Chapter 135: Psychological Gambit

Losing to a nonprofessional player created an enormous psychological blow.

They spent a great deal of time training every day, constantly studying how to play the game. Gaming had become the foundation of their livelihood—the very thing that put food on their tables.

For nonprofessional players, however, gaming was merely a hobby. Even streamers did not actually spend that much time playing.

They might study the game, but they would not train relentlessly, nor devote every waking moment to it apart from eating and sleeping.

Now that they had lost to a nonprofessional player, it was as though all their efforts had been made to look utterly laughable.

The moment he said this, everyone else fell silent.

“Someone’s talking about our team,” another player suddenly said.

“What are they saying?”

“They’re saying that our team members don’t seem to be anything special after all.”

“Damn it! We only lost one match. Why isn’t anyone talking about all the matches we’ve won?”

Everyone was outraged. As members of the team, they naturally had to stand up for it. They would not allow just anyone to criticize their team.

“No, I’m going to restore our team’s reputation! I’ll sign up right now!” one teammate declared.

“Are you sure you can win if you go up?” another teammate asked.

He fell silent. The player who had just competed was roughly at his level, and since that player had lost, he was not certain he could win either.

They had already lost once. If they lost a second time, the netizens’ claims that their team was nothing special would be proven beyond doubt.

Suddenly, someone’s eyes lit up.

“Right! Bobo, you should go. If it’s you, you’ll definitely win.”

Everyone else turned toward Li Jingbo.

Among all the members of their team, Li Jingbo had the highest level of skill.

In many professional matches, they had only managed to secure victory thanks to his brilliant plays.

Although he was not the team’s shot-caller, he was unquestionably its strongest player. More often than not, he served as the team’s core.

One after another, they urged Li Jingbo to take the match.

“If I sign up now, I probably won’t get a slot,” Li Jingbo said hesitantly.

“It doesn’t matter. Sign up first. We’ll worry about the rest later.”

Persuaded by the others, Li Jingbo agreed. He was angry as well, and after everyone urged him on, he stopped worrying about the consequences.

Li Jingbo registered, and the group watched the livestream together as they waited.

…

Jiang Zheng won two more matches, and both of his opponents had been professional players at least of middling skill.

His terrifying strength was finally beginning to reveal itself.

This frightened away many of those who had originally intended to add Jiang Zheng as a friend.

At this level, even ordinary professionals no longer dared to sign up.

After all, when they could avoid losing, who would willingly put themselves in a position to lose?

The reputation of professional players should not be defended by those at the bottom. That responsibility ought to fall to the more formidable professionals.

As a result, the number of applicants plummeted. Even some who had already added Jiang Zheng as a friend chose to avoid fighting him.

Jiang Zheng was rather helpless. He created rooms and invited those people, but not a single one accepted the challenge.

He had no choice but to search again for someone willing to compete.

At last, he found someone.

That person accepted the challenge. He did not flee or evade the invitation, but responded to Jiang Zheng directly.

At once, the comments in the livestream began flooding in again.

“It’s Li Jingbo! It’s actually Li Jingbo!”

“Holy crap, has he finally run into a top-tier player?”

“I’m suddenly looking forward to this. I wonder how the streamer compares to an elite professional player.”

…

Jiang Zheng glanced at the comments, and his brows lifted slightly.

So this person was a top-tier professional player?

Interesting.

Jiang Zheng felt no fear at all in the face of an elite professional. Sooner or later, he would have to climb to the top, and if he wanted to complete his mission, he would inevitably have to face the very best players.

The timing was a little earlier than he had expected, but that did not matter. Earlier was better.

The two entered the game, and the battle erupted without warning.

Li Jingbo specialized in the jungle position, so he chose a jungle champion.

His strategy was to farm the jungle and clear minion waves. He was highly skilled at jungle farming and cleared camps extremely quickly.

Jiang Zheng also farmed jungle camps and minion waves, but his jungle-clearing speed was far inferior to his opponent’s.

Time passed slowly. Both players’ gold and levels rose at an astonishing rate.

For the first time, Jiang Zheng found himself at a disadvantage. His income was actually falling behind his opponent’s.

So this was the level of a top-tier professional player?

Compared to the professionals he had faced before, Li Jingbo was vastly stronger.

Li Jingbo was in no hurry. He continued farming jungle camps and minion waves. As long as he maintained a decisive economic advantage, he would be able to win.

Naturally, his mechanics were excellent as well. He simply did not want to risk directly contesting Jiang Zheng in terms of execution. Many factors could determine the outcome of a match, and mechanical skill was not everything.

An economic advantage could make up for, and even magnify, differences in mechanics.

Li Jingbo was a professional player. Though he was angry, he remained rational and did not let his emotions take control.

Before long, Li Jingbo decided that the economic gap was large enough. Dragging the game out any further would not be wise.

The further the game progressed, the less significant the advantage created by an economic lead would become.

Once both players had completed their builds, even a gap of one or two hundred thousand gold would provide little meaningful advantage.

Therefore, Li Jingbo had no intention of prolonging the game. When he encountered Jiang Zheng in the jungle, he took the initiative and attacked.

As expected of an elite professional player, Li Jingbo killed Jiang Zheng in their very first clash.

Jiang Zheng gave up first blood. The only consolation was that he had cleared the minion wave before entering the jungle.

Before he respawned, his opponent could not push the tower.

As soon as he revived, Jiang Zheng purchased his equipment and hurried over.

Even though he moved quickly, the tower had already lost nearly half its health.

This time, Jiang Zheng played cautiously beneath the tower. He had just died, widening the economic gap even further, so engaging again would be foolish.

When Jiang Zheng refused to leave, his opponent stopped farming the minion wave as well and simply held it in the middle of the lane.

It was a battle of wits between the two players.

Jiang Zheng had no vision. His ward had been destroyed long ago.

His opponent, by contrast, had vision.

Without vision, Jiang Zheng did not dare rush out to clear the wave. He had no idea whether his opponent was hiding in a nearby bush, waiting to strike the moment he stepped out.

Unable to farm the wave, Jiang Zheng could not gain any income. His opponent, meanwhile, could continue farming the jungle, widening the economic gap even further. At this rate, even the tower could not be defended.

Staying beneath the tower meant certain defeat. Jiang Zheng quickly began considering his options. He put himself in his opponent’s position and imagined what the other player would do.

He did not remain beneath the tower indefinitely. Instead, he walked straight out to collect the minion wave.

The moment he finished farming, he immediately used an ability to escape back beneath the tower.

Just as he reached safety, Li Jingbo appeared.

If Jiang Zheng had not used that ability, or had been even one step slower, he would have been caught.

Li Jingbo had just chosen to wait in Jiang Zheng’s jungle. From a conventional standpoint, leaving the tower to farm was extremely dangerous, while staying beneath the tower meant certain defeat. The best option should have been to farm the jungle.

He had never expected Jiang Zheng to do the exact opposite and head straight for the most dangerous minion wave.