League of the Unkillable Demon King

Chapter 10: Predictive Hook

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chen Mu directed the Golem to the bot lane. On the other hand, VN1 danced about near the red buff, clad in a Bayonetta skin. She positioned herself near the blue one. 

“Eh, Chen Mu. Didn’t I tell you that there are skins that you can use here? Why are you using the original skin when you’re in the specially reserved zone?” asked Zhuo Xiaobai. 

“What’s a skin?” Chen Mu had not gotten to the stage where he understood what a skin was in the game. 

“Something like an armor set in online games but without any added attributes,” explained Zhuo Xiaobai. 

“There’s such a thing? Alright, I’ll use it next time,” said Chen Mu. 

“Ding! The Host is forbidden from using any skins. Each skin provides different perks and ability effects. To become the best in the world, the Host is not allowed to use any skins. A hundred marks will be deducted each time you use a skin!” The System’s notification rendered Chen Mu speechless. Could he not have nice things in the world? What made it worse was the fact that it was free. Chen Mu would not have even considered it if he had been asked to use something that cost money!

Oh, well. No means no. After all, the reason Chen Mu quit Dungeon Fighters Online was because he could not defeat any of his opponents that paid for armor sets in a PK1 fight due to the vast difference in their combat strength. Chen Mu understood that running a game required money. Otherwise, the company would go bankrupt.

Similar to the online novels that he read at times, authors were more likely to stop writing if nobody subscribed to their work. Therefore, Chen Mu had topped up ten bucks in the past to upgrade his storage. However, after what happened within his family, he quit the game completely. 

Since the System forbade him from using skins, he was happy that he could save money and was glad to obey. 

“Come and help me take the red buff. Tank some damage for me,” said Zhuo Xiaobai. 

Chen Mu listened to his instructions and let the red buff hit him twice before leaving it to the Blind Monk who was jungling. 

“Let’s go bot lane. You have no Masteries or Runes, and you haven’t unlocked Flash either. You only have Heal and Ghost. Let’s just farm up CS slowly. If you manage to hook someone under our turret, we’ll fight. Otherwise, don’t engage. Got it?” Zhuo Xiaobai explained. 

“Oh, alright,” replied Chen Mu. 

Chen Mu walked with VN. On the other hand, the Sheriff1 and Zither Lady2 were moving opposite them. Their enemy bot lane composition had long-range and high damage output. Hence, it was difficult for VN to farm. 

“Why don’t you try your hook out a bit? If you hit a target, we can beat them up. If not, it’s fine,” Zhuo Xiaobai suggested. 

Chen Mu contemplated it carefully. The Sheriff was standing behind the minions; she was too far back to be hooked. Meanwhile, Zither Lady was sashaying left and right. Chen Mu gave it a try, but his hook missed Zither Lady by a champion’s breadth. His hook returned empty! 

“Oh, no. Our enemies are going to gain the advantage. It’s fine. Let’s wait for the minions to enter our turret range.” Zhuo Xiaobai knew that Chen Mu was not good at the game. What could he hope to get out of a person who did not even know what “ranked at six hundred points” meant? 

On the other hand, all four of them were at max level1. Due to that, the players who were matched against them had to be players who similarly had played ranked games. The fact was proven with everyone equipped with Flash. 

“The Host’s total hook casts: two. Targets hit: zero. Accuracy: zero percent. Please work harder.” The System’s notification irked Chen Mu a lot. ‘How dare you! How dare you mock me?

‘I’ll show you! Watch me hook!” 

Chen Mu moved his champion toward the turret and picked up his sling bag immediately. Then, he fished out a ruler from the bag. 

Zhuo Xiaobai was completely focused on increasing his CS that he did not notice what Chen Mu was doing. Chen Mu observed and analyzed the distance the Golem was able to cover in a second. 

Counting from the two minutes and thirty-five seconds mark since the beginning of the match, all the way till the thirty-sixth second of the same minute, the Golem had covered a distance of millimeters. This was done using the turret as the center point.

It meant that the Golem’s movement speed allowed him to move five millimeters per second—a full three hundred yards! 

Based on Chen Mu’s calculations, judging by the speed of Golem’s Q, it took about zero-point-five seconds for it to be cast. In other words, it meant that the total time taken for his Q to hit its target was zero-point-five seconds, calculated from the moment his Q was unleashed. Based on his enemies’ movement speeds, they should only be able to move as far as a hundred and fifty yards.

Therefore, it did not matter how hard he tried to predict his enemies’ moments if his hook was cast further than a hundred and fifty yards from his target. If he did so, he would not be able to hook anyone even if the champion he was targeting moved in the same direction that he had predicted them to move in. 

‘There’s some leniency in the hitbox of this ability. It’s around fifty yards. So, I can only cast my Q at a maximum distance of a hundred and seventy-five yards from either side of my target. If I exceed that distance, I’ll never hook anyone,’ Chen Mu concluded his calculations. 

The distance was equivalent to about two-point-seven-five millimeters. Therefore, Chen Mu’s prediction was limited to a maximum of two-point-seven-five millimeters from each side of his targeted champion’s radius. Chen Mu readied himself to cast his Q for the third time to prove his hypothesis.

If his calculations were correct, if he cast his Q two-point-seven-five millimeters in front of the direction his target was facing, his hook would hit his target as long as the champion did not change directions.

If the champion stopped abruptly or turned to face the opposite direction, it would be possible for them to avoid Chen Mu’s hook. Nevertheless, based on his target’s previous behavior, it did not seem like she would turn around instantly.

As for movement patterns like kiting and so on, Chen Mu decided to put them at the back of his mind. He only considered movement patterns that had the highest probability. 

With that, Chen Mu’s accuracy became rather amicable! 

Chen Mu noticed that Zither Lady was attempting to close in on them to harass VN. Standing next to the tower, Chen Mu held down his Q and observed the range of the ability—its range was 925 yards. At that distance, the spell indicator told Chen Mu that he would hit his target. Naturally, Chen Mu did not know about the option of ‘smart casting’ since he was a newbie. Nevertheless, the indicator itself helped him loads.

Chen Mu cast his Q two-point-five millimeters in front of where Zither Lady was facing. 

Then, Rocket Grab’s animation trail flew out and grabbed Zither Lady on her chest before a strong force dragged her straight to the Golem. Before Chen Mu had the time to attack, a laser beam shot was shot at her from the tower.

“You did it! You hooked her!” Zhuo Xiaobai said as he clicked at Zither Lady. 

Within the next few seconds, the tower removed a huge chunk of health from Zither Lady. Zither Lady hastily cast Flash but the tower had already sent another laser beam flying at her. In addition to that, the damage that had been dealt to her by VN and Golem was not something to be underestimated.

Moreover, Zither Lady still had a long way to go before she was able to escape VN’s range. VN chased after her and shot her twice. VN scored first blood!

“Oh-ho, not bad. First blood in bot lane.” Lu Ren, who was sitting on Zhuo Xiaobai’s other side, praised them. 

“Haha, that’s right. The Golem is doing great hooking them.” Having obtained first blood, Zhuo Xiaobai’s stress level decreased by a notch. Without her teammate, the Sheriff did not dare approach them anymore. 

Golem and VN both reached Level 2 as Chen Mu’s accuracy went up to thirty-three percent.

Chen Mu’s experience in figuring out the hook’s mechanism came from a fishing game that he had played when he was young. In that game, random fishes would swim past the screen at a set speed while a hook dangled left and right from the top of the screen. The game was similar to Gold Miner. 

In the game, one obtained game tokens if they managed to capture fish. Back then, in order to play for a longer amount of time, Chen Mu had taken out a ruler and calculated the speed as well as the direction of the hook. After understanding its pattern, Chen Mu was able to fish a whole day’s worth of fish with only one token. When he saw the mechanism of Golem’s ability, Chen Mu related it instantly to the fishing game and began his calculations. Other than the need to guess which direction his target would move toward, there was not much of a difference between the two games. 

After waiting for his ability to go off CD1, Chen Mu started heading toward the Sheriff’s side. When he saw the Sheriff starting to retreat, he made another two-point-five-millimeters prediction and bullseye! 

“I hooked her. Come up here and kill her,” said Chen Mu. He realized that the Sheriff was unaware that she could have turned around to dodge his ability. It was great news. 

The reason for that was all of their opponents were new to the game, and they had all lost pitifully in their ranked games. Having dropped to five or six hundred points, they were matched against Zhuo Xiaobai. They were nevertheless, straightforward players.

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” VN rushed over immediately. The Sheriff wanted to cast her Barrier and Flash but was punched into the air by Chen Mu. 

After VN landed a shot, the Sheriff responded by casting D and F consecutively, starting her mad escape. 

“Can’t catch up. Forget it, forget it. Let’s return and continue to CS. Your hooks aren’t bad. They’re really accurate.” Zhuo Xiaobai was leveling up comfortably and was more than happy to be generous with his praise. 

The Sheriff recalled after her beating. Soon, Zither Lady arrived back in lane. Chen Mu realized that she had no intention of turning back as she moved. Hence, he landed his hook on Zither Lady once more. 

“Dayum, another hook!” Zhuo Xiaobai was greatly impressed. Chen Mu’s hook never missed each time he cast it. Was his hook that OP? 

Void of Flash, it was impossible for Zither Lady to escape from the aggressive VN and Golem combo. As a result, she was forced to return to the Fountain once more. 

“Hell, Chen Mu’s Golem is much stronger than yours, Lu Ren. He hit his target thrice out of the four times he cast it. So OP,” said Zhuo Xiaobai. 

“Has Chen Mu played this game before?” Lu Ren asked. He wanted a clear answer to it. After all, he had seven hundred ELO points—a hundred points more than Zhuo Xiaobai. Yet, his hooks were not as accurate as Chen Mu’s? How could his pride swallow such a blow? 

“Nope,” Chen Mu answered earnestly. 

Read latest Chapters at WuxiaWorld.Site Only

‘Must be because our enemies are noob,’ thought Lu Ren. 

“The Host’s total hook casts: five. Targets hit: three. Accuracy: sixty percent. Please keep up the good work,” the System said. 

“Does that mean I’d have accomplished my mission if I stop using my hook?” said Chen Mu in his head. 

“Any attempts to cheese the game will become an obstacle on your journey to becoming the Unkillable Demon King. If you refuse to become the best, you may choose to do so,” said the System. 

“Alright, I got it.” Chen Mu gave up his cheeky idea.