It was late into the night by the time the Shanghai 16 School Tournament Semifinals concluded. High School 13’s team walked out into the cold night air of Shanghai, while Ouyang rambled on about the amazing plays and how he’d totally helped the team make it to the Finals from the bench. “Listen, listen, listen bros and fembros! My heart was right up on stage with you guys, beating and pounding! I felt your nerves like my nerves, sizzling and frying! We were in it together!” The others walked on while politely nodding as Ouyang basked in the excitement of the win. They eventually reached a large town square and stopped. This was where they had to part company and go back to their own homes. The Finals were the next day, so there was no time for celebration tonight.

They said their goodbyes to each other and started walking off in different directions, a mellow closing to an eventful day. That’s when An Xin ran over to Lin Feng and grabbed his arm, “I can’t wait to see your place! Let’s go!” Everyone heard her words and froze in place for a picosecond. Ouyang was the first to react, his mind moved faster than the Flash whenever something like this came up. He thought he knew what was going down. An Xin had seen Lin Feng playing, and she was all revved up. He started grinning. My bro Lin Feng! No! Now he’s going to be my man Lin Feng! What a fucking champion! Wins the tournament, gets the girl. His grin got even wider and he positively beamed a pure, primal, pristine, and fading-virginity-by-proxy joy at Lin Feng. “MY MAN LIN FENG! REMEMBER, KEEP THE COVER ON THE STRAW WHEN YOU GET THAT JUICE!” Then he winked at Lin Feng. 

Ouyang’s excitement and yelling was enough to spark understanding for Liu Yue. He understood exactly what Ouyang was saying, and he grinned right back at Ouyang before looking at Lin Feng. Then he said, “Lin Feng, I’m right with you in spirit! I got your back! But if you need any… uh… HELP, you call me. Any time! I’ll get up! No matter how late it is. You call me if you need to know anything, yeah? Encouragement, moral support, tips, anyt—” 

Ren Rou was shocked when she heard An Xin talking about going to Lin Feng’s house. It was completely unexpected and out of the blue. She got over her shock at how scandalously forward An Xin was being just as Ouyang finished talking. Then she let out a small gasp and turned to look at Tang Bingyao, who was just staring at the ground. That’s when Liu Yue started talking, and she glared at Ouyang before motioning towards Liu Yue. Ouyang read her loud and clear. He grabbed Liu Yue and pulled him away before any more words could be said. 

Ren Rou then turned to look at Tang Bingyao, who was staring at the ground. She heard… Poor girl. Ren Rou walked up to Tang Bingyao, who was chewing on her lips and ignoring everyone around her, and put an arm around her. Then she leaned closer to Tang Bingyao’s ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Hey, everything okay?” There was no response.

Lin Feng, meanwhile, had only just processed An Xin’s statement. And failed to understand what she meant. He looked at her, confused, and asked, “Huh? Why? What?”

An Xin knocked on Lin Feng’s head. “Why? You’re an idiot. Why do you think? I just said it. To see your place!”

Lin Feng rubbed his forehead in pain and said, “Uh… But, well, isn’t it late…? Look, it’s night!”

An Xin narrowed her eyes, smiling that terrifying smile of hers, and said, “Yeah. So? Got a problem with that?”

All the guys took a step back. They felt a cold chill running up and down their bodies. An Xin was a nice girl most of the time. But something always seemed to change whenever she talked to Lin Feng. She would start smiling that smile that could’ve come straight out of a horror movie. There was something incredibly disturbing about it, though they didn’t quite know what.

Lin Feng didn’t seem to notice what the other guys saw. He laughed and said, “Okay, sure! It actually works out perfectly! You’ll get a chance to try Su Xue’s food! It’s always so good! She’s probably busy making a late night snack for me right now!”

An Xin nodded and said, “That sounds yum! I’m looking forward to it.”

Lin Feng glanced at the time on his phone and said, “Since it’s already so late, let’s not take the train. It’s going to take forever, and it’s annoying. We’ll get a cab home!” Then he looked at Tang Bingyao and added, “Tang Tang, you can come with us too! We’ll just make a stop at your place and drop you off, your place is on the way anyway.”

Tang Bingyao didn’t look up at Lin Feng. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out. All she could hear was the sound of her heart knocking violently against her ribcage. Her shoulders started trembling, but Ren Rou expertly helped her to hide it. “Uhm…” she mumbled, barely audible. She chewed on the inside of her mouth, fighting back the tears she could feel welling up. There was a strange feeling in her stomach, as if she were falling. She could feel seven pairs of eyes on her. They were burning. Her breaths came in ragged and uneven. Then she shook her head and said, “N-no, thank you.”

An Xin was surprised that Tang Bingyao refused to join them. “What? Tang Tang, just take the cab back home with us. Don’t you live really close to Lin Feng?” She paused for a moment, waiting for an answer that wasn’t coming, then added, “It’s so late already and you’re a pretty girl! I don’t think it’s smart for you to take the train home by yourself. What if something happens?”

“Yeah! What BunBun said!” Lin Feng chimed in. Then his eyes went wide. Oh, right! Money! I can’t believe I forgot that! He quickly added, “Don’t worry about splitting the cab ride! I’m paying for the whole thing.”

Tang Bingyao kept shaking her head, still staring down at the ground. “N-no, thank you,” she repeated. “I’ll take the train home.”

“But I said I’ll pay!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “You understand what I’m saying, right? I. Will. Pay! You don’t have to pay anything! It’s free! That’s like making money! Don’t you understand… I don’t understand… Are you sick again?” He reached out towards Tang Bingyao’s forehead, but was slapped away by Ren Rou who yelped, “Hey! Didn’t you hear her? She said no!”

Tang Bingyao tried to hide behind Ren Rou, who was still hugging her from the side, and mumbled, “N-no, thank you. I’ll t-take the train home.”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and complained, “Tang Tang always wants to save money. I’m saying that I’ll pay. Why would she want to pay for a train ticket home and wait for the train, when she could just get in a cab with BunBun and me? We’ll drop her off at her place! I don’t get it!” He looked at Ren Rou and continued, “Maybe she really is running a fever, Rou Rou. Right! Why’d you have to slap me away? I’m just worried for a friend! What did I even do?”

Running a fever? Are you really that stupid? Ren Rou shook her head. She could feel a trembling panic from Tang Bingyao and hugged her a little closer. Then she looked at Lin Feng and said, “Don’t worry about it. You go take a cab home with An Xin. I’ll take the train back with Tang Tang. She’ll be fine.” She then nudged Tang Bingyao and said, “That’s good with you, right?”

“Mhm,” Tang Bingyao said, nodding slowly.

Lin Feng shook his head, confused, and said, “Okay, If you say so. I’ll see you guys tomorrow then! Come, BunBun, let’s go find a cab.” He was completely oblivious to what was going on. 

An Xin, on the other hand, was not as clueless as Lin Feng. She’d picked up on what was happening. She looked at Tang Bingyao and briefly considered if she wanted to say something, but decided against it. Not the right time for that. We’ll sit down and talk when it’s just the two of us. Another time, another day. She smiled at Ren Rou and Tang Bingyao, “Just be careful, alright?” Then she grabbed Lin Feng by the arm and walked away.

✹

Ren Rou and Tang Bingyao lived a good 30 minutes apart from each other. They walked to the train station together in silence and waited for the last Line #4 train to arrive. The sky was dark. There was almost no one around. They jumped on the train when it arrived and were greeted by an almost empty carriage. There was someone sleeping in the back, who probably had already missed his stop judging by the drool on his blazer, and there was a small group in suits. The two girls stayed near the door, far away from the other passengers. Tang Bingyao was leaning back against the glass dividers, staring out the window at the city’s nightscape, lost in thought.

Ren Rou looked at Tang Bingyao and sighed. She wanted to say something to help her friend, but didn’t know how to breach the topic. Or even what she could possibly do. Finally, with only two more stops until she had to get off the train, she said, “Tang Tang, you know you didn’t have to do that, right?”

Tang Bingyao turned to look at Ren Rou and said, “Mhm huh? What? Sorry…”

Ren Rou shook her head, staring out the window, and said, “You know you didn’t have to do that, right? Back there, I mean, with Lin Feng and BunBun. It’s only a cab ride. Why didn’t you just go with them? You’re all going the same way anyway. Now you’re in this train that smells like piss… Is this really what you want?”

Tang Bingyao bit on her lips. Just the thought of Lin Feng and An Xin together pained her. It was a contracting feeling in her chest. She clutched it and said, “Uhm, I… I didn’t want to be the third wheel.”

Ren Rou sighed, you poor girl, and said, “How would you be third wheeling? You… Ah, you stupid girl. You really have no experience with dating, do you? Did you read this in some book? You’re all up in your head and imagining all sorts of crazy things. I guarantee you, nothing is happening between the two of them. BunBun even said so herself. She’s just going over to take a look at his place. And, come on, Tang Tang. They’ve been friends for years! It’s perfectly normal that they’re closer with each other than you are with Lin Feng. You two have only known each other for a few months.”

Tang Bingyao didn’t answer right away. She looked down at the carriage floor, chewing on her lips. Finally, she mumbled, “I know that, but…” Then she remembered how Ren Rou had saved her from the situation earlier. If it weren’t for Ren Rou, she would have run out of excuses. Lin Feng and An Xin would’ve convinced her to join them in the cab. She would’ve had to sit next to them, while they were doing things together. She would’ve had to listen to them doing those things together. She would’ve had to see them doing those things together. No! Ren Rou said it was only a cab ride… But that thought didn’t make her feel any more comfortable about the situation. She looked up at her friend and said, “Thank you, Rou Rou.”

“Please, what’s there to thank me for? That’s what friends are for!” Ren Rou replied, smiling. Then she looked at Tang Bingyao. She wanted to say something more. She wanted to tell Tang Bingyao not to give up on Lin Feng. An Xin was Lin Feng’s friend, they weren’t dating. But she couldn’t get herself to say the words. She shook her head and mumbled to herself, “Hah, what am I going to do with you?”

The train arrived at the fourth station since the two girls got on. Ren Rou gave Tang Bingyao a goodnight hug, said a few more supportive words, and then got off the train. Tang Bingyao watched the doors close before continuing staring into the distance. She still had to wait through another seven stops, which would take about 20 minutes. Shanghai’s scenery flashed by, but she didn’t see any of it. Her mind was a mess, with images of Lin Feng and An Xin together. Maybe they already kissed… The voice coming from the speaker above her head announced the next stop, pulling her out of her stupor. She hefted her backpack up to her shoulders and waited for the doors to open. Then she got off the train and left the station.

Tang Bingyao walked the familiar streets she always walked with Lin Feng. The warm glow of the street lamps illuminated the path ahead, casting long and slender shadows over the pavement. She carefully placed her feet over the cement blocks, playing her usual game of Don’t-Step-on-the-Cracks. Then she turned back to look behind her… He wasn’t there. His bright grin and messy hair. He wasn’t there. He always walked with her down this street. She would play her game and he would watch her. He wasn’t there. The street was empty. The only company she had was her own shadow. She felt a lump in her throat and her eyes watered. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry,” she mumbled to herself, rubbing her nose. “Don’t cry. There’s nothing to cry about. Stop crying. Stop crying!” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Stop it!” She forced herself to take a deep breath and looked back down at the cement blocks. She hopped around on them, a brief distraction. Then she turned to look behind her again. He wasn’t there. “Why are you not there?” she asked, her eyes red and tears running down her face. “I wanted you to be there.”

✹

The cab dropped Lin Feng and An Xin off in front of the apartment complex where Lin Feng lived. They walked up the stairs together and stopped before the front door. Lin Feng fished in his pocket for his keys, but couldn’t find them. He felt around in another pocket, and then another, searching for them. “Uhh…” He turned to An Xin and said, “Oops! Looks like I forgot my keys!”

“Idiot. Still as forgetful as ever, I see,” An Xin complained, shaking her head.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Su Xue’s home. She can open the door!” Lin Feng said. Then he laughed and added, “It’s not like this is my first or second time forgetting my keys!”

An Xin rolled her eyes back and said, “You sound proud of it. Don’t be.”

Lin Feng had stopped listening. He was knocking on the front door and shouted, “SU XUEEEE! I’M HOO–OOOME!”

The door didn’t open right away, so Lin Feng banged a little harder on it, shouting even louder, “IT’S-A ME, MARIO! I mean, LIN FENG! OPEN THE DOOOOOR!”

Su Xue still hadn’t opened the door yet. Lin Feng grew increasingly impatient, now slamming his fists into the door and shouting at the top of his lungs, “SU XUEEEEEEEE—”

“ENOUGH!” Su Xue shouted from inside the apartment. She swung the front door open a few seconds later and yelled, “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to wake up the entire neighbourhood? And how did you forget your keys again? How stupid are you? Do you think I won’t let you sleep outside? Just watch, you little—” Su Xue abruptly stopped ranting. She’d finally noticed An Xin.

Lin Feng noticed that Su Xue was looking at An Xin. He scratched the back of his head and said, “Oh, This i—”

Su Xue slammed the door shut in Lin Feng’s face. Shit! Why did I close the door? FUCKING FIDDLESTICKS! I panicked… She leaned against the door and slid down towards the ground. What do I do now? I CLOSED THE DOOR ON THEM! Su Xue was embarrassed at her reaction, confused, and mostly mind-blown by how cute the girl standing next to Lin Feng was. He brought a girl home. A very pretty girl… I think? Was that really a girl? A ghost? Maybe it was a ghost! No, it wasn’t. I really saw her. Wait, no. I’m totally seeing things! That has to be a ghost! She pushed herself up and opened the door again. There was the girl. I’M NOT SEEING THINGS! I’M NOT SEEING THINGS! SHE’S REAL!

“Hey! Why did you close the door again?” Lin Feng shouted, indignant.

An Xin ignored Lin Feng and bowed towards Su Xue, saying, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m An Xin, Lin Feng’s friend. He invited me to come over.”

Lin Feng stopped badgering Su Xue with demands for an answer and turned to look at An Xin. It took him a moment to process what she’d just said, then he started complaining, “Hey! Weren’t you the one inviting yourse— YEOUCHH!” 

An Xin silenced Lin Feng with a swift kick to the shin, while smiling kindly at Su Xue and continuing as if nothing had happened, “But all my friends call me BunBun, so please call me that!”

Su Xue blinked several times. Then she said, “Oh! You must be one of Lin Feng’s classmates then! Come in! Please, come in! Make yourself at home!” All the while, her imagination was running wild. He brought a pretty girl home late at night! Should I call his mother to make sure she’s ok with thi— Wait! What about Tang Tang? Wasn’t he seeing her? Where did this An Xin, BunBun, whatever come from? And she’s also really pretty! Are all high school girls so pretty these days? Su Xue glanced at Lin Feng as the two brushed past her. Don’t tell me this stupid kid is actually popular with the girls…

Zeng Rui looked at the celebrating members from High School 13’s esports team. He shook his head and turned to his teammates, saying, “Come.” Then he got up from his seat and walked towards Lin Feng. He correctly guessed that the others from High School 13’s team would gather around Lin Feng the moment they noticed him walking over. There were six guys and three girls on High School 13’s team. Zeng Rui didn’t care about most of them. There were really only two… and a half who he felt deserved his attention. After stopping in front of High School 13’s team, he sized them up. The thundering dumbass… That new girl… and her. High School 13’s players stared back at Zeng Rui. Neither side said anything.

Shanghai High School wasn’t just any opponent for High School 13. They were the opponent. Shanghai High School had won the Shanghai 16 School Tournament last year. They’d been the undisputed best high school team in Shanghai. Only Shanghai International had ever given them a difficult time. High School 13 had just beaten Shanghai International. But just because they swept Shanghai International 3-0 didn’t mean that they could beat Shanghai High School. The victory today was in large part thanks to An Xin’s game plan. She had drafted the perfect line-ups to shut down Yan Liang and Liu Zhengjie, the two strongest players on Shanghai International’s team. More than that, she understood Liu Zhengjie’s personality and how that could affect an entire team’s dynamic. Shutting him down was almost the same as shutting the entire team down.

Shanghai International wasn’t a team. They were two carries with three slaves. An Xin had correctly spotted this and prepared accordingly. She’d created a solid plan that could see individually weaker players win. High School 13’s average skill level was relatively low compared to the other Semifinalists, with Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao being the only two exceptions. But High School 13’s team was stronger than the sum of its individual parts. Shanghai International failed to recognize this, and they paid the price. They were knocked out, blaming Lin Feng and his insane skill. They never realized that they themselves were the real problem.

Shanghai High School was a different beast altogether. They wouldn’t make the same mistake Shanghai International had. Zeng Rui recognized that High School 13 wasn’t just a mishmash of individual players; they were a strong team. He would need more than five individually good players to beat them. He needed a game plan, a strategy to exploit High School 13’s weaknesses while simultaneously curbing Lin Feng. The first ideas were already floating in his mind. Zeng Rui was one of the best in all of Shanghai when it came to strategy and tactics.

The members from High School 13’s team, with the exception of Lin Feng and An Xin, stared at Zeng Rui. They knew who he was. They’d seen him on stage last year, leading his team to the title. Every League of Legends fan in Shanghai knew who he was! He was one of the best Support players in all of China! He was a Challenger on the Ionia Server! He was a master strategist who never got outwitted! There were plenty of rumours going around suggesting he was approached by a professional team multiple times during the year. Other rumours took it a big further. They said he was going to join a professional team as early as next season!

Zeng Rui ignored the stares. He was used to it. It came with his fame. He looked at the different members from High School 13’s team, then cleared his throat and said, “Let me be the first to congratulate you on making it all the way to the Finals. Shanghai International wasn’t an easy opponent.” The words were there, but they sounded empty, as if he didn’t mean them at all. As if he wasn’t the least bit impressed with High School 13’s recent form. Then he turned to Lin Feng and said, “You’re a really good Jungler.”

It was a simple statement that no one could disagree with. Lin Feng’s Olaf was just that good. But Zeng Rui’s teammates standing behind him widened their eyes in surprise, staring at the back of their team captain. Zeng Rui rarely ever gave a compliment. But when he did, he really meant it. Lin Feng didn’t know this. He scratched his hair and laughed, “Oh, you think so? Thanks! My Jungle is pretty good! But I’m a way better Midlaner!”

Ouyang stood off to the side, incredulous. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Lin Feng, you… you idiot! He smacked his face with his palm and shook his head. Bro… Get some humility! Stop with all the bragging! My god! And now you’re also giving away secrets to our opponent! You’re supposed to be our secret weapon! SECRET! What the fuck, bro…

Zeng Rui didn’t bother with Lin Feng’s reply. He turned to look at Tang Bingyao, nodding at her, and said, “Your ad-carry was half decent.”

“Thank you,” Tang Bingyao replied.

Zeng Rui finally turned to An Xin. There he paused. He looked her in the eyes, searching for something that could help him prepare for the Finals. But she didn’t give away anything, except for an innocent smile. How good is she… I need to find more information on her before tomorrow. He smiled back, weakly, and asked, “That was your strategy, right?” She nodded, prompting him to continue, “That was…” He shook his head and took a deep breath. “That was brilliant. You have my respect.”

If Zeng Rui’s teammates were surprised to hear the compliment he gave Lin Feng, then they were astounded right now. They could count on their fingers the number of times he’d called someone brilliant. Zeng Rui never gave compliments to his opponents when he played for Shanghai High School’s esports team. He never had anything positive to say about his teammates or opponents in solo queue. The only players who could impress him performed on the professional stage. And even then, there were only a few of them. They were the likes of Autumn from the North American team Season, who was a master strategist much like Zeng Rui.

“What in the world… Is he feeling ok?”
“Are you feeling ok, bud? Not catching anything bad I hope, haha.”
“Ha! He must be in a really good mood today!”
“I wish he would give me a compliment once…”

An Xin smiled at Zeng Rui and said, “Thanks. You’re flattering me. I heard you’re pretty good at coming up with strategies yourself. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Zeng Rui nodded and said, “Right. Tomorrow should be interesting. I’m looking forward to it too.” Then he nodded at his teammates and turned around to walk away. His teammates said a few congratulatory words to the players from High School 13, then hurried after their team captain.

High School 13’s team watched Shanghai High School’s players walking away, dazed. Liu Yue was the first to turn his head away from them. He scratched the back of his head and asked, “What the hell was all that about? Did he really just come here to congratulate us…?”

Ouyang snorted and said, “To congratulate us? No, bro. Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what he said? He’s looking forward to playing against us! He was challenging us! He only came to provoke us! That’s how those asshats work! But we’re better than that! We’re going to beat them!”

Lin Feng shrugged and said, “I didn’t hear him provoke us. He seemed like a pretty nice guy.”

“Of course he does to you!” Ren Rou said, rolling her eyes back. “He only had good things to say about you! You like anyone who gives you a compliment!”

Shanghai International’s Jungler escaped from High School 13’s pursuit. Tang Bingyao’s Jinx didn’t get the pentakill. But that didn’t change the outcome of the teamfight. The four kills she got gave her a lot of gold. On top of that, High School 13 killed the Dragon. This gave the whole team gold. Then they turned their attention to Baron Nashor, the strongest monster on the map. Killing him gave a teamwide buff that increased the stats of Champions and minions that were near Champions. High School 13 pulled so far ahead after this teamfight that there was nothing Shanghai International could do to stop them anymore. Right before the teamfight started, Shanghai International had been hopeful. They thought that after 10 minutes of desperately trying to scale up and getting to a point where they could contend against High School 13, they could finally turn this game around. But there was nothing that could stop High School 13’s unyielding momentum.

After recalling back to base and spending the gold they’d earned, High School 13’s team split up in two. Lin Feng had his Olaf go to the top lane, where he pushed towards Shanghai International’s base. He destroyed the inner tower and came knocking on the inhibitor tower’s door. In the meantime, the rest of the team pushed down the mid lane. They destroyed two towers and only stopped when they reached the inhibitor tower. The inhibitor towers were easier to defend than the outer and inner towers due to the terrain surrounding them. So Shanghai International’s team had decided to make their last stand here.

Shanghai International’s Fiora was switching between helping the mid lane defend and trying to keep the top lane inhibitor tower from falling to the Olaf. She was trying to do two things at once. Her attention wasn’t entirely on the top laner, nor was it on the mid lane. This was a mistake. At 23 minutes, Lin Feng had his Olaf towerdive the Fiora and killed her before she even realized what was happening. He escaped with more than half of his health remaining. This was the signal for the rest of High School 13’s team to go in. They used the brief moment of confusion on Shanghai International’s team to towerdive them in the mid lane. The Thresh, Jarvan IV, and Lissandra used their crowd control skills to lock down Shanghai International’s players. Tang Bingyao followed up with her Jinx, unloading a thousand and one bullets and killing the Orianna, Rek’Sai, and Morgana.

《Triple Kill!》

Westwind sat at the caster desk overlooking the venue. The audience had been up on their feet for the last several minutes. This was clearly the end of the game. High School 13 was pushing for the win. He laughed to himself and then brought the microphone to his mouth, shouting, “IT’S A T-T-TRIPPLEEE KILLL! I think we all know what that means. High School 13 is closing out the match! High School 13 is going to the FINALS!”

Silent Reed couldn’t even hear her own thoughts anymore over the deafening sounds of the audience. She smiled and shouted slightly louder than usual, “Whoever said that ad-carries are weak this patch hasn’t seen this game. Jinx is clearly as strong a Champion as ever!”

Tang Bingyao’s Jinx wreaking havoc had nothing to do with ad-carries being strong or weak on the current patch. Every Champion became strong after picking up 7 kills within two minutes. That was just how the game worked. But it took skill, or very bad opponents, to get those kills and become that strong. Tang Bingyao had succeeded in doing that, while Liu Zhengjie had failed. His Tristana wasn’t worth much anymore, even after his desperate struggle to scale up. All he could do in this last teamfight was Rocket Jump away and then dodge the Jinx’s Super Mega Death Rocket by flashing over it. Now he stood on the fountain, watching High School 13 destroy the inhibitors in the mid and top lanes.

This stupid fucking bitch! DAMMIT! Why does she always get so lucky? If I’d gotten that first blood, this game would’ve been different! If my team had made a decent engage, I could’ve grabbed a quadra… It would be me! I would be the one pushing for a win! NOT that stupid fucking bitch! FUCK HER! Liu Zhengjie gnashed his teeth, fuming. He was Shanghai International’s star player. He was favoured by his peers to become a professional player. He was approached by a professional team! But Tang Bingyao was stealing his thunder. The Shanghai 16 School Tournament should’ve been the stage for him to make that step to the professional scene after winning the whole tournament! And now, now he was on the verge of being eliminated in the Semifinals. He looked around the map. Minions were pushing into the base. All five champions from High School 13 were attacking the two nexus towers. The death timers on his teammates were still more than 20 seconds. It’s over. Fuck.

The first nexus tower was destroyed. High School 13 pushed on to the second nexus tower, which fell shortly after. Three Red minion waves spawned from the Nexus, but they did little to slow down High School 13’s advance. The Tristana stayed on the fountain. She watched the Nexus tremble and shake until it shattered, the red energy contained within exploding outwards and morphing into the victory emblem for High School 13.

VICTORY!

The audience was split into three groups. First there were the students from Shanghai International. They slumped back in their seats, embarrassed at their team’s performance. High School 13 was the butt of all jokes. They were the single worst team in all of Shanghai! They were the kids who spent more time looking for excuses for their poor performances than practicing the game. Yet Shanghai International’s team had just lost against High School 13. Shanghai International had lost to the worst team in Shanghai! At that very moment, it genuinely felt to Shanghai International’s students like they were the single worst team in all of Shanghai. They’d lost to High School 13. They’d lost to High School 13…

The second group in the audience were the neutral fans. They were for the most part students from Tonji Affiliated High and Shanghai High School. They were jumping up and down and cheering their lungs out! The games weren’t perhaps as exciting as they would’ve liked, but Lin Feng had more than made up for that. This series was an astonishing display of skill by him, and he deserved every bit of praise!

Finally, there were the students from High School 13. They didn’t cheer or slump back in their seats. They just sat, staring, dazed. They’d grown so accustomed to losing that they didn’t really know what to do now that they’d won. Despite the victory in the first game. Despite the victory in the second game. Despite the massive advantage High School 13 had procured in the third game. Despite all of that and more, High School 13’s students in the audience were expecting another loss. Until now, they were cheering because they rarely had the chance to do so. But they cheered for a good play, a nice trick, a perfectly executed gank. They hadn’t ever cheered for winning a series. Nor for their team making it to the Finals of the biggest high school esports event in Shanghai! They started smiling uncontrollably. They started laughing. They were crying tears of joy. But in this moment of pure bliss, they forgot to cheer.

✹

As was custom, High School 13’s team walked over to the other side of the stage to shake hands with the players from Shanghai International. But there was little response. Yan Liang was staring at his screen, dazed by the reality of the situation, while Liu Zhengjie was cursing at everything and everyone he could see and think of. The other three players weren’t very happy either. But they forced themselves up from their seats and bowed slightly.

In the meantime, Ouyang and Liu Yue had recovered from their shock. They turned around to look at the silence behind them, and were met with hundreds of happy faces. Ouyang grabbed Liu Yue and Ren Rou by the shoulders and they stood up from their seats. They wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders. Then they started dancing and singing, “AND IT’S SWEET, SWEET, SWEET VICTORY, YEAAHHHH!” The students from High School 13 followed by example. They stood up and started jumping to Ouyang’s beat and began singing with him.

High School 13’s team walked down the stage, watching the audience jumping and dancing and cheering for them. They smiled and laughed and threw their hands up in the air, waving at the audience. Chen Ze and Wei Dong walked up to Ouyang and joined in with him, while Yang Fan followed a step behind. He was his usual self, though he couldn’t hide the joy in his expression. Lin Feng ignored all of them. He walked towards An Xin with his arms wide open and shouted over the noise, “BUNBUN! WE WON!”

An Xin stared at him, her eyes widening further with every step he took. He tried to hug her, but she pushed him away just in time, yelping, “What was that?” She glared at him and added, “I get it, we won. Great. Let’s celebrate it without hugging!”

Lin Feng looked at An Xin and rubbed his chest painfully. Huh? Well, then… He turned around, showing an even wider grin, and walked over towards Tang Bingyao. He opened his arms wide and shouted, “Tang Tang, we won!”

Tang Bingyao wasn’t as quick as An Xin. Lin Feng’s arms wrapped around her before she realized what was happening. She glanced past Lin Feng at An Xin and then quickly pushed him away, asking, “Hmm? What do you think you’re doing?”

Lin Feng took a step back and looked at the two girls. He turned from one to the other and back to the first again. Then he said, “What am I doing? Celebrating, of course! We won! We beat Shanghai International!”

“Oh. Hmm…” Tang Bingyao looked at Lin Feng and then at An Xin again. Finally, she shook her head and said, “We can celebrate. But no hugging.”

Two beautiful girls and a guy getting turned down by them. Ouyang wouldn’t be Ouyang if he didn’t notice it. He slipped away from the others, somehow pulling Ren Rou with him, and started grinning, relishing in Lin Feng’s schadenfreude. “Yo, Lin Feng, bro. Tell me how it feels getting rejected by two girls in a row! Hahaha! And here I thought I had to be jealous of you! Haha!” Then he pulled Ren Rou, whose arm was still around his shoulder, a little closer to him and said, “Hey, Rou Rou, how about we have a celebratory hug?”

Ren Rou pulled her arm away and glared at Ouyang, then slapped him across the cheek. “Screw off! All you did was warm the bench! What do you have to celebrate for?”

Ouyang grimaced and shrunk back a little as he moved his arms in front of him. “H-hey… It’s not like I had a choice. I wanted to play. But the others are better… I mean, at least my heart was up on the stage with them, right?”

Ren Rou didn’t get a chance to reply to Ouyang, because Liu Yue interrupted her. He tapped on her shoulder and shoved into their little circle. Then he pointed behind him and said, “Yo, guys, look who’s coming.”

All nine members of High School 13’s esports team fell silent. They huddled up together and watched quietly as Shanghai High School’s team approached. Zeng Rui walked in the front, with the four others stalking behind him. He moved with a steady, strong gait, looking calm. The players from High School 13, bar for Lin Feng and An Xin, started fidgeting, nervous. They’d seen Shanghai High School’s team from a distance, always performing up on stage. But they’d never actually met them. Yet today, they’d secured their place in the Finals and would be going up against Shanghai High School for the title. High School 13 suddenly found themselves amongst the big names, and that was quite intimidating. So they looked at the ground, shuffling around, not really knowing what to say or do.

Westwind had been casting games all night. He was currently on his sixth game in a row. His voice was hurting and he desperately needed a water break. But then he looked at the large screen above the stage. At the Olaf. What a player… He shook his head in disbelief. The Olaf made shoutcasting a high school tournament very interesting. “Hoh? It looks like the Olaf is going for a flank!” he said into his microphone. He heard his voice booming through the venue. It had taken some time to get used to hearing himself, but he was growing comfortable with it. “Shanghai International has placed a ton of wards around their mid lane. This is going to be very difficult. But this Olaf has been surprising us all game. Let’s see what he has in store for us now!”

Silent Reed sat next to Westwind. She’d been shoutcasting the games together with him since the start of the tournament. He usually took the lead and she would respond, preferably with some new insights or a different point of view. She also looked at the large screen above the stage. It showed the game from the spectator mode, meaning that there was no fog of war. They could see exactly where all 10 players were and where they were going. Right now, the Olaf was in the top side of his own Jungle and looking to cross the river to enter Shanghai International’s Jungle. Silent Reed smiled and said, “Yan Liang will probably notice that the Olaf is missing very soon. He’s a good team captain. I think they’ll retreat before the Olaf can surprise them. Plus. See that ward in the brush above the mid lane? They’ll spot the Olaf with that ward the moment he tries anything! This is looking good for Yan Liang’s team!”

Silent Reed’s analysis was correct to a certain extent. That ward would reveal Lin Feng’s Olaf, but only if he walked through that brush or got too close to it. Lin Feng was good enough at the game to know that there was most likely a ward in that brush. So, when he had his Olaf cross the river, he made sure to keep enough distance from that brush to not get spotted by the ward. Then he entered Shanghai International’s Jungle and stopped at the Raptor Camp, which was directly above Shanghai International’s outer tower in the mid lane. A wall of trees was the only thing separating the two.

Lin Feng panned his camera over to the mid lane and watched what was happening there. The Orianna had started to back. It was clear Shanghai International’s team knew something was wrong. What they didn’t know was that it was already far too late to retreat. Lin Feng grinned and pressed down on his D key–Ghost! A blue aura flowed out from underneath the Olaf’s feet, granting him a burst of movement speed. He ran through the narrow passage between the river and the wall of trees around the Raptor Camp. Then he used the active skill of one of his items, which gave him a second movement speed boost. He stormed into the mid lane!

Westwind tried to hype up the crowd for this play. But only a small section of the audience responded to him. The rest were sitting on the edge of their seats, enthralled. It all happened so quickly. One moment High School 13 and Shanghai International were throwing skillshots at each other in the mid lane, and the next the Olaf had flanked Shanghai International’s team and was charging at them. The audience didn’t want to miss a second of the action, not even to cheer!

Lin Feng’s Olaf was the embodiment of Odin. He was the Norse God of War and Frenzy! A blood red aura shrouded him. It was the visual effect of his ultimate skill–Ragnarok! He was immune to all crowd control effects. Nothing and no one could stop him now! He threw an axe at no one in particular, but still hit three Shanghai International Champions. Lin Feng screamed over the team’s voice chat, “GoGoGo! FIIIIGHT!”

FUUCK! Yan Liang gritted his teeth. They’d lost vision on the Olaf for only a couple of seconds. Just a few seconds! And then they were too late to stop it. The Olaf was so fast. He was already in the middle of their team, wreaking havoc. There was no time to think. There was no time to deal damage. There was no time to do anything else but retreat as quickly as possible. Yan Liang shouted over his team’s voice chat, “BACK! FLASH! JUMP! ANYTHING! JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

Shanghai International’s retreat was too late. Three seconds after Lin Feng’s Olaf received the speed boost from his item, a secondary effect took place. A turbid shockwave of energy pulsed out into the surroundings, sweeping over the Orianna, Rek’Sai, and Fiora. Their movement speed was cut in more than half. It looked as if their Champions were walking in slow motion, while the Olaf ran like the Flash! Olaf’s axe was flying through the air again, striking three Champions and slowing them. He stacked slow upon slow upon slow, until Shanghai International’s Champions had no movement speed left.

Lin Feng locked onto the Orianna and mumbled to himself, “Obliteration!” Then he pressed down on his E key–Reckless Swing! His Olaf charged at the slowed Orianna and jumped high in the air, raising his axes above his head. Then he hacked down with such force that it dealt true damage to the Orianna and himself. “Urge to kill, rising!”

Chen Ze had his Jarvan IV jump into the action with a flag-toss combo. Then, at just the right moment, he flashed forward. This extended the range of the knock up all the way to where the Orianna was standing. She found herself suspended in midair. Another flash of mottled light appeared near her, revealing the Thresh. He aimed his Death Sentence at her. The ghastly sickle came flying at her and wrapped around her.

Every player could take two Summoner Spells at the start of a game. Yan Liang had chosen Flash and Cleanse. Right now, he used Cleanse to remove all crowd control effects on his Orianna. But there was no running away anymore. High School 13’s team was all around his Orianna. By the time she’d taken two steps, another slow or stun would’ve hit her. Yan Liang groaned in frustration, then clicked towards High School 13’s Champions. If I’m dying, I’ll take as many of you fuckers down with me as I can!

Shanghai International’s Fiora also stopped retreating. She turned around and targeted Lin Feng’s Olaf with her ultimate skill–Grand Challenge! It revealed Olaf’s four Vitals. She Lunged at him, attacking the one closest to her. Then she moved to the side, where the second one was located. But before she could hit it, High School 13’s Lissandra appeared right next to her with a molted flash of light. Then two pillars of ice shot up from the ground and trapped her within–Frozen Tomb! This was Lissandra’s ultimate skill. It froze a target in place, dealing constant magic damage. There was nothing the Fiora could do. She was trapped. Her ultimate skill timed out. The Vitals disappeared on the Olaf and she had failed to activate the second part of her ultimate skill–Healing Field!

Lin Feng shifted his focus to the Fiora. He had his Olaf pick up his axe and then threw it at the Fiora. Then the Olaf let out a war cry. He gained a burst of attack speed and lifesteal–Vicious Strikes! A purple light flashed across his axes. He started hacking away at the Fiora, decimating her health bar!

Shanghai International’s Morgana also finally stopped running. She turned around and flashed into High School 13’s team. Then she activated her ultimate skill–Soul Shackles! Dark violet chains erupted from her body and latched onto the Jarvan IV, Olaf, and Lissandra. Yan Liang had his Orianna move her Ball towards the three to  try and hit them with her ultimate skill, while Liu Zhengjie had his Tristana start firing away at the Olaf from the backline. And then a Super Mega Death Rocket hit them in the face.

A large explosion swept out from the middle of Shanghai International’s ranks, kicking up a cloud of dust and smoke. There appeared a creepy murder smiley within this cloud. It revealed the destruction of Jinx’s ultimate. The Super Mega Death Rocket had killed two Champions from Shanghai International; The Orianna and Fiora. Neither of them did any real damage before dying.

《Double kill!》

The crowd started buzzing. It was about to explode. Westwind grabbed his microphone, clutched it tightly in his grasp, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “IT’S A DOOOUUBBLLLEEEE KILL! WOOOOOOOO!” That did the trick. The audience shot from their seats and threw their hands up in the air! Shanghai International had lost two players. High School 13 was going to win this! The chants started, “HIGH SCHOOL 13! HIGH SCHOOL 13!”

Back in the game, the second half of Morgana’s ultimate skill activated. Soul Shackles had wrapped around Jarvan IV, Lissandra, and Olaf, stunning two of the three. The Olaf was still immune to all crowd control effects because of his ultimate skill, so he didn’t get locked down. He directly turned his attention to the Morgana and threw his axe at her–Undertow! Tang Bingyao’s Jinx was next to him. She’d received a movement speed bonus from her passive skill for killing a Champion, so she was running like the wind. Switcheroo! She took out her minigun and started firing away at the Morgana.

《Triple kill!》

There was nothing Shanghai International could do to win this teamfight anymore. The Rek’Sai dug a Tunnel and disappeared in the Jungle, while the Tristana Rocket Jumped away. She flew past Shanghai International’s outer tower and towards her inner tower. High School 13’s team ignored the Rek’Sai, who wasn’t worth much after dying consecutive times to the Olaf, and chased after the Tristana. The Olaf and Jinx still had their movement speed buffs. They caught up to the Tristana and started attacking her with axes and rockets, shearing away at her health until she finally collapsed on the ground.

《Quadra kill!》

The crowd was about to lose it. A quadra kill! Shanghai International’s Rek’Sai was still alive! This was a pentakill in the making! Everyone stopped caring about the Olaf. He wasn’t the star of the show right now. That was the Jinx. She was about to get a pentakill in the Semifinals of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! Many people in the audience hadn’t ever gotten a pentakill in their lives, let alone at the biggest high school esports tournament in the esports capital of China! The crowd was dancing and laughing. They were screaming their lungs out, begging for Tang Bingyao to get the pentakill!

“WOOOOO! OH YEAH! GET THAT PENTAAAAAAA!”
“JINX! GIVE US THE PENTA! JINX! GIVE US THE PENTA!”
“TANGANG FOR THE WINNNNN!”
“VOTE JINX MVP!”
“GET THAT PENTA! PENTAAAAAAAAA!”
“WOOT WOOT! SHOW ME THAT PENTAAAAA!”
“GIMME A P! GIMME A… Screw this. GIMME A PENTA!”

There were numerous streamers watching the Huya TV broadcast of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Their viewers had begged them to cast their judgement on the quality of the games, claiming the competing players were almost as good as professional players. The streamers had scoffed at the notion. The tournament was for high schoolers. But they humoured their viewers and opened the stream. Their amusement turned into wonder really fast. They were closely watching the Olaf, forgetting that they were streaming. He was playing so well that it didn’t even matter if his teammates gave away a couple of kills. It wouldn’t change the outcome of the game. There was no one on Shanghai International’s team that could stop him. He chased them down and killed them, even taking them on 1vs5 if he had to.

DookieCastle:「damn this Olaf is killing it!!!  he ran that ori down harder than my shits in the toilet!」

ShoutingFoliage:「hahaha yeaaah. makes me want to switch from a Kindred main to Olaf…」

Xurgati:「hehe, i’d jungle too, but I think i’mma stick to support if I i have to deal with that kind olaf in my games」

SlashSkewer:「the kid’s good but my Mundo’s better! I’d like that olaf try that kind of invade on me! I’d shove a cleaver up his ass!」

LuciferBarb:「i came in to see what’s all the commotion’s about, no idea what’s going on, but it seems pretty exciting! maybe i should pick up league too?」

Prinsz:「hahaha, nbody no if that jinx streams? id luv to support her with my Blitz. I’d be real catch! Get it!? Cuz i’m a hooker.」

These were all famous names. Everyone knew them. There were thousands of viewers who forgot about the game and focused on their idols instead, flooding the chat with messages directed at them.

「OMG! IS THAT DOOKIE! IM A BIG FAN! AND LOOOOOOL 100% AGREED!」

「Xurgati too! love the trap cosplays! You go QUEEEN!」

「wow it’s a streamer party over here!」

「haha! Yeah, the stream is blowing up on Huya’s font page! I’m not surprised!」

「+1 GAZILLION !!!!!」

「i know right, even the Just Chatters are here!」

These famous streamers were indirectly providing more viewers for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Su Xue was one of them. She watched the stream together with her viewers in amazement. Lin Feng had utilized Olaf to his fullest potential. He knew exactly how aggressive he could be and what he could get away with. The Orianna kill was a good example of this. He knew how much damage he dealt and how long he could survive. He knew he wouldn’t have a lot of health left, but that he could kill her. He knew there were monsters in the nearby Raptor Camp, giving him a way to lifesteal his health back. It was all planned out. He’d left nothing up to chance. That was how he approached this game. And the people who occasionally watched him appear on Su Xue’s stream recognized this. They continued spamming her chat.

「6666666666!!! that’s our lil bro for you! Never seen him not carry a game!」

「Has lil bro ever lost a game??????」

「LIL BRO IS GOING TO THE FINALS>???? AWESOME OPOSSUM!」

「anyone else think olaf is super sexy? they should make a calendar for him….」

「this game right here! that’s why you’re the maid xue xue!」

「How is he so good;… its like.. Idk guys, how in the world does he keep doing this?????」

Su Xue relaxed back in her gaming chair, smiling. Her eyes were sparkling. Good job, kid. You’re making me proud. She grinned and said, “See, what did I say? He’s really good at Olaf too! I don’t know why they would let him have that Champion… Those Shanghai International guys were basically asking for a beating!”

✹

Yan Liang gritted his teeth, grim. They’d banned Annie in Game 2, only to be hit with Twisted Fate. They’d banned Annie and Twisted Fate in Game 3, only to be faced with Olaf. A team could only ban three Champions. That was clearly not enough to stop Lin Feng. Yan Liang chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to think of a solution to their problem. But that was easier said than done. Finally, he shook his head and said, “Stop forcing things! The Olaf will just punish us! We have to drag this out! We’re going for the late game! That Olaf is just strong because he hit a power spike. Let him fall off!”

Shanghai International’s team believed that High School 13 really wasn’t that good. This belief was only reinforced as they played more versus High School 13’s individual players. High School 13’s team comprised three mediocre players, a good player, and an Olaf. Shanghai International’s players were confident in winning against the mediocre and good players, but the Olaf… He was single-handedly winning the game for High School 13. They had to take him out of the picture. But to do that, they first had to level the playing field. That meant catching up to him in terms of levels and items. It would take time to get there. But when they did, Shanghai International’s players were confident they could force a victory.

Shanghai International’s players started freezing the minion waves in their lanes as close to their own towers as possible. This was a delicate work. Attack a minion too early, and the whole wave would start pushing towards High School 13’s side. Attack a minion too late, and the whole wave would crash into their own tower. But Shanghai International had five very talented players who could freeze a minion wave in one specific spot. On top of that, they also warded up their entire Jungle and gave the Jungle Camps to Yan Liang’s Orianna and Liu Zhengjie’s Tristana. Their carries needed to get every little advantage they could get if they were to turn this game around.

✹

At 15 minutes, Lin Feng helped High School 13 secure the second Dragon. This gave all members of the team increased damage against towers. Shanghai International didn’t make an attempt to stop them from taking it, much less contest it. The risk to reward ratio wasn’t worth it. Besides, they were in no position to enter into a teamfight right now anyway. Their only hope was to continue dragging out this game for as long as possible. If they could get the time for their Orianna and Tristana to obtain a few more levels and items, they could get back in the game. That was the only thing on their minds.

Silent Reed looked at the large screen above the stage and said, “That’s Yan Liang for you! He never gives up! And he won’t let his team give up either! I bet he picked Orianna expecting this game might become difficult. Her ultie can change a fight around! They can still win this!”

Westwind laughed and grabbed his microphone. He put it close to his mouth and said, “But I doubt High School 13 will just let that happen. Isn’t that what we’re all thinking? High School 13 is probably preparing for their next big play RIGHT NOW! Let’s watch it happen!”

Yang Fan looked over the edge of his screen. Why are they cheering? He shook his head and turned his attention back to his screen. It can’t go on like this… “Hey, guys,” he said over the team’s voice chat. “We need to force them into a teamfight!”

Chen Ze nodded and said, “Yeah, their Orianna and Trist are scaling up very quickly. They’re getting too much CS. I think the Rek’Sai basically gave up half her jungle to them. We can’t have them get much stronger, or it’s going to be very hard to win teamfights…”

“It’s only going to become more difficult anyway. We don’t really have a way to force an engage,” Wei Dong added.

It wasn’t that High School 13’s team didn’t have the Champions to force a teamfight. They had Jarvan IV, Lissandra, and Thresh. All three of them could start a fight by jumping onto Shanghai International’s team. But just jumping in wasn’t enough. They had to burst down the Orianna and Tristana. That was where it became a lot trickier. The Tristana could wait far in the backline and only jump in after High School 13 had wasted their skills, while the Orianna had her ultimate skill–Command: Shockwave! She could completely displace High School 13’s team. If High School 13 wanted to win a fight, they had to be very certain that they could quickly kill the Tristana and Orianna.

Lin Feng, however, wasn’t at all concerned about any of this. He shrugged and said over the team’s voice chat, “Don’t worry so much, guys. It’s fine. Just find an opening and we’ll fight.”

✹

At 20 minutes, the third Dragon was about to spawn. Shanghai International had no intention of giving up on this one. They wanted the first Dragon buff that granted bonus attack damage and ability power, and they were finally ready to fight for it. Their Orianna and Tristana had reached a point where they were real threats in teamfights, while the Olaf was starting to fall off. This was the moment in the game that Shanghai International had been waiting for!

Westwind turned to Silent Reed and said, “Shanghai International has stalled long enough. Seems like you were right. They can get back into this. Now, let’s see them do that!” A low buzz was the response from the crowd.

There was still roughly a minute left until the Dragon spawned. Both teams grouped up in the mid lane for a little foreplay. They threw their skillshots at each other, trying to get in as much poke as possible before the actual fight. Shanghai International used this to boost their confidence. They were the individually better players, so they landed more skillshots overall. They were back in the game. If they won this next teamfight, they could really start the comeback.

Shanghai International’s team danced around the mid lane, firing off their skillshots and dodging the skillshots High School 13 fired back at them. They were healthier than the opposing team. They were winning this exchange! Yan Liang grinned and glanced at the players from High School 13. Then he stopped. What! He blinked and looked again. His heart stopped. “W-WHERE’S OLAF? OLAF! OLAF!” he shouted over the team’s voice chat. He moved his mouse and had his Orianna retreat back towards the outer tower. If they didn’t know where the Olaf was, he could catch them off guard. That could really screw them over. “BACK! BACK! RETREAT, GUYS! RETR—”

High School 13’s students in the audience were living the dream. Their team was beating Shanghai International! For the first time in the school’s long history, one of the clubs was performing at a big tournament! The students were so surprised that they didn’t know what to do. But their emotions compelled them to jump, scream and shout, “WIN FENG! WIN FENG!” High School 13 had always been the butt of every joke, knocked out early in every competition they participated in. No one ever took them seriously. But not today! This day, High School 13’s esports club was breaking tradition! They were on the verge of advancing to the Finals of the biggest high school esports tournament in all of Shanghai!

Most students from High School 13 hadn’t started supporting their esports club until a few days ago. They were afraid to. That was how much the losing mentality was ingrained into them. It all started with the principal who wouldn’t give the school’s open support to any club team. He believed they wouldn’t amount to anything anyway, so he thought it best not to announce their next big disappointment to all students. That was reinforced just last year. The basketball team had qualified for a regional tournament, and the principal made a one-time exception, giving the team his full support. Suddenly, all students were basketball fans and the players became overnight celebrities. Then the tournament came around. The hopes for the team were sky high. They were so high that it was impossible to meet them. In the end, High School 13’s basketball team got knocked out in the first round. They didn’t win a single game.

It was always difficult to deal with loss. High expectations only made that that much harder. The basketball players were disappointed in their own performance, and the students were disappointed in them. High School 13 should’ve been proud that their team made it to the regional tournament, but all they remembered was the first and last game at the regional tournament. A loss. It reinforced the beliefs of the students. High School 13 had no good, or even decent clubs. They were attending an average high school that would never amount to anything.

The students stuck to this loser mentality until a few days ago, when word went around the school about the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Their esports club had made it to the Semifinals of a big tournament! That meant they were in the top four in all of Shanghai! Their school wasn’t all that bad! Their negative thoughts disappeared. Suddenly they saw a new hope. Their esports team had complained multiple times about being unlucky. Perhaps that explained why they hadn’t performed until now! The students clung onto this idea. It explained perfectly how the esports team had made it to the Semifinals. How they might make it to the Finals! High School 13’s students had even started dreaming about their team winning the whole tournament and becoming the best esports club in Shanghai! Many of them had gathered after school on Friday and traveled to the venue for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, excited to see their team kick Shanghai International’s ass!

High School 13’s esports team repaid the support of their fellow students with a stellar performance. They were facing off against Shanghai International, one of the favourites for the title, and were up 2-0! They were only one victory away from making it to the Finals! High School 13’s students in the audience were losing their minds. This was it! Their school was finally making a name for itself! They finally had something to be proud of! Their esports club was one of the best in Shanghai! Maybe even the best!

“HIGH SCHOOL 13! HIGH SCHOOL 13!”
“WIN FENG! WIN FENG!”
“WOOOO! WE’RE GOING TO THE FINALS! WE’RE GOING TO THE FINALS!”
“CLEAN SWEEP, LET’S GOOOOO!”
“OH MY GOD IT’S HAPPENING!”
“CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? WE’RE THE ABSOLUTE BEST!”

Ouyang, Ren Rou, and Liu Yue were moving around in their seats. The hurricane of cheers smacked into them, lifting them up! They couldn’t hold back anymore. After all the hard work, the many hours locked up in a private booth in the NetCow Cafe, they were only one step away from reaching the Finals! Their team, of which they were very much a part, was doing the impossible! They were beating Shanghai International!

Ouyang was the first to jump up to his feet. He turned around to face the crowd and shouted, “SHOW THOSE DICKTWATS HOW LOUD WE ARE! WE ARE HIGH SCHOOL 13! WE ARE THE BEST! MY BROS ARE GOING TO WIN THIS WHOLE DAMN THING!”

Liu Yue shot up from his seat and put an arm around Ouyang’s shoulder, jumping up and down with his friend, screaming, “WOOT WOOT! WE’RE THE BEST AND SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL SUCKS BALLS!”

Ren Rou didn’t pull Ouyang down like she often did. She didn’t tell him to take it easy or to calm down. Instead, she got up and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. She started jumping in sync with him and Liu Yue and screamed at the top of her lungs, “HIGH SCHOOL 13 IS THE BEST! NO ONE CAN STOP US!”

An Xin looked up at her three new friends acting like happy fools. Then she glanced over her shoulder at the crowd, taking the whole scene in. She smiled and nodded. This is what it’s all about. This is what that big idiot lives for. It was also what she lived for. She felt goosebumps as another wave of cheers hit her. She grinned and turned back to look at the stage. At the man at the center of all of this. She nodded at him and said to herself, “You’ve done it. This game is over.”

✹

Yan Liang refused to give up. His eyes were bloodshot and his breathing uneven. He glanced over his monitor at the crowd. Stupid fuckers cheering for the wrong team… He looked back at his screen and at the ever growing kill and gold difference on the scoreboard. DAMMIT! He gritted his teeth. We can’t lose! Not like this! We’re stronger than we were last year! We were going to finally beat Shanghai High School! It can’t end like this! These fuckers don’t even know how to play the game! God fucking dammit! He panned his camera to the different lanes and started shouting commands over the team’s voice chat, 

“NO GIVING UP! We can still win this! Focus! FOCUS!”
“Liu Zhengjie, freeze that damn minion wave! I don’t want to see you pushing it out! And help your stupid Support get some vision! WE NEED VISION! VISION, GUYS, VISION!”
“Hey, Rek. Stop trying to gank. The Olaf is on your fucking ass the whole damn time! It’s not working! Get your level up! BECOME RELEVANT AGAIN!”
“Ward the jungle entrances! Buy pink wards! Don’t let that Olaf get back in our Jungle! WE HAVE TO STOP THAT DAMNED OLAF!”

The players from Shanghai International all agreed with Yan Liang. They couldn’t lose this game. This mentality didn’t stem from pride or the desire for a trophy. No. This was about something far more important. High School 13 was the butt of all jokes. Losing to them would be the single greatest embarrassment in their lives. They’d have to go to school and face their friends, knowing everyone was aware about their humiliating defeat at the hands of a no-name team. Just the thought of their friends laughing at them and joking about them behind their backs was enough of a motivator to give this game everything they had, and then some.

Fuck! Shit! To hell with it! We need to win! Shanghai International’s Toplaner was the first to take action. He had his Fiora Lunge at the Jarvan IV and then used her ultimate skill–Grand Challenge! The Blue tower targeted her, firing off an energy shot. But she pressed on. The four vitals were revealed on the Jarvan IV. She attacked three of them, then flashed behind him and hit the fourth. The Victory Zone appeared on the ground beneath her, healing her as the tower fired off another energy shot. She attacked the Jarvan IV with one final auto attack to kill him, then retreated back towards her side of the lane.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Westwind stood on his feet and cried out, “BEAUTIFUL! Shanghai International hasn’t given up yet! What a play by the Fiora! Let’s see if they can keep this up!”

Down in the bot lane, Shanghai International’s Morgana landed a Dark Binding on the Thresh. Liu Zhengjie’s Tristana fired a cannonball at the ground, launching herself towards the Thresh. She threw a bomb at the Thresh and charged it up with her auto attacks, only to get Exhausted by the Thresh. Then the Thresh flashed away and the Jinx healed him so that he could survive through the explosion of the bomb on his head. Liu Zhengjie didn’t give chase. He’d forced High School 13’s Botlaners to use three Summoner Spells. This would give him a huge advantage in lane for the next couple of minutes. That was enough.

The Shanghai International students in the audience erupted into cheers! This game was not lost yet! Their team just had to keep playing like they were right now, forcing High School 13 on the backfoot and picking up kills. Then, maybe, they could still win this game! This would be the start of their comeback. They started shouting words of encouragement to their stars, 

“Beat those lucky fuckers!”
“Show them how good we are!”
“HIGH SCHOOL 13’S LUCK HAS RUN OUT! LET’S KICK SOME ASSES!”
“Liu Zhengjie will carry this, trust me!”
“They were just giving High School 13 the idea they stood a chance. Haha! Brilliant!”
“THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO SEE! MORE PLEASE!”

✹

High School 13’s team wasn’t at all concerned with the sudden aggression from Shanghai International. It didn’t affect their game plan, nor did it threaten their control over the game. Lin Feng’s Olaf was still running amuck in Shanghai International’s Jungle, searching for opportunities to gank one of the three lanes. He found one in the mid lane. The Orianna pushed just a bit too far towards High School 13’s outer tower. He pinged in the mid lane and shouted over the team’s voice chat, “I’m coming mid! Attack her! Go in!”

“Got it!” Yang Fan answered, pressing down on his E key–Glacial Path! His Lissandra shot a claw of ice towards the Orianna. It glided over the icy ground until it was almost on top of the Orianna. Then the Lissandra blinked to its position and targeted the Orianna with her ultimate skill. Frozen Tomb! Two pillars of ice shot up from the ground and froze the Orianna solid within.

Lin Feng’s Olaf charged into the mid lane, a dense and thick bloody aura billowing out from him. It was the visual effect of his ultimate skill–Ragnarok! He was immune to all crowd control effects and had received a boost in movement speed! He threw his axe at the Orianna, damaging her–Undertow! He followed up with an auto attack. Then he jumped up into the air, raising his two axes above his head, and hacked down with such force that it dealt true damage to the Orianna and himself!

Yan Liang was frantically slamming down on his keyboard, impatient for the stun to break. It broke. His Orianna still had some health left. She flashed away towards her own inner tower, calling her Ball to her side for a shield–Command: Protect! Then she gave herself a movement speed bonus to negate the slow from Olaf’s Undertow.

“My axe is thirsty!” Lin Feng laughed, unconcerned. He had his Olaf chase after the Orianna and entered the outer tower’s range. He tanked the energy shot that was fired at him and continued to hack away at the Orianna. Another energy shot hit him. They ran past the outer tower and into the range of the inner tower. That was where the last bit of Orianna’s health disappeared. A third energy shot took Olaf’s health down to a dangerous level. But there were no Shanghai International players around to exploit this. The Olaf disappeared into the Jungle right above the mid lane, moving towards the closest Jungle Camp. He started attacking the monsters, using his lifesteal to get his health back up.

The crowd was eerily silent for a second, processing what’d just happened. The Olaf was so strong that he could tank multiple energy shots and attacks from the Orianna! That meant that he could run under any tower and kill any of Shanghai International champions he desired! He really was invincible right now! Ouyang was the first to break the silence. He screamed out, “FUCK YEAH! WHO ELSE WANTS TO DIE? NO ONE? I THOUGHT SO! HAHAHA!” This set off a new wave of cheers. The audience, save for the students from Shanghai International, shot up from their seats and threw their arms in the air, shouting, 

“KING OLAF FOR THE WIN!”
“SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL ARE ALL BITCHES!”
“HIGH SCHOOL 13 TO THE FINALS!”
“WOOO! EASY GAME WITH OLAF!”
“WANNA DUO QUEUE WITH ME, OLAF?”
“Damn. Hard carry by that Olaf player again. What a boss.”

Lin Feng had been farming Jungle Camps over the last couple of minutes. His Olaf had the Blue Buff, which lowered the cooldowns of his skills and increased his mana regeneration, allowing him to spam Undertow without having to worry about running out of mana. He went from one Jungle Camp to the next, throwing his axe back and forth, each time chasing after it to pick it up again. In the meantime, he kept his eye on the minimap, searching for opportunities. That was when he saw the Rek’Sai gank Yang Fan’s Lissandra. He was too far away to help, so he could only watch it happen. But then the Rek’Sai moved towards the bottom of  her side of the Jungle. Lin Feng was hovering near the bot lane, only a short distance away from Shanghai International’s Jungle. He didn’t need to think and directly started chasing after the Rek’Sai. He found her at the Gromp Camp.

Lin Feng had his Olaf throw an axe at the Rek’Sai, then ran forward to pick it up and throw it again. The Rek’Sai had used her skills in the gank in mid lane. Flash was also on cooldown. She found herself back in the same situation as a couple of minutes before. The Olaf attacked while she tried to run away. But his slow was too strong and her health was too low. He kept attacking until she only had a little bit of health left. Then he jumped up, raising his axes high above his head, and hacked down with such force that he dealt true damage to the Rek’Sai and himself–Reckless Swing! The Rek’Sai died; he lived.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Westwind shot up from his chair at the caster desk, microphone clutched in his grasp, and shouted, “OLAF HAS DONE IT AGAIN! He killed the Rek’Sai in her own Jungle! Is she safe anywhere? I THINK NOT! Don’t you guys agree?” He paused for a moment, winking at Silent Reed as the crowd cheered in response to him. Then he continued, “But some real talk here, guys. What this Olaf is doing isn’t all about luck. A really skilled Jungler can predict the pathing of their opponent and play accordingly. I’m pretty sure that’s what this Olaf here is doing. Insanely impressive. LET’S HEAR IT FOR OLAF!”

Silent Reed shook her head, smiling, as the crowd erupted into a second round of cheering. They hung on Westwind’s words, doing as he asked of them. She looked over at the stage and said, “That’s some prediction ability. The Olaf is practically living in the Rek’Sai’s jungle. Reminds me of that Jungler from a few years ago. What’s his name…”

Westwind turned to Silent Reed and said, “Right! Shit. I can’t remember either. You mean the, ‘your jungle is mine and my jungle is mine!’-guy, right?” He waited for the nod from Silent Reed and then continued, “They really do share some similarities. Maybe it’s a brother from another mother! Haha!”

In the private seating area of the competing teams, Zeng Rui sat at the edge of his seat, staring intently at the large screen. He was always meticulous in his approach. But until now, he hadn’t considered High School 13 a threat. He’d watched them play and concluded they weren’t good enough to make it to the Finals. The team he watched back then and the team in front of him right now were completely different. This team did have what it took to make it to the Finals. And that thundering dumbass also knew how to Jungle. Lin Feng had played every role at some point in the tournament and had never lost a game. Zeng Rui would be a fool if he didn’t recognize that. So, for the first time in this year’s Shanghai 16 School Tournament, he got really serious.

✹

Chu Fang watched the Semifinals backstage, out of view from others. He was grinning and laughing. There was a mixture of emotions overflowing from him. Joy. Gratification. Hope. It’s really him. It really is! He’d watched every second of the High School 13 games, every second of Lin Feng. He’s not there yet. But it’s him. It’s really him! He’ll get there again! Chu Fang couldn’t keep the smile from his face. He was beaming! All his hard work with setting up the Shanghai 16 School Tournament was worth it. He’d found the talent he’d been looking for! The biggest talent of them all. Lin Feng!

People across the world looked down on the Chinese competitive esports scene. The Americans didn’t take them seriously. The Europeans didn’t take them seriously. The Koreans made fun of them. Chu Fang shook his head in frustration. He wanted nothing more than to see a Chinese team make it back to the Worlds Finals. He wanted to see them win! The current teams weren’t realistic contenders. There was too much of a gap between them and the real top. So he’d focused his full attention on the next generation of players, doing everything within his power to find raw talent and prepare them for the big stage. I found him again!

Chu Fang forced himself to stay seated. But what he really wanted to do was jump up and down and hug everyone he could find. There were two stars being born in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Zeng Rui was a phenomenal Support. He’d proven that last year, and was doing so again this year. He consistently placed at the top of the solo queue ranked ladder, while solo games were his weak point. He would make it very far in the professional scene. Then there was Lin Feng. Chu Fang couldn’t stop himself from smiling every time that name crossed his mind. Lin Feng. It didn’t matter to him what anyone thought of the LPL or the Chinese competitive esports scene anymore. We got Lin Feng. He’ll shut them up!

✹

Shanghai International desperately tried to keep control of the game, but that was becoming increasingly difficult. In the previous two games, the trouble started in the mid lane and then found its way to the bot lane. This time around, it all happened in the Jungle. Lin Feng completely shut down the Rek’Sai. He stopped her from putting pressure on the map by always informing his teammates of her location. He stopped her from farming Jungle monsters by setting up a tent in her Jungle. He stopped her from ganking the lanes by always intercepting her. Everything she tried to do got shut down by him.

Rek’Sai gained the passive skill Tremor Sense when she Burrowed under the ground. She could feel the tremors of Champions walking nearby her. But this extra information didn’t give her the edge she needed. It might as well not have been there. Because the Olaf appeared in it when he wanted to, and didn’t appear in it when he didn’t want to. That didn’t say whether he was there or not, though.

Shanghai International’s Jungler started to doubt his own sanity, especially after a failed gank in the top lane. He’d wanted to help his Toplaner pick up a kill on the Jarvan IV. After destroying the wards he could find near the top lane and making sure the Olaf wasn’t nearby, he sped into the lane and attacked the Jarvan IV. But the Olaf was already there, waiting in a brush. High School 13 turned the gank around, killing the Fiora and the outer tower. The Rek’Sai survived. But that felt more like adding insult to injury than a win.

There were many, many people watching the stream by now. A large portion of them came to poke a little fun at the high school tournament. But they all stayed for the incredibly high level gameplay. A good 90% of the people watching were genuinely left speechless. They didn’t type a single word in chat. Fortunately, there was a very vocal 10%.

「I can’t believe this. Is that Olaf really a high schooler?」

「That Olaf is a Challenger, right? RIGHT? SOMEONE TELL ME!! IM LOSING MY FRIGGIN MIND HERE」

「WTF… i thought olaf was nerfed? did i miss some patchnotes??????????」

「OOMMMGGGGGGG <33333 OLAAFFFFFFF」

Chu Fang was reading through the messages in the stream chat, smiling. Maple was a Midlaner, but he could play any role… Chu Fang started grinning at himself, remembering something the Jungler on Lin Feng’s old team had said. “Hey, Lin Feng. You know… If you start playing Jungle, I swear, solo queue will be eleven times as toxic! All those damn dirty Junglers trying to imitate you!” Eleven… Chu Fang shook his head. He knew Eleven better than he knew Lin Feng. Eleven used to be one of the best Junglers in the world. He was right up there with the likes of Read XIII. But then he lost that spark that made him so special. Chu Fang sighed. Hah… What a shame. What a shame.

✹

At 10 minutes, Lin Feng had his Olaf roam towards the bot lane. He entered Shanghai International’s Jungle and walked into the brush right behind the outer tower. The Tristana and Morgana were underneath the tower, farming minions. Lin Feng had made sure to evade all the wards, so Shanghai International had no clue that he was there. His Olaf was strong enough to deal damage and tank several energy shots from the tower. The Blue minion wave was marching at the outer tower. Wei Dong and Tang Bingyao were ready.

Lin Feng pressed down on the D and then the R key–Ragnarok! A blood red haze washed over Olaf’s body as he became immune to all crowd control effects! His movement speed even gained two boosts on top of that; one from Ghost and the other from Ragnarok. Then he charged at the Morgana and Tristana, ignoring the tower and straight up attacking them!

The Morgana directly fired off a Dark Binding at the Olaf. But he was immune to crowd control effects, so it didn’t lock him down. The Tristana loaded a massive cannonball into her weapon and fired it off, intending to knock the Olaf away. But he was immune to crowd control effects, so it didn’t affect him. He charged at them and threw an axe. Then he auto attacked the Tristana with his other axe.

Tang Bingyao pressed down on her R key–Super Mega Death Rocket! Her Jinx raised her rocket launcher and fired off a super rocket that traveled through the bot lane before colliding with the Tristana and Morgana. A loud explosion followed, a smiley appearing in the resulting smoke cloud. The dust settled, revealing a corpse. The Tristana was killed by Tang Bingyao’s Jinx.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Wei Dong smashed down on the D key–Flash! His Thresh disappeared with a mottled flash of light and then reappeared on the other side of the Red minions. He followed up by throwing his sickle at the Morgana, hooking her–Death Sentence! Her health was low after Tang Bingyao’s attack and Lin Feng’s Olaf was on top of her. It only took a couple of swings with his axe to finish her off.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Lin Feng laughed and said over the team’s voice chat, “I got a kill! Nice! Let’s go and take Dragon now!”

The crowd in the venue were chanting the name of their new god. “WIN FENG! WIN FENG!” He was leading High School 13 to another win. “WIN FENG! WIN FENG!” There was no tower that could stop him. Man and Dragon alike feared him. “WIN FENG! WIN FENG!” At only 12 minutes in the game, he carried his team to a 4,000 gold lead over Shanghai International. “WIN FENG! WIN FENG!” He was invincible. “WIN FENG! WIN FENG!”

After High School 13 won the Level 1 teamfight against Shanghai International, Wei Dong snuck into their Jungle and placed a ward in the Blue Buff Camp. This gave Lin Feng all the information he needed. He knew exactly when the Rek’Sai killed the Blue Sentinel and when she started walking in the direction of the Red Buff Camp. He had his Olaf sneak into Shanghai International’s top side Jungle, going unnoticed, and hid in the brush next to the Red Buff Camp. There, he waited for the Rek’Sai. A murmur went through the crowd as they watched this happen.

“Man, that’s bloody dirty!”
“GET SOME WARDS! Damn idiots… It’s like they’ve never played the game before.”
“Maybe the Rek’Sai will check the brush?”
“This is going to be so sad for that Rek’Sai…”
“I’m kind of feeling bad for Shanghai International…”

Westwind shook his head and looked at the crowd. This play was going to be painful to watch. He had to do something to make everyone excited for it! He grabbed his microphone and said, “Why is everyone so quiet? This is EXCITING! The Olaf is showing us some real SKILL! Let’s hear it for Olaf and his first kill! WOOO!”

Silent Reed stared at the screen and said, “Rek’Sai’s early game will be ruined. Two deaths within five minutes. That’s just… I don’t know. Yan Liang and his team are going to have a hard time.”

Lin Feng sat in the brush, waiting. He panned his camera across the map to see how his teammates were doing, then turned his attention back to the Red Buff Camp. The Rek’Sai appeared from the fog of war a couple of seconds later. She attacked the Red Brambleback with an auto attack, then stopped. There was a slight hesitation as the fiery monster attacked her. It was as though it occurred to her that she should make sure the Olaf wasn’t anywhere near her. She walked into the brush next to her to get better vision of her surroundings. Fuck.

Lin Feng grinned. The Rek’Sai walked right into him. He pressed the Q key–Undertow! Lin Feng’s Olaf hurled his axe, hitting and slowing the Rek’Sai. He picked up his axe and threw it again. The Rek’Sai wanted to escape, but she had no Flash to jump over a wall and create some distance. There also weren’t any teammates that could come and help her, because she was in the middle of her Jungle, far away from the lanes. Another axe hit her. Her health was reaching critical levels. She tried to run towards Shanghai International’s base. But it was too far away. The axes kept coming until her health bar bottomed out.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Lin Feng clenched his fist and threw it up in the air, cheering, “Heck yeah! Invading is the best!”

✹

Viewers across different streams on various streaming platforms all felt the Rek’Sai’s pain. They’d all played games like this where an opponent was abusing them. These kinds of games were the most infuriating to play. They made you rage and scream at your screen. They made you fight the urge to punch a hole in the wall. They made you battle that voice in your head that was demanding you to throw your monitor out of the window. The viewers started flooding the chats.

「I’m not even playing the game, and I’m tilted just watching this!!」

「fk me! that olaf is so dirty」

「just feel bad for the rek… shit.. These kinda games are the worst」

「open mid? dont see those guys coming back from this」

「that fucking olaf knew reksai had no flash. fucking lowblow man」

「He played it brilliantly, no denying that. But come on, was that really necessary? Give that poor Rek’Sai a break!」

The mood was completely different in Su Xue’s stream. Her viewers enjoyed every second of this game. They loved seeing Lin Feng exploit the weaknesses of the opponent. His ‘show no mercy’-attitude made for some beautiful moments they would never forget. Some of the older viewers recalled the time that Lin Feng had set up a tent in bot lane, killing LovelyRose whenever she got back to lane. That was the kind of games they wanted to see! They flooded the chat with their excitement.

「lil bro the god! YEAAH!」

「NICE CATCH! Godlee does it again, WOOOOO!!!!!」

「We only bow to lil broooooo!!!!!」

「Hahahhahahahahahahhaha, didnt expect any different from lil bro!!」

「I pray to the Church of Lin Feng!!!!!1!11」

“Haha! Go Lin Feng!” Su Xue exclaimed, hopping up and down in her gaming chair. Then she turned to look at her webcam and said gleefully, “See! What did I tell you guys? Lin Feng’s the dirtiest player of ‘em all! No one’s dirtier than he is! Haha! That Jungler will want to uninstall the game by the end of this!”

✹

Shanghai International’s voice chat was quiet. It was a silence that made the air itself feel heavy. This game was supposed to be the moment they turned things around. After everything that had happened in the previous game, they’d agreed to leave that all behind them and focus on making it through to the Finals. They’d done their best to hype themselves and each other up. They’d prepared a game plan and worked out a strategy that was supposed to work. But before any of that could come into play, they were thrown on the backfoot in the Level 1 teamfight, directly followed by the Rek’Sai dying in her own Jungle. They found themselves back in the same mental state of the last game. Angry and frustrated. They were in no mood to talk.

Yan Liang took a deep breath. He looked at his teammates, chewing his frustration away on his lips, then said, “It’s fine, guys. Two kills, that’s all. Play it safe. Don’t give away anymore kills. We’re the better team. We have to win this.”

Back in the game, Lin Feng was on the move again. He had killed Rek’Sai and the Red Brambleback. There was nothing else for him in the Jungle, so he turned his attention to the top lane. He pinged on Shanghai International’s outer tower and said over the team’s voice chat, “Chen Ze, push out your lane. I’m coming!”

Chen Ze was initially being pushed back by Shanghai International’s Fiora. But when Lin Feng killed the Rek’Sai in Shanghai International’s Jungle, the Fiora directly stopped her aggression and retreated back towards her own outer tower. This gave Chen Ze the opportunity to have his Jarvan IV clear the Red minion wave and push the lane. The Blue minions marched towards Shanghai International’s outer tower and crashed into it. All the while, Lin Feng had his Olaf run through the Jungle into a brush behind the outer tower.

Yan Liang was paying careful attention to his minimap after the kill on Rek’Sai. He immediately noticed when the Fiora backed away and when the Jarvan IV took the opportunity to push the lane out. That’s odd. Why didn’t he freeze the lane? “Fishy,” he mumbled to himself. Another gank? That could… He made the decision right away. Something was going very wrong in the top lane. He had to be there and help his Toplaner out. So he had his Orianna fall back to the outer tower in the mid lane and Teleported to the Fiora, saying over the team’s voice chat, “I’m coming top!”

A pillar of red light descended on Shanghai International’s outer tower in the top lane. Lin Feng stared at it for a moment and then said over the team’s voice chat, “Oh. That was fast. Doesn’t matter. Abort, Chen Ze. I’ll go somewhere else.” He’d forced the Orianna to use her Teleport, a valuable Summoner Spell, and he hadn’t even had to do anything for it. On top of that, the Orianna would lose minions in the mid lane. He didn’t even need to gank to make this gank worth it!

Yan Liang was stewing in anger. He’d saved his Toplaner from a gank, probably. They never actually got vision on the Olaf. But he felt pretty confident that they’d stopped a gank. He had paid the price for it, though. He missed out on gold and experience in the mid lane and lost the small advantage he had built up over the Lissandra. Damn it! That damned Olaf! It’s the same every single fucking time! He was growing more irritated by the second. Lin Feng had beat him in Game 1. Lin Feng had beat him in Game 2. And now Lin Feng was strolling around in the Jungle, making Yan Liang’s entire team look like a bunch of beginners! Who the fuck does he think he is! He, he… Wait. Yan Liang suddenly remembered what had happened a week ago after the Quarterfinals. Chu Fang, the vice president of the Shanghai Esports Association, had come looking for Lin Feng. The two had interacted like they were old friends. Yan Liang turned away from his monitor to look at Lin Feng across the stage, mumbling, “How does he know Chu Fang? Just who the hell is he…”

✹

At 7 minutes, Yang Fan couldn’t hold the mid lane any longer. He just wasn’t good enough at the game to face off against a Master player. The Orianna always knew when to attack and she brought his health down to half. He was thinking of recalling back to base, trying to last hit a few more minions, when the Rek’Sai came for a gank. He smashed down on his D key–Flash! But the Rek’Sai was faster, flashing on top of his Lissandra and knocking her up into the air. Yang Fan adjusted his glasses, watching his screen turn grey, and said, “Shit! My bad. I was too late with my Flash. The Rek’Sai flash-engaged me. I won’t let it happen again. Sorry, guys.

Lin Feng shook his head and laughed. “No worries! You said the Rek’Sai flashed? I got this. Leave it to me. I’ll make her pay for killing you! Haha!”

After helping Yan Liang pick up a kill on the Lissandra, Shanghai International’s Jungler had his Rek’Sai path towards the bottom side of the Jungle. He was smiling ever so slightly again. The game was finally looking on the up. They were talking over the team’s voice chat again and he could feel his mood improving by the second. He had his Rek’Sai go to the Gromp Camp, located across from the Blue Buff Camp, and started attacking the big frog. And then he took an axe in the knee.

Lin Feng grinned and shouted, “It’s me again! Did you miss me? Haha!”

The Shanghai 16 School Tournament was the pathway to the professional League of Legends scene for the high schoolers of Shanghai. This was the big stage where everyone wanted to play and perform at! But there were also many people, both young and old, who wanted to watch the games. This was their chance to see the next generation of professional players! Some of them went to the venue, but there were far more who couldn’t make it. There were, after all, only 700 seats. So the Shanghai Esports Association had done the only logical thing. They’d approached different live streaming platforms and signed broadcasting deals with them. The Shanghai 16 School Tournament would be on the frontpage of every big streaming website for the Semifinals and Finals!

Chu Fang, who was the vice president of the Shanghai Esports Association, had put time, money, and effort into promoting the broadcast for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. He had prepared targeted ads and bought mentions on the streams of influencers. All that hard work proved to be worth it. When the stream went live on Huya TV, it opened with 5,000 viewers and that number kept climbing higher with every passing second. Family, friends, and fellow students who couldn’t make it to the venue tuned in. Diehard League of Legends fans took this high school tournament as an appetizer for the Season 5 Worlds Finals that was scheduled the next day. Then there were the trolls who opened the stream just to make fun of the players. They believed that high schoolers were too young to be any good at the game, so they were rubbing their hands together in anticipation, ready to start trolling and riling people up.

「LEL 5k peepz watching nubs play XD go watch lovelyrose, maybe you’ll GIT GUD」

「shit i was watching smutsentinal vids and got bored, so i hopped on huya. Think this might even be worse. At least i can get a laugh out of that cupnoodles guy.」

「Can’t believe there are so many idiots who want to see high schoolers play… Bunch of pedos if you ask me.」

「go watch lspl or lpl replays. better waste of your time morons」

The first game between Shanghai High School and Tonji Affiliated started. More and more people joined the stream, curious to see what so many others were watching. It was a high school tournament. Most scoffed and thought about clicking away. But they quickly changed their minds when they saw how well the two teams were playing. These weren’t kids fooling around. These were full fledged players, displaying high level tactics and gameplay! In fact, it was almost indistinguishable from professional games in the LSPL, and maybe even the LPL!

「Are these guys really still in high school? They’re so good!」

「hoho woww, man, you’d almost feel bad for those tonji kids. They’re getting dumpstered XDDDDDDD」

「OH SNAP! look at the shanghai high school support’s name! HE”S A CHALLENGER!!!!! I KNOW HIM!!! HE”S FRIGGIN GOOOODDDDDD」

「KEK UwU UwU CARRY ME DADDY」

Shanghai High School and Tonji Affiliated both showed impeccable individual and team play. This quickly garnered respect from the viewers. More people kept joining the stream, many of them sticking around to see how the series would end. They found it hard to believe a group of high schoolers were this good. But the evidence was right in front of them. They watched until Shanghai High School won 3-0 over Tonji Affiliated High. And then they kept watching as the second Semifinal series got underway. High School 13 versus Shanghai International.

「I heard Shanghai International is about as good as Shanghai High School. someone confirm?」

「yo i watched them last year! Pretty sure their ad-carry got scouted for an LSPL team!?」

「WOWA. Forreals? That good????? We got more of this coming? SWWEEETTTTTT」

「pls let hs13 be better than tonji <33333 k thx」

「Lawl. HS13 sucks balls. Bunch of noobs that got lucky. GO SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL!」

「Ripperoni in pepperoni High School 13」

The Shanghai International fans were spamming the chat. They were quick to talk their team up and High School 13 down. Many viewers expected a one-sided stomp. A quick series that would show why Shanghai International was an amazing team and why their ad-carry would make it onto the professional scene! But then the first game started. It was indeed a one-sided stomp, just that the Annie did all the stomping.

「THAT ANNIE! My sweetness! She deserves a cookie! SO SICK!!!」

「hahahha so much damage. I’m betting my left testicle that she’s getting banned next game, HARHAR」

「I’ll tattoo a dick on my forehead if she doesn’t get banned!!!!」

「screenshotted! Better get that ink gun ready bitch, cuz if you don’t imma find you.」

The second game went into Champion Select. The bans came and went and then the players started locking in their Champions. The viewers were trolling around in chat, having a good time and not really paying attention. That was, until Lin Feng locked in Twisted Fate. The chat quickly zoomed in on that.

「holy crap, that’s bm[mfn]bad mannered[/mfn] as fk!!!!」

「oh man, I bet you that midlaner from shanghai international is praying to his gods that this twisted fate is shitty as shit, hahahaha」

「eh, idk guys. tf into lb? my moneys on the lb」

「either way somebody’s booty bout to get slapped」

The game started. Lin Feng was pressured at the start, but quickly turned that around into an early kill. Then he patiently bided his time, farming minions in his lane and monsters in the jungle, until he hit Level 6. His Twisted Fate could finally use his ultimate skill–Destiny! He used this to gank bot lane and help his team pick up a kill. Then a few minutes later, he went to the bot lane again, this time with teleport, to help his team win big again. Lin Feng was carrying the game, just like in Game 1, and the viewers couldn’t get enough of him.

「look at the facecam! The midlaner from High School 13 is good AND cute!」

「he’s got it all…. so unfair. someone go and make him ugly pls.」

「I love how he’s showing SI’s Midlaner how to play TF. That’s some real BM right there!」

「such a HOTTIE! if only i was a few years younger >.<”」

「TEACH ME SENPAI! I WANNA BE GOD LIKE YOU!!!!」

「wait… i think i’ve seen him somewhere before.wasn’t he that kid that played with Nightsong in bot lane!? He was that Vayne, and Nightsnng was Blitz! why is he mid, i thought he was an adc main! lmaaaao.」

The number of viewers on the livestream grew to such an extent that it also started to get the attention of famous streamers. Amongst them was Twilight, a retired professional player. His viewers had asked him to open the stream and give his opinion on the level of gameplay. Twilight had played in the LPL, so they really wanted to know what he thought of these high schoolers. Twilight opened the stream and watched it. He planned to watch it for a few minutes and move on. But he soon forgot about the time. This was a good game. A really good game. The Twisted Fate especially left a deep impression on him. He ended up watching the entire game before finally turning to look at his webcam and saying, “That Twisted Fate, right? That kid’s got talent. His roams and awareness are insane. I can see him go pro.”

✹

Su Xue had told Lin Feng that she would be cheering for him in his upcoming matches. But it just so happened that she’d scheduled a duo queue session with Ol’ Black when Lin Feng was playing in the Semifinals. She’d apologized profusely to Lin Feng and explained the situation to him. He said he understood and that it really wasn’t a big deal. So she’d stayed home and was streaming with Ol’ Black. This gave her a large pool of potential new viewers, something she’d do anything for.

Ol’ Black was casually playing a few games with Su Xue, reading through his stream chat and replying to messages from his viewers. There wasn’t anything interesting happening at first, but then his viewers started talking about the tournament stream. He raised his eyebrows and said over the voice chat, “Hey, Snowfall, didn’t you say lil bro of yours is playing in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament? He made it to the semis, right?”

“Yeah. I guess he’s probably playing right now,” Su Xue replied. “Why?”

Ol’ Black said, “Some viewers are talking about it. Looks like the tournament is being streamed. Wanna go watch it?”

“Wait, WHAT?” Su Xue yelped. “It’s being live streamed? Yes! Of course! Let’s go watch it!”

This new bit of information also got a strong response from Su Xue’s viewers. They’d much rather see Lin Feng compete than watch the maid play some duo queue! So they took it upon themselves to announce that to her.

「Be a good maid and show us the stream! Then go fetch me some water! No wait! Get off the stream and bring water to lil bro! Hes probably thirsty right now!」

「SHOW US THE STREAM! WE WANNA SEE LIL BRO PLAY!!!!!」

「exit that queue! go watch lil bro! how did you not know this? this stupid maid. smh.」

「I’m only here for lil brooooooooo!!!!!!1!!! LIL BRO IS MY HERO」

Su Xue looked at the webcam and said, “Haha, you guys are so funny.” But she did as they asked, mostly because she herself wanted to watch Lin Feng play. She opened the Shanghai 16 School Tournament stream just in time to watch the Level 1 teamfight in Game 3 break out. They witnessed Thresh’s hook on the Rek’Sai, followed by Lin Feng chasing away four players from Shanghai International with only an axe. Su Xue couldn’t stifle her laughter as she said, “So cool! Go, Lin Feng! He made them all Flash away! Amazing!”

「AMAAAZZIINNNGGGGGG」

「666666666666 siicckckkkkkk playyzzzzz」

「dayummmm, look at that score! 2-0! If they win this, they’re through to the finals!」

「carry them to the finals, lil bro! IN LIL BRO WE TRUST!!!」

Su Xue cheered with her viewers, watching Lin Feng take the Blue Buff and then heading towards the Red Buff Camp on Shanghai International’s side of the map. “Ohhh! He’s invading! Lin Feng is invading! GoGoGo!”

It was time for Game 3 of the Semifinals match between High School 13 and Shanghai International! This was going to be a real thriller! The match of the century! 30 minutes that no one would ever forget! At least, that was what the crowd was desperately hoping for it to become. The previous two games had left them thoroughly disappointed, with both games being decided in the first 10 minutes. They wanted something more. The first signs of Game 3 looked promising. Lin Feng had switched to the Jungler-position, with a substitute taking his place in the mid lane. He’d been the most dangerous player on Summoner’s Rift this Semifinal. High School 13 had won the first two games because of him. And now he was going to play another role. Most players excelled at only one role. Everyone thought Lin Feng would be the same, so they didn’t understand why High School 13 made this substitution. Maybe it was overconfidence, arrogance, or a carefully planned strategy. Honestly, it didn’t matter which it was, as long as the change would put new life in this Semifinal.

Lin Feng played Olaf, a Champion he’d always liked. “Throw axe, pick up axe. Throw axe, pick up axe…” was how he explained it. That was the essence of Olaf. He was a viking with thick, burly muscles and two large axes. One of his skills was called Undertow. He could throw one of his axes forward. It would damage and slow all the minions, monsters, and Champions it passed through. Then he could chase it down and pick the axe up from the ground. That lowered the cooldown to almost zero, allowing him to throw it again.

High School 13 and Shanghai International started the game off fairly normally. They bought items in the shop and went into their own halves of the Jungle to ward. It looked like the same start of the last two games and some people in the audience started booing. But then something different happened. Shanghai International gathered up as a team and moved towards the bottom side river to place a deep ward near the Blue Team’s Red Buff Camp. High School 13 was gathering up in the brush in the middle of the river. Shanghai International would have to walk through it to place their ward. The crowd got rowdy in anticipation.

Westwind’s face lit up when he saw what was happening. He started beaming, shouting into his microphone, “OH! OH! A Level 1 teamfight!” The last two games had an uninspiring first couple of minutes. He would read out the team compositions, and discuss potential game plans with his co-caster Silent Reed. He could still hype up the crowd, but it wasn’t nearly so much fun as hyping them up for an actual play! He clutched the microphone tighter in his grasp and said, “WOO! I hope you guys watching are as excited as I am! Let’s fight!”

Silent Reed smiled and said, “This can go either way! Yan Liang’s team has the Morgana. But High School 13 has Thresh’s hook and Olaf’s axe! Anything can happen!”

The people in the crowd weren’t as reserved as Silent Reed. She was the caster. She had to be neutral and evaluate both teams. They didn’t. They could say whatever they were thinking. Right now, they thought it was obvious who was going to win this Level 1 teamfight.

“3-0. Game over.”
“Man, I can’t believe this shit luck. All I wanted was one good game.”
“Thresh and Olaf. Lol. Easy win.”
“High School 13 doesn’t even have to try. Shanghai International is just giving it to them…”
“GO LIN FENG! Kick some ass!”
“YAN LIANG! Don’t go in! GO BACK!”

Shanghai International’s team was walking through the bottom side of their Jungle, along the wall of the Blue Buff Camp. There was an opening to the river here, half of it covered by a brush. They headed down through the brush and into the river together, while Yan Liang was explaining part of their game plan over the team’s voice chat. “We want Rek’Sai to make an early gank in bot to help keep that Jinx down. Then we want to place our attention on mid, so th—” They stood in the middle of the river. There was one small brush right in front of them. The Thresh from High School 13 walked towards it, while the Jinx stepped out of it. “SHIT! BACK! BACK! BACK!” Yan Liang yelled over his team’s voice chat.

High School 13’s entire team was hiding in that one brush. Lin Feng was the first to see the players from Shanghai International appear right in front of them. He directly pinged on top of them and shouted over his team’s voice chat, “OH! Look! Them! Let’s fight! Wei Dong, ENGAGE! Kill them all!”

Wei Dong pressed down on his D key–Flash! His Thresh disappeared with a mottled flash of light and reappeared on the other side of the brush, right on top of Shanghai International’s team. He followed up with Death Sentence. The sickle cut through the air and struck the Rek’Sai, hooking her. Then the Thresh walked backwards, dragging the Rek’Sai back with him.

Westwind couldn’t contain himself any longer, much like the crowd. There was action! He shouted into the microphone, “THE HOOK LANDS! THE HOOK LANDS!”

“Back. Back! RETREAT!” Yan Liang shouted over the team’s voice chat again, while having his Orianna run away. They had the weaker Level 1 team and they were caught out of position. That was reason enough for him to not even consider fighting. His teammates agreed. They quickly followed after him, the Morgana throwing a Dark Binding behind her to slow High School 13 down. But she was too quick. High School 13 hadn’t even started chasing after them yet. The Dark Binding struck the Thresh. He was the only target on High School 13’s team she didn’t want to hit. He didn’t deal any damage and had already used his only available skill. Hitting him was no different from wasting her team’s only crowd control skill.

Lin Feng laughed and shouted over his team’s voice chat, “I’m going in!” Then he activated Ghost. His Olaf received a burst of speed as he charged after the players from Shanghai International. He threw his axe at them, hitting three and slowing them–Undertow! They continued running away and he chased after them, leaving his teammates behind.

Tang Bingyao didn’t follow Lin Feng. She had her Jinx take out her minigun and fired away at the locked down Rek’Sai, shearing away the Champion’s health. Chen Ze and Yang Fan also had their Champions attack the Rek’Sai. They were still Level 1, so they didn’t deal a lot of damage. But it was enough.

The Rek’Sai’s health dropped below 20% before she broke free from the Thresh’s hook. She then panic-flashed towards a wall, hoping to jump through it to the other side. But she hit the middle of the wall and was thrown back by it. She had no more abilities to escape from the four Champions attacking her and lost the last bit of her health.

《First Blood!》

Meanwhile, Lin Feng was in Shanghai International’s bottom side Jungle. He had his Olaf pick up the axe he’d thrown and then hurled it at the three Champions in front of him again, reapplying the slow. Then he continued running after them fearlessly. He didn’t need his teammates right now. He was Olaf! All he needed was his axe!

The three Shanghai International players were frantic. There was an Olaf hot on their heels, who was constantly slowing them. The Jungle suddenly looked a lot bigger than it normally did. Safety was far away and it felt like any second now, another axe could hit them. There was nothing they could do to stop the Olaf, short of killing him. But that didn’t seem realistic with the rest of High School 13 right behind him. So they resorted to the only method they knew for a fact would work. They flashed away.

The Level 1 teamfight drew to a close. The smoke settled and it became very clear who’d come out the winner. High School 13 had used three Summoner Spells; Wei Dong had used Flash and Exhaust, and Lin Feng had used Ghost. Meanwhile, they’d forced Shanghai International to waste four Flashes and they’d also picked up First Blood. At this point, this game was theirs to lose. They knew it, as did the people in the crowd.

“Damn.”
“Holy what? That Olaf is fucking nuts!”
“Someone, pinch me. Please. This can’t be real. I must be having a nightmare. I must be…”
“WOOO! LIN FENG, LET’S GOOOOO!”
“That’s game right there. Another easy win for High School 13. GREAT.”
“Shanghai International got wrecked!”
“NO RESPECT! 1vs4 chase and Shanghai International just ran away! HAHA!”

In the private seating area, the players from Shanghai High School were finally starting to realize what was happening. Even after the second game, they still thought Shanghai International would turn it around and make it through to the Finals. Shanghai High School’s Midlaner was the first to voice what they were all thinking, “Shit. Are they really going to 3-0 Shanghai International? What the eff is this?”

Zeng Rui didn’t say anything. He sat in his chair, eyes wide and mouth hanging open, staring at the player at the center of this all. That thundering dumbass… How did he… In the previous rounds of the tournament, it was very easy to see through High School 13’s tactic. But that was mostly because there was no real tactic. They were, for the most part, winning games purely through the skill of one player. This Semifinal was different. High School 13 was playing really well. They had a well thought out game plan and executed it perfectly. How did they… Zeng Rui shook his head. He couldn’t even come up with a proper analysis for Game 3. It just didn’t make any sense to him. High School 13 had gained so much from that Level 1 teamfight. “How… How…” he mumbled on repeat.

Back on stage, Shanghai International’s players were sitting quietly behind their computers, dazed. This game was supposed to be theirs! They were going to mount a comeback and show everyone why they were the favourites! Yan Liang’s lips started quaking from a mix of rage and fear. FUCK! We needed first blood! We! Us! Not them. Not again. Why! Why? WHY! It doesn’t make ANY SENSE! IT DOESN’T! WHY? No. Argh! I… NO! WHAT! AHHHH!

Liu Zhengjie glanced across the stage at Tang Bingyao, mumbling, “That stupid fucking girl. Lucky again.” He’d just talked with his team about making sure she wouldn’t pop off again. Now the first minion wave had just spawned and she already had a kill. He had to lane against her again starting from a deficit. “God fucking dammit! These useless motherfuckers!”

✹

Lin Feng had his Olaf go towards the Blue Buff Camp, happily humming. Then he turned to look across the stage and saw the expressions and glares from Shanghai International’s players. He started laughing and said, “Looks like they’re tilting again!” He then turned back to look at his screen and had his Olaf kill the Blue Sentinel. After which he headed straight for Shanghai International’s Red Buff Camp.

Chen Ze was in top lane, which was closest to the Red Team’s Red Buff Camp. He warned, “Be careful! Don’t overdo it!” But Lin Feng hardly listened. He just laughed it off, full of confidence, and said, “It’s fine! Don’t worry. I’m really good at invading with Olaf, too!”