Rollfire stared at the large LCD screen showing Game 5 between Team Shanghai and Zhejiang University. He watched Lin Feng’s Zed counter LeBlanc’s ultimate with Death Mark. His eyes grew wider and his mouth slowly fell open. H-how…? The cheering crowd around him sounded muffled, distant. His heart slammed into his ribcage. He… He—

“IT’S THE TURNTABLES!” Silent Reed cried out. She grabbed her microphone and shouted into it, “ZED WITH THE TURNTABLES!”

Four blood red shadows, each with Zed’s distinct features, had jumped into existence around LeBlanc! Then they dashed at her! Their shadow blades stabbed into her and connected at the heart! The connection drew them all into the center as they became a crimson mark wrapped around LeBlanc’s heart! Death Mark!

Death Mark was Zed’s most important skill. It read the damage Zed dealt to the target over the next three seconds and imitated that for a portion of the damage! Lin Feng narrowed his eyes. LeBlanc had cast Distortion to jump on him. There was a magic circle at the place she jumped from. Living Shadow! Zed stabbed in the direction of the magic circle! Shadows erupted from his skin and shot forward! They gathered into a dark mass, imitating Zed’s distinct features!

There were two Living Shadows on the map, one at the location where Lin Feng had cast Death Mark from and the other being the one he’d just created. They both perfectly imitated Zed’s moves! Lin Feng had his Zeds throw Razor Shurikens at LeBlanc! The sharp edges of the (shadow) weapons cut through LeBlanc and sheared away at her health! He followed up with Ignite! Unquenchable flames blazed into existence on her skin and started burning her health away!

Shi Hang gritted his teeth and said over the team’s voice chat, “Get him!” He then slammed down on his W key! LeBlanc reactivated Distortion and reappeared on the location she’d first cast the skill from! 

Lin Feng’s fingers glided over the keyboard in practiced motion. He pushed down on the W key for the second activation of Living Shadow! Zed traveled through the shadows and took his Living Shadow’s place! He followed up with Shadow Slash! Zed swept out around him and unleashed a burst of shadow that damaged LeBlanc! Then he struck her with an auto attack!

FuckFuckFuck! Shi Hang squinched his eyes and cast Flash! A mottled radiance of light wrapped around his LeBlanc and carried her a short distance towards her outer tower! Behind him, he saw Zhejiang’s Elise finally making her way around the minions to get a clean shot at Zed. Cocoon already! Root him! ROOT HIM!

Lin Feng held onto his Flash for a brief second. Just long enough for Elise to cast Cocoon. When he saw her start the animation for the skill, he pushed down on the D key! A veil of light shrouded Zed and carried him towards Shi Hang’s LeBlanc! The Cocoon missed! The outer tower locked onto Lin Feng’s Zed and fired an energy shot! Shi Hang’s Leblanc waved her staff and struck him with an auto attack! And he countered with an auto attack of his own before he suddenly disappeared.

Shi Hang closed his eyes and mumbled, “Fuck.”

《You have been slain!》

Shi Hang opened his eyes again and saw his screen turn a deathly grey. The Death Mark had detonated and killed him. He panned his camera all the way across the mid lane towards Blue team’s outer tower, where Lin Feng’s Zed was. We didn’t even get him… The tower was hitting him, Elise would’ve killed him… Should’ve hit her Cocoon! He pursed his lips and shook his head. But Death Mark places a Living Shadow at the location where the skill is cast. That’s why he could jump on me like that. He always had an out. Elise should’ve been waiting for him there. She shouldn’t have tried to chase him under our tower after she missed her Cocoon. He just jumped away. Rip!

“FUCKING NINJA REFLEXES!”
“WOOOOOOOOOO!”
“YOU GO KID! YOU FUCKING GO!”
“OH MY GAAAAAAWD!”
“Did he just…? YEAH HE FUCKING DID! WOOOOOOOO!”
“HOLY EFFIN’ SHIT! What was that!?”

Qiu Yijie from Fudan University sat at the front of the venue. The cheers behind him slammed against the back of his head, but he was deaf to them. He stared at the large LCD screen and shook his head. He just shook his head, incredulous, and muttered, “What the, what the, what the…”

“WHAT A KILL!” Fudan University’s Jungle exclaimed. He patted Qiu Yijie on the shoulder and continued, “You see that? Dayum! Now that’s a real Zed if you ever seen one!”

A player from one of the other teams turned his head to look at Fudan University’s Jungler and chimed in, “I know right!? Who ever said LeBlanc is better than Zed? They haven’t watched this game! Zed is the strongest! Oh my god that was so clutch!”

“Hard agree!” Fudan University’s Jungler replied, laughing. He looked back at the large LCD screen and sighed loudly. He finally said, “Zed got camped so hard! Zhejiang did everything to keep him down! But look at him now! He just got the kill WHILE GETTING GANKED! What a fuckin’ boss!”

In a different section of the stands, the club members from Zhejiang University were sitting in complete and absolute silence. They were staring at their team’s soundproof booth, shocked. In the previous four games, there were reasons and explanations why Shi Hang wasn’t hard-carrying the mid lane. But not this game. Zhejiang University had spent a ton of their early game resources to shut down Zed. They’d let their other lanes fall behind just to keep Zed down! Yet right now, Zed didn’t just survive the lane, he was winning it 1 versus 2!

Zuo Cheng was Shi Hang’s number one fan. He became a Midlaner purely because he wanted to be like Shi Hang. He attended Zhejiang University just to have a chance to meet his idol! In his mind, there wasn’t a single player in all of League of Legends who was better than Shi ‘AyDeeCee’ Hang! Until now. He grimaced. How good is that kid!? How is he… He took a deep, long breath. He’s winning. That kid is actually beating Shi Hang from behind! How is this even possible? Who is this kid!? What the fuck!

Back in Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Shi Hang bit on his lips. Our gank was good. You don’t just dodge that! The Elise Cocoon, the Flash, the… The amount of skill you need to stay calm and calculate all of those eventualities is insane! There is practically no one who can… He grinned and shook his head. Then he looked across the stage at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. That’s right. Almost no one. But I’m not playing against just anyone. I’m playing against the genius wonderkid himself! And he’s getting better way too quickly this series! I’m the damn stepping stone all over again! He scratched the back of his head and chuckled. I’m getting exactly what I asked for! I wanted to welcome him back to the scene, and what better way than to get my ass handed to me by him? This is, this is exactly as it should be! He suddenly narrowed his eyes and focused back on his screen. But just like four years ago, I’m going to fight for every inch!

✹

At 9 minutes, Zhejiang University’s Elise made her way to the top lane. Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV and Zhang Hao’s Irelia were fighting in the middle of the lane. Elise charged into the lane from the river brush and cast Cocoon! A web of silk flew towards Zhang Hao’s Irelia! But he dashed at a minion with Bladesurge and dodged it! Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV expected this. He dashed at Zhang Hao’s Irelia with a flag-toss combo and knocked him up into the air!

Irelia was knocked up into the air, auto attack and skill shots slamming into her! Zhang Hao bit on his lips and judged the distance to his outer tower. I can make it! I have to! I can’t let the team down now! He glanced at the minimap and saw An Xin’s Lee Sin running up the river. I just need to stall this a little longer! His Irelia landed back on the ground. FLASH! A veil of light carried Irelia a short distance towards her outer tower!

Zhejiang University’s Elise and Jarvan IV charged after Irelia! All the way across the lane and under Blue team’s outer tower! Elise entered its range first and took aggro. An energy shot smashed into her! But together with Jarvan IV, she dealt enough damage. Irelia was down to the last few percentages. Elise suddenly transformed into a menacing red and black spider! Venomous Bite! She lunged at Irelia and sunk her teeth into Irelia’s skin!

《You have slain an enemy!》

Right when the kill announcement rang out, Zhejiang University’s Jungler slammed down on the E key–Rappel! His Elise ascended into the air and became untargetable! She then locked onto a minion that was out of tower range and descended on it!

“That’s more like it! ZHEJIANG! WOOOOO!”
“Nice gank!”
“Sweeeeeeet!”
“WE’RE WINNING THIS! WE ARE! REALLY!”

Rollfire smiled and said into his microphone, “You can tell Zhejiang University’s Jungler is a top level Elise! He calculated that perfectly! He knew he had the damage to get the kill and the health to survi—”

“LEE! LEE!” Silent Reed interrupted.

Back in the game, An Xin’s Lee Sin ran into the top lane through the river entrance. Zhejiang University’s Elise was already a good bit into the lane, running towards Red team’s outer tower. Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV was following right behind her.

An Xin smiled and mumbled, “You two ain’t getting away!” She had her Lee Sin dash at a Blue minion with Safeguard! Elise was to her right and Jarvan IV to her left. She followed up with Sonic Wave! A discordant wave of sound slammed into Jarvan IV and located him! She then briefly waited, just long enough for Jarvan IV to run past her.

Dragon’s Rage! An Xin’s Lee Sin hit Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV with a powerful roundhouse kick! The force knocked him off his feet and sent him flying away! He soared through the air and slammed into Zhejiang’s Elise! The collision decimated what little remained of Elise’s health bar!

《You have slain an enemy!》

An Xin activated the second half of her Q skill! Lee Sin dashed at Jarvan IV with Resonating Strike! He followed up by slamming his open palm on the ground! A wave of energy swept across the ground and up Jarvan IV’s feet! Lee Sin then made a fist and set the energy off! Cripple! Jarvan IV’s movement speed dropped sharply! An Xin smiled. D-d-d-double! She right clicked on Jarvan IV. Her Lee Sin clenched his fist and punched!

《Double Kill!!》

“M-M-M-MADNESS!”
“WOOT WOOT!”
“HOLY SHIT! SHE GOT THE DOUBLE! SHE GOT THE DOUBLE!”

Silent Reed looked at the audience losing it. They were up on their feet, yelling and screaming. She balled her hand into a fist and smiled. Every play that goes against Zhejiang is a good play, if only to shut dickfire up! She grabbed the microphone and shouted into it, “So, so beautiful! Lee Sin is looking for redemption for Game 2, AND SHE IS FINDING IT! Team Shanghai is on top right now and Lee Sin has got a big, fat sack of gold!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rollfire mumbled. He rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. How is this possible? Is this still the same player from Game 2? Her Lee Sin sucked balls in Game 2! Why is she suddenly making all these flashy plays? This can’t be real! It can’t be! The Shanghai Stupid Organization must be behind this! They have to be! She can’t improve this much in a single series! And she’s just a girl from high school! She’s way too young to be this good at the game! FUCK ME!

Back in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, An Xin looked at her monitor and grimaced. She had her Lee Sin push the wave to collapse into Red team’s outer tower and then recalled back to base. Guess I can play at my normal level. All it takes is double the prescribed dosage of meds. That’s not so bad, is it? She bit on her lips and shook her head. Yes it is. I’m taking medicine in amounts I shouldn’t take to get a short burst of energy! That’s not right! I need to, I need to… She glanced at Lin Feng, who was laser focused on his screen, and breathed out loudly. I need to be at my best so I can play with him.

✹

At 11 minutes, Zeng Rui’s Blitzcrank recalled back to base. Zhejiang’s Braum retreated back to his outer tower and pretended to do the same as Blitzcrank, leaving the two ad-carries to continue their contest for the highest creep score. But Braum didn’t recall back to base. He ran through his team’s Jungle, following the path Zhejiang’s Elise had set out for him, and met up with her in Blue team’s bottom side Jungle. They were right behind Blue team’s outer tower in the mid lane.

Shi Hang looked at his minimap and saw that his Jungler and Support were in position. He said over the team’s voice chat, “Here we go. Remember, damage!” He then had his LeBlanc push the wave he’d been building up into Blue team’s outer tower!

Lin Feng narrowed his eyes. Again? He lightly pressed down on the R key, ready to dodge the crowd control skills that were going to come his way. And as he expected, LeBlanc jumped on him with Distortion! The splash damage cut into his health bar! But he waited, patient. LeBlanc’s Ethereal Chains followed soon after. He pressed down on the R key! Zed disappeared and four blood red shadows dashed at LeBlanc from all sides!

“Now!” Shi Hang shouted over the team’s voice chat! He then pressed down on his own R key. Mimic: Ethereal Chains! A second set of chains shot from LeBlanc and struck Lin Feng’s Zed! They wrapped around him and slowed him!

Zhejiang University’s Elise and Braum charged at Lin Feng’s Zed and attacked him with all their abilities! Every extra second he lived there were another dozen ways in which he could outplay them, so they didn’t bother with crowd control. All they worried about was dealing enough damage! They fired every skill they had at him! Zed’s health bar evaporated!

Lin Feng gritted his teeth and mumbled, “Dammit, not again!”

《You have been slain!》

“So unfair, so unfair!” Lin Feng complained as he watched his screen turn different shades of grey. He continued, “Shi Hang knows he can’t beat me, so he keeps having his goons gang up on me! It’s so unfair!”

An Xin giggled and teased, “Weren’t you going to handle mid by yourself? I seem to recall you saying that you didn’t want any help! It’s a little late to start complaining now!” She then glanced at Zhang Hao and said, “Let’s take their top tower while they’re mid.”

Zhang Hao nodded and replied, “Okay!” He then had his Irelia push the minion wave into Zhejiang University’s top outer tower. Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV retreated straight away, sticking to the defensive playstyle he’d adhered to all game. An Xin’s Lee Sin showed up a few seconds later, and together the two of them destroyed the first tower of the game.

《Your team has destroyed a turret.》

“Then again,” Lin Feng said over the team’s voice chat, rubbing his chin. “I guess we did get a tower because of my death! That’s basically my tower! I’d say I did a great job there! That was a good trade!”

《Your turret… has been destroyed.》

“Or not,” An Xin replied. She shook her head and continued, “If you’d just backed in time. You know…” She turned her head to look at Lin Feng and winked, smiling.

✹

Shi Hang grinned and said over the team’s voice chat, “Great work, guys. Kill plus a tower for a tower. That Lee is strong right now and we’re still a bit behind, but we’re catching up quick.”

Zhejiang University’s Jungler laughed and said, “With your LeBlanc, we’re gonna win this one easy! You’re up two kills!”

Shi Hang nodded and rolled his shoulders, relaxed. Good. Closing the gap. We just need to kill Zed a few more times and they’ll completely lose their early game advantage! By the time they catch up again, we’ll be Level 18 with full items! We’ll have had the time to buy armour to counter their full attack damage team. There’s no way they’re getting back into this by then! Just a few more minutes of focus on the mid—

《An ally has been slain!》

“What?” Shi Hang blurted. He glanced at the list of Champions and saw Tristana’s name greyed out. His eyes went wide and he quickly panned his camera to look at the bot lane. There he found Tristana’s corpse on the ground, with Tang Bingyao’s Draven farming minions on top of it.

Shi Hang turned his head to look at Sun Ruinian and asked over the team’s voice chat, “Sunny-boy, what’s going on? You got solo killed?”

Sun Ruinian replied through gritted teeth, “Yeah. Wanted to get a last hit in. Didn’t think she’d jump on me so fast! And when I tried to Rocket Jump away, she somehow knocked me out of it! Fuck! This shouldn’t have happened. My bad.”

It wasn’t just Zhejiang University that was surprised by the solo kill in the bot lane. Everyone in the venue was as well, including the video director! He quickly scrambled through his footage to find what’d happened. When he got the replay, he put it up on the large LCD screen above the two soundproof booths. The audience could finally see Draven solo killing Tristana!

“Oh shit! Sun Ruinian got waaaaay too greedy there!”
“He should’ve never gone for that last hit! He was just asking for it at that point!”
“That Draven really went for it though…”
“Of course he did! It’s Draven! If you don’t jump on it like that, are you even a Draven?”
“Yeah! She’s a Draven!”
“LEAGUE! OF! DRAAAAAAVEN!”

Ouyang stood up from his seat in the stands and pointed at the esports club members from Zhejiang University. He shouted, “SUCKS TO BE ZHEJIANG FANS RIGHT NOW!” He grinned and added, “Shouldn’t have let her pick her main. She’s the manliest Draven out there!”

Several people glared at Ouyang, but no one replied. They looked at each other and whispered about Shi Hang dying to Lin Feng in the mid lane only a few minutes earlier. Then they mumbled about how Sun Ruinian was the next to fall victim to Team Shanghai.

Zuo Cheng looked at his friends and grumbled, “It’s like Team Shanghai is trying to make a point! I’m better than your mid. I’m better than your ad-carry. What’s next? You’re gonna beat our Jungler?” He threw his hands up in the air, frustrated.

Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth:

Zeng Rui raised an eyebrow in surprise and said over the team’s voice chat, “Good catch, Tang Tang!” He was still making his way back to the bot lane when Tang Bingyao’s Draven got the solo kill on Sun Ruinian’s Tristana. But he’d seen the entire fight, and he was smiling. Her Draven is so good! The way she timed that Stand Aside! I don’t know many players who can pull that off like she just did!

Lin Feng grinned and shouted, “Nice going, Tang Tang! Your Draven just keeps getting better! This is great!”

Tang Bingyao glanced at Zeng Rui and then turned her head to look at Lin Feng, smiling. I killed Sun Ruinian! I solo-killed the A grade ad-carry! I’m only a B, but I’m getting better! Soon I can stand next to Lin Feng! Mhm! I’m going to play with him! She looked back at her screen. At her Draven. All I need is Draven! As long as I’ve got my Draven, no one can stop me! Mhm!

Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth:

Shi Hang looked at the Draven and narrowed his eyes. Two kills on Draven now. With Draven’s passive, that makes for three kills worth of gold. That’s a pretty big snowball for a Champion like that! We can’t let this go on! They’re still full attack damage. We just need armour. But if Draven gets fed, no amount of armour will save us! He said over the team’s voice chat, “Something has to be done about that Draven. She’ll turn into a headache. I’ll come bot for a gank.”

Sun Ruinian nodded and mumbled in reply, “Yeah, thanks.”

Shi Hang glanced at Sun Ruinian and moved his lips around. I know how good you are, Sunny-boy. You’re great! I taught you myself! And still… He looked back at his screen. At Draven. Somehow, Lin Feng found players who are just as crazy as he is! The Lee Sin suddenly getting better after the second game, and now their ad-carry is also all outta nowhere beating us? We have to end this! He looked at his LeBlanc and smiled. We’re lucky that I’ve got two kills. I’ll just go bot and help Sunny-boy get back into this!

“Sorry guys. I don’t know what’s going on,” Sun Ruinian mumbled. He shook his head and gritted his teeth. That Draven… Tang Bingyao was so much worse in the first two games of this series! And then she just started getting better! I didn’t even notice it at first! Just a few things here and there, and then suddenly she solo kills me! Can someone actually improve that much in a single series? Or was she just fighting her nerves this whole time? Is she only now playing at her actual level? If that’s it… Shit! Where did the Shanghai Esports Association find these freaks!?

“Fuck!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He stared at his monitor and shook his head. Should’ve seen that coming! I should’ve! Braum was gone from top! He was either farming Jungle with Elise or ganking with Elise! How can I be this stupid!? Dammit! That was almost a big mistake! He breathed in deeply, allowing the air to fill his lungs. I didn’t even see the Ethereal Chains coming… That was luck. I Flashed away because of the gank. That’s the only reason I dodged those chains. They were fucking perfect! He exhaled loudly through his mouth. Fuck me!

Across the stage in Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Shi Hang grinned and shook his head. So close! Almost had you there, Maple! You would’ve been in for a miserable time if I got first blood there! He chuckled and focused back on his monitor. He had his LeBlanc last hit a minion, nodding. Gotta say, your reaction speed there… How was it that fast? You dodged a point blank E! Those chains should’ve been impossible to dodge! Was there something else… He chewed on his lips. That was either luck or you’re much, much closer to the old Maple than you made me believe in the previous couple of games!

Shi Hang narrowed his eyes. I can’t risk it. I have to assume this is his real skill. He nodded at his Jungler and said over the team’s voice chat, “Make a circle and come back mid, Elise. We’re going for another gank. We have to shut Ma–We have to shut the Zed down.”

Sun Ruinian turned his head to look at Shi Hang and raised an eyebrow. Ma? Ma-what? Maverick? Shit, I can’t get distracted now! He focused back on the game in front of me, chewing on his lips. Ma… Ma… Master? Heh! Nah.

✹

Tang Bingyao’s Draven was together in the bot lane with Zeng Rui’s Blitzcrank. Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV still hadn’t shown himself. This was a typical approach in a lane swap. The solo Champion would farm in the Jungle and wait for the minion wave to collapse into his tower. Which was about to happen very soon.

The third minion wave arrived in the bot lane. This wave was different. The third wave was led by a cannon minion! They were stronger units that also gave more experience and gold when killed! Tang Bingyao changed her approach. Instead of only last hitting, she had her Draven throw his Spinning Axes constantly until all Red minions were dead!

A large Blue minion wave marched towards Red Team’s Outer Tower! Zhejiang University’s Jarvan IV had been waiting for this moment. He’d started the game by helping his Jungler and then he went on to kill the Gromp Camp in the Jungle. The large frog took a large bite of his health bar. So while waiting for the minion wave to come, he’d sat in the tri-brush behind his tower waiting. Now he walked to his tower and started soaking up the experience, still careful to stay back. He was up against a Blitzcrank. One hook could kill him.

Zeng Rui frowned and said over the team’s voice chat, “He’s playing this really safe.”

Tang Bingyao nodded. But if we get him… Mhm! She glanced at Zeng Rui and asked, “Can you get him with a Flash-hook?”

Zeng Rui turned his head to look at Tang Bingyao and opened his eyes wide. He replied, “I can. You sure you can do this?”

“MY AXES HUNGER FOR BLOOD!” Tang Bingyao screamed back.

The unexpected enthusiasm from Tang Bingyao made Zeng Rui glance at her for a second. Then he looked back at his screen and observed the Jarvan IV’s movements. He finally said, “Alright.” He then flicked his mouse, pressed down on the D key, flicked his mouse again and finally slammed down on the Q key! A mottled flash of light carried his Blitzcrank a short distance to the side, creating a gap between the Red minions through which he could hit Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV. Blitzcrank raised his arm and fired! His fist shot out and grabbed onto Jarvan IV, then pulled him back!

Tang Bingyao’s Draven hurled a Spinning Axe at Jarvan IV! Its sharp edges cut into Jarvan IV and then ricocheted! She moved to the side and threw a second Spinning Axe while catching the first!

Zeng Rui’s Blitzcrank redirected all the excess energy body towards its fist, overcharging it! Jarvan IV landed in front of him and he punched Jarvan IV! The bolt of electricity shook Jarvan IV and knocked him up into the air!

Zhejiang University’s Toplaner cursed, “FuckFuckFuck, fuck me!” He hammered his fist down on his keyboard, trying everything he could to get away. His team had given him one job going into this game. To not give Draven any kills. Yet right now, another Spinning Axe cut a large slice out of his health bar! FLASH! JUMP! DASH! ANYTHING! His Jarvan IV landed back on the ground with less than half of his health remaining. He flashed away and then threw down his Demacian Standard in front of him! Dragon Strike! He stabbed at his standard with his lance to pull himself towards it!

Tang Bingyao smiled and pushed down on her E key–Stand Aside! Her Draven raised both axes above his shoulders and then threw them at a curved angle! They flew straight at Jarvan IV and knocked him out of his flag-toss combo mid dash!

“OH MY GOOOOOOD!” Silent Reed cried out. She jumped up to her feet and grabbed the microphone. She then screamed, “A PERFECT STAND ASIDE BY DRAVEN! FIRST BLOOD! THIS HAS TO BE IT!”

An Xin said over the team’s voice chat, “Nice one!” Her Lee Sin then appeared from behind Red Team’s Outer Tower. She engaged Jarvan IV with Sonic Wave! Lee Sin fired a discordant sound wave and located Jarvan IV’s exact location. He followed up with Resonant Strike, dashing at Jarvan IV! And finally, she dashed at Tang Bingyao’s Draven with Safeguard!

Tang Bingyao glanced at An Xin before quickly turning her focus back to her screen. She’s giving it to me! She nodded and ran into the Red outer tower’s range. Jarvan IV had one more bar of health. One auto attack was going to do it. She ignored the energy shot that came flying her way and hurled the final Spinning Axe!

《First Blood!》

“WOOOOOOOOO!”
“FIIIIIRST BLOOOOOOOOOD!”
“LEAGUE OF DRAAAAAAVEN!”
“WOOT WOOT! TANG TANG IS THE BEST!”
“HOLY SHIT! They actually got first blood!”
“THEY’RE DOING IT! THEY’RE KNOCKING OUT ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY!”

✹

At five minutes, Zhejiang University’s Elise had made her circle and found herself back in the river brush right above the mid lane. She looked at the lane while waiting for Shi Hang to give her the go ahead. LeBlanc and Zed were fighting in the middle of the lane, exchanging blows perfectly between last hitting minions. Somehow, they were both the players with the highest creep score on their respective teams. How are they doing this? That Draven is practically getting free farm in the bot lane and still they’re both ahead of Dra—

Shi Hang’s LeBlanc jumped at Lin Feng’s Zed! Magic gathered at her feet and when she landed, it splashed all around her! She followed up with Ethereal Chains! They fired at Zed and wrapped around him! Alright, alright… Shi Hang watched his screen, laser focused. His finger hovered over the D key. Where are you flashing to, Maple? He narrowed his eyes when the mottled flash of light appeared. THERE! He pressed down on the D key! The same mottled flash of light now wrapped around his LeBlanc and carried her after Zed!

Lin Feng’s eyes went wide. He shouted, “Shit! He got me!” The unquenchable flames from Ignite started burning on his Zed’s skin. Elise then ran out from the brush above the mid lane. The secondary effect from Ethereal Chains activated and rooted him. Shi Hang’s LeBlanc fired a Sigil of Malice at him!

The root from Ethereal Chains didn’t last long, but it was enough for Zhejiang’s Elise to catch up and fire an easy Cocoon. The web of silk wrapped tightly around Lin Feng’s Zed and kept him in place while Shi Hang’s LeBlanc finished him off with a few more auto attacks!

《You have been slain.》

Huh, interesting… Lin Feng watched the colours of his screen fade away to different shades of grey. He moved his lips around and glanced across the stage at Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. Are you really planning to camp me in this game? Is that how you think you’re going to win this series? That’s an interesting twist. He grinned. Bring it!

✹

The caster desk was placed on a raised platform. Rollfire sat behind it, watching the game on the large LCD screen just like everyone else. Nice kill, AyDeeCee! He grinned and said into his microphone, “That kill just now by Shi Hang was crucial! They sacrificed a lot to get an early advantage and now it looks like it might pay off!”

Silent Reed shook her head and argued, “You’re missing what’s happened in the bot lane. And what’s happening in the top lane. The three man gank bot got the Draven rolling. And over up in top, that Irelia noticed very quickly that Braum was missing. She’s been pushing the lane and farming minions! The difference between the Draven and Tristana and the Irelia and Jarvan IV is in both cases falling in Team Shanghai’s favour.”

“Fair enough,” Rollfire replied. He took a deep breath and continued, “We’ll have to see if the focus on mid is worth it. But it’s clear Zhejiang is giving up a lot to help Shi Hang get ahead. Which is kind of strange by the way. Since when does the former pro need help to beat a high school kid?”

“Told you he was good,” Silent Reed said, smiling.

✹

Zeng Rui panned his camera to the mid lane. He said he’d… Thundering dumbass! He gritted his teeth and clicked on the top lane on his minimap. Braum is there helping Sun Ruinian’s Tristana push the lane. Zhang Hao’s got no vision a bit further down the river either… Shit, this might be… He warned over the team’s voice chat, “Zhang Hao, Elise might be coming to towerdive you. There’s no vision on the tri-brush behind you!”

“Got it!” Zhang Hao replied. He had his Irelia retreat under her outer tower and gauged the reaction from Zhejiang University’s Braum and Tristana. When they didn’t charge right after him, he ran into the tri-brush to face-check it! It was empty. Elise wasn’t there. Heh! That was lucky! He laughed and said, “We’re all good here!”

Zeng Rui nodded and turned his attention back towards the mid lane. He said not to worry. But that was before they started camping him! Elise has only shown herself mid and Braum has spent more time helping Shi Hang than Sun Ruinian! He’s getting camped hard! Maybe… He shook his head. He’ll just say the sa—

“I remember someone saying they’d be fine in the mid lane?” An Xin asked over the team’s voice chat. She glanced at Lin Feng and smiled before adding, “Looks like someone was talking big. Need some help after all? If you ask me really, really nicely, I might just find an opening to come and help.”

Lin Feng turned his head to look at An Xin and narrowed his eyes. He complained, “That didn’t count! This isn’t my fault! Who knew Shi Hang was going to play dirty? They’re camping the crap out of me! And I’m still doing great! They’re wasting so much time here and getting almost nothing!”

“Oh? Is that so?” An Xin asked. She raised an eyebrow and concluded, “Guess I really won’t help you out then. You can fix that mess you made all on your own!”

Vibrant greens and blue returned to Lin Feng’s screen. He patted his chest and said, “That’s fine! Don’t worry about mid! I said I’ll handle it, so I’m handling it!” He then grabbed his mouse with one hand and placed his other hand on the keyboard. Alright, let’s get on with this!

An Xin giggled and replied, “If you say so. I’m eagerly looking forward to it!”

Zeng Rui frowned and interjected, “You should gank mid at least once. We don’t want LeBlanc to get fed.”

“No need!” An Xin replied curtly. She shook her head and continued, “I’ll help the other two lanes get ahead.” She then turned her head to look at Lin Feng and winked before adding, “Besides, he said he’s fine. I trust him.”

✹

Shi Hang’s LeBlanc hit Level 3. With her three main skills unlocked, she had nothing to fear from Zed anymore. On top of that, she was also a kill ahead. Shi Hang’s LeBlanc started to throw her weight around, pressuring Lin Feng’s Zed so far back that he started to miss out on some last hits. Hehe! This is the least I should do. If I couldn’t even do this, all my old friends would laugh their asses off! But he is playing awfully defensive. I thought at least he was going to put up some kind of resistance… He scrunched his eyebrows and tilted his head. Is he that scared of another gank? He grinned. Good. He should be!

Lin Feng looked from the mid lane down to the minimap and up to the mid lane again. He then moved the camera around the mid lane, searching for any signs of an incoming gank. All the while, he was also trying to push back against Shi Hang’s LeBlanc so that he could get last hits on the minions. Everything combined proved too much. He took several Sigil of Malice into Distortion combos from LeBlanc and at 6 minutes, his health was so low that he was forced to recall back to base. He lost an entire wave worth of gold and experience.

“Well, that settles it! LeBlanc is hitting Level 6 first!” Rollfire remarked. He shifted in his seat and smiled. Good! That’s gonna be another kill for Shi Hang! He’ll carry this game! GoGoGo! He grabbed the microphone from its stand on the caster desk and moved it close to his lips. He then said, “Shi Hang is far in the lead in mid now. And if Elise comes around for another gank, we might just witness the end of Zed this game!”

“SHE IS!” Silent Reed cried out, pointing at the large LCD screen. Zhejiang’s Elise was making her way through the river and trying to find an angle to gank Lin Feng’s Zed from. But she passed by a ward and got spotted.

Rollfire shook his head and said, “That was unfortunate for Zhejiang. If that ward wasn’t there, that Zed would’ve never seen this gank coming! He saved himself by placing that ward a bit earlier! But that still means that he’s losing out on even more gold and experience! He’s just going to continue falling further and further behind with the way this game is going!”

“Screw you, Dickfire!” Ouyang shouted from the stands. He glared at the male caster and continued, “That Zed is my best bro! I’ll tell you that he won’t fall behind! He’s gonna kick AyDeeCee’s ass right when that Elise stops camping the ever living hell out of the mid lane!”

Yang Fang adjusted his glasses and said, “I don’t know, Ouyang. I understand your frustration, but the caster is right. Lin Feng is falling behind. And those ganks, fair or not, are making it harder and harder for him to catch up. Just a bit more and that LeBlanc gets so far ahead that she’ll snowball the game. I hope BunBun can go mid for a gank soon. She’ll know how to turn mid lane into a winning lane!”

✹

Zhejiang University had put an end to the lane swap. Sun Ruinian and his Support went to the bot lane, while Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV went to the top lane. He arrived there 7 minutes in. He pushed up into the lane and last hit a low health minion.

Zhang Hao raised his eyebrows and laughed. He said over the team’s voice chat, “He didn’t even try to ward…? Okay.” He then dashed at Jarvan IV with Bladesurge and stunned him with Equilibrium Strike!

“We’ll just get him now,” An Xin replied. She had her Lee Sin run out from the tri-brush below the Red team’s outer tower and dashed at Zhang Hao’s Irelia. She followed up with Tempest! Her Lee Sin slammed his flat palm on the ground, sending a wave of energy through the ground and up Jarvan IV’s feet! When it invaded his body, An Xin detonated it with Cripple!

Zhang Hao’s Irelia was a level up on Jarvan IV, as was An Xin’s Lee Sin. Together, they dealt a ton of damage to the Jarvan IV who hadn’t gotten any gold from the bot lane. Before the stun from Equilibrium Strike wore off, Irelia’s blade claimed Jarvan IV’s life.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Sorry, guys,” Zhejiang University’s Toplaner mumbled over the team’s voice chat. He stared at the grey colours on his screen and gritted his teeth. I’m getting camped so fucking hard here! This is such an unfair game! Can’t they just let me get some farm in!?

Zhejiang University’s Elise pinged on the mid lane and said, “Shi Hang! I’m coming mid for another gank!”

“Alright,” Shi Hang replied. He last hit one more minion and then retreated to place some wards in the river brushes below and above the lane. He won’t see this coming. I think… He panned his camera and watched Lin Feng’s Zed push the minion wave back from under his tower. Yeah, he doesn’t see it coming.

Shi Hang took his time to place his wards in just the right location, giving Lin Feng a couple extra seconds to push the wave. Hehe! He just keeps pushing! Is he going to push it all the way to my outer tower? He waited a few more seconds, until he couldn’t justify being away any longer, then said over the team’s voice chat, “In we go!”

Lin Feng’s Zed was in the middle of the mid lane. Zhejiang University’s Elise appeared from the river brush beneath the lane and ran straight at him! And Shi Hang’s LeBlanc came at him from the opposite side! Shi Hang grinned, his fingers gliding over his keyboard! W! Q! R! E!

Shi Hang’s LeBlanc jumped towards Lin Feng’s Zed with Distortion! Magic energy gathered around her feet and splashed out around her when she landed! She followed up with Sigil of Malice and Mimic: Sigil of Malice! The second sigil detonated the first and tore through Zed’s health bar! And finally, she fired the Ethereal Chains at Lin Feng’s Zed!

Lin Feng grinned. His finger was resting on the R key. He gently pressed down. Death Mark! His Zed placed down a Living Shadow and then disappeared. The Ethereal Chains shot through the Living Shadow but couldn’t latch onto it. Four blood red shadows suddenly materialized around LeBlanc! They dashed at her and placed the Death Mark on her!

“OH MY GOD! IT’S THE TURN AROUND! HE’S GOING FOR THE TURNAROUND!”
“I KNEW HE SAW IT COMING! I KNEW IT!”
“HOOOOOOOLY SHIT! WHAT A LEGEND!”
“WOOT WOOT! WIN FENG STOMPS THE PRO!”

“Ladies and Gentlemen! It is time for Game 5 of the Quarterfinals match between Team Shanghai and Zhejiang University at the East China Regionals!”

Game 5 of East China Regional Quarterfinals
Team Shanghai (Blue) vs. Zhejiang University (Red)

Top: Irelia vs. Jarvan IV
Jungle: Lee Sin vs. Elise
Mid: Zed vs. LeBlanc
Ad-Carry: Draven vs. Tristana
Support: Blitzcrank vs. Braum

Rollfire looked at the large LCD screen and said, “That’s quite a bit of attack damage on Team Shanghai. Scratch that. That’s all attack damage! There is no Champion on their team with ability power! That is really risky in a Game 5!”

“You’re right,” Silent Reed chimed in. She scrunched her eyebrows and mumbled, “I wonder why…”

“Pretty straightforward if you ask me,” Rollfire replied. He turned his head to look at Silent Reed and lectured, “Full attack damage teams are strong in the early game. They rely on outright beating the opponent! But it also means that when Zhejiang starts buying defensive items, all they need is armour. Lots and lots of armour! They can completely ignore all magic resist items! That’s a massive advantage!”

Silent Reed nodded and said, “If it gets to the late game, yeah.” She then tilted her head, listening to the mumbles and murmurs from the audience. Are they talking about the mid lane? She glanced at the large LCD screen. At the Zed and LeBlanc summoner portraits. Guess it makes sense. Shi Hang is the former pro. Right! He’s a former pro! She grabbed her microphone and continued, “What about the mid lane though? Zed versus LeBlanc! A clash between titans! The best high schooler versus the former pro! They’ve been going toe-to-toe in all four games! Do you think Game 5 will be even better!?”

“It might,” Rollfire replied calmly. He looked at the two soundproof booths. The thick glass windows gave him a good view of the players. They all look so calm… I get that Shi Hang looks calm, but… He narrowed his eyes. How is that kid so calm? This feels wrong. It’s like this every time! He looks calm, I say something about him going to lose, and he fucking wins! Every. Single. Time! But not this time! He said through gritted teeth, “Zed is a strong pick against LeBlanc. Both are high skill Champions! Shi Hang is the former pro and certainly has the skill to pull this off! But…” He took a deep breath before continuing, “But that kid has been playing fantastic! We can’t write him down.”

“Damn right!” Ouyang exclaimed from his seat in the stands. He waved at the university students around him and continued, “Screw all these guys and their negativity about my bro Lin Feng! What do they know? Yeah yeah, Shi Hang the pro. But we’ve got WIN FENG!”

Yang Fang adjusted his glasses and analysed, “They’re right, though. I don’t want to say it, but it’s true! Lin Feng is really, really good! But he’s not a professional player! What experience does he have in a fifth game!? None! But Shi Hang has played these kinds of series at the highest competitive level in China! Just that alone… I don’t see how—”

“Oh, bitch off with your negative vibes!” Ouyang exclaimed. He pointed at the large LCD screen and shouted, “That’s our bro up there playing a former pro! If we lose faith in him, what does he have left? We can’t lose faith in him! We’re gonna cheer him to a win!”

Liu Yue got up to his feet and looked around the stands. Most people were talking with each other in quiet voices about how Shi Hang was going to beat Lin Feng. Broyang is right! Lin Feng needs us now more than ever! He wrapped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “WOOT WOOT! WIN FENG, KICK SOME ASS!”

“He’s right!” Ren Rou said through gritted teeth. She looked at Ouyang and then at the others around her. She continued, “Everyone is saying Shi Hang will win because he’s the former pro! But what do they know? Screw them! Lin Feng is the best player I know!”

Ren Rou got up to her feet and dragged Yang Fang up with her. She said, “He needs us now more than ever! We’re cheering him on!” She then nodded at Liu Yue and shouted, “WIN FENG, KICK SOME ASS!”

Yang Fang adjusted his glasses and was about to argue when he felt someone wrap their arm around his shoulders. He turned his head and looked straight at Ouyang grinning. He mumbled, “Uh…? Ouyang?”

Ouyang nodded at Yang Fang and shouted at the top of his lungs, “WIN FEEEEEENG!”

✹

Zeng Rui turned his head to look at Lin Feng and asked over the team’s voice chat, “What can we do to help you out in mid?”

“Hm?” Lin Feng mumbled. He then grinned and replied, “Don’t worry about mid! I’ll be fine! I’ll just kick some ass!”

Zeng Rui’s eyelid started twitching again and he clenched his fists. Thundering dumbass! Don’t worry? DON’T WORRY? Of course I’m going to fucking worry! This is the fifth game! If we win this, we’re moving on to nationals! What do you mean, don’t worry? Screw you! I’m going to worry! I want to win this, dammit! He breathed in deeply, letting the air flow into his lungs and some clarity into his mind. It’s ridiculous! You’re playing against one of the best Chinese Midlaners ever! Where do you get this confidence from? Fuck! How did you even beat him in the first four games…? He exhaled loudly through his mouth and looked at his monitor. That’s right. He’s been winning the mid lane for four games in a row now. He is winning! Does that mean… Can I trust him? He bit on his lips and scrunched his eyebrows. He’s an asshole, a thundering dumbass and so many more things! But he’s not a liar. Not so far I know, anyway. And he has been holding his own in mid.

An Xin glanced at Lin Feng and smiled. She said, “You sure are confident! This sounds like you don’t need my help! Alright, that settles it! I won’t gank mid this game!”

Zeng Rui looked past Lin Feng at An Xin and shook his head. How can she still make jokes at a time like this? She’s the one… What does she know? Why won’t they tell me? I need to know what is going on! This is ridiculous! How is he winning against a former pro? How is he this confiden—

“That’s okay!” Lin Feng replied, patting his chest. He winked at An Xin and added, “Watch me, I’ll beat him all by myself!” He then turned his attention back to his monitor and calmed his breathing down. At the start of this series, I wasn’t sure. But now I am! I can feel it! I’m slowly getting back to my old skill level. I’m past A+ and into the percentage rankings! Only a little more. I’m going to get there! And Shi Hang… He focused on LeBlanc’s summoner portrait and narrowed his eyes. You’re going down!

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

Zhejiang University decided to start Game 5 with a lane swap. Sun Ruinian’s Tristana and Braum made their way to the top lane, while their Jarvan IV made his way to the bot lane. Zeng Rui spotted this early when Jarvan IV walked over a ward. He narrowed his eyes and said over the team’s voice chat, “BunBun, they’re lane swapping. Come bot after Red. We’re gonna kill that Jarvan IV!”

An Xin smiled and replied, “I’ll be right there!”

“Oh my god!” Silent Reed exclaimed. She stood up from behind the caster desk and said, “LOOK! They’ve gone with a lane swap! Zhejiang University initiated the lane swap! Why are they doing that? Isn’t Sun Ruinian the better ad-carry? Is he worried that he can’t beat this Draven with his Tristana?”

“That’s not it,” Rollfire replied. He snorted and explained, “Draven is pretty damn strong in the early game, while Tristana is a late game hyper carry. Zhejiang is just looking to help Sun Ruinian get a better start to the game! Nothing weird about this lane swap!”

Back in the game, Tang Bingyao had her Draven run to the bot lane. She waited for the first minion wave to arrive and then followed behind it into lane. Spinning Axes! Her Draven started spinning the axe in his right hand. ‘Round and ‘round it went. BunBun is coming for a gank. Jarvan IV is probably going to be defensive. Best play here is to do the normal push. Mhm! Freeze the first two minion waves and then push hard on the third! She smiled and targeted the first minion that was about to die. Draven threw his Spinning Axe! It cleaved into the minion, claiming its life, and then ricocheted! Tang Bingyao had her Draven take one step to the side to catch the axe! Mhm! This is it!

Tang Bingyao settled into a steady rhythm with her Draven. She’d played this particular towerdive scenario many times before. She knew exactly how much health each minion could die. It all felt right to her. She smiled, comfortable. Worries and other distracting thoughts disappeared. Right now, she was one with Draven. She was spinning the axes in her hands and she was slaying the minions!

Every little aspect of a Champion that normally held Tang Bingyao back as a player disappeared when she played Draven. This Champion was her to the core. Everything about playing him just felt right to her. Mhm! This is it! I’m feeling it! She glanced at the minimap. BunBun is taking the Red Buff. Just a bit more… She’s timing it well! I’ll have the wave ready when she gets here and Jarvan IV should be in the lane by then as well!

✹

Lin Feng was in a state of absolute focus. He knew there was no hiding in the Zed versus LeBlanc match-up. It was one of pure skill. People online liked to argue that one was better than the other, but their arguments only held up in lower elo matches. At the top of the competitive scene, Zed and LeBlanc were equally strong Champions that were equally hard to master. I’m gonna be better than Hermes’ Zed and Shi Hang is gonna be worse than Rake’s LeBlanc! This game is gonna be fun!

Shi Hang’s LeBlanc moved forward to last hit a minion. She waved her staff and fired the auto attack. Animation cancel! LeBlanc transitioned into the start of the animation for Sigil of Malice! The skill slammed into Lin Feng’s Zed, dealing magic damage and placing a sigil on him! But right then a Razor Shuriken flew at her and cut sharply into her health bar!

“Dammit! Still too slow…” Shi Hang mumbled. Maple is too good for a trick like this. He grinned. That was to be expected though.

LeBlanc was Lin Feng’s signature Champion. He knew her better than almost everyone else combined! One key bit of information was the range on LeBlanc’s Sigil of Malice. It was relatively short. So when she wanted to use it in the early game, she had to walk forward. Lin Feng had used this knowledge to spot Shi Hang’s intention to cast it! He also knew that Zed’s Razor Shuriken was just as powerful at Level 1. So he’d made the decision to trade blow for blow.

Lin Feng narrowed his eyes. This is all nothing new for you, Shi Hang! You know all of this! Just a bit of poke here and a bit of poke there. We keep poking and then when we hit Level 2, that is when it really starts! A few more minions and we’re there. I’ll jump on you! Watch me!

✹

“Zed’s going in at Level 2,” Qiu Yijie said. He looked at his teammates from Fudan University and continued, “He’s got the stronger Level 2 and this kid from Team Shanghai doesn’t look scared one bit.”

Fudan’s Jungler nodded and said, “Yeah, most likely. Zed’s Level 2 combo deals more damage than LeBlanc’s. But he needs to get the jump on Shi Hang to pull that off!”

“You think that kid can’t get the jump on Shi Hang?” Qiu Yijie asked. He glanced at his Jungler and shook his head before continuing, “Have you been watching this series? That kid has been getting the jump on Shi Hang four games in a row now! Just watch. At Level 2 he’s going to dash forward with Living Shadow and then throw a double Razor Shuriken! LeBlanc will have to Distort away and he wins the trade.”

“Then what?” Fudan’s Support asked.

“Then Shi Hang’s LeBlanc is forced to take an early deficit,” Qiu Yijie replied. He shook his head and added, “But that’s just Level 2. When they hit Level 3, the entire dynamic of the matchup changes agai–”

“YoYo!” Fudan’s Jungler interrupted. He pointed at the large LCD screen and shouted, “Look!”

Qiu Yijie followed his Jungler’s arm to the minimap. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Looks like Zhejiang University is expecting the Level 2 engage from Zed.”

✹

Lin Feng’s Zed was one minion away from hitting Level 2. Shi Hang’s gotta back away now, or I’ll kill him! He’s… He narrowed his eyes. Shi Hang is greedy for hitting Level 2 as well! That minion is it for him! I’ll punish him right away! He paused for a brief moment, giving Shi Hang the time to run towards the minion and last hit it. He then grinned and clicked on the minion in front of him. His Zed slashed out and a radiance blossomed out around him! Level 2!

Lin Feng learned the W skill Living Shadow and cast it! Zed projected a Living Shadow of himself a short distance in front of him! He followed up with Razor Shuriken! Both the shadow and Zed himself threw shurikens that sliced through LeBlanc! Zed then swapped places with his Living Shadow and auto attacked LeBlanc with his sharp blade!

LeBlanc’s health dropped all the way down to below half! Lin Feng’s finger hovered over the D key. Now you’re going to Distor– Why isn’t he…? He glanced at the minimap and noticed that Braum was missing in the top lane. His eyes went wide. SHIT! A TRAP! Right then, LeBlanc attacked his Zed with a Sigil of Malice!

Lin Feng flicked his mouse and pressed the D key! A mottled radiance wrapped around Zed and carried him a short distance away from Shi Hang’s LeBlanc! Behind him, LeBlanc’s Ethereal Chains chased after him. But the Flash bought him enough distance. Shit, that was lucky! If he’d learned Distortion… If I… Focus! You’re not out yet!

Zhejiang’s Braum came running out of the brush above the mid lane, with Elise right behind him. He dashed at a minion with Stand Behind Me, and followed up with Winter’s Bite! He propelled freezing ice from his shield at Lin Feng’s Zed!

Lin Feng pressed down on the S key! His Zed stopped all movements! The freezing ice from Winter’s Bite shot past right in front of him! But this slight pause gave Elise the time she needed to catch up! She got in range when Zed started running again and cast Cocoon! A web of silk shot from her fingers at Zed!

Lin Feng pressed on the S key again! His Zed stopped all movements! The Cocoon flew past right in front of him! Pff! He clicked next to his outer tower! Zed started running again. Will they give up? He glanced behind him. And sighed. Shi Hang is focusing on the minions again. Gank is over. He shook his head and breathed out loudly through his mouth. That was so close.

“WOOOOOOO! SICK DODGE!”
“How the hell did he get away there…?”
“DOUBLE DODGE!”
“They both fell for the same trick… Shit that was clean!”
“In-fucking-saaaaaaaaane!”
“So brutal! I bet Zhejiang is sooooo pissed right now! Hahaha!”

Ouyang stared at the large LCD screen, dazed. He mumbled, “H-he got away? He got a-away…?”

Liu Yue turned his head to look at Ouyang, dazed. Then his eyes went wide. He grabbed Ouyang by the shoulders and shouted, “He got away! Lin Feng got out! What a play!”

Ouyang looked at Liu Yue and his mouth fell open. Lin Feng did get away! He did! Oh my god! He wrapped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Dirty fucking strat, Win Feng!”

Stealing panties and driving through red, they’re just two of many actions that are heavily frowned upon in society. There are laws specifically written to stop people from committing these heinous acts! But the long arm of the law isn’t all-encompassing. This becomes especially evident in a game of League of Legends. There aren’t many rules in this game, or moral routes people are expected to follow. But there are a few. And right at the top, as the single most important law in all of League of Legends, it says: ‘Thou shalt not steal a pentakill from thine fellow players.’

Tang Bingyao had committed the eternal sin! She had stolen the pentakill that was rightfully An Xin’s! She fell back in her chair and stared at her monitor, lost. W-what… Why did I…? The game announcer’s voice still echoed in her head. Aced… Aced… It should’ve been BunBun’s pentakill! She chewed on the inside of her cheeks and glanced at An Xin. Is she mad? She is. She has to be! I’d be mad! Mhm! That was a penta! Her penta! And I stole it! I… I… She blinked away a tear and breathed in deeply. I stole it! Shit! She felt a knot twisting in her stomach and pulling tight. I have to… She turned her head to look at An Xin and said, “Ah… Uhm… BunBu—”

“NICE WORK, TANG TANG!” Lin Feng exclaimed, laughing. He patted Tang Bingyao on the shoulder and continued, “That was great! You stole BunBun’s penta! I couldn’t have done that any better myself! I was trying, but you actually did it! That was such a beautiful killsteal!” He briefly paused and scratched his nose. Then he opened his eyes wide and added, “I taught you how to killsteal! So this indirectly is also my killsteal! This is even better!”

An Xin shook her head and chuckled. She then slapped Lin Feng on the back of his head and said, “Don’t listen to this idiot, Tang Tang. Securing the kill was a good thing. Yasuo might’ve escaped if you didn’t get that last hit in there.” She smiled and added, “It’s no big deal. It’s just a penta.”

Tang Bingyao’s eyes went wide and her mouth fell open a little. She’s not mad at me? Why isn’t she mad at me? I stole her penta! I… She muttered, “But I stole…”

“My penta? Yeah, maybe,” An Xin replied. She then shook her head and continued, “But really, you did the right thing there. Pentakills are meaningless. They don’t help you win the game. Kills do. Yasuo might’ve gotten away if you didn’t kill him there. Or maybe he got a kill and then died. But thanks to you he died before he could try anything else. This is the best outcome.”

Lin Feng watched the exchange between the two girls and scrunched his eyebrows. He scratched his ear and said, “Hey! What the… If I’d stolen your penta, you would’ve lost your shit! Why are you suddenly all nice? This is completely unfair!”

An Xin tilted her head a bit to look at Lin Feng and raised an eyebrow. The corners of her lips rose, yet there was no sparkle of joy in her eyes. She said, “HMM? Did you say something? Say it again! I dare you!”

“Yes, I dare!” Lin Feng argued back. He threw his hands up in the air and complained, “Whenever I steal a penta from you, you lose your shit! You get all mad at me! But when Tang Tang does it you’re all nice? This is completely unfair! You’re discriminating against me! Is it because I’m a guy? You’re being racist because I’m a guy! That’s it!”

An Xin shook her head, incredulous. She then chuckled and replied, “No. I’m treating you differently because you’re a massive idiot. Such an idiot that I can’t begin to explain the depths of your stupidity or the width of your idiocy!” She briefly paused before asking, “Is that enough of an explanation for you?”

Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao sat on the far ends of the large table in the soundproof booth. They leaned back in their chairs and looked at each other. Their minds linked up as they tapped into the BroForce. A lover’s quarrel! Those two are in love with each other! Best for us to stay out of this!

Zeng Rui turned his head to look at his monitor again. The corpses from Zhejiang University’s Champions were strewn across the riverbed. He smiled in excitement. Sweet! We’ve basically won this game! We’re gonna win this game and then we’re going to Game 5! Who would’ve thought that after Game 2? I didn’t! Damn! We’re going to force an all deciding Game 5! Against AyDeeCee! We’re forcing a final game against a former pro here! Shit we’re good!

✹

Qiu Yijie sat at the front of the venue in the player seating area. The audience was losing their minds behind him, their cheers slamming against the back of his head. But he was numb to it. His gaze was locked on the large LCD screen. On the five bodies from Zhejiang University. They’re actually pulling it off. The high school kids are going to force a fifth game. This isn’t just some joke anymore… They’re forcing AyDeeCee to a fifth game! This is insane! He shook his head and mumbled, “You were right. Zhejiang’s losing this one.”

Fudan University’s Jungler turned his head to look at his team captain in surprise. “What?” he asked.

Qiu Yijie glanced at his Jungler and repeated, “You were right. Team Shanghai is forcing a fifth game here.”

“Oh, right!” Fudan’s Jungler exclaimed. He scratched the back of his head, grinning, and said, “Kinda hard to believe, don’t you think? Everyone had written those high school kids off already. And here they are, smashing AyDeeCee himself! Just imagine the stomp it would’ve been without AyDeeCee! It’s crazy!”

Qiu Yijie nodded and replied, “Yeah. Crazy is the right word.”

✹

Team Shanghai reached a point where An Xin’s Master Yi could 1vs5 Zhejiang University as long as she had Morgana’s Black Shield on her. And on top of that, they had four more Champions that were all ahead of their counterparts at Zhejiang University. Zeng Rui guided the team from objective to objective. They took down the Dragon, outer towers, inner towers, and finally Baron Nashor. Buffed by the giant purple worm, Team Shanghai dove Zhejiang University’s base and carried out a slaughter! Five kills. Zero deaths.

Team Shanghai took down the mid lane inhibitor tower and inhibitor at 27 minutes. There were still enough Blue minions on their side, so they pushed for the Nexus towers. Master Yi and Lucian shredded through the health bars on those two towers. The structures fell into ruin and Team Shanghai focused their firepower on the Nexus, while the players from Zhejiang University were still waiting to respawn on their fountain. But that never happened. The Nexus crystal exploded. The blue energy contained within broke out through the cracks and shot up into the sky, where it morphed into the victory emblem for Team Shanghai!

VICTORY!

Silent Reed turned her head to look at Rollfire and grinned brightly. How about that, you piece of shit!? She grabbed the microphone from its stand on the desk and placed it in front of her mouth. She shouted, “WOOOOOOO! What a game by Team Shanghai! They just keep getting better every game! What an absolute joy to watch them! From 2-0 behind to now 2-2! Are they going to complete the reverse sweep? Are they going to beat Shi Hang!?”

“WOOOOOOOOO!”
“TEAM SHANGHAI TAKE MY ENERGY!”
“REVERSE SWEEP IT! REVEEEERSE!”
“Drive me to Miami baby!”
“WOOT WOOT! BUNBUN BEST JUNGLER!”

“Maybe,” Rollfire replied. He shook his head and said through gritted teeth, “But one thing is for sure. Team Shanghai deserved this win.”

It was a good while before the audience calmed down. When they finally did, their focus shifted to Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. One person said, “Is Team Shanghai really gonna reverse sweep Zhejiang University? How is this even possible? Zhejiang’s got AyDeeCee! How are they not stomping those kids from Team Shanghai!?”

“Yeah! This is ridiculous!” someone else chimed in. They shook their head and said, “Did AyDeeCee get that much worse? I mean, it doesn’t look like it. He’s still kicking ass from what I can tell. But Team Shanghai is still beating him… They’re playing out of their minds! That Midlaner-Jungler duo… Abso-fucking-mental!”

“Don’t forget about the ad-carry!” the first person added. He continued, “She’s pretty fly as well! But damn, I can’t believe it. This is cray-cray! You know, before this series when we heard AyDeeCee was playing, I thought for sure Zhejiang University was going to win the entire tournament! And now… Now they’re almost out! They’re on the brink of elimination! Can you believe it!? They might get eliminated in the next game!”

✹

There was a thundering silence in Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. The five players sat in their gaming chairs, slumped back. They didn’t look at their screens, but rather down at their feet. It was only two games ago that they were up 2-0 and morale was at an all-time high. The third game did a number on their morale. Yet it was the complete stomp they suffered in Game 4 that caused their morale to hit an all-time low.

Sun Ruinian looked at his teammates and finally mumbled, “What’s happening, guys? How are we losing this…?”

Shi Hang shook his head and replied, “I don’t know. I don’t.”

The three other team members from Zhejiang University looked at their two captains. Sun Ruinian was their star player and one of the best ad-carries in the entire Winter Collegiate Cup, yet he was struggling against the girl from Team Shanghai. Every bit of intel they’d gathered before the series suggested that Sun Ruinian should win his lane, but he wasn’t. And that didn’t even begin to explain what was happening in the mid lane. Shi Hang, the former professional player, was at best going even against Lin Feng. Their two best players were losing. Their entire team was losing.

Shi Hang breathed out loudly and said, “Guess I do know. We underestimated them.” He shook his head and chuckled. Maple, Maple, Maple… I was worried about you. So much so that I apparently forgot to look at the rest of your team. I figured my team was good enough to handle them. I was wrong. This team isn’t my team. Just like your team isn’t yours. I wish we were. That would be a fun series!

“So what do we do?” Sun Ruinian asked.

Shi Hang turned his head to look at his teammates and frowned. He said, “What do you mean, what do we do? We fight! We’re going to give it everything we got and we’re going to kick their asses! Come on, guys! Just because we’ve lost two games doesn’t mean we’re out! We would’ve won by now if that were the case! 2-0 up, remember? Let’s quit bitching and win this fifth game!” He then turned his head to look across the stage at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. It’s been years since I found myself in a situation like this. But I’m not going to let you walk all over me again! I’m gonna give you hell! The only way you’re getting your reverse sweep is by completely outplaying me!

✹

Team Shanghai didn’t retreat backstage after the fourth game. They stayed in the soundproof booth and stared at their monitors. All of them were sweating nerves. The entire series against Zhejiang University was an uphill battle. Each game was a desperate attempt to not get eliminated. Yet now they were in the all-deciding fifth game. They weren’t playing to stay in the series anymore, they were playing to win it. They felt a completely different kind of pressure compared to the previous games.

Zhang Hao was drumming his fingers on the desk and stared at the monitor showing the endgame lobby. He kept mumbling to himself, “We won another one! One more to go! We won another one! One more to go! We won another one! One more to go!”

Zeng Rui tightly gripped onto his mouse. His heart was slamming into his ribcage! We can do it! We can really do it! We’re going to beat Zhejiang University and then win the Winter Collegiate Cup! Just one more game! All we have to do is win one more game against Zhejiang University! This is going to be it! Do or die! Oh shit, I don’t want to screw up! Please let me play like I did in the last two games… Wait, no! I will play like that! Yes, I definitely will! I’m going to carry the bot lane and help Tang Tang become Legendary! He clenched his fist and smiled. Time to give it my absolute all!

An Xin and Tang Bingyao glanced at each other and smiled. They could read the nerves in each others’ expressions. And then they found their gazes drawn to Lin Feng. An Xin saw the man she wished to play every game with. But she also saw the limited opportunities she had to do the things he loved with him. I need to make the most out of the time I have left! Every game is special! They’re all finals! For me, with him…

Tang Bingyao saw in Lin Feng a dream. The hope of becoming someone bigger than an elo-booster. He’d shown an entirely new world to her, but she was still only standing in the doorway. It was about time she took a step inside. Mhm! I want to play my game! That’s what he first saw and liked! I’ll show him how much I’ve improved! She put her hand in her pocket and felt the cold metal of her Draven keychain press against her skin.

Lin Feng didn’t notice the two girls looking at him. His eyes were locked on his monitor. On AyDeeCee. I never want to lose again! What happened in Season 1… Never. Never! Never! He shook his head. This isn’t a college tournament anymore. I’m not Lin Feng from Team Shanghai. In this game, against AyDeeCee, I’m Maple. This is my comeback announcement to him! I’ll show him… I’ll show everyone exactly how good Maple still is! And that I’ll be back to get my redemption! Just wait, Rake. I’m coming! He clenched his fist and punched the air, shouting, “YEAH!”

✹

“Look at that!” Silent Reed exclaimed. She pointed at the large LCD screen that was showing the Champion Select for Game 5 and continued, “We’re getting a good view of Champion Select! We’ve got Team Shanghai on the left side! They’re the Blue team again this game! And on the right side, the Red team, we’ve got Zhejiang University!”

Rollfire nodded and said into his microphone, “We’re in the ban phase right now! Both teams get to ban three Champions. One each turn. Let’s see… Morgana ban! We’ve got the Morgana ban! That must mean no more Master Yi!”

“I think so too!” Silent Reed chimed in. She added, “Oh, oh, look! Ahri ban! And now Yasuo! They’re really going all out with those mid lane bans! Fizz! Veigar? Why would they… And Anivia? Well, that’s five mid lane bans!”

“Uh…” Rollfire scratched the back of his head and said, “LeBlanc is open.”

“Oh? Oh!” Silent Reed smiled and shouted, “Zhejiang is really daring here! They’ve left LeBlanc open! Team Shanghai’s got first pick too! Are we gonna see another LeBlanc performance from Lin Feng? Pretty please, yes please!”

The friends and former teammates from Team Shanghai were all sitting on the edge of their seats. Liu Yue turned his head to look at the others and said, “That girl caster is right! Lin Feng can pick LeBlanc! I really wanna see his LeBlanc again!” He then wrapped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “WOOT WOOT! WIN FENG CARRY US!”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and analysed, “The most likely scenario here is Lin Feng locking in LeBlanc. His LeBlanc is of a really high quality. He’s shown he can beat AyDeeCee with her too. When he picks her, they’ll have all but secured a win in Game 5. This is the chance to make it to nationals!”

Inside Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Zhang Hao leaned forward to look at Lin Feng and asked, “Shall I pick LeBlanc for you?”

Lin Feng turned his head to look across the stage at Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. He hesitated for a moment, but then shook his head and said, “No need. Pick for another lane.”

“You can lock in Lee Sin for me,” An Xin said.

Zhang Hao nodded and said, “Ok.” He then clicked on Lee Sin’s summoner portrait and locked him in.

Rollfire’s eyes went wide. He shook his head and mumbled into his microphone, “Lee Sin…? Her Lee from Game 2 was completely underwhelming! Why is she…? I don’t get it.”

“They must have a good reason!” Silent Reed offered. But the confusion slipped into her voice. Why are they doing this? We’ve seen her Lee Sin! I know she’s good at Lee, I’ve seen it! But… Why today? Your Lee was not great in Game 2 and you were great on the other Champions! Just… She took a deep breath and shook her head. What do I know? She’ll have a pla—

“LEBLANC! IT’S THE LEBLANC PICK!” Rollfire shouted. He jumped to his feet and held the microphone close to his lips before continuing, “Zhejiang University has locked in Jungle Elise and MIDLANE LEBLANC! AYDEECEE IS GOING ON LEBLANC!”

“Oh my god!” Silent Reed cried out. She leaned closer to the large LCD screen and added, “AyDeeCee is pulling out all the plugs! He’s taken the LeBlanc from Lin Feng! Was this their plan all along!?”

Most people in the audience were so focused on the possibility of Lin Feng locking in LeBlanc that they were completely caught off guard when Zhejiang University locked her in. But a small group of fans jumped to their feet and started screaming and shouting. They were the esports club members from Zhejiang University. Zuo Cheng was at their head. He wrapped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “CAP’S LEBLANC IS THE BEST! THE KID MADE SHI HANG MAD! TEAM SHANGHAI IS GONNA GET WRECKED! MID LANE IS A WIN!”

In Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Zeng Rui stared at his monitor. He felt his eyelid twitching again. That’s AyDeeCee’s LeBlanc, shit! SHIT! Why didn’t we pick LeBlanc first!? We should’ve! We… We! … He sighed and shook his head. We’re risking it all for… What if AyDeeCee beats Lin Feng now!? He turned his head to look at Lin Feng. Huh? His eyes went wide in surprise. Is… Is he laughing?

Lin Feng grinned brightly. So you’re looking to challenge me with your LeBlanc, eh? Nice try! Want some redemption for Game 3? Fat chance! He turned his head to look across the stage at Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. Haha! You’re even… He shook his head and waved, mouthing, “Good luck!”

Shi Hang waved back at Lin Feng, his eyes blazing with determination! Your LeBlanc is great! But don’t think mine is any weaker than yours! I’m just as good, if not better! And I’m going to kick your ass in this game! I can’t let my first competitive game in three years be a loss! I have to win this! I’m going to beat you, Maple! He chuckled. Man, that fossil from Fudan is going to laugh his ass off if I lose this. I really can’t lose this!

It was Team Shanghai’s turn to choose their second and third Champion. They locked in Irelia for the top lane and Blitzcrank in the Support role. Next up was third and fourth pick for Zhejiang University. They went with Tristana and Braum. And finally Team Shanghai got to pick their fourth and fifth Champions to round out their team.

Tang Bingyao asked over the team’s voice chat, “Can I… Uhm… Can I play Draven?”

An Xin smiled and replied, “Of course you can! I want you to play your most comfortable Champion! I believe in you!”

“YoYo, ZengZeng!” Lin Feng interrupted. He leaned forward to look past Tang Bingyao at Zeng Rui and continued, “Pick me my Champion! This is the one!” He raised his arms to shoulder height, pushed his lips forward and narrowed his eyes. Then he said in the lowest voice he could, “The unseen blade is the deadliest!”

Master Noob was a common nickname for Master Yi. Players all across the world called him this because of the low level of skill required to play him. He had no skillshots or any complicated abilities. All he had was a sword and abilities that increased the damage of his sword. The player merely had to right click on an opponent and face-slam the Q, E and R keys. And then when their Master Noob was in danger of dying, they could just heal his health right back up with the W skill Meditate.

Despite all of this, Master Yi was almost never played in high ranked games. There was a simple explanation for this. Crowd control. It was Master Yi’s Achilles’ heel. Once he got stunned by a Leona Solar Flare or rooted by Maokai’s Twisting Advance, there was nothing he could do. The opponent would decimate his health bar and kill him before he could ever attack them.

An Xin knew all of this before she locked in Master Yi. But she also knew that she had the awareness to not put herself in a situation where Master Yi’s weaknesses could be exploited. Better even, she had Lin Feng on her side. His Morgana’s Black Shield was the best failsafe in the game for Master Yi. She made full use of it as she slew Shi Hang’s Yasuo in the mid lane for first blood, and then to pick up a double kill in the bot lane. Her Master Yi was unstoppable right now.

At 7 minutes, An Xin’s Master Yi and Zeng Rui’s Braum ran up the river towards the mid lane. Shi Hang’s Yasuo spotted them well in advance. He’d been pushing the minion wave towards Red team’s outer tower and now started retreating. An Xin smiled when she saw this. You haven’t met my Yi yet! Wait… You have! She pushed down on the R key, activating Highlander! Master Yi suddenly moved with unparalleled agility! He used the bonus movement speed to race into the mid lane and then targeted Shi Hang’s Yasuo with Alpha Strike! He teleported towards Shi Hang’s Yasuo, slaying three minions on his way!

Shi Hang gritted his teeth. Shit! I should’ve seen this coming! I can’t push this far… He shook his head and placed his pinky finger over the Q key. Then he hesitated. What’s the point…? Black Shield stops all crowd control. And she’s picked up so many kills already… His screen turned red. 20% health. Ah great, Braum’s here too! I’ll just…– Shit! He pushed down on the Q key to activate the third cast from Steel Tempest. The storm brewing at the tip of his blade was unleashed onto the Rift! A tornado carved a path straight through Master Yi and Braum! But only Braum was knocked up into the air. Master Yi’s sword flashed back and forth. Two more auto attacks. Shi Hang breathed out loudly. I’m dead.

《You have been slain!》

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?”
“HOLY SHIT! She’s wrecking AyDeeCee! She’s destroying him!”
“Former pro for a reason… Losing to a Yi, lawl.”
“This shit is crazy. Crazy! They’re walking all over Zhejiang University!”
“That Yi has some skill!”

Shi Hang let his head fall forward as his screen turned grey again. Seven minutes into the game and I already died twice… What is this game? I’m a former pro for fucks sake! I shouldn’t let myself get caught to these stupid tricks! Why do I keep letting myself get tempted into pushing the minion wave? Freeze it! All I need to do is freeze it near my tower! Well… He grinned and shook his head. That was before. That Yi has so many kills now, he can probably just jump on me under my tower. And with the damn Black Shield… Ah, fuck me!

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Lin Feng complained over the team’s voice chat, “BunBun! You already got the first kill! Why did you have to take this one too? I wanted it!”

An Xin tilted her head and looked at Lin Feng. Her lips curved up into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She asked, “HMM? Did you say something? Want to repeat that?”

✹

There were six other teams next to Zhejiang University and Team Shanghai who were still competing in the East Shanghai Regionals. They had all gathered in the player seating area at the front of the venue. The strongest team here was Fudan University. They’d made it all the way to the main tournament in the previous edition of the Collegiate Cup. And they were also the loudest opposition when Zhejiang University announced that they had added Shi Hang to their roster.

Qiu Yijie was Fudan University’s team captain. The first two games between Team Shanghai and Zhejiang University went as he’d expected. But that all changed in the third game, which was a victory for Team Shanghai. And right now, only seven minutes into Game 4, Team Shanghai was pulling ahead again. He narrowed his eyes and watched the replay of the last fight on the large LCD screen. This Yi-Morgana combo is really dirty. And clever. Dirty and clever. They’re making up for each others’ weaknesses. Maybe we can apply some version of this to our own game as well…

Fudan’s Support sighed and said, “This Master Yi is unstoppable… It’s like what those cringe people say. See god, kill god. Meet devil, slay devil…”

“Hot damn!” Fudan’s Jungler exclaimed. He turned his head to look at the Support and continued, “You’re super right! Zhejiang’s practically lost this game!” He nodded at Qiu Yijie and asked, “Right? What do you think?”

Qiu Yijie looked from his Jungler up to the large LCD screen and then nodded. He replied, “Pretty much. Zhejiang really got played. That Yi-Morgana combo is nasty. The Master Yi appears right when he needs to and he always has that Black Shield on him. Zhejiang can’t do anything, not even with AyDeeCee.”

✹

Chu Fang relaxed back in his chair and closed his eyes, smiling. Lin Feng and BunBun have way better synergy than I expected! This is so good! They got everything working together just in time! It’s all worth it now! Having him play against Shi Hang really was a great decision by me! I just wonder… He opened one eye and glanced at one of the monitors on the table in front of him. It showed the feed from the camera’s aimed at the players’ faces. I wonder how Shi Hang is going to deal with it. He’s been looking a little annoyed.

In Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Shi Hang sat up straight and rolled his shoulders back. That stupid Yi… He narrowed his eyes and tapped on his mouse. Maple and Eleven formed a great duo. They had some of the best synergy I’ve ever seen! But this girl, she isn’t nearly as good as Eleven was, but her synergy with Maple… Fuck it’s good! Was it always this good? There were still a few more seconds until his Yasuo would respawn on the fountain. He glanced across the stage at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. At An Xin. Was she always this good? She was just the coach! Don’t tell me… Was their coach also a world class player? He chuckled and shook his head. No way. That’d be ridiculous.

✹

An Xin’s Master Yi ran up and down the river, putting pressure on all three lanes. It didn’t take long for Team Shanghai to push their way through the first line of Zhejiang University’s defense. Outer towers started to fall and the game moved towards the middle stage. Both teams teamed up and began looking for opportunities to start a winning team fight!

At 16 minutes, the second Dragon spawned. Both teams gathered around it and started placing down wards, taking down enemy wards and firing skillshots at each other! But Team Shanghai had pulled far ahead in this fourth game. An Xin’s Master Yi in particular was incredibly fed. She glanced at Lin Feng and said over the team’s voice chat, “I’m just going in.”

“Me too!” Lin Feng replied. He cast Black Shield on An Xin’s Master Yi and then ran straight towards Zhejiang University’s front line. They were standing in front of the Dragon pit. I just have to… Lin Feng grinned. Skillshots were flying at his Morgana when she suddenly disappeared with a mottled flash of light. She reappeared in the center of Zhejiang University’s team. SOUL SHACKLES! Morgana unleashed the full force of her Celestial power as she unbinded her wings and hovered above the ground! Chains of dark pain shot out from her and latched onto the Zhejiang University Champions around her!

And then we’ve got Zhonya’s Hourglass! Lin Feng grinned as he activated the item. Golden grains of sand fell from the sky and stuck to Morgana, putting her in stasis. The soul shackles had slowed all five Champions from Zhejiang University!

“IT’S A 5-MAN ULTIMATE!” Silent Reed cried out into her microphone. She clutched the microphone tightly and shouted, “FIVE MAN ULTIMATE!”

“WIN FENG! WIN FENG!”

“WOOT WOOT! WIN FEEEEEENG!”

There were two ways to break Soul Shackles. The first was to kill Morgana, which was currently impossible. The second method was to break free from them by running far enough away. But the five Champions from Zhejiang University only had 3 seconds to get away before the slow turned into a stun. They focused completely on breaking the soul shackles by running away, and in doing so they also ran away from each other. The gap between the front and backline grew bigger. An Xin’s Master Yi used this to her full advantage. She targeted Kog’Maw with Alpha Strike and teleported towards him

The team fight erupted into chaos! Zeng Rui’s Braum activated Glacial Fissure! He grabbed his shield with both hands and raised it high above his head. Then he slammed it down onto the ground! A fissure broke open in the ground straight ahead! A freezing power broke free from underneath the earth’s crust and knocked all enemy Champions above it up into the air! All the while, Tang Bingyao’s Lucian had activated his ultimate skill–The Culling! He raised both weapons and aimed in the general direction of Zhejiang University’s team, after which he started squeezing the triggers again and again and again!

An Xin’s Master Yi slashed at Sun Ruinian’s Kog’Maw with an empowered auto attack! It drained nearly 20% of his health bar! The Highlander skill granted Master Yi bonus attack speed! Before Sun Ruinian’s Kog’Maw could react, a second auto attack brought him down to nearly half health! And then the secondary effect from Morgana’s Soul Shackles activated! Sun Ruinian’s Kog’Maw was stunned, powerless as An Xin’s Master Yi cut away the last of his health bar!

《You have been slain!》

“FUCK!” Sun Ruinian exclaimed as he threw his hands up in the air. His screen had turned a dull grey. He looked at the rest of the fight. Jarvan IV and Fiora got away from the Soul Shackles at least… Shit! That Morgana ultimate! She got all five of us and stunned three! We screwed this up so hard!

Back in the game, An Xin’s Master Yi turned his attention to Zhejiang’s Fiora. He auto attacked her with frightening speed, each next hit taking a large cut out of her health bar! A string of damage values floated up above Fiora’s head.

《Double kill!》

An Xin’s Master Yi had taken a couple of hits from Zhejiang’s Fiora while killing her. Zhejiang’s Jarvan IV now flag-tossed at her to finish the job! But she countered with Meditate! Master Yi started floating above the ground as a green aura blazed to life around him! His health recovered quickly while he took only a fraction of the damage he normally would!

Zhang Hao’s Darius finally arrived at the fight. He used Apprehend! Darius swept up Jarvan IV with his axe’s hook and pulled him back! He followed up with a Crippling Strike, cutting through Jarvan IV’s crucial artery! And he finally struck out with Decimate, winding up his axe and slashing out in a circle around him!

An Xin watched Jarvan IV’s health drop until there was only a little remaining. Time to pull a Lin Feng! She smiled and pressed on the Q key–Alpha Strike! Her Master Yi teleported to Jarvan IV, cutting through Yasuo and Alistar who were in her path, and slashed him open!

《Triple kill!》

Zhejiang University’s Alistar finally broke free from the Soul Shackles stun! He targeted Zhang Hao’s Darius with the Headbutt into Pulverize combo! He dashed at Darius and hit him with his horns! Then, before Zhang Hao’s Darius was knocked back, Alistar slammed his fists down on the ground and knocked Darius up into the air!

Shi Hang’s Yasuo blinked towards Zhang Hao’s Darius and suspended him in mid air–Last Breath! He then unleashed a flurry of strikes, each shearing away at Darius’ health bar, before raising his katana high above his head! The winds howled as he gathered all his power at the tip of his blade! And then he hacked down!

Zhang Hao’s Darius slammed into the ground and his health dropped to below 20%! The unquenchable flames from Ignite clung to his skin and blazed! Yasuo’s sharp sword cut through him again and Alistar slammed a fist down on his head!

《You have been slain!》

Zhang Hao stared at his screen and held his breath. Come on, guys! Finish it off! We got this! Come on, come on, come on! He tapped his fingers on the desk and leaned a bit closer to his monitor, ignoring the dull grey colours on his screen. We got this! Kill the stupid cow and that Yasuo! WE GOT THIS!

An Xin’s Master Yi, Lin Feng’s Morgana and Tang Bingyao’s Lucian all attacked the Alistar. They tore through his high health bar, and even his ultimate skill that reduced the damage he took wasn’t enough to stop the combined force of these three Champions! It was eventually An Xin’s Master Yi who claimed the kill with a final auto attack.

《Quadra kill!》

“PENTA! PENTA! GIVE US A PENTA!”
“GO YI! GOOOOOOOOO!”
“OMG! OMG! OMG! THIS IS IT! A PENTA!”
“THE HIGH SCHOOL KIDS GETTIN’ A PENTA!”
“WOOOOOOOO!”
“SIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!”

An Xin’s Master Yi targeted Shi Hang’s Yasuo with Alpha Strike! He teleported and cut into Yasuo’s health bar and followed up with an auto attack! It did far more damage than Tang Bingyao expected it to. She’d planned to help An Xin take Yasuo down and then back away to let An Xin pick up the penta kill. But Master Yi’s combo was enough to bring Yasuo to an inch of his life. And that was right when a Piercing Light fired from Lucian’s guns.

《Aced!》

The audience stopped cheering. Their mouths fell open and they just stared at the large LCD screen. All of them had been hyped to witness the pentakill, something rarely seen in League of Legends. But right at the last moment when it looked all but secured, Tang Bingyao stole the pentakill away from right underneath An Xin’s nose!

Ouyang slapped his palm against his forehead and mumbled, “Why, Tang Tang…? Why would you do that? You stole BunBun’s penta!”

Team Shanghai had retreated backstage. But where they were sulking and quiet the previous time they were here, now they were smiling, laughing, cheering! Zhang Hao kept moving his balled fists up and down and Tang Bingyao was hopping and nodding in excitement! Only Lin Feng didn’t look happy. He bit on his lips and frowned until he finally said, “Why did they surrender so quickly? I was just getting going!”

An Xin smiled at him and said, “Pretty obvious why, don’t you think? You’re the self-proclaimed starplayer of the team here, you should know.” She briefly paused and winked at him before explaining, “It’s because the match was over. Dragging it out wasn’t going to win them the game.”

“BunBun is right. If they kept dragging, all they’d be dragging is their morale. Down it goes,” Zeng Rui chimed in. He turned his head to look at Lin Feng and said, “They’re not beating us when their morale is low. So they surrendered. It makes perfect sense.” He turned his head away and then smiled. And I finally played a good game too! Serves that thundering dumbass right for writing us off! Fuck yeah! This is how I like to play! It was so much fun to stomp their asses! And to see them surrendering really made it perfect!

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and laughed. He said, “I guess it couldn’t be helped when I picked LeBlanc. No one beats my LeBlanc! She’s invincible!” He then took a deep breath and looked at his teammates. They did great too. He grinned and added, “Right, right! You guys were all super great too!”

Everyone turned their heads to look at Lin Feng, confused. They were used to Lin Feng patting himself on the back. They knew he always looked at himself in the mirror. It was part of his charm. But he rarely ever gave away compliments, unless An Xin pushed him to. Yet right now, without anyone telling him to do so, he complimented them for a game well played. It was a massive confidence booster!

Zhang Hao leaned back in his chair and tilted his head to look at Tang Bingyao. He said, “That triple at the end was so cool! The way you flashed out of the Orianna ult! Oh my god! I thought for sure you were gonna get caught! I was screaming so hard!”

Tang Bingyao smiled, tints of red dying her cheeks, and replied, “Mhm, thanks. You did well. Everyone did well.”

“BunBun,” Zeng Rui said. He shook his head and chuckled before continuing, “That Jinx dive at the end was great! I can only imagine how tilted Sun Ruinian must be right now! This is so great!”

An Xin smiled and replied, “You’re suddenly talkative. But we shouldn’t lose our heads here. It was a good game and everything fell right in place for us. Everyone deserves massive props for that! Now we need to look forward to the next game!” She turned her head to look at Lin Feng and asked, “And what better way to start that than by asking Vain Feng here if he still doesn’t trust us! So, do you? Trust us, I mean.”

Lin Feng’s grin withered. He breathed in deeply through his nose and closed his eyes. BunBun was right. She always is! I keep falling back in this stupid habit of making a mountain out of a molehill! Every little setback I stop thinking and just fall back to the only thing I know. Me. But I trusted Fatty. I trusted Autumn and Silent. And Eleven! We were so good because I had faith in them and they in me! This team isn’t that team. These guys aren’t that good! But our opponents aren’t that good either. I’m down at their level. It’s about time I accept that. And it’s about time I put some faith in my teammates! He opened his eyes and looked at Zhang Hao. He looks nothing like Fatty, but he’s trying so damn hard just like Fatty always did! He glanced at Tang Bingyao and Zeng Rui. She can’t even look me in the eyes and he just looks mad… But they’re great together! He finally turned his head to look at An Xin. And you, you know me too well. He breathed out loudly and then said, “I’m sorry, guys. I was a terrible teammate. Sorry.”

Zeng Rui, Tang Bingyao and Zhang Hao looked at Lin Feng in a daze. Of everything they were expecting him to say, this wasn’t one of them. There was no grin on his face and no mocking tone in his voice. He looked honest, and sounded the part. An Xin was the only one who didn’t look surprised. She just smiled. Good boy. We’re not changing a habit overnight, but this is a good start.

Lin Feng took another deep breath before adding, “It was my fault. It was. But not because I didn’t carry hard enough. It was because I didn’t have enough faith in all of you. And that’s just terrible. I’m sorry. I’ll work hard to change that.”

“Dude!” Zhang Hao exclaimed. He looked at Lin Feng with his eyes wide open and shook his head. He continued, “There’s no need to go all serious on us here! We know you’re not some narcissistic asshole! Just chill! We’re good! All good!”

Zeng Rui looked at Lin Feng, chewing on his lips. He just… The thundering dumbass… Can I still call him that? He grimaced and shook his head. I was mad, yeah! But I was mad at myself, not you! You were right! I was playing like shit! A B grade Support was having a bigger impact on the game than me! Shit! And now you’re apologizing? No. No! He said, “No. I’m sorry. For not pulling my weight. You woke me up. Thank you.”

“Sorry? Mhm?” Tang Bingyao looked from Lin Feng at Zhang Hao and finally Zeng Rui. Why are they…? What was…? Was he serious? And since when is he apologizing? Did something happen? Did BunBun tell him something? But when could she have done that? I was here the whole time! Maybe when we got off stage? The crowd was so loud! And they were cheering for us! They were all cheering for us!

“Oh, you guys aren’t mad?” Lin Feng asked. He scratched the back of his head and laughed, awkward. I guess… Eh. He shrugged and started grinning again. He then balled his hand into a fist and punched up into the air, shouting, “Good! Perfect! Of course you guys are all good! I picked you! Now we’re gonna win this series and then the national championship! Wooooo!”

Zeng Rui shook his head. There we have him again. The thundering dumbass saying stupid ass shit. He took a deep breath and then said, “You think we’ve already won? We haven’t even qualified for the main tournament yet! Let’s take it one step at a time here.”

“Mhm!” Tang Bingyao chimed in. She nodded and continued, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!”

Lin Feng waved their worries away and said, “That’s easy! You guys just keep your lanes in check and I’ll stomp mid! I got this!” He then closed his eyes and calmed himself down. Team game. It’s a team game. This isn’t me versus Shi Hang, no matter how much fun that would be! This is Team Shanghai versus Zhejiang University! And Team Shanghai is better! We just are! He opened his eyes and looked at his teammates. Together, we can!

“Guys, come here,” Lin Feng said. He placed his hand in front of him and waited for An Xin, Zeng Rui, Tang Bingyao and Zhang Hao to join him. He then continued, “On three. We’re gonna sweep the rest of this series!

“One, two, three–”

“WE’RE GONNA SWEEP THE REST OF THIS SERIES!”

✹

Zhejiang University spent the 15 minute break between the third and fourth game reviewing everything that went wrong in the previous games. They’d hired an analyst who had joined them in the booth and was working them through the various key moments in the game. It started with the early Jungle invade from An Xin’s Rengar and ended with the scattered teamfight that ended up losing them the game. The more the players from Zhejiang University looked back at Game 3, the bigger the hit was to their morale. They could all see the mistakes, and they all knew these were mistakes they usually didn’t make. Yet in the previous game, overconfidence had slipped in.

Shi Hang had warned Zhejiang University’s team multiple times throughout the first two games to watch out for growing too confident in their own game. He’d explained to them that Team Shanghai was a strong team, and that even with him as a former pro on the team, they weren’t guaranteed victory. But it was exactly the combination of winning the first two games and having the former pro AyDeeCee on their roster that led to the overconfidence that Zhejiang University was now suffering from. And though their analyst explained to them why they were being overconfident, it was difficult for them to change their view.

Throughout the entire speech by the analyst, Shi Hang didn’t once interrupt him. He sat behind his computer and stared at his monitor, focused. Sun Ruinian looked at this from the side, finding himself more than a few times distracted by it. Why does Shi Hang look so serious? He’s playing against a high school kid! A… He shook his head. That kid is going even in lane. That kid is winning! That kid is the entire reason Shi Hang even… He turned his head to look at the soundproof booth across the stage. The players from Team Shanghai were getting settled behind their computers again. Is it really all because of that kid that Shi Hang came back to the team? What is so special about that kid? What is it Shi Hang isn’t telling us!?

“We can’t let them win this game!” Zhejiang University’s analyst said. He looked at the five members of the team and continued, “I want you guys to ban LeBlanc and Rengar. It’s obvious we don’t have an answer for those two right now. And then you guys need to play at the level from the first two games again! Get this win and we’re through to the main tournament!”

“Yeah!”
“Let’s do this!”
“We can do this!”

The players from Zhejiang University all turned their attention to their monitors. Game 4 was seconds away from moving to Champion Select. The teams switched sides after each game, which meant that Zhejiang University was playing on the Blue Team this game. When they got into Champion Select, they banned Zed, LeBlanc and Rengar. Then they locked in Yasuo. Team Shanghai was up next. They locked in Morgana and Master Yi.

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Lin Feng pumped his fist up into the air and shouted, “We’ve won! We’ve already won this game! BunBun and I have played this combo so many times, no one can beat us when we play it!”

✹

The large LCD screen above the two soundproof booths flashed to life! Zhejiang University and Team Shanghai had locked in their Champions for the fourth game of this best of five series and were now waiting in the loading screen for the game to start.

Game 4 of the East China Regional Quarterfinals
Zhejiang University (Blue) vs. Team Shanghai (Red)

Top: Fiora versus Darius
Jungle: Jarvan IV versus Master Yi
Mid: Yasuo versus Morgana
Ad-carry: Kog’Maw versus Lucian
Support: Alistar versus Braum

Silent Reed leaned closer to her microphone and said, “That Morgana pick in the mid lane looks like a direct response to the Yasuo pick by Zhejiang University! I wonder if they picked it to counter Yasuo? She certainly has some abilities that counter Yasuo. Her Tormented Soil doesn’t get blocked by Yasuo’s Wind Wall and her Black Shield stops her from getting knocked up by his tornadoes!”

“Hmm… There is some decent reasoning behind that, Silent Reed,” Rollfire replied. He knitted his brows and looked at the large LCD screen, then continued, “Is Team Shanghai’s Midlaner planning to play it safe? Morgana can sit back and farm relatively safely and she does scale up very nicely! But Yasuo also becomes a monster if you don’t watch out for him!”

Rollfire looked down at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth and moved his lips around. This stupid kid is playing great on his AP assassins! Why would he change that up now? The only reason I can think of, no matter how much I hate admitting it, is that there is a plan in play here. He picked Morgana for a reason. I’m not going to make a fool out of myself during this game! He picked Morgana for a reason! Probably to scale and win teamfights in the late game? I don’t know. But I’m not going to say anything stupid! I won’t give the Shanghai Stupid Organization that satisfaction!

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

The first few minutes of the game were rather straightforward. Team Shanghai wasn’t looking to make any flashy plays. An Xin’s Master Yi farmed the camps in his Jungle while the players in the three lanes focused completely on farming minions. And on the other side of the map, Zhejiang University’s Jungler was so concerned with a possible invade from An Xin’s Master Yi that he didn’t even consider invading himself. He carefully moved through his Jungle, placing down wards in every brush.

At 4 minutes, Shi Hang’s Yasuo slaughtered the Red minions in the mid lane and helped the Blue minion wave push towards the Red team’s outer tower. When his minions marched into the tower’s range, he turned around and started running away.

“Leaving? Already?” Lin Feng blurted out. He then grinned and added, “As if! FLASH!” A mottled flash of light carried Morgana past the Blue minions! She reappeared right in front of Yasuo and cast Dark Binding! The dark magic flew at Yasuo and bound him in place! She followed up with Exhaust and Tormented Soil! A debilitating energy fell over Yasuo and sharply cut into his stats, while a cursed shadow spread beneath his feet and ate away at his health bar!

An Xin’s Master Yi ran into the mid lane from the top side river! She activated Wuju Style! Master Yi’s sword started glowing green, increasing its attack damage! He then swept out at Shi Hang’s Yasuo! The blade cut through Yasuo and kept going! When its momentum ended, Master Yi twisted the sharp side around and cut back the other way! It struck Yasuo again!

Shi Hang’s screen turned red. Shit! 20% health left! Flash already! The dark magic binding him collapsed and his Yasuo broke free! He was still on Red team’s half of the mid lane, so he flashed away towards his outer tower!

This was exactly what An Xin had been waiting for. She smiled and pushed the Q key–Alpha Strike! Master Yi teleported across the battlefield with blinding speed! He became untargetable as he caught back up to Shi Hang’s Yasuo and attacked him!

Zhejiang University’s Jarvan IV came running out of Blue team’s Jungle into the mid lane. He flashed forward and dashed at Master Yi with his flag toss combo! But Lin Feng expected this move. He cast Black Shield on Master Yi! Dark purple magic shrouded Master Yi and protected him from all crowd control skills! The knock up from Jarvan IV’s flag-toss combo had no effect. An Xin’s Master Yi continued chasing after Shi Hang’s Yasuo and attacking him, until his health bar bottomed out.

《First Blood!》

“Wow… That easy? What happened?”
“That just happened, right? That really just happened? AyDeeCee gave away first blood!?”
“HOLY SHIT! TEAM SHANGHAI LET’S GOOOOOO!”
“WOOOOOOO!”
“OH MY LORD! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?”
“DAYUM! SO NASTY!”

The friends and former teammates from Team Shanghai were sitting in their seats, too stunned to celebrate the first blood. Liu Yue was the first to recover from the shock. He suddenly started laughing and said, “What a crazy combo! Lin Feng pokes, pokes, then engages! And when he has Yasuo locked down, BunBun comes in with her Master Yi! Lin Feng then casts Black Shield on her and she becomes virtually unstoppable! This is so cool!” He jumped to his feet and wrapped his hands around his mouth, then shouted, “Team Shanghai for the win! WOOT WOOT!”

✹

Lin Feng kept pushing and farming minions in the mid lane after Shi Hang’s Yasuo died, until halfway through the fifth minute. He’d gathered enough gold and Shi Hang was trying to freeze the minion wave. So he recalled back to base, spent his gold, and then ran into the bot side Jungle. He followed the winding path and came across An Xin’s Master Yi near the Blue Buff Camp. She followed behind him and together they ran into the river and then down bot.

Zhejiang University’s Botlaners had warded the brush in the river entrance. But it was already far too late for them to retreat when Lin Feng’s Morgana and An Xin’s Master Yi were spotted by it. Lin Feng cast Black Shield on An Xin’s Master Yi and shouted over the team’s voice chat, “BunBun, I choose you!”

“Idiot,” An Xin replied, rolling her eyes back. Her Master Yi was already in the bot lane. Zhejiang University’s Botlaners were running away, desperate. But they were on Team Shanghai’s side of the lane. Master Yi closed in on Kog’Maw and then cast Alpha Strike! He teleported around the map, attacking the minions in his way, before launching a final strike on Kog’Maw!

Sun Ruinian repeatedly clicked on his mouse. He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “ShitShit! Protect me! PROTECT ME!”

“I’m trying!” Zhejiang’s Support replied. He shook his head and continued, “But that stupid Black Shield! I can’t do anything! My crowd control skills won’t do shit!” What do you expect from me!? Look at that Black Shield! You know I can’t do anything! It’s useless! And that stupid shield lasts way too long! What’s the Morgana doing bot anyway!? Why is Morgana bot!?

Zeng Rui and Tang Bingyao were a bit away from the action. Tang Bingyao used her Lucian’s Relentless Pursuit to close the distance, but Zeng Rui needed to be faster. His Braum brought crowd control to the fight which could stop Zhejiang University’s Botlaners from escaping under their outer tower. So he flashed. A mottled flash of light erupted on the Rift! Braum blinked forward and then dashed at An Xin’s Master Yi with Stand Behind Me! Winter’s Bite! Braum propelled freezing ice from his shield that struck Alistar and slowed him!

An Xin’s Master Yi hacked away at Kog’Maw’s health bar! Kog’Maw was a Champion without movement skills and he’d already used his Flash earlier. Master Yi easily kept up with him and one final attack killed him!

《You have slain an enemy!》

An Xin’s Master Yi shifted her focus towards Alistar. Braum’s Winter’s Bite wasn’t just a slow. The Champion affected by this skill would get stunned if they were hit by three more attacks! Tang Bingyao’s Lucian caught up and fired a doubleshot right as An Xin’s Master Yi slashed out with her sword! They stunned Alistar! Four Champions from Team Shanghai then ganked up on Alistar and unloaded their abilities on him!

《Double kill!》

“WOOOOOOOO!”
“TEAM SHANGHAI FOR THE WIN!”
“GIRLS BETTER GAMERS THAN GUYS!”
“THE UNSTOPPABLE YIIIIIIIIII-HAAAAAAAA!”
“EASY GAME, EASY LIFE!”
“THE HIGH SCHOOL KIDS ARE STOMPING THE FORMER PRO! HAHAHA!”

Inside Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Shi Hang narrowed his eyes. He’d panned his camera to the bot lane and watched the four players from Team Shanghai pushing into the bot tower after An Xin’s Master Yi got the double kill. I should’ve seen that coming faster. But I still warned them! They should’ve backed faster! They… I underestimated his teammates. Maple, Maple, Maple… Well fucking played! I completely underestimated them! Was this your plan all along? Help raise our morale in the first two games just to make the drop in the third game hit that much harder? Gotta give it to you. Nice plan. It’s working incredibly well! He grinned and shook his head. Shit, I want to win this! I just came to play against you a bit. But look at me here! I want to try! You’re making me all competitive again!

“Janna, run to me! Top, teleport to the Blue Buff!” Shi Hang ordered over Zhejiang University’s voice chat. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the three Champions from Team Shanghai chasing into Red Team’s bottom side Jungle. Didn’t think you’d defend that far up, or jump in without any vision, Maple! You have no clue where we are! What if we were waiting right there and just baiting!? He pursed his lips and locked his camera on Orianna while his Champion ran out of Red team’s base and into the Jungle. But Janna still has her skills and they’re split up! This is exactly the opportunity I needed! We can turn this around! He grinned and said over the team’s voice chat, “Yo, guys. We can win this. We can win this!”

Zhejiang’s Janna ran past the Blue Buff Camp! Lin Feng’s LeBlanc jumped on her from the side, but she ignored him just like she was ignoring Tang Bingyao’s Vayne chasing her from behind! A red pillar of light suddenly lit up next to them! Magical energies gathered and heralded the arrival of a new Champion!

Rollfire reached for his microphone and screamed, “IRELIA! IRELIA! She’s teleporting in!”

“THERE! A BLUE PILLAR!” Silent Reed cried out. She jabbed at the large LCD screen with a finger and continued, “Dr. Mundo is also coming! Team Shanghai’s Support dropped a ward down and now Mundo is also teleporting in!”

The burst damage from Lin Feng’s LeBlanc saw Janna’s health fall below 20%. Two more auto attacks from Vayne would kill her. So would another hit from LeBlanc’s skills. Yet Shi Hang hadn’t given the greenlight for her to use her ultimate. Zhejiang’s Support gritted his teeth and then slammed down on the F key! A mottled flash of light blinked Janna out of existence and repositioned her a short distance away!

Tang Bingyao’s Vayne and Lin Feng’s LeBlanc chased right after Janna, but Zeng Rui paused. He tilted his head for a brief moment. Why did she not ult? This… His eyes went wide. “Shit! BACK!” he shouted over the team’s voice chat. THIS IS A BAIT!

“ORI IS COMING! ORI IS COMING!”
“AyDeeCee gonna set the Rift on fire!”
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Zhejiang 3-0!”
“EASY GAME, EASY LIFE!”

Shi Hang smiled. His Orianna ran through the winding path that led to the Blue Buff Camp. She passed by Janna and then commanded her Ball to attack! This is our comeback! I just need to find the right ultimate! One ultimate to rule them all! Orianna’s Ball flew through the air and slammed into Vayne, LeBlanc and Leona! And right in the middle of those three Champions was a pillar of blue light that was moments away from teleporting in Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo!

The friends and former teammates from Team Shanghai were hopping on the edge of their seats! They were staring at the large LCD screen and chewing on their nails! And then they saw Orianna’s Ball moving into exactly the right location for a perfect Command: Shockwave. They felt their hearts drop. Their shoulders slumped and they held their breaths.

“FUCK!” Ouyang exclaimed. He pulled on his hair and shouted, “ShitShitShit! We’re fucked! Totally screwed! It’s over! Noooooooo! Why? Whyyyyyyyy?”

Liu Yue started breathing faster and faster. He clenched his fists until his knuckles were white and screamed, “GET OUTTA THERE! ORIANNA IS GONNA ULT! GET OUTTA THERE!”

Back in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, everyone saw the Orianna Ball flying towards them. Zeng Rui continued to tell everyone to go back, though he couldn’t do much himself. His Leona didn’t have Flash and she didn’t run faster than Orianna’s Ball moved. But his Leona was a defensive Champion with a big health pool. He could survive the ultimate. Lin Feng and Tang Tang need to get away! We lose if they get hit!

Zhang Hao was in the same situation as Zeng Rui. He too played a defensive Champion in Dr. Mundo who could survive the initial burst of damage from Orianna’s ultimate. LIN FENG AND TANG TANG! His eyes went wide in shock. He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “The Ori Ball! Ori ult!”

Lin Feng grinned. Just like four years ago. Shi Hang knows just when to cast his ultimate! But this one is too obvious. It won’t even catch Tang Tang off guard! He placed his finger on the W key and put a bit of weight on it. He then waited.

Orianna’s Ball came to a stop between the Champions from Team Shanghai. Shi Hang’s Orianna then sent the command to her Ball. Shockwave! A sharp change of pressure exploded around the Ball! It swept out and over the four Champions from Team Shanghai, and then it came back to pull everyone within its range towards the Ball!

And… Distortion. Lin Feng’s finger pushed the rest of the way down on his W key. His LeBlanc cast the second half of Distortion. She jumped back to the other side of the Blue Buff Camp wall, far away from Orianna’s ultimate!

Tang Bingyao’s eyes were wide and her hands were shaking. She flicked her mouse to the side and slammed down on her keyboard! FLASH! FLASH! GET OUT THE WAY! A mottled flash of light wrapped around her Vayne just as the shockwave tried to carry her towards Orianna’s Ball. Vayne disappeared from Summoner’s Rift, traveling through time and space to arrive a short distance away from the Command: Shockwave attack!

“Holy shit…”
“Holy shit!”
“What a dodge! DAMN! What a crazy dodge!”
“MAD!”

Gasps and murmurs came together and climaxed into a thundering explosion of sound! The audience was on their feet, celebrating the teamfight victory for Team Shanghai! The friends and former teammates from Team Shanghai weren’t any different. Dodging an Orianna ultimate skill was almost synonymous with winning a team fight in League of Legends, they all knew that.

Ouyang jumped to his feet and punched his fist up into the air. He shouted, “NICE BRO! DAMN! NICE!”

Liu Yue nodded, grinning, and yelled, “WOOT WOOT! WE WIN! WE’RE RIGHT BACK IN IT!”

“YEAH! GO TEAM SHANGHAI!” Ren Rou cheered. She looked up at Ouyang and Liu Yue, who were now hugging each other, and smiled. Heck yeah! She wrapped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Win the fight now! Win the fight!”

In Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Tang Bingyao stared at her screen, dazed. I… I… She hadn’t moved her mouse far enough and had flashed towards Shi Hang’s Orianna. But because Zhejiang University’s team was so split up, there was no one else near them. They were in the middle of the Jungle with walls everywhere. Don’t run, kill! Mhm! She activated Condemn! Her Vayne pulled the large crossbow from her back and took aim. She then squeezed the trigger. A large, heavy bolt shot out and pierced Orianna! It lifted her off the ground and pinned her to the tree behind her!

Shi Hang’s pupils constricted and his stomach lurched. She stunned me! Oh shit! I’m stunned! SHIT!

“Nice job, Tang Tang!” Lin Feng exclaimed over the team’s voice chat. He then grinned and added, “I’ll be there in a sec!” LeBlanc’s ultimate skill allowed her to Mimic the last skill she’d used, which in this case was Distortion! Lin Feng’s LeBlanc ran along the wall of the Blue Buff Camp until she was in range to Distort onto Shi Hang’s Orianna.

Mimic: Distortion! Lin Feng’s fingers glided over his keyboard. His LeBlanc jumped towards Shi Hang’s Orianna! A violent storm of mana splashed out around her when she landed! It tore through Orianna’s health bar! LeBlanc followed up with Sigil of Malice and Ethereal Chains! The chains wrapped around Orianna, trigger the mark from Sigil of Malice! Orianna took another burst of damage, while the Ethereal Chains rooted her to the ground right when the stun from Condemn wore off! All the while, Tang Bingyao’s Vayne unloaded silver bolts on Orianna. Each hit caused a silver ring to appear beneath Orianna’s feet. And when the third one appeared, all three exploded for massive true damage!

《Rampage!》

Silent Reed grabbed the microphone and shot to her feet. She exclaimed, “THEY GOT AYDEECEE! THEY GOT AYDEECEE!”

“They did…” Rollfire mumbled, stunned. “They actually did…”

The strong difference in response between Silent Reed and Rollfire was reflected in the audience. Most people were up on their feet, screaming in support of Team Shanghai. Ouyang and Liu Yue were the loudest. They led the “Tang Tang is Great!” cheers. And then there were the esports club members from Zhejiang University. Their mouths were open and there was shock in their eyes. Zuo Cheng almost fell over the railing he was leaning on. His captain, the player he looked up to the most in the entire game, got outplayed by a team of high schoolers. He opened and closed his mouth and finally shook his head. W-what…?

When the initial burst of cheers died down and everyone started to focus back on the game, Ren Rou rose to her feet and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Who said our ad-carry was mediocre? Huh? HUH? She just outplayed your cheating ass pro player! Our Tang Tang is the best ad-carry in all of China!”

Some people in the crowd laughed. Some joined in and mocked the esports club members from Zhejiang University. But most focused back on the large LCD screen. The teamfight was still going on. After killing Orianna, Tang Bingyao’s Vayne got jumped on by Zhejiang’s Irelia. She’d activated her ultimate skill earlier to deal some more damage to Orianna, and it was still active. So she Tumbled away. Her Vayne disappeared into the shadows and she opened up some distance from Irelia. Then she took aim and fired a silver bolt!

Zhejiang University’s Toplaner narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He clicked down harder and harder on his mouse, frustration showing through in his actions. His Irelia chased after Tang Bingyao’s Vayne, but he couldn’t catch up to her. Silver rings appeared beneath Irelia’s feet. One, two… The third one appeared and caused an explosion of true damage! Fucking, stupid, bullshit, ridiculous, stupid, shitShitShit!

“BACK! BACK! What are you doing, dude? Back!” Shi Hang shouted over the team’s voice chat. He shook his head, incredulous. What the fuck got into them? Why don’t they— He closed his eyes and mumbled, “Shit, too late now.”

In their attempt to chase down Tang Bingyao’s Vayne, Zhejiang’s Irelia and Janna had moved in the same direction. They were now standing on top of each other. Zeng Rui’s Leona stood a couple steps away from them. She’d raised her sword to the sky and called down a Solar Flare! The brilliant blaze of sunlight slammed down on top of Irelia and Janna! They were both stunned!

Sun Ruinian’s Jinx was hiding behind his inner tower when the fight broke out. It took him time to walk along the Jungle wall and into the Jungle. All the while, he moved with extreme caution. The team didn’t have vision on Rengar and he vividly remembered what happened the previous time that they lost vision of Rengar. He bit on his lips and looked at his minimap. Come on, where are you you stupid cat? He took a deep breath. Irelia and Janna needed his help. He entered the Jungle. A pair of monstrous yellow eyes appeared above his head.

Silent Reed was leaning on the caster desk, inching closer towards the large LCD screen. She held the microphone close to her mouth and shouted, “RENGAR ULT! Rengar is on Jinx! How did he get there? I didn’t even know he was missing!”

“He didn’t join the fight but ran around the fight,” Rollfire said into his microphone, annoyed. He gritted his teeth and breathed out loudly. Stupid representatives of the stupid organization have to be stupid good! He closed his eyes and added, “She knew her team had the damage after they got the jump on Orianna, so she focused on what Rengar’s do best. This.”

A lion’s roar rang out across the Rift as a shadow appeared mid dash! Rengar jumped on Jinx and cut into her with his sharp blade for an empowered Savagery! He followed up by throwing a bola and then hacked into Jinx with another Savagery!

《You have slain an enemy!》

An Xin smiled and let the tension slip from her hand. I did it. We won this one. She moved her fingers and glanced at her hand. It’s working, for now. Good. I can help the team win like this. It just needs to stay like this, then everything is perfect!

Across the stage in Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Sun Ruinian threw his hands up in the air, frustrated. I couldn’t do anything! What the hell was that!? He shook his head and looked at his dull grey monitor. In the middle of the screen was a box that showed which Champion had killed him, which skills were used and how much damage those skills had dealt. He read through the data and chuckled. Ridiculous. Fucking stupid! 0.6 seconds? Really? I survived for a grand 0.6 seconds!? Stupid! Aaargghhh!

《Double kill!》

《Triple kill!》

“Fuck!” Sun Ruinian exclaimed. I came to help Irelia and Janna and now we’re all dead! I should’ve just… Shi Hang told us to retreat and I just had to go in! I should’ve listened and retreated. Maokai got out fine, because he listened. If I’d listened, Rengar wouldn’t have yet another kill! And this Vayne picking up a triple kill… Dammit! He sighed loudly and said over the team’s voice chat, “Sorry, Shi Hang. I should’ve listened.”

Shi Hang glanced at his mentee and replied, “It’s fine. Happens to the best of us.” He then looked back at his monitor and lightly shook his head. But it shouldn’t happen. He should’ve seen what was happening and backed away. I should’ve seen what was happening… Rip.

“Ok, guys, listen up,” Shi Hang suddenly said. He looked at his teammates and then pointed at his monitor. He continued, “They’re taking the mid outer. Then they’re moving on to the inner, the inhib tower and finally the inhibitor itself. We’ll have revived by then, teamed up and will have to defend our Nexus towers. They’ll back away then and make a quick stop at the Dragon pit on their way back to their base.” He took a deep breath, waiting a couple of seconds to let Team Shanghai prove his prediction.

Sun Ruinian looked at the five from Team Shanghai taking down the outer and then the inner tower. He finally turned his head to look at Shi Hang and asked, “Are we not going to defend? Or what are you trying to say…?”

“Yeah, I’m saying we’re not going to defend,” Shi Hang replied. He shook his head and explained, “We can’t beat them right now. We were already far behind. And right now, they’ve got everything. They’ve even breached our base. There is nothing for us to gain by continuing to play this game. Let’s accept this loss and move on to the next one. Let’s surrender.”

“But this is an official tournament. You fight until…” Sun Ruinian started to argue, but then he stopped. What’s the point of fighting on? We’ve lost this one. Shi Hang’s got a point there. We won’t gain anything from playing this out. We’ve lost. Accept it and move on. Focus on winning the next one. Sitting through the end of this will only make us annoyed when that stupid Rengar jumps out of fucking nowhere again! He grimaced and said, “Yeah.”

At 21 minutes, Zhejiang University’s Nexus warped and twisted with chaotic energy before exploding into a pile of rubble! The red energy shot up into the air and morphed into a large victory crest for the Blue team!

VICTORY!

“What? They surrendered? Why?”
“Already? The game is only 20 minutes in! What the fuck!”
“Are they mad? Why they hafto be mad? Is only game!
“I don’t get it… This game wasn’t over, was it?”
“They must be like the first team to surrender a game in the Collegiate Cup!”
“L. O. L! This shit is hilarious! Surrendering? Hahaha!”

Silent Reed glanced at Rollfire, confused. He just looks mad. Why does he always look mad? Maybe if he shaved his eyebrows off… She giggled and then turned her attention back to the game. She leaned towards the microphone in front of her and said, “Seems like Zhejiang University has given up on this game. They were far behind and I suppose they felt it was impossible to get back from that. I’m not sure about that, but you have to give some credit to their decision making… Yeah, they make a choice and stick to it! That deserves some applause…”

“Team Shanghai won. They won, right? Zhejiang surrendered…”
“It’s 1-2! Team Shanghai has a chance again!”
“Is this going to be a reverse sweep!?”
“Team Shanghai won! THEY WON!”
“HOLY SHIT! TEAM SHANGHAI BEAT THE PRO PLAYER TEAM!”
“WOOT WOOT! TEAM SHANGHAI IS THE BEST!”
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“TWO MORE WINS TO GO!”
“TEAM SHANGHAI KICKING THE PRO OUT!”

While the audience recovered from the initial shock and surprise and started cheering for Team Shanghai’s victory over Zhejiang University, a heavy silence fell over Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. Shi Hang said in his gaming chair, staring at his screen. His four teammates were all looking at him. None of them said anything. They waited for a better explanation. But Shi Hang wasn’t giving one. He scratched the back of his head and glanced across the stage at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. What happened to them? They got so much better from one game to the next! If we played that game out, our morale would’ve taken an even bigger hit than it already has! Surrendering was the only option to keep us in the race! Now we need to move on and win the next one! Holy shit. If they continue to play like this… He shook his head and his eyes were wide open. Shocked, dazed and completely caught off guard. I’m actually seeing us lose this…

“WOOOOOOOOO! TEAM SHANGHAI!”
“RENGAR CARRY!”
“WOOT WOOT! BUNBUN BEST JUNGLER CHINA!”
“JINX GOT OBLITERATED!”

There were eight teams still competing in the East China Regionals. Two of them were up on stage, and the other six were watching the games from the player seating area at the front of the venue. All six of them were rooting for Team Shanghai, just because they didn’t want to have to play against Zhejiang University and their former professional player in the next rounds. So when they saw Rengar perfectly time the wards in Zhejiang University’s Jungle and evade all of them, they shot to their feet and cheered in support of Team Shanghai!

One player said, “Holy crap! The way that Rengar dodged the wards and then instagibbed Sun Ruinian? That was intense as fuck! She moved around so perfectly! It’s like she’s playing in spectator mode or something!”

“Lawl,” another player replied. He scratched the back of his head and continued, “That Rengar is good. But she’s also fed. That was such a typical Rengar ult. Still, very slick! And they’re beating AyDeeCee’s team, so that’s always good.”

“Lethal woman!” someone chimed in, laughing. He shook his head and said, “She’s been playing great all game. I really wonder what they fed those kids during the break. Sure as hell seems to be working out for them. Wonder if they can keep this up…”

A Fudan University player said, “They better! I want to see them obliterate Zhejiang University! Screw Zhejiang for having a former pro play for them! It’s stupid!”

✹

At 13 minutes, the second Dragon spawned. Team Shanghai started moving towards it, with Zeng Rui commanding their exact approach. He had them place wards and move as a group. But Zhejiang University wasn’t there to contest the placement of wards. Zeng Rui still had the team move around carefully, expecting Zhejiang University to try and make a move. Then the Dragon spawned and there was still no sign of Zhejiang University’s team, so he made the call to attack the Dragon. It was right then that Zhejiang University appeared on the minimap, attacking the mid outer tower.

Lin Feng looked at the outer tower going down and complained over the team’s voice chat, “We should stop them. They’re taking my tower! Who wants to help me!?”

“Leave it,” Zeng Rui replied. He shrugged and continued, “Just let them take it. We get the big objective, they get a smaller one… It’s clear they’re just trying to drag this game out. And I say, let them. We’ll keep them company.”

An Xin giggled and said, “Right. My Rengar isn’t the best late game Champion. But we’ve got Dr. Mundo and Vayne. Those are two of the strongest late game Champions in the entire game! Zhejiang has got something coming for them if they think that we’re scared of going late against them!” She briefly paused before concluding, “The only way we’re losing this now or in the late game is if we make some seriously big errors.”

Across the stage in Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Sun Ruinian came to the same conclusion. He said over the team’s voice chat, “We can’t actually keep dragging this out forever. We’ll end up losing if we do.”

No one said anything. Sun Ruinian turned his head to look at his teammates. I can buy some defensive items to stop the Rengar from killing me, but then I don’t have the damage to kill Dr. Mundo. And if I get the damage to kill Mundo… It’s a stupid situation where nothing works! I guess they know… He finally turned his attention to Shi Hang and continued, “You know it. We all do. We can’t keep dragging this out. We need to find something.”

Shi Hang took a deep breath and nodded. He replied, “Yeah, you’re right. We do. I was hoping to find them slipping up. In the late game, it doesn’t take much to turn a game around. If their top or adc screws up, we gut them…” He paused and looked at his teammates. But then there’s Maple. He won’t screw up. He sighed and agreed, “Yeah, we need to find a good fight soon.”

✹

Chu Fang was watching the Team Shanghai versus Zhejiang University best of five series in a private room backstage. There were several large monitors in front of him, giving him a perfect view of everything going on. And right now he looked at one monitor in particular that showed LeBlanc and Orianna on opposing ends of the mid lane. Maple and AyDeeCee… Fucking legends! He grinned. This is what people want to see! We’re going to make bank if we get both of them back into the professional scene!

Team Shanghai… A chill went up Chu Fang’s spine when he turned his focus towards the five of them. I thought I screwed up there for a second, that I pushed him too hard… But I didn’t! Ha! I was right! I didn’t push him too hard! I knew he could do it! And he is! This is the reaction I wanted to see from Maple! He’s on his signature Champion destroying the mid lane and lifting his entire team up a couple of levels! He looked at An Xin’s Rengar and at Zeng Rui’s Leona. Two great players who are finally showing how good they are in this series! This is exactly the response I wanted to see from them! He finally turned his focus to Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo and Tang Bingyao’s Vayne. And then there’s those two. The two weak links, who are anything but weak this game! They really stand a chance to win when they play like this!

Chu Fang breathed in deeply, letting the air flow into his lungs, and closed his eyes. But just being good won’t be enough to beat AyDeeCee. Lin Feng knows. I wonder if he told the others… He turned his attention back to the two Champions in the mid lane. The oppressive LeBlanc versus the controlling Orianna. Even the Champions match their approaches to the game. Lin Feng will push and make life impossibly hard for Zhejiang University, but then there’s Shi Hang… AyDeeCee…

Chu Fang looked down at his feet and shook his head lightly. Shi Hang was never a lane specialist. His goal early on was to not fall behind. And then, when the play got into the mid game or even later phases, he started to come alive. Like a steam engine! He has this crazy ability to find small gaps in the opponent’s game and wedge them open into full blown errors! He even did that against professional teams! He turned his attention back towards Zhang Hao and Tang Bingyao. Team Shanghai has those two. All it takes is one small mistake from either of them…

Zhejiang University has a strong front line, good controlling Champions, high damage… They’ve got everything that makes a great team! Chu Fang shook his head and chuckled. This game is Team Shanghai’s to lose. But they shouldn’t think they’re there yet. Shi Hang knows exactly what he needs to do to turn this around, and knowing him, he’s just patiently waiting for the opportunity to present itself! All he needs is one 3,000 elo Orianna ultie and Zhejiang University wins the game. And the series.

✹

Silent Reed grabbed her microphone from its stand on the caster desk and moved it in front of her mouth. She waited for a lull in the audience and then said, “We’re almost 19 minutes into the third game between Team Shanghai and Zhejiang University! The third Dragon is a couple of seconds from spawning. My spidey senses are telling me this is going to be it for Zhejiang University! They’re either going to find their way back into the game through a teamfight at the Dragon pit, or they’re going to lose this game!”

Rollfire nodded and added, “That sounds about right. Zhejiang University really needs to find the engage here, because there is only so much they can allow Team Shanghai to take. A third Dragon, that just might be too much. Best if they take this fight. Yeah, best if they do.”

“Exactly!” Silent Reed replied, smiling. “And we can already see the teams starting to move in the direction of the Dragon pit! Wards are going to start popping up everywhere soon!”

“And then we’ll see a great teamfight!” Rollfire concluded. He stared at the large LCD screen through narrowed eyes. I’ve been wrong too damn much. Every time I say something in support of Team Stupid’s opponents, they lose. Maybe it’s the caster curse. I’m going to become the second Prophet Stone! Hehe. That’ll land me my firstrate credentials! He leaned in towards his microphone and said, “Maybe Team Shanghai will win this one.”

Back in the game, Team Shanghai was hovering around the Dragon pit. Tang Bingyao’s Vayne walked along the wall of trees and boulders. Just on the other side was Red Team’s Jungle. There were two openings into the river. Her Vayne ran between them, going just far enough to cast some vision inside. And it was when she ran into the opening leading towards the Blue Buff Camp that she bumped into Zhejiang University’s Janna.

Tang Bingyao’s eyes went open wide in shock. She expected the entire team from Zhejiang University to be there, but she realised a brief moment later that she could only see Janna. A pick! This– Mhm! She clicked on the Janna and started chasing after her!

Zeng Rui noticed Tang Bingyao’s Vayne running into Zhejiang’s Jungle on his minimap. He looked around the map and then shouted over the team’s voice chat, “Keep going! I’m right behind you!” He then had his Leona chase after Tang Bingyao’s Vayne.

Zhejiang University’s Support clicked on his mouse, frantic. He searched around, looked at where his teammates were. FUCK! FUCK! He slammed down on his Q key! A Howling Gale blew to life and carved a path through Red team’s Jungle!

Tang Bingyao smiled when she saw the Howling Gale. Always the same direction! She had her Vayne Tumble to the side and evaded the Howling Gale! Vayne’s passive skill kicked in. She was moving towards an enemy Champion and received bonus movement speed for that! It only took a few steps before she fired an empowered silver bolt at Janna!

Zeng Rui’s Leona was right behind Tang Bingyao’s Vayne. When the Howling Gale came at him, he couldn’t dodge it since Leona didn’t have a movement skill. So he flashed through it! His Leona reappeared on the other side and then projected a solar image of her sword that pierced through Janna–Zenith Blade! She dashed at Janna and followed up with Shield of Daybreak! She slammed her shield into Janna and stunned her!

“I’m smelling a kill!” Lin Feng shouted over the team’s voice chat. No one had noticed that he’d slipped into Red team’s Jungle through the other entrance. There was only the wall around the Blue Buff Camp separating him from Zhejiang University’s Janna. “DISTORTION!”  His LeBlanc jumped over the wall and landed right in front of Janna! An eruption of magical energy swept out around her!

“Oh shit! Oh shit! OH SHIT!”
“Team Shanghai bringing this game home!”
“What a dumb mistake by Janna! Really…”
“If Janna didn’t get caught there… That’s game. GG!”
“G-fucking-g! Boring as fuck ending! Man, I really wanted to see Rengar do some more cool shit!”
“We barely even saw the LeBlanc! Come on! Drag it out Team Shanghai! Don’t finish it here!”

Most people in the audience were cheering for Team Shanghai or upset that the game looked decided by this pick. But there was one group who were still full of hope. They were the esports club members from Zhejiang University. Zuo Cheng stood in front of them. He pointed at the large LCD screen and shouted, “SEE CAP THERE? HE’LL TURN THIS RIGHT AROUND! GOOOOOOO CAP!”

“GOOOOOOO CAP!”
“AYDEECEE TAKE MY ENERGY!”
“WE’RE GONNA WIN THIS! 3,000-ELO ORI ULTIE INCOMING!”
“Zhejiang for the wiiiiin!”
“MAKE THEM EAT YOUR BALL, CAP!”

Zeng Rui glanced at his minimap and said over Team Shanghai’s voice chat, “They went top. No possible ganks bot. This is our chance.”

Tang Bingyao nodded and replied, “Mhm! Okay!” She glanced at her experience bar and smiled. I need to stop worrying so much and just play! Mhm! That’s what I’m gonna do! I’m going to play! Be the person Lin Feng first saw in the NetCow Cafe! She said, “Zeng Rui, I’m one minion from 6. Can you get that one?” She then pinged on the Red melee minion next to Zeng Rui’s Leona before focusing her attention on Zhejiang University’s Botlaners.

Zhejiang’s Janna noticed a sudden change in Vayne’s movement pattern. She isn’t going for the minion. She’s running straight at Sun Ruinian! Janna moved her wand to call forth a Howling Gale! The winds started gathering in front of her, slowly gaining in power! I’ll knock her right back! The Howling Gale blew forward and carved a path through the Rift!

Tang Bingyao expected the Howling Gale. The whole reason she was pushing before hitting Level 6 was to make Janna use it prematurely. Nice! She glanced at Zeng Rui’s Leona, who was smiting the melee minion with the help from a Support item. The item sucked away the experience and then shared it between Zeng Rui’s Leona and Tang Bingyao’s Vayne. A blinding radiance erupted from Vayne! Level 6! Tang Bingyao learned her ultimate skill and activated it! Final Hour! She then had her Vayne Tumble to the side, dodging the Howling Gale and disappearing into the shadows!

Vayne ran towards Sun Ruinian’s Jinx and then raised her crossbow to fire an empowered silver bolt! The arrow shot from the string, after which Vayne would lower her crossbow. It was the final part of the auto attack animation. But Tang Bingyao canceled it by clicking on her mouse button! Vayne’s arm jumped to its normal position faster than it normally would and then she raised it again for a second auto attack!

Sun Ruinian narrowed his eyes and grimaced. She’s stronger than me right now because of that kill on Janna earlier. I can’t fight this. I need to… RUN! He pushed down on the E key and activated Flame Chompers! His Jinx raised her bazooka and fired three grenades! They landed on the ground in front of her and started cackling, searching for a victim! Jinx then turned around and ran away towards her outer tower!

Tang Bingyao smiled and pressed the D key. Knew you’d do that. You always do! A mottled flash of light carried her Jinx past the Flame Chompers before placing her back onto the Rift. She then arced around Jinx and found the angle for Condemn! Vayne raised the large crossbow from her back and squeezed the trigger! A large, heavy bolt flew out and pinned Jinx to the wall behind her! The third silver ring appeared beneath her feet, setting off an explosion of true damage!

“Nice flash!” Zeng Rui exclaimed in a rare show of emotion. He glanced at his experience bar. Almost 6. One more… He saw a melee minion that was about to die and slashed at it with his sword! Perfect! We got this! He cast Flash and had his Leona followed after Tang Bingyao’s Vayne!

“Good job, ZengZeng! Keep going!” Lin Feng exclaimed over the team’s voice chat.

Zeng Rui narrowed his eyes and replied, “I know.” He then activated Zenith Blade. His Leona projected a solar image of her sword that pierced through the air, shooting straight at Jinx!

FuckFuckFUCK! I’m dead! Sun Ruinian was biting on his lips, waiting for the stun from Condemn to wear off. He saw the Zenith Blade flying towards him. I CAN’T GET HIT! FLASH! There was a miniscule gap between the moment that the stun wore off and the Zenith Blade would hit his Jinx. He managed to find it. The light carried Jinx away a small distance. Sun Ruinian shook his head and sighed loudly. I got—

I got this! Perfect! Zeng Rui never even considered the possibility of Zenith Blade hitting. It was a distraction tactic. His Leona already raised her sword to the high heavens and called down a Solar Flare! A blaze from the sun slammed down on Summoner’s Rift! It smacked Jinx to the ground and stunned her!

Tang Bingyao wanted to kill Sun Ruinian’s Jinx before the stun from Solar Flare wore off, but Zhejiang’s Janna ran interference by casting Exhaust! A debilitating energy wrapped around Vayne and hampered all her stats! Tang Bingyao bit on her lips and focused her full attention on Jinx. Not letting you go! I won’t! She kept firing auto attacks, until the third silver ring appeared beneath Jinx and set off an explosion of true damage! But Janna had designated Vayne as the Eye of the Storm! A gale blew to life around Vayne and protected her from the damage!

Zeng Rui watched the stun about to wear off and grimaced. I’ll have to step into tower range… I will. He said over the team’s voice chat, “Push! We’re killing her!” He then had his Leona charge at Sun Ruinian’s Vayne! The Red team’s outer tower targeted Zeng Rui’s Leona and fired an energy shot! He ignored the damage while casting Ignite on Jinx! The unquenchable flames burned away on Jinx’s skin! He followed up with Shield of Daybreak and stunned her right as the stun from Solar Flare wore off!

Tang Bingyao’s Vayne broke free from the Exhaust! Jinx’s health was down to the last few percentages and there were two silver rings floating around her. Tang Bingyao smiled and pushed down on the Q key–Tumble! Her Vayne made a somersault towards Sun Ruinian’s Jinx and fired an empowered auto attack! A third silver ring wrapped around Jinx! It set off a chain reaction in which all three silver rings exploded and dealt massive true damage!

《You have slain an enemy!》

Tang Bingyao smiled brightly and leaned back in her gaming chair. I did it! I act—

“DON’T STOP! JANNA IS ALIVE! GOGOGO!” Lin Feng cried out.

“Huh?” Tang Bingyao mumbled, confused. “But she’s under the to—”

“Go! That dum–” Zeng Rui stopped himself and took a deep breath before continuing, “Lin Feng is here.”

Lin Feng’s LeBlanc appeared from Red Team’s bottom side Jungle! She dashed at Janna with Distortion! As the splash damage tore through Janna’s health bar, a Sigil of Malice took shape above her head and two Ethereal Chains wrapped around her body! The chains set off the sigil, dealing a ton of damage! Janna’s health evaporated and she was rooted to the ground! One auto attack would finish her off!

Tang Bingyao’s eyes went wide as she saw Lin Feng’s LeBlanc jump in and then jump back out again. Zhejiang’s Janna was rooted and had only 50 health remaining. He’s giving me… She nodded and said over the team’s voice chat, “Mhm! Thanks!” She then had her Vayne run forward and fire an auto attack.

《Double kill!》

Zhejiang University’s Janna stared at his grey screen. He finally mumbled, “What the hell…?”

Sun Ruinian just shook his head, his eyes wide in shock. What the hell was that? How did that LeBlanc just appear? How did they just happen to both hit Level 6 at just the right time? How… Since when are they this good? It’s like we’re playing against a different team! This is… This is shit!

Up on the caster desk, Rollfire had spent the seconds before the fight in bot lane lauding Zhejiang University for their gank in the top lane. Now, he fell into a silent daze and let Silent Reed take over. She clutched the microphone tightly in her fist and moved it to her mouth. She shouted, “A tower for a tower! And a kill for TWO KILLS! Team Shanghai fights back! They’re taking the Tower in bot lane and now have the clear advantage there!”

Up in the stands, Yan Fang adjusted his glasses and said, “That caster is right. We’ve got the advantage in bot. Tang Tang is doing great this game! Her Vayne is going to become a real monster!”

Ouyang clenched his fists and shouted, “Hell yeah! I knew the second brophina was great! Didn’t I always tell you guys how good Tang Tang is? All the way back when we had to play Senior Class 8, I said she was the best! But you guys didn’t believe me then! Believe me now? Ha! She’s doing super great!”

Liu Yue laughed and cheered, “Tang Tang is amazing! WOOT WOOT!”

✹

Shi Hang closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Sun Ruinian, I needed you to… He shook his head. Can’t blame this on you. It’s not your fault that we’re playing against Maple. It’s not your fault that he… He breathed out loudly. It’s not your fault that he can lift the level of his entire team up. I didn’t think he could do it to this extent after the first two games. But this is exactly the strength of Maple. And then he shows up in bot to secure the second kill and the tower. It’s, it’s… He breathed in deeply and let it all out again. He then opened his eyes and chuckled. It’s going to be real fucking hard, but I’m not giving up!

“Yo, guys,” Shi Hang said over the team’s voice chat. He waited for a brief moment and then continued, “We’re a bit behind. Top is good, so let’s focus on that. We need to play it safe everywhere else. Just farm it up. Bot lane needs a freeze near their inner tower. And we all need to help Mao ward his Jungle. Keep your eyes on LeBlanc and Rengar at all times! Don’t lose them! We’re gonna play the long game!”

This was the first game in which Zhejiang University, both with and without Shi Hang, was pushed back all tournament. But they’d played plenty of training matches in this exact scenario. They retreated from the various lanes in practiced motion and slowly built up their line of wards. That wall of vision was also a divide they didn’t cross.

In the top lane, Irelia clung to her tower. If the minion wave pushed past it, she left the lane and farmed the monster camps in the top side Jungle.

In the mid lane, Shi Hang’s Orianna farmed the minions near her outer tower. And when the Red minions pushed out into the lane, he left his lane to farm monster camps in the Jungle.

In the bot lane, Sun Ruinian’s Jinx froze the minion wave right outside his inner tower. His Janna Support was hovering nearby, but she concerned herself with keeping vision on the entire bottom half of the map. She was losing experience doing this, but that was an acceptable loss because it meant more experience for Sun Ruinian’s Jinx. And the faster he hit Level 18, the better.

Rollfire leaned back in his chair at the caster desk. He put the microphone on his chest and said, “That’s Zhejiang University for you! They’re showing some real quality here! Their team is great in the late game, so they’re forcing the game to get there. They’ve killed all action and are just farming now. It doesn’t even matter if they lose a Dragon, or two! This game is all theirs when they get their Champions to Level 18!” He glanced at Silent Reed, who was leaning forward in her seat watching the game, and grinned. Stupid bitch, show me what you got! Tell me how Team Shanghai is gonna win this one! They’re “oh so good!” right? Right, they’re not! He stretched his head before continuing, “That brings me to Team Shanghai. Eh, there isn’t much to say about them. They’re ahead and doing good! Thumbs up to them! But… But they’ve got a Rengar Jungler. You guys ever seen a Rengar be relevant in the ultra late game? I haven’t. She’s gonna fall off hard.”

Dickfire is at it again! What a shocker! Silent Reed rolled her eyes, annoyed. She then grabbed her microphone and said, “Say what you will, but that Rengar is fed. She just needs to find an opening. Maybe two. And then it’s game over for Zhejiang University.”

✹

At 12 minutes, An Xin checked the minimap. I’ve been keeping track of the wards… It should… She narrowed her eyes and had her Rengar slip into Red Team’s bottom side Jungle. Ward here and there. If I wait here for a few more seconds… She went through her mental notes, remembering exactly where she saw the wards go down. Got it. They won’t see it coming. That Jinx is still farming. An Xin giggled. Her Rengar had arrived at the jungle wall separating the bot lane from the Jungle.

Thrill of the Hunt! An Xin’s Rengar disappeared, stalking its prey from the shadows! The eyes of the predator flashed to life above Jinx’s head! Rengar leaped over the Jungle wall at her! She followed up with Savagery! The five ferocity stacks empowered the attack as Rengar cut into Jinx with his sharp blade! He then let out a Battle Roar and threw a Bola! The cooldown on Savagery had already reset. She cut down again, the massive damage tearing away Jinx’s health!

《Killing spree!》

Sun Ruinian sunk back into his chair, his screen having turned a dull grey. What the… What was that? He shook his head and looked at the damage table. That Empowered Savagery did more than 60% of my health as damage! What the fuck!? How did Rengar get this… He bit on his lips and shook his head again. This good… She tricked us. This is a different player. The first two games… We need to adapt. He took a deep breath and turned to look at his teammates. He waited for a bit, but then said over the team’s voice chat, “Sorry, guys. I don’t know…”

“Not your fault,” Shi Hang interrupted. He looked at his teammates one by one and continued, “They’re good. That LeBlanc? Insane. That Rengar in this game? Also really good. We need to focus and play our damndest! We can’t give them anymore.”

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, An Xin raised her head to look past her monitor at the crowd behind. She could see them jumping up and down, and smiled. This is what he loves. And I’m here, playing with him! I can still do it! I’m playing with him and helping him! This is what I want! The smile disappeared from her face and was replaced by a frown. I wish this series would never end.

Sun Ruinian closed his eyes for a brief moment and then shook his head. Janna is dead. No point in trying to help her. That’ll just get me killed as well. He glanced up at the river entrance and saw Rengar running into the bot lane. His Jinx was too far into the lane, and Janna was even more out of position and stunned. Sorry, friend. This is all I can do. He pressed down on the E key to activate Flame Chompers! Jinx threw down three grenades to block Rengar from running straight at Janna! She then turned around and ran towards her outer tower.

An Xin’s Rengar stopped chasing Janna and instead went after Jinx! She knew that she wouldn’t catch up. Jinx had too much of a head start for that. But it allowed Rengar to enter the brush along the bottom side of the bot lane. While in a brush, his passive skill Unseen Predator became active. It applied a leap effect to his auto attacks, increasing their range!

Sun Ruinian grimaced and said over the team’s voice chat, “Don’t Flash. Rengar is in the brush.”

“Yeah… Sorry,” Zhejiang’s Support replied. He looked at his monitor. A bola came flying from the brush Rengar was hiding in and slowed his Janna right after the stun from Condemn wore off. Not like I’m gonna run away anyway… Maybe I can get the Leona to take the kill… He had his Janna run at the Leona, carving a path through the minions, and stuck close to Leona in the hopes she would make the mistake of auto attacking him.

Tang Bingyao’s Vayne auto-attacked Janna. Each silver bolt applied a stack to Janna, and every third stack caused all three stacks to explode! The true damage ripped through Janna’s health bar. Rengar and Leona were nearby, making sure she couldn’t escape. And finally Tang Bingyao’s Vayne landed the killing blow!

《You have slain an enemy!》

An Xin giggled and said over Team Shanghai’s voice chat, “That was a nice engage, Zeng Rui!” She then turned to look at Tang Bingyao and winked before adding, “And a great follow up from you!”

Zeng Rui glanced at An Xin and raised an eyebrow. This wasn’t anything special. Typical gank. You pressured Jinx away and I got the stun on Janna. This isn’t worth a single compliment! He then turned his head to look at Lin Feng and narrowed his eyes. Want to see real skills that are worth compliments? Just wait! I’ll show you them!

“Mhm! Thanks!” Tang Bingyao replied to An Xin, smiling.

✹

Shi Hang’s mouse hand felt clammy and cold chills ran up and down his spine. How is his LeBlanc so much better than his Fizz? What is this!? He clicked around the mid lane, focusing so much on his positioning that he barely registered the caster minion in the back dying to a minion. He blinked. Shit! He’s too good! We’re only five minutes in and al—

Shi Hang distracted himself with his thoughts. He made a small positional error, giving Lin Feng an angle for the engagement. Lin Feng’s fingers were already pressing down on the buttons of his keyboard. His LeBlanc jumped on top of Shi Hang’s Orianna with Distortion! Magical damage splashed out around LeBlanc as she followed up with Sigil of Malice! She projected a sigil that dealt damage and marked Orianna! And finally she cast Ethereal Chains.

FlashFLASH! Shi Hang’s eyes went wide, his fingers moving purely on instinct. A flash of light wrapped around his Orianna and carried her a short distance away before dropping her back onto the Rift. Right behind her, the Ethereal Chains shot past. Shit! That was close… If they’d hit… Shit, I’d be dead!

“WOOOOOO! SICK FLASH!”
“That’s a pro player for you right there! He actually has the reaction speed to dodge a point blank LeBlanc E!”
“How does that even work!? Did he recognize the animation? Or was it more like expecting it was coming? I just… Fuck! I wish I was that good!”
“Haha, yeah! He’s a god! AyDeeCee won’t die to such an obvious LB trick!”
“AyDeeCee take my energy!”

Shi Hang had his Orianna retreat towards her outer tower and waited for Lin Feng’s LeBlanc to reactivate Distortion. He held his breath. His eyes were pried open wide. Sweat dripped down his forehead. And then he let go. LeBlanc jumped back to her original position with the second cast of Distortion. Thank god. Shi Hang had his Orianna move forward again, searching for the maximum range at which he could last hit minions without getting jumped on by LeBlanc. He then shook his head and chuckled, incredulous. What the hell got into him? His LeBlanc is insane! If he’d hit those chains… Shit! I need to pay more attention! I can’t let him get fed on LeBlanc! He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. I need to play better.

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Lin Feng sat in his gaming chair. His back was straight, his hands were moving as if by themselves, and his eyes were locked on the monitor in front of him. There were no distracting thoughts or voices. All he saw was what LeBlanc saw on the Rift. He was her. The delay between player and Champion disappeared. Struggles with his focus dissipated. Every move he made was just right. His LeBlanc, he was flawless.

✹

The Toplaners spent the first couple minutes of the game fighting on their island in the top lane. Zhejiang’s Irelia was the stronger dueler, but Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo didn’t let her duel him. He sat within his outer tower’s range and threw Infected Cleavers at her. She didn’t have any ranged skills that could counter this tactic. Slowly but surely, her health dropped. It all came to a head in the sixth minute. Zhang Hao judged he had enough damage, so he left his tower’s range and chased after Irelia! She turned around and ran away after coming to the same conclusion.

Zhejiang’s Irelia ran through the top lane, dodging and weaving the Infected Cleavers that were hurled after her. But they applied a slow on hit. And after she got hit the first time, it became practically impossible to dodge the next. She was slowed and attacked. Her health dropped. Suddenly, a Flash of light wrapped her up and carried her a short distance forward!

Zhang Hao narrowed his eyes and activated his own Flash! Dr. Mundo appeared right on top of the Irelia again! But in doing so, he also arrived within range of Red Team’s Outer Tower. Two more hits. That’s all I need! I’ve got enough health for this! COME ON! He charged forward! Q! Dr. Mundo hurled another Infected Cleaver at Irelia!

Zhejiang’s Toplaner grinned. This is my tower! Idiot! He had his Irelia dash at Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo with Bladesurge and then activated Equilibrium Strike! Irelia raised her blades high above her head and hacked down onto Dr. Mundo! It dealt a ton of damage, and more importantly stunned him! Eat that! He grinned brighter when the first energy shot fired from the outer tower and slammed into Dr. Mundo! Stupid cleaver throwing son of a bitch!

Irelia was right on top of Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo, trying to kill him before the stun wore off. But Dr. Mundo was a Champion with a vast pool of health. The stun broke and he still had a good bit of health remaining. Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo struck out with an auto attack and then threw a final Infected Cleaver! Shit! I gotta get outta he—

《You have slain an enemy!》

《You have been slain!》

“Ay, hot damn! So close!” Zhang Hao complained to himself, annoyed. But then he started grinning. But I got the kill! Fuck yeah! Shitty B grade player! Get your ass kicked by my awesome C+++ skills! I’ll just keep throwing cleavers at you! See how you’re gonna like this game!

✹

“Time to come mid for a gank, Mao,” Shi Hang ordered over Zhejiang University’s voice chat. He glanced at the game clock. Almost 7 minutes in. We’re both Level 6. If LeBlanc jumps on me, she has the damage to kill me. Maple knows. Of course he does! So he’s going to jump on me and try to kill me. Shi Hang smiled and looked at his minimap, where he saw Maokai making his way to the brush right above the mid lane. That’s why we need to be ready for it. He’ll go in and then we’re gonna turn it around! All we need is to lock him down before he gets his full combo off on me!

The Blue and Red minion waves were fighting in the middle of the lane. Shi Hang’s Orianna walked up to last hit a melee minion. This was the exact move Lin Feng had been waiting for. He narrowed his eyes and moved his mouse over her. He then pressed down on the W key followed right away by the R key! LeBlanc distorted time and space to jump forward, landing in the middle of the minion wave! She then Mimicked Distortion for another large jump and landed on top of Orianna! Massive splash damage ruptured Orianna’s health!

“LeBlanc is going in! SHE’S GOING IN FOR THE KILL!” Silent Reed cried out into her microphone. She leaned forward and shouted, “BUT IT’S A BAIT FROM SHI HANG! A BAIT! LOOK AT MAOKAI!” She briefly paused to catch her breath before adding, “AND RENGAR! RENGAR IS ALSO INCOMING!”

Shi Hang had expected that Lin Feng’s LeBlack would engage. He cast Command: Protect on himself right away! Orianna’s Ball flew back to her side and formed a protective shield around her! She followed up with her ultimate skill! Command: Shockwave! A powerful electromagnetic storm started raging around her Ball! It swept out and pulled everything within the immediate vicinity towards her! All the while, Zhejiang’s Maokai had run into the mid lane and cast Twisting Advance! He contorted into a mass of moving roots and dashed at LeBlanc!

Lin Feng smiled. I win. He cast Ignite on Orianna before activating the second half of Distortion. LeBlanc blinked away, back to the spot from which she’d cast the original skill. The electromagnetic storm from Orianna’s ultimate missed her entirely, while Maokai kept flying after her all the way towards Blue Team’s outer tower.

Shit! Shi Hang’s eye twitched. The gank was a failure. He looked at his Orianna. Her health bar was down below half and the unquenchable flames from Ignite were whittling that down further. I can’t cha— The eyes of a predator opened above his Orianna’s head. Rengar!? RENGAR!

An Xin’s Rengar had turned invisible with Thrill of the Hunt! His ferocity stacks built up to the max, empowering his next skill! When he got close to Orianna, he activated Savagery and leapt out from the shadows at her! He followed up by throwing a Bola and then hacking into Orianna with an empowered Savagery! She was slowed and her health bar dropped, while Rengar’s attack speed increased! He attacked her with his blade and finished with a loud Battle Roar! A soundwave slammed into Orianna and killed her!

《You have slain an enemy!》

“A KILL! RENGAR DID IT!” Silent Reed screamed into her microphone. She turned to look at the audience and screamed, “WOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“WOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“WOOT WOOT! BUNBUN RULES!”
“SWEET MOTHER! THAT RENGAR DAMAGE!”
“SICK PLAY! JEEEEEEEE!”
“Holy sweet damn! INSAAAAAANE!”
“RENGAL DOIN’ IT! LOOOOOOOOL!”
“THEY SMACKIN’ THE PRO! FUCKING UNREAL!”

Rollfire stared at the large LCD screen with his eyes and mouth wide open, dazed. How…? That… What? That speed! He shook his head and used his hand to close his mouth. What the hell happened with Team Shanghai’s Jungler? Since when is she that good? She linked that perfectly! It’s like she read that LeBlanc’s mind for a gank! And now they’ve got the Maokai completely out of position too… FUCK! FUCKFUCK FUCK FUCK!

Lin Feng’s LeBlanc was hit by Maokai’s Twisting Advance. She was locked down for a brief moment as Maokai returned back to his original form. And then she broke free. Lin Feng smiled, activating both Sigil of Malice and Ethereal Chains! His LeBlanc waved her staff and placed the sigil on Maokai, after which a set of chains shot out from her and wrapped around him! They set off the sigil for a burst of damage and slowed him!

Zhejiang’s Maokai tried to run away, but couldn’t open up enough distance before the secondary effect from Ethereal Chains activated. The chains had wrapped completely around him and locked him to the ground! LeBlanc cast magic at him from behind. And right in front of him, standing between him and Red Team’s outer tower, was An Xin’s Rengar!

Lin Feng’s LeBlanc and An Xin’s Rengar tore through Maokai’s health! He didn’t have Flash up and no other abilities off cooldown that could help him escape. Even with his large health pool, there was nothing he could do. It was eventually Lin Feng’s LeBlanc who landed the killing blow with a Sigil of Malice.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“That’s the lead!” Lin Feng said over the team’s voice chat, satisfied. He then nodded at An Xin and added, “Great Rengar mechanics! Good job!”

An Xin smiled and replied, “Like I need you to tell me. My Rengar has always been great!”

Lin Feng scratched his nose and glanced at An Xin. Then he chuckled. Maybe she was just not in the right headspace the last two games. This is the BunBun I know! She’s back! This is great! He looked back at his monitor, and more specifically at the minimap. “We should take Dragon,” he said over the team’s voice chat.

“Alright, we’ll push bot and come,” Zeng Rui replied.

An Xin giggled and concluded, “Great! This Dragon is ours then!”

✹

The players from Zhejiang University were visibly upset. The third game of this best of five series had started terribly with an early kill for An Xin’s Rengar. And from there, she went on to get an assist in the bot lane and now a kill plus an assist in the mid lane! The game wasn’t even 8 minutes in and she was already sitting on a KDA of 2/0/2!

Zhejiang’s Jungler punched his desk and complained over the team’s voice chat, “When did their Jungler learn to jungle!? She was terrible in the first two games? What the hell happened to her!?”

“I don’t know. We need to focus,” Sun Ruinian replied. He then glanced at Shi Hang and frowned. She even got the jump on him? How…?

Shi Hang was staring at his monitor. At the dull grey colours. Their coordination has really improved… No, no. It’s not that. It’s more that… It’s more that she’s suddenly gotten a lot better! The way she’s playing right now, I was already dead when those eyes popped up! This is actually kind of worrying… He knitted his brows and opened the game scoreboard. She’s 2/0/2. If she gets any more fed, she’ll snowball the entire game! We’re gonna lose if it goes on like this!

“Alright guys, playtime is over,” Shi Hang said over the team’s voice chat. He continued, “First things first. Pink wards. Buy them, lots of them. We need to know where that Rengar is at all times. Then…” He turned his head to look at his Toplaner. “… I’m coming for a gank together with Maokai. I need you to start shoving the top lane. Be ready to tower dive that Mundo.” He finally turned to look at Sun Ruinian and paused. I’ve taught you everything. I know how good you are. And you’re good enough to carry this. I’ll leave the bot lane to you. He smiled and concluded, “Do what you need to do in bot. Don’t let the Vayne scale.”

✹

At 7:40 minutes, Zhejiang’s Irelia finished pushing the top lane. A big Red minion wave had gathered in front of Blue team’s outer tower and was now pushing into its range. She followed behind them and focused her attention on auto attacking the tower, ignoring Dr. Mundo. This threw Zhang Hao completely off. He was so confused that he threw an Infected Cleaver at her, instead of considering the possibility of a gank happening.

Shi Hang’s Orianna and Zhejiang’s Maokai walked into the top lane from the Blue team’s Jungle. They were right behind Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo. Maokai locked onto him with Twisting Advance. He contorted to a large root and locked Dr. Mundo down! Shi Hang had his Orianna’s Ball travel with Maokai and activated her ultimate, Command: Shockwave, to displace Dr. Mundo!

The damage quickly piled up. Zhang Hao tried to ward off the gank, tried to get at least a kill back, but he was Dr. Mundo. He didn’t deal very much damage, and he hadn’t bought nearly enough defensive items to tank the assault from three enemy Champions.

Shi Hang had his Orianna’s Ball attack Dr. Mundo, while ordering over the team’s voice chat, “Back away, Mao. We’ve got this.”

Zhejiang University’s Maokai ran towards the edge of the outer tower’s range right as another energy shot hit him. The damage was negligible to his large health pool. He then waited for a brief moment, glancing back to see Shi Hang’s Orianna and the Irelia destroying Dr. Mundo’s health bar, before running out of the tower’s range. “Good gank, guys!” he said over the team’s voice chat.

《An ally has slain a Champion!》

“Push the tower,” Shi Hang ordered, smiling. Good! We’re winning top from here on out! He looked at his minimap and nodded, satisfied. Sun Ruinian will take care of the bot lane as well! He panned his camera over the mid lane, and paused. He gritted his teeth and felt his stomach twist into a knot. That just leaves the mess in mid. What the fuck did I think not banning LeBlanc? I know he’s a monster on her! It’s fucking unfair that someone can be that good on a Champion! Riot should ban him from playing her! He shook his head. I should’ve seen it coming. And now I’ll have to find a way around it. We’re gonna play around her. Make her irrelevant, just like the wards will make Rengar useless! Yeah, that’s it. We just gotta stay the hell away from his LeBlanc! And the Rengar…