Chapter Seventy-One: An Exceptional Support

"Kill him!"

Pei Jinhu’s eyes blazed with murderous intent as he unleashed his second skill, leaping out from the bushes.

He aimed to intercept Shen Mengxi right at the exit between the red jungle and the middle lane, blocking his path to the river. If Shen Mengxi managed to safely pass through the narrow corridor above the river, he could simply flash into the tower. Even with the red buff, the tiger would find it hard to kill him under those circumstances.

But Shen Mengxi reacted with incredible speed. He was already in the midst of his second skill, and now, without hesitation, he flashed away.

In truth, Shen Mengxi had been holding onto his flash, ready to use it at any moment. He had sensed someone lurking in the grass, though he suspected it might be Yuange. Xishi had already shown up in the bottom lane, and the tiger had returned to the blue jungle, which surely hadn’t finished respawning yet.

He hadn't anticipated that Pei Jinhu, with his ultimate available from the start, wasn’t so reliant on reaching level four. In Han Han’s view, rhythm trumped everything—the small jungle camps could be ignored if catching Shen Mengxi meant a huge gain.

Now, with Shen Mengxi activating his second skill and flashing away, he instantly escaped Pei Jinhu’s striking range.

Han Han’s Pei Jinhu had to advance two more steps to bite Shen Mengxi with his first skill, but by then Shen Mengxi would have already reached the safety of the tower.

A cold glint flashed in Lin Hao’s eyes as he decisively used his flash. Yuange’s position closed in further on Jiang Ziya, and Lin Hao instantly learned his first skill, summoning his puppet.

The puppet’s path nearly struck Shen Mengxi.

In the next moment, Lin Hao quickly chained his second and first skills, swapping positions at lightning speed, then unleashed his second skill straight at Shen Mengxi.

At close range, all four darts hit their mark.

By now, Han Han had given up on killing Shen Mengxi, switching to human form, slowing him with the first skill, and starting basic attacks just to deal some damage.

Lin Hao’s flash-swap into second skill was a delightful surprise.

With Pei Jinhu’s first skill slowing him and a follow-up basic attack, Shen Mengxi was finished.

"First blood!"

The first kill erupted.

"Nice, so decisive!"

Han Han had to admit, Yuange was pivotal in landing the kill on Shen Mengxi.

The game continued. After Lin Hao helped Xishi clear the second wave of minions, he circled the blue jungle alone, heading for the top lane.

Originally, he intended to check if he could assist the marksman up top.

But the player known as Baggie was doing brilliantly, single-handedly pressuring the enemy Donghuang Taiyi and Baili Shouyue, forcing both the support and marksman to retreat, barely clinging to life as they recalled to base.

The top lane was secure, with no pressure on the minion wave. The only uncertainty was whether the enemy jungler would come to gank.

Before Lin Hao could remind him, Xinran had already marked Baggie on the map.

Lin Hao returned to mid lane, joining Xinran for the third wave.

After clearing it, he vanished from enemy vision once more.

"The advantage of support Yuange is that he doesn't need to worry about minion waves," Lin Hao mused aloud. "Similar to Lanling Wang, he can drive the rhythm early on."

"Watch me this time—after clearing the wave, I don’t show myself in vision, and head straight to bot to ambush the Elder Master. He’ll never see it coming."

Arriving in the bottom lane, Lin Hao didn't rush into the grass. He waited for Ma Chao and Elder Master to finish their skirmish, then slipped into the bush unnoticed.

"Yifan, next wave Elder Master will push. Just fight him directly. I’ll control him soon—he won’t be able to move."

Lin Hao spoke to Yifan in the bottom lane.

"I feel like they’re sending someone. We have no vision," Yifan replied, uncertain. Playing Ma Chao was different from playing Elder Master; with Ma Chao, development was crucial, and getting caught once could mean spending several times longer to make up for lost ground.

"They won't come so soon," Lin Hao assured him, knowing the enemy’s route. Their vision was mostly focused on the upper jungle. Yao started at blue, so if he wanted to rotate mid then come bot, he’d either show in mid or take a slower path through the jungle. As for Shen Mengxi, he was last seen heading up.

All this information processed instantly in Lin Hao’s mind.

Moments later, Elder Master wobbled onto the minion wave, starting basic attacks.

Had Lin Hao gone to assist the marksman, or provided vision in mid, Elder Master would have retained priority in clearing bot minions, allowing him to claim more neutral resources afterwards.

Lin Hao emerged from the bush, timing his appearance to Elder Master’s vision, and unleashed his puppet.

The puppet's endpoint knocked Elder Master into the air!

Quickly tapping his third skill twice, the puppet immediately bound Elder Master.

Without resistance boots, Elder Master was locked in place, unable to move, barely able to activate his second skill.

Yifan’s eyes lit up, activating sprint and pouring all his damage into Elder Master.

Lin Hao executed the standard combo: 1433223.

With Yuange and Ma Chao’s full damage output, Elder Master, unable to activate his second skill, couldn’t withstand the assault and promptly lost his life.

"Nice, amazing ambush!" Yifan exclaimed. He relished this solo catch; with it, Ma Chao’s development pulled ahead of Elder Master, promising hardship for his opponent moving forward.

"Elder Master's rage +400."

Lin Hao received the system notification.

Ah, this round must be a pickup match. Having tasted the doubled rage bonus from angering streamers, collecting rage from random players felt less satisfying.

Lin Hao couldn’t even be bothered to recall and taunt—he relied solely on a stealthy ambush to gain Elder Master’s rage points.

His execution mattered less this time; awareness was key.

Knowing Elder Master would clear the minion wave, knowing the enemy wouldn’t send someone to gank.

Timing vision perfectly, knocking Elder Master airborne with the first skill, then finishing with a full combo!

No flashy moves, just pure awareness.

In Lin Hao’s streaming room:

"The opponents aren’t great, Elder Master looks truly clueless."

"The most straightforward combos are often the deadliest."

"You guys don’t get it—it’s all about awareness, awareness!"

Lin Hao glanced at the barrage of comments and laughed. "Exactly! It’s all about awareness. Many people don’t know how to start the rhythm as a mid or support; they just chase wherever enemy and allied vision overlap."

"But doing that only lets the enemy lead you by the nose."

"A good mid laner or support must have their own plan. For example, this time I came bot to ambush Shouyue. Staying in mid wouldn’t help much—Shen Mengxi would be wary of me, and Shouyue up top isn’t easy to kill, plus Baggie is already pushing the lane."