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The opponent chose to play as the Star Maiden Zen, who wasn't often used in the current meta.

— Is Zen a counter?

— Isn't that a coffin dance?

— That champion is dead

Zen was so rarely seen in battle that people called her a dead champion.

‘Who's that?’

Almond hadn't played LIL for long and had no idea about the champion Zen.

‘I’ve never heard about her from Tako.’

Almond had properly learned LIL from Tako, but he had never heard of this champion before. This champion wasn’t a pick worth using in tournaments.

— If he’s actually a master of that champion, it might be unpredictable.

— Wow, Almond looks clueless...

— What if he loses?

Viewers were well aware of Almond's limited knowledge of LIL and quickly realized that he didn't know this champion’s skills.

‘Hmm…’

Almond pondered momentarily, scratching his head while thinking about how to fight against an unknown opponent.

***

He thought of SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarves while looking at the chat.

— Is that a counter??

— Who is that?

— Is it because of the rope?

— How is it a counter?

Viewers also didn't understand the mechanics of this counter pick.

The opponent smirked.

‘Fools. Every skill is a counter. Starting with Meteor Shower.’

Zen's signature magic skill was Meteor Shower. This skill dropped a huge blue meteor after a delay, which was significant in LIL's fast-paced battles.

‘The delay is around 1.5 seconds, but the opponent won't even know I've cast it.’

Casting Meteor Shower on a specific area resulted in a blue meteor falling after 1.5 seconds. Although the delay was quite long, it dealt tremendous damage upon impact. The enemy would also be stunned for two seconds. The stun duration could extend to four seconds as the player leveled up.

It was a challenging skill to land. Then, why would this be considered a counter pick against Almond's Sori? Especially against Almond, who possessed the highest VNS score in the world.

‘It's not about the player. I can land the hit if it’s Sori because of the rope skill.’

He was confident because of the Rope Movement skill. Once Sori set the hook, her movement route became predictable. If the enemy reacted quickly, they could land an attack during the Rope Movement skill.

In fact, a master ranked marksman previously struck Almond with a rifle barrage during his rope movement. This legitimately posed a danger.

However, what if Almond was hit with Meteor Shower, which dealt much more damage and also applied a CC effect? The Rope Movement would then become Sori's last skill.

‘And Meteor Shower has no casting motion, so the rope can’t interrupt it.’

The only variable was if Almond canceled the Rope Movement skill.

It was usually hard to tell whether Zen had cast Meteor Shower unless one was a Zen master. Meteor Shower was designed to be a skill that made it difficult for the enemy to detect the casting.

‘If I can just land Meteor Shower…’

If he could land Meteor Shower, Zen would become a powerful champion because of the following combo.

‘First, the Three Little Stars.’

Zen’s basic attack was called the Three Little Stars. She possessed three little stars that orbited her, which she could throw as basic attacks whenever needed. Each little star had a recharge time of one second, and all three could be thrown at once.

If all three struck the same target, three more little stars would be generated instantly. Landing all these little stars would generate another three little stars. How often these little stars hit would entirely change Zen's damage output, but what if the enemy was stunned for two seconds? Then, he could relentlessly shoot the little stars.

‘This battle is mine to win.’

After simulating his plan, he looked toward the distant enemy turret where Almond could be seen.

‘Now my viewership will increase.’

He always imagined it while watching that guy's stream. Crushing Almond’s overhyped skills, having his skills recognized, and seeing an influx of viewers on his own stream. As these fantasies crossed his mind, minions approached.

[Minions have spawned.]

‘Let's safely farm minions until I learn the Rope Movement skill.’

At level one, Sori didn’t have the Rope Movement skill yet because she invested in elemental arrows first. Only at level two did Sori learn Rope Movement, which gave Zen the early advantage.

At level one, Almond carefully farmed minions.

‘Without Rope Movement, Sori won't have a kill shot. Level one should be uneventful.’

All Almond could do was shoot four arrows since Sori lacked Rope Movement. He wouldn't attack the enemy yet and stuck to the plan.

The minions from both sides arrived and fought each other. Their health slowly chipped away. When their health was almost depleted, Sori's arrow pierced through a minion's head.

Bang!

‘Good.’

SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarves felt relieved to see Almond moving as he anticipated.

‘I will do so as well…’

He approached the minions more cautiously than Almond and threw a little star.

Bang!

A minion fell, granting him gold and experience.

‘I shouldn't throw little stars too often. At least not until I’m level two.’

The little stars grew stronger the longer they orbited around Zen. To take down Almond in one combo, he had to conserve throwing the little stars until just before reaching level two.

What would follow was a one-on-one battle where dying once meant losing. The battle would likely be decided at level two or three.

‘I'll keep Meteor Shower hidden until then.’

He would keep the magic skill Meteor Shower a secret until the perfect opportunity to kill.

While methodically farming minions and planning, SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarves sensed something odd.

‘Huh? Why do my minions keep advancing?’

In LIL's lane battles, minions from both sides rushed to establish a frontline. The frontline’s location was quite important and the number of minions naturally influenced the position of the frontline.

The frontline formed closer to his side, indicating that the opponent had more minions. Conversely, if the frontline was closer to the opponent's side, that would mean he had more minions. Neither situation was definitively good or bad. Both had pros and cons.

The fact that he had more minions at the moment and the frontline was pushing toward the enemy wasn't necessarily bad. That was why he hadn't noticed that he was gradually walking further away from his turret.

‘Just a bit more to level two…’

He was focused on farming minions to reach level two, believing it would definitely give him the advantage.

‘Huh? Why is he not getting the last hit?’

Then, he finally realized.

At some point, Almond had stopped shooting the minions.

‘That's why the frontline was pushed. When did he stop attacking?’

At that moment, Almond drew his bow.

Previously, Almond was simply standing outside of range. However, he suddenly started rushing forward now.

“!”

SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarfs hesitated upon realizing he was being targeted. He needed time to decide in such a sudden situation even though he had less than 0.1 seconds.

As soon as he decided to launch a little star to stop Almond, an arrow struck him.

Bang!

He didn’t even see the arrow leaving the bowstring. It had already pierced his forehead.

‘What’s this...?’

He quickly tried to launch his little stars in return, thinking that Almond would at least hesitate if he could land all three of his attacks. However, he couldn't move.

[Frozen]

He was frozen solid.

‘What? When did he shoot four arrows?’

Only one had hit him, but the elemental arrow had to be the fourth arrow.

‘Shit.’

Then, he realized it. Almond had saved the elemental arrow after shooting three at minions.

‘But he has to wait for the reload now.’

Although SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarfs was flustered, he thought it would be advantageous to retreat and regroup since Sori had to reload.

‘This is a win for me in the trade, right?’

His allied minions fiercely attacked Almond.

‘So naive.’

He always felt Almond's understanding of lane mechanics was lacking due to his short LIL career. This weakness was clearly apparent here.

Almond didn't understand how crucial the number of minions was in lane fights. So many pointless exchanges were going on.

Suddenly, Almond charged forward even more.

[LazySoldier]

[HP: 89%]

Ignoring the barrage from minions that took over ten percent of his health, Almond ran forward with the movement speed buff.

"?"

When Zen finally managed to escape the freeze and started to run back, Almond had already outpaced him and blocked his retreat thanks to the speed buff.

"Ugh..."

Zen began launching his little stars. The first one missed as Almond sidestepped, but he launched another star.

‘You can't dodge this!’

Dodging one was possible, but dodging the second while still dodging the first was difficult. If two stars were launched, one was bound to hit. This was the standard for Zen's exchange strategy, but...

"!?"

The second star also missed.

‘What, what is this?’

He missed again? Only then did he understand why. Sori’s speed buff was quite significant and even the second star could be dodged. Theoretically, it made sense.

‘What is this? What am I supposed to do?’

It felt grossly unfair when he experienced it firsthand. He was certain his attacks would land, but the opponent didn’t get hit.

Was there such a skill gap? This was unbelievable and unacceptable.

He felt frustration boiling inside of him.

‘Then, then…’

Zen wanted to desperately attack with his third little star.

‘Ah.’

He calmed himself down.

‘No, I need to run.’

He could survive this round by running straight to the turret since Almond could only shoot four arrows. He ran toward his turret as fast as he could.

However—

Swish!

Almond deliberately collided with him.

"You... move!"

A collision in LIL had limited effects. The collision would happen initially, but one would pass through afterward.

Thanks to this, Zen could briefly halt and resume running.

Then—

As they brushed shoulders, an arrow reappeared in Almond's quiver.

Almond quickly nocked the arrow and aimed at the target in front of him. This couldn't be dodged.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He shot all four arrows in rapid succession, hitting the enemy in the back of the head.

[SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarfs]

[HP: 32%]

"When did my health drop this much…?"

[Frozen]

Again, the last elemental arrow was a frost arrow and Almond was still right beside him.

Almond whispered to the frozen Zen, "Chikicha."

— LOL.

— HAHAHAHAHAHA.

— That’s right~

— My chickicha is back!!

— Holy shit, I’m shitting in my pants.

— CHIKICHA (means you’re dead).

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