Team Shanghai met up at the NetCow Cafe the day after the lost Finals to Fudan University to continue their training schedule for the Winter Collegiate Cup main tournament. But there wasn’t a whole lot of playing going on. Everyone looked at Lin Feng, who was loudly sneezing. His nose was red and his eyes were watering. He muttered, “Damn colds! Uch, I hate them!”

An Xin glared at him and said, “It’s your own fault for not wearing a coat! I told you…” She shook her head and gave Lin Feng a glass of water and some cold medicine. She offered, “Here, take this. It’ll help you feel a bit better. But how about you listen to me the next time when I tell you it’s too cold outside to walk around in a t-shirt? It’s almost freezing! You need to wear a coat or you get… well, sick.”

Lin Feng shook his head and coughed a bit. He then blew his nose in his sleeve and argued, “The weather was kind of warm last week! It only got cold the last few days, and that came out of nowhere! Plus, when was the last time I got sick? Like years ago!–” He lurched forward and sneezed again.

“Take the medicine already! God, how did you survive this long?” An Xin complained. She rubbed her forehead and continued, “If I wasn’t here…–”

“Do you have any other meds with you?” Lin Feng interrupted. He held the white tablet up and added, “This one tastes terrible!”

An Xin narrowed her eyes and said, “Swallow it!”

Lin Feng pouted and complained, “Nurses are supposed to be nice to their patients…”

An Xin’s lips curved up while her eyes narrowed to two small slits. She said, “HMM? Are you going to drink it or are you going to make me force it down your throat?”

“I’ll drink it, I’ll drink it! Jeesh…” Lin Feng replied. He then threw the tablet into his mouth and gulped it down with the water.

Zeng Rui watched the well-rehearsed exchange between Lin Feng and An Xin, shaking his head the entire time. When he judged they were finally done, he said, “It’s unfortunate Lin Feng got sick. He really wasn’t on his game yesterday. And the same holds true for Tang Tang. Both our carries were out sick. They played well below their usual skill level.”

“Yeah!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He grinned and continued, “I wasn’t the only one who played shit, Tang Tang also played shit! She was even worse than I was! Hey, Tang Tang! You also need to take this medicine! It’ll help you get well again!”

Tang Bingyao looked down at her shoes, hiding the dark shade of red on her face. I-I was on my period! It’s not my fault it hurt so bad! It was just a bad month! And I already apologized for it! What more… I-I…

An Xin glared at Lin Feng and shouted, “Show some consideration for her! You’re not a woman! You don’t know how hard it is to focus when you’re on your period! Really! There is blood everywhere and it hurts so much! The fact she could play at all while on her period was impressive enough! You should be grateful she even came out of bed yesterday! God! I wish guys could feel how bad a period hurts! And we have to deal with it every month again!” Her chest went up and down in frustration, her breathing raggard. She clenched her fists until her knuckles were white and yelled, “You should thank her that she played all five games as well as she did! I bet if you had a period, you would lay in bed and cry like a little baby!”

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and mumbled, “Okay, okay. Sorry…”

An Xin shouted out in frustration and then said, “Seriously! Whoever said that idiots can’t get colds hasn’t met you! And you better hope this won’t happen again for you! If I catch you doing something stupid to the detriment of the team again, I’ll punch some sense into you!”

✹

After playing a couple of games, Zeng Rui stopped the team from playing any more. He gathered everyone around him and opened a webpage. He then pointed at it and said, “Look. Most of the teams who are going through to the main tournament have been announced. There’ll be 36 teams in total. Some of the big names from the previous edition are there, like Fudan University, Beijing U-Tech, China University of Political Science and Law and Nanjing University.” He briefly paused to scroll down the list to the very bottom and then continued, “As you guys can see, the high school teams from Beijing and Guangzhou also qualified for the main tournament. Chu Fang already warned us about this, but it seems he was right. We need to be careful about them.”

Zeng Rui browsed to a different page on the China Esports Organization’s website and said, “We don’t know which team we’re up against in the first round, but we do know where we’ll be playing. The organizers just announced that the venue for the main tournament is in Guangzhou. They’ve also said that they’re covering the costs for flying all the teams that have qualified in. So we’ll be going to Guangzhou soon.”

“Guangzhou?” Lin Feng asked. His eyes lit up and he exclaimed, “That sounds awesome! I’ve always wanted to go there!”

An Xin shook her head and said, “That’s what you said last time you went…”

“I never went to Guangzhou!” Lin Feng argued.

An Xin rolled her eyes and explained, “Yes you did. Back in Season 1. You had a tournament there.”

“Shit, you’re right!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He smacked his forehead and continued, “I remember now! We were going all around the country searching for tournaments to play in!” He shook his head and laughed before adding, “We actually took the train to Guangzhou because we couldn’t afford plane tickets! And that hostel we stayed in was so bad! Even Silent complained about it, and he never talks! OhOh! And that internet cafe! It took Autumn and Eleven like an hour of haggling for the owner to let us practice for free! And then he got so pissed when Fatty and I ordered food!”

“And rightfully so,” An Xin butted in. She said, “You didn’t have money to practice but you did have money to buy large piles of food…”

Lin Feng ignored An Xin’s comments and continued, “But it was so much fun! It was a real journey! We lived on the little tournament money we made! We rented tiny apartments, ate rice gruel and cup noodles… those were the days! We had to put in so much effort just to get to play that everyone tried so much harder to be good! The pros from Season 1 are the best of all Seasons!”

Zeng Rui listened to Lin Feng recounting the events with complete attention. He’d read up about the life of a Season 1 League of Legends professional player. But hearing it from someone who’d experienced it was still different somehow. It gave life to the words he’d read. Only the best and most motivated players would go to those lengths! The average skill level must’ve been so high in those days! Now we need coaches and fancy gaming rooms and, and… He shook his head, impressed. The best players from Season 1 are still the best today. I wonder if Lin Feng will get back there too… He actually played Rake! That series was so cool! If he can get that good again… Even Hermes isn’t that good!

Lin Feng laughed and said, “Everything is so different these days! Free plane tickets, hotel rooms, food… The China Esports Association is paying for everything! This is great! I can eat all I want!”

Zeng Rui’s eyelid twitched. He bit on his lips and closed his eyes. Right. Still the thundering dumbass.

“Alright, enough reminiscing,” An Xin interrupted. She looked around the private room at the other players from Team Shanghai and said, “We can’t be careless like we were against Fudan. The teams at the main tournament are all the best of the best. We need to be ready for that.”

Zeng Rui nodded and chimed in, “Agreed. And from the data I’ve been able to gather, it looks like the average skill level of the 36 remaining teams is substantially higher than it was in the previous edition of the tournament. I already named a few of the big names before. If we have to play against any of them, it’ll be just as hard as our series against Zhejiang! Maybe even harder.” He briefly paused before adding, “And beyond everything else, we absolutely cannot underestimate Team Beijing and Team Guangzhou.”

An Xin nodded and said, “There’s almost no information on Team Beijing. Someone is pulling some strings to make sure that their recent games aren’t uploaded online. Really a petty move.”

“Correct,” Zeng Rui said. He massaged his temples and explained, “They’ve also been playing mostly with their second roster. So we really don’t have a clue about how good they are. They made it to the main tournament, though. That says something. Again, their road to the main tournament was easier than ours. East China is simply the most competitive region. But that doesn’t make the other regions weak. Long story short, we absolutely cannot underestimate them!”

Zhang Hao listened carefully and when he found a lull, he asked, “Then what about Team Guangzhou? Do we have any information on them?”

Zeng Rui smiled and replied, “We actually do. They don’t care about hiding their games. Seems like they’re pretty confident in themselves.”

An Xin nodded and chimed in, “I saw the results of their Finals in the South China Regionals. They won 3-0. Quite a convincing win too from what I read.”

“Yeah, they’re strong,” Zeng Rui agreed. He continued, “Their starplayer is Goalie. We all know that he’s good. He made it all the way to the Top 7 on the Korean Challenger ladder! His latest rating was A+, but who knows how good he exactly is! Though I’m not too worried about him…” He pointed at Lin Feng. “… We’ve got him.”

Lin Feng patted his chest and said, “Exactly right! You guys can leave mid to me! I’ll score some goals against Goalie!”

Zeng Rui turned to Tang Bingyao and continued, “A bigger concern is their bot lane. They decided to bring in another Korean import. I don’t know too much about this one, but from what I did manage to gather it looks like he’s an A grade ad-carry. So Tang Tang and I are going to have to figure out a way to beat them. Only positive point from that is that Team Guangzhou doesn’t have a lot of time to practice with him.”

Tang Bingyao nodded and said, “Mhm! I’ll do my best!”

“When did Chu Fang say that? Why didn’t he tell me? Why is this the first I hear of this!?” Lin Feng complained.

“Remember last night when he called to see if we were okay after our loss?” Zeng Rui asked. He then chuckled and continued, “You know, when you were hungry and tossed your phone to me before walking away in search of a food place? Yeah, that’s when he told us.”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and asked, “I did that…? Sounds like me…”

Zeng Rui breathed in deeply, gathering up all his bubbling frustrations, and exhaled. He then asked, “So I’m guessing you also don’t remember what happened to Zhejiang University? Chu Fang told you about that while he still had you on the phone!” He waited for a brief moment to see Lin Feng shaking his head. He then said, “You’re really something… Your head has more holes in it than Swiss cheese!”

Zeng Rui stared at his computer monitor. Lin Feng still sat next to him, going on and on about his time as Maple, but he didn’t listen. He was caught in a different quagmire. Sure, I felt some pressure when Shi Hang said you’re Maple. But that was just the first hour, day… Maybe a week, I don’t know. But come on! What did you expect? You almost won it all! Every Midlaner in China wants to be half the player you were! Of course I felt pressure! That’s only natural! He shook his head and sighed. That was when I realized you are on our team. You and me? We’re playing together. I’ve got the best Midlaner in all of China on my team! You think I feel pressure? Piss off! I’m happy, because with you I can see us actually winning this Winter Collegiate Cup! He chuckled. I thought Zhejiang was going to win the tournament because they had AyDeeCee sub in for them. I was calling them cheaters for doing that! Turns out, we’re the cheaters because we’ve got you!

“I’m good, I’m good…” Zeng Rui mumbled. He nodded at Lin Feng and added, “You can go tell BunBun that we’re all okay. All okay.”

Lin Feng jumped to his feet and said, “I knew we were okay! Okay, I’ll go tell BunBun!”

Zeng Rui watched Lin Feng run away and shook his head again. What a thundering dumbass. He gets happy about the strangest things and he looks like a damn kid half the time! But he’s Maple. Fucking Maple! We’ve got the best former professional player ever on our team! We’re going to win the Winter Collegiate Cup! And we’ll be the first high school team to do it! He clenched his fist and smiled. That’ll look great on my resumé if I ever do go pro!

Zeng Rui glanced at An Xin who was chatting with Lin Feng. I’m actually more upset with you, BunBun, than I am with that moron. You knew. You always knew. That’s where your confidence in him came from. You knew from the very beginning that he was Maple, and you didn’t tell me. Telling me not to worry is not the same! I get you were keeping his secret for him, but I really should’ve known… And we both know how the thundering dumbass is! He would never think of saying it himself! He’s too stupid for that! And you knew that! You knew! Yet you didn’t say anything… What else aren’t you saying…?

Zeng Rui shook his head in frustration. Whatever. I’m not going to guess the truth anyway. He turned back to his screen and continued watching the replay of the semi finals series against the Shanghai University of Finance. His screen was focused on the Leona he played that game. Maybe it’s the pressure that I’m feeling. But it isn’t pressure because I’m playing with Maple, but more like pressure because I don’t want to be carried by him! I want to be an equal member on this team! He grimaced. But when I look at these replays, when I see how I play and compare it to what he’s doing… I’m just not anywhere near him! I need to do more for the team! I have to!

A couple computers over, Zhang Hao stared at his own monitor. He’d listened to the exchange between Lin Feng and Zeng Rui. He’d watched the expressions on Zeng Rui’s face. And he’d recognized them as his own. I need to get better! I’m playing with goddamn Maple! I can’t let him down! I won’t be a deadweight on this team! He won’t carry me! I’ll help him to carry harder! This is going to be a team effort! He grinned and balled his hand into a fist. HECK YEAH! I’M PLAYING WITH MAPLE!

Zhang Hao clicked on the ‘Play’ button on his client and went into another game of solo queue. It only took a couple of seconds to find a match. He moved to Champion Select and called the top lane right away. Hmm… What do I practice? My Irelia? Something aggressive, that’s what he likes! Yeah, Irelia it is! I’ll practice with her! He locked in Irelia when it was his turn and muttered to himself, “I’ll get better, climb higher, and make Maple proud! He’ll want me on the team– Oh shit! I’m freaking Maple’s teammate!”

✹

Aurous was a student at Fudan University. He was also the Jungler for Light Dynasty, a team that played in the LPL. He dialed Shi Hang’s number and waited for the call to connect. When Shi Hang answered, he shouted, “Hey, you! What the hell is going on? First you decide to play in that damn kiddy tournament and then you lose to a bunch of high schoolers? The hell you thinking?”

“That it was a good game,” Shi Hang replied, chuckling.

“A good game? A GOOD GAME?” Aurous exclaimed. He clutched his phone, nearly breaking it, and continued, “Seriously, what the fuck!? I got a text saying you guys got reverse swept? And that wasn’t even the most surprising text I got! You know people are saying you got stomped by a high school kid? That… Team Shanghai, I think? Their Midlaner actually beat you?”

Shi Hang laughed and replied, “Yeah, guess he did. But the first two games I was definitely the better Midlaner in the mid and late game! Eh, don’t think too much about it. I already told you, didn’t I? I’m helping a good friend of mine keep a little secret, so there really isn’t anything I can tell you. Sorry. You’ll have to find someone else to tell you who he is.” He briefly hesitated before adding, “And why I’m not upset.”

Aurous gnashed his teeth and cursed, “Goddammit you shameless bastard! I always tell you every secret I’ve got! And didn’t I treat you to dinner just the other day? From what I recall, you pinky-promised me that you’d pay me back! Well, I’m collecting! Give me the juicy details! Who is this kid? Why are you not mad? Or tell me that you lost to him on purpose, and if you did why! What the fuck! This just doesn’t… What the fuck!”

“Not happening,” Shi Hang replied, laughing. “Ah, come on, bud. We’ve known each other for so long already! Are you really going to play this card on me? Give me a break! Actually, you know what? I’ll offer you another secret, how about that? Sound good?”

“Another secret?” Aurous blurted. He briefly hesitated but then asked, “What secret?”

Shi Hang said, “You’re still playing for Light Dynasty, right?”

Aurous rolled his eyes and replied, “You know I am. I’m not you. I don’t randomly retire. Now stop changing the topic and tell me that secret! Either of them, or both! I don’t care anymore, I just wanna know a secret!”

Shi Hang chuckled and explained, “Wasn’t really changing the topic, just giving you some hints. But I’ll spell it out a little clearer. I’m thinking about coming back to the professional scene.”

Aurous’ hand trembled. He stared at the wall on the other side of the room with his eyes wide open and stuttered, “Wait, what? You? Really? When? On my team? But we have a Midlaner! What…–”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself! I said I was thinking about it! Still just thinking. But it’s been three years and my old bones are itching. That game against Team Shanghai… against that kid? Yeah, I wanna play again,” Shi Hang answered. I’ll get to the LPL before Maple does, and I’ll wait for him there! He grinned and said, “Kinda have to make a comeback to give an old friend a welcome home party.”

✹

There was no League of Legends competition during the holidays in the second half of December. The East China Regionals picked back up in the first week of January. It was time for the Finals between Team Shanghai and Fudan University! The Shanghai Esports Organization had rented a larger venue for this game and sold out all 2,000 seats in a matter of minutes! Everyone wanted to witness the high schoolers from Shanghai beat their last opponent to claim the title of best from East China!

“This series is gonna be so good! I’ve put all of my savings on Team Shanghai! They’re gonna stomp Fudan so hard!”
“Idiot… You know that’s illegal, right? You better make sure no one finds out, and that you get your money back! Someone just scammed you probably!”
“But Team Shanghai is gonna win! Trust me! I’ve watched all the games from both teams! I’ve examined them and considered all possible outcomes! Team Shanghai is winning this series. I’m 100% sure!”
“Sure. Your plan sounds 100% foolproof. Idiot.”

The Finals of the East China Regionals got off to an exciting start. Team Shanghai lost the top lane and went even in the bot lane. But after a gank from An Xin in the mid lane, Lin Feng pulled ahead. His Yasuo snowballed. Soon he roamed around the map and picked up kills everywhere. The game moved to an early mid game in which Team Shanghai took full control of the game. They destroyed Fudan University’s nexus after 21 minutes.

“Told you! See? Team Shanghai is the best! They’re gonna win!”
“WOOOOOOOO!”
“TEAM SHANGHAI ARE THE BEST!”

The second game was almost an exact copy of the first one. The Blue team lost top and went even in the bot lane. But they camped the mid lane as much as they could until they grabbed the advantage. They forced the game into the mid game and from there worked hard to finish it. In this game, Fudan University was the Blue team. They beat Team Shanghai in 23 minutes.

“What? Fudan won that game? And Team Shanghai looked kinda… Kinda shit!”
“The fuck was their Midlaner doing? I’ve never seen him play so poorly!”
“What about their ad-carry? She was just lucky that her Support hard-carried her lane to stay even!”

Team Shanghai regained some form in the third game. They came out with a team composition that heavily relied on An Xin and Zeng Rui to roam around the map and pick the players from Fudan University off. This worked far better than anyone expected. Team Shanghai was up 7 kills by the 7th minute, and they won the game in the 20th minute.

“WOOOOOO!”
“That’s more like it! LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOO!”
“That Lee and Blitz combo was so strong! Crazy dude! Fudan has to ban those Champions!”
“I’m gonna be a rich man! WOOOOOO!”

Game 4 was another short game. Team Shanghai looked completely out of it. They lost all three lanes and An Xin even lost control of her Jungle to Fudan University’s Shaco. The first tower fell 6 minutes in, and the first inner tower followed 3 minutes later. Fudan University kept pushing all three lanes. Team Shanghai was forced back until they were standing on the fountain and watching Fudan University destroy their Nexus.

“HOLY HOT DAMN! A GAME 5! WE’RE GETTING ANOTHER GAME 5!”
“THIS SHIT IS SO FUCKING TENSE! DAYUM!”
“Come on Team Shanghai! Win this! I NEED YOU TO WIN THIS! MY MONEY!”
“Fudan really stepping up their game here! They’re actually looking stronger than Team Shanghai!”
“I’ll eat my shoe if Fudan loses the fifth game!”

The fifth and final game of the East China Regionals Finals was by far the most exciting game. Both teams pulled everything out of the closet to win. There were constant skirmishes in every lane! Through the back and forths, the game stayed relatively even. The first tower fell 15 minutes in and from that point onwards everyone started to gather up as a team. They fought 5vs5. Team Shanghai scored the first ace, which was countered a few minutes later by an ace from Fudan University. Team Shanghai destroyed an inhibitor and Fudan University followed up with destroying two inhibitors.

The game was 35 minutes in. All 10 Champions were Level 18, and the carries had the maximum amount of six items. One mistake by any of them meant the end of the game. Both teams had gathered up around Baron Nashor’s pit. They were firing skillshots at each other, until Fudan University found the engage. They jumped on Tang Bingyao’s Jinx who’d walked too far forward, and killed her.

Lin Feng as the only other remaining carry on Team Shanghai tried to turn the fight around, but he got caught by a stun. He was the second player from Team Shanghai to die. And it also meant a lost teamfight for Team Shanghai. An Xin, Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao ran away. Fudan University let them and instead killed Baron Nashor, claiming its buff. And with that buff, they charged down the mid lane, destroyed Team Shanghai’s inhibitor and finally also destroyed Team Shanghai’s Nexus. Fudan University beat Team Shanghai 3-2 in the Finals of the East China Regionals!

“WOOOOOO! I KNEW FUDAN WAS BETTER!”
“My money! MY MONEY!”
“HOLY SWEET DAMN! SICK PLAYS!”
“Team Shanghai collapsed under the pressure! That’s the only explanation for that display at the end…”
“That was so crazy bad by them! But well fucking played by Fudan University!”

“ACHOOO!”

“Boom!” Lin Feng shouted, laughing. He relaxed back in his chair and breathed out. It’s almost morning already! I feel like I’ve run a marathon… But shit! Those games were great! Finally some strong opponents, especially in that third game! That was fucking awesome! He took the glass of water Su Xue had filled for him from the desk and drank it empty. “Haaaah!” he exclaimed. “So good!”

Su Xue sat next to Lin Feng, scrolling through the Korean Challenger Ladder. She hit the refresh button several times, waiting for the results from the previous game Lin Feng played to be added. It finally did. She pushed the phone in front of Lin Feng’s face and shouted, “Look! Look! You’re almost in the Top 100! If you hadn’t lost that one game…”

“Eh, losses are part of the game,” Lin Feng replied. He grinned and continued, “Can’t win everything! That’d be silly! And those two I was playing against? The Mid and Top? Those two were really good!”

Su Xue looked at Lin Feng and shook her head. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Of course they were good! You’re in Korean Challenger! You’re playing against the best players in Korea! And those two specifically… She breathed out and opened her eyes again. She lectured, “Of course they were good! Those two play in the OGN! That’s the highest competition in Korea! They play against Rake!”

Lin Feng laughed awkwardly and mumbled, “I guess…”

“You guess?” Su Xue asked. I wanna punch him! She breathed in deeply and said, “You were playing against Seo! He’s a really famous Midlaner! Yet you beat him! You beat him in lane! If it wasn’t for the Lissandra, who by the way is also an insanely strong player…” She shook her head and sighed before continuing, “FAC•Ason is one of the best Toplaners in the entire world right now! He carried really hard on his Lissandra! But somehow… somehow you actually put up a fight against him! You made him tryhard!”

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and said, “Yeah, he was pretty good. But we could’ve won it! If only I got to the backline in that teamfight at the end! But Lissandra locked me down with her ultimate before I could kill them.” He stared at his screen and mumbled, “The OGN really has a lot of strong players, huh?” Just like Rake in Season 1… All these Koreans are so good! You can never underestimate them! But that’s exactly what I need right now! This is perfect! They’ll help me get good again so much faster! And all I have to do is keep queuing up for more games! Right, enough time wasting! He clenched his fist and shouted, “Again!”

✹

The Shanghai Esports Organization announced the semi finals matchups for the East China Regionals early the next day. This game wasn’t technically part of the Winter Collegiate Cup. All four remaining teams had already qualified for the main tournament. The semi finals and finals for the East China Regionals were played purely for pride and bragging rights. And more importantly, to get some extra practice in before the main tournament.

Team Shanghai got matched up against the Shanghai University of Finance. This was the same team they’d played their first scrim match against all those weeks ago. This was the team who tried to get out of the scrimmage when they learned Team Shanghai was a team of high schoolers and girls. This was the team that got stomped in that particular scrimmage. And it was the memory of that scrimmage that lingered with the players from both teams. Team Shanghai looked forward to the semi finals, ready to repeat their earlier feats against the Shanghai University of Finance. And the Shanghai University of Finance dreaded this upcoming semi finals series.

The Shanghai University of Finance had reached the quarter finals of the main tournament in the previous edition of the Collegiate Cup. This time around, they’d qualified for Nationals again. They were one of the strongest teams competing. But the differences at the top were big. They held little hope of beating a team like Fudan University or Zhejiang University.

Luo Yu was the Midlaner and team captain of Shanghai University of Finance. He gathered his teammates and looked at them. They’re all thinking the same. We’ve lost. There’s no way we’re beating those damn steroid kids! He lightly shook his head and said, “It’s okay, guys. We’ve all seen their series against Zhejiang University. Those kids are good. Really good! But we’ve qualified for Nationals. The outcome of this series doesn’t matter. So let’s go in without any pressure and just have fun.”

✹

The semi finals was a best of five series. Three games were all it took. Team Shanghai came in calm and relaxed. They played far below their capabilities, but it was still more than enough to deal with the Shanghai University of Finance. They qualified for the Finals, in which they would face Fudan University.

The university students who came to spectate the series between Team Shanghai and the Shanghai University of Finance were rather disappointed. There was never any real tension, nor were there phenomenal plays. It was quick and clean.

“Team Shanghai is looking unstoppable after their series against Zhejiang University. I don’t see anyone beating them right now. Fudan is going to get slam-dunked!”

“Yeah. I guess. Fucking mental how good those kids are! I couldn’t spot a single mistake in these three games against Luo Yu’s team! They made the Shanghai University of Finance look like the high school kids! Man, who would’ve thought three weeks ago…”

“Haha! If you’d asked me a few weeks ago who to bet on, I would’ve said Luo Yu had a good chance to win in East China! I really thought they improved a lot! But shit! Team Shanghai is so much better! This ain’t even funny!”

“I’m feeling for Fudan. This can’t be fun for them, knowing you have to play against a bunch of high schoolers, and knowing they’re going to kick your asses!”

✹

Team Shanghai had won the quarterfinals to qualify for the main tournament of the Winter Collegiate Cup. They’d won the semi finals of the East China Regionals and were going to play Fudan University in the Finals! These were both things to celebrate, but Team Shanghai wasn’t celebrating. They practiced in silence at the internet cafe. The discomfort was palpable. And Lin Feng, the culprit of all this, was the only one who didn’t notice it. An Xin let it go on for a few days until she’d had enough of it. She pulled Lin Feng aside and said, “Your stupid ass screwed with our team dynamic! You’re ruining our chances of winning!”

“Huh? Me? What?” Lin Feng asked, confused. “What did I do?”

An Xin raised an eyebrow and said, “What do you think? My god you’re stupid! Think! For once in your life, use that brain of yours! You’re the one who wanted to keep his identity hidden! You didn’t even tell Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao! How do you think they feel after learning about it from Shi Hang? It didn’t even come from you! And when they were looking at you for an explanation, you brushed them off! Some friend you are.” She sighed loudly and asked, “How do you think they’re feeling?”

“How they’re feeling?” Lin Feng mumbled, rubbing his chin. He replied, “Excited to get to play with me? I would be!”

“Oh my god!” An Xin exclaimed. She punched Lin Feng against his shoulder and shouted, “Get over yourself! No! That’s not how they’re feeling!”

“No? Then what?” Lin Feng asked, scratching the back of his head.

An Xin breathed in deeply and explained, “They’re at a loss! They don’t know what to do or say to you! Before, you were just someone who was good at League to them, and a friend. Now you’re neither! You’re not just good at League, you’re Maple! And you’re not their friend, because you lied to them about who you are!”

Lin Feng raised his hand and protested, “I never lied about who I am!–”

“You kept it hidden from them. It’s the same,” An Xin cut him off. She glared and continued, “These two suddenly learn that they’re playing with not just any former professional player, they’re playing with the best one– WIPE THAT STUPID SMIRK FROM YOUR FACE! Oh my god… Ok. They don’t know how to act, okay? They don’t know what to say or what to think! It’s a combination of trying to digest the information while also trying to find their place in the team and their place as your friends! And while they’re trying to figure this all out, you’re acting like everything is normal!”

“But every—” Lin Feng started.

“NO! Not everything is normal!” An Xin interrupted. She punched him for a second time, ignoring how Lin Feng painfully rubbed his shoulder, and continued, “It’s anything but normal! You’re going to act how you should! Show some consideration to them! Let them know that you’re still just you, a raging fucking idiot goldfish! My god!” She threw her hands up in the air and walked away.

✹

Zeng Rui sat behind a computer in the internet cafe going over the footage from Team Shanghai’s semi finals series against the Shanghai University of Finance. He played certain bits again and again, all the while scribbling down things in his notebook. Something is just off about this series. We won cleanly. And it looks clean. But there was something missing… 

“ZengZeng!” Lin Feng shouted through the internet cafe.

Zeng Rui closed his eyes. Not him. Not now. Please go away. Please go awa—

“ZengZeng!” Lin Feng shouted again, running across the hall to the computer Zeng Rui sat at. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to Zeng Rui. Then he said again, “ZengZeng!”

Zeng Rui turned his head abruptly to look at Lin Feng and said, “What?”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and replied, “Oh, uh, nothing really. I just wanted to ask if you’re okay.”

If I’m okay…? Zeng Rui looked at Lin Feng, confused. He then turned his head further and saw An Xin standing near the entrance of the internet cafe. Oh. BunBun talked to him. Should’ve seen this coming… So he wants to know if I’m okay? Maple…– No! He’s still just the thundering dumbass! The one who deserves a good punch and… He chewed on the inside of his cheek. He’s fucking Maple! I watched his game against Phoenix at the Season 1 Worlds again… They really play the same! And it’s so good! I don’t get how… How… He shook his head.

Lin Feng looked at Zeng Rui, occasionally glancing at An Xin. Why is he so quiet? Did I say something wrong? I don’t know… He ruffled his hair and said, “Uh, are you angry with me? You know, that I didn’t tell you that I’m Maple and all.”

Zeng Rui breathed in deeply and replied, “No.”

Lin Feng grinned. He put his hand on Zeng Rui’s shoulder and said, “Good! I knew you’d understand! See, I didn’t think it was important! I mean, it was so long ago and I’m not nearly that good anymore! What’s the point in getting hung up on the past? It’s pointless! So anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I’d like it if we can be like before! Best friends and teammates!”

Best friends…? Zeng Rui stared at Lin Feng, incredulous. He opened his mouth, a million things to say coming to mind, but eventually only said, “Sure.”

“That was so easy!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He patted Zeng Rui on the back and said, “I knew you’d understand!– Wait, this is too easy. Is it?”

Zeng Rui looked Lin Feng in the eyes and asked, “What do you want me to say? What is there I can possibly say here? You tell me.”

Lin Feng rubbed his chin for a while and then said, “You could tell me how you’re actually feeling! I don’t know, tell me about how you were a big fan of mine and that since finding out that I’m Maple you suddenly feel this big pressure because you’re playing on the same team as your idol!”

Zeng Rui’s eyes grew wider and wider the more Lin Feng spoke. He finally snorted and said, “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Really?” Lin Feng asked, confused. He added, “I thought you would! I was really famous before, you know? Like really, really famous!”

“Just shut up you thundering dumbass!” Zeng Rui exclaimed.

Lin Feng clenched his fist and pumped it up in the air. He shouted, “WIN! See how good my Zed is?” He grinned and watched the red energy explode from the Nexus and morph into the ‘Victory’ emblem. My Zed is way too good! Way too good… I should 1vs1 Shi Hang on stream one of these days! Then I could show them just how good my Zed exactly is! Yeah! That’d be fun!– Right, XueXue and something big… He turned his head to look at Su Xue and asked, “What big news? What were you talking about?”

「YEAH! cant just make us hot like this! TELL US OR WE RIOT!」
「dont be mad with us, were just dumb viewers who are far too curious…. NOW TELL US!」
「tell me tell me tell me tell me」
「I wonder what it could be about… You guys think she got engaged or something?」
「LOL, with who??? What guy would wanna date her when she streams 20 hours a day????」
「ME! ME! I WOULD! MEMEMMEMEMEMEME!!!!」

Su Xue looked at the camera and gave a fake, sarcastic laugh in response. She then sat up a little straighter and raised her nose. She said, “A Huya admin contacted me. He said he wants to discuss something important with me. When I asked him what it was about, he said it had to do with my stream and that it was a massive opportunity! Like… THIS big!” She reached her hands out as far as she could.

「huya dude thinkin he has a big dick. Lololololol」
「xuexue getting trolled by huya…..」
「our xuexue is waaaaaaaay too innocent」

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow and asked, “Is that all? Didn’t he tell you what the big news is? So you don’t really have big news? Just a Huya admin telling you he has big news for you…?”

Su Xue’s smile froze. The corners of her lips slowly fell a brief moment later. She then scratched the back of her head and said, “Uhh, well… Yeah. But he told me it was really big and that I’d be super happy with it!”

「this is big news!? my gawd why did i get all excited for this crap….????」
「XueXue, you’re really too gullible! Just because they tell you it’s big doesn’t mean it’s actually big news!」
「so an admin wants to chat with you (in person????) about something big he has for you??? Oh poor xuexue, you’re so gullible!」
「xuexue is too pure for the internet, that’s why I watch her. She’s like a cute, little, very stupid puppy!」

Su Xue rolled her eyes back and said, “Fine. Whatever! You guys keep roasting and trolling and bitching all you want! I don’t care about any of you!” She shook her head and mumbled, “Sheesh, just wanted to share the good news that Huya has something big for me…”

「ah okay, I understand it! YOU”RE DUMPING US FOR THIS HUYA DUDE!!!!!」
「Wooow! Getting cocky right away just because some dude told you he has something big for you, huh? I get it! You don’t want us anymore! FINE! WE DON”T WANT YOU EITHER! PACK IT UP< BOYS! WE”RE LEAVING!」
「YEAH! weve been far too nice to her! She’s gotten cocky time to put her back in her place!」
「fellow comrades, new and old, follow me into mass reporting and mass unfollowing! Teach the maid who has the power here!」
「We hold the power!」
「YOU”RE OUR SLAVE STUPID MAID!!!1!!!」

“What the fuck!” Su Xue yelped. She threw her hands up in the air and complained, “What’s wrong with you guys? I’m sorry! Okay? I’m sorry! Sheesh! I would never throw you guys away! I love you all! We’re one big family here! You’re all my brothers and sisters!” She looked into the camera and smiled and blinked, like a puppy. She then said, “Come oooooon! Please, don’t leave me! I wouldn’t ever leave you guys! Pleaaase!”

✹

Su Xue fell back in her gaming chair after turning her stream off and sighed loudly. She shook her head and complained, “Those god damn viewers are such a pissy bunch! Who did they learn this shitty behaviour from!? I bet you that other streamers don’t have such ungrateful bastards watching them!”

“But your stream is getting really big!” Lin Feng countered. He clicked on the match history and glossed through it. Another round of all wins! Won three at the end on Zed there as well! But still… I need to play against better players… He shook his head and said to Su Xue, “You’ll be the number 1 female streamer on Huya soon! That’s really impressive you know!”

“Yep! I know!” Su Xue replied, smiling. She then grabbed a cardboard crown from a pile next to her desk and put it on. She said, “I’ll be the queen of Huya!”

Lin Feng looked at her, confused. Then he grinned. He struck his victory pose and shouted, “And I’ll be the king!”

“No you won’t,” Su Xue replied. She shook her head and continued, “You’re the stream’s little bro! You can be a prince or something!”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and grinned awkwardly. He said, “Oh, yeah, guess you’re right. Right! So what did that Huya admin want from you anyway? You really don’t know?”

Su Xue shrugged and explained, “Yeah, I really don’t know. I told the stream what he told me. It’s supposedly really good news and will help my stream get really big though. So I’m kinda really excited for it!”

“Oh, I see. Makes sense…” Lin Feng mumbled. He then glanced at the clock on the wall. His eyes went wide. He grabbed his phone to double check the time. He then turned to look at Su Xue and exclaimed, “Hey! Isn’t it delivery time? I want a chicken cutlet!”

Su Xue followed Lin Feng’s gaze to the clock. Oh my god! It’s already 2 A.M! Takeout? She pinched her eyes closed and said, “You want food now? It’s 2! You’ve got… I don’t know! Something in the morning, right? You need to go to bed and sleep! No one can function on no sleep! What do you think? That I go to bed at 4 and then wake up at 6? No! I go to bed at 4, wake up at 6 to make you breakfast, and then go back to bed! Humans need their sleep! You need to sleep!”

Lin Feng shook his head and argued, “I only have a couple more weeks to climb to the top of the Korean ladder! I can catch up on sleep when I’ve done that! Now I need to play!”

Su Xue’s mouth fell open. She stared at Lin Feng and asked, “You… you still want to play? Tonight? Didn’t you just play a whole tournament match today? Well, technically yesterday…– And the games on stream too! Haven’t you had enough…?”

“Nah, I’m fine!” Lin Feng said, grinning. He downed the glass of water in front of him and then struck his victory pose. He shouted, “It’s time to PLAY!” He continued grinning and kept his eyes wide open. Yeah I’m tired! Yeah I wanna sleep! But this isn’t the time to sleep! I want to know how much I improved from those games against Shi Hang! And I need to play more on the Korean server anyway! I’ll play at least one game! That’s one game closer to the Top 3! I know One only said Top 5, but I’m going for the Top 3! That just means I need that much more time! I have to play more! More! MORE!

Su Xue looked at Lin Feng through narrowed eyes. You’re not fooling me, you punk! You can barely keep your eyes open! But… She pursed her lips. I really wanna see you play on the Korean server… Maybe you get to play with Lightless again! How cool would that be! Just one game. Yeah! I’ll let you play one game! That’ll be fine! She smiled and said, “Alright. One game. I’ll go call the chicken place around the corner. Be right back!”

✹

Su Xue walked back into her room with a plastic bag in her hand. Steam was rising up from it, as was the strong smell of chicken. She put the bag down on the desk next to Lin Feng and looked at his screen. Her eyes went wide. He’d already logged onto his Korean account and was waiting in the queue. But what drew her attention was a private message chat that was blinking on the bottom of the client. She grabbed Lin Feng by his shoulder and shouted, “It’s Lightless! He’s messaging you! Lightless is messaging you!”

Lin Feng hovered his mouse over the chat and mumbled, “Oh, him again?” He opened the chat box and read the messages.

CN•Lightless:「Heeeeey! You down for a duo?」
CN•Lightless:「I can play jungle!」
CN•Lightless:「It’d be a real honour to play with a legend like you again!」

Su Xue stared at the chat, stunned. Shocked! Lin Feng a legend? W-what? Since when…? She glanced at Lin Feng and then back at the chat with Lightless. A legend? What is this about? Lightless plays in the LPL! Who does he think Lin Feng is!?

Lin Feng looked at the messages that just kept on coming and shook his head. Guess he thinks I’m One. Eh, don’t wanna play with him right now anyway.

CN•HOOK2:「I’m good.」

“What…?” Su Xue mumbled. She looked from Lin Feng to the now closed chat and back at Lin Feng again. Has he lost it? He has, hasn’t he? She grabbed Lin Feng by the arm and pointed at his computer screen. She said, “What are you doing? Why did you close the chat? That’s Lightless! Didn’t I tell you who that is? He’s a pro! He plays in the LPL! Why would you say no to him? He can help you win! He’s a mid main, but he’s also a really good Jungler! I told you this last time! Before he became a mid main he was a Jungler! Why wouldn’t you wanna duo with him!?”

Lin Feng brushed Su Xue’s hand off and explained, “Doesn’t matter who he is. I prefer to play solo queue. Plus, I want to do this climb solo.” He focused his attention on the client. I promised One that I’d reach the Top 5! So I’ll be the one doing that! I won’t rely on anyone else! Duo queuing is cheating!

✹

The period between the World Championships and the start of the new season was the off-season for League of Legends. The professional teams had no specific games to work towards, so they focused on general practice. Beyond that, most players had no team responsibilities. They spent their time watching movies, playing other video games or going outside into the cold winter weather.

It was 2 A.M. Light was still burning in the Dark Glory gaming room. Two players from the team were watching a movie, and there was one other player present. Lightless. He sat behind his own computer some distance away. He looked at his screen, at his chat with CN•HOOK2 and grinned. Hum… Could’ve guessed One wouldn’t want to duo queue with me. But he accepted me to his friends list! That’s already a huge honour! Now I can spectate him! I wonder how many people have that privilege! Maybe I’m his only friend on the Korean server!

Lightless’ eyes were locked on the screen when CN•HOOK2 entered his first game. Mid Lulu! That’s such a risky pick in the solo queue! He’s basically relying on his teammates not being dogshit! Hum… But this is Korean Challenger! He clenched his fists. Come on, One! Show ‘em!

The next hour flew by. Lightless felt his heart slamming into his ribcage, faster and faster! The Lulu game was impressive. CN•HOOK2 carried his team to a convincing victory. He moved into the next game, this time opting to play Ezreal in the mid lane. The early game was a little bit rough. There were a couple of openings and a couple of missed opportunities. But when the mid game came around, Ezreal hit his power spike. CN•HOOK2 carried his team to a second win.

It was the third game where CN•HOOK2 finally hit a wall. Lightless kept shaking his head the entire game. Holy crap his Fizz is good! Laning, roaming, mechanics, especially mechanics! They’re all better than mine! This dude could jump straight into the LPL and be one of the top Midlaners! Fucking legend! Retired from the pro scene of a different MOBA so many years ago, yet he’s still playing at the top level! And isn’t he like 30 already? How is he this sharp at that age!? Hum… Unreal! He watched One beat a Korean professional player in the mid lane. But it wasn’t enough. He lost the game. One’s teammates were useless in this game! And those Koreans were pros… That didn’t help.

Lightless rolled his shoulders back and mumbled, “Alright, next game. Get some revenge for that loss, bud!” he rubbed his hands and smiled. Show me… Twisted Fate! Yeah! Nice!

The game didn’t last long. CN•HOOK2’s Twisted Fate dominated his lane and at Level 6 after unlocking his ultimate skill, he started dominating the bot and top lane as well. The game lasted 21 minutes. Lightless’ eyes were open wide in shock. Hum… Yep! That does it. That fucking does it! He glanced at his two teammates watching another movie before turning his attention back to his screen. He shook his head and breathed in deeply. I can’t let myself fall behind a retired player! One is an absolute legend! No one was as good as he was at his prime! But he’s like 30 years old now! He’s well past his prime and he doesn’t even play competitively anymore! I’m not going to be worse than him! Hum! I’ll just have to up my training schedule and try even harder! He nodded and clicked on the ‘Play’ button. Enough watching. Time to practice!

It was late at night. Su Xue sat behind her computer chatting with her viewers when someone loudly knocked on the front door. She glanced over her shoulder, surprised. Who could tha– Don’t tell me—

“SU XUUEEEEEEEE! I’M HOOOOOOOOME!” Lin Feng shouted while smashing his fist against the front door.

“I’m here! I’m here! Stop knocking!” Su Xue rushed down the stairs and opened the front door.

“I’m home!” Lin Feng exclaimed. 

“I can see that. I’m not blind. Or deaf,” Su Xue replied. “Why are you banging on the door anyway? You have a key! Just USE YOUR KEY TO OPEN THE DOO… you forgot your key again, didn’t you?” This kid… he definitely forgot to take keys. Again. Even after I’ve told him a billion times now to take them when he goes out. Ah, why do I even bother? It doesn’t even matter if I tell him, remind him, yell at him. No matter how often I tell him, he’s just going to skip out the door without his keys. Getting him to remember his keys is harder than climbing to Challenger! This might be the best case scenario though… As long as his keys are safe at home, he’s not going to leave them somewhere else. Or lose them over and over. Half of Shanghai will have a copy of our keys if he takes them out of the house! Yeah! Let’s just let this go. 

Su Xue stood at the doorway with her hand on her forehead while she considered all of this and talked to her. Finally, she sighed and looked at Lin Feng to ask, “Did you eat already?”

“I did! I had BBQ skewers?”

“Tsk tsk, and you didn’t think about me at all, did you? I would’ve liked some skewers. So inconsiderate!”

“Oh… oh. Are you hungry, Su Xue? Let’s get some chicken cutlets delivered!”

“… Didn’t you just tell me about eating BBQ skewers!?”

“I’m still hungry!”

“Oh my god! You’re always hungry, you porky little fatass!” 

The two continued bickering back and forth as they walked into the living room. Once they arrived, Su Xue turned to look at Lin Feng and didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then she raised an eyebrow and asked, “So, how’d your game go today? Did you guys win?”

Lin Feng smiled and pushed his hair back before replying, “Yep! We reverse swept them 3-2! I was really awesome in Mid too!”

“Oh? So it was all you? The midlane hard carry?” Su Xue asked while grinning at him. “I might be wrong here… but wasn’t it BunBun’s Lee Sin ult that won the fifth game for you guys?”

“BunB…Oh. OH! You watched the stream of the tournament?” A surprised Lin Feng asked after he put the pieces together in his head.

Su Xue snorted. “No. I read your mind. Of course I watched the stream! But I didn’t watch because I wanted to! I didn’t think I even needed to watch. I was sitting in solo queue, getting ready to play a few games. But Water Wraith and the rest of the viewers kept going on about how you were playing and how we should watch. They got so annoying about it that I finally gave up trying to argue and pulled the tournament stream up!” She looked at Lin Feng and said, “A reverse sweep? What does that even mean? You lost two games at the start and finally got your act together to win the next three? What a fancy way of saying that you were in trouble and managed to get it together at the very end. Is that something  really worth bragging about? If you were really good, you would’ve shown me a clean sweep.”

Lin Feng scratched his head. Then he brightly smiled and said, “Oh, I wanted to do that too! Next time, I guess!” 

“Agh, why are you so damn cheery about everything all the time?” Su Xue looked away, defeated by Lin Feng’s sickeningly overpowering positivity and optimism. “Alright, alright, I get it. Anyway, if you don’t have anything else to do tonight, come to my room.” 

Wait. WAIT. WAIT! That sounds wrong! That sounds like I’m asking him… Su Xue realized how her words could be misinterpreted and quickly added, “I’m still streaming right now. When I told the viewers I was going to get the door for you, they started raving about wanting to see you.” Then she sighed with dissatisfaction. “Seriously, why do I feel like they’re more your fans than mine. I’m supposed to be the streamer here!”

“Oh, everyone’s waiting for me!?” Lin Feng asked, already used to Su Xue’s complaints. “I’ll be there in a second!”

✹

Su Xue’s stream had recently grown, and she’d become even more popular. She wasn’t a small streamer by any definition of the term back in the day. She always managed to hover somewhere between 20,000 to 30,000 viewers every time she went live. But recently, the Huya TV admins had featured her stream on the front page several times. The exposure had skyrocketed her viewership, and now she was pulling in 40,000 to 50,000 viewers regularly. There were even days when she peaked at 60,000 viewers! Su Xue had become well-known as a streaming personality and was now as big as LovelyRose! But her community was very different from the one that LovelyRose built. Su Xue’s viewers were much more loyal and significantly more invested in her. If LovelyRose picked a fight with the Su Xue of today, the entire incident would have gone down a very different path.

For tonight’s stream, Su Xue had 48,000 viewers. All of whom were sitting there talking amongst themselves when Su Xue left to let Lin Feng into the house. A bunch of the newer viewers had no idea what was going on.

「huh, where’d snowfall go?」
「yeah, what’s she doing! I came to watch a stream, not an empty room!」
「who’s she getting the door for, her boyfriend?」
「fuck! Didn’t she say she was single! I feel betrayed!」
「sum1 clappin that?!?!?!? PeepoSadgePepeCri」
「WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS! SU XUE OURS!」
「That’s right! No man can come between us and Su Xie!」

Thankfully, Su Xue’s long time viewers were there to explain the situation.

「No, she didn’t lie. Xuexue is still single. Can you imagine a girl like her getting a boyfriend? Hahahahha」
「she went to open the door for landlady’s nephew!」
「right, Lin Feng is also our lil bro!」
「Who LiFeng? Landylad newophew th boyfrien?>>>!!」
「No! Lin Feng is the Landlady’s nephew!」
「WHO THE LANDLADY? SHE CUTE????????」
「SHOW US THE LANDLADY! MILF POWAHHHH!」
「Su Xue has a little brother?」

The newer viewers grew more confused as this went on. 

「landlady’s nephew? Who the hell cares?」
「Exactly! We want mature landlady stream!」
「SHOW MOMMYMILKERS!」
「lil bro? When did a lil bro pop up? The hell are you guys talking about?」
「ommmmmg, i’m so lost.」

While the viewers in the chat were going back and forth, Lin Feng entered the room and ran over to the computer and sat down in front of the screen. He flashed a bright smile and waved at the camera. “Hey guys! Long time no see! Heard you were missing me!”

The longtime viewers ignored the newcomers and enthusiastically greeted Lin Feng back.

「lil bro is baaaaaaaaaack!」
「we missed you! It’s been too long, but we watched your match today! You were so 666666666666!」
「you actually beat a former pro! We’re so proud of you!」
「hehehe our lil bro is our lil pro! We always believed in your mid! Gj gj!」
「gratz on making it to the semis, you’ve qualified for the main tournament right!?」

As Lin Feng happily interacted with the chat, Su Xue came back into the room with two glasses of water. She looked at the chat and curled her lips. “Hmph. I don’t get what you guys are so happy about.Didn’t he almost lose?”

The chat completely ignored her.

「lil bro, play a game for us!」
「we had to sit through a game of xuexue feeding her ass off as an ad-carry, we need to watch you to cleanse oru minds!」
「play a game with Zed! We saw how great your Zed was in the tournament! Those were some sick moves!」

Sui Xue grimaced. “… Hey guys, I’m still here, you know? I’m not air!”

With the viewers begging him, Lin Feng agreed to their request right away. “Sure, I’ll play a game!”

Many of the new viewers started protesting the swap. They’d only just started watching and weren’t there when Su Xue played the stream of the East China Regional quarterfinal earlier, so they had no idea who Lin Feng was and how good he played. 

「why we swapping!? This is bullshit!」
「she was playing just fine earlier, y we switching?」
「make xuexue stay, i love her!」

The long-time viewers immediately drowned out the dissent.

「if you’re new, then don’t talk」
「just watch lil bro, you’ll know what we mean once you see him play」
「stop thinking with your smaller heads for once, this isn’t that kind of stream!」

Lin Feng cracked his knuckles and smiled. “Zed, huh? Alright, a Zed game it is!”

Before long, Lin Feng got into a game.

This Zed game was completely different from the tournament one. His opponent wasn’t a former pro like Shi Hang, but rather an ordinary Diamond 5 player. They also happened to be playing Twisted Fate, one of the Midlaners that Zed hard countered. 

Lin Feng picked up his first solo kill on Twisted Fate at 3 minutes, then another at 5 minutes. The one-sided slaughter continued until he became Legendary at 15 minutes. He was having the time of his life. The long-time viewers were enjoying all the dazzling Zed plays, and the newer viewers were completely stunned.

「woah! What was that Zed play?!」
「that backline dive on the ad-carry was beautiful!」
「this is diamond right? He’s stomping diamonds like they’re bronzies!」
「god zed! Master ninja!」
「okay, I take it back! I don’t to watch xue xue! I want to see him keep playing!」

Lin Feng managed to quickly convert many of the new viewers into fans. Most of them had mainly tuned into the stream because of how pretty Su Xue was on webcam. It was a reflex click upon seeing a cute girl. But now the stream offered so much more. With Lin Feng showing off fantastic gameplay and Su Xue sitting on the side being pretty, they got the best of both worlds in one stream!

The corner of Su Xue’s lips twitched in irritation. “Don’t get ahead of yourselves! I’m a gameplay streamer, not some pretty vase to be enjoyed in the background!”

「shut up maid!」
「yeah maid! Refill lil bro’s water!」
「Get as good as lil bro, and then we’ll talk!」

Su Xue gritted her teeth. “You ungrateful bastards! I was going to surprise you all with something mind blowing big, but nevermind! Once I get huge from this, I’ll laugh at all your faces instead!”

Shi Hang looked at Lin Feng and grinned. Where have I heard him say this before? Oh, that’s right! This is exactly what you said to me after the LPL Finals four years ago! Back when we didn’t even know if a Chinese team would qualify for Worlds! When no one thought we had the skill! Except you. You always believed in yourself and your team! He chuckled. You handpicked your team, so they were the best. Such simple logic. It sounds stupid! But man was it true. Fuck me were they amazing! Those guys… Shi Hang shook his head and sighed. They were pretty damn amazing! Almost as good as you were. He nodded at Lin Feng and asked, “I’ve been meaning to ask you. How’s Silent doing these days? Have you talked with him recently?”

Lin Feng stopped smiling. He took a step back and looked down at his shoes. He fiddled with his fingers and mumbled, “Uhm… Eh…”

Shi Hang looked at Lin Feng, confused. He asked, “Don’t tell me… Even you don’t know?” I know it’s been four years, but you guys were inseparable! You should’ve at least stayed in contact, right? You don’t just stop being best friends from one day to the next! And even if you don’t hang out all that much anymore, you still keep tabs on each other, right? Wait… If you’re planning to make a comeback, wouldn’t you want to do that with your old teammates? Yeah, why are you even playing with this team? You’ve got your old team! Those guys are way better!

Lin Feng bit his lips, his heart slamming into his ribcage. Shi Hang doesn’t know. No one told him I was the one who walked away. That I broke off all contact for four years. The reason I’m not in touch with my old teammates is because I made it impossible for them to reach me! How is Silent doing these days? I want to know that too! But even Tian Tian doesn’t really know… He took a deep breath and said, “I… I don’t know. I heard he quit League, but beyond that, I, I just don’t know.”

“Yeah, I know he quit,” Shi Hang replied. He then exhaled loudly and continued, “It’s such a shame. Silent and Autumn were absolutely phenomenal players! Even if they haven’t played the game in years, with how good they were, they’ll still be at the top of the LPL! It’s such a big loss for the LPL that you three all quit!”

Lin Feng nodded, just nodded for nearly a minute. Then he finally said, “Yeah, you’re right. I know. If I get the chance, I hope to see them again. I really want to know how they’re doing too.” He took a deep, long breath. I want to see them again! I want to see them play League again! Maybe even with me, if they forgive me… It’s just, just not the same without them! My current team is great, but my old team… The four of them… He shook his head and closed his eyes. I shouldn’t think that far ahead. What if they’re mad at me? He chewed on his lips, his stomach twisting and turning. I’d already be happy if I can just meet them in person again and apologize for the dogshit person I was! I want to apologize to them for everything I did! How I lost them the Finals! How I abandoned them! How I…

“Ah, forget it!” Shi Hang exclaimed, laughing. He patted Lin Feng’s shoulder and said, “Us old farts get stuck in the past too much! No point in doing that! Heck, you’re still in high school! Old man Feng going to high school!” He laughed a bit before continuing, “Anyway, how is this return to the pro scene going to look like for you? Jumping straight into the LPL? Or are you going to take a different route?”

Shi Hang suddenly narrowed his eyes. He wagged his finger and said, “The Collegiate Cup! That’s where you start! And you better win it! You knocked me out of this stupid tournament! Your return to the pro scene is great and all, but you knocked me out! My first competitive game in years and you knocked me straight out! If you don’t go on and win the main tournament before going back to the LPL, I’ll have your ass!”

Lin Feng stared at Shi Hang, surprised. Then he grinned and struck his victory pose. He said, “Don’t you worry! We’re going to win! That trophy is coming home with me!”

“Uh-huh,” Shi Hang replied. He smiled and continued, “Big talk coming from a little guy like you! Eh, you’re not that little anymore. Kinda tall now! But I’ll be looking forward to it! And if I don’t see you coming back with that trophy, I’ll come looking for you to smack some humility into you! Which is super easy now that you live in Shanghai! I’m in Hangzhou! That’s only 30 minutes with the train!” He grinned and suggested, “We should have some beers sometime soon! And don’t you dare say no! You’re coming and you’re getting wasted with me! For old time’s sake!” You might be the wonderkid on the Rift, but I’ll show you who the beer pong wonderkid is!

“Beers? Drinking?” Lin Feng muttered. He scratched the back of his head and replied, “I’m alright with drinking. But if you’re looking for a drinking buddy, I know someone! Tang Tang is great with alcohol! She’ll drink you under the table!”

“Tang Tang?” Shi Hang remarked in surprise. Who is… Oh! He turned his head to look at the players from team Shanghai on the other side of the hall and said, “Oh! That ad-carry girl on your team? The small one? You’re telling me she can hold her alcohol? Haha! I wanna see that!”

Lin Feng brightly smiled and turned to look at his teammates. He then waved at them and shouted, “Tang Tang! Tang Tang! Shi Hang says we should get together sometime and have a couple of drinks! What do you say? Are you in?”

Tang Bingyao looked at Lin Feng, puzzled. She tilted her head and said, “Okay?” He wants to drink with me again? I thought… She shook her head and smiled. He wants to drink with me again! She nodded and said, “Mhm! Sure!”

“Uh, Lin Feng?” Shi Hang interrupted. He pointed at Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao, who both looked on in horror, and asked, “Why are those two looking at us like that?”

Lin Feng chuckled and replied, “Oh, nothing! They’re just happy that we’ll all go drinking together again!”

Shi Hang raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you sure? It’s not that you’re trying to get one over on me here? Because that’s the feeling I’m getting here. If I knew them any better and they looked at me like that, then—”

“I’m totally serious! It’ll be fun! Trust me!” Lin Feng interrupted, grinning.

Shi Hang looked at Lin Feng and narrowed his eyes. He said, “Alright, sure…” He then looked at his watch and continued, “I should probably go look for my teammates. They’re waiting somewhere here for me.”

Lin Feng nodded and said, “Okay! I’ll see you later! We’ll go drinking together sometime!” He suddenly scratched the back of his head and asked, “Oh, uh, what about you? Are you going to play again?”

Shi Hang shrugged and said, “Who knows? I might. We’ll see what the future has in store for me.”

The two former professional players looked at each other knowingly. Season 1 was all about China versus Korea. They were the strongest two regions in the world. The LPL quickly rose to fame during that period, leaning on the legacy of Maple and the skills of AyDeeCee and several other professional players. But Season 2 didn’t become what the Chinese fans wanted for it to become. The big names, the ones that drew people to the stadium, that made people empty their schedules just to watch them play, those players quit the professional scene.

The best Chinese League of Legends players from Season 1 all quit in Season 2, with Tian Tian being the only noteworthy exception. And all of them, without exception, were in their prime when they quit. They still had long and bright careers ahead of them. But they quit. They left the scene. And they left behind a mishmash of second rate players.

Three years later, in Season 5, the LPL was one of the weaker regions in the world. It needed fresh blood. But fresh didn’t necessarily mean new. If the players of old, the real monsters, returned to the scene, then the LPL was almost certainly going to make a massive leap in the worldwide rankings!

Lin Feng smiled and said, “Good. I’ll be waiting for you in the LPL!”

Shi Hang laughed and fired back, “With your slow ass speed, I’ll be the one waiting. Don’t make me wait too long! I might get bored and quit again!”

✹

Lin Feng walked back to his teammates waving his phone at them. He shouted, “Ouyang just texted me! They’re gonna get some barbecue skewers to celebrate our victory! Let’s go join them! You guys in for it? Ren Rou and the others are all joining!” He turned to look at Zhang Hao and Zeng Rui and added, “Even the three from your old team are tagging along! What do you say, you guys in?” 

Tang Bingyao nodded and An Xin smiled, but Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao didn’t respond. They just stared at Lin Feng with their eyes wide open.

Lin Feng looked at the two and asked, “What? Do I have something on my face?” He rubbed his cheeks and lips clean, but that didn’t get a response either. Whatever’s got them all weird like this? His phone buzzed again. He checked and saw it was Ouyang asking where he was. Eh, whatever. Time for food! He grinned and said, “Let’s go celebrate already! I’m starving!” He then turned around and walked away.

Zhang Hao looked at Lin Feng, moving his head up and down. He held Zeng Rui’s phone in his hand. On it was an article about China’s best Midlaner, the mysterious individual who’d shocked the entire world with a stunning performance at the highest stage of League of Legends. The World Championships. He thought about Lin Feng and then the person described in the article. Then he looked at Lin Feng. He tried to match the two people in his head, intertwine them, and make them one. But he couldn’t. It was all too much for him. The fact that Maple stood before him. That he was on Maple’s team. That he was getting taught by the best player China, and arguably even the world had ever seen! It was all too much for him. The phone slipped from his hand and fell on the ground. But he didn’t notice it. His mind was a mess. He stared at Lin Feng with wide open eyes. Slowly, very slowly, he opened his mouth. His lips shivered. “Y-you…” he mumbled. “M-maple?”

Zeng Rui was a step further in the ‘coming to terms that Lin Feng is Maple’ process than Zhang Hao. He was finally convinced that Lin Feng was Maple. I always wondered what I was missing about the way he played. He did things I didn’t… Things I don’t understand. And they always work out! All those little things. The way he plays… There is something so strangely good about it! Him being Maple actually explains so much! But… He gritted his teeth and glared at Lin Feng. He clenched his fists until his knuckles were white. Maple or not, he’s still a thundering dumbass! He deserves no praise! He deserves a beating! BunBun was right all along!

Zeng Rui stared at the victory emblem floating on his screen. We won. We’ve won! His eyes were wide and he shook his head, slowly, steadily. We did it! We actually did! He massaged his temples and chuckled. We won! We beat Zhejiang University! He turned his head to look at his teammates. Oh shit! We reverse swept Zhejiang! We won! Holy shit! Oh my god! We won! We beat them! WE BEAT THEM! He continued shaking his head again, slowly, steadily, incredulous. I’m actually tired! This was so exhausting… like a real tennis match! We fought them for several hours and they almost knocked us out multiple times, but we fought! WE FUCKING FOUGHT FOR IT! He clenched his fists and moved them up and down. AND WE FUCKING DID IT!

When Zeng Rui finally realised that his team had won the best of five series against Zhejiang University, he calmed down a bit. He stopped shaking his head and took a couple long, deep breaths. He then looked at his teammates and smiled. We did it! All of us, as a team! It just took us two games to warm up. But then, Tang Tang and I did great in the bot lane. Zhang Hao held his own in the top lane. And then… He looked at An Xin and nodded. And then you carried us like I know you can! But I know you could do this at the solo queue level. To pull it off against a team with a former professional player on it… When he thought about Shi Hang, his focus was unconsciously drawn to Lin Feng.

Zeng Rui watched Lin Feng jump up and down and try to hug An Xin and Tang Bingyao. He listened to An Xin saying something about the Shanghai 16 School Tournament and that Lin Feng was still an idiot. Zeng Rui grinned. And you… You… You thundering dumbass. What the actual fuck, dude! What in the world possessed you this series? You played against a former professional player! And not only did you not lose, you went even with him in the first two games when we lost you the game. He briefly hesitated. Then he exhaled loudly. And you fucking stomped him in the last three games! You beat a professional player! Without you… Without you, we would’ve lost this series in Game 3!

“I’m the best!” Lin Feng exclaimed, laughing. He patted himself on the back and continued, “See? What did I tell you guys? Leave mid to me, I’ll carry! And that’s what I did! I carried so hard on my Zed!”

The smile disappeared from Zeng Rui’s face. He narrowed his eyes. Fuck! I forgot he’s the thundering dumbass for a moment there! We didn’t win because of him! We won despite him! Stupid thundering dumbass and the stupid shit he always yells! Thank god we’ve got BunBun! At least she knows how to knock some sense into that hopeless… He grimaced and shook his head. No! Not right now. He can celebrate however he wants. He deserves it. We all do. He clenched his fists and smiled. We won! We actually beat Zhejiang University and won!

“Oh!” Lin Feng said. He pointed at An Xin and continued, “Your Lee ult in that last fight was really damn good too!”

An Xin smiled and replied, “Oh? A compliment from the one and only goldfish? I feel honoured!” She briefly paused before adding, “Then again, I suppose I was pretty good compared to whatever it was you were doing in the early game. All those deaths! They just kept getting the jump on you under your tower and killing you…”

“That only happened like one time!” Lin Feng complained. He narrowed his eyes and shouted, “And I’m not a goldfish!” He then started grinning again and looked across the stage at Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. He continued, “I only care that we won! Because I wanted to win and because Shi Hang must be so super pissed right now! We reverse swept him!” He laughed for a few seconds before he fell silent. He looked at An Xin and said, “BunBun. Thank you.”

An Xin raised an eyebrow, but then smiled. She said, “I’ve always got your back. Always. Which reminds me! I’ve been cleaning up your mess for so long now. You owe me. A ton!”

“I do?” Lin Feng asked, scratching the back of his head, confused.

An Xin smirked and said, “That’s why you’re the goldfish! Yeah, you do. And I’ll be collecting one of those favours very soon. Remember to cover for me.”

“Cover for you? Soon? What?” Lin Feng asked. What’s she on about…? 

✹

Zhejiang University and Team Shanghai shook hands under the wild applause of the audience. There was far too much noise to have any kind of conversation. And the players from Zhejiang University weren’t at all in the mood to have a friendly chat either. They quickly turned around and left, with the exception of Shi Hang. He told his teammates that he’d catch up with them later and then walked off the stage with Team Shanghai. He nodded at An Xin and said, “Jeez, BunBun! Wouldn’t have hurt if you showed us some mercy! That Lee ult kicked us straight out of the tourney!”

An Xin giggled and replied, “Of course I couldn’t show you mercy! It’s a tournament! And I distinctly recall you almost 3-0ing us! If I didn’t make that great play, you would’ve won!” She turned to look at Lin Feng and asked, “Isn’t that right?”

Lin Feng looked at An Xin, confused. Why would she ask me? I would’ve carried the game with or without her ult– His eyes lit up! OhOhOh! She needs me to back her up right now! I’ll do that! Yeah! He nodded and said, “Yep! Yep! What she says! Exactly!”

Shi Hang exhaled loudly and complained, “Such crappy luck though. I can’t believe we had to play you guys in the quarterfinals! Why couldn’t it be the semis? Now we didn’t even qualify for the main tournament…”

An Xin giggled and said, “But you wouldn’t have played if it wasn’t for this idiot here, right?”

Shi Hang scratched the back of his head and smiled. He replied, “Yeah, you’re right. I guess. Damn, BunBun! You’re still the same! No one can win an argument against you!” He then turned his head to look at Lin Feng and asked, “So, you’re back? You’re finally back, eh?”

Lin Feng scratched his nose and replied, “Yep! I’m back!” He chuckled and added, “Good to see you again! You played okay!”

“What!?” Zhang Hao interrupted. He’d walked behind Shi Hang, An Xin and Lin Feng, listening to them talk. He now looked at Lin Feng, incredulous, and asked, “You two really know each other?”

Zeng Rui stood next to Zhang Hao. He didn’t say anything, but he leaned forward a bit and looked at Shi Hang for a reply. Shi Hang came to us! He might really know the thundering dumbass! He might really know… 

Shi Hang raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, “What, you don’t know? Didn’t he tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Zhang Hao blurted, confused.

Shi Hang looked at An Xin, who slowly shook her head. He then turned back to look at Lin Feng and exclaimed, “Dude! Don’t tell me you didn’t even tell your teammates that you’re Maple!”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and laughed. He mumbled, “Right. Guess I never did tell them…”

Maple? Zeng Rui looked at Lin Feng and moved his lips around. It sounds familiar, somewhere… Somewhat… Hmm… I did always find it strange how he plays, and BunBun told me he was the best Midlaner at the Collegiate Cup! That was before Shi Hang joined, but he just beat Shi Hang! And they’re talking like they’re good friends! He glanced at Shi Hang. So they met each other before? That was three or four years ago. Season one and two… Solo queue?

Zeng Rui felt in his pockets for his smartphone and pulled it out before shaking his head. Nah. Can’t be solo queue. You don’t become best friends just because you play a couple of games together in a solo queue! And those games don’t matter anyway. It doesn’t add up with how they’re talking. It’s far too friendly! That just leaves the real tournament stage… Maple, Maple… The name… He unlocked his phone and searched for ‘Maple’ and ‘League of Legends’ to help jog his memory.

The thundering dumbass was in middle school in Season 1. So he was 16 in Season 2? Maybe they played against each other then? Zeng Rui shook his head. It’s just so unlikely. I know everything about Season 2 and I don’t remember there being a Maple in Season 2! But still, that name… Why does it sound so, so… Zeng Rui looked at his phone. There weren’t many results. He changed his searchterms to add ‘Season 1’ to it and clicked on search. A single entry popped up. His eyes went wide. Maple. Maple! He turned his head to look at Lin Feng and shouted, “MAPLE!? The, the, the…”

Lin Feng looked at Zeng Rui in surprise and asked, “You’ve heard about me?” He then grinned and added, “That’s great! Then I don’t have to explain everything! That saves me a ton of work!”

Shock turned to rage for Zeng Rui. The vein on his forehead bulged and he narrowed his eyes. You asshole! You fucking asshole! You’re Maple? THE MAPLE? And you didn’t think that was important information to tell us!? You didn’t think that information could’ve saved me many hours of headaches!? You think that it doesn’t matter that you didn’t tell us? We’re teammates! We should have each others’ backs! You keep talking about trust! How can we do that when we don’t even know who you are! And now you just want to brush it off? FUCK YOU! YOU SON OF A BITCH! He raised his fist, then shouted out in frustration! He pulled on his hair and shook his head. He’s fucking Maple! The wonderkid from Season 1! The best player from China! Everyone knows the wonderkid! The one who fucking quit after only a season! The one whose identity was never fucking revealed! And now. You fucking shithead!

Zeng Rui took a deep breath and mumbled, “Oh my god.” He looked down at his feet and shook his head. I’ve watched the replay of his game against Phoenix in the semifinals of Worlds so many times! The way he played that… Oh my god, he’s Maple. Lin Feng. Thundering dumbass. This guy was the best Midlaner in China! He went even with Rake! He’s the only player who managed to challenge Rake! 

Zeng Rui loved League of Legends. He spent every free minute of the day theorycrafting or working on his game. He’d watched thousands of professional games! A part of him was absolutely furious with Lin Feng right now for hiding this information. But then there was another part of him that realised he was standing next to a true great of the game! Someone he’d idolized for years! He felt his heart slamming into his ribcage. The thundering dumbass is Maple! He’s the wonderkid! Of course AyDeeCee knows him! Maple beat AyDeeCee multiple times! They played each other in the LPL finals of Season 1! He turned his head to look at BunBun and nodded. No wonder she was so confident. No wonder Zhejiang University didn’t feel bad about fielding Shi Hang! We have a far bigger monster on our team! This Collegiate Cup probably means nothing to him! We, we’re the cheaters…

“U-umm… Zeng Rui?” Zhang Hao said. He briefly hesitated before asking, “Who’s Maple?”

Zeng Rui shook his head. He was in no state to respond, so he just shoved his phone in Zhang Hao’s hands and said, “Here. Look. Read.”

An Xin looked at Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao and shook her head. He should’ve told them. Oh well, his choice. She smiled and said, “You two, come with me. Let’s go. Give these two guys here some time to catch up.” She then pulled them away from Shi Hang and Lin Feng.

Shi Hang looked at Lin Feng and grinned. He asked, “So, what happened there? After Game 2, I mean. You suddenly started playing way better!”

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and replied, “Oh, yeah, right. I’m still just getting back into form. Every game a bit better, you know?”

Shi Hang started laughing. He said, “You little punk! Beating me is ‘just getting back into form’ for you? That… That’s exactly the kind of thing I’d expect you to say!” He paused for a brief moment and shook his head. Then he continued, “I asked you this four years ago when you beat me and I’ll ask it again now. Where in the world did a freak like you come from? I couldn’t beat you back then, and I can’t even beat you right now!”

Lin Feng smiled and replied, “Yeah, I’m getting good again!”

Shi Hang continued, “But it’s not enough yet. You’ve got a way to go.”

Lin Feng nodded. That’s what everyone keeps telling me. That’s what I can see myself too! If I want to beat Rake, I have to get so much better first! I’m nowhere near that level! I’m not even at the level of some other Midlaners here in China! I need to get better! He replied, “Yeah, I know.”

Shi Hang looked at Lin Feng and frowned. If he returns, when he returns, he’ll have a big bull’s eye on his back. Everyone will want to beat the wonderkid! They’ll all want their shot at beating Maple! And an LPL with him will be so much more competitive than one without him… He sighed and asked, “What are you gonna do about the name? Sticking to Maple? Or are you going to go with something new and hope people won’t remember you?”

“What?” Lin Feng asked, confused. He exclaimed, “Of course I’m going to keep my old name!”

Shi Hang smirked. Thought so. There’s no way you were going to ditch your old name. But that’s not going to be easy. There won’t just be the people looking to challenge you. There are going to be so many fans who expect you to win everything! They’re going to bombard you with attention and in the current scene, fan interaction is so important! There will be so much pressure on you from every direction! And right now, you’re not anywhere near the level required to hold your own ingame, let alone whatever happens outside of the games! He shook his head and said, “Just be sure to take care of yourself.”

Lin Feng rubbed his face and smiled. He said, “Don’t worry! I’ll be far better than I’m right now when I do return. Uh, no! Wait! I’ll be better than I was four years ago! I’ll be the new and improved Maple 2.0!”

Shi Hang laughed. He put his arm on Lin Feng’s shoulder and said, “Alright! I’ll be looking forward to your glorious return to fame!”

“Uhm, sorry, by the way,” Lin Feng said, rubbing his nose. He scratched the back of his head and continued, “You guys got knocked out because of me. If I didn’t play, you might’ve made it all the way to the Finals…”

Shi Hang rolled his eyes and replied, “Oh please! With me on the team, we would’ve won the entire damn tournament if it wasn’t for you!”

Lin Feng laughed awkwardly and asked, “The rest of your team, they’re not too upset, are they?”

Shi Hang clicked his tongue and said, “Don’t worry about them. I personally taught them! If they can’t get over this series, then I haven’t done my job well. And if that’s the case, they’ll never amount to anything in League of Legends! Setbacks are normal. You take them in stride. Just like your team did after the first two games today!” He grinned and continued, “Speaking of which, you’ve got a pretty nice team. BunBun is obviously very good. But that Support looked promising too. And the ad-carry wasn’t half bad either. She’s got potential!”

“Of course she does!” Lin Feng replied, laughing. “I picked her! I picked all of them!”

Shi Hang’s eyes went wide. There wasn’t time to think. He ordered over the team’s voice chat, “Sunny-boy, back!” He then had his LeBlanc step away from the Lee Sin, who was underneath the mid outer tower, before adding, “Stun the Lee! We focus on him! Focus him!”

Zhejiang University’s Elise was standing next to the Red outer tower in the mid lane. Lee Sin was dashing at her with Resonating Strike! Cocoon! COCOON! Zhejiang University’s Jungler slammed down on his keyboard! Elise aimed her hands at Lee Sin and fired a web of silk! 

An Xin smirked. The animation for Cocoon only confirmed what she suspected. But Elise was never her target. She was just a means of getting into Zhejiang University’s backline! She placed a ward next to Elise and activated Safeguard! Lee Sin made a sudden turn mid-dash! The Cocoon shot past him and he landed at the ward! Braum and Tristana were right in front of him.

Shi Hang grimaced and shouted over the team’s voice chat, “Watch out!”

Sun Ruinian slammed down on his keyboard and activated Flash! A veil of light fell over his Tristana and carried her a short distance away from An Xin’s Lee Sin! He grinned and nodded at himself. You ain’t getting on me this easy! And now you’re screwed! Braum’s Winter’s Bite will slow you and then we’ll stun you and kill you! Gee-gee.

An Xin ignored the freezing ice that smashed into her Lee Sin and slowed him. She took a deep breath. Don’t fail me now. She pressed down on the R key and waited for a brief moment before following up with the D key. The R key activated Lee Sin’s ultimate skill, Dragon’s Rage! He raised his foot and prepared to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick! Right when the skill was about to connect with Braum, a mottled flash of light picked Lee Sin up and dropped him on the other side of Braum! Dragon’s Rage connected! The immense force knocked Braum off his feet and sent him flying backwards! He smashed into Elise and knocked her up! Then he smashed into LeBlanc and knocked her up too! And finally he slammed into Jarvan IV for a third consecutive knock up!

“HOOOOOOLY SHIT! FOUR MAN LEE ULT! FOUR MAN LEE ULT!”
“SHE DID IT! OH MY GOD SHE DID IT!”
“DID YOU SEE THAT? DID YOU!?”
“WOOT WOOT!”
“SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE! WE’VE GOT FOUR BODIES!”
“FIVE IF YOU INCLUDE DICKFIRE!”

Rollfire didn’t hear what the audience said. His complete, dazed focus was on the large LCD screen. H-how… T-this… IMPOSSIBLE! THIS ISN’T POSSIBLE! HOW! HOW!? He grabbed his hair and shook his head in desperation. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?

Silent Reed glanced at Rollfire and giggled. This makes it so much better! She then jumped to her feet and threw her fist up in the air. She screamed, “LEE SIN WITH THE GODLY ULT! LEE SIN MVP! TEAM SHANGHAI WITH THE REVERSE SWEEP! WOOOOOOOOOO!”

Shi Hang grimaced, a cold chill running up and down his spine. ShitShitShit! Bad! So fucking bad! But we can’t back down. We can’t! He shook his head and ordered over Zhejiang University’s voice chat, “Focus Draven! InInIn!”

Lin Feng narrowed his eyes. BunBun told me to jump on Trist, but… He pressed down on the R key and activated Death Mark! He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “LeBlanc first! Screw Trist! Focus LeBlanc!” His Zed disappeared from the Rift as four blood red shadows, each carrying Zed’s distinct features, appeared around LeBlanc. They dashed at her and cut into her heart! Their essence flowed into LeBlanc’s body and formed the Death Mark!

Shi Hang bit on his lips. Ignore Zed! He cast Flash to get away from Zed and close the distance with Tang Bingyao’s Draven! He followed up with Sigil of Malice and Mimic: Sigil of Malice! LeBlanc waved her staff and two magical energies slammed into Tang Bingyao’s Draven! The first placed a sigil on Draven and dealt a bit of damage. The second detonated the first sigil and dealt massive damage!

Tang Bingyao’s Draven lost two thirds of her health! Her stomach started to twist into a knot. Her hand trembled a bit. But then she shook her head. I’m playing Draven! She cast Flash! A brilliant light wrapped around her Draven just as LeBlanc’s Ethereal Chains flew at her! The light carried her a short distance through time and space. The Ethereal Chains missed. She appeared on the Rift again on the other side of LeBlanc! She followed up with an auto attack! And then another one! And another one! Spinning Axes cleaved into Shi Hang’s LeBlanc, decimating her health bar!

Zhang Hao had his Irelia dash at Elise with Bladesurge. He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “I’m going i—”

“Tang Tang!” Zeng Rui interrupted.

“Mhm!” Tang Bingyao replied. She focused on the screen. Jarvan IV threw his standard down behind her. He’s going to jump on me and LeBlanc still has Distor– LeBlanc and Jarvan IV both jumped at her. She narrowed her eyes and activated Stand Aside! Her Draven raised his Spinning Axes above his shoulders and threw them at an angle! The left one knocked Jarvan IV out of his dash, and the right one did the same to LeBlanc!

Death Mark was about to trigger. Lin Feng’s Zed flung a Razor Shuriken at LeBlanc! The damage brought her down to below 10% health! A portion of that damage was added to the damage for Death Mark, just like the auto attack and Shadow Slash from before were. The Death Mark triggered and LeBlanc’s health bar exploded!

《An enemy has been slain!》

Zhejiang University’s Braum finally crossed the distance to the front line. He aimed at the players from Team Shanghai and cast his ultimate skill! Glacial Fissure! He jumped up into the air and raised his shield above his head. Then he mustered all his strength and slammed it down onto the ground! A Glacial Fissure spread on the ground! It carved a path through Team Shanghai’s lineup! But only Irelia and Blitzcrank were knocked up by it. Lin Feng’s Zed used the second part of his ultimate to blink away, and Tang Bingyao’s Draven activated Blood Rush for a sudden burst of speed! She outran the Glacial Fissure!

Tang Bingyao’s Draven hurled a Spinning Axe at Jarvan IV! The weapon cleaved into its victim before ricocheting! Draven ran forward and caught the axe! But not before hurling a second one at Jarvan IV! There was no one from Zhejiang University who could interrupt her right now. One, two, left, left. One, two…

Zeng Rui’s Blitzcrank landed back on the ground after being knocked up into the air by Braum’s Glacial Fissure. He went into Overdrive and charged at Jarvan IV. He then sent a large amount of energy into his fist and knocked Jarvan Airborne with Power Fist! And finally he unleashed his ultimate! Static Field! Electricity erupted around him and destroyed Jarvan IV’s health bar!

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Nice one!” An Xin exclaimed over the team’s voice chat. She then focused back on Zhejiang University’s Elise, while also juggling tower aggro. One more hit and I’ll leave it to Zhang Hao! She looked at Zhang Hao’s Irelia who had jumped on Elise after falling back to the ground! His blades decimated Elise’s health bar! He got this! She glanced at Sun Ruinian’s Tristana and chewed on her lips. Just a question of how to get her… 

Zhang Hao’s Irelia auta attacked Elise until she was down to the last few percentages. He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “I’m getting her! I’m getting her! BLADESURGE!” His Irelia dashed at Elise and killed her!

《You have slain an enemy!》

Sun Ruinian lost oversight of the fight for a brief moment. Everyone was dying around him and skillshot animations caused his screen to flash with colours! A yellow hand suddenly flew at him! Shit! Fuck! W! W! He activated Rocket Jump! Tristana aimed her cannon at the ground and fired! But she barely had lift-off when Blitzcrank’s hand wrapped tightly around  her waist. Sun Ruinian closed his eyes. Fuck!

“IT’S THE GOD HOOK!”
“WHAT A BLITZ HOOK! OH MY GOOOOOD!”
“IN-FUCKING-SANE!”
“HOW DID HE HIT THAT!?”
“THROUGH THE MINIONS AND EVERYTHING! HOT DAMN!”
“BRILLIANT! FUCKING BRILLIANT!”
“HE STOPPED THE ROCKET JUMP! HE STOPPED THE ROCKET JUMP!”

Tang Bingyao’s Draven hurled a Spinning Axe at Sun Ruinian’s Tristana! It cleaved a quarter of his health and then ricocheted! She followed up with another Spinning Axe! And one more to finish the job.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Tang Bingyao then turned her attention towards Zhejiang University’s Braum, who was already under attack by the others from Team Shanghai. She smiled and nodded. He can’t escape! Everyone is on him! But I want the kill! Mhm! She narrowed her eyes. Both real blades and shadow blades cut into Braum. Lee Sin and Blitzcrank were punching Braum with their fists! And Tang Bingyao waited. Patiently. Heh! Now! She right clicked on Braum. Her Draven hurled a Spinning Axe at Braum. It cleaved into him and emptied his health bar!

《Double Kill!》

《Aced!》

“They, they won,” Silent Reed said, dazed. She blinked and looked at the large LCD screen. She repeated, “They, they won…”

“HECK YEAH WE WON!” Ouyang screamed through the quiet venue. He turned his head to look at his friends and said, “What did I say? What did I tell you guys? You never stop believing in your bros! They’re the best!”

Liu Yue laughed. He jumped to his feet and shouted, “WOOT WOOT! TEAM SHANGHAI TO VICTORY!”

Silent Reed turned her head to look at the stands, where Ouyang and Liu Yue were the only two celebrating the ace by Team Shanghai. Team Shanghai won. They won. They won! Her eyes went wide and she jumped to her feet! She then grabbed the microphone from its stand and shouted into it, “WOOOOOOOOOOO! TEAM SHANGHAI WON THAT FIGHT! FIVE KILLS! ZERO DEATHS! WHAT A BRILLIANT FIGHT!”

The audience slowly woke up. People turned their heads from the large LCD screen to Silent Reed and back to the large LCD screen. They nodded and some started mumbling. The mumbles grew louder, from confusion and shock to amazement. It wasn’t long before the first fans got up to their feet. And the venue finally rocked.

“ACE! ACE! IT’S THE ACE!”
“TEAM SHANGHAI HAS WON! THEY CAN PUSH FOR THE WIN!”
“ALL HAIL LEE SIN! WHAT A LEGEND!”
“That was so freaking cool!”
“WOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“OH MY GOOOOOOOD! SOOOOOOO COOL!”

The players from Fudan University sat at the front of the venue in the player seating area. They were slowly shaking their heads in disbelief. The Jungler was eventually the first to open his mouth. He said, “My gawd! Such a sick Lee ult! That won them the game! I’m telling you! That won them the game!”

Qiu Yijie turned his head to look at his Jungler and nodded. He agreed, “They won. Yeah.” He then looked back at the large LCD screen and frowned. That Lee ult was perfect! Timing, awareness, mechanics, everything about it was perfect! It would’ve made the top 10 plays of any season in the LPL! That Jungler… She’s playing at the professional level right here! How is this possible…?  How is she this good?

Qiu Yijie laughed. He shook his head and laughed, incredulous. Thank fucking God we didn’t have to face them in the quarters! There’s no way we would’ve won this! We’ll play them in the semis or the finals of the East China Regionals, but that’s whatever. We’ll have secured our spot at Nationals by then. But holy hot damn! How the fuck do you beat that team? Even AyDeeCee failed! He looked down at Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. It’s a shame AyDeeCee is getting knocked out here though. It’s so cool to see him play again!

✹

Team Shanghai had a minion wave and five attack damage Champions. After scoring the ace, they focused down the outer tower in the mid lane. It fell within seconds. There was still half a minute until Zhejiang University’s team respawned. They pushed for the inner tower and destroyed it within 10 seconds. The minion wave marched on to the inhibitor tower. All five players from Team Shanghai stuck with it. They destroyed the inhibitor tower and then the inhibitor.

“They’re up soon, back,” Zeng Rui said over the team’s voice chat. He then panned his camera across the map and scrunched his eyebrows. Super minions are spawning and marching down the mid lane, Zhejiang is still respawning, and we’ve got a full attack damage team. We can take the Baron down and there’s nothing they can do about it. If they come, we stall and the minions end the game! His eyes went wide and he added, “Baron.”

“Let’s go!” Lin Feng exclaimed, laughing. He had his Zed run into Red team’s top side Jungle, past the Red Buff Camp and to the Jungle wall. He jumped over it with Living Shadow and then attacked the large purple worm named Baron Nashor! This was the strongest monster on the map. And it granted a massive buff to the team that killed it!

“Do we need to ward here?” Tang Bingyao asked over the team’s voice chat, pinging the Red Team’s top side Jungle.

“I’ll watch out, but doubt it,” An Xin replied, smiling.

In Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Sun Ruinian turned his head to look at Shi Hang and asked, “Are we going to try and contest?”

“No. Forget it,” Shi Hang replied over the team’s voice chat. He took a deep breath and continued, “We’re just giving them another five kills if we go now. They’re full attack damage. The Baron will die in seconds. We need to stay calm and find an opportunity. Just like before. We just have to stop them again.” He exhaled loudly. Like hell they’ll give us another opportunity though. Shit me. This is a loss, ain’t it? Dammit!

✹

At 24 minutes, Team Shanghai had slain Baron Nashor, recalled back to base to spend their Gold and gathered up in the top lane. They pushed for the inner tower with their minions. Baron Nashor’s buff granted bonus stats to the five Champions, and it also strengthened nearby minions. Team Shanghai blasted through the top inner tower. When they arrived at the inhibitor tower, Zhejiang University’s team showed up to defend. Four of them, anyway.

Lin Feng had been watching his minimap and smiled. They’re letting Tristana kill the super minions in mid! So normal and so stupid! He had his Zed sneak through the Jungle to get to the mid lane. He managed to keep his approach hidden for just long enough. When he got into Zhejiang’s base, he burst into action! Living Shadow! Zed placed a Living Shadow a short distance in front of him and took its place! He followed up with Death Mark! Four blood red shadows dashed at Tristana and marked her! Razor Shuriken! Shadow Slash! Ignite!

Sun Ruinian saw the Zed’s approach too late. His Tristana was down to 30% of her health before he reacted. He slammed down on the W key! Tristana aimed her cannon at the ground and fired! She arced through the air towards the fountain! Then she ran! PleasePleasePlea—

《You have been slain!》

“Dive them!” Lin Feng exclaimed over the team’s voice chat!

Zhejiang University’s team was already backing away from the top inhibitor tower. Shi Hang’s LeBlanc used Distortion and Mimic: Distortion to jump away and Jarvan IV used his flag-toss combo! They got to their fountain and lived. But Braum and Elise didn’t have these kinds of skills. They were caught by Zeng Rui’s Blitzcrank and An Xin’s Lee Sin. A barrage of crowd control locked them in place and left them powerless as Tang Bingyao’s Draven tore through their health bars with Spinning Axes!

《You have slain an enemy!》

《Double kill!》

Lin Feng’s Zed was attacking the Nexus towers while all of this was happening. The first one fell when the rest of Team Shanghai joined him. It wasn’t much longer before the second one also fell. Zhejiang University’s LeBlanc and Jarvan IV came from the fountain again, looking to stop this final push by Team Shanghai. But they were just two versus five Champions and a dozen minions! It didn’t take long before the Nexus cracked and exploded. Red energy poured out! It twisted and turned before morphing into a victory emblem for Team Shanghai!

VICTORY!

“THEY HAVE DONE IT!” Silent Reed cried out. She clutched the microphone so tightly that her knuckles turned white and screamed, “TEAM SHANGHAI WITH THE REVERSE SWEEP! THEY’VE MADE IT TO NATIONALS! TEAM SHANGHAI BEATS ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY!”

“WOOOOOOOO!”
“GOOD GAME TO TEAM SHANGHAI!”
“MAD PROPS! BEATING THE FORMER PRO!”
“BLOODY MENTAL! HOLY SHIT THEY WON!”
“THEY FUCKING WON! WOOOOOO!”
“SWEEEET SWEEEET VICTOOORY!”

Every neutral fan was up on their feet, cheering for Team Shanghai. The esports club members from Zhejiang University didn’t join this celebration. They got up from their seats and quietly left the venue. That left the friends and former teammates from Team Shanghai. They weren’t celebrating. They were sitting in their chairs, stunned. Shocked. In disbelief.

Ouyang put his hands over his mouth and muttered, “W-we won? We beat Zhejiang University? Our bros did it?”

Liu Yue nodded, tears of joy flowing from his eyes. There was a prop in his throat as he shouted, “Woot woot!”

Ren Rou wiped her eyes with her sleeve and nodded. She said, “Yeah, we won. We-we won!”

“We really did!” Ouyang exclaimed, laughing. He turned his head to look at Yang Fang and added, “See? I told you so! I TOLD YOU SO! WOOOOOOOO!”

Yang Fang adjusted his glasses and smiled. He laughed and said, “We did! I was wrong! They won! We’re going to the semis of the East China Regionals and they’ve now also qualified for the main tournament!”

✹

The players from Zhejiang University slumped back in their chairs. They stared at their screens and shook their heads. Sun Ruinian finally said, “H-how did this happen? I don’t understand…”

Zhejiang’s Support continued, “We even had Shi Hang with us! We were supposed to win the entire tournament! We were going to…”

“They reverse swept us,” Zhejiang’s Jungler mumbled. He shook his head, incredulous, and added, “It’s not even the main tournament and we’re out already! This is our worst result ever!”

Sun Ruinian looked at his teammates in turn before stopping at Shi Hang. He breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself down, and then exhaled. All my hard work. All those hours preparing! FOR SIX MONTHS! Six long months! It’s all down the drain! Worthless! The corners of his lips dropped and tears appeared in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and swallowed down the prop in his throat. We even got Shi Hang back! I convinced him after trying for so long! How… How must he feel? This was the kiddy league for him. The kiddies beat him… His first match was against a high school team and he lost… He shook his head. No! We lost it! He lost because of us! I’ve humiliated him! I… I… Huh?

Shi Hang shook his head and chuckled. He said, “Reverse swept, huh? Haven’t had that happen to me in a long ass time!” He turned his head to look across the stage at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth and nodded. He grinned and said, “I hate losing, but I would’ve been really disappointed if I won this series. You got me good, kid! Seems like you still have some talent left in you!”

Team Shanghai had the clear lead. Tang Bingyao’s Draven alone was practically enough to shut down Zhejiang University’s entire team! But that didn’t make Zhejiang University any less dangerous. They had some of the most skilled players in the entire Winter Collegiate Cup on their team. So rather than pushing for a quick victory and leaving their backs open to a counterattack, Team Shanghai chose to consolidate their gains. They all returned to base to stock up on wards and started setting up vision all around the map. Then they continued with manipulating the minion waves in their favour, draining experience and gold away from Zhejiang University.

Zeng Rui had his Blitzcrank trail behind Tang Bingyao’s Draven, but his attention was all over the map. He made sure that the wards were placed where he wanted them, and noted down the times at which they would disappear. When he was satisfied, he said over the team’s voice chat, “Alright, now we focus on scaling. BunBun is the only one who doesn’t worry about that. She’ll be looking for openings to abuse.” 

Nice! Zeng Rui rolled his shoulders back and smiled. This is my way of playing! Slow and methodical! And I’ve even got the thundering dumbass doing what I ask him to! Perfect! Zhang Hao knows how to do this in the top lane, so he’ll do better. And I’ll keep Tang Tang here in check. This is my game! I know this! And I’m finally getting to show it! He panned his camera to look at An Xin’s Lee Sin, who was running through the top side river. And with her creating pressure, Zhejiang won’t know what hits them! Just a few minutes of this to get that full item advantage, maybe more, and then we start pushing down towers! We’ll wait for the next Dragon. Maybe make a play around Baron… Great! I love this!

An Xin had her screen showing Zhejiang University’s top side Jungle. Zhejiang’s Elise walked through the ward in the tri-brush near the top lane. She narrowed her eyes. That Elise isn’t going top. So… Krugs? Yeah. She knew Zhejiang University had a ward in the tri-brush, so she couldn’t enter the Jungle through there. She instead had her Lee Sin run into the Baron Pit. The back wall of it connected with Red team’s top side Jungle. She placed a ward on the other side and dashed at it with Safeguard!

An Xin’s Lee Sin was on a small path in the Jungle. The Red Buff Camp was to her right and a wall of trees and boulders to her left. Behind that wall was the Krug Camp. An Xin narrowed her eyes. She walked down the path and turned left when the wall stopped. A perfect U-turn. And on the other side, Zhejiang’s Elise was fighting the Krugs! She was in spider form and her health bar was hovering at just above half health!

“Too easy,” An Xin mumbled. Her Lee Sin had the level advantage, he had the item advantage, and he had the better player controlling him. She pressed Q and her Lee Sin punched out a discordant soundwave that slammed into Elise! Resonating Strike! He dashed at Elise and then slammed his flat hand on the ground! Tempest! A shockwave erupted around him, sending a foreign energy into Elise’s body! He followed up with an auto attack and then activated the foreign energy with Cripple! It exploded and hampered Elise’s movement speed!

The quick damage combo from Lee Sin tore through Elise’s health bar! He hit her with another auto attack and she found herself with less than 15% health remaining! Her Flash was off cooldown. Zhejiang University’s Jungler was about to activate it, but Shi Hang stopped him. Zhejiang’s Jungler glanced at the former professional player, dumbstruck. Is my death worth less than wasting Flash? Stupid ass… Shi Hang says it. He gritted his teeth and kept his finger hovering over the D key. I should just push it. I can still get away! I can’t! He grimaced when Lee Sin started the animation for Dragon’s Rage, and he closed his eyes as the powerful roundhouse kick killed him.

《You have been slain!》

“CARRY ME LEE!”
“WOOOOOOO!”
“Sick skills! That Elise got obliterated!”
“Lee gonna carry this whole game!”
“She just knew! How did she know!? She ran straight for that Elise!”
“MAD SKILLS! MAAAAAAD!”

Silent Reed watched the crowd lose it and then glanced at Rollfire. She giggled. He’s losing it! If he gets any angrier, he’s going to explode! She grabbed her microphone and screamed into it, “WOOOOOOOOOOO!” She then briefly paused before continuing, “Who said something about Draven being the MVP? They clearly haven’t seen this Lee! This Lee is even fedder! DOUBLE MVP! I’M CALLING FOR A DOUBLE MVP! GIRLS CARRYING TEAM SHANGHAI TO NATIONALS!”

Saliva went down the wrong pipe. Rollfire lurched forward and coughed. Tears sprung in his eyes and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He pinched his eyes closed and wiped his mouth. When he could finally talk again, a stinging pain stuck in his throat, he croaked, “True. True. Lee Sin is strong. Early game. Late game, he falls off.”

“Maybe,” Silent Reed replied, grinning. I feel soooooooo not bad for you! She turned her attention back to the large LCD screen, ready to analyse the kill on Elise in more depth, when her eyes opened wide. She shouted into her microphone, “BOT LANE! BOT! ANOTHER FIGHT!”

Zeng Rui noticed Sun Ruinian’s Tristana getting more and more confident. After every next last hit, she would take a more aggressive approach, lingering dangerously close to overextension. He smiled. Yeah, just a little more to the right. Just do it! A bit more. Yeah, take that minion. Think we’re being scared for another gank! His finger was already resting on the Q key and he moved his mouse to where Sun Ruinian’s Tristana was walking to. Just a bit– He pressed down on the Q key. ROCKET GRAB! His Blitzcrank lifted his arm and fired his hand at Sun Ruinian’s Tristana!

Sun Ruinian slammed down on the S key! His Tristana stopped walking! Blitzcrank’s Rocket Grab shot past her an inch from her face! Did you really think I was that stupid? He shook his head and activated Rapid Fire. His Tristana’s attack speed increased and she fired at the low health Blue minions! Why did you think I was building up a big wave of Red minions? Or why I wasn’t killing the low health Blue minions? I can’t believe you fell for it! He glanced at Shi Hang and nodded. Shi Hang was right. I thought it was too obvious, but he said it wasn’t. He was right.

Tristana’s skill Explosive Charge had a passive aspect to it. It added an explosion effect to every killing blow. Every minion she killed exploded into a thousand little pieces that slammed into the allied minions and Champions around it and dealt splash damage! Sun Ruinian made full use of this to tear through all the Blue minions within seconds! There was suddenly a double Red minion wave and zero Blue minions in the middle of the bot lane! Sun Ruinian grinned and said over the team’s voice chat, “Jump!”

“SHIT! BACK!” Zeng Rui shouted over the team’s voice chat.

Tang Bingyao chewed on her lips. Mhm! I know! She clicked next to her outer tower. Her Draven turned around and started running away.

Zhejiang University’s Braum dashed at the Red minion closest to Tang Bingyao’s Draven with Stand Behind Me! He followed up with his ultimate skill, jumping up into the air and then slamming his shield down on the ground! A Glacial Fissure spread out before him! Freezing ice erupted from the ground and knocked Tang Bingyao’s Draven up into the air!

Sun Ruinian’s Tristana aimed her cannon at the ground and fired–Rocket Jump! She arced through the sky and landed on top of Draven! She followed up with an auto attack and Explosive Charge! A cannonball slammed into Draven while a small bomb appeared above his head! The next four attacks against Draven would charge the bomb up to deal massive damage!

Tang Bingyao right clicked on Sun Ruinian’s Tristana. Her Draven hurled a Spinning Axe that cleaved through a good portion of Tristana’s health bar before ricocheting! I can still kill them! 1vs2–

“Mid’s missing!” Lin Feng exclaimed over the team’s voice chat.

Tang Bingyao glanced at her minimap. Too late. Shi Hang’s LeBlanc jumped into the bot lane with Distortion and followed up with Mimic: Distortion! She flicked her mouse and cast Stand Aside! It worked last time. I’ll make it work again! Mhm! Her Draven raised his axes above his shoulders and threw them at an angle!

Shi Hang’s LeBlanc got knocked out of her jump by Tang Bingyao’s Draven! But Shi Hang knew it was coming this time. He cast Sigil of Malice while the interrupt was still active and waited with Ethereal Chains just long enough to see how far he had to flick his mouse. All the while, Sun Ruinian’s Tristana Rapid Fired away! And she finished off with Buster Shot. A massive cannonball slammed into Tang Bingyao’s Draven and shut her down!

《Shutdown!》

Zeng Rui’s eyes went wide. He looked at the three Champions from Zhejiang University and gritted his teeth. Dammit! I gotta… He slammed down on the D key! His Blitzcrank Flashed away towards the Blue team’s outer tower and then went into Overdrive!

“Don’t chase,” Shi Hang said over Zhejiang University’s voice chat. He nodded at his Botlaners and continued, “Nice work, guys. Let’s take their tower next. We’ve got the minions here.”

LeBlanc, Tristana and Braum attacked Blue team’s outer tower together with a dozen minions. They tore through the health of the structure and destroyed it in only a couple of seconds!

《Blue Team’s turret has been destroyed!》

“WOOOOOOOO!”
“IT’S THE C-C-COMEBACK!”
“THEY HAD TO SHUT YOU DOWN!”
“EASY WIN ZHEJIANG! GET FUCKED TEAM SHANGHAI!”
“Holy moly! What a play!”
“Oh my gosh! There goes their advantage!”

Rollfire shot to his feet and grabbed his microphone. He moved it to his mouth, grinning brightly, and shouted, “Zhejiang University with a beautiful play! If you look at their team comp a little more closely, they do seem to counter Draven pretty hard! With Braum and J-4, they’ve got crowd control for days! They just need to get the engage right, like they did here! Then there’s nothing Draven can do! Fed or not!”

Silent Reed grimaced and nodded. Why does he have to be right? Ass! She took a deep breath and then said, “Tristana got so much from that as well! It wasn’t just the gold from a normal kill… She also got the shutdown bonus gold as well as the gold for destroying the tower! She’s so much closer to her hyper carry potential now!”

✹

At 19 minutes, the second Dragon spawned. Zeng Rui had prepared for it over the previous few minutes. Blue wards were everywhere around the Dragon pit. They had perfect vision. They knew exactly where Zhejiang University was. And Zeng Rui used that information to predict what they were going to do next. He had his teammates position themselves according to those predictions. Lin Feng’s Zed was off to the side, while the other four would meet Zhejiang University head on. Lin Feng could then jump on the backline to one shot Sun Ruinian’s Tristana while the rest of the team focused down Shi Hang’s LeBlanc. Perfect! We’re going to win this right here!

Zhejiang University charged through their bottom side Jungle as a team. They ran past the Blue Buff Camp and stormed into the river! There they engaged Team Shanghai! Shi Hang’s LeBlanc jumped at them with Distortion! Jarvan IV followed up behind him with a flag-toss combo into Cataclysm! And Elise cast Cocoon! The web of silk hit Blitzcrank and rooted him!

Lin Feng’s Zed was hiding in the Red bottom side Jungle in the brush connecting to the bot lane. When he saw Zhejiang University’s team pass by, he cast Living Shadow! The shadow manifested across the Jungle wall and he then had his Zed travel the shadows to take his Living Shadow’s place! Tristana was right in front of him on the other side of one more Jungle wall. Death Mark! Zed disappeared and four blood red shadows appeared around Tristana! They dashed at her and placed the Death Mark on her! Right then, when Lin Feng was about to unleash his full damage combo on Tristana and take her out, Tristana Flashed away and Braum targeted him with Exhaust. The debilitating energy fell over him and caused his stats to drop!

This ain’t great… Lin Feng grimaced. He panned his camera to look how the rest of the fight was going. Tang Bingyao’s got a kill on Elise… But she’s dead. ZengZeng is dead. Haobro… BunBun might get another kill before dying… He shook his head and pressed on the R key again. His Zed jumped back to where he’d cast Death Mark from. Then he ran deeper into Red team’s bottom side Jungle until he found a relatively safe location to cast recall from. That was a bust.

Lin Feng panned his camera to the Dragon pit. Zhejiang University didn’t even try to look for him. They killed his four teammates, losing only Elise and Jarvan IV in the process, and then moved on to kill the Dragon. We’re falling behind. If Tang Tang… If BunBun… He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. We need to play better as a team, or we’re going to lose this. I need to trust them. I can’t do this by myself. Trust them, trust them!

✹

Rollfire watched the audience cheer with a big grin on his face. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep, long breath. Aaaah! This is more like it! Show them who’s boss, AyDeeCee! He soaked himself in the screams and shouts supporting Zhejiang University. And when they started to die down, he moved the microphone to his lips and said, “Zhejiang is tipping the scale back in their favour! Like I mentioned earlier, once Zhejiang University gets into this game, they win. It’s that simple. Tristana has hit her power spike and Shi Hang was a monster from the start! This is game over for Team Shanghai!”

Silent Reed pursed her lips and scrunched her eyes. Please don’t let it end like this! DO SOMETHING! You can do it, kids! If only to shut this ass next to me up! She breathed out all of her frustration from having to co-cast with Rollfire. Then she grabbed her microphone and said, “Zhejiang is doing a lot better, true. But to say this game is over, isn’t it a bit early for that? Just look at Lee Sin. He’s still strong. One good ultimate from him and we’ve got ourselves a Team Shanghai victory!”

Rollfire turned his head to look at Silent Reed and grinned. He explained, “Yeah, with the dream engage. All he needs is that perfect 5 man ultimate. The kind you almost never see. Remember how everyone lost it when God Roundy did it at Worlds? That’s the kind of ultimate you’re looking for here!” He shook his head and laughed. Then he continued, “Let’s not kid ourselves here. This Lee Sin is playing great, but she’s no professional player! And she sure as hell isn’t the Uncrowned Eighth! She might try to do the amazing Lee Sin play, but I’ll bet that Sun Ruinian’s Tristana will Buster Shot her away before she can even get to the backline!”

“NO WAY HE’S RIGHT!” Ouyang exclaimed. He shot to his feet and pointed up at the Shoutcaster desk, shouting, “FIRE THAT BIASED ASSHOLE!”

Liu Yue jumped up to his feet and threw his arms in the air. He screamed, “YEAH! FIRE HIM!”

Yang Fang looked up at his friends and shook his head. He adjusted his glasses and said, “Sit down, guys. He isn’t wrong—”

“ISN’T WRONG? ISN’T WRONG MY ASS!” Ouyang yelled. He turned around to look at Yang Fang and shouted, “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?”

“Nothing wrong with me,” Yang Fang calmly replied. He looked up at his friend and explained, “Zhejiang has one Exhaust. They just have to save that for Zed. Lin Feng can’t one shot one of their carries when he’s exhausted. Now Zhejiang’s only worry is Tang Bingyao’s Draven. Between Braum, Jarvan IV and LeBlanc, they can take care of her.”

“What about BunBun though!” Liu Yue exclaimed. He waved his arm at the large LCD screen and continued, “She’s fed too! She can still carry us!”

Yan Fang adjusted his glasses and grimaced. He said, “Like… Like Dickfire said. If she gets a World-level kind of ultimate off, we’ll win. But chances are she won’t.”

“Let’s be real here,” Wei Dong interrupted. He looked at his friends and continued, “These are our friends from school. We’re playing at a uni tourney. It’s already great that they can participate! This is such a great experience for them! They forced a former professional player to a Game 5! That enough is something to be proud of. But winning…”

“Fuck you all and your negative asses!” Ouyang exclaimed. He shook his head and shouted, “I can’t believe this! We’re bros! Bros stand up for each other! They support each other! AND THEY NEVER FUCKING GIVE UP! GET TO YOUR FUCKING FEET AND CHEER! TEAM SHANGHAI IS GONNA WIN!”

Liu Yue wrapped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “TEAM SHANGHAI IS GONNA WIN! WOOT WOOT!”

✹

Zeng Rui stared at his screen. At the dull grey colours reminding him about how the fight he planned had gone wrong. His general predictions were spot on. But he’d made a couple of miscalculations. I thought Braum was going to jump in together with LeBlanc! That’s such a strong combo! LeBlanc jumps and Braum follows with Stand Behind Me! But he waited for Lin Feng. He knew. Somehow. He breathed in deeply and said on the exhale, “Shit.”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and said over the team’s voice chat, “The Braum Exhaust is pretty annoying. I can’t kill Tristana while it’s up.”

Zhang Hao chimed in, “No good in me jumping on their backline either. They’ll just slaughter Tang Tang even faster!”

Tang Bingyao frowned and replied, “LeBlanc deals so much damage and then there’s Jarvan jumping on me every chance he gets and I also have to watch out for the Elise Cocoon! And what if Braum jumps in next time because we don’t expect it? I need double flashes… Triple…”

Zeng Rui massaged his temples and mumbled, “But dragging this game isn’t going work either…”

“So let’s stop dragging it out then,” An Xin said, smiling. She waited for everyone to look at her and then continued, “Tristana flashed away from Zed. Jarvan IV flashed on Tang Tang. They all used all of their skills to win that teamfight! Sure, they got us. They’re far closer to us than before. Our window is quickly closing. But it’s not over! We’re still stronger, for a bit longer!” She took a long, deep breath and concluded, “I’ll make the engage. You follow up on me.” She then turned to Lin Feng and added, “You just jump on Trist.”

✹

It was the 21st minute of the fifth game. Team Shanghai gathered together and started pushing the mid lane. Zhejiang University’s outer tower was still at almost full health. Rollfire chuckled and said into his microphone, “Oh? Looks like Team Shanghai is going for one last try. Gotta give it to them, the timing works. Draven, Zed and Lee all have their Flashes up. Zhejiang doesn’t.”

Silent Reed nodded and chimed in, “Yep! This is Team Shanghai’s best opportunity! They just need to find the engage fast! This can’t drag on for too much longer!”

Rollfire smirked and retorted, “Easier said than done. Let’s see if Zhejiang University actually gives them the opportunity. And whether Team Shanghai has the skill to seize it!” He paused briefly and then added, “You’re right though. Team Shanghai does have a chance to win it here. But that’s maybe a 1% chance. Beyond that? This is a Zhejiang University win.”

In Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth:

Sun Ruinian glanced at his teammates and said over the team’s voice chat, “Gather mid and play it safe. If they dive us, we win this fight. Plus it’s not like they have any long range skillshots. Every extra second we get, is a second closer to our win.”

Shi Hang turned his head to look at Sun Ruinian and smiled. He didn’t give up. He fought. And now he’s back in the game. Just like I taught him! He nodded and added, “If Blitz pulls any of you guys, we’ll engage. I just need Braum to protect me. Knock Zed and Lee up if they try to dive. Let’s bring this game home!”

“Will do!” Zhejiang University’s Support replied. He then sighed loudly and mumbled, “Just a shame my Exhaust is on cooldown…”

Shi Hang shook his head and replied, “Don’t worry about that. We don’t need Exhaust to beat them. All we need is the knock up.” He turned his head to look back at his screen and narrowed his eyes. All we really need is for me to kill Draven before he can deal any damage. Then we can all focus on Maple. That’s going to be the real challenge here.

In Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth:

Zhang Hao stared at his screen and scrunched his nose. He had his Irelia stand outside of the mid outer tower’s range, looking for a way in. But Team Shanghai was almost entirely melee range, and even their ranged Champion Draven didn’t have much in terms of range. Zhang Hao shook his head in frustration and he said over the team’s voice chat, “Our range is too short. We can’t attack the tower! We’re just losing health like this!”

Zeng Rui had his Blitzcrank run back and forth, searching for an angle to cast Rocket Grab! But there were no openings, and the pressure he put on Zhejiang University wasn’t enough to push them away from the tower. He grimaced and said over the team’s voice chat, “BunBun, this is pointless. They’ve got the range advantage. All they need to do is to keep poking us down until we have to go back. And then we still need to back before they jump on us and kill us. This isn’t going to work…”

“It is going to work,” An Xin replied. She narrowed her eyes and continued, “Just be patient a little longer. I’m going to engage. When my Q hits, be ready.” She waited for the Red minions to die. There was a brief opening between the wave dying and the next one arriving. She had a clear shot on Zhejiang University’s front line. I have to do this, now! No time to hesitate! She pushed down on the Q key–Sonic Wave! Her Lee Sin punched a discordant soundwave forward! It slammed into Zhejiang’s Elise! An Xin smiled and shouted, “I’m going in!”

An Xin’s Lee Sin dashed at Zhejiang’s Elise with Resonant Strike!

Shi Hang started his League of Legends career as an ad-carry because he was drawn to the monstrous late game potential of the role. Toplaners were often bruisers, Supports were Supports. Junglers provided utility and Midlaners were a mix of control and burst damage. But ad-carries carried. With every next item, they boosted their attack damage and attack speed. The longer the game ran, the scarier they became. And once it was the late game, or even the ultra late game, they decided the outcome of a match. Their positioning, their ability to stay clear from crowd control and their skill to get as much damage in as quickly as possible meant victory or defeat!

Shi Hang pushed down on the Tab key and looked at the game scoreboard. That girl’s Draven is up kills on Sunny-boy’s Trist and she’s also starting to pull ahead in CS! We’re losing this! It’s just like… Just like… He shook his head and grimaced. It’s just like it was for me way back then. Don’t tell me… He looked across the stage at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. Don’t tell me this is a repeat of four years ago.

Four years ago, Shi Hang played ad-carry for Zhejiang University in the Collegiate Cup. He was the starplayer of the team and led them to the first championship trophy! After which he turned his attention to the professional scene. He played at the highest level and improved constantly, until he met Lin Feng’s ad-carry. Silent destroyed me! 11 games in three days and I never got anywhere! He just beat me and beat me and beat me even harder! He shook his head and chuckled. And now, Maple is back. He’s got a new ad-carry. And she’s… It is like four years all over again! It’s just that Sunny-boy is the ad-carry this time! He glanced at Sun Ruinian. Come on, son! Take the fight! Beat her!

Silent, though… Shi Hang shook his head and moved his lips around. The Chinese superteam from Season 1! Maple in mid. Silent and Autumn in bot. The way Silent never said a word and then just wrecked you, that was something else! Shit, what I’d give to play against him again! I wonder what he’s up to these days… He glanced across the stage at Lin Feng again. I haven’t kept up with most people from back then. But that kid should know. I’ll ask him about it after the series is over.

Shi Hang turned his attention back to the screen in front of him. He narrowed his eyes. But first I’m going to win this series! Let’s hard carry this shit!

✹

“Pretty sensible what Zhejiang University is doing here,” Rollfire said from behind the caster desk. He looked at the audience and continued, “They’ve lost their top tower, so they have their Jarvan IV freeze the lane on his side of the map. He’s playing defensively and making sure he isn’t giving that Irelia any more advantages. Then we have the mid lane where it’s just a back and forth, not much difference between the two players. And finally we have the bot lane… Zhejiang knows they can’t afford to give that Draven any more kills. They also know the Draven can 1vs2 them right now. So they’re sitting back and farming. When the minions push too far forward, they just stop and stay behind. It’d be stupid to risk the game over a few last hits.”

Silent Reed nodded and said, “You’re right. Draven is too strong right now! It’s virtually impossible for him to lose the 1vs2, not to mention the 2vs2! Even if he makes a huge misplay somehow, I still don’t see him losing it! And remember, Zhejiang University constantly has to worry about that Blitzcrank. One hook and they’re done!”

Rollfire squinted his eyes and looked at the minimap. He noted, “We’re 13 minutes into this fifth game and neither team has made a play for the Dragon yet. I think the next big fight will happen somewhere around there. In mid or bot. Probably bot if it’s up to Zhejiang University. I think they’d like to get that lane back in their control.”

Silent Reed looked at the large LCD screen, her eyes opening wide. She then glanced at Rollfire and raised an eyebrow. That’s exactly what they’re doing now! That was spot on! You barely even said it and they started to do it… She shook her head and said, “Looks like they can hear you! Look! Shi Hang’s LeBlanc is moving down to the bot lane! And there! Braum and Tristana are actively pushing! They’re going to fight Team Shanghai’s Draven!”

“Team Shanghai doesn’t see it!” Rollfire exclaimed. He leaned forward and added, “TEAM SHANGHAI IS ENGAGING! They’re walking right into the trap!”

Ouyang couldn’t sit still any longer. He jumped to his feet and screamed, “WARD!” He then turned his head to look at his friends and asked, “Can’t they tell something is up? How do they not know this!? Their ward just ran out! They won’t see Shi Hang coming at all! This is so bad!”

Yang Fang adjusted his glasses and said, “BunBun always has a perfect eye for detail. I’m sure she’s perfectly aware.” He briefly hesitated before adding, “But Zhejiang University is playing this really well.”

Liu Yue glanced at his friends and shook his head. He clenched his fist and punched the air, shouting, “THEY KNOW! I KNOW THEY DO! WOOT WOOT!”

The large LCD screen showed Shi Hang’s LeBlanc walking through the river entrance into the bot lane. She cast Distortion! A magic circle appeared beneath her feet and launched her forward! There was still a small distance between her and Draven, so she followed up with Mimic: Distortion! Another magic circle appeared on the ground and launched her forward!

Tang Bingyao narrowed her eyes. Just like Zeng Rui told me. She flicked her mouse, waited briefly, then activated Stand Aside! Her Draven raised his two axes above his shoulders and then threw them at an angle! They flew through the air and knocked LeBlanc out of her second jump!

“STAND ASIIIIIIIDE!” Silent Reed cried out into her microphone.

Two pillars of light, one blue and the other red, descended on the bot lane. Zhang Hao’s Irelia and Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV were teleporting over! And Lin Feng’s Zed was running down the river from the mid lane! He was only a couple of seconds behind Shi Hang’s LeBlanc! 

Lin Feng glanced at the bot lane and said, “We fight this!”

“LeBlanc first!” Zeng Rui shouted over the team’s voice chat. He then slammed down on the Q key–Rocket Grab! His Blitzcrank raised his arm and fired his hand at LeBlanc!

Shi Hang narrowed his eyes. His fingers glided over his keyboard. W! His LeBlanc jumped back to the location she cast the first Distortion from! The hook from Blitzcrank missed! Shi Hang followed up by pressing the R key! His LeBlanc blinked to the position from where she cast Mimic: Distortion! He then targeted Draven with Sigil of Malice followed by Ethereal Chains!

“BRILLIANT MECHANICS BY AYDEECEE!” Rollfire hollered into his microphone.

Tang Bingyao looked at her monitor, calm. She saw Shi Hang’s LeBlanc jumping back towards her and knew he was now in range to attack her. From the other side, she also saw Zhejiang’s Braum running at her. She watched him jump up into the air and then slam his shield down on the ground. A fissure rapidly spread on the ground with bursts of ice exploding upwards! The Sigil of Malice connected with her Draven, and the Ethereal Chains were right behind it! FLASH! 

The Glacial Fissure failed to knock Tang Bingyao’s Draven up into the air and LeBlanc’s Ethereal Chains failed to connect as well. Draven had disappeared! A mottled flash of light suddenly appeared next to Shi Hang’s LeBlanc. Draven stepped out from it! Shi Hang’s pupils constricted. He flicked his mouse and smashed the buttons on his keyboard. FUCK! She saw it coming! This really is Silent all over again! 

“NICE ONE!” Zeng Rui cried out over the team’s voice chat. He was hopping up and down in his gaming chair and clicking far more aggressively on his mouse than usual. He ordered, “LeBlanc! LeBlanc!”

“Holy. Freaking. SHIT! THAT DODGE!”
“NO FUCKING WAAAAAY! DRAAAAAAVEN!”
“OH MY GAAAAAWD! HOW!? HOW!”
“That dodge. Damn! DAMN!”
“In-fucking-SAAAAAAAANE!”

Silent Reed grabbed her microphone and clutched it tightly as she moved it to her lips. She looked at the large LCD screen, glancing down at the soundproof booths constantly, and shouted, “Irelia and Jarvan IV! They’re teleporting in! THIS IS A 4 versus 4! A 4 VERSUS 4!”

Back in the game, Sun Ruinian’s Tristana was flying through the sky! She’d wanted to follow up on Shi Hang’s engage. But that engage had failed. ShitShitShit! I needa get away! He didn’t one shot Draven! FuckFuckFUCK! He looked up the river. And Zed’s here too! I need to get out of here! They’ll just kill me! When his Tristana landed on the ground, Sun Ruinian had her turn around and run away!

“Why the rush? Come, stay a little longer!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He sent his Living Shadow towards Sun Ruinian’s Tristana and swapped positions with it! He was about to follow up with Death Mark when Tristana raised her cannon at him and fired her Buster Shot! A massive cannonball slammed into him and sent him flying backwards!

“Wooow! Nice reflexes!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He then grinned and added, “But it’s whatever. I’ll just attack someone else!” The Buster Shot had delivered him right in front of Shi Hang’s LeBlanc! DEATH MARK! His Zed disappeared as four blood red shadows appeared around LeBlanc and dashed at her! They struck her, the four shadows pouring into her body and placing the death mark on her!

Shi Hang shouted over the team’s voice chat, “Cover me!” He then had his LeBlanc run up the lane to the Jungle wall and flashed over it! Behind him, Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV dashed at Draven with the flag-toss combo and followed up with Cataclysm! He leaped up in the air and then came down with such force that he terraformed the ground into an arena!

Tang Bingyao looked at her minimap. Shi Hang’s LeBlanc had disappeared in the Jungle. She’d lost vision on him. There were two paths he could take. Did he go left or right…? She had her Draven hurl a Spinning Axe at Jarvan IV, hoping that Shi Hang’s LeBlanc would give away his location in Red team’s bottom side Jungle. A ping suddenly flashed on her minimap. Her eyes went wide. Lin Feng! She pushed down on the R key! Draven raised his two axes above his head and threw them forward with all his might! They spun ‘round and ‘round like a Whirling Death! They carved through the ground, through the Jungle wall, and finally through Shi Hang’s LeBlanc! MHM!

《Killing spree!》

Zeng Rui nodded and said over the team’s voice chat, “Nice work, Tang Tang! Jarvan IV next!”

Tang Bingyao smiled and right clicked on Jarvan IV. Her Draven hurled a Spinning Axe, which cleaved into Jarvan IV’s health bar before ricocheting. She repositioned to catch the axe while also throwing another one! Jarvan IV had used his gap closers to jump on her. He had nothing left to get away. She threw several more Spinning Axes until his health bar bottomed out.

《Double kill!》

Sun Ruinian’s Tristana had run away from the fight after almost getting jumped on by Lin Feng’s Zed, while Zhejiang’s Elise never even joined the fight. That just left Zhejiang’s Braum who was now stuck in the middle of four enemy Champions. He tried to run away, to buy some time, but between three powerful damage dealers in Draven, Zed and Irelia, as well as Blitzcrank’s crowd control, there was no escaping for him.

Lin Feng’s Zed sent his Living Shadow forward and followed up with Razor Shuriken! The shadow shuriken flew through the air and hit Braum from behind! It sheared away the last of Braum’s health.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Dragon, Dragon!” Zeng Rui ordered over the team’s voice chat. And everyone listened. No one interrupted him, or made a joke about how Lin Feng had stolen a triple kill from Tang Bingyao. They remained completely focused because there were still two Champions from Zhejiang University alive, including the Jungler who could try and steal the Dragon! But Zhejiang’s Elise didn’t show herself. Team Shanghai slew the Dragon uncontested.

 《The Blue team has slain the dragon!》

“WOOT WOOT!”
“SIIIIIICK!”
“BROPHINA CARRY!”
“EASY GAME!”
“HIGH SCHOOLERS BETTER THAN PRO PLAYERS!”
“CONFIRMED!”

“Draven is getting the MVP award for that fight! WOOOOOOOOO!” Silent Reed screamed into her microphone. She stood up and leaned on the caster desk before continuing, “Draven dodged absolutely everything! LeBlanc and Braum tried everything they had! But Draven somehow dodged everything! EVERYTHING! WHAT A FIGHT BY THE GIRL!”

Rollfire slumped back in his chair and shook his head. He mumbled just loud enough for the microphone to pick it up, “Uch, yeah. That Draven did alright.”

A single sentence to kill the mood. Everyone in the stands stopped clapping, cheering and screaming for Tang Bingyao’s double kill. They turned their heads and looked at the caster desk. They stared at Rollfire and shook their heads, incredulous.

“The fuck is he on? ‘Alright’? What the fuck!”
“NICE CASTING, BRO! Fucking dipshit!”
“Seriously! What the F is wrong with that guy?”
“They should fire him right now!”
“Just alright? Piss off, Dickfire! That was some insane skill!”
“Yeah! I couldn’t have played that any better than that Draven did!”
“Way to kill the mood! Moodkiller!”
“I hope you get food poisoning!”

In Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Shi Hang grinned and shook his head. Yep, I jinxed it. Totally jinxed it! The moment I start thinking about Silent, she goes and plays like Silent! What in the world was that dodge…? He sighed loudly and said over the team’s voice chat, “Welp, that went shit.”

Sun Ruinian pursed his lips and stared down at his desk. How is that Draven this good? She fucked up so hard in the first two games! This just isn’t… Fuck! I need her to go back to how she played before! He punched his desk and shouted, “Fuck!”

“Don’t worry about it, Sunny-boy,” Shi Hang said over the team’s voice chat. He glanced at his teammate, at his mentee. There’s nothing you could’ve done there. He took a deep breath and continued, “You’re right to be upset. At this rate, we’re gonna lose. But they played fantastically. That’s it. Nothing more to it. We can do that too! And we’ve got the stronger late game team! We’re going to dig ourselves into this match and claw our way to a win!”

Sun Ruinian turned his head to look at Shi Hang and nodded. He replied, “Alright… Alright.”