Chapter 20: He must have calculated the exact extent of Ming Kai’s psychological trauma!

Before Jiang Ming could finish his sentence, the live stream was instantly flooded with gift effects. The screens were blanketed with "Excavators" and "Health Potions" from wealthy viewers, while ordinary players chimed in with "Flowers" and "Applause" in the chat.

"The so-called Crescent Instant-Kill Technique!" Seeing that the gifts were sufficient, Jiang Ming tapped his keyboard lightly. On screen, his Zed threw a shuriken in sync with his movements. He coughed and said, "In reality, it's just an application of Zed's skill mechanics, and as for his ultimate..."

He paused deliberately for half a second, and the stream suddenly cut to the skill description page. "For those in the stream who have the chance, I suggest taking a look at Zed's skill descriptions—Zed's Living Shadow mimics his abilities."

"Everyone usually uses W in combination with the main body for double Q or double E damage, but I wonder if you've noticed a detail: Zed's ultimate also provides a shadow."

[!!!]

[Damn, he's right, it's in the description below.]

[Holy crap! Three shadows using skills at the same time?]

[Case closed! That last play where he placed his W on the side in advance—the moment the ultimate shadow landed, all three E's and all three Q's hit!]

[So, Gragas took three full sets of skills in an instant. Looking at it that way, a full-health one-shot isn't actually that hard to accept.]

[Designer, look at this guy! Can we even play if someone can one-shot at full health without a nerf?]

[Zed is so strong, let's nerf Irelia instead.]

Watching the scrolling chat, a smile tugged at the corner of Jiang Ming's mouth.

S3 players might have had a shallow understanding of numerical calculations, but this passion for researching strategies was far more endearing than the "keyboard warriors" of later generations who did nothing but blame their teammates.

Having returned to this primitive era, one of the opportunities in the League of Legends game was his intimate familiarity with the playstyles of every single hero.

After all, this was a golden age where a streamer could make a fortune just by teaching how to perform Fiora's "five hits in one second" or Riven's "fast combo."

"Mid lane, you're done feeding the enemy, right? If you can't beat him, can't you build a Zhonya's?" The bot lane Caitlyn suddenly started flaming in the public chat; the sound of keyboard clacking almost pierced through the voice comms.

Early on, their jungler, Lee Sin, had focused on Gragas without gaining an advantage, and they were already unhappy because Caitlyn and Janna had been targeted by the enemy Jarvan IV several times. Now, seeing Gragas, who had consumed team resources, still handing out free kills to Zed, the Caitlyn player just exploded.

To be fair, while the game sense of players in this "barbaric" era of esports was poor, their combat power when it came to typing and flaming was second to none.

The players from the server "Zaun" were truly terrifying.

"I..."

Cool-headed (Weixiao) stared at his grey screen, his fingers trembling slightly over the enter key. What could he say? Should he admit that he had been slaughtered like a pig by the opponent's "superior meta understanding"?

"Trash hero!" He finally slammed his mouse down. "Did the designer get water in his brain? Leaving a hero who can one-shot at full health without a nerf—are they waiting for the New Year?"

Frustrated and unable to vent, with no hope of turning the tables for the time being, the man blamed everything on the hero design.

Jiang Ming was unaware of the Gragas player's thoughts. He was still busy on his path to victory, creating spectacle through various high-level plays.

At nine minutes and fifteen seconds, Zed's ultimate icon lit up again.

Same recipe, same flavor. After securing lane priority in mid and spreading vision into the jungle, Jiang Ming used the window of time when Clearlove's Lee Sin was ganking top to bring his bodyguard, Jarvan IV, to the bot lane.

Come to think of it, the Jarvan player was quite sensible. Knowing that his mid-laner was a powerhouse, he was incredibly compliant, actively buying wards and eventually even building a Sightstone.

A four-man dive against two, with the enemy jungler top and Gragas acting like a spirit bound to the mid lane.

The Caitlyn player watched the two burly men appear behind them, feeling immense pain in his heart.

"I'm tired, just end it. I don't want to struggle anymore."

Unlike the Caitlyn player who had given up, Janna, the support, wanted to put up a fight against the purple side's tower dive. She predicted the movement with her Q, releasing it just as Jarvan IV went in with his EQ combo.

*Whoosh!*

*Knock-up!*

"If we can CC them, we still have a chance." The Janna player's eyes glinted with expectation. He was holding his ultimate; if the Q interrupted Jarvan and Zed's dash, then with the follow-up damage, Exhaust, and the knockback from his ult, there was hope to save himself and the AD carry.

"Damn, you useless scrub, giving up already?"

Cursing his AD, the Janna player focused intently. He was overjoyed when he saw the Q knock up Jarvan.

However, the Master of Shadows reacted with blinding speed, using Death Mark to dodge it.

"Don't look down on me!"

Exhaust was applied first to prevent the AD from dropping instantly—he had seen the tragic fate of the mid-lane Gragas and couldn't afford a single gamble.

Next came the ultimate knockback!

In front of the bot lane tower, the Jarvan player looked just like a straight man in a crosstalk routine: first knocked up by the Q, then trapped by his own ultimate, only to be blown out of it by the Janna's ult. The Janna had landed the full duration of both his Q and R controls.

The straight man's job is to set up the punchline, but whose joke was Jarvan's clumsy performance setting up?

Clearly, the answer was about to reveal itself to everyone in the bot lane.

It must be said that the Janna player’s protection was on point, applying every restraint skill to Jiang Ming and the jungler Jarvan in an extreme amount of time.

"However, the Master of Shadows in S3—his terror goes far beyond this."

"Embrace the shadows, or die in darkness."

Jiang Ming’s Zed seemed to foresee the future; he returned to his starting point with the second activation of his ultimate, then re-entered the battlefield with a W shadow just as the Exhaust faded.

Off to the side, Weixiao and Fzzf (Juanmao) did not live down their reputation as the world's number one bot lane.

Weixiao’s Ezreal and Fzzf’s Sona launched their attack in unison.

Amidst a flash of gold, Sona’s ultimate, Crescendo, locked down the two enemies. Ezreal’s Mystic Shot pierced precisely through the Janna’s body—while Zed’s Razor Shuriken acted like a reaper’s scythe, harvesting the final sliver of health.

*Double Kill!*

*Unstoppable!*

Five kills in the bag; the "Unstoppable" system voice rang out across Summoner's Rift.

Compared to the gasps of the audience outside the stream, the shock felt by his teammates, Weixiao and Fzzf, was no less intense.

His laning strength was unfathomable, his personal awareness was on point, and there wasn't a single flaw in his support or coordination.

"The vision!"

Fzzf stared at his black-and-white screen, suddenly marking the river vision. "This guy's vision placement is something else. It completely blocked off Clearlove's gank path."

"Yeah," Weixiao’s voice was a bit dry. "From the ward he placed at F4 at the start, to having Zac bait them before every roam... This guy even calculated the area of Clearlove's psychological trauma."

He wasn't just playing the game by himself; he was truly orchestrating all five players on his team.

Just like this four-man dive, why was it so easy?

One minute ago, in the blue side's chat:

(JM: Zac, bait them a bit. Draw Lee Sin to the top lane. Your passive isn't up yet, so he'll consider opening up the game from the top lane.)

Yes, this person had actually figured out Clearlove's mindset for ganking top. He had the top laner intentionally show a weakness to lure the jungler away, then took Jarvan to dive the bot lane himself.