CH 47

In the WOC (World of Champions) game, one of the crucial map resources to contend for is the epic monster in the crater above the river.

When the game reaches the 20-minute mark, the first epic monster spawns in the crater, and every 15 minutes thereafter, a random epic monster appears. Killing it drops different items or provides varying buffs to the team that defeats it.

If the epic monster remains undefeated, it stays in the crater.

When the epic monster in the crater is the Cursed Revenant, it curses the enemies of the team that kills it. Defended towers under the curse won’t attack, and the health and armor of minions are halved.

If the monster is the Corrupted Corpse King, the team that kills it gains the Corpse King’s Command. For five minutes, Corpse King’s minions, small zombies, attack the enemy central base.

When the epic monster is the Ascended One, killing it drops Resurrection Essence. The hero obtaining the essence gains a chance for one resurrection.

These different epic monsters add more variables to the battlefield, making them coveted targets for both teams.

All three types of epic monsters are exceptionally powerful, and a single hero cannot kill them alone.

Therefore, to vie for this important resource, both teams inevitably engage in a confrontation near the crater.

In this training match between AFK and PH, the crucial moment to contend for the first epic monster has arrived.

In the early game, due to Jiang Min and DNA’s lanes not suffering a significant disadvantage, the top and bottom lanes were stable. The laning phase ended smoothly.

Now, it’s time to test the team’s capabilities.

Both teams’ five heroes slowly converge around the crater.

At this moment, any casualties could lead to a collapse.

Everyone is cautious.

Ring is worried about the opponents stealing the epic monster, so he wants to gain vision in the crater. However, due to a careless move, he gets hit by the skill of the opponent’s third position, taken down by DNA in a combo.

Now, it’s a direct 4v5, which is disadvantageous for AFK.

After some skirmishes, PH leaves positions 3 and 5 outside the crater to defend, while the others go inside to fight the epic monster.

This time, the Resurrected One spawns. If PH gets the Resurrection Essence, DNA will have a chance to revive once, increasing the pressure on AFK during team fights.

AFK knows they cannot let PH secure this epic monster.

“Can Ring buy back?” Jiang Min asks.

“Still short on money!” Ring is extremely anxious, but he doesn’t have enough gold to buy back.

“Armin, I don’t want to give up this Resurrection Essence,” Shulou says with certainty.

Jiang Min hands over his bird mount equipment to him. Looking at the items in the equipment slot, he says, “You guys stay outside and wait, don’t act yet. Let me try.”

There is no vision in the crater, and they don’t know how much health the epic monster has.

Rushing in recklessly at this moment, with one less person, could lead to casualties or even a team wipe.

“Okay.” Shulou naturally understands this principle, so they can only send one team member to try to contest it.

Unlike the effects directly granted by other epic monsters, the Resurrection Essence drops.

This means that when it drops, players from both sides can pick it up.

In Jiang Min’s perspective, the crater is shrouded in darkness.

This venture might be a one-way trip.

However, with his ultimate ability ready, he still has a chance to escape successfully.

Suddenly, the Hell Mage arrives at the edge of the crater.

The crater is surrounded by walls on three sides, forming a terrain that has only one entrance and exit.

Heroes without displacement abilities can only enter and exit the crater through this sole passage.

The Hell Mage is originally a hero without displacement, but after purchasing the Jump Boots, it gains the opportunity to quickly traverse terrain.

Estimating the timing, Jiang Min lightly presses his fingers on the keyboard and activates the Jump Boots.

PH’s three players have almost killed the Ascended One, and with a final blow from Position 1, the Ascended One falls.

The blue Resurrection Essence drops.

At this moment, the Hell Mage suddenly jumps in, landing right on the spot where the Resurrection Essence dropped.

Quickly grabbing the Resurrection Essence, Jiang Min’s immediate concern is how to survive.

Even though he has the Resurrection Essence, giving him an extra life, he doesn’t want to waste this chance easily.

So, almost simultaneously picking up the essence, the Hell Mage uses the ultimate ability, Demon Whisper.

Group silence.

In the brief seconds that follow, Jiang Min must escape; otherwise, he will be surrounded and killed by PH.

The Spiked Earth skill lifts PH’s three players. In the confined space of the crater, there is little room to dodge skills.

By the time PH’s players land and the control is released, the Hell Mage has almost exited the crater.

DNA immediately pursues.

Mana Shield activated.

Jiang Min manages to dodge several skills with his positioning.

The Jump Boots cooldown has a few seconds left, and he has to endure until it’s ready.

At this moment, the opposing Position 3 is preparing to cast a control skill.

Jiang Min uses Spiked Earth to interrupt.

With equipment enhancements, his cooldown time is short.

Even the recently used ultimate, Demon Whisper, has already had half of its cooldown.

“Amazing play, Jiang Min!” Ring resurrects at the fountain, rushing towards the crater while shouting.

Shulou’s hero is the Wind Talker, and the signature skill is Gust, which creates a whirlwind.

Wherever the wind goes, enemies, be they heroes, monsters, or minions, are lifted for a while before falling.

Shulou timely uses Gust to lift Jiang Min’s pursuers.

The Jump Boots cooldown is finally ready. Jiang Min immediately jumps forward, creating distance.

Ring, with his extremely fast movement speed, arrives near the crater.

A team fight is imminent.

DNA is the first to act.

The Deep Sea Roar ultimate freezes AFK’s Position 3 and Shulou.

Position 3 makes a positioning mistake, and Shulou helps protect Position 1, resulting in Shulou being instantly killed.

Position 3 survives barely due to a tanky build, but his unhealthy health has created a disadvantage for the team.

Jiang Min’s skills are ready again.

Turning around, another group silence with Spiked Earth.

Mana Shield on Position 1.

The Hell Mage, developed as a support mid-laner, plays a crucial role in this situation.

Control the enemy and protect Position 1.

Jiang Min has placed great trust in Position 1.

At the same time, he continuously uses basic attacks from the back.

However, AFK’s Position 1 fails to withstand the pressure and is seized by DNA.

The disadvantage for AFK is irreversible.

In the end, Jiang Min consumes one Resurrection Essence, only to be killed again.

AFK is wiped out.

Players who can buy back quickly do so, and a fierce battle ensues against PH.

However, AFK’s team members, except for Shulou, are generally young, and Jiang Min has rarely played matches with this team. Coordination errors occur multiple times. In the end, this training match drags on to nearly 50 minutes, and AFK loses with regret.

“Not bad, not bad. We had a good back-and-forth against PH!” Ring seems satisfied with the match result.

“Yeah,” Shulou nods. “But there are still quite a few issues that can be observed.”

“Ring, your positioning is too aggressive. You’re in Position 4, not the front-line Position 3. Be more careful in the future.” Shulou says, “It might not be apparent against other teams, but against PH’s level, you’re too easy to be targeted.”

Ring immediately nods obediently. “Understood, captain!”

Next, Shulou points out some issues with the other two team members.

Being good at summarizing and uniting the team, this is a responsibility that a captain should take.

“Thank you for your hard work, Armin.” Shulou summarizes briefly and turns to Jiang Min, “I called you over specifically, sorry about that.”

“No problem.”

“Hell Mage in the mid-lane, I really didn’t expect it.” Shulou says.

“Yeah, I just developed it recently,” Jiang Min replies.

Since this version tends to lean towards protecting the carry in the mid-lane, why not develop some support heroes to play mid-lane with a new strategy?

This is Jiang Min’s thinking.

Therefore, he tried it out on his alt account in regular ranked games.

The results were good in non-top-tier ranked matches.

But he hasn’t tried it in the top-tier ranked games yet, and it hasn’t been implemented in training matches either.

Since he came to play a training match, Jiang Min, with the goal of honing his skills, wanted to test using the Hell Mage in the mid-lane, a unique strategy.

After all, this version requires mid-laners to be more protective. Choosing a hero like the Hell Mage, even if it lacks offensive power, is enough to create a lineup that can protect a single

core.

In short, the effect was good.

Although they have faced AFK many times, since they don’t train together every day, there is a lack of coordination and understanding between the teams.

Being able to achieve such results against PH is already quite commendable.

No one in AFK thinks that Jiang Min picking the Hell Mage for mid-lane is trying to sabotage them. Instead, they feel that Jiang Min has provided them with a new way of thinking.

Their mid-laner, Flow, is originally more conservative in Position 2. Trying out support heroes for mid-lane might yield better results.

The training match between AFK and PH concludes on a positive note.

———————————

South Korea, PH Base.

The PH team, victorious in the training match, did not exhibit the expected excitement.

For them, winning against AFK was considered a matter of course.

However, the victory in this training match was not as easy as they had anticipated.

If not for DNA stepping up multiple times, they might have even faced the possibility of losing.

As the world runners-up for this season, being pushed to this extent by a team that stopped at the group stage is unacceptable.

PH’s coach and players almost immediately began reviewing the match as soon as the training match concluded.

In this process, DNA paid particular attention to the opponent’s mid-laner.

This guy seemed to have chosen a supportive hero for mid-lane.

However, his playstyle was anything but conservative; it was filled with aggression, much like DNA himself.

During the confrontation, there was a faintly familiar feeling, hinting to DNA that this might not be a newcomer but rather someone he had faced in certain arenas before.

Selecting a supportive hero but not allowing himself to be pressured in the lane indicated that this person’s skill should not be underestimated.

It seems that the upcoming season is something to look forward to.

Hopefully, AFK won’t disappoint him too much.

It’s been a long time since he felt the thrill of a challenging opponent.

Author’s note: Another person interested in Sugar God has appeared~ (Shrugs)

1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ️”