Chapter 435: Glimmers of Future-Past in the Present
When CN•HOOK2 fought his way into the Top 5 on the Korean Challenger Ladder, it caused an uproar in the Chinese League of Legends community. But that uproar wasn’t limited to just China. It also sent waves of shock that reverberated through Korea’s League of Legends scene.
The fact that a Chinese player made it all the way to the Top 5 on the Korean server was only mildly newsworthy. And that was only because it had not happened in a very, very long time. But CN•HOOK2 legendary climb through the night had so many things happening that compounded that single accomplishment into something greater. It wasn’t just that a Chinese player made it to the Top 5 on the Korean server, it was that a Chinese player played so many games in the Challenger queue in one night and pulled off multiple multi-game win streaks. And then to top it all off, CN•HOOK2’s final game of the night and climb was against the 3rd best Midlaner in all of Korea, Orion. Then, in that game, CN•HOOK2 had defeated Orion.
All in all, the events of that night forced the League fans in Korea to collectively gasp. It was all they could talk about since it happened. And yet, despite all the discussion, there were still many of them who found all the rumors of what transpired that night difficult to believe. Most of their scepticism revolved around the fact that a nobody from China managed to beat one of the best Midlaners in the OGN. As far as they were concerned, that was impossible. And since that was impossible, there was no way the rest of the rumors could be true.
But all the rumblings from the sceptics were quickly quashed. Recordings and clips of CN•HOOK2’s games found their way to the Korean League forums, completely crushing any theories about the falsehood of the climb. But the most important clip was that of the game-defining 1v1 that happened between CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo and Orion’s Zed at Level 6. That clip managed to render all of the sceptical voices speechless.
That single short clip was watched and rewatched thousands of times. Most people could not get over the epic nature of the duel between Yasuo and Zed. Comments repeatedly spoke of how it looked more like the climax of a martial arts movie than a gameplay clip! The sheer amount of skill displayed by both Midlaners was nothing short of mind-blowing either! For everyone watching the clip, that single duel was just as exciting as an exchange in the OGN Summer Finals.
And at the end of that intense duel, it was CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo who defeated Orion’s Zed. There was no way that anyone in the Korean League sphere could refute that fact, and it shocked them damn near senseless. The idea of a Chinese player, one they’d never even heard of before, defeating Orion in terms of pure skill was one that never even crossed their minds until now. Orion was a King, and no one had heard of CN•HOOK2. And so, there was a single question that echoed through the Korean League Community. That question happened to be the same one that was being asked in China. Who exactly was the mysterious CN•HOOK2, and what was he planning to do next?
And in due course, the news of CN•HOOK2’s climb and spectacular match against Orion made it all the way to the Warriors’ Gaming House in Seoul, Korea. Orion’s teammates read through all the discussion online and watched the clips that were floating around the forums with a little bit more interest than everyone else. One of their own had been involved, and had a first-hand experience playing against the mysterious CN•HOOK2. So they gathered as much information as they could online and talked amongst themselves for a while before finally walking over to Orion’s room to ask him about the game and CN•HOOK2.
The first wave of questions revolved around the game itself and that Orion had lost. Orion’s teammates were concerned that something was going on with one of their star players, or if the defeat caused him to lose confidence in himself. Both outcomes were not good for the team as a whole. But Orion remained calm and steady in the face of those questions, which reassured his teammates. In fact, he was so composed that it was clear that being defeated in CN•HOOK2 had no effect on him at all. And since their concerns about Orion were squared away, the rest of the Warriors team started asking him about CN•HOOK2. That’s when Orion’s breezy nonchalance broke and he turned much more serious.