Back in base. His Jax had a purse full of gold. Lin Feng spent it all before looking around the map. Teleport was off cooldown. He could go anywhere and go for another play. “Ready for battle!” he laughed. His gaze landed on top lane. On the Fiora who was last hitting minions. She was patient, refraining from pushing the lane and only attacking when the minions were on their last breath. But the wave was still pushing out and she was already fighting them next to the ruins of her outer tower.

Lin Feng started smiling. Wide. Bright. Evil. Earlier, when he’d gone through the top side jungle of Bright High to gank the Orianna in mid lane, he’d left a ward at the Red Buff Camp. From there, it was a short trip up to top lane. The Fiora was in the open. He could cut off her path of retreat. Like a fish on the chopping board. At this pace, she’d be worth less than a cannon minion in another few minutes. He pressed down on the F key, his mouse hovering over the ward in the Red Buff Camp.

“Surprise! I’m back,” Lin Feng muttered as his Jax appeared at Bright High’s Red Buff Camp. He then had his Jax move up towards top lane, past the Krugs and into the brush separating top lane from the jungle. The Fiora had no wards in her jungle and no sight of the Jax. So, after killing the last few minions in top lane, she’d started to back. Better be safe than sorry. But she was still too late. Lin Feng’s Jax came running out of the brush and struck her with his lamppost!

W-where! What! How the hell… Why from there? I— There was no time. The Fiora player knew this. His Champion was no match for the Jax. He had to get out. Now! He pressed the Q key and then the F key. His Fiora Lunged towards her inner tower, then flashed a short distance. Anything to get closer to her inner tower. Anything to get away from the Jax!

“Taste my lamppost! Haha!” Lin Feng laughed as he clicked on the Fiora and pressed on his Q key. His Jax Leap Striked onto the Fiora. A transparent mantle appeared over Jax’s head–Counter Strike! The Fiora couldn’t attack him, not that she was trying to. She was trying to get away! But he was on top of her. She had no more mobility skills. He hit her with his lamppost, then used Empower to reset the internal cooldown of auto attacks. His weapon lit up. This attack would deal bonus damage! He followed up with a third auto attack. It was strengthened by the passive of Grandmaster’s Might.

《You have slain an enemy!》

The difference was too big between the two. Levels. Items. Skill. Lin Feng held the advantage in every aspect. The Fiora didn’t stand a chance. Worse even, Lin Feng didn’t even have to go all out. He hadn’t even used the active part of his ultimate! He hadn’t needed to, because the Fiora didn’t attack him and she was too far away from her inner tower. So he never even got in tower range. It was all too easy.

✹

Lin Feng wasn’t the only player on High School 13’s team who was winning his lane. Yang Fan was only Platinum. Bright High’s Orianna was Diamond 2. But that didn’t stop Yang Fan from going even in lane. And after Lin Feng had come for that gank and had killed the Orianna, Yang Fan had used that brief period of solo farm in lane to pull ahead of the Orianna. It was a small advantage, but it turned out to be enough for him. He pushed the advantage and was even starting to win his lane!

Tang Bingyao and Wei Dong were fairing even better in bot lane than Yang Fan was in mid. They’d become a really strong duo, especially over the last couple of days. Their lane was Lucian and Alistar versus Jinx and Blitzcrank. Jinx was as strong as ever, while Lucian had fallen off a bit after the last few patches. But even so, there was nothing in this game suggesting this. If anything, it looked like Jinx was the one who’d been nerfed.

Tang Bingyao and Wei Dong were pushing the minion waves into Bright High’s outer tower. Bright High’s Lee Sin was being kept busy elsewhere on the map, so they didn’t have to worry much about a possible gank. They focused entirely on poking down the Jinx and Blitzcrank. To the point where Blitzcrank’s passive skill activated. Mana Barrier gave him a temporary shield based on his mana when he dropped to low health.

The shield gave the Blitzcrank some confidence. He only had it for a little. This was the time to go in and try a play! It could turn the lane around! He Overdrived into position and then shot out his right arm, trying to grab and hook the Lucian. But Tang Bingyao was prepared. She knew he’d come. That was what Blitzcranks did. She had her Lucian dash to the side, dodging the hook–Relentless Pursuit!

The Blitzcrank had moved forward, away from his tower. The Blitzcrank had used his crowd control skills. The Blitzcrank was out of position. Wei Dong knew this was his moment to shine. He hit down on the D key–Flash! His Alistar flashed forward, reappearing on top of the Blitzcrank. He then raised his bulky, muscular arms up and with the power of his bovine body smashed down on the ground–Pulverize! The Blitzcrank was launched into the air, while the Alistar moved towards Bright High’s tower and then turned around. He dug his hooves in the ground and pushed off, charging forward and ramming his horns into the Blitzcrank, knocking him back–Headbutt!

Tang Bingyao had her Lucian aim his two guns and shoot a bolt of Piercing Light through the Blitzcrank! This activated his passive, Lightslinger. Whenever Lucian used an ability, his next attack would be a double-shot. The Blitzcrank’s Mana Barrier disappeared. His health dropped low. Lucian shot a missile in a star shape, marking the Blitzcrank. He followed up with another double-shot. And then another auto attack.

《An enemy has been slain!》

Lin Feng heard the voice announcer and quickly panned his camera to bot lane. The Jinx was hiding under her tower, while Tang Bingyao’s Lucian stood over the corpse of the Blitzcrank. He smiled and said, “Nice job at bot! Great kill, Tang Tang!”

“Thank Wei Dong. It was his Alistar play. I didn’t do much there,” Tang Bingyao replied.

Lin Feng wouldn’t let Tang Bingyao walk away without accepting the compliment. So he said, “Doesn’t matter! It was some beautiful teamplay! That’s what bot is all about! You guys are doing awesome together and that’s why you’re picking up those kills! Great job to the both of you!”

Tang Bingyao tilted her head, glancing over at Lin Feng. Maybe he has a point? She took a deep breath. Maybe he does. She smiled and nodded, “Mhm!”

✹

Zeng Rui, Support and captain of Shanghai High School’s esports team, was still watching the game between High School 13 and Bright High. There was some interest. Just a smidge. He had to take all his opponents seriously. Most of all those who were performing above and beyond how everyone expected them to. That was why High School 13 was important. One of the weakest teams last year, and this year they made it all the way to the main tournament. That wasn’t the difference of just one player. This could only be if the whole team had become better.

Beyond the last year, just over this last week, High School 13 had become a stronger team. This had Zeng Rui’s full attention right now. More specifically, it was High School 13’s bot lane and then mostly the Support. That Alistar engage, the Flash into Headbutt, was done perfectly. He’d waited for the right moment. Combined his skills accurately. Zeng Rui himself couldn’t have done it any better! But it wasn’t just this one play. There was something more. It was this Alistar’s entire play style that was a step up from only a week ago.

Zeng Rui looked away from the large monitor and towards the players sitting behind their computers. Towards the ad-carry and Support from High School 13. A girl and a guy. Their synergy is getting really good. They’ve improved so much in only a week. Ah, it doesn’t matter. It really didn’t matter. There was nothing for him to worry about. Yes, High School 13’s Botlaners were playing a great game. They were getting better every game it looked like. But they were still a far cry from himself and his ad-carry. There was no way they could get that good anytime soon.

“The others are good. But in the end, the biggest threat is still…” Zeng Rui shook his head, while turning towards High School 13’s Toplaner. His eyelids twitched. He bit on his lips. He didn’t want to say it. Or admit it. But. “…that thundering dumbass playing Jax.”

✹

There was no need for Lin Feng to play too seriously. He was just having fun. His Jax was fed. No one could stop him. He pushed out the minion wave in top lane, all the way towards Bright High’s inner tower. What he’d done so far to the Fiora still wasn’t enough. He’d make sure she wouldn’t get anything! You want the minions? He grinned. Come. I won’t attack you. Promise! He started laughing. “Hehehe.” I won’t attack you. Really. Just get some farm. It’s free! “Hehehe.” He leaned towards his screen, devious. Then his mouth opened into an even bigger grin. Oh oh! Yes! A few more steps! “Hehehe.” Since you’re here already, how about having a taste of my lamppost!

The Fiora stepped forward. Lin Feng had his Jax Leap Strike onto her. He then whacked her with his lamppost. “Oh?” Lin Feng mumbled. “So it’s a bait. Alright.” He shrugged as he watched the Orianna walked out of the jungle, trying to cut his retreat off. But he wasn’t planning on retreating. He was Jax. “Come at me together! Try! See what happens!” He laughed, then pressed on his W key–Empower! His Jax had just hit the Fiora for a second time. The internal cooldown for his auto attack reset. His lamppost lit up. It was the third attack, which activated the passive from his ultimate, Grandmaster’s Might. A super empowered auto attack hit the Fiora. It knocked her to the ground and she couldn’t get back up.

《Dominating!》

That was Jax’s sixth kill. Zero deaths. But if it was up to Bright High, they’d do something about that. The Orianna used her ultimate skill–Command: Shockwave. Her Ball unleashed a shockwave, launching all enemy Champions towards it and dealing damage to them. In this case, that enemy was Jax. Lin Feng activated Counter Strike to mitigate some of the damage, but the crowd control aspect pulled him towards her. Not that he minded. Now he could kill her too. Except for the fact that at that very moment, another player from Bright High showed himself. Safeguarding out from the jungle was Lee Sin!

West Wind sat at the caster’s desk, leaning forward. Just a little closer to the large screen. “This is exciting! It looks like Bright High is putting everything on killing the Jax! They might actually do it here!”

Silent Reed nodded and added, “That Jax is going to have to run. Orianna and Lee Sin together is just too much damage. He’s far ahead, but those two have everything to kill him.”

The two commentators were spot on. When Lin Feng saw the Lee Sin, he dropped his immediate plan of killing Orianna and ran back up the top lane. He stuck close to the jungle wall. The Lee Sin hit him with a Sonic Wave. One he didn’t side step. His finger was on the D key, ready to press down. Ready to Flash. The Lee Sin activated the second half of his Q skill–Resonating Strike! He dashed towards the Jax. Lin Feng pressed down and exclaimed, “It’s not over yet!”

The Jax flashed over the jungle wall. The Lee Sin followed after him. Then he placed a ward back on the other side. The side where the Orianna was. The Orianna who was trying to rush towards him. He Leap Striked over the wall and onto the ward, finding himself right in front of the Orianna. He followed up with an auto attack, then used Empower to reset his auto and attacked again! The next auto attack triggered the bonus damage from Grandmaster’s Might! He swung down his lamppost, knocking the last bit of health out of the Orianna’s health bar.

《Double kill!》

A stunned silence washed over the crowd. Over the shoutcasters. Even over the Orianna player. All he could do was stare at his screen. It was grey. He was dead. That Jax… They’d ganked up on him. A 3vs1! He shouldn’t have gotten a single kill! They should’ve killed him! But here they were. Two deaths. And the Jax was still alive. He stared at his screen, dazed. M-my Orianna…

《First blood!》

There was a stunned silence in the crowd. Everyone had just watched Lin Feng Flash away from the Lee Sin and Fiora. But the game announcer didn’t lie. The next moment, the Jax was suddenly on top of the Fiora’s corpse. Silent Reed shook the people at the venue awake, “Wow! Beautiful! That was amazing! Jax picks up First Blood!”

Su Xue was the first in the crowd to react. She jumped to her feet and threw her fist up in the air. “GO LIN FENG! Hahaha! Nice! First blood!”

Zuo You looked at the large screen above the stage, wide-eyed. “Damn. That play was so sick. Like. Damn.”

However, it wasn’t over yet. Lee Sin was still alive and Jax had almost no health left. The Lee Sin was briefly caught off guard. He’d just spent all his skills and abilities on chasing down the Jax, only to see his own Toplaner dying. Still, there was one consolation. He was now between High School 13’s outer tower and the Jax. The Jax was maybe two attacks from death. This was his chance.

But then, a wild Rek’Sai appeared! She dug a tunnel and Unburrowed right underneath the Lee Sin! He was knocked Airborne. The Jax turned around and slammed down with his lamppost, while the Rek’Sai bit Lee Sin. Her teeth sunk into his skin and tore away his health. Then the Jax’s lamppost lit up. It was empowered. He thwacked the Lee Sin. Killed him.

《Double kill!》

“WOOOO!” West Wind shouted from behind the caster desk. “What a play! Jax did it! The Toplaner for High School 13 picked up the double kill! That was amazing!”

“Tell me about it!” Silent Reed said. She looked at Lin Feng sitting behind his computer. He looked as calm and relaxed as before the game. “That Jax just got a double kill and double buffs. The Fiora is screwed. I bet they’re having some not so fun talks in Bright High’s voice chat. Would be great if we could listen in.”

✹

Lin Feng pressed on the B key, recalling back to base. Then he leaned back in his chair and laughed, “Haha! That’s game. Fiora is useless now! Haha!” His Jax was 2/0/0 with double buffs, while Fiora was 0/1/0. She had the level and gold disadvantage. On top of that, Lin Feng’s Jax gained mana regen and cooldown reduction from the Blue Buff and burn damage from the Red Buff. This was literally a worst case scenario for the Fiora and Bright High.

Shanghai High School was also in the crowd today. They weren’t playing, but one of their rivals in Tonji Affiliated High did. Those games were quick and fast and Zeng Rui learned from them what he wanted to. But instead of going back home, he stuck around for the High School 13 series. He wanted more intel on that Support from last game. The one who was now playing in the top lane. He watched the gank. How the Lee Sin tried to make a play and how the Fiora screwed her team over. Idiot! Fool! You were one attack from dying. Why would you go in? Are you already inting? You knew that Jax still had his Q. He could leap to you whenever he wanted. You were practically asking to get killed…

After cursing the Fiora for being a mindless fool a little while longer, Zeng Rui turned his attention to the Jax. To High School 13’s Toplaner. The reflexes Lin Feng showed. His awareness. These were things no ordinary player had. This play wasn’t something a beginner could pull off. It wasn’t dumb luck, it was skill of the highest level. He gazed at Lin Feng, coldly. Like I thought. He was just messing around in Support. This guy, he’s a really dangerous Toplaner. We should be wary of him.

✹

Bright High had lost the top lane. The Fiora did come back. She tried. She really did. But there was nothing she could do to pull the lane back in her favour. Lin Feng wouldn’t give her the chance to. Whenever she approached a minion, he had his Jax Leap Strike on her and gave her a thwack with his lamppost. A simple combo that dealt a third of the Fiora’s health as damage. It didn’t matter if the Fiora used Riposte. She was immobile while it was active. Lin Feng just waited it out, standing right next to her. And then slammed an empowered lamppost in her face. All she could do was Lunge away and hide under her outer tower.

Lin Feng pushed hard into Bright High’s outer tower in top lane. The Fiora was barely safe hiding underneath it. Realistically, she wasn’t. Not if there came a gank. So Lee Sin is around, or coming. Lin Feng was fully prepared for this. He’d instructed Liu Yue to come to top lane and be ready for a countergank.

It took too long. The Lee Sin didn’t show himself and Liu Yue was just hiding in the tri brush right beneath the outer tower. The Fiora had almost no health. All Lin Feng and Liu Yue had to do was juggle the tower aggro, so as to not give away a kill. That wasn’t going to be hard either. The Rek’Sai dug a tunnel from the fog of war and Unburrowed right beneath the Fiora, knocking her Airborne. Lin Feng followed up with his Jax, jumping on her and thwacking her to death with an Empowered strike of his lamppost.

《You have slain an enemy!》

The Rek’Sai backed away immediately after delivering the knock up. She got out of tower aggro in the exact moment after Lin Feng dealt the killing blow. This meant that the aggro wouldn’t shift to Lin Feng’s Jax. They both got out alive after picking up the kill. To add insult to injury, the Lee Sin walked through top lane to the outer tower. He showed himself as the Fiora died, then turned around and ran away. High School 13 had picked up a kill and wasted the Lee Sin’s time! It was another win-win!

Behind the caster desk, West Wind and Silent Reed were watching the large screen. High School 13’s Toplaner and Jungler were taking top tower after picking up a kill, while the Lee Sin was hovering in the back. Just walking back and forth, looking for a way in but not finding one. West Wind shook his head and said, “Is that Fiora really Diamond 2? It doesn’t look like it to me. And that Lee Sin. What is he doing there?” He grabbed his notepad and flipped through the information on Bright High. His finger traced what was written down about the Toplaner. “Diamond 2, yeah. That’s what they claim he is…”

West Wind’s analysis wasn’t quite fair. Anyone would struggle against a double buff and double kill Jax. He was a walking calamity. The Fiora player was angry. Infuriated! Enraged! He wanted to grab his monitor and throw it into the crowd! From the moment he walked into lane, he was at a disadvantage. The Jax had started on the Raptor Camp. He hadn’t. It only got worse. The Jax snowballed. And now all he could do was sit under his tower and hope the Jax would show him some mercy.

Lin Feng was merciful. Or rather, he understood there wasn’t much more he could take from the Fiora. She was out of the game. It would take more than a little farm for her to get back into it. He could pressure her, and that would surely help his team push for a win, but there was something better he could do. There was a mid lane that was in full swing. He would go there and throw his weight around!

✹

At 5:40 minutes, Lin Feng pushed the minion wave in top lane towards Bright High’s inner tower. Then he had his Jax move down to the mid lane through the jungle. Past the Krugs. The Red Buff Camp. The Raptor Camp. There he stopped. The Raptor Camp was separated from the midlane by a wall of trees. Lin Feng had his Jax attack the raptors twice, charging up for the passive proc from his ultimate–Grandmaster’s Might! A powerful third auto attack!

Yang Fan in mid lane knew Lin Feng was coming, thanks to a combination of constant pings and instructions over voice chat. He had his Syndra push the minion wave towards Bright High’s outer tower, doing everything to make it obvious a gank was coming. Bright High’s Orianna picked up on it. She ran back to her outer tower. Back to safety. But Yang Fan kept pushing, staying near the bottom half of the lane. Instinctively, the Orianna moved to the other side. The top side. Towards the wall of trees connecting mid lane to the Raptor Camp.

The people in the crowd, other contestants, analysts, fans, everyone wanted to look away. The Jax was sitting there in the Raptor Camp, waiting. He already had his Counter Strike active. This was going to be a dive. This wasn’t going to be pretty for Bright High. Some people turned their heads away, while others moved their hands to their forehead, blocking their vision of the screen. What was about to happen was a tragedy.

Lin Feng grinned. The Orianna was in range. He moved his mouse over her and then pressed on the Q key–Leap Strike! His Jax jumped over the wall of trees and onto the Orianna! He followed up by activating the second half of Counter Strike, stunning the Orianna! Then he Empowered his lamppost. It lit up as the Jax swung it down onto the Orianna.

The stun was short and the Orianna broke free before the Jax could do anything more. She flashed away. Away towards her tower, slightly back into lane. Towards Yang Fan’s Syndra. That was the wrong move. The Syndra placed a Dark Sphere on the ground, dealing magic damage to the Orianna. Then, she pushed the Dark Sphere back, doing the same to the Orianna and stunned her–Scatter the Weak!

The Orianna was served on a golden platter to Lin Feng’s Jax. Yang Fan’s Syndra had pushed her right back to him. Lin Feng didn’t hesitate. He hit her with two auto attacks. Then. Empower was back off cooldown. The passive from his ultimate would proc on his next attack. A combination of terrifying damage! The lamppost lit up. The Jax raised it over his shoulder. He swung it like a bat, hitting a homerun.

《Rampage!》

The cheers of the crowd rang out in the background. The shoutcasters were screaming his name. And Lin Feng smiled and nodded. Perfect. That Flash let me cancel tower aggro for a moment. Really nice of her. His Jax was now 4/0/0. It was hard to see anyone manage to stop him this game. He looked over at Yang Fan and gave him a thumbs up. Then he grabbed his microphone and placed it close to his mouth. “I’m really good at Jax too! Hehe.”

Summoner’s Rift. A duel between two of the strongest duelists in the game. Jax and Fiora. Lin Feng got the early level advantage. He pushed the Fiora out of lane. And the Fiora let it happen. She went back a little, waiting for another minion to die. Then she would also be Level 2. The advantage would be gone. A moment, and then the minion died. Everything was back to even. The Fiora dashed back in.

“Let me at ‘em!” Lin Feng shouted from behind his computer, jumpscaring Liu Yue sitting next to him. But he didn’t notice. Nor would he care. His entire focus was on the game, emulating his Jax only heightening his senses. The Fiora dashed towards him, so he Leap Striked at her! Then he pressed the E key–Counter Strike! His Jax spun his lamppost in the air, a transparent mantle enveloping him. He now dodged every basic attack, all the while auto attacking the Fiora.

Counter Strike was a crowd control skill. So the Fiora used Riposte! She leaned back, brandishing her Rapier, and took aim. But Lin Feng knew it was coming. He’d been waiting for it. He had his Jax walk out of the direction the Fiora was aiming in and then waited out the 0.75s duration of Riposte. The counter by the Fiora failed. Now it was his time to shine.! He moved in on the Fiora again and activated the second part of Counter Strike.

The Fiora Lunged away. A last ditch effort. But she was too late. The lamppost hit her in the face. She was stunned. All she managed to do was create a little distance. To make it a little more difficult for the Jax to kill her straight away.

“WOOOOO!” Silent Reed exclaimed from behind the caster’s desk. She turned to West Wind and said, “They’re really going at it in top lane!”

West Wind nodded and said, “Yeah, that Jax is playing it really well. The Fiora isn’t half bad either. These are some high Diamond level plays!” He looked back at the screen, which was still focused on top lane. It was the only lane with anything interesting happening. “But look at their health bars. Jax got out on top here.”

✹

The invincible Jax! Grandmaster at Arms! He was one of Lin Feng’s favourite Toplaners. One of few. There was also Riven, which he’d played in the qualifiers of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Then there was Olaf. A simple man who knew how to throw an axe and run across the map! Technically there was one more Champion Lin Feng enjoyed playing. Though this Champion didn’t really count. He could barely be considered a Champion. It was the spin to win legend. The master of nothing and joy of all! GAREN! A man and his sword, running across the Rift, being little more than a tanky nuisance.

Jax was a simple Champion. His skills were straightforward and there was nothing really special about him. That was, for the average player. But to become a good Jax player. Truly good. That wasn’t so simple. It took a lot of skill and experience to make use of all the tricks. Of all the little things that made Jax such a powerful Champion.

To truly understand the power of a Jax, getting to know his skills and how they worked together was the first step. Take his passive. Relentless Assault granted bonus attack speed every hit up to eight stacks. At eight stacks, which wasn’t hard to get to, Jax could attack three times in the time his opponent could only get two auto attacks off. Well. That was, assuming he didn’t use any of his skills. Empower. A skill that reset his auto attacks and empowered them and had an incredibly short cooldown. That brought him to four attacks when his opponent could only attack him twice.

But wait, there was more! There was Leap Strike! Leap Strike and Empower could be used together. The power of the two skills were stackable! This gave rise to an easy Jax trick. Activate Empower, then Leap Strike in and auto attack once before running away again. It didn’t sound like much, but the damage was surprisingly high! So high that the lane opponent would have to respect it and play around it.

But wait, there was more! Before hitting Level 6, Jax was just a Champion. Not a Grandmaster quite yet. At Level 6, he was promoted. The Grandmaster’s Might! It was an ultimate skill that passively empowered his every third basic attack. This could also be combined with Leap Strike and Empower! His damage would go through the roof! It was almost ridiculous! And if he activated it, he gained bonus armor and magic resistance. That was why he was invincible!

But wait, there was more! Jax also had Counter Strike. While dealing all this damage, he could dodge every attack sent his way! If he wasn’t permanently locked down, there was almost nothing that could stop him! He was a real menace of the rift!

Crude and simple to the layman, but a Champion that had far more potential than many players realized. This was just one reason why Lin Feng greatly enjoyed playing Jax. It also helped that with Leap Strike, Jax had some real mobility. So even when things weren’t going great for him, it was still relatively easy to get away.

As for why Lin Feng enjoyed playing Olaf, that was a little of the same. But then also a lot not. While Jax had a lot of small tricks that could make a great difference, Olaf was just a man with an axe. Lin Feng liked the playstyle. No thinking, just running. Throw an axe. Run towards the axe. Pick up the axe. Throw the axe. Run towards the axe. Pick up the axe. Rinse and repeat. Olaf was special in that way.

✹

Su Xue sat on the edge of her chair, biting on her nails. Her eyes were on the large screen above the stage. It was still focused on top lane. The Jax and Fiora were going at it, using their skills to grab any kind of advantage. Their health bars dropped and it looked like it could go either way. To Su Xue, it even looked like it was going the Fiora’s way. The Jax’s health was too low. One mistake. One tiny mistake and Lin Feng would give the lane away to the Fiora. His promise of carrying the game looked far away.

Su Xue tugged on Zuo You’s arm, her eyes never leaving the large screen above the stage, and said in a voice fraught with worry, “H-hey, h-hey… Don’t you think he’s being too aggressive? His health is so low… I-if he’s not careful, that Fiora will kill him!”

Zuo You pulled her arm free and shook her head. “Well, pulling my arm off won’t help him…” She looked at her friend and smiled, friendly. “Jax doesn’t have much health left, right? But look at the Fiora! She is as good as dead! All Lin Feng needs to do is hit her a few more times!”

On the large screen, the two women saw how Lin Feng leaped onto the Fiora and hit her with an auto attack. The Fiora wouldn’t have any of it. She dashed at the Jax and struck out with her rapier–Lunge! She followed up with an auto attack. But her health was too low. She didn’t deal enough damage. If she stayed any longer, the Jax would kill her, and not the other way around. So she flashed away, retreating under her outer tower.

“Nice!” Su Xue cheered, jumping up from her chair. Then she slumped back down. “Damn.” She shook her head and looked at Zuo You. “Look at that Fiora’s health. That could’ve been first blood! All Lin Feng needed was Level 3. If he’d had his W[mfn]Empower[/mfn], he would’ve gotten the kill…”

✹

Lin Feng wasn’t at all concerned about the Fiora or his own health bar. He didn’t try to chase after her when she flashed away and instead chose to go back to the minion wave and continue last hitting them. That was where the money was at. Kill or no kill, this situation was a win for Lin Feng. He got some time to free farm experience and gold while the Fiora had to hide underneath her tower or even recall back to base. It didn’t take him long to use this advantage to hit Level 3 first.

West Wind turned to Silent Reed at the caster desk and said, “This Jax, man, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. Many players would’ve gotten greedy there and flashed in for the kill. But that Fiora still had Riposte. So killing her was impossible. He would’ve given away a kill instead. Good call to focus on the minions instead.”

Silent Reed smiled, a development happening on the large screen. She said, “You know. Both of them are at low health. If only a Jungler were to show up… Hey! Look! Two Junglers are making their ways up top! Hehe!”

West Wind looked back at the large screen, at the Rek’Sai and Lee Sin rushing top. The Lee Sin was almost there. The Rek’Sai was still a ways away. “Uh oh! Jax is in danger! Can he make it out of this alive? Let’s see!”

In the crowd, Su Xue couldn’t control her nerves anymore. She pinched hard in Zuo You’s arm and shouted, “No no NO! Lin Feng! Oh no! He has no ward! He doesn’t know! We have to tell him he’s in trouble! We have to! Lin Feng, watch out!”

“Ai!” Zuo You yelped, grabbing Su Xue’s hand and pulling it off her arm. Then she turned back to the game, for the first time showing some concern towards Lin Feng. She bit on her lips and then cursed, “This stupid kid! How dumb is he? All he needed to do was place one ward! Now that Fiora is going to turn on him and get the kill…”

✹

Lin Feng was farming his minions, oblivious to the approaching danger. Until Liu Yue shouted into the voice chat, “LIN FENG! WATCH OUT! The Lee is coming for you! I’m right behind him! But he’s got a bit on me!” Lin Feng glanced down at the map and noticed the fog of war blocking his vision. Oh. Right. I forgot. Oh well, doesn’t matter. Haha…

The Lee Sin ran into top lane from the river entrance. He placed a ward in front of him and dashed towards it–Safeguard! Then he threw out a Sonic Wave, searching for a target to dash towards. But Jax wasn’t that easily killed. Lin Feng Flashed the Sonic Wave, as the discordant wave of sound struck a minion behind him. It was all the Lee Sin needed. Another gap closer towards the Jax. He activated the second half of his skill–Resonant Strike–and dashed towards the minion. He arrived right next to the Jax. All the while, the Fiora left the safety of her tower and charged back into lane.

Lin Feng’s Jax reappeared. The Lee Sin was too far away. The Fiora was even further away. He could get out! Until a flash of light appeared. Then the Lee Sin arrived right next to him. The Lee Sin raised his arm and slammed it down on the ground–Crippling Strike! Behind him, the Fiora Lunged forward, trying to close the gap again. This was his chance! He pressed on his Q key. His Jax Leap Striked on the Fiora!

“THE TURN AROUND!” West Wind cried out behind the caster desk. “He’s going to get the kill! He’s going to do it! WOOOO!”

Lin Feng pressed down on his W key–Empower! His Jax’s lamppost lit up. Its next attack would deal frightening damage. Its next attack would kill the Fiora. If it landed. He moved his arms back, his hands tightly wrapped around the weapon, and then swung his thick and sturdy lamppost down. Down onto the Fiora.

Tap tap… “Hello? Excuse me?” The host was the most expensive low budget one. But he did grab the crowd’s attention. Everyone stared at him as a wave of silence washed over the venue, with only the sounds of shoppers in the background. “What an exciting two games! Tonji Affiliated High beat High School 4 in their best of three series with a score of two wins to zero losses! They’re through to the semifinals. I’m excited to see how far they’ll make it.” He gauged the response from the crowd, cautiously optimistic. A deep breath to calm the nerves. He blew out. Into the microphone. The sound amplified and blasted through the speakers, followed by a loud beep. Now he did have everyone’s full attention, and annoyance. “S-sorry! Uh, next up! Next up is the series between Bright High and High School 13! Two teams with great qualifiers! Let’s give them a warm welcome!”

The crowd started cheering as the two teams walked up on stage. So too Su Xue. Her eyes were laser focused on High School 13’s team. She spotted Lin Feng and jumped to her feet. Waving her hands above her she yelled, “Lin Feng! Over here! I’m over here! Do your best! You can do it!”

498 pairs of eyes turned to Su Xue. There were more than a few guys in the crowd. Most everyone here was a guy. They looked at Su Xue. They stared at her and started smiling. There was a twinkle in their eyes as they forgot the stage and the teams playing. And that was the wrong thing to do. Zuo You thought so, at least. She glared at every guy ogling Su Xue and herself and locked in on the most disturbing. The most lecherous. The biggest perverts. 

“What are you looking at!” 

“Never seen a pretty girl before?” 

“Is this the first time getting out of your mom’s basement?” 

“You wanna keep those eyes? Doesn’t look like it!” 

“You disgusting shit!”

Zuo You got her message across. The guys that got called out shriveled back into their seats, their faces burning a deep red. A girl had talked to them! An actual girl had talked to them! Zuo You shook her head, a shiver running up her body. “Yuck!” She then leaned towards Su Xue and whispered into her friend’s ear, “Hey hey, could you please not do that again? Did you see those disgusting guys looking at us? Yuck!”

“Huh? Why do you care? We’re here to cheer Lin Feng on. Why shouldn’t I cheer for him?” Su Xue asked, bewildered. She didn’t even notice the gazes, not like Zuo You had. Her eyes were on the stage, on Lin Feng and his teammates walking up to their computers. She clenched her fist and pumped the air. “Lin Feng! Lin Feng! You can do it! Show them how good you are!”

The subject of Su Xue’s attention, Lin Feng, turned around and looked up into the crowd. It wasn’t hard to find Su Xue. Everyone was looking at her. His face lit up and he said to his teammates, “Oh, she’s here! Look, over there!” He then gave Su Xue a thumbs up and shouted, “Don’t worry! I’ve got this game in the bag!”

Zuo You lowered her head and grabbed her hair, shaking. “My god. Are you sure you two aren’t family? Maybe one of those separated at birth cases?”

✹

Some staff members for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament had gathered below the stage to watch the games. Their job was to get everything ready for the game, not to watch over the matches. Right now, they could kick back for a bit. Until the game ended. The girl in the crowd cheering and the boy on stage replying to her. They saw it happen and started laughing amongst each other. 

“Oh wow, that kid sure is confident, haha!” 

“He is the man of steel, nerves! Hahahaha!” 

“That kid is pretty full of himself. I wonder if he’s got any skill…” 

“Way more fun if he sucks! Hehe. He’ll just disappear in shame then. Can you imagine?”

Chu Fang looked at the members of his staff around him and smiled. The preparations were all going well, and his subordinates were having fun. More importantly, the contestants were also having fun. It was great to see kids at this age have that unbridled confidence in themselves. A rare quality. He looked at the young man on High School 13’s team. Huh? He scrunched up his face and looked again. This time a little more closely. Where do I know him from? He looks so familiar. He even sounds… His face shook. His whole body shook. His eyes went wide and he was now staring at the young player. “No way…” he muttered. “This can’t be. I must be seeing things. Why would he… No. Probably just sounds and looks and acts and does everything the same… Right?”

✹

The Shanghai 16 School Tournament had its very own commentator desk, similar to the official Chinese broadcast for Worlds. The Shanghai Esports Association had invited two guest commentators to cast the games. Both of them had achieved some online fame and as a result were regularly invited for semi-professional tournaments like this one. They sat behind their commentator desk, watching the venue and the games.

West Wind was a somewhat famous streamer. Someone who could really put on a show. He noticed the commotion in the crowd—it was hard to miss—and laughed, “Haha! What a lucky kid! He seems to be the, hmm… player for High School 13! What do you think, Silent Reed? Love interest or big sister?”

Silent Reed was the second guest commentator. She worked for the Breaking Esports media company and sometimes dabbled in casting competitive games. A real busy bee. She looked at the woman in the crowd and then winked at West Wind. “I don’t know, West. She’s a looker though. Whoever gets to date her is one lucky guy!”

“That player looks real confident too.” West Wind looked towards the players from High School 13. Towards Lin Feng. Then he looked over his notes before turning back to Silent Reed. “Looks like his name is Lin Feng. I think? Don’t hold me to that! But, haha, he does not look one bit worried. Did you just see him give her the thumbs up? What a hero! I’m already loving him! Haha! I want to see him play!”

“This might become a really interesting series!” Silent Reed said, excited. She pointed down at her notepad and continued, “High School 13 somehow beat Tonji in the qualifiers! We just saw how good Tonji is. That’s kind of hard to imagine, right? But it really says so. Right here!” She paused a moment for dramatic effect. Then she introduced the other team. “Then we got Bright High. They made it all the way to the Round of 16 last year and were strong again in the qualifiers this year! We might have a real match on our hands here!”

“Wow! Really?” West Wind exclaimed. “From the sound of it, these are two very strong teams! I’m excited to see what this series will bring us!”

The two commentators turned to the stage and fell silent, taking a moment to observe both teams. The players from High School 13 and Bright High had already taken their places behind the computers. Everything was set. The large screen above the stage lit up and showed Champion Select. West Wind was the first of the two to pull his gaze away from the stage and back to his work. “Well, it looks like we’re in Champion Select already. This game is about to get underway. I hope everyone here is as excited as I am to see who’s going to win this!”

✹

Lin Feng sat back in his chair and looked at his teammates sitting next to him. An all too familiar sight. He cracked his knuckles and said, “Do your best, guys. Don’t worry about the rest. I’ll carry this game from top lane.” He then let his teammates choose the Champions they wanted to play, rather than telling them what to do.

High School 13 versus Bright High
Top lane: Jax versus Fiora
Jungle: Rek’Sai versus Lee Sin
Mid lane: Syndra versus Orianna
AD-carry: Lucian versus Jinx
Support: Alistar versus Blitzcrank

West Wind looked at the large screen above the stage. At the Champion portraits in the loading screen. He clicked his tongue and said, “Jax versus Fiora, huh? That should be a fun battle to watch. I’m predicting non stop action up in top lane!”

Jax wasn’t what he’d been a few patches ago, but he was still a very strong Champion. A true dueling master! But Fiora was the Queen of Dueling and held a reputation for being invincible in the late game. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object! It could go either way. Or neither. It all came down to skill. Fiora had Riposte which allowed her to block all crowd control and even stun any Champion trying to stun or root or bind or do anything to her! Then there was Jax with his Counter Strike. He would swing his lamppost above his head, dodging all attacks. Anyone in range when he stopped would be knocked into a stun. A game of cat and mouse, Jax and Fiora both being the cat and the mouse, depending on the situation.

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

High School 13 and Bright High loaded into the game. Nine players didn’t feel the need for any fancy tricks. They wanted to play their best game. The best way they knew how. But Lin Feng had something a little different in mind. Instead of going top lane, he went to the Raptros Camp in his bottom side jungle. A long distance away from top lane. The jungle monsters spawned and he started attacking the wraiths. All the while, the Fiora was in top lane, waiting for the minions to arrive.

At the caster desk, West Wind nodded, impressed. “This Jax knows a trick. Nice. He’ll clear the Raptors Camp, recall back to base to buy health potions and then teleport up to top lane. It’ll give him a slight experience advantage that should see him hit Level 2 first.”

“Yeah! Nice play by the Jax,” Silent Reed agreed. “Those health potions especially will be so important. It just means he can play a little more aggressive. He has more health! If he plays this right, he can pull quite the advantage from this trick.”

That was exactly what happened. Lin Feng cleared the Raptors Camp, then recalled back to base. He bought a few health potions and then teleported to one of his minions already in top lane. He was only one minion away from hitting Level 2. So when he appeared in the middle of a pack of low health minions, his next move was obvious. One auto attack. A big smile on Lin Feng’s face. “Let’s go! Fight me Fiora! Fight me!”

“COME ON! HURRY UP! WE’RE RUNNING! LATE!”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! We still got a few more minutes until it’s 6. We can still make it…”

“That’s it. Lin Feng, get your ass over here. Someone grab him! If he stops in front of one more shop, so help me God!”

Ren Rou led High School 13’s esports team up the seat and out of the subway station. She glanced behind her, checking everyone was there and keeping an eye on Lin Feng. Ouyang had grabbed his friend by the arm and was dragging him along. The electronics mall, where the Shanghai 16 School Tournament was being held, was only a small distance from the subway station, though Lin Feng made it look a lot further. It was almost 6 PM when they finally arrived at the entrance.

“Finally! Thank God! Alright. Are we all here? Lin Feng, obviously. Liu Yue, Chen Ze, Wei Dong, stinky Ouyang, Yang Fan, Tang Tang. Ok, good. Looks like we’re all good to go! Let’s go check in!”

Ren Rou pushed her way through the crowd of people, shoving everyone aside with force. People turned around, confused, called out to her for being rude but she didn’t care. Another two minutes and they’d be officially late. Worst of all. It was all Ouyang’s fault. This was all on Ouyang. If everything had gone according to plan, they would’ve been here half an hour ago. Now, because of Ouyang, they were almost missing the event! She cursed and shouted, “Shitty! Stinky! Stupid Ouyang! It’s all your fault! Why do you have to be such an idiot? Now we all have to run because of you! You stupid. Stinking. Piece of… Argh! You made us almost come late!”

Ouyang pushed through the crowd and walked up next to Ren Rou. He lightly tapped her shoulder and awkwardly smiled. “Come on, Rou Rou. Don’t be mad. Didn’t we make it? Look, we’re here. Haha.”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Ren Rou erupted. She stared at him. Glared at him. “What if we didn’t make it in time? What if the subway had a few minutes delay? Huh? Then what? Would you have taken responsibility?”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and shook his head. He grabbed Ouyang by the arm and pulled him over. “But damn dude, it really was your fault this time. You knew we had to go here today. How could you let something like that happen?”

Ouyang was the reason they were late. By more than half an hour. The original plan was to go to the venue at 4:30 PM, right after the dismissal bell. They would’ve been at the electronics mall by 5:10 PM. Now it was almost 6 PM. Their last class was English. Ouyang had turned in his homework at the start of the class, as was usual. During the class, the teacher went over it while the students were working on an assignment. It went well at first. But then the irritated sounds of a pen crossing things out sounded out through the classroom. Once. Twice. It kept going on for several minutes. Then the teacher had had enough. She looked up over the rim of her glasses and said, sternly, “Ouyang! What is this? You made this at home. You have the internet. Students to ask questions to. You could’ve sent me an email. How can you possibly have every single question wrong?”

Ouyang had tried to explain himself. A poor excuse about how he didn’t really understand the questions and how English was a really difficult subject, hiding the fact he’d copied Lin Feng’s homework. Well, he’d tried anyway. Just that what he copied wasn’t the homework for today, but for last week. The teacher spotted it. She breathed in and then out. In, and out. Letting her annoyance with the worst student in class settle down. Then she looked at him and said, “You’re staying after class. We’re going to have a chat about this.”

Chen Ze walked a few steps behind Ouyang and Yang Fan. He shook his head as he listened in on the conversation between the two. “Man. How do you fail at copying answers? That’s a new low. Even for you.”

Lin Feng laughed, carefree as ever. “It’s fine guys! Haha. It was kind of funny, right? And we made it! We’re here and we still got at least 60 seconds to spare!”

Wei Dong nodded, hesitantly. “I’m just happy we’re in the second group. We’d have been screwed if we had to play in the first round.”

“Quit your yapping! We still have to check in! Let’s gooo!” Ren Rou urged.

✹

When High School 13’s esports team finally entered the venue, the first two teams were already up on stage. The big screen above them was still dark, so they weren’t in Champion Select yet. Most likely, they were sticking in their own keyboards and doing last minute checks on their microphones and settings. A large crowd had gathered, many of whom were shoppers just passing by.

The large screen above the stage lit up. The League of Legends logo played on the screen, followed by the full bracket for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Then the screen zoomed in to the top left of the bracket. It zoomed in on the first match of the Round of 16. One team was a familiar name to the players from High School 13’s esports team.

Tonji Affiliated High versus High School 4

Liu Yue grabbed Lin Feng by the shoulder and pointed at the screen. “Hey, look guys! Tonji is playing in the first match!”

Yang Fan looked up at the screen. “Hmm.” He adjusted his glasses and then said, “If I’m not mistaken, High School 4 made it to this stage of the competition last year too. But Tonji is the better team. From what I heard, High School 4 hasn’t gotten any better. This should be an easy win for Tonji. Seems like they’ll be through to the quarters.”

“Haha! Who cares about Tonji anyways? We kicked their asses black and blue!” Ouyang laughed.

Ren Rou got back from checking in. She was just in time to hear Ouyang laugh about Tonji Affiliated High. Wasn’t that ad-carry from Tonji… She turned to the stage, where the players from Tonji Affiliated High were getting ready for Champion Select. Yeah. Hehe. That’s him. She nudged Tang Bingyao and teased, “Hey, Tang Tang. Look, it’s that ad-carry from Tonji. You should go up and say hi to him.”

Tang Bingyao tilted her head, looking from Ren Rou to the ad-carry from Tonji. Then she shook her head and said, “No thanks, not interested.”

Wei Dong snorted and laughed. “Go do it! Haha! He’ll run away again and lose Tonji the game. Hahahah! She really got him good last time! Hahaha!”

While the others were laughing about the Shyboi who’d ran away after Tang Bingyao asked him a very innocent question, something that’d looked equally absurd and hilarious, Lin Feng’s phone started buzzing. He took it out and saw it was a message from Su Xue.

Su Xue:「Heyyyyy」

Lin Feng:「Yo! What’s up?」

Su Xue:「You there yet? We’re sitting in the stands to the far end.」

Lin Feng:「We just got here! I think Ren Rou checked us in. Are there still empty seats? I’ll come find you.」

Su Xue:「No. It’s full. People are standing around and all. Don’t bother. Doubt you’d even get through the crowd. You’re playing in the next game, right? Focus on that with your friends! We’ll be cheering you on when you go up on stage!」

Lin Feng:「Thanks! We’ll win this game! I’ll make it awesome!」

“Yo, Lin Feng. Lin Feng!” Liu Yue said, trying to get his friend’s attention. When Lin Feng looked up from his phone, Liu Yue asked, “Who were you texting just now? Tang Tang is right here.”

Ouyang felt his Ouyang Senses tingle. He ran up to Lin Feng and threw his arm around him. Then he leaned in close and looked at Lin Feng’s phone, getting a glimpse before Lin Feng put it away. “Su Xue! It said Su Xue! I saw it! Wait. Wasn’t that the girl you’re living with?” Ouyang’s eyes went wide and round. Su Xue. After Lin Feng had told him about the stream, he’d looked her up. Su Xue. He started smiling and said, “I checked her out on Huya the other day! She’s hot as hell! You’re actually living with her! Nggh! It’s so unfair! You lucky son of a bitch!”

The other guys, all four of them, nodded. Su Xue was hot. They’d seen it with their own eyes. This was the wrong thing to do. They could feel the hair on their backs stand on end. A terrifying gaze landed on them. Ren Rou. The club Prez. She looked at them, one at a time, and curled her lips in disgust. “Ughh. You guys make me want to puke! Simping over girl streamers… You guys have a fucking problem! What’s stopping you from interacting with a real girl in the real world? We have Tang Tang right here! She’s miles better than any of those stupid internet thots! I swear. If Tang Tang tried streaming, she’d become the most famous one out there! EASY!”

Ouyang chuckled. He considered himself somewhat of an expert on the subject. He licked his finger and slicked his hair. “Don’t be so sure about that, Rou Rou. These female streamers are a genre of their own. That Su Xue, right? She’s hella hot, but only a small streamer in the genre. There are others many times more popular. It takes real hard work and dedication!” He then turned to Tang Bingyao and continued, “I don’t want to tell you that you can’t. But it’s really hard. I’m not sure you have what it takes. You could still stream of course! You’re really good at the game! I’m sure many people would come and watch just to see your high ELO gameplays!”

Ren Rou looked at Ouyang, increasingly incredulous at his words. “What the fuck is wrong with you? GROSS! ALL YOU BOYS DO IS WATCH THOSE STREAMERS WITH YOUR HANDS DOWN YOUR PANTS! STUPID PERVERTS!”

Tang Bingyao looked at Ouyang and Ren Rou who were screaming at each other, their faces almost touching, the spit firing off from their lips. Then Ren Rou had had enough. She moved her arm back, flattened her hand, and then struck Ouyang in the face. His scream silenced the entire venue for a moment. But Tang Bingyao wasn’t really paying attention to this. Streamers made money. She liked money. So she figured that streaming might be something for her. She looked down at her chest. Maybe if I use a push up bra? She shook her head. It wouldn’t be enough to compete with those kinds of streamers. Hmm. I can’t do that for now. Maybe later. I’d have to rely on my game skills first.

✹

The Round of 16 of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament would be played over four days. Two rounds were played on each day. The format was a best of three series. Just like the previous round. Tonji Affiliated High was well accustomed to this format. They knew the importance of winning the first game and getting off to a good start. They claimed the win, fast and easy, then moved into the second game. Momentum was really important. They went into the second game with the focus and conviction that they could win, and within 10 minutes they’d pulled open such a big lead that it was hard not to win it.

Chu Fang leaned forward in his chair and watched the game with great attention. These were the most important moments of his career. If he found a talent, his year was made. If he didn’t. Well, then not so much. He nodded, slowly, then mumbled, “As expected. Tonji have a great team. Two Masters is enough for them to win this match. But it’s not enough. It’s just not enough…”

It was incredibly difficult to find the diamond in the rough amongst these high schoolers. But there was always one. There had to be! It was just that the students were in high school for several years, so the teams didn’t change all that much from one year to the next. Tonji Affiliated High was almost a copy from last year, as was High School 4. Chu Fang couldn’t just look at the ranked ladder for talent either. That was just one aspect of skill, and if someone truly talented showed themselves there, they’d be recruited before he’d ever find them.

Chu Fang’s demands for talents were really steep too. Challengers. That was what he was looking for. Preferably those who ranked in the Top 30 consistently. Even better if they did that on the Ionia server! On top of that. They also needed to be great team players. If they couldn’t lead a team, they weren’t worth his time. Then there was pressure. Someone who broke under pressure was no good. Not worth his time. Like this, the list of potential candidates dropped until there was almost no one left. There really was almost no one who caught his eye. So far, there were only Zeng Rui, the Support for Shanghai High School, and the ad-carry for Shanghai International.

It used to be so different… There used to be actual talent. Chu Fang shook his head as he thought back to the past. He entered the League of Legends scene in Season 1. He was just a regular staff member at the Shanghai Esports Association. For the most part, he was assisting the old vice president, Fang Hao, who was promoted to President a while back. They’d even gone to London together to watch Worlds. That was the last time he saw so many true talents together. If only we could get another year like that…

In Season 1, there wasn’t just the Korean kid. Rake, the God Emperor, actually had someone who could go toe-to-toe with him back then. A 15 years old from China. That kid was good. Real good. I bet he’s still just as good… “Ahh, such a waste.” Chu Fang sighed. That kid had disappeared. No one knew where he was now. They really needed to find someone with his level of talent.

The crowd cheered in the background. It sounded dull, but was loud enough to pull Chu Fang out of his thoughts. He looked up at the large screen. Tonji Affiliated High had won the second game and qualified for the quarterfinals. As was expected. He grabbed his clipboard and looked at the next matchup. “Bright High versus High School 13… Bright High made it to the Round of 16 last year. They should be alright. Oh! High School 13! Aren’t they the guys who beat Tonji in the first round of the qualifiers?” He looked up at the stage. The host grabbed a microphone. Maybe?

It was 5:45 PM on Monday. 15 minutes until the Shanghai 16 School Tournament started. The players were getting ready for their games, the organizers were taking care of the last-minute tasks, and the fans were getting more and more hyped as they packed into the Mall. Chu Fang had arranged for 500 seats, but there was still more space. Most of the seats were occupied, while there were more people walking by and stopping to look at what was going on. Among the crowd were two familiar faces.

“Come on! Come on!” Su Xue shouted, dragging Zuo You along with her. She searched around the arena for a place to sit. “There! There’s empty seats over there! Come!”

“Hey! Su Xue! Stop! You’re going too fast! What are we rushing for? Don’t we have another 15 minutes? I’m on high heels here! Lemme walk!” Zuo You shouted after her friend, who was already pushing through another group of people. She shook her head and grumbled, loud enough that only she could hear herself, “Why in the world did I let her drag me all the way out here for some stupid high school tournament? What’s so fun about this? Stupid high schoolers.”

Su Xue walked by some people, their gazes catching her attention. She looked away, but trailed a finger through her hair. Zuo You followed a step behind, fire just about blazing from her eyes. Fire as hot as her hair was red. Her eyebrows were permanently arched down to the center. But that didn’t stop the gazes. She saw them everywhere. They were everywhere. She tried shooing them away, cursing them, but the hint was not received. One guy she passed even left his arm hanging behind him, just a little out of place. She slapped it away and shouted, “Hey! Get off of me!” Then grumbled, “Fucking perverts.”

The seats Su Xue had her eyes on were almost on the other side of the hall. The two girls pushed through the crowd to get to them. A sea mostly made up of guys. There were more than a few guys in the hall who purposely slowed down or sped up, just to be within an uncomfortable proximity of the two women. They leered and sniffed, hoping to catch a whiff of the fading notes of perfume. They were creepy. They were disgusting. More than anything, they were disturbing and made the girls feel uncomfortable. All Su Xue and Zuo You wanted to do was go to a tournament and cheer for their friend. They didn’t come here to get harassed by strangers. By these creeps. But that was exactly what was happening. Hands touched constantly brushed across areas that shouldn’t be touched. No one seemed to take the hints Zuo You almost screamed through the hall. 

“Hey, fuck off! What are you squeezing in for?” 

“You want me to break your hand and nose? 

“You take one step closer, and I’m reporting you to the police!” 

“I’m not afraid to use these 7 inch stilettos. Come, try me. Let me stamp a hole in your foot!”

“Zuo You, Zuo You!” Su Xue stopped and looked at her friend, whose face was as red as her hair. “Is this really necessary? Let’s not make a scene. People are already staring at us. I just want to watch the games.”

“Hmpf! Why do you think they’re staring at us? These creeps need to stop it. This is sexual harassment! You should stand up for yourself a little more, Su Xue! You can’t let these guys just take advantage of you. If they try to touch you, you kick them in the balls! If they try anything funny, you hit them in the face and scream for the police!”

Su Xue shook her head and smiled. “Ah, come on. It’s not that bad! And you do look really good today! Your makeup compliments your outfit perfectly! And your hair, damn! And I love your heels! You have to tell me where you bought them!”

Zuo You curled her lips and said, “Oh shut it! I know you’re just trying to distract me! Any other time and I would’ve been happy. But right now? Absolutely not! I dress the way I dress because it makes me feel good. Because I want to be fashionable and pretty! For me! Not for the fantasies of these lonely fuckers! Besides… You know most of them aren’t even looking at me, right? They’re all looking at you. I’m the reason why they haven’t jumped on you yet…”

“What? No way! Look at me! I put on a big sweater and–”

“Quit playing stupid. You want a compliment?” Zuo You looked at her friend and waited for a brief moment before continuing, “Fine! You look good no matter what you wear, ok? A stupid sweater isn’t going to hide how beautiful you are. There, happy? Or do you want more? I can go on if you want…”

“Aww, that’s so nice of you!” Su Xue grinned and winked towards her friend. “Anyways, I’m here for Lin Feng. He and I are practically family, you know! If I look like a slob, what are his friends supposed to think of him? So I had to put a little extra effort in today!”

“Talking about that kid,” Zuo You said. Then she paused as she took a moment to look around the mall. “Where is he? We came all the way here for him and he doesn’t even have the common courtesy to come and say hi? Such an ungrateful little bastard!”

“Oh! I don’t think he’s here yet!” Su Xue said, still pushing her way towards the empty seats. “He’s coming by train together with his classmates. But they’re playing in the second round, so I think he’ll get here in a bit.”

“Second round?” Zuo You muttered. She squinted her eyes and asked, “So we’re going to watch random high schoolers in the first round?” The dots connected. She wasn’t happy. Profanities flowed from her lips, sounding frighteningly familiar to her. But they were already here. Might as well try and enjoy it. Stupid brat… They got to their chairs and sat down. She leaned back and clicked her tongue. “Who’d thought some high school League tourney would be this big? League is getting really popular lately.”

Su Xue nodded. “Why do you think I started streaming? It’s getting bigger everywhere! And these high school competitions are getting bigger every year. They’re even nearing the university level competitions! You know, I was reading an article the other day online. Apparently, the average rank of all semifinalists of this event last year was Diamond 1!”

“What? Are you serious?” Zuo You asked, stunned. Then she shook her head and said, “Damn. These zoomers… They’re really leaving us millennials behind. It’s all just because they started at an earlier age! How can we compete with that? Go back in time? Haha. Ha… Oh. Hey. If the average rank last year was Diamond 1, then what about this year? Will Lin Feng be ok, you think?”

“He sounded pretty confident. Told there was nothing for me to worry about,” Su Xue replied. Then she smiled and did the Lin Feng special. She clenched her fist and threw it in the air. “I believe in him!”

Zuo You shook her head, hopelessly. “You two have been hanging out together far too much. He’s starting to rub off on you…”

Su Xue grabbed her hand and put it back to her side, then asked, “Uh, really? You think so?”

✹

It was 5:50 PM. There were 10 more minutes until the start of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. In the backstage area, a member of staff ran up on Chu Fang and said, “Boss, we’re pretty much all set.”

Chu Fang nodded. “Thanks for the hard work. Can you tell me how many teams have checked in?”

“Nine. The two teams playing in the first round have checked in. They’re just waiting and are ready to go up on stage at any time. You just say the word,” the staff member reported. He then handed over a clipboard to Chu Fang. It was the bracket. Who would play who at what point in the tournament.

Chu Fang looked over the clipboard. There were three teams this year, just like last year, who looked clearly stronger than the rest. Tonji Affiliated High, Shanghai International, and Shanghai High School. They were placed in different sides of the bracket, so that they wouldn’t meet before the semifinals, or even finals. This was a little trick they had planned to make sure the most exciting matches were played in the semi finals and finals. There was nothing worse for a tournament organizer than seeing a title favourite go out in the Round of 16. The title contenders generally had a lot of fans and were much more likely to make the impressive plays. These were the teams they wanted to see it make all the way.

The staff member interrupted as Chu Fang was still looking through the brackets, “As you can see, we’re set for the same semis as last year.”

Chu Fang breathed in through his mouth and then let it all out. He was less than happy about this development. The top teams from last year were still mostly intact. This year they were expected to do the same, fight for the trophy. They were by far the strongest teams. And in that lay the problem. It wasn’t that they were strong that was the problem, Chu Fang was happy about that. The thing that worried him was that there were no new contenders. There was no other team who seemed ready for the challenge. It was just going to be another win for one of these big three  teams, and he wouldn’t get his hands on any real talent. This tournament was to scout talent and it didn’t look like he’d find any this year. None that he hadn’t found last year already, at least.

Take Zeng Rui. The Support for Shanghai High School was a real talent. Someone who could make it to the top of the professional scene and fight on the world stage. That was the kind of talent he wanted to find! They were people the Shanghai Esports Association wanted to invest in. But why can’t there be more? He sighed. Finding one was great and all. But it was hardly enough to pump flesh blood into the LPL. It was far from enough to create some real competition at the top. Why are we even going through all the effort for the 16 School Tournament and the Varsity Tournament if we’re not finding any talents? It feels like a waste of time.

Chu Fang shook his head empty. These thoughts were useless. I have to focus on what I do have power over. He looked over at the staff member, who still stood there waiting, and asked, “Any dark horses? Any team that looked a little better? Anything that might suggest some level of talent?”

“Hmm…” The staff member took the clipboard back from Chu Fang and scanned through the list of names. Then he read one of them. High School 13! “Oh! There actually is! I almost forgot. There was this team that got knocked out in the first preliminaries round last year, but they qualified for the main tournament this year. Even beat Tonji along the way. They could be interesting.”

“Who were you talking to?” Su Xue asked, curious. Lin Feng had ran out of the room with his phone in hand a few minutes earlier and only now came back. He’d ran away while the stream was still running. People were here, just for his commentary! They’d badgered her with questions and demands. Bunch of degens… Hehe.

“Oh, this?” Lin Feng asked, pointing at his phone. Then he scratched the back of his head, “Uh, just a classmate.”

“A classmate?” Su Xue looked Lin Feng up and down. He moved back a little and wouldn’t meet her eyes. What’s he hiding? Then she started smiling, grinning. “Hehe. Just a classmate? Is that right? You ran all the way to the washroom for that? It’s a girl, isn’t it? You can tell me. What was her name again? Tang Tang? Was that her?” She winked at Lin Feng and pulled him over. “Haha. Nevermind. Come, hurry up! I promised the viewers we’d do some in-houses to celebrate KG’s win!”

Lin Feng’s eyes lit up. He fought his way out of Su Xue’s embrace and was already halfway out of the room, when he said over his shoulder, “Awesome! I’d love that! Hold on, let me go grab my laptop!”

The viewer in-houses were the main attraction of Su Xue’s stream these days. Viewers would come from far and wide just to watch these games. Su Xue versus Lin Feng. A trainwreck meeting an unstoppable force! Despite the clear difference in skill, these were always fun matches to watch. And also a lot of fun to play in. There were many viewers bickering over each other to see who the lucky eight were this time. People who tuned into the stream for the first time were welcomed by viewers and the streamer having a good time together. It was this kind of warm and inviting atmosphere that saw them sticking around. That saw them hitting the follow button and coming back again another time. They wanted to become a part of the community. Though, it didn’t hurt that Su Xue was also fairly attractive. That kept the boys around, and attracted some more to come and check out the stream.

Lin Feng rushed back into Su Xue’s bedroom and put down his laptop on her desk. Su Xue had already created the lobby and invited the viewers. They were all waiting for Lin Feng to join. He was Red Team’s captain. And like the last few times, he decided to play Support. If he played any other role, it’d be even easier for him to carry the games. This just gave the sense of it being a fair match up. Though, it was anything but. Lin Feng was so much better than Su Xue that there really was no comparing the two.

The game was barely 10 minutes in. Su Xue was playing ad-carry and had decided to test her skills on Kalista. She was last hitting minions while keeping an eye on the stream. Right now, her eyes were on the number of viewers. 11,045. She laughed and turned to Lin Feng. “Haha! Look! 10k-plus viewers again! It’s starting to become a regular—”

Focus was key. Su Xue wasn’t nearly good enough at League of Legends to split her attention between her stream and gameplay. Lin Feng punished her right away. His Morgana was already in position and conjured her dark magic. Then he fired off a Dark Binding and bound the Kalista. His Graves followed up, dashing into the fight and unloading his shotgun on the Kalista. Buckshot! Three bullets shot out in a cone, all three smashing into the Kalista and blasting away her health. Then he used his ultimate skill–Collateral Damage! The Graves fired off an explosive shell with such force that he was knocked back. The shell dealt physical damage and then exploded, destroying the Kalista’s health bar!

《You have been slain.》

Su Xue saw the grin on Lin Feng’s face a moment before the announcer’s voice rang out in her ears. She looked back at her screen and saw that it’d turned grey. They’d killed her. She’d lost focus for a second and they’d killed her! “What? Why? Argghh! Lin Feng!” She slapped him on the shoulder, more annoyed at herself than anything else. This, of course, was precisely the thing her viewers loved to see.

「LOL DUMBASS!!!!!」

「hahahaha, plat noob daydreaming against a challenger」

「The maid is living up to her name! She’ll soon be back in the kitchen!」

「shes sooooooooooooooo bad hahahaa」

「lolololol her team must hate her」

「IT”S LIKE SHE”S TRYIN TO FEEDDDD>>>.???」

Su Xue bit her lips as she read the stream chat. She squinted her eyes, ready to erupt at her viewers. Then it happened. Lin Feng had moved away a little after she’d slapped him. In preparation. “Good job, Graves!” he said at the camera. His smile turned wider, brighter. He started laughing, clutching his stomach preemptively. “Sick Dark Binding, right? But man, hahaha! Those Kalista skills! Hahaha! Worst Kalista on the Ionia server, am I right? Hahaha!”

“YOU SHITTY BRAT!” Su Xue erupted. She pushed her gaming chair back and shot to her feet. “GET HERE YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT! HOW DARE YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME! COME HERE! LET ME BEAT SOME SENSE INTO YOU!”

The best part of the in-houses had started. It was why the viewers kept coming back. The games were great, and Lin Feng’s Challenger skills really made for some beautiful plays and highlight reels, but that wasn’t the best part. The best part was when Su Xue lost her cool again. When she did something stupid and needed someone to vent on. That poor sap was Lin Feng. She ran after him as he jumped on her bed and kept her at a distance. She ran right, he jumped left. She dove after him and he just slipped through her fingers, dodging any attempt of her catching him. All in full view of the viewers.

「HAHAHHA WHAT ARE THEY DOING!??!?!?!」

「LOL what are these two? This is hilarious!!!!!!!」

「THIS is the best part of the stream!」

「just sit back and enjoy heheheehhe」

✹

After Su Xue exhausted herself from chasing after Lin Feng, they played a couple more games before calling it a night. It was Sunday. Lin Feng would have to get up early the next morning and go to school. It’d be a pretty important day for him. It was the official start of the main tournament of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! Su Xue had heard him talk about it, but had forgotten all about it because of the KG games earlier. Until now. She turned towards him, while he was already walking out of her room, and said, “Hey, hold on! That 16 School thing. What did you call it? Ah, whatever. Are you still in it?”

Lin Feng stopped and looked over his shoulder. He ruffled his hair and said, “Yeah, we’re still in it. Tomorrow is the Round of 16.”

“Nice, nice. You guys are doing really good, huh? The main tournament. Almost in the quarterfinals! Pretty impressive, if I may say so,” Su Xue nodded. She then rubbed her chin for a bit before adding, “Fine. Tell me the when and where. I’ll come cheer you on!”

“Sure! I’d love that!” Lin Feng said, smiling. He put his laptop down and wrote the information for her down. Then he balled his fist and held it up in front of his face. He flexed his biceps and said, “You can watch me show off my skills!”

Su Xue raised her eyebrows and curled her lips. “Hoh? Big words, little man. Don’t worry, I won’t hold you to them. Just don’t feed. That’s all. If you can do that, I’ll be happy and cheer you on even louder!” There was a light laugh in her voice. She knew she wasn’t serious. Lin Feng was by far the best League of Legends player she knew. Some random high school tournament is probably way too easy for him. I’ll just go and watch… her. Su Xue didn’t worry about Lin Feng’s games. He would carry. But he’d talked a bunch about a girl in his class. That had caught Su Xue’s attention. She wanted to know who this Tang Tang was. She needed a face to the name!

I’m like his big sister. His Aunt put me in charge. I don’t even know where his mother is… I’ll have to take it on myself and make sure he picks the right girl! Su Xue nodded. She cared for Lin Feng and wanted to see him happy. If he really liked this girl as much as he made it sound like, then it was up to her to check this girl out and make sure she was good enough for Lin Feng! Of course she won’t be. How can she? Like a good older sibling, Su Xue wanted only the best for her Lin Feng. Lost in her own little world, it’d gone completely over her head that Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao were just friends. Nothing more.

✹

The Shanghai 16 School Tournament wasn’t held in a branch of the NetCow Cafe like the preliminaries. They were held somewhere a little larger. Where a crowd could gather and cheer on their favourite team. This place was an electronics mall in the Pudong district of Shanghai. The Chinese Esports Association spent a lot of money to not only rent this place, but also prepare it for the event. It almost looked a little like a miniature version of Worlds, with a crowd, high end computers, and famous guest commentators. Though, the number of people in the crowd was a lot smaller and the guest commentators were a lot less famous than those at Worlds.

It was Monday afternoon, 5:30 PM. The venue was packed with people. This was the main tournament. It featured the biggest new talents in the Shanghai League of Legends scene. And Shanghai was the esports capital of China! Just last year, there were several talents that’d been recruited into the professional scene. So there was a lot of interest for this tournament.

There were only 30 minutes until the tournament would officially start. But there was still so much to do. Too much. The members of staff were running around, taking care of all the last minute issues that kept popping up. On top of that, there were even more little tasks that could only be completed at the last minute, like making sure all the contestants were present. Within this chaos, two men stood together chatting.

The organizer of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament was a man in his 30s. He wore a suit and gold-rimmed glasses. “Mr. Zhang,” he said to the man in front of him. “I want to extend my gratitude again for allowing us to host the event here.”

Zhang Jun smiled. His cheeks were puffy and his stomach was big and round. He was the director of this electronics mall. “It’s nothing, Mr. Chu. Just a small thing. We’ve known each other for how long now? Last year we also hosted both the main event and the Shanghai Varsity Championships. And, I mean, you approached us. It’s a real honour to be hosting these events at my venue.”

Chu Fang shook his head and said, “Alright, alright. That’s enough pleasantries. Let’s focus on the tournament. There’s still much to do. But this should be a win-win situation for the both of us. We’re going to get the most out of it!”

Zhang Jun laughed, putting one hand on his stomach and wiping away the sweat on his forehead with the other. “Haha! Right you are! A win-win for the both of us! Haha!” That was also the only reason Zhang Jun decided to work with Chu Fang. He was a businessman and only moved for profit. The Shanghai Esports Association was like a fat cow in that regard. They were full of money and they brought a lot of foot traffic to his mall. It just made sense to work together with them.

The win-win scenario Chu Fang had in mind was a little different from Zhang Jun. He didn’t move for money. Well, it wasn’t his main point of attention. His goals with the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Esports Association were a little different. There was something more important that money couldn’t buy. Talent. He needed to scout talent. To find the best players in China and help them get into the professional scene. That was the best way he could help put the LPL on the map. If they ever wanted to win Worlds, his work was vital!

KG had won the series! They were through to the semifinals! Tian Tian jumped up from his seat and joined his teammates to celebrate! Just for a minute. A short cheer. Because there was someone else who he wanted to share this win with. That was much more important to him. He excused himself and stormed down the stage and to his favourite bathroom stall in the backstage area. His hands were trembling as he pushed the stall door open and sat down on the toilet, his feet up and an arm wrapped around his knees. He had a smartphone in his free hand and stared at the screen. Stared at a picture of Lin Feng with his phone number underneath it. Then Tian Tian hit the call button.

Ring-ring…. Ring-ring…. Ring-ring….Three rings, and then the call connected. A voice came from the phone, but Tian Tian didn’t even hear it. He was already stumbling over his own words, trying to get the message across. “L-Lin Feng! I-i won! W-weon! Win! S-semis!”

“Yeah! I was watching! Saw the whole thing! Good job! I knew you had it in you! Especially during game 3, that pentakill was really awesome! It was a perfect play! But I knew you could do it! You always had it in you!

“I gotta say though… Assassins looked really good. They’re a strong team. You ready for this?”

Tian Tian nodded with his whole body. Team Assassins was strong. Read XIII had played a great series, especially in game 2. If it weren’t for him showing up, KG might’ve lost. He knew this, the excitement of it churning in his stomach. He smiled and said, “Mhm! Thirteen is still really good. He pretty much won that second game all by himself. And we got lucky with that pentakill on my Fiora. Otherwise, we might’ve lost. They were keeping me down pretty hard.”

“Hahah! If Thirteen is still the Thirteen from Season 1, then he’s probably more than a little salty right now. That penta must’ve hit him hard. Hahaha! I bet he’s looking for a wall to run his head into right now!”

Tian Tian bit on his lips, biting down a burst of laughter. That’s exactly what Thirteen would do! Haha! He even looked the part after the last game. Hehe! He took a deep breath, forcing the laughter back into his belly, and said, “Mhm! I can totally see that happening, haha!” He then moved the phone from his ear. Just a little, so that he could hear what was going on in the bathroom stall. Did he…? No.

“Right! You should give Three a call! He’s been worrying about you! Let him know how you’re doing, I’m sure that’ll cheer him up!”

Tian Tian let go of his knee and raised his hand, then made a snap. Right! He nodded and said, “Yeah! I’ll make sure to give him a call next!”

✹

Good news was meant to be shared! After hanging up with Lin Feng, Tian Tian scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he was looking for. His mentor’s phone number. He pushed on the touchscreen and the phone started ringing. A brief moment later, the call connected. Three spoke, “Yo, who’s this?”

Tian Tian’s face started glowing. This was the voice of Three. The man who’d gone through so much trouble for him. And now, now he finally had some good news to share! He said, “Three! It’s me! I did it! We won! We’re through to the semis! And, oh! Oh! I got a penta! I got a penta!”

“Oh, semis is it? I see. That’s fine. Just give me a ring when you get the trophy. I’m about to board a plane, so I can’t really talk now. Let’s chat later, ok? Bye bye, hanging up now.”

“Eh?” Tian Tian held his phone up to his face and stared at the screen. Three had hung up. H-he didn’t even congratulate me… Three had barely said a word. In the background, the faint sound of someone opening the bathroom door rang out. But he paid no attention to it. He didn’t have any attention to spare. His entire focus was on his phone, and the strange call he’d just had with Three.

As for Three, he really was about to board a plane. He was at the airport in Madrid, Spain, waiting for the gate to open. There was a smile on his face as he browsed an online forum to check the latest updates on Worlds. His pupil had made it to the semifinals and secured a penta! Not bad, Fatty! He thought back to the Fatty of Week 1 of Worlds. The nervous wreck. Good thing One called. I should give him a call. He scrolled through his contacts and made the call.

“Huh, why are you calling me? What’s up?”

“Hehe. Fatty just gave me a call. Thought you might be interested in what he told me.. He made it to the semis.”

“Hoh? Is that so? Not bad. Not bad at all. Looks like your little trip to London was worth it.”

“It definitely was. So. You still in Hawaii?”

“Yeah, I am. Uh, why’re you asking? Wait, are those planes in the background? Are you at the airport?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m at the airport. About to board a plane to Hawaii. I should be there tomorrow morning. You still owe me a meal, you know. I’m coming for it. Then we can also have a beer.”

There was a long silence on the line. Then Three heard a dull impact. Something light falling onto something soft. Like a phone into the sand. Footsteps sounded out. Hurried. Something else fell. Maybe a chair. It was hard to tell without seeing it happen. A distant voice sounded out, yelling loud enough for the call to pick it up. “BABE! Pack our suitcases and book a plane ticket for tonight! We’re going! That bastard Three is coming to shake us down! We have to go now! Let’s go!” 

✹

Tian Tian put his smartphone away. I’ll call him again later. He sounded busy. He then looked around him, at the four walls almost wrapped around him. There was practically no space here. My teammates are probably waiting for me… He put his feet back on the ground and got up, then pushed the stall door open and walked into the bathroom. Walked into the person he least wanted to see right now. His eyes went round. His heart rate shot up. Sweat formed on his forehead and left his armpits wet. He looked at the door out of the bathroom and scuffled in that direction.

Read XIII looked at Tian Tian and said, “Hey! Fatty!”

“I-it’s not me! N-not me! Y-you’ve got the wrong person!” Tian Tian replied, panicked. The door out was still a good few meters away.

“Wrong person my ass!” Read XIII cursed. He walked up to Fatty and put his arm around him. “Got me good today, didn’t you? A fucking pentakill. Damn, dude. What did your fat ass eat for you to pull that out during the game? Yeesh. I’m getting saltier just thinking about it. You got a penta!”

Tian Tian eyes were wide open. He grabbed Read XIII’s arm and tried to push him away. But he wasn’t strong enough. He tried to duck, but Read XIII followed him. Then he stood back up and also shoved Read XIII away. That did it. The guy let him go. He took two steps back and raised his hands defensively in front of his face. “W-what do you want? B-back off! I’m against violence!”

Read XIII stared at Tian Tian for a brief moment, then rolled his eyes. “Screw off! Who told you to play so good today? You know, I was just thinking about you. Thinking about what’d I’d do if I got my hands on you.” He paused and gave Tian Tian a wink, then continued, “And here you are showing up right in front of me! Hehe. I finally have luck on my side after that terrible series!”

Read XIII walked up to Tian Tian and raised his arms. He jumped back and forth on his feet, and then went in. In for a hug. He laughed and let go of Tian Tian a few seconds later. “You played pretty well today, huh? Those were some good games.”

“E-eh…” Tian Tian hesitated, but then said, “I wasn’t too bad.”

“Not too bad my ass!” Read XIII cursed, laughing. “What’s there to be humble about? You were real good today. I bet you played better than Seven ever has. Just accept the compliment. I’ll get angry if you don’t!” Then he breathed in deeply, pursed his lips, and blew it all out. “Fuck me. Some shit luck. This is the game you decide to be a fucking god. Why did we have to be matched up against each other? Any other team and we would’ve made the semis! I’m sure of it!”

Read XIII walked back to the sink and looked in the mirror. He grinned, self deprecating, and then nodded towards Tian Tian. “Well, you making it to the semis is the second best thing. You’re representing basically the same region! If you win, I win, sort of. Since my team is out now, I can only cheer for you. So you better not let me down, or I’ll have to come and find you in Shanghai! That won’t be fun! Haha!”

Tian Tian was fidgeting with a slip of toilet paper. Something to kill the nerves. He nodded, short and quick, and said, “D-don’t worry! I-i won’t let you down!”

Read XIII smiled and turned the faucet on, letting the water splash on his hands. Season 1 was a lot of fun. With Fatty here, Eleven… The name struck him before he even realized it. An old rival. One he wanted to play against to this day. So much so that he’d even give up a chance for the Summoner’s Cup for it! He turned around to look at Tian Tian and said, “Hey, how’s Eleven doing these days? Haven’t heard from him in a while.”

Tian Tian looked down at the ground and started counting the bathroom tiles. One. Two… He pursed his lips and started breathing faster. “E-eleven. He’s not in the LPL anymore—”

“I know he isn’t,” Read XIII cut him off. “You already told me last time! I’m asking you where he is now. Don’t tell me he’s still wasting away in that third rate LPSL team? Such a waste of talent…”

Tian Tian scratched the back of his head, his elbow close to his side. His breathing became heavy, as though he was going through labour, or something that wasn’t quite as exhausting. Then he nodded. A silent affirmation. Yes. That was where Eleven still was.

Read XIII slammed down on the faucet handle, frustrated. Eleven was his rival! Eleven was a great Jungler! He wasn’t someone who should be stuck on some shit-tier team! He can’t have fallen this far. This is stupid… But Fatty wouldn’t lie… Not about this. He didn’t want to accept it. He wanted there to be another explanation. Anything that could have it make sense to him. But there was nothing. Eleven’s path down the ladder made no sense to him. He shook his head, shaking away those thoughts, trying desperately to latch onto something else. Something to draw his mind away. “Right,” he said, holding up his finger. He turned to Tian Tian and asked, “Weren’t you on a call with someone when I walked in? Who were you talking to?”

《Pentakill!》

The announcer’s voice boomed out from the stadium speakers. The bass thrummed on the ground. The 9,000 fans felt the vibrations come up their feet and into their voices as they were screaming their lungs out. Colourful beams lit up the dome and flashed around. The Zenith Paris was on fire! Then the hall went dark. A sudden change. A sudden silence. A single beam of light lit up and shone down on Tian Tian. The large LCD screens started a replay. The Fiora dashing through Assassins’ team with her Bluesteel rapier, reaping lives. It was the perfect play. It was a…

“P–P–P–PEEENTAAKILLLL! GOD ROUNDY GETS THE PPEENNNTTTAAAAAA!” Lolo cried out! She jumped off her seat on the commentator desk and grabbed her hair with both hands. Her expression said more than a thousand words. Utter joy and disbelief.

Stone was drumming on the desk, laughing. That same expression of joy and disbelief. “God Roundy! What a hero! He gets the first penta at Worlds this year! What a brilliant play! Holy… Damn. The timing. The teleport, focus… Perfection.” He forced his head away from the replay and looked into the camera. “For all you people sitting at home, wondering what perfection looks like? This was it. This was perfection. God Roundy is perfection! It was all planned and executed to perfection! PERFECTION! Did you all see that Flash? That’s only possible if he knew the Zenith Blade was coming for him. He was prepared to hit that D! It was fucking perfect! God Roundy, if you watch this back later. I LOVE YOU! That was just… perfect.”

Qinghe didn’t jump up from his seat, nor did he join in the laughter. Not on first sight, anyways. But his attempt at hiding the big smile on his face fooled exactly zero people. Anyone could read the joy in his expression. He turned to the camera and said, “Don’t forget the rest of KG! It was the quick turn around and follow up by their Mid and Support that helped God Roundy to get the Penta! But let’s talk a little about the rest of the game now. Assassins’ plan failed. God Roundy got back into the game. KG now has a solid lead. They might’ve lost two players in this fight, but that’s nothing compared to the penta and first Dragon. KG really has to screw up from here to not win this game.”

The pentakill killed the deadlock the game was in. Tian Tian was catapulted ahead of everyone else, grabbing both the gold and experience lead. His KDA went up to 5/0/0 and he’d become Unstoppable in the span of a single teamfight. It was a double whammy for Assassins. All their effort, resources and strategizing were out the window. Their gameplan of shutting Tian Tian down had failed, miserably. It’d completely blown up in their faces! There was no one on their team who could stop him now. Even sending two members after him wouldn’t change that. He was too far ahead. Two members sent his way was the same as giving away two more kills. This situation was a nightmare for them.

The crowd was cheering KG! The casters celebrated the phenomenal performance! The millions of KG fans all across the globe could finally relax back in their chairs. KG was doing it. They were winning! Even the critical Lin Feng joined the bandwagon. He smiled and said to Su Xue’s stream, “KG should win this game. They’re doing it! Actually, let me make it a little more clear. If KG doesn’t win this game. If they let Assassins get back into it and win, then they might as well swim back home to Shanghai!” It was a running joke in China. A punishment for a team that didn’t just underperform, but a team that played so badly that they should feel too ashamed to ever show their faces again!

KG wasn’t planning to swim home, or take the plane. They were going to stay in France and make it to the next round! Their first step was this game. There was a small change to their gameplan. Tian Tian was now the main carry. The resources in the game were shoved his way and the rest of the team played around him. He was so strong that with the help of his team, there was nothing Assassins could do. It didn’t matter how good Read XIII’s Lee Sin was. It didn’t matter how well they played. The gold gap was too big. Tian Tian was too far ahead. And he only played better. Towers fell and Assassins were pushed back into their base.

Read XIII slammed down on his keyboard. He gripped his mouse and almost squashed it in half. “Fuck fuck fuck! The hell did that fatass eat? He’s never been this good! What the fuck. He’s playing out of his fucking mind!” He knew Tian Tian was good. They went way back. But there was a clear distinction between being good and being great. This game, Tian Tian was great. Maybe even better. So good that Read XIII, as a King, could do nothing to stop him. Read XIII was powerless to turn this game around.

✹

VICTORY!

The crowd jumped back to their feet! A win by KG! Though the excitement wasn’t all there. That was already expended on the pentakill. The rest of the game was a foregone conclusion. KG played the methodical game and made sure to not give Assassins any chances of mounting a comeback. It was to be expected, but still not the most exciting bit to watch. A 31 minute win by KG. KG was up two to one in the series. They were on gamepoint! One more win and they were through to the semifinals of Worlds! 

Prophet Stone was all smiles, proud of how KG had played the game out. But that didn’t mean he’d lost his caution. He looked into the camera and warned, “Ahem! Don’t celebrate too early, guys. This series is not over yet. Assassins is still a King team. You can’t count them out. KG has to focus and make sure they don’t slip up in the next gam–”

The stern expression, the grave words, Lolo couldn’t take it anymore. She started giggling, hiding her mouth with her hand, then said, “Don’t think we don’t see what you’re trying to do, Prophet Stone. Trying to work that Prophet magic, huh? Hehe!”

Stone’s Caster’s Curse was a popular meme in the League of Legends circle. Stone knew it. Lolo knew it. Everyone knew it. The fans laughed and started flooding the chat of the live broadcast.

「about god dam time he puts his power to good use!」

「The prophet’s about to cast his curse! Everybody duck! 」

「STONE HAS SAID THE WORDS!!!! THE CURSE HAS BEEN CAST!」

「yo yo stone! i got me here a wife that wants to watch some stupid dating show…. curse her away plzzzz」

「HAHAHAH kick their assessssss in!!!」

「the prophet prophesies the prophecy. kg for the w1nnn」

Qinghe scrolled through the chat messages and laughed. He looked at Stone and said, “Seems like the fans at home are at ease. You’ve struck Assassins with your Caster’s Curse! We’ll be watching them crumble apart next game. I believe!”

Stone looked at the camera and rolled his eyes, slowly. “Guys, hey… I’m being serious here, okay? They’re a King team. We really can’t underestimate them. KG has to play another perfect game to beat them!” Then he smirked. He liked the meme. And the fans did too. This little spiel boosted everyone’s spirits and didn’t hurt anyone. That was the most he could do. The rest was up to KG. They had to play the game. They had to face Assassins. And they had to win! As for him, like all other KG fans, he hoped that KG would do that and make it through to the semifinals.

✹

The fourth game in the series started. This was it. Either Assassins would claw their way back into it and force a deciding fifth game, or KG would win and move on to the semifinals. This game could decide the final semi finalist of Season 5 Worlds! The Champion Select went without much surprise. Assassins stuck to Lee Sin and formed an early game team composition around it. On the other side, KG went with a team composition that didn’t start shining until later in the game. If they survived the early game, they’d carry the late game to a win.

Assassins came out swinging from the first minute of the game, as was to be expected from their team composition. They invaded KG’s Jungle, ganked lanes, and did everything they could to get the advantage needed to secure a win. But KG fought back. They weren’t giving anything away. Their Jungler knew what fights he could take, and more importantly, which he couldn’t take. The lanes were playing defensively, but they weren’t losing. And Tian Tian got revenge on his Gnar. Unlike the game in the group stage where his Gnar got toyed around with, this game he became a real presence.

The early advantage did go to Assassins. It was to be expected. There really was no question about it. The real question was if the advantage was big enough. If they had pulled open a far enough lead where they could play the game out before it ever got to the late game. The answer was a resounding no. They hadn’t. Their advantage was small, almost negligible. And with every next minute, KG became stronger and stronger. Assassins knew that they had to do something extreme if they still wanted to win this game. They turned their attention to Baron Nashor. If they could kill this giant wurm and win a teamfight off the back of it, then, just maybe, they’d be able to push down mid lane and finish the game.

There were wards everywhere. Assassins were desperate. They weren’t thorough enough. There were wards they missed and they didn’t have full intel on where the players from KG were. But they still committed. It was the only option in their eyes. They attacked Baron Nashor, their health bars steadily dropping. Around the back, Tian Tian’s Gnar appeared. He was on the backside of the Baron Pit. A wall separated him from the players from Assassins. They stuck to the Baron. That was the call. Then Tian Tian flashed over the wall and into the Baron Pit. His Gnar’s rage hit the maximum and the little yordle evolved into Mega Gnar! Then the large monster stood up on his hind legs and dug his claws into the ground behind him. He swept forward, throwing everything around him against the wall of the Baron Pit and stunning the four players that were hit by it–GNAR!

The crowd in the Zenith Paris went silent. This was the game. The other players from KG followed up behind the Gnar. They took out the stunned players from Assassins, then finished off Baron Nashor. The Baron buff didn’t just boost player stats, it also boosted the stats of the minions near a Champion. With the help of the empowered minions, they pushed down mid lane. They destroyed the towers and inhibitors. The players from Assassins only started respawning when KG was already attacking the nexus. They threw themselves forward, but were sent back to the fountain.

VICTORY

KG 3 – 1 Assassins

The final hope of the LPL, the all Chinese team KG, had done it! They’d made it out of groups and now had won their quarter finals series against Assassins! They were moving on to the semifinals! An LPL team had qualified for the semifinals! It took a minute for realization to set in, for the fans, for the casters, and even for the players from KG. They just sat there, staring at the victory screen, until the cheers and chants from the crowd shook them away. 

“WE FUCKING DID IT!” 
“WOOOOO” 
“WHAT AN ULT ROUNDY!” 
“HOLLYYYYYY SEMIS!” 
“We really did!”

Qinghe sat behind the caster desk, shaking his head. Then he started smiling before bursting out laughing. “KG takes the win and the series! They fought hard for it, but they did it! They’re semi finalists!”

“Let’s all take a moment to congratulate KG! This is a massive milestone for us! For the first time since Season 1, an LPL team had made it to the semis!” Stone said, smiling. “They’ve really done it, guys. It’s a little hard to believe, trust me, I know. But they’ve done it! They’ve really done it!”

✹

Read XIII was mad, annoyed, frustrated. His eyes warned everyone who tried to approach him to turn around and walk away. He’d have them for breakfast if they tried to cheer him up right now. Screw the fans. Screw his teammates. Screw everything! He stepped down the stage, ignoring everyone around him and walked backstage. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. They were the only words going through his mind, together with replays of the games. Every small mistake he’d made, amplified a thousand times. Replayed in slow motion. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. After walking through the backstage area, he found a bathroom and kicked the door open. He walked in and slammed his fists down on one of the sinks. Then he stopped. There was someone else in the bathroom stall. He turned towards that person. The culprit of his current mood. Tian Tian.

Read XIII’s Rek’Sai still had Smite, a Summoner Skill that dealt a lot of damage to minions and monsters. Baron Nashor was at low health, high enough that it still took a few more skills or auto attacks to kill it but low enough that one Smite could kill it. So Read XIII smited the Baron. The giant wurm died on the spot and granted a team wide buff to Assassins.

Su Xue grabbed onto her desk. She dug her nails into the surface. KG’s Jungler was dead. This was a 4vs5 now, and Assassins had the Baron Buff! Everything looked wrong, and everything went wrong from there. Assassins pushed down the mid lane, killing two more players from KG in the process. They forced their way into the base and killed another one. Only Roundy Round was left alive. He fought back hard in a desperate attempt to stall the game. But the death timers were too long. The Nexus towers fell with 20 seconds still left for the Jarvan IV to respawn, not to mention the others.

“Aghhh! How did we lose that game?” Su Xue exclaimed. The Nexus exploded in front of her eyes and the victory screen for Assassins appeared. “W-we won the teamfight before! How did we lose at Baron? Gahhh! Damn that Rek’Sai! How did Read XIII get that steal! It shouldn’t have been possible! J4 should’ve…”

Lin Feng ruffled his messy hair and said, “He’s a King for a reason. You can’t underestimate him. Even when he’s not playing on his Lee Sin!”

The stream chat felt very much deflated. Game 1 saw a chat full of jokes and laughter and excitement. The second game started out the same. But as the tension built up towards the late game, the viewers stopped making jokes. Their messages turned serious. They were looking for an opening KG could use, even though they had no way of contacting said team. Then they watched Read XIII steal the Baron and carry his team to a win.

「ahh……..」

「I guess a King team > KG…」

「i really thought we had a chance」

「mmannnn, why does it always have to end likes this??!?!?」

「hog also looked good at first. look what happened to them.」

「plzzzzz dont lose pplzzzzzzzzz」

✹

KG and Assassins had one win each, and Assassins was riding the momentum high after the Baron steal and the subsequent win. However, it didn’t feel like that. They were cheering, but not on their feet. A high five. A pat on the shoulder. That was it. Read XIII looked across his computer at KG’s lineup. More specifically, he looked towards God Roundy. This was a player he remembered very well from back in Season 1. They were old friends. But he wasn’t happy to be facing his old friend. Not today. Something felt off. Or wrong. He couldn’t quite place it. All he knew was that there was this indescribable feeling warning him of Roundy Round. “Dammit! Why does it feel like that fatass is going to do something crazy!”

✹

There was a small break between game two and three of the KG versus Assassins series. Lin Feng chatted with the viewers a bit, but there was an annoying buzz that kept distracting him. It came from his pocket. High School 13’s esports club had a team chat. This way, even when they weren’t watching Worlds together, they could still share their feelings while watching it!

Ouyang:「fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! we lost that second game! goddamn stupid reksai!!!!」

Liu Yue:「nnuuuuuuu coommmeee ooonnn KG!!! Dont throw this!」

Ren Rou:「٩(╬ŏ3ŏ)و f this all! We’ll win for sure!」

Tang Bingyao:「Read XIII carried this game for Assassins. If KG wants to win the next one, they need someone on their team to carry harder.」

Lin Feng skimmed through the messages before putting his phone away again. He didn’t have time to talk with his friends now. Right now, he was helping Su Xue with her stream, and he would give his full attention to that! So he put his phone on silent and focused back on the stream as KG and Assassins went into Champion Select for Game 3. He looked at the bans and then said to the stream, “Against Assassins, it’s absolutely necessary that KG take the initiative. They can’t let Read XIII do his thing. Then it’ll become very hard to win. The good news is that KG does have that ability. They have the player to do that. If they give Roundy Round a Champion he can carry on, they can win this game.”

It looked as if KG’s coach, who was telling his players which Champion to pick, was listening to Su Xue’s stream. Only seconds later did KG lock in Fiora. A woman with a Bluesteel rapier. She most definitely had the potential to take the initiative and carry her team to a victory! The stream chat saw this Champion as a reaffirmation of their beliefs.

「LIL BRO CAN LOOK IN THE FUTURE」

「this analysis! Holy dam… lil bro is the best」

「woootttttt FIORA!!! Lezzz goooooo」

✹

This was it. There was no more warming up. Whoever won this match was on gamepoint! KG and Assassins loaded into the game. They bought their items and went to their lanes. KG went with the normal setup, while Assassins initiated a lane swap. Their Botlaners went top lane to face Tian Tian’s Fiora! They were going to focus him and shut him down! It didn’t stop there. They had big plans for stopping the Fiora from ever getting into the game.

Read XIII ganked top lane twice in the first 10 minutes of the game. It almost looked like a 3vs1 in top. Assassins really had it out for Tian Tian! But Tian Tian didn’t die. He lost some minions, but that was it. It was as if he had a sixth sense, warning him whenever Read XIII came close to his lane. Before the Lee Sin could even walk into the top lane, he would’ve retreated underneath his tower. He didn’t give away any advantage. The game was still dead even.

On the caster desk for the official Chinese broadcast of Worlds, Stone was hopping up and down in excitement. An LPL team was doing well in the quarterfinals! And his curse hadn’t struck yet! “Beautiful!” he shouted as Roundy Round evaded another gank. “Roundy is really sharp today! It’s like he has eyes at the back of his head!”

Qinghe looked over at Stone and then back at the camera. “Roundy is doing very well in avoiding danger! But, that isn’t enough to win this game. Assassins are pouring a lot of resources in keeping him down, and to some extent it’s working. He needs to find a way to break out of this situation and get some time farming minions for experience and gold.”

At 15 minutes, the gaming was coming to a head. Assassins’ Botlaners had disappeared from top lane, presumably to go back to base and buy items. But then they showed themselves at the Dragon Pit, together with the rest of Assassins. KG’s Botlaners moved up while their Jungler and Midlaner also came to contest, walking around the backside of the pit to team up with their ad-carry and Support. Skillshots started being flung around.

Read XIII did it. He had his Lee Sin send out a Sonic Wave. It connected with Konjac’s Jinx. This was the target to hit. They had a chance to take out the carry! He pressed down on his Q key and activated the second part of this skill–Resonating Strike! His Lee Sin dashed towards the Jinx, who flashed away before he even arrived. The distance was further. He found himself a little behind KG’s team. Kicking back the Jinx didn’t make a whole lot of sense; he’d be kicking her into her own team. But he was right behind the Elise. So he hit her with a roundhouse kick and sent her flying towards the other players from Assassins–Dragon’s Rage!

Lee Sin was in the middle of KG’s team. The Thresh Support from KG flayed him back, allowing the Jinx to fire away at the Lee Sin with her minigun. They got the Lee Sin down to half health in a short moment. But this wasn’t just any Lee Sin. This was Read XIII’s Lee Sin, the best Lee Sin in the world! He knew exactly what he had to do to get out of this, or he wouldn’t have gone in. The moment he could move again, he placed a ward on the ground and dashed towards it with Safeguard. There was still a gap between him and his team. He was in the middle of this face off. So he flashed away to the safety of his own team.

There was a ward in the river brush above the Dragon Pit. It lit up with a blue light. A teleport! Tian Tian was coming down to help his team! Assassins were focused on dealing with the Elise and helping their Jungler get back safely. They completely missed the teleport. Tian Tian appeared behind the players from Assassins. The Lee Sin was running towards him, towards what he believed to be safety. It wasn’t. Tian Tian pressed the Q key–Lunge! His Fiora lunged towards the Lee Sin and stabbed him, dealing physical damage and applying on-hit effects.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Tian Tian was in the middle of Assassins’ team. There were four more Champions around him, all turning their attention to him. He had to be fast. His next target had to be one of the carries. The Kalista was the most obvious one. So he clicked on her, commanding his Fiora to attack. The Fiora attacked the Kalista with her rapier. Her passive identified the vitals on her target. It was called the Duelist’s Dance and showed her where to attack next. An arrow instructing Tian Tian from which direction he could deal the most damage to the Kalista.

Assassins’ Support was a Leona, a defensive Champion with a lot of crowd control. All she had to do was land one of her skills and the Fiora would be stunned. The Fiora would be dead. The Leona projected a solar image of her sword straight towards the Fiora, about to jump towards her and stun her. But before the image faded, the Fiora disappeared. She’d flashed away to the other side of Kalista! To where her Duelist’s Dance told her to attack next!

Tian Tian pressed down on the R key–Grand Challenge! His Fiora revealed all four Vitals on the Kalista and gained bonus movement speed. There was a second part to this skill, other than the massive damage she dealt after hitting a Vital. A large area around the target would become a healing ground for Fiora and her teammates if she hit the four Vitals or killed the target. The target was Kalista. Her health was low. One auto attack on the first Vital did the job.

《Double kill!》

On the caster desk, Stone slammed his fist on the desk and shouted, “NICE! LET’S GO!”

Qinghe nodded and added, “God Roundy has done it! He got the second part of the Fiora ult! He’s going to clean up this figh—”

《Triple kill!》

There was no time to shoutcast. There was no time to do anything. Tian Tian went to town with his Fiora. The third kill came before the casters could even talk about the second. And the fourth came before they could even cheer for the third.

《Quadra kill!》

It was a quadra kill! A quadra kill! The people in the Zenith Paris went wild. They jumped up from their seats and screamed Tian Tian’s name. “GOD ROUNDY! GOD ROUNDY!” They held up their signboards and were clapping together their glow sticks. They were chugging their beers and jumping up and down, the vibrations reaching all the way to the parking lot outside. And they weren’t the only ones. All across the world, every KG fan screamed and yelled and cheered. This was their moment! A 1vs5 quadra kill! And there was still a Gnar alive. A Gnar that was trying to flee!

The Thresh Support from KG flashed forward and threw out a Death Sentence. His sickle cut through the air towards the Gnar and wrapped around him. Then he dragged the Gnar back towards him, while throwing a lantern to Tian Tian’s Fiora–Dark Passage!

Tian Tian clicked the lantern. His Fiora dashed towards the Thresh and got a shield. She was right in front of the Gnar. Then she lunged forward, stabbing the Gnar, dealing physical damage. The Jinx caught up and also hit a few auto attacks. The rest from KG was a step behind. But Tian Tian wasn’t going to let this kill slip from his fingers. He attacked with another auto attack.

✹

Lin Feng watched the stream, forgetting to breathe. He stared at Fatty. How he moved. How he killed. How he did absolutely everything right on his Fiora. It was a beautiful display of skill. A level of play that very few, if any, other players could imitate. This was the Fatty he remembered from Season 1! This was Fatty! He clenched his fist and smiled. Fatty! You did it! You did it!