Zed’s ultimate ability was Death Mark. As far as most players were concerned, this ability allowed Zed to dash to an enemy champion to place the eponymous death mark on them. Once the mark was placed, Zed had three seconds to deal as much damage as possible to the marked enemy champion. After the three seconds elapsed, the mark would trigger and deal a portion of the damage Zed had done to the enemy champion again. Simple. 

But Orion was not a player who could be clumped in with the ordinary masses. He was someone who understood that the most important part of Zed’s ultimate was the small effect that most other players ignored. At the moment of activation, Death Mark rendered Zed untargetable. What untargetable meant in practice was that any skill or attack launched at Zed that had yet to make contact before Death Mark was activated would not land on Zed once Death Mark was activated. That brief window of absolute invincibility was the most potent weapon in Zed’s Arsenal. 

And it was that window of invincibility that Orion used to allow his Zed to dodge the whirlwind that had flown off from Yasuo’s sword with the third cast of Steel Tempest. If that whirlwind had hit, Zed would’ve been knocked up and triggered the condition for Yasuo’s ultimate—Last Breath. That would’ve been the end of the fight. Yasuo would have hacked through Zed’s health and gained the upper hand. That was what all of Yasuo’s moves up until this point in the fight led toward. 

But Orion had mentally played out all of CN•HOOK2’s moves before they had happened, and prepared a counter-strategy in the middle of the fight that would decide this entire game. And then he executed it flawlessly, completely turning things around! With Death Mark, Orion’s Zed had not only broken Yasuo’s onslaught, he’d also positioned himself to bring the fight back to Yasuo. 

Lightless Heart’s stream chat was in complete disarray as more than a million viewers tried to express their frustration, disappointment, fear, and also begrudging respect for Orion. Pulling something like this off not only required skill beyond that of an ordinary gamer. It took an unshakeable mental state, iron will, and balls of steel. 

When it came to the professional players, the faces of Hermes, Nightsong, Read XIII, Tian Tian, Shi Hang, and Aurous all showed disappointment and sadness. All of them instinctively understood the situation better than the viewers, and it shattered the fantasy that had been building up deep in their hearts. The mechanics and reflexes required to perfectly time a Death Mark and dodge an almost point-blank whirlwind from Yasuo’s sword were extremely high. But for a King like Orion, this was a very low threshold to clear. They were all watching the game in real time, but Orion was playing the game several seconds ahead in his mind. 

In a single move, Orion had forced all of them to acknowledge that reality was a cruel mistress and that there was a clear difference between ordinary players and those who had risen to the point where they were named Kings. 

As the four crimson Living Shadows converged onto his Yasuo, Lin Feng’s eyes flickered with a sharp light. His hands on his mouse and keyboard never stopped moving. The whirlwind missing Zed did not phase him in the slightest. Lin Feng already predicted that would happen even before he had his Yasuo let the whirlwind loose. His eyes narrowed. This is fine, no big deal at all. I figured that’s what Zed would do. There’s no way it’d be this easy to outplay Orion. He’s probably sitting there smiling about how he managed to turn things around on my Yasuo. I lost the advantage, sure. But that doesn’t mean anything. Orion’s not the only one who can think a few steps ahead. This battle is far from over!

Yasuo dashed to a nearby Red Minion with Sweeping Blade as the four crimson Living Shadows started to converge on him. The Living Shadows followed him, and placed the death mark on him when he arrived at the minion. Then they dissipated, and Zed appeared right in front of Yasuo. His metal claws ripped into Yasuo with a basic attack. 

Yasuo stood his ground and retaliated with a powerful Steel Tempest. It pierced through Zed and wounded him critically!

Zed’s health was running low, but had not yet reached the point where Zed felt he was in danger. He stayed to slash at Yasuo with another basic attack. The death mark Zed had placed on Yasuo had not yet triggered, and Zed was trying to maximize his damage. Right as the attack ended, Zed lit Yasuo up with the unquenchable flames from Ignite! 

Orion smiled. He’d timed everything perfectly. The damage ticks from Ignite would also be added to the death mark when it triggered. His smile grew colder and more menacing. You’re dead! Done! Kaput! You’re already a goner! You just don’t know it yet! 

“The Ignite is out!” Lightless exclaimed. The million+ people in his stream gasped along with him.

Back in Shanghai, Su Xue was also nervously watching the stream and biting her thumb. Oh no, oh no, oh no! This is bad! Lin Feng is actually in danger now!

Lin Feng had his Yasuo slash out with a basic attack that connected with Zed. The instant the attack hit Zed, Lin Feng commanded his Yasuo to take a small step back to cancel out the rest of the attack. Then his Yasuo slashed out with another basic attack. 

Sweat ran down Lin Feng’s face. But the fire in his eyes continued to blaze brightly, and he showed no signs of slowing down at all. If anything, he was getting faster. This game, and this fight with Orion’s Zed, had fired him up from head to toe! He’d committed himself mind, body, and soul to this fight! I’m going to keep going until the end. Either I die or Zed dies, but I’m not stopping! Orion is ungodly strong. I haven’t played against someone who was this hard to beat until now. He’s so good that it’s making my skin tingle. But this is so exciting! The more I play against him, the more charged up I get! It’s like… I’ve been walking around chained and contained this whole time and right now they’re finally coming off! 

Being pushed to the very edge by Orion after playing so many games tonight forced Lin Feng to dig deep into himself to find a new strength. One that he wasn’t even sure he had. But he’d found it, and it pushed Lin Feng’s skills and mental state to a peak that he’d never experienced before. Right now, Lin Feng felt invincible. He felt like his old self, back when he was in his prime. And in this newfound state, Lin Feng knew that he could not lose! 

Lin Feng moved his Yasuo a small step to the side to evade a Razor Shuriken from Zed’s Living Shadow. But he couldn’t evade the one that was thrown by Zed at the same time. Yasuo’s health dropped from the hit, but Lin Feng still wasn’t worried or looking for an escape route. He had his Yasuo stab into Zed with another Steel Tempest. As the katana pierced Zed, winds gathered along the length of the blade and waited for the right moment to be released.

“Yasuo’s tornado is up again!’ Zed is backing off! Yasuo’s E is still on cooldown! He can’t dash in and knock Zed up!” Lightless frantically commented over the fight playing out in the Mid lane. “Yasuo’s dashing away to a minion! He’s putting some distance between him and Zed! He’s….!”

The million+ people in Lightless’ stream watched Yasuo whip back around to face Zed and lash out with a third Steel Tempest. One that sent the winds along the blade screaming out as a whirlwind that flew straight at Zed!

“Is it going to hit this time!?” Lightless cried out.

But then a dazzling mottled light wrapped around Zed and he disappeared. Zed had used Flash just before the whirlwind connected, allowing him to dodge the knock up at the very last second!

The viewers in the stream who were about to celebrate too early felt their cheers caught at the back of their throats. Their faces paled, and their expressions sunk. The words “Orion is too strong!” rolled through the chat on the stream. And the statement was not incorrect. This was the second whirlwind from Yasuo’s Steel Tempest that Orion had managed to dodge at the last second in one fight. A single thought ran through the collective mind of many of the viewers, is this the skill of a King?  Despair boiled throughout the stream chat. 

Zed reappeared a short distance away, and then immediately sent forth a Living Shadow towards Yasuo. Just as the Living Shadow reached Yasuo, Zed switched places with it. Then he went in to gouge Yasuo with a basic attack. 

But Lin Feng wasn’t even slightly fazed by the turn of events. He’d predicted that Orion would use Flash to dodge the whirlwind. And that Zed would immediately come back in to try and add more damage to the death mark counter. Lin Feng had his Yasuo dash away to another Red Minion with Sweeping Blade just as Zed started winding up for his basic attack. By the time Zed slashed out, Yasuo was already gone. Zed’s metal claws sliced through empty air. 

You think it’s over? Lin Feng thought as his eyes roared bright with his fighting spirit. Not even close! He had his Yasuo dash back to Zed with another Sweeping Blade, and then sliced into Zed with a basic attack that he chained into a Steel Tempest! Yasuo had landed another critical hit on Zed! 

But Orion didn’t care. His eyes lit up and his lips curled into a cruel smile. There’s only a second left before the death mark gets triggered. That’s more than enough time to get a little bit more damage in. Then you’re done! Hook2 will only be remembered as someone I beat down! Then he looked at the item he’d built out over the course of this game, the Ravenous Hydra. A giant axe that could be used to add 60% extra damage to a basic attack or ability. This is the perfect cherry to put on the death mark sundae! Orion activated the Ravenous Hydra, and had his Zed use Shadow Slash!

But before the Ravenous Hydra empowered Shadow Slash could make contact with Yasuo’s flesh, Lin Feng pressed down on the D Key. His Yasuo Flashed away before Zed’s attack could connect! Lin Feng had read Orion like an open book.　

“HE DOOOOOOOOOOOOOODGED IT!” Lightless cried out, completely losing his composure as a seasoned streamer and veteran professional player. Right now, Lightless Heart was the same as the rest of his viewers. Someone who loved League of Legends. And he reacted to it like he was a kid watching his idol playing the game. 

Hermes was also deeply moved.

Nightsong shot up from his seat in excitement. 

Aurous’ jaw slacked open.

Shi Hang started laughing loudly and exclaimed, “That’s Maple for you!”

Over in Korea, Orion’s pupils constricted as his eyes popped open in disbelief. All of his previous confidence flashed away from him, and it was replaced by a deep, icy fear that pricked into his bones. A fear he hadn’t ever felt before while playing League of Legends. 

After Flashing through Zed’s empowered Shadow Slash, Yasuo turned around. He used Sweeping Blade to dash to a red minion standing next to Zed, and unleashed the flames of Ignite upon Zed once he arrived. Then Yasuo stabbed out with a Steel Tempest that flowed into a basic attack, and stepped slightly to the side to cancel out the follow-through on the basic attack. Then he spun around with a second basic attack!

Before Yasuo could do anything else, the death mark looming over his head triggered. Three seconds had finally elapsed, and all the damage that the death mark had absorbed in these frantic three seconds was unleashed. By the time the death mark disappeared, Yasuo had 16 points of health left. He was literally inches away from death. 

But Yasuo remained standing, and there was nothing Zed could do about it anymore. He had collapsed lifelessly to the ground as the death mark unleashed its wave of damage over Yasuo. In this battle between the Winds and the Shadows, the Winds had come out on top. The deadlock in the Mid lane had been broken, and Yasuo was the victor! Lin Feng had triumphed over Orion!

《An enemy has been slain!》

“Orion’s gonna go in right now! I’m telling you, Fatty, he’s going to try something!” Read XIII screamed into his headset. He was still in the QQ call with Tian Tian, watching Lightless’ stream of CN•HOOK2’s final game from the Assassins’ Gaming House in Taiwan. 

Tian Tian nodded once before replying with a rare seriousness, “I see it. But I know Lin Feng. And knowing him… he’s probably planning on making a move too! Both Lin Feng and Orion have an opportunity here… The real question is who is going to grasp that chance first.”

Read XIII cleared his throat and grimaced. “Listen to me, Fatty. Assassions has gone up against Warriors plenty of times, I said that already, right? I’ve gone up against Orion enough times to understand him. He’s a rotten bastard and a prick. Out of all the Midlaners I’ve seen, he’s unique. Little shitter has a micropenis and he’s constantly overcompensating for it with aggression. That’s his personality and his playstyle. Just an aggressive asshat.”

The Mid lane was the shortest lane on Summoner’s Rift, and the one with the highest experience because it took less time for the minion waves to arrive. In high ELO games and in professional play, Midlaners almost never attempted taking down their counterparts alone. It was simply too risky. If something went wrong during the engage, or they went in too deep and got flanked by the Jungler who came in for a gank, recovering from that was nigh impossible. The only time a player would attempt to make such a reckless decision is if they had complete and utter confidence in their skills and mechanics. 

Orion was a unique Midlaner who possessed both the confidence and recklessness required to attempt a play like that. He was the only one in the current circle of World-class Midlaners would would consistently attempt to solo kill his lane opponent in an evenly matched situation. And shockingly enough, Orion’s success rate at the play was insanely high. He had honed his skills to the point where they compensated for the risk. 

The topic had come up in an interview with Orion. His reply was, “What? You think I’m being too aggressive? You wanna know why I play so recklessly? OH! You think it’s risky to go in like that, yes? Haha! Who told you it was risky? One of these analysts that sit around talking about what we do because they figured out they couldn’t play as good? Hahahaha! Listen! Apart from Rake, because he’s just a monster, there ain’t a single Midlaner I can’t win against! It’s not a risk when I know I can win, you feel me?”

That interview summed up everything that went on in Orion’s head during a game. If he decided to go in for the kill, it was because he knew he could get the kill. There was no risk in his mind. And he had justified his supreme confidence on multiple occasions. Even the Moon Emperor had been solo killed by Orion in the past on a few rare occasions. 

Tian Tian considered Read XIII’s assessment of Orion for a minute. Then he said, “I-hm. I-I’m not… What I mean is, I don’t know Orion that well. Definitely not as well as you know him. But I know Lin Feng! I believe in Lin Feng! He can take Orion. Back in his prime, when everyone knew the name Maple, Lin Feng wasn’t scared of anyone! He’d always go in for the kill and he’d always get it. Orion might be confident, but Lin Feng is more confident than him! I know this for a fact!”

“Alright, alright, Fatty. Simmer down. I know you believe in Lin Feng. If anyone’s got a shot at taking that arrogant son of a whore Orion down a few pegs, it’s Maple.” Read XIII took a deep breath and then continued, “Zed versus Yasuo. Ninja versus swordsman. Fuck, it’s like I’m watching an old school Japanese film!” He looked at the match-up in mid and muttered, “If those two really are about to go at it soon, we’re gonna be in for one fucking hell of a show!”　

“Tension is definitely building up to something,” Hermes said with a quick glance at Nightsong. “But it’s hard to say what’s going to happen… or who is going to come out on top. Both Zed and Yasuo have more than enough damage to kill each other, which makes this a question of skill. Which one of the two is the better player… that I don’t know. But…,” Hermes paused for a moment to look at Nightsong again. His eyes flickered with mixed emotions. “If I was playing this game right now, I’d give myself a 40% chance of beating Orion in this scenario. Less if he’s the one to make the first move and set the tone of the fight.”

Nightsong rubbed his eyes. “Well. Shit. Yup. Shit. I don’t know why we expected anything different from Orion. He’s an angry little dog. Constantly yipping and trying to prove he’s just as big as the other dogs. I’m actually surprised that he’s held back this long, especially after what happened at the start of the game. That should’ve gotten him all riled up. But for such a yippy little shitter, he’s not all bark and no bite. His laning and mechanics are really at the highest level. Man’s got a big dick and he wants the world to know it. You know what I’m really curious about, Herm? If these two really go at it, I wonder what choice Hook2 is going to make.”

Lin Feng was indeed at a fork in the road, and he needed to pick one of two possible paths. He watched Orion’s Zed and understood exactly what was happening. Lin Feng knew exactly what Orion wanted to do, he could read it in every move that Zed made. Orion wanted a fight. And Lin Feng had to decide if he was going to give Orion that fight, or if he was going to continue the deadlock in the Mid lane. Fight or wait for his Jungler to arrive for a gank. Fight or wait for the rest of his team to scale. Lin Feng continued to watch Zed as he considered the options. 

I could keep things even with Orion long enough for everyone else on my team to catch up. That’s not even that hard. But it’s slow. Too slow. Every second counts right now. I need to end this game quickly before the ranked ladder closes! That makes the choice very simple. Lin Feng took a deep breath and the fire in his eyes blazed with ferocity. Alright Orion! You want to see which of us is more skilled? That’s fine by me! Nothing would make me happier than making you regret this moment!　

11 minutes since the start of the game. Gragas was spotted in front of the Baron Pit, walking up the river. He was trying to gank Top, but his advance was discovered thanks to one of the wards that Blue Team had placed down. Lulu, the Top lane champion for Blue Team, immediately noticed and started backing away to safety. 

CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo immediately moved to the top side river brush in the Mid lane to drop another ward down, and cautiously started to move back into the lane to continue farming minions. 

It was precisely at this moment that Lightless Heart remembered that he was a streamer, and that there were more than a million viewers watching his stream right now. He cleared his throat quickly and started talking to his viewers. “That was a smart move by Yasuo right there. The ward that he just put down gives him enough vision to look out for Gragas, who could very realistically double back and gank Mid instead. At this level of play, everyone has phenomenal map awareness. Right now, Gragas is probably aware that Lulu is starting to back up. So he’s also aware that his gank was spotted by a ward somewhere and that it’s going to fail, and he’s starting to consider other options. If he goes down to Mid, Yasuo is in real trouble. Gragas has both Explosive Cask and Flash up right now. Even though CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo is a super mobile Champion, there’s a high probability of death with a successful gank from Gragas! But CN•HOOK2 considered all of that and put the ward do—” 

Lightless Heart immediately stopped talking. Just as Yasuo returned to the middle of the lane after placing the ward, Zed sent a Living Shadow out at him. Then Zed switched places with the Living Shadow to arrive right in front of Yasuo!

Lightless’ eyes flew open as he screamed, “IT’S STARTING! This is the big fight we’ve all been waiting for!” His chat was dead silent as everyone focused completely on the game.

Orion’s Zed went in immediately after switching places with the Living Shadow. He slashed into Yasuo with an auto attack. 

CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo didn’t back down. He retaliated with a swift Steel Tempest, and then chained that into a Sweeping Blade to dash to a Red Minion standing behind Zed. As soon as Yasuo reached the Red Minion, he threw up a Wind Wall behind him, right between him and Zed!

Just before Yasuo started dashing to the Red Minion with Sweeping Blade, Zed had started to cast Razor Shuriken. Right as Yasuo reached the Red Minion, both Zed and his Living Shadow threw out crimson red shurikens. But the Wind Wall that Yasuo had thrown up blocked the shuriken thrown by Zed, and Yasuo quickly sidestepped around the shuriken thrown by the Living Shadow. 

The chat in Lightless Heart’s stream erupted into cheers.

Orion’s pupils constricted in front of his monitor. Both his shurikens had been avoided! 

“That was beautiful!” Hermes cried out.   

“Yasuo can get the kill here!” Read XIII exclaimed in the QQ call with Tian Tian. 

After avoiding both of Zed’s shurikens, Yasuo dashed back to Zed with another Sweeping Blade! He had closed the gap between them before Zed could react, and stabbed out with Steel Tempest again. Yasuo blade pierced through Zed just as he started backing away with a critical hit! Zed’s health dropped precipitously as he ran away in an attempt to create some distance. At this point in the fight, Yasuo had the advantage with more health. 

Zed’s Living Shadow was still on cooldown, so his only option was to retreat on foot. Unfortunately, Yasuo was just a little bit faster and caught up to the fleeing Zed. Yasuo’s blade bit into Zed with a basic attack and then a second Steel Tempest. Winds gathered and raged along the length of Yasuo’s katana.

Zed kept retreating towards his Outer Tower, and Yasuo kept chasing him. Then Yasuo dashed to a Red Minion just in front of Zed with Sweeping Blade, completely cutting off Zed’s escape. Yasuo turned around to face Zed and slashed out with a third Steel Tempest! The winds that had gathered along the length of his katana flew out towards Zed as a whirlwind. 

The whirlwind howled and raced towards Zed. But just as it reached him, Zed disappeared! He had activated his ultimate ability—Death Mark. The whirlwind raced past where Zed used to be and then fell apart into a harmless breeze. Four blood red Living Shadows converged on Yasuo from the cardinal directions and left an ominous crimson mark on his body! 

“Orion managed to turn it around!” Lightless cried out, his face paling. “Yasuo can’t use his ultimate now. Orion’s seized the upper hand in this fight!”

“What’s this? It looks like Yasuo’s heading to the bot lane!” Lightless exclaimed.”I think he’s going in for the gank! This is going to be good, guys!”

There were over a million viewers watching Lightless Heart’s historic stream, and they sent the chat buzzing with excitement and anticipation. The clash between CN•HOOK2 and Orion, only minutes ago, still continued to drown them in fear and hopelessness. Because it was clear that there was no way to pull one over on a player of Orion’s caliber. That was the truth behind facing a King. Despite CN•HOOK2’s incredible skills and gameplay, none of the viewers believed that it was possible for him to gain any advantage at all against Orion in lane. 

They were absolutely convinced of this after watching CN•HOOK2 and Orion poke at each other over the last few minutes until Zed and Yasuo both hit Level 6. It was obvious that both players were absurdly skilled, and evenly matched. Yasuo and Zed ducked and weaved through the Midlane, trying to predict each other’s next move and timing their abilities to where their opponent might be. It was a breath-taking dance upon the edge of a knife. One slip meant certain death. 

Sitting on the edge of their seats, wondering when that one slip would happen, if it would happen, that was more than the viewers could handle. The thought of CN•HOOK2 making a slight mistake that Orion would capitalize on to deal a mortal blow wrapped cold tendrils of fear around their hearts. It wasn’t a great feeling, and they made their sentiments known in the chat. Sitting through more agonizing minutes of this that stretched onto eternity was torture for all of the viewers. 

And then the game changed. CN•HOOK2 decided to roam to the Bot lane, and relief washed over all of the viewers. As far as they were concerned, the opponents in the bottom lane were far easier for CN•HOOK2 to deal with than Orion. Which meant that was a lane where he could get ahead of Orion and break the stalemate in Mid lane.  

It wasn’t that the players in the bottom lane were bad. They were all skilled at League and climbed to the very top of Challenger on the Korean server. But all of the games CN•HOOK2 played this night showed the viewers that most of those players posed no threat to CN•HOOK2! The viewers also understood by this point that CN•HOOK2’s map awareness and roam-sense was impeccable. If he decided to roam to the Bot lane, it meant he knew there was an opportunity there. And now that he’d decided to avoid playing an indefinite stalemate with Orion, this game was now winnable! 

Lin Feng sent his Yasuo running down the river towards Bot lane. Then he pinged to let the AD-Carry and Support on his team know that he was coming in for the gank. Then he slowed his Yasuo’s pace as he waited for Thresh and Tristana to create an opening for the engage. 

When Tristana and Thresh saw the pings from Yasuo and understood that he was roaming down to Bot lane for a gank, they started making changes to draw the Champions from the opposing team into a trap. First they started controlling the minion wave. They slowed the pace of their auto attacks until they stopped doing any damage to the enemy minions. They waited until an enemy minion was about to die before they attacked it to get the last hit. This pushed the wave back from the center of the lane towards the Blue Outer Tower. And slowly pulled the enemy Jinx and Janna towards the Blue Team’s side of Bot lane. 

When the game timer hit 6:40, Yasuo arrived in the Bot lane. He positioned himself behind the Blue Outer Tower and waited for an opening. Thresh understood that he’d be the one starting the engage, and pinged on top of Jinx. Then Thresh used Dark Passage and tossed a lantern over to Yasuo. Touching the lantern would instantly pull Yasuo over to Thresh’s side. Without pausing to give Jinx and Janna time to react, Thresh Flashed right at Jinx and landed on top of her, initiating the fight with a Flay. He whipped his chain and sickle at Jinx in an attempt to knock her back further towards Blue Team’s side of the lane while also slowing her! And just as the attack animation for Flay started up, Yasuo grabbed the lantern that Thresh had thrown out earlier and was instantly pulled to his side. 

Jinx was no slouch though, and didn’t sit there waiting to die. She reacted just as quickly and Flashed backwards just as Thresh unleashed his Flay, which allowed her to avoid the attack completely! Then she turned around and started racing towards the Red Outer Tower, while simultaneously throwing out her Flame Chompers behind her. The Chompers would either ensnare Yasuo and Thresh as they chased after her, or force them to walk around the trap. Either way, they would buy her precious seconds to get away from her attackers. 

Janna, Jinx’s Support, also reacted quickly to the gank. She sent a Tornado flying out at Thresh and Yasuo with Howling Gale, hoping to delay their pursuit even longer. Then Janna used Zephyr to summon an air elemental and sent it flying out at Yasuo to apply a slow on him. 

As all of this happened, Lin Feng remained calm. He saw the Tornado from Janna howling towards his Yasuo, with the air elemental from Zephyr following quickly behind it. But to Lin Feng’s eyes, they moved slowly. Almost unbearably slowly. Lin Feng’s mouse flew across the table and his fingers blurred across the keyboard as he went into action. First, his Yasuo dashed to a nearby enemy minion with Sweeping Blade to completely avoid Janna’s Tornado. Next, his Yasuo’s blade slashed out horizontally to create a Wind Wall. The air elemental from Zephyr helplessly crashed into it and dissipated into a gentle breeze. Finally, he used another Sweeping Blade to dash towards Janna and stabbed at her with a Steel Tempest! 

Jinx, noticing that Janna was in mortal danger, turned around and fired a plasma shell at Yasuo with her shock pistol Zapper. The plasma round, in addition to doing damage, also applied a slow. If it hit, it would give Janna enough time to recover and get away from Yasuo.

Lin Feng saw the attack, and again it moved slowly for him. He watched the plasma round from Zapper move towards his Yasuo frame-by-frame. In the state he was in, Lin Feng had more than enough time to react. Which he did quite easily by having his Yasuo dash to a nearby enemy minion with Sweeping Blade. An enemy minion that was coincidentally very close to the Jinx!  

Yasuo used yet another Sweeping Blade to dash straight into Jinx! Then he slashed into the Jinx with a basic attack. Just as the basic attack ended, Yasuo pierced through Jinx quickly with a Steel Tempest and then slashed out yet again with a basic attack. And then, Yasuo finished the combo with another Steel Tempest. This was the third cast of Steel Tempest, so the winds gathered around Yasuo’s blade whirled out at Jinx, knocking her up into the air! 

This was the condition needed for Yasuo’s Ultimate—Last Breath! It could only be used on enemies who were knocked up. Just as Jinx hit the highest point of her aerial ascent, Yasuo blinked over to her with Last Breath. Then he unleashed strike after strike on the helpless Jinx, each one holding her airborne for a little bit longer. Finally, Yasuo finished the attack with a downward slash that sent Jinx flying back down to the ground. Before the Jinx could get up, Yasuo gracefully landed down right beside her and beheaded her with a final basic attack!

《You have slain an enemy!》

While Yasuo had been busy with Jinx, Thresh and Tristana had not sat idly by. Thresh had followed right behind Yasuo and locked the Janna down. This gave Tristana the time needed to burst Janna down and kill her. 

《An enemy has been slain!》

The chat on Lightless’ stream erupted into fervent cheers as all of the viewers celebrated! It was a beautiful play to watch, and they’d been awestruck by CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo. The positioning, the dashes with Sweeping Blade, the precise application of Steel Tempest to maximize the knockup, all of it had been beautiful to see. And to top it all off, the gank had helped Blue Team secure two kills! One of those kills went to CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo, which meant he had a small advantage that he could build into a snowball over Orion!  Just as they started to celebrate the fact that CN•HOOK2 had finally found a decisive edge over Orion in the chat, the announcer’s voice rang out again. 

《An ally has been slain!》

The chat went completely silent. 

Lin Feng quickly panned his camera over to the Top lane to see what happened. Lulu, the Top lane Champion for Blue Team, had just been killed. 

When Lin Feng decided to roam into the Bot lane with his Yasuo, Orion decided to take his Zed into the Top lane for a gank. From the look of things, Red Team’s Rumble and Zed had ganged up on her and forced her back all the way to the safety of her Outer Tower. Then Rumble and Zed decided to dive into the Tower’s range to kill her. And it was Orion’s Zed who had gotten the kill.  

Lin Feng narrowed his eyes. Orion’s got just as much map awareness as I do right now. As expected of a King. That roam into Top lane was smart. Let’s see… the only thing that’s changed now is that Rumble has a significant CS advantage in Top lane. I got a kill and Orion got a kill, so we’re still going to be roughly even in the Mid lane. Alright. That’s fine. Let’s keep this going a little bit longer. 

The next few minutes of gameplay would prove Lin Feng’s assessment completely correct. The Mid lane had turned into a complete stalemate. 

Yasuo and Zed were locked in a frantic dance in the center of the Mid lane, neither budging an inch as they continuously probed each other for openings that weren’t there. Both Champions poked at each other while simultaneously trying to bait the other into making a mistake. But that didn’t happen, and they slowly whittled down each other’s health. The pace in the Mid lane was frantic, with even the most minute of details becoming significant as CN•HOOK2 and Orion searched for that decisive moment that would break the stalemate they were caught in.

As the health of both of the Champions slowly dropped lower and lower, every clash and minor poked provoked greater tension. Every single person watching Lightless’ stream held their breaths as they stared at their screens, afraid to blink and miss the decisive moment. 

Then all of them noticed Red Team’s Gragas slowly creeping towards the Mid lane for a gank, and they tensed up further as they worried about CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo getting caught and killed. But before despair could completely grip the chat, Blue Team’s Sejuani also started roaming up into the Mid lane. The general atmosphere of the chat pulled a complete 180 as all of them turned hopeful that Sejuani would help CN•HOOK2 create an opening that would allow him to kill Orion’s Zed.  

As the chat alternated rapidly between hope and despair, between the best case scenario and the worst case one, fast enough to give themselves whiplash, Red Team’s Gragas stepped back from the Mid lane and back into his Jungle. Sejuani also couldn’t find an opportunity to enter and also went back into her own Jungle. Chat erupted into confusion as neither of the outcomes they were predicting played out.

Lightless Heart noticed the straight confusion afflicting his viewers and smiled. He decided to clear things up for them, “Guys! What are you even thinking here? Look at those two! You think Orion is a shit player who is hardstuck at bronze? The guy is a King! And CN•HOOK2 is just as good as Orion. When you get to the level these two guys are at, you can easily predict where the enemy jungler is going to gank from and you adjust for that. More importantly, Orion and CN•HOOK2 are watching each other extremely closely. Any slight change in behavior from either of them would be instantly noticed by the other. Neither of them can set up a gank without the other figuring it out. That’s why the two Junglers backed away. If Gragas had gone in, he would’ve died. The same thing applies to Sejuani. The smartest move in that situation was to back away instead of attempting to force a gank and failing. Especially given the fact that Yasuo and Zed are both extremely mobile Champions who are difficult to catch.” 

While Lightless Heart spoke to his viewers, Yasuo and Zed continued to poke at each other and farmed minions. The only time the frantic dance between the two Midlaners found a brief interlude was when they back away to place wards down. And then it started up again at the same intense pace. 

Yasuo and Zed’s creep scores slowly increased, with neither one pulling ahead of the other. Eventually, the game hit the 10 minute mark and both of them recalled back to base to heal up and buy items. Then they returned to the Mid lane again. Their deadlock continued to rage. 

More than a million viewers in Lightless Heart’s chat complained about how their nerves were fried from all the pressure and how they were soaked in sweat. They talked to each other about how they would’ve already tried to force an opening if they were in CN•HOOK2’s shoes. Or how they would’ve slipped up and gotten killed by now. All of them knew that maintaining a deadlock at this level of play for this long was well beyond an ordinary player. It took nerves of absolute steel, and none of them could pull it off. 

Lightless Heart noticed the conversation taking place in his stream chat, and his expression turned serious. “They’re not going to drag it out much longer, guys. Right now, both Yasuo and Zed have their Flashes and Ignites off cooldown. And they’ve got more than enough damage to kill each other. This is it. We’re about to see this deadlock break and find out who is going to win this game!”

There wasn’t a single person following CN•HOOK2’s climb tonight who knew why he popped up all of a sudden, or why CN•HOOK2 was grinding so hard. There were theories, all of which were wrong. Even the professional players following had no idea that the events on this night all started because of a challenge issued by a master to his disciple. They also had no idea that CN•HOOK2’s extraordinary determination was anchored by a promise between that same master and disciple.

And almost none of them had an idea of who this Master and Disciple were, or what their backgrounds were. If all the people following the climb on the forums and Lightless Heart’s stream knew the lore of this Master and Disciple and the history between them, they’d have fallen out of their chairs out of sheer shock. 

The Disciple was the former number one Midlaner in all of China back in Season 1. A legend at the time who was considered equal to Rake, and who had gone toe-to-toe with Rake all the way to the very end. The Master was one of the most decorated players in Chinese Esports and someone who had laid the foundation of the entire scene. Lin Feng and One. 

There was only one person who could get Lin Feng to push himself this far in an attempt to climb the Korean Challenger Ladder, and that person was One. 

And right now, One had flown all the way from Thailand to Los Angeles with Five to continue their honeymoon. It was Five who had checked the League forums on her phone and noticed all the ruckus about CN•HOOK2’s climb. She knew that Lin Feng was constantly on One’s mind, regardless of how aloof he pretended to be about the whole thing. Five also knew that One was definitely thinking about the challenge he’d given Lin Feng and wondering how it was going. That was her primary reason for checking the League forums for any news about Lin Feng, and then bringing it up to One. 

The second that Five brought up Lin Feng, One perked up immediately and moved a little closer to her so he could see her phone. Then he looked at Five and said, “Oh? He’s still trying to complete that little task? I thought he’d given up already. But it’s pretty late in China, ain’t it? He’s playing his last game?”

Five looked up at One with a knowing smile. It’s so cute how he pretends not to care. He thinks I don’t notice him trying to read my phone… She nodded and replied, “It’s very late in China right now. But your little student hasn’t stopped playing all night. He’s been on a roll too. Started out with a three game win streak, but that got broken. He rallied and went on a four game win streak after, and then got knocked out of it again. Lots of people on the forums lost hope around then, but then Lin Feng came back even stronger than before! But this is the last game of the night and the climb. If he wins this one, he’ll be in the Top Five.”

One’s lips curved into a smile. “Oh? So this is really the last game that he can play and the one game that he absolutely needs to win to beat my challenge? Hahahahaha! Kid is cutting it real close! Or maybe I’m just such a fantastic mentor who gave his student a perfect task.” 

Five glared at One for a few seconds before shaking her head in exasperation. “Well, the great and all-knowing One didn’t account for what’s happening right now.” Five held her phone up to One’s face before continuing, “Read that! It’s all they’re talking about on the Chinese League forums right now. He’s playing Orion in this last game!” 

One glanced through the posts on Five’s phone quickly. But he remained perfectly calm and shrugged his shoulders. Then he looked back at Five and casually replied, “Orion? That little dork from Korea? What’s the problem here? Why is everyone so surprised that Lin Feng is up against a King? This is a completely normal and expected turn of events. He’s supposed to be facing stronger and stronger opponents as he climbs higher on the Korean server. I would’ve found it strange if he didn’t run into a King on this climb. Now that’d be something to get all riled up about on the forums! I’d have been on the forums myself talking about how my idiot apprentice got unusually lucky.”

Five blinked slowly as she processed what One had said. Then she nodded once and stared right into One’s eyes. “You seem very confident that Lin Feng is going to win? You’re not worried about him at all? What if this goes wrong and it’s too much for him to handle? You remember what happened last time…”

As Five trailed off, One awkwardly coughed and answered before she could continue, “I remember, I remember. If he were up against Moon, I’d be a little worried. If it was Rake, I’d have been very worried. But right now? I’m chillin’ like a villain. He’s only up against Orion. I don’t think this is going to be a problem at all. ”

Five’s eyebrows flew up as her face fixed itself into an expression of shock and surprise. “What? Are you being serious right now? No bullshit? You really think that Lin Feng can win against Orion? This isn’t just you being an arrogant little turd? Be realistic about this! I know how amazing Lin Feng was in his prime and how much of a prodigy he is… but he’s only just started to come back. There’s no way he’s recovered enough of his old skill to be equal to a King yet! That’s just not pos—”

One put a hand on Five’s shoulder and shook his head. “Lin Feng is doing alright. He’s shaking a lot of the rust off and regaining the skill he had four years ago fast. He’s doing it faster than I thought he would, too. But he’s not at the point of being equal to a King. Yet.” 

Five opened her mouth to ask a question, and then closed it before any words could come out. She cleared her throat and then asked, “What? He’s not? What? Then why’d you just say…?”

One laughed. “Oh, that. Don’t stress the details. Just trust me. He’s definitely going to win this game.”

One gave Five a cocky smile. Then he looked out the window at the Los Angeles skyline, his eyes slowly becoming unfocused as he lost himself in his thoughts. 

Five’s right. This was a hard road that I had Lin Feng walk down. Breaking into the Top Five on the Korean Challenger rankings… that’s difficult enough to do normally. There’s millions of players who spend years trying to pull that off. But I made it even harder for Lin Feng by adding a deadline. But he can handle this. I know he can! 

The regular trash player can’t handle grinding out game after game of League. I doubt any of the current professional players could even handle playing this many games at the Challenger level in a row. But Lin Feng can do it. That’s what makes him special. He can play a tournament and then play game after game in a desperate climb while racing against time! Just like Five said, he’s always been a prodigy. The kid instinctively understands the mechanics and flow of the game in ways that most other people can’t. He’s never needed any help with that stuff. 

But something broke inside the kid’s head back then… That’s the first thing that we need to fix. He can get everything back on his own just by playing. But until he learns to become resilient against pressure, it’s not going to make a difference. We’ll just be playing out the past again. That’s what all of this is meant to do for Lin Feng! 

All of this pressure that Lin Feng is feeling right now, it’s an artificial recreation of what he felt back then. He’s racing against time while fighting against an opponent who matches him in skill. An opponent that he’s not quite sure that he can beat. All while trying not to let me down. It all comes down to this one game. Exactly like it did back then. This is the pressure that he needs to bring out his potential. This is the pressure he needs to feel and deal with to break that block in his head. 

And he’s tired right now too. There’s no way not to be after playing so many games in a row. But all of those games had a point. He’s gotten stronger after each one. This challenge was meant to forge Lin Feng into what he was always supposed to be. He’s been hammered and tempered with every single game, becoming stronger and stronger. By winning and losing, he’s learned that he can bounce back better. Right now, he’s exactly where he needs to be to realize his potential.

If I know anything about my blockhead of an apprentice, he’s at his peak state mentally right now. I’ve only seen him get this serious one time, and that was when he played against Rake all those years ago. Now that he’s there again, nothing is going to stop him! Definitely not that dork Orion. 

One’s eyes refocused and he grinned ear-to-ear as he continued to look out the window. The light of the morning sun warmed his face. Then he yelled out to the world, “That kid is my disciple. My apprentice! He’s going to shoulder the next era of Chinese Esports as my chosen successor! There’s no way he’s going to lose here!”

Five watched as One’s shoulders squared up and the old intensity blazed in his eyes. She felt her heart beat faster as One’s spirit roared to it’s former heights and felt the pressure of his aura pushing down on her. The room itself started to feel smaller as One’s larger-than-life charisma eclipsed it. That’s when Five understood that she wasn’t looking at One, her husband, anymore. She was looking at 001. The Legend who carved an era of Chinese Esports with his hands. She understood why he was so confident in Lin Feng. Because he was 001, and the disciple he had hand-picked and trained would not be defeated!

While One and Five talked, Lin Feng continued to play his final game of the night. His forehead had beads of sweat rolling down it, and the tension coiled and rolled through his body. It was clear that Lin Feng was finally starting to feel the weight of all the pressure bearing down on him, more so than he had in any of his previous game. The Lin Feng playing this game was not the normal happy-go-lucky Lin Feng that all his friends and teammates had come to know. This was a drastically different person, a Lin Feng who had not been seen in four long years.

This Lin Feng was awakened and brought out because of the opponent he was playing against. Orion was an opponent that Lin Feng couldn’t laugh away or recklessly believe he could beat easily. And Lin Feng absolutely needed to beat Orion and win this game! His eyes burned with the fierce intensity of his spirit and he could feel his blood pounding harder and harder against every artery and vein in his body. Lin Feng could feel the pressure of the game pushing down on him and he could feel his spirit rising to push back against that pressure, pushing back more and more until everything equalized into a single moment of perfect clarity. 

Lin Feng knew this feeling. He’d felt like this before, a very long time ago. His fingers tapped the keys with perfect timing and precision, without conscious thought. His hand moved the mouse in concert, directing his Yasuo right where the Champion needed to be. He acted and reacted without thought or hesitation. 

The pressure of the climb, of all the games that he played that night, the difficulty of facing Orion in this game, and his need to win, all of it hammered down on Lin Feng until it forced him to grow to a new level. He was on top of the world right now, and there was nothing that could bar his path!

Lin Feng’s evolution happened just as the game hit the six minute mark. Both Midlaners had hit level 6. But neither was willing to force a reckless engagement. They cautiously danced around each other until the minion wave had been cleared, and then slowly retreated back to their Outer Towers to recall back to their respective bases.

After healing up at the fountain and buying items, Lin Feng immediately rushed out of the base toward the Bot lane!

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

The game started. All Champions were summoned onto Summoner’s Rift and ran to their respective lanes. CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo met Orion’s Zed in the Mid lane before the first minion wave spawned. They danced around each other, poking and testing each other’s defenses. And then the first wave of minions arrived, announcing the start of the laning phase. Yasuo and Zed continued to poke at each other while getting the last hit on every minion. 

And then, 3 minutes after the start of the game, the Junglers on both teams decided to roam over to the mid lane for their first ganks. By the time they arrived, Yasuo and Zed were already at each other’s throats, deep in the middle of an intense clash! Zed’s health was dangerously low after taking slash after slash from Yasuo’s blade. But Zed’s Razor Shurikens gave Yasuo just as much damage back. When both Champions were on their last legs, Zed Flashed back towards his tower to avoid a Whirlwind from Yasuo’s blade headed right for him! 

CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo saw an opening. He Flashed forward and then seamlessly dashed through one of the Red Team’s minions with Sweeping Blade and arrived right in front of Zed with a graceful spin of his Steel Tempest. Before the attack ended, Yasuo also managed to Ignite the Zed. One last auto-attack was all that was needed to cleave this first life from Zed. 

《First Blood!》

But CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo did not come through the exchange unscathed. Zed’s Razor Shurikens and auto-attacks managed to reap the vast majority of Yasuo’s health. And in the seconds before he died, Zed managed to Ignite Yasuo. And the Ignite continued to burn away at the dregs of Yasuo’s health after the Zed’s death, until Yasuo also died. 

《An Ally Has Been Slain!》

The two Junglers who served as witnesses to this first battle both backed away into their respective jungles, clearly unsure about how the rest of this game would play out.

Despite the fact that this was only the first exchange of a game that only started three minutes ago, it was more than enough to thrill and shock the million viewers on Lightless’ steam. They were all laser-focused on the stream with goosebumps spreading across their bodies. Just this first taste had told them that this game would become the stuff of legend. 

The first real fight of the game in the Midlane, the first cross of swords between CN•HOOK2 and Orion, had ended in a complete draw. Yasuo and Zed were even in terms of kills, deaths, and minions killed so far. Both of them had even used up both of their available Summoner Spells. 

All of the viewers watching the stream were spellbound by the action. That included Lightless Heart, who said nothing for the duration of the fight. He just watched. And then when Yasuo and Zed both died, he jumped up out of his seat and exclaimed, “Hot damn! The pace of this game is even faster than the LPL! I’m calling it right now, folks! This game, this is going to be all about the Midlane. That’s it! On one side, we’ve got the mysterious CN•HOOK2! He’s charged all the way to Rank 6 on the Korean server in a single night and shows no signs of slowing down! On the other side, we’ve got Orion. A King and Midlaner for the OGN team Warrior! These two are going to slug it out, and whoever comes out on top is going to win this game! We don’t even know what’s happening on the other lanes right now, or the Jungle! But that doesn’t matter, because what’s going on in the Midlane is what the absolute peak of League gameplay looks like!”

The first fight was just as thrilling for An Xin, who watched the whole thing unfold from her seat beside Lin Feng inside the hotel room in Beijing. Her eyes sparkled with appreciation as she played it over in her mind. 

That was beautiful to see. Everything was timed so perfectly it could’ve been choreographed. Orion waited until his Jungler’s Gragas arrived, and then had his Zed use Living Shadow’s position switch to dash over to Lin Feng’s Yasuo. Then Zed engaged with Razor Shurikens. Just as that attack landed, Gragas rushed into the Midlane and Flashed forward to land a Body Slam on Yasuo. Again, perfect. The stun from Body Slam locked Lin Feng’s Yasuo down, creating an opening for Zed and Gragas to wail on him. 

The whole thing was planned and executed precisely. It would’ve worked too, if Blue Team’s Jungler Sejuani had also not arrived at the perfect moment to save Yasuo. She Flashed forward and started an Arctic Assault just as the Flash ended. The Arctic Assault sent her charging into Zed, knocking him up and ending the Zed-Gragas gank on Yasuo. 

Sejuani charging in managed to distract Gragas for the tiniest moment. That tiny bit of distraction was more than enough to change the timing of Gragas’ Barrel Roll. He still used the skill, but the stun on Yasuo ended before the barrel could hit. That was enough slack for Lin Feng to avoid the barrel by dashing to Orion’s Zed with Sweeping Blade. 

Orion wasn’t slow at all though. The second the knock up on his Zed from Sejuani’s Arctic Assault ended and he saw Yasuo dashing towards him, he reacted instantly with another Razor Shuriken. But Lin Feng blocked that with Yasuo’s Wind Wall. And then he followed up with a basic attack into Steel Tempest combo. That was the second Steel Tempest. Lin Feng used the skill again to send a Whirlwind rushing at Orion’s Zed to knock him up, which would’ve ended the fight if not for how quick Orion’s decision-making was. Orion decided to back away and create some distance by Flashing back towards his Outer Tower, which also let him avoid the Whirlwind from Yasuo’s blade. He would’ve survived, if there wasn’t a perfectly placed Minion between him and Yasuo. 

Yasuo went in again with the Sweeping Blade into Steel Tempest combo again, this time following up with an Ignite and an auto attack. That killed Zed. And then the last tick of Zed’s Ignite managed to kill Yasuo.

It all sounds so simple when I play it out in my head like that. But all of this happened over seconds! The reflexes and mechanics both Lin Feng and Orion just displayed though… Nothing about that was simple. Everything was done so precisely, and both of them managed everything from timing to distance to skill cooldowns perfectly! 

Orion! He really does live up to his reputation as a King. His Zed is absolutely flawless! More importantly, he managed to stay calm and make optimal decisions in the middle of such a chaotic and fast battle. Literally, the most optimal! He never gave up for a second and managed to keep everything perfectly even!

As for Lin Feng… 

An Xin stopped thinking about the fight and turned to face Lin Feng. She studied his face and then continued her train of thought. Lin Feng was just as brilliant! He’s been playing all day, and he’s still just as quick and focused as Orion is right now!

An Xin saw tiny droplets of sweat forming on Lin Feng’s forehead as he continued to play. She smiled. What a blockhead… he’s already going all-out and the game has just started. But I haven’t seen him like this in a long time. A very long time. But when he gets like this, he’s almost never lost a game. Except that one time against Rake during the Season 1 World Finals… Hm. That doesn’t matter though. Lin Feng isn’t up against Rake. He’s playing Orion. There isn’t going to be a second exception!

“Fucking nine hells! Spank me with Lux’s wand cause I gotta be dreaming! A Yasuo that isn’t playing recklessly and actually playing with strategy? I didn’t think that was even possible! Did it really happen? You say that right, Fatty? You saw Yasuo getting the turnaround?” Read XIII screamed into his headset as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The fees for calling internationally were too expensive, so Read XIII and Tian Tian switched to QQ and started watching the game together.

“Maple! That bastard! Just how much of his form has he recovered? He’s going even with fucking Orion! ORION! He played against high schoolers for a couple of weeks, and he’s already this close to being at his prime again!?” Read XIII screamed at Tian Tian. Then he took a deep breath to calm down and continued, “Listen, listen! We’ve played against Team Warriors in so many games. I don’t even remember how many times. And I’m the Captain of Assassins! I’ve played against Orion, I’ve studied him, I’ve tried to come up with strategies to beat him for a while now. I can tell you, FOR A FACT, that Orion deserves to be a member of the Seven Kings. His mechanics and skills really are the best in the world! I know EXACTLY how good Orion is!” 

Read XIII stopped again to gather his thoughts and some air. “Lemme tell you this, Fatty. The scary part of this game isn’t Orion. The scary part is that Lin Feng was evenly matched with Orion in that last fight. We both know how much of an advantage even a tiny fraction of skill makes at this level of play. LIN FENG WAS DEAD EVEN WITH ORION! NEITHER OF THEM HAD THE ADVANTAGE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS, FATTY? That rotten son-of-a-whore Maple is already at the level of a King! A KING! Is he going to be an Emperor again next week?”

From Read XIII’s point of view, if Maple had already recovered to the level of a King, it wouldn’t be long before he reached the level of an Emperor again!

“Fuck! How many years has it been since he left pro play? He comes back yesterday, plays in a few high school tournaments against kids who couldn’t hope to ever beat him, and suddenly he’s at the level of a King again? That’s nuts! I’ve literally got sweat running down my balls and making them stick to my thighs! Complete balls to the wall nuts! “ Read XIII muttered. “Fuck! He’s making all of us from the old days look bad! We’ve all been working our asses off for the past four years, and then the Amazing Fucking Maple pops up to make it look like we’ve all been standing still!”

Tian Tian ignored Read XIII’s rambling and continued focusing on the stream. A moment later, he shook his head and said, “I don’t know how much of his form he’s recovered, but I can tell that he’s still far from where he was at his prime. As for how strong he is now… that’s hard to say.”

That was the real question that everyone watching Lightless Heart’s stream pondered after that last fight.  Exactly how strong was the mysterious CN•HOOK2? It was beyond obvious that he was an expert and unusually skilled. Everyone understood that before this final game started. But the fight between CN•HOOK2 and Orion had completely shaken everyone’s perspective. CN•HOOK2 had gone toe-to-toe with a King and ended it in a draw. That was something that no one had expected. And no one knew what that even meant. The first three minutes of this game raised more questions than it answered. 

Lightless Heart fell back into his chair after his impassioned speech to his viewers. The implications of the fight didn’t hit him in the excitement. But once it did, his heart skipped a beat. There was one question screaming and echoing through his mind right now, drowning out every other thought. Does this mean that the LPL has another King? Another King Midlaner besides Daybreak Hermes?

Daybreak Hermes’ eyes flickered with mixed emotions as he considered the same question, and he hesitated coming to a conclusion. 

Shi Hang and Aurous looked at each other, at the shock and doubt in each other’s eyes, and asked each other the question at the same time.
“Just how strong is Lin Feng right now?”
“Just how strong is CN•HO—no. Just how strong is Maple right now?” 

Apart from An Xin who was sitting next to Lin Feng, there was only one other person that really knew the answer.

Los Angeles, California, United States.

On the top floor of a five-star hotel, a beautiful woman was sitting against the window. Her hair draped down her shoulders, exposing one half of her slender neck.

The woman was looking at her phone. Suddenly, she raised her head and looked at the young man standing next to her and smiled. “It looks like Lin Feng’s climbing the Korean ladder tonight. He’s playing his final game. It’s all they’re talking about on the forums. If he wins this one, he’ll complete that task you gave him!”

34 minutes.
34 minutes before the servers for League of Legends Korea shut down.
34 minutes before the Korean Challenger Ladder Rankings finalized for the season.
34 minutes before CN•HOOK2 epic challenge of the Korean gauntlet ended.

With over a million hopeful and tense eyes watching, CN•HOOK2 started his final game of the night. A game that he needed to finish in 34 minutes.

“We’ve seen a lot of miracles from CN•HOOK2 tonight, that’s for sure! But this one…  I don’t know, guys. He’s on that razor’s edge and there’s no telling how this could go. We don’t know much about the players on the other team… or the players on his team. But all 10 players in this game know that there’s only 34 minutes left. There’s a definitely chance that they could drag this game out just to stick it to CN•HOOK2. It’d be a bitch move and completely tarnish Korea’s reputation in the League scene, but you never know how these things will play out. All we do know is that CN•HOOK2 is right up against that wall…. ” Lightless said to his viewers. And then he frowned. I know HE pulled off some crazy shit back in the DOTA days. Things beyond miracles. But this… this might be beyond even him. There’s too many variables here, too many things that can go wrong. Lightless shook his head to snap himself out of his thoughts and addressed his stream again. “If this game ends up taking long… or if they stall him out… Even if he does win, CN•HOOK2 won’t hit Rank 5.” 

Lightless was absolutely right. All of the viewers on his stream understood that there was no way to tell how this game would go, and that uncertainty only added to the pressure. CN•HOOK2 needed to defeat Orion, a World-class Midlaner and named King, and also win the game before the Ranked Ladder reset. Nearly everyone watching the game understood that they would suffocate and crumble under that much pressure and weight. 

But there was something awe-inspiring about watching CN•HOOK2 stand tall against all that pressure. He was doing something that none of the viewers could ever accomplish. Or even dream of accomplishing. And considering that he was doing it after grinding out game after game for hours with almost no break time, that elevated CN•HOOK2 to even greater heights in their hearts. The insane number of games he’d played on this night would leave even the most hardcore professional players exhausted to the point of passing out. But CN•HOOK2 stood there, unwavering, against the most fearsome opponent he’d faced so far in the most important game of his climb!

“Shit. Herm? How many ways can you fuck a duck and still cook it?” Nightsong asked his old friend without moving his eyes from the stream. 

The question startled Hermes enough that he asked, “What? Just… what? Nightsong, you say some strange things and I usually know what you mean. But this… I genuinely have no idea what you’re asking.” 

Nightsong sighed before replying, “Your thoughts, Herm! On what’s going on with CN•HOOK2 and Orion! The shit that we’re watching! There’s so many ways this can play out and I’m wondering what his chances are! How is that not fiddle-fucking-obvious?” 

Hermes rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered what to say. Nightsong understood that in a game like the one about to be played, with two Midlaners of that caliber, the only person that could accurately judge which way it would go was another World-class Midlaner and fellow King like Daybreak Hermes. No one else, professional player or not, could play out the possibilities and predict what could happen in this game. 

Hermes closed his eyes and continued to think for another minute. Then he opened them and said, “CN•HOOK2’s got a 30% chance of winning? Maybe? If it were me, and I was going into this game after already having played 13 games straight, I’d maybe have a 30% chance of winning. That’s being optimistic about it. But that’s for me. If CN•HOOK2 is really him… then even I’m not sure what the probability is here. There’s no way to tell with that guy. But I know that there’s no way I’d be playing at my best in this game.”

Inside the Team Rapids’ gaming house, Shi Hang and Aurous were deep into the same exact conversation as Nightsong and Hermes. 

“It doesn’t matter if he’s playing at his best or not right now! Lin Feng is resilient, and almost always comes through when he’s in a pinch,” Shi Hang stated confidently. He had absolute faith in Lin Feng.

Aurous frowned. “It doesn’t matter how good he was! You said he wasn’t back to peak Maple yet! And there’s no way you can say for sure that he’s still going strong. No shot. He’s played 13 games before this one and he’s had no time to rest or reset mental. There’s literally no shot that he’s playing at peak energy. Even if he goes in strong and looks good in the first few minutes of the game, he’ll start falling off as he gets more and more tired. There’s no way you can say for sure that won’t happen, right? Let’s not forget that he’s playing against Orion right now, who is still fresh. I’d say that even Hermes in peak condition has a 50-50 chance against Orion!”

Shi Hang had nothing to say. He knew that Aurous was right. The argument here really wasn’t about Lin Feng’s mental or physical state. That mattered somewhat, but it paled in comparison to the biggest determinant factor for this game. Lin Feng’s opponent was Orion. A King and the 3rd best Midlaner in Korea. 

Shi Hang took a deep breath and tried to keep the worry he felt off his face. This really is going to be a tough game to win. The Lin Feng from four years ago, when he was Maple, he’d have no problem against Orion. But the Lin Feng of today? Has he gotten enough back to take on someone like Orion… ?

All 10 players in the game locked in on their champions and moved into the loading screen.  

Blue Team versus Red Team
Top: Lulu vs. Rumble
Jungle: Sejuani vs. Gragas
Mid: Yasuo vs. Zed
Support: Thresh vs. Janna
Ad-Carry: Tristana vs. Jinx

Lin Feng closed his eyes and took three deep breaths, exhaling slowly after each one as he prepared himself mentally for this final game. He could feel An Xin, still calmly sitting next to him and gazing at him warmly. His sole companion on this climb up the Korean Challenger Ladder. He could feel what she was thinking. This is the last game. Are you confident you can win? 

Lin Feng thought about the question on An Xin’s mind. Can I win? Am I confident that I can win? I honestly have no idea if I can win this game. But that doesn’t matter! I’m not going to sit here second-guessing myself over getting into this game. It doesn’t matter if I’m up against Orion, Moon, or anyone else! I’m going to keep my promise to One!

Orion… the only way I’m going to beat him in lane is if I go all out. No, no, no! I gotta pull out even more! All out plus! Orion’s known for being an aggressive Midlaner. He’s going to go in for the kill the second we’re in lane… and that’s the best kind of fight. No tricks, no fancy strategies and overthinking. We’ll be fighting each other with pure skill to decide who is better!

That’s what this game is going to be. A straight and fast slugfest! That’s a good thing too. With Orion setting the pace, there’s no way this game is going to drag out. This is going to be a 15 minute game! 

The two teams loaded into Summoner’s Rift as Lin Feng steeled his mental state, and when the Korean Announcer’s voice rang out to welcome them into Summoner’s Rift, he opened his eyes.  He took a deep breath and readied himself for battle. This was his moment and he was going to do whatever it took to keep his word to One! He was all fired up and the intensity of his spirit raged out through his eyes. What almost no one knew, from Lightless to all his viewers to the professional players watching, or expected was that this was when Lin Feng was at his best!

The number of people that understood where Lin Feng was at right now could be counted on a single hand. One of those people was currently inside KG’s Gaming House, nervously watching the Lightless steam of CN•HOOK2’s game. Tian Tian. 

Tian Tian sat there watching the Champions load into Summoner’s Rift, alternating between a small smile of joy at his friend’s triumphs and nervous shivering. Then his phone started ringing, which startled him and made him fall back in his chair. Tian Tian quickly got up and took his phone out of his pocket to answer it. 

“Yo? AYO! Say something! Hello? Hello? FATTY!? You there? It’s Read XIII! I hear you breathing loudly. Can’t you talk?” 

The caller was the star Jungler and Team Captain of Taiwan’s Assassins, Read XIII.   

Tian Tian tried to gather his breath and composure after the fall and answer. But before he could get a word in, Read XIII started asking another question. “Anyways. Listen. I’ve got something to ask you. Are you watching that Hook2 climbing on the Korean Server? He’s on Lightless Heart’s stream. It’s all over the forums too. Pretty much everywhere. All the other streamers are trying to figure out how to rebroadcast the Lightless’ stream. Anyways. That Hook2 guy, is that Maple?!”

Just as Tian Tian had gotten his breath back, the question knocked it out of him all over again. “Huh, u-uh. H-h-hm. Uh…”  The suddenness of the question caught him off guard. But he quickly gathered himself and said, “It is” with a nod. 

Read XIII’s voice grew even louder. “HOLY SHIT! IT REALLY IS HIM!? FUCK!  I thought it was One in the beginning, but then I realized—wait, that don’t sound right. He definitely couldn’t be assed to do something so annoying. Then I figured it out! Lightbulb! Lightning-on-the-brain! I thought about Maple! Who else would be this bananas? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This is nuts! That kid is even crazier than me!”

Read XIII’s mouth was firing off like a cannon, not pausing in the slightest. He was completely lost in his excitement.

“H-hey, calm down. Breathe!” Tian Tian muttered, still confused and bewildered.

Read XIII changed the subject again. “Hey, I wonder how far Maple’s gonna climb? Wait. Well, shit. He’s only got enough time for this one game. God damn! He’s even facing Orion!? This’ll be a tough match! Hey Fatty, do you think Maple can win?”

Tian Tian paused for a moment, then forcefully nodded. “He’ll win! “

“Huh? How are you so sure?” Read XIII asked, surprised.

Tian Tian’s eyes looked back at the stream, pride and joy shining through them. “Because moments like this one are when Lin Feng is at his strongest!”

It was a big moment for everyone following CN•HOOK2’s climb when he decided to queue up for his next game immediately instead of trying to wait out the Moon Emperor in an attempt to avoid a fight. All of the League fans across China erupted with excitement. The people who didn’t want to see CN•HOOK2 tarnish his climb felt vindicated, and even the people who thought it was the logical thing to do burned with excitement. Because, at the end of the day, who would willingly back down from a fight at a moment like this if they had a choice? There wasn’t a single person in China who would make that choice, if they were in CN•HOOK2’s shoes right now.

Deep in their hearts, they knew that waiting out the Moon Emperor was admitting defeat! There was no reason to throw their pride away only to get a number. Rank 5 was not worth losing honor and face. All of them knew that if they were CN•HOOK2 and succeeded in getting to the 5th rank by avoiding Moon, they’d be dissatisfied with the rank. The climb would always be tinged with regret.

But none of that happened! CN•HOOK2 queued up immediately and proved he wasn’t a coward! Everyone watching felt their hearts blaze with excitement and their spirits refreshed, with all the anxiety caused by the appearance of Moon washed away. 

「Hell, yeah! This the roflstomp we waiting for!」
「So what if it’s an emperor? Who cares if it’s Korea’s second best Midlaner? SHOW HIM WHAT U GOT!」
「Give em hell hook2! Never run away from a fight!」
「BRING IT OOOOOOOON!」
「LETTTTTSSSS GOOOOOO!」

The hype was real, so was the shit-talk. But it was really just a fragile band-aid over the pit of worry and anxiety that many of the viewers felt over the thought of their hero, CN•HOOK2, going up against the Moon Emperor. If it actually happened, it would sour one of the greatest nights of their lives. CN•HOOK2’s last game of the night would be a loss and the player that they thought was a God would be proven to be an ordinary mortal like them. If that happened, what would they do? Wait for another God to rise from their ranks? 

They watched as CN•HOOK2 entered into Champion Select for his next game. Over a million pairs of eyes on Lightless’ stream scanned over the Summoner Tags of the players on both teams. In a fortunate twist of fate, the fear that gnawed at the hearts of the viewers and whispered terrible predictions in the back of their minds was not realized. Moon wasn’t on the Blue Team! And he wasn’t on the Red Team! 

For a brief instant, the people in the stream erupted into cheers. And then that instant came to an abrupt end when they noticed the Summoner Tag of the player in fourth pick on the Red Team. That’s when all the cheering came to a screeching halt, and chat fell into a deathly silence.

Even Lightless had nothing to say as his eyelids twitched violently and a chill ran down his spine. But he did have a thought. Well… shit. This is bad!

✹

Back in HoG’s gaming house, Nightsong’s gaze flickered with mixed emotions as he looked at the player that everyone was looking at. He sucked in a breath of cold air. “Fiddle-fucking-frag! God dammit. It’s not that cocksucker Moon! But why’d this guy have to show up now? He’s got nothing better to do? Got tired of jerking himself off or learning KPOP dance moves? What a fucking whore monger!”

“Hm.. this isn’t the worst case scenario, Nightsong… but it’s far from ideal,” Hermes remarked with a grave expression. “I didn’t think he’d be queuing up for a game at this time either.”

✹

Over in Team Rapids’ gaming house, Aurous snapped out of his daze and cursed, “That bastard! He sniped Maple on purpose! I know he did! Shi hang, he did, didn’t he!?”

Shi Hang’s expression was equally twisted in rage. Just like everyone else, he was initially relieved when he didn’t see Moon on the opposing team. Then he felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach when he saw the player in fourth pick. Going up against Moon might have turned out badly for Lin Feng. But the player that did show up wasn’t any better. 

Orion. The star Midlaner for OGN team Warrior. He was a member of the Seven Kings and considered to be just below Rake and Moon. If Moon was the second best Midlaner after Rake, then Orion was third.

✹

On Lightless’ stream, all the viewers felt a chill in their hearts when they saw Orion’s name. They were left in stunned silence for a long time.

✹

Inside Fate’s gaming house somewhere in Seoul, Korea, Moon looked at the names of the players in his game and didn’t see CN•HOOK2. He shook his head, the disappointment clear on his face. A pity. I  got online tonight just to meet him too.

Moon then pulled up his browser and checked the Korean League forums. He slowly nodded.Well, that’s fine too. I’d like to see how he does against Orion.

✹

Orion was sitting at his computer in theWarriors’ gaming house when he saw that CN•HOOK2 on the opposing team. His lips curled into a faint smile. Sucks to suck, Moon! I got to him first! 

Orion’s expression remained calm, but he slowly sat up straight in his seat.  Slowly, the aura around him swelled out. It was as deep aaand as unfathomable as the ocean, forming a formless pressure. A 5-game win streak? Getting to Rank 5? Sorry bud, but I’ll c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker that all right now!

✹

The people following CN•HOOK2’s climb across China sat aghast at this truly rare coincidence. It was almost inconcievable that a person could get so lucky and unlucky at the same time. What other explanation could there be for missing the second best player in all of Korea while on the razor’s edge, only to bump into the third best player in Korea?

Be it Moon or Orion, an Emperor or a King,  both were frightening God-tier opponents who could easily make most players give up before the game even started. Every League fan across China struggled to comprehend how two Titans surfaced right at the end of CN•HOOK2’s epic climb. And then a single shared thought went through all of their minds. Is this the end for CN•HOOK2’s climb?  

The obvious answer, the only one that made sense, was that this was the end. Except no one wanted to accept that answer or even think about it. No one wanted this to be the end of CN•HOOK2’s run.

For Shi Hang, Aurous, Limitless, Nightsong, Hermes, and all the other pro players watching the livestream, the mental debate was even worse. As professional players, all of them understood exactly how good of a Midlaner Orion was and what a tremendous obstacle he was for CN•HOOK2’s run. Compared to the Moon Emperor, Orion was equally skilled when it came to laning and mechanics. What Orion lacked, if that was the right word, was a little bit of skill in things like teamfighting, map awareness, and overall macro play.

Those things that Orion was inferior to Moon in, those were all requirements for professional play. Because map awareness, teamfighting, and macro became much more important when two teams faced each other in a tournament and the bigger picture determined the outcome. When it came to solo queue, that was a different story entirely. Orion wasn’t playing with his team in the solo queue, and there weren’t grand strategies developed by professional coaches in the solo queue. 

When it came down to it, there was a good chance that Orion was even better than Moon when it came to the solo queue!

✹

Back in the hotel Team Shanghai was staying at, Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao were huddled over a laptop. Neither of them had gone to bed early. Instead, they were watching Lightless’ stream and following Lin Feng’s climb.

“D-damn, why’d he pull Orion?” Zhang Hao asked, his voice cracking. “Do you think Lin Feng is good enough to beat a King?”

Zeng Rui’s eyebrows scrunched together and canyons formed on his forehead as he considered the question. But he remained silent for a long time, unable to come up with an answer. He couldn’t answer because he was asking himself the same question and struggling with it. Can he win..?

In the room next door, Tang Bingyao had already gotten out of the shower  and was lying in bed in her pyjamas with her laptop. She was also watching Lightless’ stream. But unlike the other viewers who were worrying about CN•HOOK2, her eyes were sparkling with confidence. Mhm! If it’s Lin Feng, he can definitely beat Orion! That King or whatever is nothing compared to Lin Feng! 

At the same time, Lin Feng and An Xin were together in the other room.

An Xin glanced at Lin Feng and remarked, “Looks like this is going to be a tough game.”

Lin Feng laughed. “Oh? You think so? Hahaha! I know it’s going to be a tough game, but that’s what makes this fun!”

When it was time for the fourth pick on the Red Team to lock in their champion, Orion locked in Zed. The Master of Shadows.

Then, it was the turn of Blue Team’s fourth and fifth picks to select their champions. Lin Feng, who was in fourth pick, didn’t hesitate at all and locked in his champion. Yasuo, the Unforgiven! He took a deep breath as the fire in his eyes blazed to life. So what if I’m up against a King? I’ll crush him too!

After the results of CN•HOOK2’s 13th game came out, the players on the forums erupted into another wave of cheers. He’d managed to win five games in a row after hitting a bit of a rough patch! And he was single-digits away from becoming Rank 5 on the Korean Challenger Ladder! 

The best part of the night was that CN•HOOK2 still had a little over a half hour before the server shut down and the ranked ladder was reset. That was enough time for one more game. If CN•HOOK2 managed to play and win that game before the server slammed shut, he’d end his run firmly in the Top 5 Challengers on the Korean Server! 

The millions of League of Legends fans across China sat at the very edges of the seats with trembling thighs. The finish line was right in front of their eyes! The light at the end of the very dark tunnel that this gauntlet had become. CN•HOOK2 would smash through the kimchi ceiling for all of China! 

More importantly, everyone invested in CN•HOOK2’s climb felt an incredible weight lift up off their shoulders when CN•HOOK2 didn’t have to play against Moon in his last game. It was terrifying good luck. Because the Moon Emperor was a truly daunting opponent. Despite the fact that everyone in China wanted to be the wind at CN•HOOK2’s back and not the spit in his face, no one believed that he could stand a chance against the Moon Emperor. As long as CN•HOOK2 didn’t have to play Moon in his final game of the night, he’d break into the Top 5 and smash the Korean Gauntlet. 

But just as the League fans across China relaxed and celebrated, the lightning of misfortune struck and travelled leagues through copper wires damn near instantaneously. Just as CN•HOOK2’s last game finished, the Moon Emperor’s game also ended. 

Moon played Talon in the Mid lane. 20 minutes after the start of that game, he’d gotten 8 kills without being killed in return. Legendary. By the 28th minute, he’d carried his team to victory. And now he was back in the queue, looking for another game to play. At the same exact time that CN•HOOK2 was looking for his final game of the night. 

✹

Moon, or the Moon Emperor, was just as well known as Rake was among the Chinese League of Legends Community. He was Korea’s second Emperor, and had demolished more than enough LPL teams on the World Stage. Even Daybreak Hermes, who’d gone up against and beaten Moon before, had lost to him more often than he’d won. Moon was the lowest ranked Emperor, but that didn’t mean much at all. He was still one of the best Midlaners in the whole world and a truly strong player whose name struck fear in the hearts of many. 

Right now, CN•HOOK2 had achieved deity-status. Countless Chinese League players, streamers, and fans worshipped him and believed in the miracle that he was currently accomplishing. But despite that reverence and worship, even they didn’t believe that CN•HOOK2 could triumph against Moon. There were Gods above gods, after all. The best case scenario here, the one that they all hoped and prayed and wished would happen, was if CN•HOOK2 didn’t face the Moon Emperor at all. 

Just like any large internet-based community, people wasted no time at all typing out walls of text in forum threads stating their opinions and armchair analysis of the situation.

“Moon is about to start his next match. Hook2 should wait a bit, then start queuing up after Moon gets in a game.
“I concur, this would be the smartest move to ensure that he gets into the Top 5!”
“What if Moon Emperor ALSO WAITS?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!”
“Good idea! That way, he won’t have to face that monster! We should tell Lightless so he can send CN•HOOK2 a message and tell him to wait”
“+1 to that! It’s objectively the smartest choice.”
“If 1000 ppl like dis comment CN•HOOK2 won’t face the Moon Emperor!”
“^ this wannabe tryin to farm internet points at a time like this smh smh smhsmh”
“You guys think Moon knows who CN•HOOK2 is?????????????????”
“Is there a chance that CN•HOOK2 can win against Moon?”
“No shot.”
“NOPE!”
“NO SHOT!!!!”
“Not a chance in hell!”
“Not worth the risk!”
“Is there a chance your daddy wasn’t a retard?”
“Smh I feel bad for ur parents having such a stupid child. Should’ve gone to see the herbalist so they could have aborted you as a fetus!”

✹

In Dark Glory’s Gaming House, Lightles Hearts watched the conversation unfold both in his chat and on the forums. He silently contemplated the issue in his own mind. The Moon Emperor… Man, these guys have no idea what they’re talking about. If CN•HOOK2 queues up a little later just to avoid getting matched up against Moon, that’s such a bitch move! There’s no way THAT GUY would do that. Just waiting five minutes in these final few minutes is acknowledging the superiority of Moon as a player and CN•HOOK2 admitting that he’s the weaker player on his own. Without a fight! What a stupid, stupid, stupid thing to do! Even if CN•HOOK2 gets into the Top 5 that way, it’ll always be with an asterix…

Before Lightless could finish his thoughts and organize them so he could convey them to his viewers, a similar view started sparking its way through his chat. Apparently, his viewers had gotten there on their own, just as he did.

「What, fuck off! That’s the coward’s way out!」
「Yeah! This is why you losers will never get girls!」
「lol, so if Moon is online, does that mean Hook2 has to wait until Moon is in a game to start queuing up every time?」
「how’s that any different from admitting that you’re shit!」
「What if Moon wants to snipe him? Does that mean Hook2 just won’t play?」
「That’s way too humiliating!」
「You guys this my boi Hook2 scared of Moon? Or Rake?」
「Even if he loses to Moon, he’ll still walk away with his head held high!!!!!!!!」
「You wantto bring shame to this miracle like you brought shame to your family????」
「Do u stp wanking bcuz ur scared ur daddy might wake up to piss and see your catepiller dick???!!!」

However, this newly formed faction of viewers who believed in honorable play and the better sentiment immediately received fierce pushback from the viewers who believed that making decisions logically was better. 

「Are you all idiots? This is called being smart.」
「Get fucking real. Do you know who Moon is!? HES AN EMPEROR!」
「did anybody say anything abotu doing this every game. Hook2 is only one game away from hitting Rnank 5. If he bumps into Moon, he’s screwed!」
「If hook2 loses and fails to get into the top 5, that means all his hard work tongith went to waste!」
「would you guys be okay with that?」
「If he juswaits 2 mins, we’ll have Top 5! Moon can’t do anything!」
「Who knows when a chance like this will come around again? We gotta be smart about this and make it happen while the sun is out!」

The two factions warred endlessly in the chat, both sides picking up more and more steam as viewers swayed to one side of the fence or the other. Neither camp was willing to back down.

Until Lightless Heart spoke up.

“What’s the point of all of this? What do you guys think? Why do you think Hook2’s working so hard to climb tonight, playing right up until the server shuts down? You think it’s about a number? Top 5? Top 8? Top 10? This ain’t about reaching some arbitrary rank or number! It’s never been about that! All of that is completely meaningless! This is to prove that a Chinese player can also play with the best in the world! It’s to show everyone that our style of League of Legends is just as good! Now, you’re talking about Hook2 avoiding a fight with Moon? Just to reach Rank 5? You’ve got your priorities mixed up, and you don’t even understand why Hook2 is out there fighting to get you guys!” 

In an instant, the stream chat became quiet.

Lightless’ gaze flickered with a complicated expression as he looked at CN•HOOK2’s name on his screen. None of this matters anyway. He’s not looking at us or letting us weigh in on this decision. Nah, nah. The only thing that matters here is the choice he’s going to make…

CN•HOOK2 still showed up as ‘Online’ on Lightless’ friends list. For the time being, it didn’t show any signs of changing. And countless League fans across China watched that indicator along with Lightless, anxiously waiting to see what decision CN•HOOK2 would make. Would he cower or would he face the Moon Emperor head-on?

✹

Back at the hotel room in Beijing, An Xin checked the forums on her phone again and turned to Lin Feng, her eyes twinkling and a faint smile in the corner of her lips. “Moon just finished his game too. Looks like he’s about to queue up for another match. Do you want to wait?” 

She asked the question that everyone watching CN•HOOK2’s climb across China kept asking online and in their minds. It wasn’t really her question though. Truth be told, An Xin already knew the answer without even asking. 

“Wait? For what?” Lin Feng asked, puzzled. “We’re running out of time! There’s no point in wasting more just to get out of a game with Moon. I’ll play who I gotta play, and I’ll face them with everything I got. It doesn’t matter who they are anyway, I just need to win!” He appeared completely unconcerned as he moved his mouse and clicked resolutely to start queuing up for another game.

A few seconds later, Lin Feng found a match and entered Champion Select. This was the 14th game of the night, his final and most important one. The finale for CN•HOOK2’s climb on the Korean Server!

The summoner names of the ten players on the two teams appeared on the left and right sides of the screen, and Lin Feng scanned through them quickly. Moon’s name wasn’t on his team. Then he looked at the opposing team, and his eyes stopped when he read the name of the player in fourth pick.

“I didn’t think I’d see him tonight…”

Hermes sat behind the computer he shared with Nightsong in Hand of God’s gaming house. They were both inching towards the screen, eager to see if CN•HOOK2 had enough time left to play and win two games at the top of the Korean Challenger Ladder. But they also both realized how steep of a challenge it was. They’d played at the highest level for quite some time and often spent most of their days working on something League of Legends related. That was why they, better than anyone else, understood the physical and mental toll that came with playing consecutive games at this level, and the pressure that CN•HOOK2 was under.

Nightsong shook his head and frowned. He said, “It’s gonna be tougher than getting your Mum into bed, that’s for sure. Only someone like…”

Hermes chuckled and replied, “Losing some of that energy, huh? Stunned to silence?” He then pursed his lips and shook his head before continuing, “But you’re right. You’re right. I don’t get it. He just played 11 games in a row and needs another 2. And he’s gotta win both of them. How can anyone stand straight knowing that?”

“That’s just it…” Nightsong mumbled. He hit his fingers as he said, “Normal training, scrims, tournaments, streams, fan meetups… I can keep going! We do them all every day all day! We can because we trained for it! And because there is the mixup. We don’t train all day. We don’t scrim all day. We don’t play dicking tournaments all day! FUCK!”

Hermes sighed. He turned his head to look at Nightsong and said, “He’s played 11 games and won 8 of them. He’s grinding so hard and worst… or best. I don’t know anymore. Best of all, yeah. Best of all, he’s looking better than he did five games ago. He’s just getting better and better and better!” He briefly paused before adding softly, “I couldn’t do that.”

“NO ONE CAN!” Nightsong exclaimed. He grabbed Hermes by his shoulders and looked his friend deep in the eyes. “DON’T YOU SEE? THAT’S IT!” he shouted, spittle spewing from his lips. “HE’S A BOT! WE’VE GOT OUR VERY OWN ALPHA ZERO! THAT’S WHY HE’S BETTER THAN YOU AND ME! HE’S NO MAN! HE’S A MACHINE!” He turned back to look at the screen and grinned. He clenched his fists and laughed. “That’s it. That’s gotta be it. No one’s better at banging out straight wins than me, except if that someone is using some illegal support. Yep. that’s it. I’m telling you. That’s it.” 

✹

Aurous was still keeping Shi Hang company in Team Rapids gaming house. But while Shi Hang was sitting at the edge of his seat with a big grin on his face, he slumped back in his chair a bit. He glanced at his friend and said, “I don’t get it. How are you so excited? He’s played 11 games! 11! In a fucking row! AFTER PLAYING THE FUCKING FINALS OF THE COLLEGIATE CUP! BEFORE WHICH HE EVEN PLAYED MORE! HE’S BEEN PLAYING FOR SO LONG… FUCK!”

Shi Hang turned his head to look at his friend and shook his head a bit. He explained, “You weren’t there in Season 1. I guess it makes sense you don’t understand. Actually…” He briefly paused to look back at his screen and make sure Lin Feng hadn’t found a game yet. He then continued, “Let me give you an idea of what it was like for him back in Season 1. Maybe then you’ll understand that if anyone can do it, it’s gonna be him.”

“Okay, okay, talk!” Aurous replied, nodding.

“Here goes,” Shi Hang started, keeping one eye on his screen. “Back in Season 1, Lin Feng… Or Maple… You get it. Anyway, he qualified for Worlds with his team, right? Here in China, we were fucking proud of him. They were basically the wildcard team, the team no one outside of China had ever heard of. But they qualified for Worlds, so they flew to London and were excited to start playing against the other top teams in the world.

“When they got in London, they weren’t really welcomed. They were the wildcard team. You know how it’s at Worlds these years. Everyone makes fun of the wildcard teams. It wasn’t any different back then. You had the Europeans and Americans who thought they were the shit. And then you had those douches from Korea. Assholes those guys. They all thought they were better than some wildcard team. None of them respected Maple, much less his team.

“Lin Feng and his teammates. Oh! And An Xin, you’ve seen her play. But they started looking for scrim partners to prepare for Worlds against the best. Everyone ignored them. They didn’t even get a single message back. No ‘sorry, but we’re busy’ or anything like that. Just complete radio silence. But they still had to practice. They had to be in the best form of their lives for Worlds! So they contacted me and some of the other top players and asked us if we could be their scrim partners.

“Most of us had jobs or school. League of Legends wasn’t what it is now. There wasn’t big money in it yet. We couldn’t tell our teacher or boss that we had to take a sick day to help a friend get better at playing a game. They’d have laughed at us! Right in the face! So we had to do our normal stuff during the day and play with them at night, which wasn’t great for them. They had to adjust their entire sleeping schedule just so they could get more time to practice against us. They were pulling the most insane days, just to get those few extra hours of training in…

“And they never complained. They never asked us if we could take that sick day, or skip that class. They thanked us again and again. They persevered. They pressed on. Fuck! I remember the day of the semis. I played basically all night against Maple! We did full team scrims but also 1v1s. That was fucking awesome. And then, when most people would be too tired to think straight, he went up on stage to play against fucking Phoenix! You know what happened then.”

Aurous stared at Shi Hang with his eyes wide open. He nodded unconsciously and muttered, “He smashed him. Maple smashed him.”

Shi Hang grinned and said, “Exactly! So when you ask me why I’m confident that Maple… Lin Feng will win the next two games and make it into the Top 5, that’s why. I’ve seen him pull this off before. I know him. And I know that if there’s anyone who can do this, it’s him. Because fuck me he’s good.”

Aurous grinned and was about to agree to that when Shi Hang frowned and continued, “There’s one thing that’s got me a bit worried though. He hasn’t played Rake yet and I don’t see him online. But he also hasn’t played Moon yet and he did just log on. They’re both in queue. I believe Lin Feng can beat him. I really believe he’s that good. But that won’t be an easy game. That won’t be the 20 minute game he needs. It’ll be a 50 minute game and he won’t have time to hit that Top 5. And that would fucking suck.”

✹

Lightless had several big names on his friends list. One he was particularly proud of was Moon. The one million+ viewers on his stream saw it when Moon logged on, and they watched Moon enter the solo queue. Before Lightless could say anything—not that he had too—his viewers lost it. They smashed away at their keyboards as a massive wave of messages flooded the chat.

「NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT”S MOOOONN FUUUCKKMEEEEEE」
「NOT NOW!!! WHY NOW!?!??!?!??!?!?」
「FUCK! Whats next? Rake gonna come too??!?!??!?!?!」
「maybe he can beat moon?」
「QQQQQQQQ WHY THIS BAD LUCK!?!?!?!?!?!??!?」
「PLS NO MOON! PLS NO MOON! PLS NO MOON!」
「HOOK THE RIGHT FISH! MOONFISH ARE BAD FISH!」
「Press F to Pay Respect.」
「FFFFFFFFF」
「RIPPERINO FFFF」
「NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU」
「FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF」
「fffff」
「F」
「FFF」

✹

An Xin sat next to Lin Feng in the hotel room, scrolling through different online forums on her phone. When she read the news about Moon logging on and getting into the solo queue, she raised her eyebrows and said, “Hey, Lin Feng?” She briefly waited for his attention and then continued, “Looks like Moon’s trying to snipe you.”

Lin Feng paused for a moment. It felt like even his heart slowed to a stop. His mind went blank as the darkness of despair was tugging at his consciousness. But then he grinned. He relaxed his shoulders and sighed loudly. “Got it,” he replied. “Thanks.”

The queue popped a few seconds later. Every player had to click the ready button; it was a mechanism Riot Games had put in place to make sure everyone was still behind their computer. Lin Feng moved his mouse over the button and without pause clicked it. He glanced at An Xin and asked with a bit of excitement in his voice, “So? Is he in it?”

An Xin looked at her phone. It was playing Lightless’ stream which was currently zoomed in on Lightless’ friends list. CN•HOOK2 was in Champion Select and Moon was still in queue. “No,” she replied. “Looks like he’s still in queue.”

Lin Feng shrugged and said, “Okay, guess not then.” He then narrowed his eyes and stared at his screen. I need to win this one fast. I can’t beat Moon in 20 minutes. Maybe 30… He took a deep, long breath. If they’re sniping me now, they’ll snipe me next game as well. I need to buy myself as much time as possible. Fizz. The Champion wasn’t banned, though LeBlanc, Yasuo and Ahri were. Good. I’ll go with her. I’ll stomp them like I did earlier…

The game started a few minutes later. Lin Feng bought Doran’s Ring, which was the normal starter item for an ability power Champion. He then went to lane and played at a level of aggressiveness he hadn’t shown before that game yet. He pushed his opponent into making mistakes and by Level 2 he claimed first blood. He pushed the wave out and recalled back to base, where he bought a second Doran’s Ring to give himself that all important power boost. When he returned to lane, his opponent was there waiting for him. And he continued right where he left off. He pushed and put pressure and killed his opponent a minute later. He then roamed top where he caught the opponent’s Toplaner and Jungler. He killed them both. He had 4 kills before reaching Level 6. It was disastrous for his opponent. It was a deficit they couldn’t come back from.

Lin Feng’s Botlaners weren’t particularly great, nor was his Toplaner or Jungler. It didn’t feel to Lin Feng like they were particularly try-harding either. But he never stopped to care about that. He just kept doing what he did best. Getting kills and securing objectives. The mid lane was the first to fall, followed by the top lane. The opponent tried to force him into teamfights, but he simply ignored that, allowing his teammates to die just so he could split push to victory.

At 26 minutes, Lin Feng’s Fizz destroyed the second inhibitor of the game. His opponent was still trying to draw him into a teamfight, but he never took the bait. When his opponent finally realized they had to do something to stop, it was too late. He was in their base. He was taking down their Nexus towers. And he finally took down their Nexus. All the while, his teammates in their inability to do much of anything useful were doing a perfect job at distracting the opponent which gave Lin Feng all the time he needed to win the game.

The fifteenth game of the night was a victory for Lin Feng. He had a bit more than 30 minutes left before the ranks would rest and he was one victory shy from breaching the Top 5. He turned his head to look at An Xin and grinned. He said, “Five down. One to go. LET’S FUCKING GO!”

“My ears!” An Xin yelped, reaching for her ears. She then smiled and added, “Yeah. Let’s go!”

Lightless sat behind his computer in Dark Glory’s gaming room, streaming CN•HOOK2’s ascent of the Korean Challenger Ladder to over a million viewers. But the last few minutes had been tense. After two losses, CN•HOOK2 didn’t immediately jump into another game. There was a long pause during which Lightless didn’t breathe. Or say much. In which his viewers barely dared to type! Everyone was waiting to see what would happen next. And then, it did. CN•HOOK2’s name turned yellow again, and in small letters under his name it read ‘in queue’. Lightless smiled at the camera and said, “He had me worried there for a second, not gonna lie. Thought he might give up… But was I wrong! Look at that! He’s in queue again! I’m thinking he went to grab some water to clear his head, maybe throw some on his face, and he’s going right back at it! Let’s watch him win again!”

「WOWZERS! AGAIN! DUDES MY NEW HEROOOOO」
「11 games…. this is his 11th game… wtf. he a robot?」
「AT LEAST A CHINESE ROBOT! CHINESE RULEEZZZZZZZZ」
「Here’s to hoping his teammates ain’t dogshit this game.」
「no way! cant be that unlucky! NORMAL TEAMMATES PLEASEEEEEEE」
「i really hope he wins!!!」

Lightless laughed and said to his viewers, “You guys are the weirdest people ever. First you’re all screaming about how he got tilted and gave up. I think I even saw someone claiming they heard from sources…” He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “… that CN•HOOK2 threw his computer out of the window! So ridiculous! He just needed a little break. We all do after a few bad losses. Take a step back, breathe deeply, and get right back to it! And that’s what we’re seeing here!”

「lol knew that guy was full of shit! I told you guys he was a stupid troll saying he knows CN•HOOK2」
「but like CN•HOOK2 never said anything! how were we to know?????」
「He played 10 games already! This is his 11th! You see LPL pros do that shit? Of course you dont! Only crazies do!」
「TONIGHT IS A LONG AND BITTER BATTLE! MAY THE BEST CN•HOOK2 WIN!」
「maybe he should take a longer break… is five mins really enough?」
「yeah….. five mins is like nothing!!! TAKE A FEW MORE MINUTES BUD! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!」

“Yep,” Lightless said, frowning. “Five minutes is very short. Hardly enough for most people. But look at the clock. He’s got less than three hours to go to get all the way up to wherever he’s aiming for! If he starts now, he can play a few more games. That’d be enough to reach the Top 5! Honestly…?” He briefly paused and looked straight at the camera. “Honestly, I think that’s his aim here.”

「Top 5 his aim………」
「How is that even possible??? Hesonly got a few more games left at the TOP OF KOREAN CHALLENGER!!!!!」
「it’s not gonna happen. It can’t…. no one is that good….」
「TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT! BAN THE DOWNERS! HOOKS GOT THIS!!!!!」
「fuck me… I really wanted….. less than 3 hours just isn’t enough. Maybe if he started sooner…. next season…」
「SCREW THAT! HE CAN DO THIS! HE CAN FUCKING DO THIS! GOOOOOOOOO HOOK!!!」

Lightless read through the chat and smiled. He glanced at his monitor which showed that CN•HOOK2 was currently in Champion Select. If there’s anyone that can do this, it’s One. He smiled and said to his viewers, “It’s going to be really tough. But I’ve got a feeling here. This little twinkle in my chest. I think that he might have what it takes. I think… that he just might… PULL IT OFF!”

✹

Su Xue was back in Shanghai, inside her apartment, reading through the forums on one screen while watching Lightless’ stream on the other. She’d considered streaming herself. Lin Feng would’ve happily added her to his friends list. But her viewers didn’t know Lin Feng was CN•HOOK2 and she felt that rather than trying to explain it to hundreds of thousands of people, it would be less stressful to host Lightless and watch his stream instead.

Lightless had just explained how Lin Feng would have to win the next few games if he wanted to reach the Top 5. She knew that was Lin Feng’s goal. Thanks to Lightless she also knew that Lin Feng could still reach that goal. “But another win streak? That’s so unfair! If it wasn’t for those stupid teammates… He should get some kind of compensation for those teammates! Like some extra LP! Something to give him a buffer in his last few games before server reset! Stupid game!” she grumbled.

But Su Xue didn’t give up. She furiously typed away, downvoting the naysayers and cheering Lin Feng on with everything she had. Her heart was up in her throat, slamming, and she constantly had to remind herself to keep breathing. Then the game began. She stopped typing. Her eyes were drawn to Lightless’ stream. She clenched her fists and mumbled, “Come on, kid! You can do this! I know you can! Make momma proud!”

✹

Lin Feng sat in the hotelroom behind his laptop. An Xin sat next to him. He couldn’t see her, but he could feel her calming presence. It was a feeling he’d come to love during Season 1. She was always there, always by his side. Just knowing she was there for him, with him, helped him. The nerves and frustrations that were bothering him before had disappeared. An Xin was right. I did need a short break. And her massages are the best! He smiled and placed his hands on his keyboard and mouse.

The game announcer welcomed him to Summoner’s Rift in Korean. His Fizz spawned on the fountain and he opened the shop to buy his starting items, like he’d done so many times before. But something was different in this game compared to the previous one. This game felt like 4 years ago. There was only excitement and expectation, the strong desire to keep moving forward and push through everyone in his way! This was where he belonged! This was where he was the best version of himself! He grinned and nodded at his screen. “LET’S GO!” he exclaimed.

✹

Lightless jumped from his seat multiple times that game. His viewers were losing it in chat. CN•HOOK2 started with an early kill at Level 3 on the opponent Twisted Fate, after which he went straight down to the bot lane where he picked up a double kill. From there the game was played. CN•HOOK2 played at such a high level that it didn’t even matter what his teammates did. He carried them. He carried the top lane with a couple of kills. He carried the bot lane. And he drew the opponents Jungler towards the mid lane where he won multiple one versus two’s. The game lasted 25 minutes, but it was played in those first three minutes.

“Unbelievable,” Lightless said. He shook his head and continued, “Un. Be. Lie. Va. Ble.”

「THATS OUR BOY!!!! WOOOOOOOO」
「WHAT DID HE TAKE IN THAT BREAK? MY GOD WTFFFFFFFF」
「best goddamn player in the world. i dont see rake doing that」
「OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD」

Lightless nodded and said, “Yes. Oh my god. That was insane. It’s the 11th game of the night and somehow he’s playing better than in all of his previous games combined… Wow!”

✹

Lin Feng turned his head to look at An Xin and smiled. He said, “One down, five to go.”

An Xin smiled back at him and replied, “That wasn’t half bad.”

“Right!” Lin Feng exclaimed with his trademark grin. He then turned his head back towards his laptop. The grin disappeared from his face as he forced himself through a few cycles of deep, long breaths. “Five more to go. I need to play,” he mumbled while clicking on the ‘play again’ button.

Lin Feng picked LeBlanc in his 12th game of the night. His LeBlanc and Fizz were always very similar, which became clear to everyone watching as the game progressed. When he taught LeBlanc her third primary skill, he jumped on the opponent Ahri, predicted where she was flashing away too, locked her down with Ethereal Chains, and finished her off with a combination of auto attacks and Ignite. After which he went straight down the river towards the bot lane. His own Botlaners didn’t even see him coming. None of the 9 other players realized it, until he appeared in the bot lane by jumping on the Lucian and Zyra. They were both squishy targets who were dueling with Jinx and Janna. Lin Feng didn’t have to do much, but what he did, he did perfectly.

The game lasted 29 minutes, a few minutes longer than the previous game. Lin Feng had to carry a bit harder, but he did that all the same. The Nexus exploded and the victory emblem floated on his screen. He smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Two down, four to go,” he mumbled more to himself than to An Xin. He then squared his shoulders and clicked on the ‘play again’ button. “No time to lose!”

An Xin looked at Lin Feng but didn’t say anything. She just smiled and looked at the Korean Ladder. He’s Rank 7 already. He’s doing it. I’m watching him doing it! 

Lin Feng soon found himself in the next game. This time around he went with Annie. But unlike the previous two games, he didn’t get first blood within three minutes and he also didn’t get a double kill in the bot lane. He scrunched his eyebrows and mumbled, “Their Midlaner and ad-carry are good.”

“Of course they are,” An Xin replied. She winked at Lin Feng and continued, “That Zed is a semi-pro currently sitting in 9th on the ranked ladder and that ad-carry is on the main roster of an OGN team. What? You thought you were just going to walk all over everyone?”

“Of course not!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He glanced at An Xin and added, “This just makes it more fun!” He then focused back on his game, his finger tapping in a calm but fast rhythm. He forced his opponent to call in the help of their Jungler and then baited them into giving him a double kill. But that wasn’t enough to win this game. His Botlaners were struggling against the professional Kog’Maw.

The laning phase came to an end after Kog’Maw destroyed the bot lane’s outer tower. Lin Feng grimaced slightly and his touch on his mouse increased. Just for a moment. Then his mind cleared. He grinned and focused on the game. He accepted that his teammates were outclassed by the opponent, and he started playing with that in mind. When the first teamfight happened, he knew they would lose. So rather than fight for a win, he fought to minimize their losses. Kog’Maw still got four kills.

Lin Feng took a deep, long breath. His teammates died, but his Annie was the only one on a killing spree. She was the only one worth any real money. And she’d survived. They had to give up on the Dragon, but he kept an eye on Baron Nashor. I just need to find the right engage before my teammates do their thing… Get the Kog… Patience.

The second teamfight went down much like the first. Lin Feng’s teammates were trigger happy. Their Jinx especially decided to engage with her minigun rather than using her long range bazooka. Lin Feng’s team lost another big fight and were fortunate that they killed the opponent’s Jungler. It was the only thing keeping them from taking Baron Nashor.

But while the game looked bad, though everything looked to be going against him, Lin Feng remained calm. He knew the game was far from over. His Annie was fed from the laning phase and his teammates weren’t completely useless. With the right engage, they could win.

The minutes dragged on. The pressure on Lin Feng continued to grow. Every game had to be a fast win if he wanted to get the six he needed for that Top 5 spot. When the game reached the 35th minute, Lin Feng’s opponents forced a teamfight at the Baron pit. His teammates were walking straight into the bait, because if they didn’t, the opponent would take the Baron and win the game. Lin Feng didn’t run head first into the fight. He looked at the curves in the wall surrounding the Baron pit and estimated where their Kog’Maw was most likely positioned. When his teammates walked into the trap, he flashed across the Baron pit wall and arrived right behind Kog’Maw.

“TIBBERS, I SUMMON YOU!” Lin Feng hollered behind his laptop, causing An Xin to jump up from her chair in fright. “What the fuck!” she exclaimed, but Lin Feng wasn’t listening to her. He was just grinning, his fingers gliding across the keyboard activating skills.

Annie threw her teddy bear up into the sky. It grew rapidly in size, fueled by flames. What fell to the ground was a massive monster. It stunned Kog’Maw who was then incinerated by flames. Annie pushed forward and landed a second stun on Zed, who’d jumped to the backline after assassinating Jinx. He hadn’t noticed Annie. He arrived in front of her and gave Lin Feng the double. And from there, Lin Feng kept pushing. He got a quadra kill, his Jungler picking up the fifth, after which he turned his attention towards his opponent’s base.

It was a race. Death cooldown versus speed. Lin Feng’s team didn’t have their ad carry, but they did have a fast tower killer in Irelia. They took down the inhibitor tower in the mid lane with the help of a large minion wave and pushed for the inhibitor. His teammates started to back away, but Lin Feng kept pinging on the Nexus towers until they followed him. He pressed the tab key and counted the seconds. The first nexus tower fell and they just had a few more to go. The second fell and Kog’Maw respawned. Lin Feng pinged on the Nexus. His teammates attacked it, while he moved towards Kog’Maw and stunned him. Zed respawned next and dashed in. He killed Irelia and Janna was the next one to die. But Lin Feng lived. He used his skills while auto attacking the nexus. His minions helped him. And he won.

Lin Feng leaned back in his chair and breathed out loudly through his mouth. “PFOOH! What a game. That was a tough one,” he finally said. “Alright! Next one! No time to lose!”

An Xin sat next to Lin Feng, speechless. It took her all of the next game, which was a fast 20 minute victory, to recover from her shock. She tugged on his shirt and asked, “How did you know you had enough time to finish the Nexus?”

Lin Feng looked at An Xin confused and said, “What? They were all dead!”

“Not this game, you stupid! Last game!”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. They were all dead!” Lin Feng repeated. He then scratched the back of his head and added, “I guess it was a bit closer than I would’ve liked it…”

An Xin shook her head, incredulous, and mumbled, “No. No. It was good. Really good.”

Lin Feng patted his chest and replied, “I know! I’m really good! Four games down, two more to go! Oh, and look! I’m already Rank 6! So close! I should have enough time, right? RightRight?”

An Xin smiled and replied, “Yeah, you do. You’ve got an hour. Bit more actually. Four minutes to be precise. Find a game fast and you got this!”

“Uh-huh!” Lin Feng replied while smashing the ‘play again’ button for the fifteenth time that night.

✹

In Hand of God’s gaming house, Nightsong and Hermes were watching Lightless’ stream. Hermes moved his hand across his mouth and mumbled, “He’s amazing. He’s…” He shook his head, unable to find the words to say how he was feeling.

Nightsong moved his hand around, scratching an itch on his chest, digging at the edge of his nose and rubbing across his cheek. He chewed on his lips and stared at the screen, his heart slamming so hard against his ribcage that it felt like he would break a rib soon. He finally said, “He’s doing it. He’s actually doing it! Forget about DotA and everything he did there, he’s got the skill to play in the LPL! He… He…”

“He’s got a bigger dick than you, yeah,” Hermes finished the sentence.

Nightsong abruptly turned his head to look at Hermes and exclaimed, “HEY! Not funny!” He then looked back at his screen and chewed on his lips again. “He’s in queue again,” he mumbled. “He’s going for it again. He’s almost there. I can’t believe he’s doing this. FUCK! I want him in the LPL.”

Hermes nodded and said, “Me too, buddy. Me too.”