Team Shanghai rented a private room in an internet cafe. The players sat down in a half circle around Zeng Rui who pulled out his notebook and licked the tip of his finger. He counted the pages with his thumb before opening the notebook and scanning the page. He then moved his head around in hesitation, looked up at his teammates, and then flipped to the next page.

Lin Feng tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. He watched Zeng Rui flip to the next page for a third time and grimaced. He grabbed his phone and checked the time, then looked up at Zeng Rui again, who was still focused on his notebook. He finally couldn’t take it any longer and said, “Come on already! Tell us what we’re doing!”

Zeng Rui looked up at Lin Feng, distracted, and slowly massaged his temple. He moved his lips around for a bit and then said, “Alright, here’s the deal. I’ve watched all of Fudan’s games. Twice. I can only conclude… well, they’re strangely similar to Zhejiang University. The playstyle for both teams is damn near identical at times. Both of them go with very strong team comps, and that’s also their weakness. It takes them until the mid game, when teamfights become more prevalent, to start building momentum.

“We are the perfect counter to that strategy. Tang Tang’s aggressive playstyle will let us gain an early advantage, BunBun is one of the best early game Junglers I’ve ever seen, and then, well…” Zeng Rui stopped and shrugged. He then nodded at Zhang Hao and continued in a different direction, “You might have a bit of trouble in the top lane. But that’s fine. We’ll just have BunBun camp up there. Fudan can focus you all they want, they’re not getting anything with the two of you there to hold it down.”

Lin Feng looked at Zeng Rui. Waiting, expectantly. But Zeng Rui stopped talking and was now looking through his notebook, flipping through his notebook in an excruciatingly slow manner. Lin Feng chewed on his lips for a couple of seconds until he couldn’t take it anymore. He blurted, “What about me? You didn’t say anything about me? What’s your plan for me?”

Zeng Rui glanced up from his notebook and took a long, deep breath. What do you think? You’re Maple! Isn’t it clear what you’re going to do? You’re going to carry us, because no matter how good I am, no matter how well Tang Tang plays, regardless of everything BunBun and Zhang Hao pull out of their assholes, it’s never going to get anywhere near what you can do. But if I tell you that, you’re going to be insufferable for the rest of the day. Thundering dumbass. He sighed and said, “Qiu Yijie is a solid Midlaner. The general consensus is that he’s reached the A grade and that he can hold his own against most professional Midlaners. But you’re not most Midlaners. You’re Maple.”

Lin Feng grinned and said, “You’re calling me good, right? You’re right! I’m really good! I’ll beat him!”

Zeng Rui briefly closed his eyes and breathed in, allowing the fresh air to clear his thoughts. He then opened his eyes again and smiled. He replied, “Just win mid. Alright, enough chattering. I’ve got a couple of strategies here that we’re going to practice.”

✹

Team Shanghai practiced from lunch until dinner. The time they spent queuing up, Zeng Rui explained everything that went wrong in his opinion and how he wanted to see the team members improve. And when it was finally time for dinner, he suggested that they continue playing. He said they would just order some chicken cutlets to eat while in queue for the next game.

Lin Feng was the first to agree to this suggestion. He’d been playing since early that morning, but he still wanted to keep going. When Chu Fang told him that playing League of Legends for 10 hours in a single day wasn’t the most healthy habit, he shrugged it away. And when An Xin explained to him that this was why the rest of the team had taken the morning off, he laughed and replied that he had important League business he’d had to take care of that morning.

Team Shanghai played through dinner, but despite Lin Feng’s excitement, the quality of his play saw a sharp decline. He started messing up in the mid lane, failing to warn his teammates when something was happening and even cost them a game. That was when Zeng Rui stopped. He looked at Lin Feng and said, “You’re not fine. You can say you are, but you aren’t. You need to rest for tomorrow. We’re ending practice tonight.”

“But I can still play!” Lin Feng argued. “That was just a little slip up there!”

An Xin looked at Lin Feng, her lips curving up but her eyes remaining steady. She said, “HMM? Just a little slip up? You fell down a waterslide. That's how hard you fucked up that game! Now stop. Rest. We need you on point tomorrow.”

Lin Feng looked at An Xin. He wanted to argue. But when he looked past her at the worried look from Tang Bingyao, he paused. He looked back at his screen and opened the detailed analysis of the game. His damage dealt was low, his damage received high, his wards placed low… His stats were all moving in the direction he didn’t want to see them go. He grimaced and muttered, “Okay. Fine. We can take a break.”

“Not a break,” Zeng Rui said. He looked at Lin Feng and corrected, “We’re ending practice tonight. And we’re going to rest. Go and sleep, Lin Feng. We need you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah! It’s fine! I’ll get some rest!” Lin Feng replied, grinning. “Don’t worry. I’ll be in great shape tomorrow!”

✹

Lin Feng ran up the stairs at the hotel while the rest of his team waited at the elevator. He reached the fourth floor before the others and burst into his room. The curtains were closed already and his bed was made. He pulled his clothes off in a half-run and then jumped on bed. Alarm, alarm. Set the alarm! He grabbed his phone and set an alarm for half an hour later. He then let his head fall on the pillow and closed his eyes. I’m still young! I can play all night and be fine in the morning! I’ll just rest for a bit and then I’ma play all night long and get to the top of the Korean ranked ladder!

Chu Fang walked into the hotel room a couple of minutes later and found Lin Feng already in bed. He smiled and shook his head. Crazy kid. He sat down on his bed and turned on the small lamp on the nightstand. It gave just enough light for him to read a webseries on his phone. Joshua was still getting used to his new life as a truck. But the pavement the mega ants had made for him made his life much easier these last few weeks. He could drive between Sardonia and Grelsh in half the time with half the effort and there were no real life and death moments like usual. It seemed like the dangerous monsters didn’t like the smell of tar…

The buzz of an alarm rang. Chu Fang looked up from his phone, confused and annoyed by the interruption. He searched for the source and spotted Lin Feng’s phone flashing brightly. Why is Lin Feng’s phone… His eyes grew round and wide and he slowly shook his head. “No,” he mumbled. “Don’t tell me…”

Lin Feng opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. He turned his phone alarm off and then looked at the time. LEAGUE! He was wide awake, the thought about the Korean ladder having a similar effect a bucket of ice cold water would’ve had. He jumped up from his bed and turned the lights on.

 Chu Fang looked at Lin Feng and asked, “Are you really going to…?” Lin Feng nodded at him, answering the question. He continued, “Are you sure that’s smart? A good rest is important for your health. And you need your health to play League. Didn’t Zeng Rui tell you to sleep tonight?”

Lin Feng sat at the small table and turned his laptop on. He glanced over his shoulder while waiting for it to boot up and said, “I did rest! And now I need to play. I promised One I would get to the top of the Korean ranked ladder and I won’t get there if I just sleep all night. I need to play and play and play and use every free minute I have to get to the top!”

Chu Fang shook his head and mumbled, “Ain’t no rest for the wicked.”

✹

Money don't grow on trees

I got bills to pay

I got mouths to feed

There ain't nothing in this world for free

I know I can't slow down

I can't hold back

Though you know

I wish I could

Oh, no there ain't no rest for the wicked

Until we close our eyes for good

✹

A powerful buzz swept through the Chinese League of Legends community. CN•HOOK2 had become the single most discussed topic on the different forumboards. It was even higher up there than the LPL games and Shi Hang’s return to professional play. Within minutes of CN•HOOK2 coming online and entering the queue, everyone in China who cared about League of Legends found out. They left work early, called in sick, skipped their homework, and searched online for a place to watch the epic ascension of the Korean Challenger ladder by a Chinese player.

「CN•HOOK2, he’s online again!」

「FUCKING FINALLY!!!!!!! It’s already 9 PM! I’ve been waiting allll dayyyy!!!」

「RANKRANKRANRANKRA TELL ME HIS RANK NOW SOMEONE TELL ME」

「17! He’s already rank 17!」

「he needs one more win to get to 16! He’s getting so close to the top 10! just imagine OH MY GOOOOD!」

It didn’t take long for news of CN•HOOK2 playing a game on the Korean server to reach the various gaming houses from the LPL teams, including Dark Glory. Lightless Heart was streaming a game on the Ionia server, chilling with his viewers after a long day of practice with his team, when he found out. Viewers were talking about CN•HOOK2 in his stream chat. He read the conversation and got so distracted by it that he forgot to play his game. If it’s really One, how awesome would that be? One is showing to the world that he still has it and that there’s no Korean who can stop him! Humm… Fuck me I wanna watch this too!

Lightless looked at his camera and smiled. He said, “I’ve got a small surprise for you guys. Wanna watch CN•HOOK2 play live? Let’s go!” He logged out from his Ionia server account and opened his Korean client. There he opened his friends list and at the very top it showed CN•HOOK2 with the tag “playing solo queue”. 

The 30,000 viewers in Lightless’ stream lost their minds. They spammed his chat and then their phones and different message boards. It didn’t take long for word to go round, only the time it took for Lightless to load into the game and spectate CN•HOOK2. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese League of Legends players stopped with what they were doing. There were so many of them that abandoned their games that it even became difficult to find a game on the Ionia server. All of them joined Lightless’ stream and flooded his chat.

「CN•HOOK2!? ITS HIM ITS HIM ITS HIM!!!!!」

「OMGGGGG!!!! LIGHTLESS KNOWS HIM! THEYRE FRIENDS!!!!」

「does that mean hook is someone on dark glory?」

「YEAH! LIGHTLESS TELL US! IS HE YOUR TEAMMATE?!?!?!?!?!?」

「TELL US!,DO YOU KNOW HIM!」

「do you also know what hes doing? like what his goal is? is he going to try and beat rake for number 1 spot??」

「how far do you think he c an go before the ladder resets? hes only got like two more days, right?????」

Lightless didn’t see the chat. Just like most of his viewers, he was mesmerized with CN•HOOK2. He clenched his fist and licked his lips, mumbling, “Come on, come on. Win! Carry the game. I know you can!” He glanced at his second monitor, tabbing out of his streamchat and opening the Korean Challenger ladder rankings. 17. He already hit 17! Holy what the fuck! I’ve been watching him when I can the last few days, but this… How in the world… FUCK YEAH! FUCK YEAH! He grinned and shouted, “FUCK YEAH!”

A player from Dark Glory sitting behind a computer on the other side of the gaming room looked up from his screen. He nodded at Lightless and asked, “You okay?”

Lightless chuckled and replied, “Yeah! All good here, all good here… All fucking great and fantastic! SWEET!” He ignored the strange look from his teammate and focused back on his screen. Sure, we don’t have any super top pro’s in China right now. We don’t have some fancy Emperor like Europe, America and… Korea do. But that doesn’t make us shit either! We’ve got our legends, even if they haven’t played competitively in a long time. He clenched his fists until the white showed on his knuckles. We’ve got One! The best ever! Even after so many years of not playing, he just hops on the Korean server and goes all the way to the top! He’s the only legend we need! FUCK YEAH! He’s making the Koreans look like shit! This is the best thing ever! Better even than winning a game in the LPL!

✹

Zeng Rui sat in his hotelroom, massaging his temples. Zhang Hao sat next to him, scrolling through a forum post about CN•HOOK2 and commenting, “Look at this, Zeng Rui! Lin Feng’s just won another game! He’s already Rank 13!” He turned his head to look at Zeng Rui and continued, “I thought he was supposed to sleep early. Wasn’t that why he ran so fast up the stairs? But he’s been online for hours now! He hasn’t slept at all!”

Zhang Hao continued talking and Zeng Rui continued not listening. He was staring at the wall and massaging his temples. The thundering dumbass played for more than 10 hours and then when he was supposed to take a break, he plays some more. I want to be mad at him. I so badly want to be mad at him. But it’s just… how is he still climbing? He’s beating Midlaners from the OGN every single game! These are the best guys from Korea! How is he beating them every single game? He hasn’t played Rake yet, but that’s about the only one he hasn’t played yet! How is he beating all of these guys after playing all day already?

Zeng Rui took a long, deep breath and nodded at himself. It took me a while, Lin Feng. All I saw in you was a thundering dumbass, someone so retarded they couldn’t possibly be any good at League of Legends or anything in life really. But I was wrong. I looked at your cover and wrote your story for you, and that says more about me than it does about you. I can see it now, your story. It’s one of persistence. One of pure willpower. When the rest of us give up or feel like we need to rest, you keep going. You keep fighting. You don’t stop and you never give up. He nodded at Zhang Hao and asked, “You tired?”

“Not particularly, no?” Zhang Hao replied, confused.

“Good,” Zeng Rui said. He got up from his bed and grabbed his laptop from his suitcase. He then glanced at Zhang Hao and asked, “What are you waiting for? Grab your laptop and get ready. If the thundering dumbass can give it his all, then so can we. We’re not going to let him down.”

The alarm buzzed next to Lin Feng’s head. He tried to open his eyes and groaned, complaining, “Too bright! Too early! Grownups crazy.”

Chu Fang walked out from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked at Lin Feng and shook his head. He said, “You’re doing this to yourself trying to complete that crazy challenge from One. Everyone else is sleeping in today.”

“I know, yeah. I know,” Lin Feng croaked as he pushed himself up. He blinked a couple of times to clear the sleep from his eyes and looked around the room, searching for his laptop and the desk it stood on. When he found it, he crawled-and-walked towards it and pulled himself into the office chair.

“Lin Feng?” Chu Fang asked. He waited until Lin Feng looked at him before continuing, “There’s breakfast in the lobby. Grab something for breakfast before you start playing.”

Lin Feng nodded and got up, then stumbled to the door in his underwear. He mumbled, “Yup. Smart. Food always wakes me up.”

“Lin Feng!” Chu Fang shouted. He waited again until Lin Feng turned around, then threw a t-shirt and some shorts at him. “At least wear this if you’re going down.”

Lin Feng shook his head and blinked. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the t-shirt sticking to his chest. “Oh, yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his head and laughing awkwardly. “Thanks, Chu Fang!” He then jumped into his clothes while opening the door and bolting down the hallway to the stairs. Something about rubbing his eyes had done the trick. He was awake. And hungry. He ignored the elevator, worried it would take longer, and ran down the stairs. Four flights of stairs later, he burst into the lobby and filled three plates. When he couldn’t possibly carry anything more, he bolted out of the lobby and back up the stairs, mumbling to himself, “I’ll eat while I’m in the queue. Can’t miss a second! Can’t miss a second!”

Back in his room, Lin Feng sat down behind his laptop, the drowsiness from before completely replaced by pangs of hunger from a rumbling stomach. He booted up his laptop while stuffing two steamed buns in his mouth. BunBuns, hehe! Aaaah! So good! I need more!

The blue light of his computer illuminated the room. Lin Feng opened the League client and queued up. “Come on, come on,” he mumbled impatiently. “Find a match already! Find a match!”

Lin Feng spent the next five hours playing League of Legends. He won the first game of the day. But then he lost the next two games. His account dropped down to Rank 26, but he remained calm. Losing was part of the game. His game was the only thing that mattered in solo queue, and his game was on point. He was pitted against Korean professional players in nearly every game and he won his lane every game, even when his favourite Champions were banned and the opponent got a counter pick on him.

Calmness permeated his entire being and the conviction that he could climb to the Top 5 pulsed from his heart through his veins. Lin Feng played better and better, carrying harder and harder. Victories started stacking up and his rank went up. He checked his next target on the ladder after every game and he chased them down. From Rank 26 to 25, 24… 20, 19.

The door to Lin Feng’s room opened and An Xin poked her head around the corner. She said, “Hey, addict. We’re having lunch. You done yet?”

Lin Feng looked up from his screen, surprised. When he saw An Xin, he grinned and said, “Uh, yeah! I guess so. Just finished a game actually! I’m Rank 19 already!” He then yawned and stretched out long before adding, “Wow, I’m beat! It feels like I’ve been at this all day! How do people do it? You know, work from 9 to 5? I don’t think I could ever do that!”

An Xin giggled and replied, “Idiot. Come.”

✹

Chu Fang joined Team Shanghai for lunch. He watched his team eat and shook his head. He groaned and moaned. He looked absolutely miserable.

Zeng Rui eventually couldn’t take it anymore. He’d gotten to know Chu Fang a lot better recently, since the two often talked tactics while Lin Feng was playing League of Legends in his hotel room. He looked up at Chu Fang and said, “Just say it.”

“That obvious, huh?” Chu Fang said, chuckling. He shrugged and explained, “Well, since I’ve got your attention. Here’s the thing. I received word from the Beijing Esports Association. I know who we’re playing in the next round and it’s not pretty. Or rather, it feels staged. But whatever. So, yeah, we’re playing against Fudan University. U-Tech Beijing and Team Beijing are going to face each other.”

An Xin looked up from her bowl and said, “That isn’t too bad? Why are you acting like it is…?”

Chu Fang shrugged and said, “I would’ve liked to see an all East China finals. That would’ve been a great show! But I guess this is fine too.”

“We have to be careful,” Zeng Rui interjected. He waited for everyone to look at him before he continued, “Fudan’s performance was on point in their game against Zhejiang just the other day. They’ve gotten better since we played them in the Finals of the East China Regionals. Let’s schedule a training session this afternoon. I want to be prepared for tomorrow.”

“Wait, what?” Lin Feng blurted. His eyes grew round and wide as he stared at Zeng Rui. He asked, “Training?” And when Zeng Rui nodded at him, he emptied his plate and shouted, “Let’s go! No time to waste! We need to hurry!”

“Aside, aside, aside

Make way, make way, make way

We are in an incredible hurry!”

✹

The news about the Semifinals draw of the Winter Collegiate Cup also reached Aurous that same afternoon. He pushed his training with Light Dynasty aside and called Shi Hang. When the call connected, he shouted, “Hey! Yo! Did you see?”

“What did I see?” Shi Hang asked. He added slightly annoyed, “You know it’s training time right now, right? I’ve got a big game tomorrow and I need to do well. I don’t have time to shoot the shit—”

“Don’t you fucking dare to hang up on me!” Aurous shouted. He loudly breathed a few times before continuing, “Fudan drew Team Shanghai.”

Shi Hang’s attitude changed completely. He forgot all about his training and started laughing. It started with a low grin and slowly turned into a hysterical, snorting laughter. It took him a few minutes to catch his breath again. He then said, “WELP! F for Fudan! GG!”

The vein on Aurous’ forehead bulged. He gnashed his teeth and said, “You’re a jerk, you know that? Now tell me about that guy on Team Shanghai! Who is he? You’ve kept me in the dark long enough. My team is playing them now. Let me help them with info!”

“Huh? Team Shanghai? Whatever are you talking about?” Shi Hang asked in faked confusion.

Aurous snorted and barked, “Fuck off with the bullshit! I know it’s someone on Team Shanghai! OUT WITH IT!”

There was silence on the line. Aurous almost couldn’t stop himself from yelling at Shi Hang again. But just as he opened his mouth, his friend’s voice sounded in his ear. “Fine, fine. I don’t want you to try and strangle me over the phone. That’d be embarrassing for both of us. And it’s not like you knowing is going to change anything. There’s really nothing you can do. But yeah, I’ll stop hiding the truth from you. You kno—”

“ARE YOU FUCKING TELLING ME OR NOT!?” Aurous screamed into his phone.

Shi Hang chuckled and said, “Remember I told you when I joined for that one series it was because of one person?”

“Yeah, yeah. Tell me already,” Aurous replied, impatient.

Shi Hang grinned and revealed, “It’s their Midlaner. The one who beat me. He is the reason I stepped in. He is the reason I didn’t feel bad about stepping in.”

“Their Midlaner? Really?” Aurous asked, doubtful. He looked at the computer in front of him that showed the lineup of Team Shanghai. “Lin Feng? That him? What’s so special about him?”

Shi Hang laughed and said, “Yeah, I guess they did keep his name pretty well hidden back then. But maybe you’ve heard it somewhere? Doesn’t it sound just a bit familiar?”

“Familiar?” Aurous repeated. He scratched his chin and took a couple of seconds to think about it. He then shook his head and said, “No, not really, no. Just tell me, dude. Come on. Don’t be a douche! I don’t know any Lin Fengs in the competitive circle. Just tell me who he is.”

“Oh! You’re almost there!” Shi Hang said. “He did play professionally. But not this season or last. Or the one before that.”

“Fuck you, asshole!” Aurous exclaimed. He took a deep, long breath and then continued, “Alright. So not this season or last, so then what? Season 3? 2?”

“Getting there, getting there,” Shi Hang replied, laughing.

Aurous sighed loudly and said, “DUDE! I only started playing towards the end of Season 2! I don’t even remember half the things from back then! In what world do you see me remembering whatever the fuck happened in Season 1? That’s what you’re saying, right? Season 1? Who the fuck still knows that? That’s like ancient history! I don’t watch the History Channel!”

Shi Hang bit a new burst of laughter back and replied, “Ah, buddy, I didn’t know you were wearing your girlfriend’s panties. You really shouldn’t do that. It gets your balls all squished up and you turn into this raging dickless-hole! Anyway, think back. We all know a little bit about Season 1 and this Lin Feng belongs to that little bit.”

“Yeah, yeah, a little bit,” Aurous mumbled, his mind working overture. He mumbled, “We all know about Season 1 Worlds. The best Chinese team ever. You had Tian Tian in top and Eleven in the Jungle. Then you had those two in the bot lane… Didn’t that one kick your ass? Right and then they, they— No. No. NoNoNo!”

Shi Hang chuckled and replied, “Yes.”

“No, no. No! NoNoNo! No. No! NO!” Aurous muttered. “No. No! It can’t be. No, that can’t be. It can’t. Don’t tell me. No, I don’t believe you!” He briefly paused before asking, “Really?”

“Yep,” Shi Hang replied.

Aurous trembled, his entire body shook. His jaw dropped to the floor, as did his phone. He sat there for a few minutes, just staring at his screen in shock. There, black on white, was that name. Lin Feng. Maple. Maple! He finally reached down and grabbed his phone. He placed it against his ear and said, “He was that young? I heard things, but… And now… Collegiate Cup? He, this, why? Why would he… Is he coming back? Is he going pro again? Are we finally…” His shock from learning who Lin Feng was and the realization that his Fudan University team hadn’t the slightest chance of beating him disappeared as quickly as it came and was replaced with a trace of hope and excitement. He smiled and asked, “Is he coming back? I want to play against him.”

Shi Hang laughed and replied, “Yeah, he’s coming back. And it’s starting to look like it won’t be much longer now.”

Lin Feng sat on an office chair at a tv table, playing League of Legends on his laptop. It was the best he could manage in the hotel he was staying at. “Just a bit more, almost there. Almost there…” he mumbled to himself, laser focused on his screen. He almost didn’t hear the door to his room opening or An Xin walking in. He briefly glanced at her and asked, “What’re you doing here?”

“Just checking in on you,” An Xin replied. She pulled a second office chair over and sat down next to Lin Feng, then leaned towards him to look at his screen. “Oh?” she said. “Still on your Korean account, I see.”

Lin Feng replied, “I have to—” He suddenly narrowed his eyes a bit and stopped listening to An Xin. The game he was playing had started slowly with a laning phase that saw no winner. Moving into the middle game, both teams started fighting more and more aggressively for game objectives. Towers fell and Dragons were slain. And then, right when An Xin walked into the room and Lin Feng lost his focus for just a moment, the opponent engaged Baron Nashor. “I have to focus,” he finished.

A ward revealed the Baron pit to Lin Feng’s team, showing them that all five opponents were there fighting the big, purple worm. Two players from Lin Feng’s team hovered around the entrance to the Baron pit. They were searching for a way to stop the enemy from slaying Baron Nashor, or at least to buy their teammates some time to arrive. It looked like a losing battle for Lin Feng’s team.

Lin Feng’s Fizz ran through the mid lane and up into Red team’s Jungle. The opponents were huddled against the back wall, creating as much distance as they could from the entrance and the two Champions from Lin Feng’s team there. But that left them vulnerable from behind.

When Lin Feng’s Fizz arrived behind the baron pit, he cast his ultimate skill–Chum the Waters! A small fish flew at Red team’s Lucian and started swimming around him, a portal to the deep opening up beneath him. It grew in size and a dark shadow could be seen swimming in the depths below. Lin Feng’s Fizz then dashed through Lucian with Urchin Strike! He followed up with Seastone Trident, empowering his basic attacks! Megalodon jumped from the water and knocked Lucian and two more enemy Champions up into the air! Lin Feng’s Fizz continued by dealing an auto attack and then planting his trident in the ground and hopping on top of it–Playful!

《You have slain an enemy!》

Three crowd control skills hit where Lin Feng’s Fizz was. But on top of his trident, he was untargetable. Lucian died and Lin Feng focused his attention on the other carry on the opponent’s team. Ziggs. He hopped down on Ziggs and dealt splash damage with the skill Trickster! That also made him targetable again. Two more crowd control skills flew at him.

Lin Feng smiled. He glanced at Zhonya’s Hourglass in his inventory and activated it. Golden grains of sand rained down from the sky and stuck to only Fizz, placing him in stasis. The crowd control skills shot right through him and disappeared. Lin Feng took a deep breath and mumbled, “… And now my teammates help.”

The two teammates from Lin Feng who were at the Baron pit entrance finally reacted. They charged at their opponents and unleashed their full damage combos. Lin Feng’s Fizz left stasis a brief moment later. He cast Ignite on Ziggs and followed up by auto attacking Ziggs with his still empowered trident!

《Double kill!》

Lin Feng’s opponent lost its two carries and was getting attacked not only by Lin Feng and his teammates, but also by Baron Nashor. It didn’t take much effort to kill all of them, Lin Feng picking up one more kill in the process. His team then shifted their focus towards Baron Nashor and killed it, claiming its buff.

This play hurled Lin Feng’s team in front in every aspect of the game, and before long they were knocking on the enemy’s base. Inhibitor towers fell, followed by inhibitors. Super minions spawned and marched down the lanes, assisting Lin Feng’s team as they lay siege on the Nexus towers. And finally, after another ace, Lin Feng’s team destroyed the two Nexus towers and the Nexus to win the game.

VICTORY!

Lin Feng leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his neck. He then looked at An Xin and asked, “What were we talking about again? Something about…”

“About the fact you’re still playing on the Korean server,” An Xin said, smiling. She nodded, impressed, and added, “You’re in pretty good form from the looks of it. How many have you won so far today?”

“I think, uhm, I don’t…” Lin Feng started. He scrunched his eyes and nose, thinking really hard, before sighing and opening his character page. It showed five wins in the last five games, three of which were from the day. He stuck up three fingers, and said, “Three.”

An Xin looked at Lin Feng. She noticed how his back wasn’t quite as straight as it usually was and how the grin on his face didn’t have that lively energy it usually had. Is he flexing his shoulders…? She asked, “What’s wrong? Isn’t three wins good? And you’re pretty high up on the Korean Challenger ladder too!”

“Yeah, yeah… I guess,” Lin Feng replied, grimacing. “It’s just. You see, I’ve only got a few more days left and still so far to go! Look at this! Look! I’m only Rank 24! And how long do I have left? Tonight just a bit, but not too much because we lost so much time eating!”

“And whose fault was that?” An Xin interjected, giggling.

Lin Feng didn’t seem to notice her joke. He put up a second finger and continued, “Then there’s tomorrow. The next day we’ve got the semis, so I can’t play until we’re through to the Finals. Which are two days later. Which means I only have the day before Finals to get all the way to the Top 3! You know how little time that is? That’s like… two days and four nights!”

An Xin smiled and said, “From what I recall, One wanted you to reach the Top 5. You’re now Rank 24, so that means you’ve got 19 ranks to go. That’s not too bad, especially not for someone as good as you.”

“Yeah yeah, usually,” Lin Feng replied. He leaned back in his chair again and sighed, annoyed. He then shot up from his chair and flung his arms at his laptop. “But do you know what they’re doing?” he blurted. “They’re banning my Champions! They’re camping my lane! They’re trying to make my life impossible! It’s like they know they’re playing against me in Champion Select, but they can’t know that! Why are they only banning my Champions!?”

An Xin pulled Lin Feng back down on his chair and ruffled his hair. She winked at him and said, “What did you expect, silly? Did you think One would give you an easy challenge? This is a test. Show One and everyone else you’ve still got it.”

Lin Feng pulled himself free from An Xin’s grasp and grinned a bit brighter than before. He clenched his fist and said, “I know! That’s why I can’t waste even a second! I need to get into my next game and win again! Maybe I can hit the Top 20 tonight! That’d make my life so much easier!”

“Well, at least you’re motivated,” An Xin said, winking. She then briefly paused, hesitating, before asking, “Oh, right, that reminds me. You heard it too, right? The Beijing Esports Association’s President is going to present the championship trophy to the winners of the Winter Collegiate Cup.”

Lin Feng’s eyes grew round and wide. He slowly turned his head to look at An Xin and replied, “Oh? That so? I might’ve heard something similar…”

An Xin narrowed her eyes and smiled. She said, “I remember a little bit of something. Hmm, what was it again? Something, something, last name Lin. Right! There’s you, Lin Feng, and then there’s the president of the Beijing Esports Association Lin—”

“He is? Wow! Hahaha!” Lin Feng interrupted, awkward. He turned his head away from An Xin and focused on his screen right as the queue popped. He pointed at the pop up notification and said, “Look! Look! Game! I need to focus! Game! I need to play!”

“Mm-hmm,” An Xin replied, giggling. She then got up from her chair and added, “This chair is terrible. I don’t get how you sit on it for so long. I’m gonna go for a walk and then sleep. Good luck with your games and see you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good! Yeah, yeah! Goodnight! Bye! Close the door behind you!” Lin Feng said, staring at his screen.

At the door, An Xin turned around one last time. Lin Feng still wasn’t looking in her direction. She smiled and mouthed, “Idiot.” And then she closed the door behind her. The strain of the day was too much. She knew it the moment she got up from the office chair, and now it hit. Her knees buckled and her legs went limp. She lost balance and fell to the floor, catching herself on the door handle. She bit down hard on her teeth and closed her eyes, forcing herself back up and leaning against the wall for support. Breathing heavily, she searched for the strength in her legs and then for her balance.

“BunBun?” Chu Fang asked, worried. He’d just walked out from Zeng Rui’s room and saw An Xin pulling herself up on the door handle. “Are you okay? Is Lin Feng not letting you in?”

An Xin took a long, deep breath, gathering herself. She then lightly pushed herself off the wall and turned her head to look at Chu Fang. She forced a smile on her lips and said, “You know him, probably caught up in a game of League. And then when I wanted to turn around and go to bed I kicked myself against the back of my foot and stumbled.”

Chu Fang looked at An Xin and shook his head. He said, “Be careful, BunBun. We need you in top condition for the next two rounds. Uh, do you want to say goodnight to Lin Feng?”

“NoNo!” An Xin replied, waving her arms. She smiled a bit brighter and continued, “I don’t want to interrupt him. I know how focused he is on reaching the top of the Korean ladder, and he’s almost there! I’ll just go to bed and I’ll see him in the morning.” She briefly paused and then added, “Thanks, Chu Fang.”

“Alright,” Chu Fang replied. He looked at her again and scratched the side of his head. She stumbled while standing still…? How? But she looks okay… He moved his lips around for a bit before finally saying, “Alright, if you say so. Just be a bit more careful, okay? Now get some rest and don’t forget to brush your teeth!”

An Xin bit on her teeth and walked across the hallway to her room, showing to Chu Fang that she was okay. She then twirled around victoriously and said, “I never forget!”

After Chu Fang entered his room, An Xin turned back around and looked at her door. She reached out to it with her right hand and touched the handle, tried to grab it, but no sensation was registering in her mind. She bit on her lips as tears appeared in her eyes. It’s back. I’ve lost the feeling in my hand again. It went so well. It’s been more than a month since the last time I had it this bad. But now… She shook her head, trying to get rid of the tears. She then tried to open the door again, but her right hand wouldn’t cooperate. No! NO! It felt like the world collapsed around her again, just like when the doctor had first diagnosed her and explained to her what it meant for the rest of her life. I won’t let this rule my life! I WON’T!

The Winter Collegiate Cup Quarterfinals drew to a close. The fans turned off their streams, left the message boards and went home from the stadium. But they wouldn’t be bored waiting for the Semifinals to start, because there was always more League of Legends to go around. More specifically, the 2016 LPL Spring Split had started. The best teams in China were playing against each other again on a weekly basis, constantly adapting to the latest patch. And there was something even more exciting going on beyond just that. Something that was drawing far more discussion among the fans. The return of AyDeeCee to Team Rapids.

There were online forums dedicated to Shi Hang, where his fans gathered and discussed their love for their idol.

「IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII HES BACKKKKKK」

「I still can’t believe it… He’s really back. AyDeeCee is back!」

「Best player China ever had! We’re going to return to our Season 1 prime!」

「ITS BETTER THAN HAVIN A WET DREAM!!!!」

「I’m so excited to see how good he is these days!」

「Ppl laughed at me for my AyDeeCee bodypollw but Ialwysa knew!」

「Go watch the highlights from the East China Regionals! He subbed in a game there!」

But not everyone was happy with AyDeeCee’s return. There were those who were jealous of his skill and envied all the attention he was getting. And then there were those who were upset that AyDeeCee was stealing the limelight from their favourite Midlaners.

「bet ye its just publicity stunt」

「HE COULD BE MY FUCKIN GRANPA!!!!」

「We should send a cane to the LPL. Give it as a welcome back present! HARHARHAR」

「HERMES>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> aydeecee」

「He was a great player back in the day. Now prolly he sucks donkey balls」

「Cant wait to see him get FUCKING REKT111111」

From there it devolved into a pointless argument that went on for days. Some people grabbed large buckets of popcorn and an ice-cold beer to enjoy the drama, while others furiously typed on their keyboards.

「Lolololol, noobs thinking hermes is good BEST JOKE OF 2016!!!」

「whose got the popcorn? i need moaaarrrrrr」

「Let’s be real here, guys. Daybreak Hermes is a good Midlaner. But that’s just it. He good, not great.」

「Moon and Phoenix are great. Rake is God. Hermes is the court jester!!!!」

「LMAO BEST DRAMA EVVAAAHHHHHH :pepe_laugh:」

「china sucks………」

「hermes < diamond < real pros」

「aydeecee <<<<<<< hermessss!!!!!!」

「I”LL FUCKING FIGHT YOU! I LIVE ON 742 EVERGREEN TERRACE! COME FIGHT ME!」

「lol, can you believe that ^^^^^^ guy? XD」

The HermBuds were up in arms. They were furious and livid that people dared to besmirch the name of their general. Their emperor.

「THATS TOTALLY DIFFERENT YOU CANT COMPARE HERMES WITH RAKE」

「Did you not watch Worlds? Hermes beat an emperor!!! He’s got the skill!」

「hes right up there with moon and phoenix!!!!!」

「FUCKING BOOMERS GETTING ALL SMUG just accept that aydeecee sucks babyballs!」

「King Hermes will soon be crowned EMPEROR HERMES!!!」

「THIS IS HIS YEAR!」

「EMPEROR HERMES! EMPEROR HERMES!」

There was a small group of fans reading the online forums who’d been following the League scene from the beginning, way back during Season 1. They vividly remembered how it was back then. 

「kids talking big… back in season 1 at the height of China’s League presence, there was no Hermes」

「^that. And AyDeeCee wasn’t the best Midlaner either. He was second best」

「you kids dont know because of how hard the Chinese Esports Association tried to erase the past, but…」

「But we had an emperor. We had a guy who could beat Phoenix and who could fight Rake」

「Remember the name. Maple. He is the best. THeres no on else but him. HE GOATCHAMP」

「Man what I’d give to see him play again… that dude was something else. The way he just won…」

「Getting goosebumps just thinking about him! MAPLE IS MY HERO!」

✹

There was a second post that started garnering more and more attention. It was a post detailing the Chinese players on the Korean Challenger ladder. The rivalry between South Korea and China was intense. So much so that the Korean Challenger ladder had turned into a battleground; one that had to be conquered by the Chinese players. But no Chinese player had managed to do that yet. No one had even come close. In fact, most of the players from China who made it to Challenger on the Korean server were fighting desperately to hold on to their rank and not slip back to Master.

Fans argued that if their personal heroes from the LPL were to play on the Korean server, they could make it to the Top 10 in Challenger. But professional players generally didn’t have the spare time to worry about their rank in solo queue, especially not on a server with high latency. And so the great shame had persisted for years, with no one looking like they might break it. Until now. The CN•HOOK2 account was climbing up the ladder and quickly approaching the Top 10.

「CNHOOK THE HERO WE DESEERRVVEEEEE」

「did you see him play that viktor the other day? my god hes good!」

「I wonder who he is…」

「has to be like hermes, right? Yeah, has to be.」

「He went from 250 to 30 WITHIN A MONTH!!!!!!! HOW!?!??!?!??!?!」

「You know what that means, right? RIGHT RIHGIHTIHRIHIHGITIHITHIHANHAIHAHH!H!!」

「HES GONNA CLIMB TO THE TOP!!!!」

「HES GONNA BEAT RAKE!!!!!」

「HES GONNA BRING PRIDE TO OUR NATION!!!!!」

「HES GONNA GET FACES FOR US ALLL!!!!!!」

「LONG LIVE THE HOOK2!!!!!!」

Season 5 had officially ended and Season 6 had started in most regards. But the ranked ladders hadn’t reset yet. The Korean ladder would reset at the end of the week, giving CN•HOOK2 a few more days to make it to the top. It was that time pressure that made it so much more exciting to the Chinese League of Legends fans. They clicked on the refresh button with sweaty palms and were scouring the internet for livestreams, desperate to witness how high CN•HOOK2 would climb before the ladder reset.

「How far do you think he can go?」

「Top 20?」

「NO WAY DOWNER! TOP 10 AT THE LEAST!!!!!」

「getting a bit ahead of yourself there… top 30 is already hella impressive」

「but just imagine… top 5! OR TOP 3! UP THERE WITH RAKE! OMGOMGOGMOGM!!!」

「guysguysguys, shut up for a second. Listen. We need to find out who he is! Where are the detectives!?!?」

「whoever he is, he’s gonna make the koreans maaaaaad」

「its gonna be soooooo good to laugh at the koreans after he hits the top 3!!!!」

「yeah yeah. But WHO IS HE!?!?!?!?」

「HE”S OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR! HE”S WHAT WE DESERVE!!! A TRUE HERO!!!」

After U-Tech Beijing, Team Shanghai was the second team to qualify for the Winter Collegiate Cup Semifinals. They did that by beating Shenyang University 3-1, a surprising result to many. Sure, the fans had watched the highlights from the East China Regionals. And yes, they’d seen the highlights from Guangzhou where Team Shanghai stomped the Korean wonder duo of Seo and Goalie into the ground. But they always had an excuse ready, a reason why Team Shanghai’s accomplishments weren’t ‘all that’. “AyDeeCee hasn’t played for years, what did you expect?” “Goalie is just having an off day.”

The series against Shenyang University was the final drop in the bucket. It got rid of the last few doubters. No one argued any longer about whether or not Team Shanghai belonged at the Winter Collegiate Cup. After not just beating, but crushing the third ranked team from the previous tournament, Team Shanghai more than deserved to be recognized. They were the team to watch out for. They were the ones to beat.

The usual haughty Beijing locals forgot about their superiority complex. A powerful urge drove them to silence as they waited for Team Shanghai to exit their soundproof booths. It was a strange moment fueled by pure admiration. They watched the door to the soundproof booth open. Zeng Rui and Tang Bingyao walked out and they stayed quiet. An Xin and Zhang Hao walked out and they stayed quiet. And then Lin Feng walked out. A roar so powerful that it shook the entire stadium on its vestiges exploded from the audience. It slammed into the players from the other competing teams, sending shivers up and down their spines, before hitting Team Shanghai.

Zhang Hao gasped at the crowd and muttered, “Wow!”

Tang Bingyao’s mouth dropped open. She meekly muttered, “F-for us?” 

“For him,” An Xin said, pointing at Lin Feng with her thumb. “Always for him.”

Lin Feng looked up at the audience and grinned. He waved and shouted, “Thanks! Thanks! I know right! My Fizz is amazing! I totally carried that game!”

An Xin sighed and mumbled, “Idiot.” She then pulled Lin Feng by his arm and said to him, “Come, come. The guys from Shenyang are waiting to shake our hands.”

“Oh, oh right!” Lin Feng replied. He followed An Xin towards the middle of the stage.

The players from Shenyang University greeted the players from Team Shanghai, forced smiles on their faces. They bowed towards Team Shanghai and their Midlaner said, “You were the better team today. Congratulations and good luck in the next round.”

Team Shanghai returned the bow and thanked Shenyang University for their good luck wishes. They then turned to look at the audience and bowed towards them. It was the moment the fans had been waiting for. Lin Feng was giving them his attention. They chanted his name, “Lin Feng! Win Feng! Lin Feng!”

✹

The second half of the Quarterfinals were played that same afternoon. First up were Team Beijing and China University of Political Science and Law. Team Shanghai sat in the player seating area and were eager to watch this series. This far in the tournament, their odds of drawing either team for the next round grew exponentially, and every bit of information on their opponent could mean the difference between winning and losing.

Zeng Rui pulled out a notebook and flipped to a specific page. The top of the page read ‘Team Beijing, Preparations’. To him, there wasn’t a question about who was going to win, but how Team Beijing was going to win. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the players walk up on stage and then scribbled down that Team Beijing was playing their strongest lineup. He then flipped to the next page and held his pen ready to write down every small detail he noticed.

Lin Feng turned his head to look at Zeng Rui and scrunched his nose. Why’s he doing this? He always has that notebook on him and he’s always scribbling stuff down. And it’s definitely not notes for a webnovel about a group of high schoolers who play League! And the more he writes, the more he’ll have to explain at practice! When the realisation hit him, he groaned loud enough for his teammates to look at him. Shitshitshit—SHIT! He smiled like a peasant with a toothache and assured them everything was all right. He then glanced at Zeng Rui again. Still writing. So weird… He’s like Four!

Four! Lin Feng smacked himself on the forehead and exclaimed, “How could I forget!?”

Tang Bingyao looked at Lin Feng and tilted her head. She asked, “Hmm? Forget what?”

“Well… Hm. No, nevermind. Its nothing!” Lin Feng replied, grinning. He then scratched the back of his head and chewed on his lips. That’s who ZengZeng reminds me of! How did it take me this long to see the resemblance? Am I blind o? I’m so stupid sometimes! But I definitely need to introduce ZengZeng to Four! That’ll be so much fun! Yush! I’ma do that! Right after this series, maybe…

The first game between Team Beijing and the China University of Political Science and Law started. And ended 20 minutes later. Team Beijing was simply the better team. They crushed their lanes and then the game. And it was in similar fashion that they won the second and third games of the series. None of them lasted for more than 20 minutes.

“Hot damn!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “They’re out for blood!”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh!” Zhang Hao agreed, nodding. He turned his head to look at Lin Feng and replied, “They’re like making a statement after your Fizz game! Trying to show they’re better!”

Lin Feng laughed and said, “They can try! But my Fizz is still better!”

An Xin smiled and suggested, “Maybe they’re trying a bit harder because they’re playing on home ground. They can’t disappoint their fans.”

“Oh,” Lin Feng replied, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess that makes sense too…”

✹

One series remained in the Winter Collegiate Cup Quarterfinals. It was an East China party, with Fudan University and Zhejiang University fighting for the fourth and final spot in the Semifinals. The two sides had played against each other in practice and official matches countless times. They were evenly matched and showed as much in this series.

Zhejiang University started the first game by invading Fudan University’s Jungle at Level 1 and picking up a kill on their Jungler. That set Fudan University a bit behind and they never managed to claw their way back from that. They eventually lost the first game after 50 minutes of playing. And then they turned it around on Zhejiang University in the second game, copying Zhejiang University’s Level 1 invade and claiming the win after 50 minutes.

The third game of the series was all Fudan University. They got the better Champions in Champion Select and managed to let that advantage dictate the outcome of the game. But then they started to realise they might win this series. Their nerves got the better of them and they fumbled up the fourth game of the series, basically giving it to Zhejiang University for free.

It all came down to the all deciding fifth game. Both sides fought for all they were worth. It was a bitter struggle that went back and forth. Both teams slipped up. Both teams made beautiful plays. And in the end it was Fudan University who drew the longest straw. They won a teamfight at the Baron pit, and rather than killing Baron Nashor, they charged down the mid lane, took down the inhibitor tower, inhibitor, nexus towers and the Nexus before Zhejiang University respawned.

“Wow!” Zhang Hao exclaimed. “That was crazy! Absolutely great! Did you guys see how good Fudan played that? They knew they had the chance to finish it! I would have stuck to Baron, but they went and finished the game! That was so cool!”

Lin Feng grinned and said, “Yeah, Zhejiang University is really missing AyDeeCee. But Fudan’s Midlaner played way better than in the previous rounds. He was almost as good as Goalie!”

“Correct,” Zeng Rui said, browsing through his notebook before stopping on a specific page. He traced his finger over his scribbles and read, “Qiu Yijie, Midlaner and team captain for Fudan University. A- grade player, bordering A grade. Can reach A+ grade on a good day. Still improving.”

✹

Aurous was a student at Fudan University and the Midlaner for the LPL team Light Dynasty. He was also a good friend of Shi Hang. After he watched his University beat Shi Hang’s, he grabbed his phone and waited for the call to connect. And then he blurted, “Told you! Fucking told you! Didn’t I tell you? We’re the best! We were last year and we are this year too!”

Shi Hang laughed and replied, “Yeah yeah, you beat us. Grats mate! Fudan played that really well. And the Qiu guy played really surprisingly well that series.”

“I know! I know! I trained him myself, of course he’s great!” Aurous said, proud. “You know, in a couple of years when I retire, I plan on having him follow in my footsteps! He’s already an A grade Midlaner. Just give him a bit more time and he’s right up there with me and you and the other good Midlaners! He can already stand his ground in the LSPL no problem! I’m sure of it! And better yet, you lost! Fudan is the best! We’re gonna be the champions!”

Shi Hang shook his head and replied, “I know Light Dynasty isn’t doing too hot, but isn’t it a little low to get so excited over winning some kids’ tourney?”

“The kids’ tourney you played in!” Aurous fired back, laughing.

“I did! It was fun,” Shi Hang replied, chuckling.

“Yo, dude. What the fuck?” Aurous said. He briefly paused and then asked, “Why aren’t you fighting me here? You should be mad that I’m gloating! Come on, you know the game! I gloat, you get mad; you gloat, I get mad. And then we get a beer!”

Shi Hang shrugged and said, “Don’t matter who won this round. Fudan or Zhejiang… You know, usually we have a shot of winning the tournament. There’s still excitement, you know? But this time… Heck, you guys might reach the Finals if you get a lucky draw. But you won’t win the Finals. And it’s kind of difficult to get mad when I know how hard you’re gonna get your asses kicked.”

“Huh? What?” Aurous asked. He scrunched his eyebrows, thought for a few seconds, and then continued, “Is this Shi ‘SuperMysterious’ Hang? Come on, can’t you just tell me? It’s that kid, right? Lin Feng? Tell me who he is already! I’m dying from curiosity here! I need to know! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!”

“Nope. You’ll find out soon enough,” Shi Hang replied, laughing like Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

✹

The president of the Chinese Esports Association sat behind his desk in the Beijing headquarters. There was a stack of files on his desk detailing the four teams still competing for the Winter Collegiate Cup. The bottom four files were on the teams, and the top file was on Lin Feng. His name was highlighted with bright red ink and the president was staring at it. He knew.

Everyone on Shenyang University’s team was more than aware of Lin Feng’s skill with Assassin-type midlane champions. Lin Feng wasn’t just good at playing Assassin-type midlane champions. He wasn’t just a strong player on them. He wasn’t just dominating, unstoppable and legendary. Nope. He was something else entirely—He was a force of nature!

But Lin Feng had a few good reasons for going the Control Mage route in the series against Shenyang University. First and foremost among those reasons was that Shenyang’s Midlaner wasn’t anywhere near good enough to make Lin Feng really try. He didn’t need to play his best or even his second best Champions. But rather than goofing around on his favourite Champions, Lin Feng decided to practice with Champions he didn’t regularly play. There were two goals this served. First off, he wouldn’t reveal just how good he was at his favourite Champions to the other competing teams. And secondly, it deepened his Champion pool for his Korean account. He only had a few more days left to climb the final spots and to ensure he won every game he played, he had to be able to pick the optimal Champion for every situation.

Shenyang University didn’t have the luxury of holding back. They had their backs pushed against the wall, loaded guns aimed at them. And the entire situation was their fault, because they weren’t playing near the level they knew they could. It just took them two full games to realize that. Between the second and the third game, they took a small break and walked away from the stage to reset their mental. They walked around the stadium and watched the fans, listened to the cheers and reminded themselves why they were here, what they were here for. To win!

When Shenyang University returned to their computers, they were ready. Reinvigorated. They recognized that with Lin Feng playing Control Mage-type Champions, the late game was nearly impossible to win. That just meant that they had to win it early. So they chose Champions that excelled at the laning phase. They also recognized that the midlane wasn’t a lane they could ever win, and that Team Shanghai’s top lane was their weakest link. So they used the top lane to kickstart their other lanes.

Zhang Hao didn’t see it come. He was just feeling comfortable enough in the series to pick Ryze, a late game Champion. But Ryze had no escape mechanics and a very small health pool during the laning phase. In the first 5 minutes of the game, he was killed three times. Two of those deaths were to Shenyang’s Toplaner who was playing Fiora. And a fed Fiora was dangerous.

Shenyang University made full use of their Fiora. They helped her pull further and further ahead and by the 14th minute, the 4,000 gold advantage they enjoyed was almost entirely on her. She ran around the map and through Team Shanghai’s Jungle. She killed Tang Bingyao, Zeng Rui and An Xin. She went in one versus four and dove towers whenever she felt like it. The only times she grew cautious, the only times she retreated, was when Lin Feng’s Lulu came close to her. That was the one fight she didn’t want to pick.

It took Shenyang University until the 30th minute to get the confidence they needed to take on Lin Feng’s Lulu. They were laying siege on the inhibitor tower in midlane, with a boost from the Baron Buff, when Tang Bingyao made a slight positional error. Fiora noticed and Lunged. She dove the tower and took Tang Bingyao’s Jinx out with a flurry of attacks, spawning a Healing Field. Shenyang University made full use of that to take out the rest of Team Shanghai, Lin Feng’s Lulu included. From there it was an easy win. They took down the inhibitor tower, inhibitor, nexus towers and finally the nexus. The Blue energy within broke free and morphed into the victory emblem for them.

VICTORY

“WOOOOOO!”“WE’VE GOT A REAL GAME ON OUR HANDS NOW!”

“FRIGGIN FINALLY! WAS ABOUT DAMN TIME!”

“SHENYANG FOR THE WIIIIIN!”

“MASSIVE PLAYS BY FIORA!”

Sun Ruinian sat in the player seating area with his teammates from Zhejiang University. He clicked his tongue and said, “Shenyang’s good. This is what I remember them like. When they get going, they’re just so good at coordination and map-wide plays. It’s really killer.”

Zou Cheng sighed in disappointment and said, “Why is Lin Feng playing Support mids? He went Lulu for fucks sake! What did he expect would happen? He doesn’t do any damage! He just flutters around all useless and his team is nothing without him! They need him to carry! Yeah, yeah, it’s a team game. I know. I know. Really, I do! But what did they expect? They’ve got a tanky Jungler with Sejuani and then they put their worst two players on Ryze and Jinx. It’s like they wanted to lose this game!”

“Maybe,” Sun Ruinian replied. He looked at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth and added, “One thing’s for certain though. If Lin Feng played LeBlanc or Fizz, this game would’ve been over.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Zou Cheng exclaimed.

Zhang Hongyi sat a couple of rows away from Zhejiang University. He glanced at them and then back at the large LCD screen above the stage. He chuckled and said, “What a bunch of idiots. Talking like Team Shanghai’s got this in the bag. I don’t see it. How can they possibly win with Zeng ‘SucksAlot’ Rui? Scrubs!”

Yu Ping shook his head and breathed out loudly. Zhang Hongyi needs to stop worrying so much about that Support. We’ve got our work cut out for us if we need to play Team Shanghai. Their Midlaner… Those guys from Zhejiang are most likely right. If he plays LeBlanc or Fizz, this series is over.

✹

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and said over the team’s voice chat, “Alright, that was enough fun for one day. Let’s just end it here.” He turned his head to look at An Xin and continued, “BunBun, camp the shit out of top. Get HaoBro to Legendary! I’ll do the same in mid and ZengZeng will help Tang Tang do the same in bot! We’ll go triple Legendary and smack some asses!”

Zhang Hao grimaced and replied, “I’m really so—”

“Uh, no you’re not,” An Xin interrupted. She glared at Lin Feng and continued, “It’s DimFeng’s fault that you fell so far behind. He was just messing around and pinging way too late whenever Shenyang’s Midlaner went to gank top. But he’s right about one thing. We need to win this next one. Let’s play our best.”

“Mhm!” Tang Bingyao agreed, nodding vigorously.

✹

In the fourth game of the series between Team Shanghai and Shenyang University, Team Shanghai played the Red team. That meant that they had the last pick in Champion Select. Lin Feng waited to see Shenyang’s University’s line up, grinned, and locked in Fizz. He clenched his fist and mumbled, “It’s time to rock ‘n roll!”

Everyone across the globe who knew him, knew what was coming next. Su Xue was jumping up and down in her chair, both relieved and excited. Her viewers were losing it, spamming her chat to show their adoration for Lin Feng. Even Yu Ping, who’d only watched Lin Feng play and had never even come across him in solo queue, shifted in his chair. He knew he was in for a good show.

At 4 minutes: Lin Feng’s Fizz picked up first blood on Shenyang’s Twisted Fate.

At 6 minutes: Lin Feng’s Fizz hit Level 6 before Shenyang’s Twisted Fate did. He used this advantage to jump on Twisted Fate and kill him, all the while watching the movements from Shenyang’s Lee Sin who was running into the lane. Lin Feng timed his cooldowns perfectly and ran around the lane with such precision that Lee Sin couldn’t hit a single kill. And then Lin Feng picked up the double kill.

At 8 minutes: Lin Feng tagged along with An Xin on a trip to the top lane, where they towerdove Shenyang’s Rumble. He picked up the kill. It was his fourth of the game.

At 10 minutes: Lin Feng’s Fizz swam through the river to the bot lane, where Shenyang’s Lee Sin tried to gank Tang Bingyao and Zeng Rui. He helped to turn the gank around, picking up two kills and an assist, bringing his score to an impressive 6/0/1.

At 18 minutes: Lin Feng’s Fizz picked up his second solo kill on Shenyang’s Twisted Fate in as many minutes. It was his eighth kill of the game and the voice announcer broadcasted this by calling him Legendary!

“Dude… Da fuck? What’s this game?”

“I don’t know… That Fizz… Holy mother of my father who bangs my brother, he’s so good!”

“Feels like I’m watching a game of solo queue… There’s no teamwork or anything, just a hard carry by Fizz.”

“Pretty sure he doesn’t even need his teammates. Haven’t seen a stomp this bad in months!”

“My fucking god! Shenyang has fallen far. They’re getting solo’d by a fucking high schooler! They’re losing all face!”

“They’re already toothless, might as well be skinless…”

TheBrawnster shook his head, incredulous, and muttered, “Yo, yo, yo! TheBrawnster here to tell you that Shenyang sucks massive dongs! I guess… Jesus, what a game. What happened to them? They looked so good in Game 3 and then… Well, this. Whatever this is.”

“I know right!” PufPuf shrieked. “It’s like they gave up!”

Chu Fang chuckled. He could hear the gasps and murmurs from the audience behind him and he could see the pure shock in the people around him. What they were witnessing wasn’t a university level Midlaner outclassing another university level Midlaner. What they were witnessing was a stomp so hard that it felt like Lin Feng was Rake and Shenyang’s Midlaner a 600 Bronze nobody. Chu Fang grinned and mumbled, “You’re not yet where you were. But it’s good to see you try, because you’re still really damned good when you try. More than good enough to beat any team here, anyway.”

20 minutes after the game started, Lin Feng decided it was time to end Shenyang University’s suffering. He’d destroyed their hopes and dreams 15 minutes earlier, but now their Nexus collapsed too. The energy within broke free and morphed into the victory emblem. He grinned and looked over the rim of his monitor at the fans—his fans—who were on their feet and cheering. “For me,” he mumbled.

“Yo, Yo, Yo! TheBrawnster here with another great episode of the Winter Collegiate Cup!” TheBrawnster shouted into his microphone. He winked at PufPuf sitting next to him at the caster desk before continuing, “We’ve got ourselves two non-Beijing teams here, but you know they’re trying! Team Shanghai’s tryin’ a bit better here right now and Shenyang is just kinda falling behind.”

“But that’s not all!” PufPuf chimed in with her high pitched voice. She turned to face TheBrawnster and analysed, “Team Shanghai has got the late team power comp! Maokai and Thresh bring utility and tankiness, Orianna brings one of the most powerful crowd control skills in the entire game with her ultimate and then… Do I even need to mention Tristana?” She briefly paused for dramatic effect, and then yelled, “Tristana the hypercarry! When she gets to late game, there’s no stopping her!”

“OhOhOH!” TheBrawnster shouted into his microphone. “10 minutes in and it’s looking like Team Shanghai is about to make a play in mid! Let’s focus on the big ass screen above the stage and watch this play out.”

An Xin’s Lee Sin ran down the river towards the mid lane. The brush there was warded, revealing her location to Shenyang’s Ziggs. “Lin Feng!” she said over the team’s voice chat, while her Lee Sin ran into the lane and fired a Sonic Wave at Ziggs.

Lin Feng grinned and cast Command: Protect! Orianna sent her Ball to Lee Sin and placed a shield on him. It continued following Lee Sin as he dashed at Ziggs with Resonating Strike. This opened the next play in Lin Feng’s playbook. He watched his screen carefully for the activation of Ziggs’ Explosive Satchel, with which Ziggs could jump away to safety. When Lin Feng spotted the start of the animation, he cast Command: Shockwave! A powerful shockwave of electromagnetic energy exploded out of the Ball! It washed over Ziggs and pulled him out of his dash and towards the epicenter!

“Watch me! Watch me!” Lin Feng exclaimed over the team’s voice chat, laughing. He theatrically lifted his finger and then pushed down on the W key to cast Command: Dissonance! That was just the right amount of damage needed to finish the Ziggs. But before his Orianna cast the skill, An Xin’s Lee Sin hit Ziggs with a roundhouse kick and sent him flying straight into the afterlife.

“Woops,” An Xin said, smiling.

“BunBun! You stole my kill! That was a killsteal!” Lin Feng complained. He pursed his lips and glared at An Xin, then continued grumbling, “Why would you do that? I had the kill. That kill wasn’t even worth anything to you—”

An Xin glanced at Lin Feng and winked. She said, “Alright, that’s enough out of you. We still need to win this. Bit more focus, bit less trolling.” She then pinged on the Dragon pit and added, “Time to rotate and take Dragon. Bot team, push that wave in and let’s go.”

TheBrawnster nodded, impressed. He raised his microphone to his lips and said, “Ye know? Ye know? I hate to say this. You guys know me, you know I know us Beijing peepz are the best! But. Its gotta be said… Team Shanghai is playing a pretty mean game here. Get a kill and then Dragon and suddenly BOOM they’re 3k gold ahead!”

✹

The advantage Team Shanghai had over Shenyang University was mostly concentrated in the mid lane and Jungle. Lin Feng was on the fast track to becoming an absolute monster and An Xin’s Lee Sin was right behind him. Shenyang University responded to this by putting all their focus on the mid lane, making sure Lin Feng couldn’t pull any further ahead in terms of kills. He was allowed to farm and that was it. But they couldn’t put that same kind of pressure on An Xin. She slipped right outside the ward coverage from Shenyang University, farming Jungle camps and looking for opportunities to gank.

At 14 minutes, An Xin spotted an opening in the bot lane. She snuck into Red team’s bottom side jungle near the mid lane and said over the team’s voice chat, “Get ready. I’m coming for a gank bot.”

Team Shanghai had destroyed Shenyang University’s outer tower in the bot lane a couple of minutes earlier. Shenyang’s Jinx was currently farming minions somewhere between the ruins of her outer tower and her inner tower, while Shenyang’s Janna floated into her Jungle to drop down a couple of wards and get some more vision.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” Zou Cheng cried out from the player seating area. He was jumping on his chair and said to Sun Ruinian next to him, “Look at the Lee Sin roam! It’s perfect! A perfect roam! It’s gonna be another kill! This game is over for Shenyang!”

An Xin’s Lee Sin arrived at the Gromp Camp. Directly behind it was a wall of trees and boulders and behind that was the bot lane where Shenyang’s Jinx was farming minions. An Xin rolled her shoulders once and breathed slowly. She gripped her mouse a bit harder and then her fingers started gliding across her keyboard.

Lee Sin placed a ward across the wall and hopped towards it with Safeguard! He followed up with a Sonic Wave! It was a straight line skillshot. In front of him stood a minion and behind that minion was Jinx. So he smote the minion with Smite and watched the discordant wave of sound slam into Jinx! A silver sigil appeared above her, unlocking Resonating Strike! Lee Sin activated this second part of his Q skill and dashed at Jinx! And finally he activated Dragon’s Rage and flashed behind her, roundhouse kicking her towards Zeng Rui’s Thresh who was already lining up the Death Sentence!

“Oh my god!” PufPuf shrieked into her microphone.

“Oh my fuckin’ god!” TheBrawnster added. He shook his head, incredulous. “Wow!”

PufPuf nodded and said, “This is a pretty common skill in solo queue. But to do it on the big stage? Wow!”

TheBrawnster nodded with wide open eyes and muttered, “The balls on that girl. Damn. She’s making mine feel small!”

Tang Bingyao’s Tristana Rocket Jumped on top of Shenyang’s Jinx as a fire blazed from the muzzle of her cannon. She started Rapid Firing cannonballs, tearing through Jinx’s health bar. Zeng Rui didn’t even have the time to Flay, nor did Jinx have the time to Flash before Tang Bingyao’s Tristana loaded a massive shell in her cannon and fired her Buster Shot!

《You have slain an enemy!》

Most of the people in the audience were locals. They’d applauded for Team Shanghai before, but their feeling of superiority had stopped them from cheering. That all changed now. It started with a few but soon everyone was up on their feet, throwing their arms in the air and cheering for Team Shanghai at the top of their lungs.

“WOOOOOOO!”

“THAT LEE! OMG!”

“SHE’S SOOOOOO GOOD!”

“KIIIIIIIL!”

“IT’S THE DRAGON’S RAAAAAGE!”

“MVP MATERIAL RIGHT THERE! WOOOOO!”

Zeng Rui breathed out loudly in a short burst. He turned his head to look at An Xin and said, “BunBun, what’s gotten into you? You’re on point!”

Tang Bingyao nodded and chimed in, “Mhm! That was really nice twice now!”

An Xin glanced at Zeng Rui and winked. She replied, “Thanks. Come, let’s take their Blue, it’s about to spawn. We’ll back to the fountain after that.” She then turned her head to look at Lin Feng and asked, “What about you? Got mid yet?”

“Uh-huh!” Lin Feng replied, grinning. While An Xin ganked bot, he’d kept the pressure up in mid. Shenyang’s Ziggs was refusing to fight him, which allowed him to focus his full attention on farming minions and attacking the outer tower. That outer tower was now almost destroyed. It needed just a few more hits and with no one defending it, that wouldn’t take longer than it took An Xin to kill the Blue Sentinel.

An Xin showcased a very high level of control over the game. This didn’t go unnoticed by the many people in the audience. They were all League fanatics and they could all see a great play when it presented itself. Their pretentious attitudes slipped up a bit. They forgot for a brief moment that they were superior and viewed An Xin as their equal.

“That Lee Sin is carrying so hard! I bet she could do what Atlas couldn’t!”

“I thought that Midlaner was their starplayer. He’s the one who beat Goalie, right?”

“Yeah he did. But, man, didn’t you watch that series? Go back and watch it, it was great! Anyway, that girl—the Jungler—she played mid in the third game and she smashed it!”

“Fuck yeah! Her Morgana ults were killing!”

“She’s such a good player! It’s crazy! I wish my girlfriend could play like that!”

“Maybe if you start jerking with both hands your ‘girlfriend’ can be!”

“Don’t get distracted! Stop getting distracted! Focus on this girl… The Lee! She’s a damn goddess!”

“She should become the official League Goddess!”

“Petition Riot and if they say no WE RIOT!”

✹

It was the 17th minute of the game. Team Shanghai had pulled ahead in every facet of the game and Shenyang University’s team was desperate. The Dragon spawned and that gave them an opportunity to get something back. So they ran towards it as a team, dropping wards down left and right, and hoped Team Shanghai wasn’t waiting for them there.

Team Shanghai wasn’t. Shenyang University got into the Dragon pit and engaged the Dragon. For a couple of seconds, it looked like they might even get the Dragon. But then they spotted Lee Sin walking over a ward and a blue light descended behind them, signaling the use of Maokai’s Teleport. They knew they couldn’t take the fight, even with Team Shanghai out of position. The Dragon had too much health remaining too. So they made the call to retreat, running back the way they came as quickly as they could.

“Stop them!” Zeng Rui shouted over the team’s voice chat.

“I’m trying!” Zhang Hao replied, pressing on his F key hoping that would make him Teleport faster.

There was a rare moment of panic in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. Zeng Rui saw a chance to end the game, but it was slipping from his control. And he dragged everyone down into his pit of worry. Until An Xin’s voice sounded over the team’s voice chat. She sounded like an angel descended from the Heavens. A goddess, even. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

An Xin’s Lee Sin arrived at the Jungle entrance through which Shenyang University was trying to escape and fired a Sonic Wave into the fog of war. It hit Gragas. “I’m going in. Follow up on me, Lin Feng,” An Xin said as she pushed down on the Q key to activate Resonating Strike.

Lin Feng grinned and replied, “Got it! You can count on me!” His Orianna was only a few steps behind An Xin’s Lee Sin. And after years of playing together, he knew exactly what she was going to do. All he had to do was make sure that his Orianna’s Ball was in the right place to hit the Command: Shockwave.

TheBrawnster grabbed his microphone from its stand and shouted into it, “TEAM SHANGHAI IS GOING FOR THE WOMBO COMBO!”

An Xin’s Lee Sin dashed at Gragas, placed a ward down behind him, hopped towards it with Safeguard and finally turned around with a roundhouse kick! Dragon’s Rage! The kick packed so much power that it lifted Gragas off his feet and sent him barreling into his teammates, knocking them up one by one!

Four players from Shenyang University were knocked up, briefly immobilized. An Xin had done her part. The next bit was up to Lin Feng. His Orianna’s Ball hovered above the ground in the middle of the four players from Shenyang University. A powerful shockwave of electromagnetic energy swept out! It washed over the four Champions and pulled them towards the epicenter! She followed up with Command: Dissonance! A second pulse of energy swept out! And for a final bout of damage Orianna cast Command: Attack!

《You have slain an enemy!》

《Double kill!》

Shenyang’s Jinx and Ziggs were dead right away, while Gragas and Darius lost most of their health. Janna was the only one still at full health, having Flashed away earlier to dodge Lee Sin’s Dragon’s Rage. But she was across a wall in the Blue Buff Camp, too far away from the fight to be of any help. The players from Team Shanghai weren’t. One by one they arrived and jumped in. Zhang Hao’s Maokai was the first in and the first out, blasted away by Gragas’ Explosive Cask. But that left Tang Bingyao’s Tristana free to jump in and fire away!

《You have slain an enemy!》

《Double kill!》

“That’s it! That’s gotta be it!” TheBrawnster shouted into his microphone. “Team Shanghai with the four kills and somehow, through all of that, Lee Sin survived! She’s the real MVP of this game!”

“Yiiiiii!” PufPuf shrieked, cheering. She turned her head to look at TheBrawnster and said, “Sexy Dragon’s Rage, sexy Ori ult and sexy Trist damage! Team Shanghai is the sexiest team of the Winter Collegiate Cup! Oh, and it’s game.”

✹

The game was over, but Team Shanghai still had to finish it out. They did that with Zeng Rui’s trademarked methodicalness. Slow and steady. They farmed minions, took down towers and played around Baron Nashor. It was only with a lead big enough where Lin Feng could practically 1 versus 5 that Zeng Rui made the call to push for Shenyang University’s Nexus. There was no contest by Shenyang University. No real one, anyway. They were simply too far behind. Their Champions fell like weeds to a weedwacker and their Nexus exploded shortly after.

VICTORY!

In Shenyang University’s soundproof booth, the team’s Midlaner shook his head and mumbled, “What a dick move. They could’ve ended it at 20 minutes but they just wouldn’t…”

Shenyang University’s Jungler shrugged and replied, “We’ve seen them do this before. Don’t mind them. Don’t let it get to your head. We need to focus on the next game. Let’s punish them for dicking around with us like this.”

“Yeah! Fuck them!” Shenyang University’s ad-carry exclaimed. He continued through gritted teeth, “Fucking low blow to draw a game out like that!”

✹

The second game was a near repeat of the first. In fact, a viewer could rewatch the first game and join any conversation about the second game. The biggest difference was that Lin Feng played Orianna, who was really just another control type mage, rather than Morgana. Everything else was the same, from getting the early lead to drawing it out to nearly 30 minutes before finally finishing the game in spectacular fashion.

This course of events didn’t go unnoticed by Fan Yuan who was the Beijing Esports Association’s vice-president. He stared at the large LCD screen with a gloomy expression and said to his team, “I expected so much better from Shenyang… They came in third last year for fucks sake! Can they really not even take a single game? How disappointing. They’re basically giving Team Shanghai a free pass to the semifinals…”

Zhang Hongyi nodded and added, “How sad.”

“Uh, guys?” Yu Ping said, turning his head to look at his teammates. He waited to get their attention and then pointed at the large LCD screen and asked, “Why’s that Midlaner playing a Control Mage all of a sudden? He only played assassins back in Guangzhou… What’s he trying to pull?”

Lin Feng’s Orianna cast Command: Dissonance! A burst of energy pulsed out from her Ball and slammed into Shenyang’s Ziggs! It dealt a ton of damage, but more importantly also applied a slow. Lin Feng followed the attack up with an Ignite on the Ziggs, its flames ticking away life as it blazed!

Zigg’s health dropped from 50% to below 20, causing Shenyang University’s Midlaner’s screen to flash red. Shenyang’s Midlaner felt his muscles tense up. He knew Orianna still had her ultimate and he knew it would kill his Ziggs. So he Flashed. His Ziggs disappeared with a mottled flash of light, and as he did Orianna’s Ball started moving too. What the… Shenyang’s Midlaner stared at his screen, dumbstruck. Orianna’s Ball moved to the precise location his mouse was hovering over.

Lin Feng activated Orianna’s ultimate skill–Command: Shockwave! A powerful shockwave of electromagnetic energy swept out! It washed over Ziggs and pulled him towards the epicenter! That was where the damage registered. It was far more than what little Ziggs had left. His body collapsed to the floor. Dead.

《First Blood!》

“Wow! That… Wow!”

“Holy cow! Did he just…?”

“These Shanghai folks are Cray cray in the head head!”

There wasn’t time to celebrate, action was still ongoing! Lin Feng’s Orianna was stuck on the Red team’s side of the lane, with Gragas blocking his path of retreat. But before Gragas could even begin to make life difficult for Lin Feng, An Xin’s Lee Sin arrived. She placed a ward down in the middle of the lane and hopped towards it, then fired a discordant wave of energy at Gragas—Sonic Wave!

Shenyang’s Jungler gritted his teeth. His Gragas was quickly losing health. He still had two abilities off cooldown, but neither was going to claim a kill before he’d die himself to the combined damage from Orianna and Lee Sin. Making him feel worse were the voices of his teammates telling him to back off, to give up on this gank. They reminded him he’d failed and that he was outplayed by Lin Feng. “Okay, okay!” he replied over the team’s voice chat, annoyed. “Look! See? I’m backing! I won’t give Ori a double kill and double buffs. Jeesh!”

PufPuf scrunched her eyebrows in confusion and said into her microphone, “What? Why isn’t Lee Sin using Resonating Strike on Gragas? They can get the double here! Get the double! Why aren’t you going in for the double!?”

“Now this. This I can believe,” TheBrawnster said into his microphone. “I’ve seen the highlights from the East China Regionals and this is exactly the type of play you’d expect from this Jungler. She looks good, good, and then she reminds you why she isn’t all that in the end. Don’t get me wrong, she’s pretty damn decent. Definitely good enough for this type of game. But when she has to play a real opponent, like a Beijing team… Man, she’s gonna have it rough.”

✹

A minute went by in which not much happened. Shenyang University started playing more defensively, with their laners playing in reach of their outer towers and their Jungler farming his camps, in response to the losing first blood. Team Shanghai tried to break Shenyang University’s defensive formation, prowling for opportunities. And it was in the 8th minute of the game that An Xin found one.

TheBrawnster scratched his neck and said into his microphone, “Uh? Lee is ganking bot I guess? Yo, what’s she seein’ there? The minion wave is pushed way up towards Shenyang’s side of the lane. She’ll need a crazy good Thresh hook if she wants to get anything there. I’d bet she’d get more from just farming camps like the Gragas is doing.”

An Xin pinged on Shenyang’s Jinx and said over the team’s voice chat, “Flay Janna. Let’s see what we can get there.”

“On it,” Zeng Rui replied. He pushed through the Blue and Red minions towards Janna, ignoring the damage from Jinx’s semi-automatic machine guns. He followed up by whipping his chain and scythe backwards with Flay, knocking Janna up and towards him!

Zeng Rui’s movements sent a clear message that An Xin’s Lee Sin was coming for a gank. Shenyang University’s Botlaners didn’t want to be in the lane when that happened. Jinx flashed towards her outer tower and arrived within its range, while Janna cast Howling Gale! A small storm started brewing at the base of her staff and quickly gained in power before it erupted into a tornado! It carved a path through the map, knocking Thresh and Tristana up into the air! She then turned around and floated towards her outer tower!

PufPuf clutched the microphone tightly in her hand and shrieked, “SO NICE! A crucial Janna Q to stop the gank! Lee’s is Leeseless now! Haha!”

An Xin’s Lee Sin rushed out from the river brush and fired a Sonic Wave at Janna! Resonating Strike unlocked, allowing her to dash at Janna. But An Xin waited for a brief moment, smiling. Put down your Chompers! Throw them down!

Shenyang’s Jinx did exactly what An Xin wanted her to do, she threw down Jinx’s Flame Chompers in front of Janna. If An Xin tried to dash through them, she’d get caught by them. Her Lee Sin would get stunned and from there it wouldn’t take Shenyang University much effort to kill her. But An Xin knew all of this. She smiled brighter as she placed down a ward next to the Flame Chompers, hopped to it with Safeguard and then activated Resonating Strike. Her Lee Sin dashed at Janna who was now near Jinx! She then flashed past Jinx and activated Dragon’s Rage! Lee Sin struck Jinx with a roundhouse kick, kicking her off her feet and sending her flying through Janna and towards Zeng Rui’s Thresh!

Zeng Rui’s mouth fell open. “Wow!” he exclaimed, watching Jinx flying straight at him. “Oh, right,” he added, his pinky finger pushing on the Q key. His Thresh swung his scythe ‘round and ‘round, charging it up, before hurling it at Jinx and catching her mid air! Zeng Rui followed up with Ignite, summoning the unquenchable flames to drain away Jinx’s health!

“Tang Tang!” An Xin said shortly over the team’s voice chat.

Tang Bingyao nodded and replied, “Mhm!” She had her Tristana activate Rapid Fire, the muzzle of her cannon erupting into flames to boost her attack speed, and Rocket Jumped on top of Jinx! She then started firing away. Cannonball after cannonball slammed into Jinx and knocked the health right out of her!

《You have slain an enemy!》

TheBrawnster stared at his screen with wide open eyes. It wasn’t until Janna had Flashed away and the trio from Team Shanghai started attacking the outer tower that he finally grabbed his microphone and said, “Wow. Just… Wow! I was wrong. That simple. I ain’t no prophet and this sure as hell proved that. What a play, my fuckin’ god! Those Lee mechanics? Dash-Q’ing like that? Shite! That was pretty damn sick. And yo, what’s even sicker is how it all looked like one fluid motion! She never even really reached the ward! She was already flying at Janna before the hop finished!”

“Like she curved her dash or something! Like in that movie with the curving bullets, right? Right?” PufPuf interjected, excited. She leaned closer towards the screen and continued, “That girl can play! She makes me wanna main Jungle!”

The audience got up on their feet for the first time this series and applauded Team Shanghai’s play in the bot lane, half-heartedly. They were still convinced that Beijing was superior to Shanghai in every sense of the word, but they also had to admit that An Xin’s Lee Sin was second best after them.

Sun Ruinian looked over his shoulder at the audience’s response and grinned, bitter. He then turned his attention to the various teams in the player seating area watching the large LCD screen. They were all staring, different versions of shock on their faces. He nodded, grimacing, and said, “There’s something about that team. I don’t know what it is; Shi Hang probably does. But there’s something about them… Every time we play them and every time we watch them play, they’re better. Better, better, better… Every single time. I don’t see how we’re supposed to beat them. Let’s just hope we don’t have to go up against them, I guess…”

The two shoutcasters for the Team Shanghai versus Shenyang University match sat on a raised platform next to the stage. They had a great view into the soundproof booths of both teams, but they were really only staring at Team Shanghai. More specifically, they were looking at Tang Bingyao and An Xin.

“Can’t believe it. Just can’t,” said the male caster into his microphone. “I’ve seen the East China Regionals highlights. I’ve watched the main event in Guangzhou. I know Team Shanghai has girls on their team. And I know they’re a good team. But… They’ve got girls on their team, yo.”

The female caster giggled and said, “Maybe if I’d tried a bit harder at becoming better at League, I’d be sitting there now!”

“Got that right, PufPuf,” the male caster replied, laughing. He then focused on the large LCD screen above the stage and continued, “But let’s focus on the game. Both teams banned some Champions… Looks like Shenyang is trying to ban all of Team Shanghai’s Midlaner’s Champions… Both teams picked pretty normal Champs… Really nothing special.”

PufPuf scratched her eyebrow and said, “Team Shanghai’s Midlaner playing a control mage is pretty off. We usually see him on an assassin. And then their Jungler got Lee again. She seems to really like her Lee. What do you think, TheBrawnster?”

TheBrawnster snorted and replied, “Half the time the opponent loves it when she picks Lee too.” He briefly paused, grinning as the audience responded to his quip with loud laughter. Everyone has seen the highlights of her failures. It’s a hit on Baidu! He then continued, “I don’t get it though. Why does she keep insisting on picking Lee? What’s so special about him? What’s he bringing that she can’t get from another Champ, preferably one she’s actually good at!?”

“Wish I knew. Wish I knew…” PufPuf replied with a sigh. “But it’s crazy they got this far while that Lee just keeps failing.”

“Well, worst case…” TheBrawnster started. He then paused, waiting for the response from the audience before adding, “Worst case we get to see a really hot girl failing spectacularly at a Champion. That ain’t too bad, am I right? I am, yeah!”

A second wave of laughter rolled through the audience. Most of the people in the stadium were Beijing natives, and they were proud of that fact. It wasn’t to the extent of arrogance, but they did feel a certain superiority over the rest of China. And when someone tried to challenge them on that, they would argue that Shanghai might be the so-called esports capital of the world and that Guangzhou might be massive in the esports world, but that the Chinese Esports Association still chose to locate its headquarters in Beijing. Because Beijing was the best. But Team Shanghai couldn’t hear this argument, and so the audience couldn’t explain this to them. That left them with only one other course of action and that was to make fun of Team Shanghai.

“We’ve got two teams in the quarters! What do they have?”

“Fudan, Zhejiang and them so that’s…”

“Fudan and Zhejiang don’t count. They suck and will be out this round 100%!”

“They’re just like the other Shanghai teams, all just relying on luck! They ain’t got no skill!”

“Lel! How can ye be good with two grils on the team? SCRUUUUBS!”

“Time to watch some tits jiggle!”“JIGGLE THEM TITS FOR US!”

“We ain’t gonna get a good game with two shitty teams, so give us some entertainment!”

✹

Collegiate Cup Quarterfinals

Team Shanghai (Blue) vs. Shenyang University (Red)

Top: Maokai vs. Darius

Jungle: Lee Sin vs. Gragas

Mid: Orianna vs. Ziggs

Ad-Carry: Tristana vs. Jinx

Support: Thresh vs. Janna

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

The first game in this best of five series started. The casters were hyping everyone up and the audience was responding to them with loud cheers and screams. But the game didn’t get off to a hot, fiery start. There were no big early invades or flashy engagements. Both teams played it safe. They placed defensive wards along the river to protect themselves from an invade and then waited behind the protection of their defensive structures.

Minions spawned and marched down the lanes. They clashed against their counterparts halfway towards the opponent’s base. And the Champions from Team Shanghai and Shenyang University walked up to get the last hits on the minions. There was a silence that felt oppressing. Like the calm before a storm. The audience stared at the minimap, waited for the Junglers to make their first move.

That first move happened in the 4th minute of the game. Shenyang University’s Gragas had cleared his Blue Buff Camp, followed by the Red Buff Camp and now snuck into the brush right below the top lane. He waited for a couple of seconds, allowing Zhang Hao’s Maokai to push forward a bit more, and then he Body Slammed into the lane! 

Zhang Hao’s Maokai looked completely out of position. Shenyang University’s Darius pulled Maokai towards him with Apprehend and together with Gragas started attacking him. But An Xin’s Lee Sin arrived for a countergank. She dashed in with a Sonic Wave into Resonating Strike and then slammed her fist down on the ground to Cripple Darius and Gragas!

“Oh shit! Look at that!” TheBrawnster shouted into his microphone. “Lee with the counter! They’re getting Darius low fas— Flash! Darius had to Flash away!”

“And it’s not over!” PufPuf shrieked. She pulled her microphone a bit closer and continued, “Gragas is still on Maokai! Look at that healthbar! It’s dropping, dropping, dro— FLASH! ANOTHER FLASH! This time it’s Maokai! It’s a Flash for a Flash!”

“Pfooh!” TheBrawnster said. He shook his head and added, “What a fight! What a treat! More of that, please! No kills but plenty of action!”

The action stayed with that one gank to the disappointment of the audience. Lin Feng’s Orianna in the mid lane had a battle for the highest creep score with Shenyang’s Ziggs, neither side showing much interest in each other. And down in bot lane there was a back and forth with no real winner. Tristana and Thresh were weaker in the early game, but held the defensive edge which was enough to keep the lane even.

“YAWN! Action please! ACTION!”

“Why did I get up for this? 5 minutes in and still no kills! Fucking shit players!”

“We need a Beijing team to show them how a real team plays!”

“U-Tech’s game earlier was far more exciting! Why can’t we have another series like that?”

“Pfffff… BORING!”

“So sleepy… Someone get me some coffee. A cold venti.”

The players from Team Beijing sat in the player seating area right below the stage, watching the game. They weren’t trying to convince whoever would listen of their superiority; they were watching the game with their full attention. This to the great relief of their manager. He looked at them rather than at the game and smiled. It took me some time, but fortunately they see it now. Team Shanghai is a real opponent. We need to prepare for the eventuality that we have to play against them. And then we can show that we’re superior!

Zhang Hongyi glared at the large LCD screen. His hatred for Zeng Rui tried to consume him, but he didn’t let it get that far. Instead, he used it to fuel himself. He forced it to help him focus as he watched every minute movement and prepared himself for the possibility of playing against Team Shanghai. Fucking Zeng Rui and his stupid ass team! I’ll kick you all down to where you belong! Screw you especially, Zeng “Stupid” Rui!

Next to hatred sat the competitive spirit. Yu Ping breathed slowly and watched the game through narrowed eyes. From time to time he glanced down at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, observing Lin Feng. His stomach leaped. He picked Flash and Ignite. You only pick Flash and Ignite when you want to make the plays. He’s going to make the plays on… Orianna. She’s a control mage. How is he going to force a play?

✹

Lin Feng briefly closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, they were focused. The game was 6 minutes in and he was one minion from hitting Level 6. He glanced at the creep score and saw he was 10 ahead. More importantly, he’d also used Orianna’s Ball to deal a bit of damage to Ziggs whenever possible. He’s down to half, we’re both hitting 6 in the next few minions and he isn’t backing… They’re gonna be ganking. Just Gragas. The others are in their lanes. I can take that! He grinned as he placed his index finger over the D key and lightly pushed down, patient.

TheBrawnster grabbed his microphone and said, “Ziggs is in real danger now! Ori is hitting— Has hit Level 6! She just needs to ult him and then throw the Ignite down and it’s a solo kill! Just think of how embarrassing that’d be!”

“WaitWaitWait!” PufPuf shrieked, pointing at the minimap. “Look! Gragas is coming! Ziggs is just staying there to bait Ori! They’re gonna gank and kill her! Shenyang University with the perfect bait!”

Shenyang University’s Gragas snuck into the brush right above the mid lane. He ran to the side closest to the Blue Team’s outer tower and then pinged on Lin Feng’s Orianna. Ziggs ran forward and he did too. He ran out from the brush, covering a short distance before activating Body Slam! Gragas threw himself forward! A mottled flash of light fell over him and carried him and his momentum towards Lin Feng’s Orianna!

“E-FLASH! E-FLASH!” TheBrawnster shouted.

Lin Feng breathed out, grinning. He watched it play out precisely as he’d expected. The gank came. Ziggs ran forward, away from Red Team’s tower, and threw a Hexplosive minefield at him while Gragas tried to immobilize him with a Body Slam. And now we Flash. He pressed down on his keyboard. A veil of light fell over his Orianna and whisked her away right when she would’ve been hit by the combination of spells. The briefest moment of silence followed. Tension. Waiting to see where she was going. Then she was dropped back on the map. Right on top of Ziggs.

The casters, streamviewers and people in the audience couldn’t believe their eyes. They were all waiting to see where Lin Feng was going to escape too. But he wasn’t retreating; he was pressing forward. Ever onwards. Most people didn’t know how to react, but Su Xue did. All the way back in Shanghai, she was streaming the game and casting it for her viewers. She clenched her fist and made Lin Feng’s trademark victory pose before shouting, “HOLY SHIT! HE’S PULLING A WIN FENG! HE’S PULLING A WIN FENG!”

Chu Fang shook his head and said, “Fuck me.”

Lin Feng looked up from his laptop and asked, “Hmm?”

“This game. The one you’re playing,” Chu Fang explained, nodding at the laptop. “You’re carrying hard in Korean Challenger and then you get matched with… whatever that ad-carry is.”

Lin Feng shrugged and replied, “Can’t win them all. Two wins and a loss isn’t half bad. Just a shame that I’ll lose so much LP from one loss. That’s going to take another game to make up for…”

Chu Fang watched Lin Feng. How he sat up straight in his chair, his shoulders engaged and his hands moving smoothly. How he licked his lip a bit early in the laning phase and how he scrunched his eyebrows when this last game moved to the teamfight stage. How his breathing remained calm and even, even when his teammates screwed up and lost him the game. This is the staple of Maple. He’s all fun and games until it gets serious. The first two games he was still laughing, but this last one… This was Maple, even if he did lose. He can do it. He’ll make the top 5! And when he does… Life’s gonna be good! He grinned and glanced at his watch. His eyes then grew wide. “Shit!” he exclaimed. “Lin Feng, end the game. It’s over anyway. We need to go! It’s almost 5!”

“Oh?” Lin Feng replied, looking up at Chu Fang again.

“I’ll call BunBun and the others,” Chu Fang said, pulling out his phone and stabbing his finger at the touchscreen. He glanced at Lin Feng and added, “Just surrender and put your laptop away. We’re leaving in 30 seconds!”

✹

The Beijing Esports Association had made an attempt to replicate the grand scene from Guangzhou. But they didn’t have the location. The Chaoyang Sports Centre that they eventually went with was similar in size to the Tianhe Stadium, but it lacked in capacity and aesthetics. But to the players from Team Shanghai, it was still a stunning sight. The soundproof booths in which they were going to play were of the highest quality, with top of the line computers and gaming chairs.

“So cool!” Zhang Hao exclaimed.

“I know right!?” Lin Feng chimed in. He looked around and continued, “Look at all those people running around just so we can play our game! They’re all working for us basically!”

An Xin glanced at Lin Feng and narrowed her eyes, her lips curving up. She asked, “Working for us? Are you going to ask them to bring you foo—”

“Great idea!” Lin Feng replied, grinning.

“Idiot,” An Xin said. She then turned her head to look at Chu Fang and asked, “Everyone here is working for the Beijing Esports Association?”

Chu Fang nodded and explained, “Correct. The Collegiate Cup, like the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, is a tournament organized by the Chinese Esports Association. The Guangzhou branch took care of the phase in Guangzhou and Beijing is now in charge for the final stage of the tournament here. And we were responsible for the East China Regionals. It’s always like this.”

“OhOhOh!” Zhang Hao interjected, putting his hand up. He waited for everyone to look at him and then continued, “I heard— read that the Beijing Esports Association is also giving the trophee! Their boss is, I mean! He’s like the biggest big shot in the Chinese Esports Association people are saying on the interwebs! He’s going to come and give us the trophy when we win!”

Lin Feng stopped, his feet locked to the ground and his eyes growing round and wide. Tang Bingyao bumped into him from behind, but he didn’t notice it. He slowly turned his head to look at Zhang Hao and opened his mouth, the words on the tip of his tongue, when Tang Bingyao groaned and asked, “Why did you stop?”

“Eh, oh…” Lin Feng scratched the back of his head, laughing awkwardly. He looked around at his teammates and pursed his lips together. I’ll just not say it! That’s the easier way! BunBun also likes to keep secrets, and if she does, I should too! He grinned in his usual cheerful way and said, “My leg felt a little numb, so I tried to shake it out by standing still! Sorry! Big woops!”

“Hmm?” Tang Bingyao mumbled, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He’s only ever like this when… She chewed on her lips and tilted her head. He isn’t hiding something again, is he? Mnh-mnh! He wouldn’t! …Would he? She narrowed her eyes and searched Lin Feng’s demeanor for an explanation, but the moment was gone. He was his normal self again. I’ll have to keep an eye on this… Mhm!

Chu Fang sighed loudly and lectured, “Dammit, Lin Feng! I told you to take a nap! But you sat in that uncomfortable chair all afternoon playing League! It’s no surprise your leg is numb! Is your back hurting too? Do we need to hire a chiropractor to crack your back?”

“N-no-No-Nooo,” Lin Feng replied, shaking his head. “No cracking my back! I still need to play League!”

“You’ll go to bed early and sleep it off then?” Chu Fang continued.

Lin Feng nodded confidently and patted his chest. He replied, “Scout’s honour!”

An Xin watched it all play out quietly from the sidelines. She shook her head and mumbled almost imperceptibly, “Idiot.” She then took a long, deep breath. They don’t know what’s bothering you. But I’m not them. You’re not hiding it from me, Lin Feng. I know how you feel. How you really feel.

✹

The Beijing Esports Association hadn’t prepared the draw for the quarterfinals yet. So after registering, Team Shanghai left the venue and wandered through the streets of Beijing. They eventually stopped in front of what looked like a back alley. Lin Feng pointed inside and told them there was a really good restaurant just hiding around the corner. He got a couple of worried looks, but everyone followed him. What they found was a patio with a half dozen tables and some of the best food they’d eaten to date.

With full stomachs, Team Shanghai left the small restaurant and went in search of an internet cafe to practice. Zhang Hao asked if they were going to scrim against Zhejiang University again, but Zeng Rui explained that since the odds were high they had to play Zhejiang University, it was better not to practice against them. An Xin chimed in that they had to keep a couple of aces up their sleeves.

Team Shanghai found an internet cafe with a free private room and started their practice. They logged into their League accounts and then turned to An Xin, waiting for her speech. She gave a couple of ideas she wanted to try out, followed by some personal tips. They then started their first game of the night, during which Zeng Rui took the reins and told the team how he wanted them to play. A second game followed soon after. And it was during this second game that Chu Fang received the message they’d all been waiting for.

Chu Fang showed his phone to the others and said, “Look! We know who we gotta play against!”

“Already?” Lin Feng asked, turning his head away from the game he was playing. He continued, “That was quick! Who are we playing? WhoWhoWho?”

“Not the worst draw…” Chu Fang mumbled. He took a deep breath and then said, “Our opponents are the runners-up from the previous edition—”

“Shenyang University,” Zeng Rui interrupted.

Chu Fang nodded and said, “It’s not too bad, really. They’re strong no doubt, but at the same time they’re no Team Beijing or U-Tech Beijing. This is pretty much the best average scenario for us.”

“What are you guys bitching about?” Lin Feng asked, confused. He looked at the pensive expressions of Chu Fang and Zeng Rui and then said, “Who cares about some second rate team? We’re playing for the championship title. If we start worrying about this shitty team, then why are we even here!? I say we stop worrying and start stomping!”

An Xin giggled behind her hand and said a moment later, “Lin Feng is right, you know? We stomped Team Guangzhou and Shenyang University is only a bit worse than them. So we should just stomp them too!”

“Of course we’re going to stomp them,” Zeng Rui said. He took a deep, long breath and massaged his temples before adding, “But we need to practice and be prepared to stomp them. Just saying it won’t make it happen. So how about we stop chatting and start focusing on the game we’re playing right now!? They’re in our base because we’ve been sitting in the fountain!”

✹

It was the 28th day of the year. A Thursday. Su Xue woke up to her alarm buzzing. She opened her eyes, drowsy and looked at the time. 8 A.M. Why did I… Why am I getting up at 8? Oh! Right! SHIT! She jumped from her bed and ran to the bathroom, rambling, “Brush my teeth under shower. A bit of soap. Some quick makeup. Nothing fancy. Quick bite to eat. Just a sandwich. ShitShitShit! Where’s my phone? Did the game start yet? Did it start. Shower first. First a shower, Su Xue.”

Su Xue had her toothbrush in her mouth and the shower was heating up. She threw her pyjamas on the floor and took one step into the shower cabine when she paused. Do I…? Yeah I do. She got out again and hurried through the apartment to get her phone. On the way back to the bathroom, she searched for a stream of the Winter Collegiate Cup and finally confirmed Lin Feng wasn’t playing yet. U-Tech Beijing was playing against Wuhan University, and they were 2-1 up.

Soap and toothpaste washed down the drain as Su Xue jumped out of the shower cabine. She grabbed a towel and, still wet, ran through the apartment to her bedroom to search for her clothes. Loud cheers sounded behind her and she knew U-Tech Beijing had just won their series. Lin Feng was up next. She still had to have breakfast, get dressed, open her stream… “Shit! I’m never going to make it!” she complained. She then chewed on her lips, hesitating briefly, before running back to the bathroom to grab her phone and order some chicken cutlet. Lin Feng lives on this stuff, so it can’t be too bad, right?

Su Xue finally sat down behind her computer, dressed and with a chicken cutlet, steam twisting and twirling up. She turned her stream on and announced on her various social media she was live. Viewers started streaming in, from hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands. When there were more than 40,000 with her, she clenched her fists and shouted, “GO LIN FENG! TO THE FINALS! WOOOOOOO!”

「AYYYYY LIL BRO FOR THE CARRY!」

「SHOW US THE WIN FENG LIN FENG!!!!」

「sooooo excited! I never get up before noon, but TODAY I DID!!!!」

「this gonna be liiiiiiiit!!」

「POGGERS」

「gunna be a 3-0  stomp. Who wanna bet me? I do $10k on WIIIIIIIN FENG AND THE GANG!!!」

“Shut up, shut up! It’s starting!” Su Xue said to the camera.