chat.
But he could roughly guess what they were saying.
After all, weren't his viewers always the same?
So.
"Why is it 5 vs 2, everyone."
Seojun whispered softly, so only the viewers could hear.
"And if we win here, we can end it straight away."
- No lol lol lol quit trying to hold a conversation with us lol
- Just hand it over
- Then what is it if not 5 vs 2 lol
"Oh! It's Seojun-nim!"
Just as Baramgeom called out, Seojun checked the enemy's remaining health and used his ultimate on the opponent with the lowest HP.
[Shadow Interception]
His target was the enemy top laner, who was low on health after the fight.
A shadow formed, immediately extending its arm.
But someone on the enemy team had been anticipating this.
And as if waiting for it, a skill flew in swiftly.
[Bomb Man's Lunchbox]
A survival skill of the ADC, where if the lunchbox bag explodes in midair at the right moment, it knocks back nearby heroes.
The flying lunchbox bag detonated. Right next to the clone.
At that instant.
Seojun swapped places with his shadow.
[Shadow Stealth]
Using the skill, leaving a clone in his original spot.
Gen becomes briefly untargetable during the split second of swapping positions with a shadow, and Seojun exploited this.
A trick used by master Gen players who nail the timing.
Facing the enemy top who had turned around, Seojun drove the assassination dagger into his abdomen, and when another attack came flying, this time he swapped with the shadow from a skill instead of the ultimate.
"So that makes it 4 vs 3, right?"
Back in his original spot, Seojun faced the enemies and spoke to his viewers.
- He didn't die?
- Enemy top is super low, nice lol lol
- It's not 3 because of the clone, streamer lol
- Tried something but failed
- There's a mark on him though, damn
It all happened in an instant.
The enemy team now had to make a choice.
If they killed the clone from the skill standing in their midst, the mark would detonate and the enemy top would die.
If they left it alone to buy time for the top to recover HP, Seojun would wreak havoc using that shadow.
The textbook Gen play.
The enemy's decision was swift.
Pado moved.
Seojun calmly gave up the clone.
Boom!
The mark detonated, taking the top's last sliver of health.
[Sword God --> Kardon]
This had been the plan from the start.
Even for Seojun, handling three clones was too much. Having an extra wasn't bad, but trading it to eliminate an opponent was worth it.
"Now, Baramgeom-nim. The numbers are roughly even, so let's fight."
Seojun smiled and placed a hand on Baramgeom's shoulder via the ultimate clone beside him.
"Numbers? Ah..."
Baramgeom looked left and right, then grinned as well.
"That's right."
- Kyaa
- I acknowledge the assassin
- Fittingly, only Baramgeom and the streamer are left, two people? Feels winnable
- What nonsense, they can't win lol the enemy still has four lol you crazy fanboys
- And it's not even three clones, right?
- Wanna bet?
Pado let out a relieved sigh.
"Phew! For now, we've reduced one enemy clone! It's 4 vs 3, not 4 vs 4, so let's fight!"
Three was too much anyway, so it didn't matter.