Chapter 25 (3)
With an optimistic outlook, Tong Yao waited for the day of the skirmish against TAT– —
That day, everyone entered the room assigned by TAT. Tong Yao saw the id on the other side “tat, tei” and nervously swallowed……
If was just as Lu Sicheng had predicted, the other team locked in as Leblanc.
When it was time for Tong Yao to choose her champion, she hesitated for a while before finally clicking on Azir, the champion she had heard about in the story between Niu god and Ah Tai– –Before obtaining their ultimates at level 6, Azir and Leblanc were at comparable strength. After level 6, Azir might suffer a period of weakness but at the end of the game, when Leblanc could cause less damage, Azir could take control of the game.
Since she played Leblanc well, Tong Yao fully understood the strengths and weaknesses of Leblanc. As of now, she didn’t feel that anyone could defeat her with the champion she was the most familiar with.
Until after the match began, she discovered that the reality was not exactly like what she had thought.
Tong Yao knew all the angles of attack that Leblanc could take. However, the opponent’s reaction time was too fast. It wasn’t something she could overcome simply because she understood all the theory……In addition, Tong Yao, who was an expert at playing aggressive champions, but had yet to master Azir. Everytime she rushed to exchange abilities, she missed last hitting a few minions……
After several exchanges, Tong Yao gradually fell behind.
She opened the score screen to check her opponent’s creep score and figured that the opponent would soon reach level 6 and acquire his ultimate. It was quite possible her opponent could strike her down with just his ultimate. Tong Yao began consciously retreating, giving up her aggressive tactics and focus on farming in preparation for the team fights in the later part of the game– –Yet, the opponent didn’t give her any chance to do so. As if her opponent knew what she was thinking, the enemy’s Jungler came just as she was trying to move back!
Tong Yao’s heart skipped a bit; though she still had more than half of her health, she didn’t want to contribute a kill to the other team. She used Flash to distance herself from them. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed that the enemy’s Mid followed after her with his W ability. The Ethereal Chains tightly chained her followed by a barrage of attacks, her health began to fall rapidly– —
Tong Yao retreated.
The enemy wouldn’t let go. After being struck by another ability, Tong Yao’s screen turned black; she was the enemy’s first kill of the match.
“Go farm if you can’t beat him.” Lu Sicheng lightly spoke.
Tong Yao nodded and checked the stats again. The match had only gone on for 7 minutes, she had 25 less creep score than the other Mid. In addition, he had gotten the first blood award of 400 gold by killing her just now. The opponent’s champion was at its strongest point in the game, Tong Yao realized that she could only bear with the pressure and farm……
But sometimes, things don’t go as planned– –After the first kill, no matter how hard she tried to lay low and endure the pressure and just farm– –When she was back in lane, she would still face a frenzied attack from the opponent.
Tong Yao died five more times.
When it was time for a team fight, Tong Yao was as weak as tissue paper, anyone could poke her and she’d die– –She became the weakest link of the team, the reason the team couldn’t turn the tables around– –The rest of the match became torture for her. She kept looking at the clock on the upper right hand corner, praying the match would be over soon……
They lost the skirmish, of course.
Because the Mid rapidly killed 85 minions just after the 20 minute mark, the creep score of the opponent was almost double of Tong Yao’s, his level was consistently 2 to 3 levels higher than hers– —
Watching the Nexus crumble little by little, Tong Yao picked up the water cup in front of her and slowly sipped– –The cold water flowed pass her throat, but her head was still hazy……
She noticed that there were some ripples on the surface of the water in the cup.
Her hand was shaking.
Tong Yao put down the cup and became quiet. Her teammates worriedly turned to look at her. She pulled one side of her hair to the back of her ear and smiled, “I’m sorry. I played a lousy mid. You guys were at least on par with your opponents.”
“It’s just a skirmish, no need to be sorry. It’s normal to win some and lose others– –Besides, the other side’s Mid is really fierce. It’ll be better in the future.” Little Fatty comforted her. Old Cat and Old K also chimed in.
Lu Sicheng furrowed his eyebrows, as if he wanted to say something.
Tong Yao turned to smile at him, “I’m alright. See, I told you I’ll be alright– –We lost this time, then it’ll be alright when we win next time. I’m not that fragile as you all thought, really……”
She seemed to feel that she had spoken too much and stopped.
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