“Alright, we’ll have our second team play them,” Luo Yu said to his teammates. They were sitting in the room next to the university’s esports clubroom, discussing what to do about the scrim against Team Shanghai. Qiu Li, Xie Qing and Huang Yang were already feeling apprehensive about playing against a high school team. But after learning that the team had two girls on its roster, they outright refused to play them.

Huang Yang said, “Fine.” Then he looked at his watch and snorted. “We’ve made them wait half an hour. If we’re lucky, they’ve already left. Haha! Oh, I’ll send the guys from the second team a text.”

Luo Yu stood up and walked past his teammates out into the hallway. “Let’s go.” He didn’t wait for them to follow as he strode to the next door over and placed his hand on the door handle. Only then did he glance over his shoulder to make sure his teammates were there. They were. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. And as he did his entire demeanor changed. He straightened his back, becoming the tallest person in the room, and an air of confidence appeared around him. This was his arena. This was where he belonged.

Just as fast as the confidence appeared on Luo Yu, it lapsed. Han Ying had told them that there were two girls on Team Shanghai’s roster, but it was only now that he really believed her. He had to take a second take and then searched for Han Ying to get confirmation. She nodded at his questioning gaze. So she was right. They do have two girls on their team. And, they’re pretty! He felt his heart skip a beat. They’re high schoolers. Control yourself! He scrunched his eyes and forced his surprise down. Then he scrutinized the two girls. Why do they have two girls on the team? Isn’t this supposed to be the team representing the Shanghai Esports Association? Was this really the best roster they could form? It’s good we’re having the second roster play them. He forced himself to stop this line of thought. Don’t think like this. Just because they’re girls, doesn’t mean they’re bad. Maybe they’re really good. It’s just… You rarely ever see a high elo female player. Let alone two of them. And they’re both high schoolers! It just… It doesn’t make any sense. They can’t be that good. Can they?

Luo Yu shook his head ever so lightly and straightened his back again. This is my place. He nodded at Zeng Rui with an apologetic smile and extended his hand. “We’re a little late. My apologies. Something came up at the last minute that kept us busy.”

Zeng Rui accepted Luo Yu’s handshake and calmly replied, “It’s fine. But next time, give us a head’s up. Messages on Wechat are free. I don’t like wasting my time.”

Luo Yu nodded, smiling wryly. I know. I should’ve sent you a message. But I didn’t expect that discussion to take so long… He’d played with Zeng Rui on the Rift before and they’d met in person on occasion too. They were acquainted at the least, maybe even friends, and he was being anything but a friend. He wanted to say something about it, but his teammates beat him to the punch.

Qiu Le narrowed his eyes. He looked over at Huang Yang and said loudly enough so that everyone could hear him, “Can you believe these high schoolers, Huang Yang? I swear. Luo Yu told them we were busy. He even apologized! What more do they want? We should just tell them to piss off!”

Huang Yang nodded at Qiu Le. Then he turned to look at Zeng Rui and said, “If you don’t like waiting, you can walk right outta here. We’re not forcing you to stay. And also quit the tournament while you’re at it. I can’t believe the esports association invited high school teams…”

Luo Yu coughed and glanced over his shoulder, signalling his teammates to tone it down. Then he looked back at Zeng Rui and said, “It was just an unfortunate combination of events. We screwed up, okay? And for that, I do apologize. Please don’t take it personally.”

Zeng Rui nodded and said, “Ok. It happens.” He wasn’t happy about it, but he also understood that there was nothing he’d gain from pushing this matter any further. So he changed the conversation to the main topic. “Since we’re both here, let’s scrim.”

“About that,” Luo Yu said. He hesitated briefly, glancing past Zeng Rui at the two girls. “Well, there is a slight change of plans. We were talking about the scrim and felt it might be better if you guys play against our second roster first.” He hesitated for a brief moment, then added, “We… Since you guys only just formed your team, it seemed unfair to pit you against us right away. Our second roster is pretty good too and probably more at your level.”

Zeng Rui puffed out his chest and stared at Luo Yu. He’d had enough of the way they were being treated. He said, “That’s not what we agreed to. I very specifically asked to play against your main roster. And you agreed to that.”

Luo Yu smiled wryly and explained, “Er… I know. I agreed to that. But the guys and I talked about it and we realized you guys were a new team. You don’t have much experience playing with each other yet. We think you’ll learn more from playing a game against our second roster. I think it’s unfair to make you play u—”

Qiu Le interrupted Luo Yu with a loud snort. He glared at Zeng Rui and said, “What? Got a problem with it? Don’t get ahead of yourselves because you won some silly high school tournament. Oh, wait, you didn’t. You lost. Ha! Show some respect. Just be happy we’re even here. Now stop wasting our time and play against our second team.

Zhang Hao had been holding himself back for more than 30 minutes now. But now he’d finally had enough. He shouted, “Don’t screw with us!” He then took a short breath before continuing, “We don’t want your faked pity. We came here to play your main team and you agreed! Stop making these weak excuses! This is all bullshit and you know it! If you don’t want to play against us, just say so! We don’t have to waste our time here!”

Huang Yang shrugged and said, “So what if it’s bullshit? What are you going to do about it?” He paused and nodded at An Xin and Tang Bingyao standing behind Zeng Rui. “We initially planned to play against you ourselves, since Luo Yu had already agreed to. But then we heard you guys don’t even have a serious team. I’m not going to waste my time on playing around with a bunch of kids.” He snorted and added, “You know you guys are crap. Just look at your lineup. Our second team will kick your ass, and you might learn something from that. So are you going to play, or what?”

It was clear to everyone that Huang Yang wasn’t impressed with Team Shanghai having two girls on their roster. The way he looked at them and then snorted in derision was telling enough. This was a common theme in League of Legends. There were many girls who played the game, but very few of them reached a competitive level. The LPL didn’t have a single team with a female player on it. And it hadn’t been any different in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, with the exception of High School 13. It was with this knowledge that it became very hard for Huang Yang to even consider the possibility of a woman being good at League of Legends. I won’t entertain some fucking high school kids. We should be practicing against a good team and get ready for the Collegiate Cup!

Tang Bingyao pursed her lips and frowned. This is just like the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. They always talk and make fun about me being on the team, just because I’m a girl. It’s always, “Oh, she’s a girl. She can’t be good. This will be easy.” She glared at Huang Yang. They just called him Huang Yang. Asshole. All people like him are assholes. Mhm! I’m going to show him just how wrong he is!

An Xin took a completely different approach from Tang Bingyao. She smiled, warm and friendly, and pretended as if it didn’t bother her. But her hands tensed up and she grit her teeth. Every single time. “Oh, she’s a girl! They must only have her around because she’s a pretty face!” I’m tired of it. Why can’t a girl be good at League? It’s this stupid mentality that makes girls not want to play. Or when they do play, pretend they’re a guy. We always get singled out. It’s never, “Oh that dude looks like a buffoon, he must be bad at the game.” I’ll make this stupid buffoon eat his words!

“Thanks for your ‘consideration’,” Zeng Rui said. He looked at Huang Yang and Qiu Le before turning back to Luo Yu. “But we didn’t ask for your ‘consideration’. We came to scrim against your main team. And that’s the only team we’ll be playing against.”

Luo Yu was about to look over his shoulders at his teammates, but stopped himself at the last second. I’ve been a terrible friend and host for long enough. It’s time to start fixing that. He took a long, calming breath and said, “You’re right, Zeng Rui. You asked for a scrimmage against our main team and I agreed. So that’s what we’ll be doing. We’ve wasted enough time talking. Let’s play a best of three.”

✹

To recreate the environment in which the Winter Collegiate Cup was being held, Luo Yu decided to use the soundproof booths for the scrim against Team Shanghai. He showed Zeng Rui and his teammates to their booth and explained how it worked before joining his teammates in their booth. They all turned to him and he could see in their eyes that they were about to complain. He sighed and said, “Come on, guys. It’s just a best of three. And after we stomp them in the first game, we’ll tell them to play against the second roster in the second game.”

Qiu Le glanced over at Team Shanghai and chuckled. “I can’t believe how rude high schoolers are these days. I wouldn’t have dared to talk like that. They really deserve a good beating.”

Huang Yang laughed and added, “This is going to be so easy. They’ve got girls on their team! But whatever, we gave them a way out, they should’ve taken it. Now I’m itching to see their faces after the game.”

Luo Yu sat down behind the middle computer, shaking his head. Zeng Rui should’ve told me there are two girls on his team. I know he’s good. We’ve played together plenty of times. But there just aren’t many strong female players. He can’t have found two of them. It just doesn’t make sense. And the other two didn’t look all that impressive either, though I suppose looks say nothing about skill. Just look at God Roundy… Right, I need to focus. It’d be really embarrassing if we lost here because we got careless. He looked at his teammates who were still making fun of Team Shanghai’s line up. We have to focus, if only to keep Zeng Rui down. “Guys, focus up. We’re going to play against them like we would in a normal scrim.”

Huang Yang snorted a laugh and said, “You must be joking. They’ve got two girls on their team! If we need to play seriously to beat them, we might as well drop out of the Collegiate Cup…”

Xie Qing grinned and asked, “Zeng Rui is the Support, right? So what are the girls going to be? Ad-carry and mid? That’d be hilarious! Imagine, two girls being the carries!”

✹

There was no laughter or joking around going on in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. Zhang Hao and Tang Bingyao were both glaring through the glass windows at Shanghai University of Finance’s team, while Zeng Rui and An Xin frowned, staring at their monitors.

“Assholes,” Zhang Hao said. He looked at his teammates and continued, “Talking shit like we weren’t even there. Who do they think they are?”

Tang Bingyao nodded and said, “Mhm. I don’t like them.”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head, confused. He said, “I don’t get what the problem is. We could’ve played against their second team too.” He shrugged and continued, “We would’ve beaten them and then the main team too. Same result but double the games!”

Zeng Rui turned to look at Lin Feng, stunned. Did he just say something sensible? He shook his head. No, that can’t be. But it does make sense. He opened his mouth to say something. The words came slowly and were incredibly hard for him to say. But he did. “You’re not wrong, Lin Feng.” He felt a cold shiver rush up his spine. What did I just say!? He shook his head and continued, “Let’s crush them and see if they want us to play their second roster next.”

An Xin smiled warmly at Lin Feng for perhaps the first time. Then she looked at the rest of the team and said, “So we all agree, let’s play our absolute best.” She then turned to Tang Bingyao and added, “And you and I are going to make them pay for looking down on us. Screw them and every other guy who thinks girls can’t play video games!”

“Oh, right, guys, before you go home,” Luo Yu said to his teammates from the Shanghai University of Finance’s esports team. They were leaving the esports clubroom after a few hours of practice. He waited for them to turn back to him and then continued, “We’re scrimming on Saturday against Team Shanghai. They’re the high school team from the Shanghai Esports Association that’s playing in the Winter Collegiate Cup.”

“Sorry, what?” Xie Qing, the team’s Support, blurted out.

Qiu Le, who was the ad-carry of the team, looked at Luo Yu in confusion and said, “Yeah, what the hell, man? Since when are high schoolers playing in the Collegiate Cup?”

“It’s a new format,” Luo Yu explained. “The three big esports associations are each drafting a team of high schoolers for the Collegiate Cup.”

“High schoolers?” Huang Yang, the team’s Jungler, blurted out. “Wait, hold on, stop, wait, what?” He looked at Luo Yu and said, “You’re joking with us, right? Joking. You have to be! Tell me if you’re not, so that I can go call an ambulance because you’re clearly sick in the head!” He waited to see if Luo Yu was going to laugh, but his friend didn’t laugh. What the fuck is going on? Why in the world would they invite high school teams? Why would Luo Yu accept scrimming against them? What the… He took a deep breath and said, “You’re serious? Is the Esports Association actually making high school teams join the Collegiate Cup? WELP, there goes the prestige of the tournament. They’re letting a bunch of kids play in it…”

Xie Qing finally came to his senses after the initial shock. He nodded at Huang Yang and said, “Do those high schoolers have relatives in the esports association, or something? Maybe they’ve got an uncle with a lot of money, or something? That’s why this is the new format, right? Some cocky kids are using their money and connections to force themselves into the Collegiate Cup. I can’t believe this. What a fucking joke!”

Qiu Le looked from Luo Yu to Huang Yang and then back to Luo Yu. He finally said, “I think Huang Yang here is right. Do we need to call you an ambulance? What is wrong with you? Why would you accept scrimming against a high school team. Fuck me! What a waste of time!”

“Guys, please, let me explain,” Luo Yu said. He waited for his teammates to stop talking and then said, “First off, I didn’t ask to scrim them. They came looking for us. And yes, I agreed to—”

“I knew it. I’m calling the ambulance,” Huang Yang said as he grabbed his phone.

“Wait, wait, please. Let me explain,” Luo Yu shouted. “I’m not sick! Give me a damn minute to explain!”

Huang Yang kept his phone in his hand and the touchscreen was alive. But he didn’t press the buttons. He looked up at Luo Yu and said, “Well, talk!”

Luo Yu shook his head and smiled. “The one who contacted me was Zeng Rui. He’s the team captain of Shanghai High School, and he’ll be playing on Team Shanghai in the Collegiate Cup. He’s a really good player. I’ve played a bunch with him in high Challenger. He is a good Support, guys. He was even a top 10 Challenger in the Ionia server at one point! So if he believes his team can play against us, then I have to believe that he actually has a strong team.”

Xie Qing frowned and stared very intently up at the ceiling, mumbling, “Shanghai High School… Shanghai High School…” Then he suddenly looked back at his friends and said, “That’s where I remember them from! They’re supposed to be a pretty strong team! I remember because some of my friends said that the Support on their team was scouted by an LSPL team! So… that Support is Zeng Rui then?”

Qiu Le raised an eyebrow and said, “So what if he got scouted by an LSPL team? Luo Yu here has received an offer from an LPL team!”

Luo Yu quickly added, “As a substitute. But these guys aren’t bad, guys. I’ve looked into them. Zeng Rui and their Toplaner are from Shanghai High School. They’re the guys from that team Xie Qing mentioned. And then they’ve got three players from High School 13. It’s some random high school but they apparently have some pretty talented players. I heard that they defeated Shanghai High School in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament this  year.” He paused for a breath and then continued, “Guys, we can’t underestimate them just because they’re high schoolers. These are five good players. That’s why I agreed to scrim against them.”

Qiu Le and Xie Qing shrugged their shoulders in perfect sync, like a Support and his ad-carry were supposed to be. Then Qiu Le said, “Whatever, man. Since you already agreed, let’s humour them with a game or two.”

Huang Yang snorted and said, “Great! We’re going to play against a bunch of brats. I’m betting you they’re really proud of themselves for winning that high school tournament. So let’s kick them down and show them how big the difference is between a real university team and their shitty ass team.”

✹

It was Saturday afternoon. Team Shanghai had met up at the train station near the Shanghai University of Finance and were now walking the last bit to the campus. Zeng Rui took this opportunity to introduce their opponents. “This is a really strong team. They came in 6th last year. Their starplayer is Luo Yu, their Midlaner. He’s a top Challenger. When I looked last night, he sat at a little over 600 points! From what I heard, an LPL team approached him about a position as substitute. But he turned them down. That should give you guys an idea of just how good he is.”

Zhang Hao’s eyes went wide and he mumbled, “Invited to play in the LPL? That’s so cool!”

Tang Bingyao’s eyes also went wide, wide with dollar signs. She was well aware of just how big the professional contracts were these days. Even substitutes made far more than she made elo boosting accounts. She nodded and said, “Mhm. We have to beat them.”

“Wow!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “It’s so beautiful! I already love it here!” He hadn’t been listening to Zeng Rui, since his full attention was on the large buildings in front of him. They were the large square buildings from the Shanghai University of Finance. More impressively, there were beautiful beds of flowers all around them. There were trees shading paths lined with benches. And all of this came together at the large fountain, comprising several blocks of cement, that stood in the very center of the grounds.

Team Shanghai stopped in front of the large fountain. There were university students everywhere. Some were sitting on the benches, others were passing by, and a couple of pretty girls were standing next to the fountain. They were talking, giggling, and pointing at people walking by. And Lin Feng was staring at them. An Xin noticed it and raised her eyebrow. “Are you talking about the school, or those girls over there? I can go up to them and get their numbers for you, if you want. You just have to say the word. I’ll go right now. What do you think? Shall I go and ask them?” She took one dramatic step forward.

“Uh…” Lin Feng scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, then said, “No, no need! I’m… I’m not interested in older women!”

Zeng Rui ignored the exchange between Lin Feng and An Xin. He’d quickly learned to stay as far away from them as possible whenever they got into another argument. So he took a few steps away from them and took out his phone. Then he looked up and searched around the square with his eyes. “Guys, someone from the esports club is coming to pick us up. She says she should be here in a minute. So let’s wait for her here.”

They didn’t have to wait long. A female student walked up to them seconds later and said, “Hi, you must be Team Shanghai, right? I’m Han Ying. Let’s, uh…” She looked at the five members from Team Shanghai and then looked at Zeng Rui. “I thought you said the team was here? Where are your other members?”

“Ye… Eh… Uhhh…” Zhang Hao mumbled in response. He couldn’t take his eyes away from Han Ying. She’s so pretty! Those black leather boots are so hot! When she’d walked up to them, it was like everything else in the world disappeared. There was only Han Ying. Her legs… Her eyes! He smiled like a fool and nodded at her. Please talk again. Say something! Please! He glanced at her eyes every few seconds, but was afraid she’d look back at him. So he examined the rest of her face. That shawl hides most of her hair. But it looks so pretty on her. And I’m sure her hair is just as pretty. Long and black—

“What other members?” Lin Feng asked, confused, interrupting Zhang Hao’s thoughts.

Zeng Rui followed Han Ying’s gaze to Tang Bingyao and An Xin and realized the misunderstanding. He quickly explained, “This is our team. The two girls here are members of the team.”

“Oh, ok,” Han Ying said with a smile. She looked at Tang Bingyao and An Xin again. Don’t see that everyday. And they’re supposed to be some good team? Didn’t think they’d have girls. Oh well, not my business. She shrugged and then pointed over her shoulder. “Let’s go. The club is over there.”

✹

Han Ying led Team Shanghai into Shanghai University of Finance’s esports clubroom. And when Lin Feng followed her in, his mouth fell open, speechless. This looked like a proper gaming room, completely different from the computer science lab they had to use at High School 13. “Wow!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “They have a stage! And soundproof booths! And look at that LCD screen up there! This is so cool!”

“Mhm.” Tang Bingyao nodded. “I wonder how much this all cost.”

Hang Ying smiled and said, “Right? It’s beautiful here! We’re really lucky to have such good facilities. I don’t know how much it costs. But quite a lot I think. Well worth the money though, if you ask me. Anyway, I’ll go let the guys know that you’re here. Just wait and I’ll be right back.” Then she winked at Zhang Hao before leaving the room.

Four of the five players from Team Shanghai waited exactly where they stood. They barely breathed. Lin Feng was the only exception. He ran around the room, looking at everything and touching it too. Then he walked into the soundproof booth and shouted something, before coming back out and asking, “Did you guys hear me? What did I say?”

“An Xin glared at Lin Feng and said, “Just sit down and wait.” Then she turned to the others and said, “This is taking them long. What’s it been? Five minutes?”

Zeng Rui looked at his watch and nodded. “Five minutes, yeah.”

Five minutes turned to 15 and the players from Team Shanghai got increasingly frustrated. Everyone complained and had something to say. Even Lin Feng. He looked at his phone and said, “It’s been 30 minutes! We could’ve played our first game by now! What are we doing waiting here? Let’s just play a game!”

Zeng Rui looked at Lin Feng and then back at his phone. He complained, “We agreed to a time and place. Their clubroom. At their university. We had to travel all the way here. And they’re not here. This is rude. Just plain rude.”

Brand new professional teams needed months and months of practice before they could compete at the highest level. This was because the players needed to get acclimated to each other. It wasn’t any different for Team Shanghai, except that they only had one month for this process. An Xin and Zeng Rui understood the time crunch. So after the first practice, they’d talked with each other and came up with a training schedule that would get the team to a level where they could compete for the Winter Collegiate Cup.

On the second day of practice, An Xin and Zeng Rui presented their training plan. It was simple and straightforward. Play a lot of League of Legends. Because more than anything, the team needed to play as many games together as they could to get attuned to each other. But they also had to learn from the mistakes they made. So An Xin would record the games and review them with the rest of the team, pointing out the mistakes and how they could’ve been avoided. And finally at the end of practice, An Xin and Zeng Rui would sit down together to talk tactics and strategy.

All five members from Team Shanghai liked this training plan. They got behind their computers and started practicing, quickly winning one game after the other. This was an unfortunate side effect of being a new team. They had to start fresh on the ranked ladder. From the initial placement matches to Platinum and beyond.

It took Team Shanghai two more days of winning every single game to find some serious opponents. But this was far longer than Lin Feng could stay focused. He’d enjoyed the first couple of games, but smashing Midlaners game after game became pretty stale. And in the last game of that day, he was completely lost in boredom. I should tell Fatty that Chu Fang invited me to play at the Winter Collegiate Cup! He’d love to watch me play! Maybe I can call him on the way home and tell him! Hmm, but what do I call our team? He needs to know which team to follow. He looked at the other, completely forgetting they were in the middle of a game, and said, “Hey! We haven’t named our team yet! What should we call it? Shanghai Masters? Or Challengers! Shanghai Challengers! Or, or, The High Schoolers!”

“We’re in a game,” Zeng Rui said. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and sighed, then added, “Besides, Chu Fang registered us as Team Shanghai. That’s our team name. Now will you please focus on the game?” Thundering dumbass.

An Xin chimed in, “Just focus on the training. Leave the rest to people with a brain!”

✹

At the end of the first week of practice, Team Shanghai had made remarkable progress. Their teamwork improved rapidly, which helped them further improve almost every other aspect of their game as well. But the biggest changes were happening in the bot lane. More specifically, Tang Bingyao was progressively getting better at the game. There was still so much potential within her that she had yet to tap into.

Tang Bingyao had discovered early on that she was quite talented at League of Legends. But she never saw herself becoming a professional player. Then one day, while she was just playing games in solo queue, she was contacted by a representative from an elo boosting website, asking her if she wanted to work for them. They offered her quite a significant sum of money and she jumped on it. From then, she’d boosted more accounts than she could count, most of them from Silver to Platinum. She became really good at beating low elo players. But she rarely ever played against high elo players, which stagnated her progress.

Everything changed for Tang Bingyao when she met Lin Feng. He was really good at the game. Far better than any other player she’d ever met. So good that she couldn’t even tell exactly how good. And he wanted to teach her. The first thought she had was about money. Lots and lots of money, which she would make from boosting higher elo accounts. And then he taught her that there was more to League of Legends than completing orders and making a little money. He dragged her along, and she let him. Little by little, she found herself wanting to follow him. She joined the High School 13 esports team because he wanted her to play at the tournament. That was when everything started to change for her. She started playing the game far more seriously, and started improving because she wanted to be better for Lin Feng. She started improving her skills as an ad-carry. Then she started wanting to be better for herself. 

During the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, Wei Dong was Tang Bingyao’s Support. He was a good player, but he wasn’t great. She learned a lot from playing with him, yet also saw the limitations. These limitations disappeared when she started playing together with Zeng Rui. He was exactly the type of player Tang Bingyao needed to bring her game to a higher level. She was improving with every game that they played together. It was to such an extent that Zeng Rui was actively complimenting her just about every game.

There was only one aspect of Tang Bingyao’s game that Zeng Rui wasn’t too happy about. It was something that stuck around from her elo boosting days, when she had to carry a game if she wanted to complete the order faster. And that was her choice of Champions. She preferred to play the most aggressive ones, like Draven and Graves. And while she was good at them, it greatly limited the team’s options in terms of strategy and team compositions. So after one game where she played in a particularly aggressive style, he turned to her and asked, “Why do you always play these hyper aggressive champions? Don’t you like to play something like Twitch? Kog’Maw? Or other different types of ad-carries?”

Tang Bingyao tilted her head and looked at him. “Hmm…” She thought about it a moment and then explained, “It’s easier to go in and kill them. I don’t like having to run around and hide.”

Zeng Rui rested his head on his hand and stared in the distance. He finally shook his head and said, “That really limits our range of team compositions though. And it’d be good for you too to get comfortable with other champions too. You’ll have an easier time playing against them in lane. I think we should try having you play Twitch, or maybe even Kog’Maw.”

Tang Bingyao curled her under lip and shook her head. “I don’t like playing them. They’re ugly.”

Zeng Rui stared blankly at Tang Bingyao. Ugly? He took a deep breath and started massaging his temples. I expected this from the thundering dumbass, but not from you… But fine, whatever. If you don’t feel like playing them, then don’t. Let’s put your preferences first and the team results second. He blew all the air out of his lungs, then pursed his lips and asked, “But if we need you to play them, you will?”

Tang Bingayo nodded hesitantly and said, “Mm, if I really have to.”

Zeng Rui nodded. That’s good enough for now. I’ll have you enjoy playing them if we need to. You’re far more talented than I expected. It shouldn’t be too difficult for you. Then he turned to look at the other members of the team. Zhang Hao is just a good Toplaner. I knew that. It’s good to have him here. I can always rely on him. And An Xin is just a really good coach. And her Jungling is far better than I expected. I only saw her play one game at the tournament, but that wasn’t even her best game! I don’t know how she does it. She finds ganks everywhere! It’s really impressive.

There were five members on the team. Zeng Rui finally looked at Lin Feng. I don’t want to say it. I don’t want to say it. But… He sighed. But it doesn’t matter what I think about him. He is the best player on the team. By far. His mechanics and awareness are something I’ve only ever seen in professional players. But his name… Maple… I’ve looked up every professional player in the last two years, and I couldn’t find his name. Still, when I watch him play, there’s something different compared to the others. The way he approaches the laning phase, the teamfights, everything he does is just that little bit different. I don’t know how to explain it. But it’s really good. I wish I had it.

Zeng Rui nodded at Lin Feng and said, “Where did you learn those skills? Like, really? You’re playing far better than any other non-professional player I’ve played against.”

Lin Feng looked over at Zeng Rui and grinned. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m really good at mid too!”

Zeng Rui massaged his temples again and finally shook his head. There’s no way a professional team would ever accept someone like him. He’s far too annoying.

✹

The second week of practice for Team Shanghai saw their teamwork rise several more levels. But they couldn’t just practice. Rest days were just as important as training. An Xin and Zeng Rui had decided to take Wednesday afternoon off. Not by skipping the training, but by inviting their old teams from High School 13 and Shanghai High School to practice with them. Team Shanghai 1 played against the brand new Team Shanghai 2. And then games with random lineups followed. It was a great few hours to unwind from a week and a half of serious practice.

But the relaxation couldn’t last forever. After their friends went home, Team Shanghai got back to work. An Xin and Zeng Rui reviewed their strategies and more importantly their progress. It was impressive what the team had achieved in so little time. But there was one big problem. An Xin and Zeng Rui both saw it.

Zeng Rui looked at everyone and sighed. “We’re still not good enough.”

Tang Bingyao looked at An Xin and asked, “Hmm?”

Lin Feng quickly added, “Yeah! What do you mean, not good enough? We’re doing great!”

Zeng Rui shook his head and explained, “We have to play in the regionals first. Our region is East China, which coincidentally is the strongest region. Half of the quarter finalists from last year came from East China.” He had a grim expression as he named them, “Fudan University came in third, Zhejiang University fourth, Shanghai University of Finance sixth and East China University eighth. And there were two more teams that made it to the round of 16.”

Lin Feng exclaimed, “Wow! We’ve got a strong region, huh!”

East China was composed of Shanghai, Fikoam and Zhejiang. All three of them were big esports cities. But Shanghai was the esports capital of the world. They had the most professional players and some of the biggest talents all gathered together. It wasn’t at all strange that the Winter Collegiate Cup preliminaries for East China were a lot more difficult than for the other regions. The high school teams from Beijing and Guangzhou had a comparatively much easier road to the main tournament.

Zeng Rui looked gravely at Lin Feng and then Tang Bingyao as he said, “If we’re not prepared, we might get knocked out in the regionals. I’m playing to win, and not to get knocked out in what is essentially a qualifier.”

Tang Bingyao considered the new information and then asked, “But if we make it through regionals, the rest should be easier, right?”

An Xin smiled and said, “The other regions also have strong teams. They just won’t have had as much practice against really strong teams. So, yes, we’ll have a small advantage. The main event should be a bit easier because of this, especially in the earlier rounds.”

“In the early rounds, yes,” Zeng Rui agreed. “And then it’ll be a lot more difficult. Don’t get sloppy or think that we’re there after the regionals. That’s just the start.”

Lin Feng had been listening to the conversation, incredulous. Why are they talking about which matches will be easier? Who cares about that! He finally couldn’t hold himself back anymore and said, “We’re going to win the trophy anyway! Who cares who our opponents are? We’ll just have to beat them all! That’ll be fun too!”

Zeng Rui turned to Lin Feng and nodded. “We want to win. And to do that, we have to be ready to beat everyone. We just aren’t at that point yet. But I’ve thought about something for that.” He paused for a moment and then continued, “I reached out to the esports club from the Shanghai University of Finance and asked them if they’d be interested in a couple of practice matches. They agreed to play us on the weekend.”

Lin Feng’s eyes lit up. He just about shouted, “We’re going to be scrimming against a university team? That’s awesome! When are we playing? Saturday or Sunday? Tell me! I want to know!”

The five fresh new members from Team Shanghai sat down behind their computers. They were nervous, excited, and more than anything worried. There was only a month left until the start of the Winter Collegiate Cup and there was still so much left to do. They had to learn how to play with each other and form team and player synergies. Then they had to come up with strategies and practice those strategies. And they also still had a lot of room left to improve on an individual level. But all of this could only be trained in a game. So they entered the queue.

Zeng Rui looked over at the other four players and suggested, “Let’s pick strong early game Champions. I’m thinking something like Leona and Caitlyn in the bot lane.”

Tang Bingyao nodded and said, “Mhm, ok.”

Zhang Hao browsed through his list of Champions and asked, “Is it ok if I go with Rumble then?”

“Sure!” An Xin said, smiling. “I’ll play Jarvan IV so that we have something beefy to support you guys. And Lin Feng, what about you go—”

“Fizz!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He grinned and continued, “I’m really good at Fizz too! I’ll carry this game!”

Team Shanghai queued up for a team ranked game and soon found themselves in Champion Select, where they banned three champions. The other team fortunately didn’t ban away any of the champions they wanted to play. So they locked in the Rumble, Jarvan IV, Fizz, Caitlyn and Leona. After which the game went into the loading screen.

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

At 2 minutes: An Xin’s Jarvan IV made an early gank in the mid lane, helping Lin Feng’s Fizz pick up first blood on the Red Team’s Yasuo.

At 4 minutes: Tang Bingyao and Zeng Rui pressured Red Team’s Botlaners away from the minions. Then they waited for their opponents to get greedy for a minion or some poke damage. It was Red Team’s Nami who made that mistake first. She walked a little too far forward, straight into Leona’s Zenith Blade. Zeng Rui’s Leona dashed to Nami as the solar projection of her sword disappeared. Then she slammed her Shield of Daybreak into the Nami and Ignited her! Nami was stunned as an unquenchable fire burned away at her health bar!

Tang Bingyao’s Caitlyn flashed forward to catch up to Zeng Rui’s Leona. Then she aimed her gun at Nami and fired a piercing shot. Piltover Peacemaker! She  followed up with a barrage of auto attacks, each one whittling away at the Nami’s health until it bottomed out.

《You have slain an enemy!》

At 6 minutes: Red Team’s Evelynn walked up the river to the top lane. But she hadn’t seen the vision ward in the brush near mid lane that gave her position away. Lin Feng’s Fizz and An Xin’s Jarvan IV reacted immediately, charging up after her towards the top lane.

Zhang Hao’s Rumble was battling Red Team’s Irelia. An Xin had warned him that Evelynn was coming and Lin Feng was pinging him to be careful. But he didn’t retreat to the safety of his tower. He fought the Irelia and pretended he didn’t see the Evelynn coming. Then, when she ran into lane, he flashed away towards his outer tower. By waiting so long, he’d given Lin Feng and An Xin all the time they needed to reach the top lane and kill Irelia and Evelynn.

《You have slain an enemy!》

《Double kill!》

Team Shanghai won all three lanes and pushed that advantage. Tang Bingyao and Zeng Rui picked up several more kills in the bot lane before they destroyed the tower. Then they walked up to mid lane, where Lin Feng’s Fizz was killing Red Team’s Yasuo every time he returned to lane. An Xin’s Jarvan IV also arrived in the mid lane, as did Zhang Hao’s Rumble. It was the start of the mid game. And also the end of a serious game. Team Shanghai’s advantage was so large that they didn’t have to focus to win anymore. They started running around the map, sometimes as a team and sometimes not, constantly searching for more kills rather than pushing for objectives. Because of this, it took them 25 minutes to close the game out.

Lin Feng was grinning when the large victory crest appeared on his scream. He turned to look at the others and shouted, “That was great! I carried that game! But you guys all played really well too!”

Zeng Rui ignored Lin Feng and turned straight to An Xin. “What do you think?” he asked her.

An Xin considered it for a brief moment and then replied, “You share your thoughts first.”

Zeng Rui gave his analysis. “Our opponents were very weak, most likely not much higher than Platinum. We should’ve won this game within 15 minutes. And we were on track to do that in the laning phase. That part of the game went decently enough for our first game as a team. But we fell apart in the mid game. Our team fights were a chaotic mess. Everyone was just off doing their own thing, instead of pushing for objectives like we should’ve.”

“Eh?” Lin Feng blurted, surprised. “Was it really that bad? I thought our teamfights went pretty good! We won all of them!”

An Xin glared at Lin Feng and admonished him, “Of course you thought it went great! You were off having fun by yourself! But this isn’t the Lin Feng game! It’s a team game and you barely ever fought with the team!” She then turned to look at Zeng Rui and said, “I agree. We need to improve our teamwork. When it comes to timing our engagement, follow-up, and actual teamfighting, I see a lot of issues.”

Zhang Hao looked from Zeng Rui to An Xin and back at Zeng Rui. Then he asked, “Uh, can you maybe show us what you mean?”

An Xin smiled, as if she were waiting for this question. “Of course! That’s why I recorded  the game!” She opened the recording and scrolled through the game until she found an example of a bad teamfight. Then she pointed at her monitor and said, “Take a look at this teamfight here. We’re in the mid lane on our side of the map. Their outer tower is down and they’re being defensive near their inner tower, waiting for us to push.” She turned to Lin Feng and said, “And somehow, you found it necessary to trek through their Jungle and appear from behind their inner tower to towerdive the Ezreal.”

Lin Feng patted his chest and said, “Yeah! Look at that beautiful dive! Boom, kill! I thought I played that really well! And you guys were good too with the follow up!”

An Xin shook her head, briefly stunned by Lin Feng’s response. Then she glared at Lin Feng and shouted, “No! You rushed into that fight before any of us were ready! We were so far away that we couldn’t even see you! The only reason you didn’t die is because Zeng Rui flashed forward to throw down his Leona ultimate!”

Lin Feng laughed it off and said, “Don’t worry about that! I knew my good buddy Zeng Rui was in range for a flash-ultie, and I had full faith that he would! And look, he did!”

Your good buddy? Zeng Rui’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He ground his teeth, trying to keep himself from shouting. Don’t yell. It’s not going to do anything. Just focus on the play. What went wrong. Why was it a bad play? He took a deep breath and then turned to look at Lin Feng. He said, “You do realize that my Flash came up two seconds before you engaged that Ezreal, right?”

“Woah, really?” Lin Feng asked. “Perfect timing by me then!”

Zeng Rui stared at Lin Feng and said slowly, “That was luck. And there is nothing I hate more than winning because of luck. All we had to do was wait for Zhang Hao to group up with us. We would’ve won that teamfight easily. As a team.”

“Huh?” Lin Feng blurted out. “Hao Bro wasn’t with us?”

Zhang Hao shook his head and said, “No. I was trying to clear a wave in the top lane when you engaged. So I ran mid to help. But by the time I got there, you guys had already won.”

“Ooooh! Woah, that’s my bad then! I just saw the opening and went for it. I didn’t think you were so far away. Woops!” Lin Feng apologized. Then he grinned and added, “But we won, so it’s all good. Right?”

Zhang Hao frowned. What is wrong with him? We’re trying to do something serious here and he’s just making a joke out of it. He turned to look at Zeng Rui, who was just short from spewing fire, and his eyes went wide. Shit. He looks mad. Weren’t they friends? How does that work? It doesn’t make sense… He looked back at Lin Feng. How are we supposed to practice when he refuses to take this seriously? Is he always like this? How did we lose against him? He is so annoying!

✹

An Xin and Zeng Rui watched through the rest of the recording together, while occasionally pointing things out to the rest of the team. The more they watched, the more apparent it became just how much went wrong in that one game and how much work they had to do in the next month.

Zeng Rui was massaging his temples, fighting off a headache. There is so much we need to improve on. This was such a bad first game. And then the thundering dumbass just goes and makes jokes about it. I have to somehow get him to focus. We just have to tell him when to engage and when to back off. Maybe I can keep him in check like this. “We need a proper shot caller,” he suddenly blurted out. “Someone who makes the ingame decisions and tells everyone what to do.” He then turned to look at An Xin and said, “I know you’re really good at coming up with strategies and tactics before a match, and I think we should work on that together. But during the game, I think it’s important that we have one main shotcaller. I’d like that to be me. You can be the secondary shotcaller. Is that ok with you?”

An Xin nodded and agreed, “Sure!” It was a lot easier for a team to follow the instructions from one player, rather than trying to do what three different teammates were yelling over the team’s voice chat. And the Support was generally a great choice for shotcaller due to the nature of their champions. They had to land crowd control skills, which often started a teamfight. After which they protected their AD-carry at the cost of their life if they had to. And even after dying, they could keep shouting orders over the team’s voice chat. It just made the most sense that Zeng Rui became the team’s main shotcaller.

Lin Feng watched An Xin and Zeng Rui discussing how the team was going to play. Why aren’t they asking me for my input? I’m the best player on the team! I’ve played at Worlds! When Zeng Rui named himself the shotcaller and An Xin agreed, he couldn’t keep himself back anymore. He pushed in between them and asked, “Then what about me?”

Zeng Rui turned to look at Lin Feng and coldly said, “You focus on mid. Just sit in your lane and wait for me to make the calls.” Which was more of a response than An Xin gave Lin Feng. She simply clapped her hands and said to the team, “Now that we’ve got that figured out, let’s try it out in the next game!”

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》
《First Blood!》
《Double kill!》
《You have slain an enemy!》
《Triple kill!》
《An ally has been slain!》
《Double kill!》
《Triple kill!》
《Aced!》

VICTORY!

The changes brought about by Zeng Rui and An Xin had a direct impact on the team’s synergy. They won their lanes again, just more convincingly than in the previous game. More importantly, they crushed the teamfights. Their opponents couldn’t get anything done, and by the end of the game they had only picked up a single kill.

Lin Feng pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “This practice is going great! We’re going to win the trophy! What’s going to be our next tournament after?”

Tang Bingyao looked over at Lin Feng and nodded. “Mhm, that was a good game.”

Zhang Hao also found himself looking at Lin Feng. Or rather, staring. How can he be this stupidt, and then play this well? If he had half a brain, it might actually be really fun playing together with him. Just two games and I feel like I’ve learned so much! The fights he picks that I’d never take. And he wins them! He always wins them! Even when I don’t see any way to win a fight, he wins it. He finds the opening and makes use of it. It’s so impressive. He turned his attention towards An Xin and mumbled under his breath, “And she’s pretty great too.” He finally looked at Tang Bingyao. And she meshes so well with Zeng Rui. We’re looking really strong. He finally grinned and said, “Yes! Maybe we can really win this!”

An Xin shook her head, and Zeng Rui snorted. 

Zeng Rui looked at Tang Bingyao, Zhang Hao and Lin Feng in turn, then said, “Win the trophy? We’re not even close. If we play like this, we’ll get knocked out in the first round. Look.” 

He opened up a webpage and waited for the others to gather around him. “We’re not just playing against players from Shanghai. This is a national tournament. There are seven regions: East China, Central China, South China, Southwest China, North China, Northwest China, and Northeast China. Each of those regions is further divided into at least six different competitive leagues. And dozens of universities and colleges participate in every league.” He paused to let the new information settle in. Then he dealt the killing blow. “We’re not playing against a bunch of high schoolers like in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. We’re playing against the best players in all of China. We’re going to be playing against Challenger teams! If we want to win this…” He turned to look at Lin Feng before continuing, “We have to take this seriously, or we’re just going to end up embarrassing ourselves.”

It was late at night. Zeng Rui lay on his bed, massaging his temples. The last couple of hours he’d found any excuse he could not to call Lin Feng. He’d done his homework, mopped the floor in his bedroom, and even cleaned out his closet. I’m going to have to accept this. I don’t have to be his friend, just his teammate. We’re on the same team now. He’s a good player and I’m a good player. Whoever we are outside of the game is irrelevant. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Even if he is the thundering dumbass. He took a long, deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, and then let it all out. Ok, enough self pity. He grabbed his phone and punched in the number Chu Fang had given him.

RING RING RING! RING RING R—

The call connected and Lin Feng’s voice rang out, “Hello? Who’s this?”

Zeng Rui gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Why am I making this so difficult for myself? I’m better than this. He opened his eyes and replied, “Zeng Rui.”

“Zeng Rui?” Lin Feng mumbled. Then he exclaimed, “Oooh! Zeng Rui! Hey! How’d you get my number? And why did you call? Do you want some League tips? I can give you some tips! When you play Support, you want to buy support items! That way, you can help your ad-carry carry! Hahaha! Uh, oh. Oh! Chu Fang must’ve given you my number!”

Zeng Rui’s eyebrow twitched, but he pushed himself through the strong annoyance he felt and asked, “The vice president of the Shanghai Esports Association has informed you about the team, correct?”

“For the Winter Collegiate Cup?” Lin Feng asked. Then without waiting for an answer he continued, “Yeah! He did! We’re going to be teammates! Awesome, right? And you don’t have to worry, I’ll carry you too!”

Zeng Rui closed his eyes, trying to ignore his eyebrow that was twitching uncontrollably. Don’t let him get to you. You’re better than this. Say what you have to say and hang up. He took another deep breath and on the exhalation said, “The tournament is next month and I don’t want to get knocked out early because you dragged me down. So let’s schedule a day and time to get together and get a headstart on our preparations for the tournament.”

Lin Feng laughed and replied, “Don’t worry so much! I’m really good at the game too! We’ll win the whole tournament! Trust me! I got this!”

“Wha?” Zeng Rui mumbled, dumbstruck. Win? Where the hell does this dumbass get all his confidence from? No. Don’t ask him that. Don’t give him the chance to say something stupid. Just stick to the script. Day, time and hang up. He said, “It’s great that you’re confident, but we still have to practice. Let’s meet after school tomorrow. We can go to a cybercafe downtown and get a first training session in.”

“Sure, sounds good!” Lin Feng replied. “Tomorrow after school! It’s a date!”

Zeng Rui shouted through gritted teeth, “With the team! We’re going to practice with the team! Ok, that’s all. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. See you guys tomorrow.”

Lin Feng said, “Huh? Hey! I know you meant the team! That’s what I meant too! And why the rush to hang up? Let’s get to know each other a bit better! Have you done your homew—”

Zeng Rui ended the call and then turned his phone off. He slowly shook his head as he stared up at the ceiling. “How in the world am I supposed to make this work? That guy is helpless. What’s wrong with him? Why do I have to play with such a thundering dumbass?”

✹

Lin Feng stared at his phone, speechless. He even forgot to take a bite from the chicken cutlet that lay on the desk in front of him. Then he turned to look at Su Xue, who sat next to him, and said, “Why did he hang up so quickly? I just wanted to talk to him a little more!”

Su Xue rolled her eyes and replied, “Probably because the two of you barely know each other. Didn’t you only meet him last week at the Finals? This phone call was probably the longest conversation you’ve had with him…”

Lin Feng shook his head, grabbing a piece of chicken cutlet and nibbling on it. Then he looked up at the computer on the desk, and the webcam fixed atop the monitor. “Can you guys believe it?” he said to the camera. “He just hung up on me! I didn’t even get to ask him if he’d finished his homework! It’s just so…” He shook his head again.

「soooooooooo crueeel! YOU! Not that whoever the fk that dude was」
「RIGHT! This is viewer abuse! Viewer abuse I tell you!」
「serves you right!!!!! eatin all that delicious food without offering us some!!!!」
「dont blame lil bro… the maid didnt offer us any! MAID! MAKE US SOME FOODDDDD!!!」
「yo, lil bro, maybe if you got him some food he mightve stuck around……」
「why do you two keep tormenting me with all that delicious food?」
「IM TRYNA LOSE SOME WEIGHT OVER HERE」
「BUT NOW IM ORDERIN CHICKEN CUTLET AGAIN!」
「FOR THE THIRD TIME TONIGHT!!!!!」

Su Xue smiled as she read through the messages. Maybe we can have a little get-together sometime and I can cook a big feast. That might be a fun thing to do. Maybe we can even do it in a restaurant! I could work in a real kitchen! Then she noticed Lin Feng absentmindedly chewing on a small piece of chicken cutlet. What’s got him down? She hesitated for a brief moment and then asked, “What did that guy call you about anyway? Your tournament is over, right? You won!”

Lin Feng swallowed the piece of chicken cutlet and looked up at Su Xue. “Oh, that’s because we’re teammates now! We’re going to play in the Winter Collegiate Cup next month, and he just called to plan our first training session. But he’s so serious about it. I don’t know why. I told him that too! I’ll carry them to the title! I’m really good at winning tournaments too!”

“Oh I s— Wait, what?” The Collegiate Cup?” Su Xue asked, surprised.

「 you mean the national uni tournament!?」
「No way! Has lil bro become big bro?」
「I feel like momma bear here, watching her little ones grow up.」
「This, I’m CRYIN CRYIN I TELL YOU! 」
「Please be our lil bro a lil longer!」
「uhhh… I thought you were still in high school. How can you participate?」

Lin Feng took another bite from his chicken cutlet before explaining, “Yes, yes! That one! They made some changes, so now I can also play in it! They probably did it just so they could have me in it! I’m really good at carrying my team to the title too!”

Su Xue narrowed her eyes and said, “And you didn’t think to tell me that? That’s amazing news! This is such a great opportunity for you! Did you call your mother already? You should tell her! I bet she’d love to hear about it!”

「i knew you were the best!!!!」
「Damn, the Collegiate Cup! That’s way more high level than a high school tournament!」
「I think my university’s team is also playing in it!」
「I’ve heard there are a ton of really strong teams playing in the tournament.」
「Most of the top teams are all full of super high elo players!」
「Don’t underestimate them!」
「NO ONE CAN BEAT OUR LIL BRO! SECOND TROPHY INCOMING IN 3… 2… 1! WOOOOOOOO」
「hahaha! Can you imagine how crazy it’d be if a high school team won the Collegiate Cup!!??!?! AMAZING!」

Lin Feng ignored Su Xue and read the chat instead, grinning brighter and brighter. He finally struck his trademark victory pose and proclaimed, “I’ll bring that trophy home! We’ll beat all the university teams! And those two other high school teams! I’m really good at winning too, you know!”

✹

The next day after school, the five members of the new Shanghai high school team met up at a cybercafe. Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao stood together on one side of a private room and Lin Feng, Tang Bingyao, and An Xin stood together on the other side. No one really knew what to do, what to say, or how to get started. They were strangers but also teammates. And not by their own choice. But the Winter Collegiate Cup was starting in a month and they had to come together as a team before then.

Lin Feng was the one to finally break the awkward silence. He waved his arms around and said, “Why are you all so quiet? We’re teammates! And we’re also going to be best friends! Right, right, introductions.” He pointed at himself with his thumbs and said, “I’m Lin Feng! My friends call me Lin Feng! And I’m the best League of Legends player in the world!” He then pointed at Tang Bingyao and continued, “This is the ad-carry of my new superteam! You can call her Tang Tang!” He finally turned to An Xin and finished, “This here is my oldest friend! She used to be round like a bun, so you can call her BunBun!”

An Xin glared at Lin Feng before turning to look at Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao. She smiled and said, “He’s right about one thing. We’re going to be teammates. For the next couple of months, anyway. Let’s all get along as friends. You can call me BunBun.”

Zhang Hao glanced at Zeng Rui and then said, “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I’m Zhang Hao, but my friends all call me Hao Bro. I’ve been playing League for a while now and I’ve been on Shanghai High School’s team for two years, I think? Or was it three? I don’t remember…”

“That’s the spirit! Nice to meet you, Hao Bro!” Lin Feng said, excited. Then he turned to look at Zeng Rui and grinned. “You don’t have to introduce yourself! We’re already really good friends anyway!”

Zeng Rui felt his eyebrow twitching again, just like it had the night before. Friends? Us? He took a deep breath. Don’t argue. That’s not going to get us anywhere. Just let him be. He nodded and said, “Sure.”

Zhang Hao looked over at Zeng Rui and asked, “You two are really good friends? Since when? Is that why you kept calling him a thundering dumbass? Because you were already friends?”

Zeng Rui shook his head and said, “Drop it.” Then he turned to look at everyone and continued, “All right, let’s focus on preparing for the Winter Collegiate Cup. I would like to start by playing a couple of games to see where we’re at.”

An Xin smiled and agreed, “I was also thinking that’d be a good first step. It’ll give us a chance to see how everyone mashes together.”

Lin Feng jumped at the nearest computer and sat down. He shouted, “Yeah, let’s play! Enough chit-chat!” Then he opened up his League of Legends client and clicked on the play button. “Oh!” He looked over his shoulder and added, “Who wants to play with me first? Get behind a computer already! I’ll show you all how good my mid lane is!”

“Play first?” Zhang Hao asked, confused.

Zeng Rui glared at Lin Feng and wanted to say something. But An Xin was a step ahead of him. She smacked Lin Feng in the back of the head and said, “You idiot! We’re playing a team game! Five versus five! We’re not going to watch you duo queue!”

Tang Bingyao nodded and added, “Mhm, dummy.”

Lin Feng had taken the train to the Shanghai Esports Association’s headquarters. Once inside, he went up the elevator and then walked down the wide hallways until he stopped in front of a large wooden door. A plaque on it told him it was Fang Hao’s office. He raised his fist to knock, but left it hanging in the air. He felt a knot in his stomach, and he eventually let his arm drop back down. Why wouldn’t BunBun come with me? And why did she laugh at me when I asked her to come with me! “It’s your mess, you clean it up.” He chewed on his lips and looked at the plaque on the door again. Below Fang Hao’s name it read ‘President’. He was the vice president four years ago. Back when he helped me, even when it could cost his career. And then I walked away. He did all of that for me and I never did anything for him…

It’s Chu Fang’s fault! He should’ve never told Fang Hao that I was back. He promised me he wouldn’t! But he did. It only took him a week to tell his boss about me! Lin Feng shook his head. He wasn’t mad at Chu Fang. He understood very well that there was nothing Chu Fang could’ve done about it. And that it was only a matter of time until Fang Hao would find out. I’m just… I don’t want to talk with Fang Hao yet. I’m not ready. I should’ve been further. I want to show him that I’m back, and that he wasn’t wrong to trust me. But I’m not that far yet. I just won a high school tournament and he wants someone who can fight against Rake. I’m nowhere near that level yet!

Lin Feng clenched his fist and raised it again. Knock. Knock. He gritted his teeth and pulled his hand back again, loathing himself. He did so much for me. I would’ve never played at Worlds if it wasn’t for him. And now I can’t even face him. I’m a coward! A spineless coward! Stop! I can’t keep doing this. It’s only going to be harder to meet him. He took a deep, long breath in an attempt to calm himself down. I made a mistake. I should’ve never walked away like I did. I let him down, just like I let my teammates down. But that was four years ago. I’m four years older. He raised his fist up again. I can do this. Apologize to him and hope that he can forgive me for walking away. He pursed his lips and closed his eyes, then let his fist fall against the hardwood door.

There was a brief moment where Lin Feng thought he hadn’t knocked loudly enough, but then Fang Hao’s voice sounded from the other side of the door. “Come in.”

Lin Feng hadn’t heard Fang Hao’s voice in four years, but he couldn’t be any more familiar with it. His knees went weak and he caught himself looking over his shoulder. The elevator is right there. I can still… He grabbed his head and shook it. No! I won’t run away again! I’ll face the consequences. It’s my mess. I have to clean it up. He grabbed the handle and then pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Fang Hao’s office was by far the biggest Lin Feng had ever seen. His mouth fell slightly open as he took it all in. This view… Wow. He walked to the giant glass windows giving a breathtaking view of downtown Shanghai. The sun stood between two other high buildings, casting a golden glow into the office. Wow… He stood there for a minute, completely forgetting about why he was even here. Then he turned to look at the desk behind which Fang Hao sat. The knot was back in his stomach, his knees felt weak again, and he had to fight back the urge to run while he still could.

Fang Hao didn’t seem to notice Lin Feng. He was intently staring at a document on his desk. He traced his fingers over the information it contained. Then he reached for a pen and made a few scribbles on the edge of the document.

Lin Feng looked down at the ground, his fingers interlocked in front of him, and glanced up at Fang Hao every now and then. I won’t run! But then what am I supposed to do? Do I say hi? Is he busy? Maybe I should come back some other time when he isn’t so busy. Yeah, that’s probably the polite thing to do. I’ll come back later when he isn’t so bus—

Fang Hao placed the document in a folder and then pushed it to the side. He held the pen in his hand and inspected it with great attention before finally saying, “So, you’re back?”

Lin Feng froze. Am I back? I’ve never been here before. What does he mean? I’m here, like he asked. Am I back? Back. Something connected in his mind. Wires uncrossed and connected, giving him a rare moment of clairvoyance. He wants to know if I’m back to complete my dream. He bit his lips, hesitating only briefly, and then firmly nodded and said, “Yes. I’m back.”

Fang Hao raised his head and for the first time in four years looked at Lin Feng. He smiled and nodded. We can both still make our dreams happen. Then he grinned and said, “It’s good to have you back. And you’ve grown taller, I see.” He pointed at the chair on the other side of his desk and added, “Come, sit down. It’s been too long. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Tell me, how’ve you been?”

✹

Lin Feng and Fang Hao chatted about everything that had happened over the last four years. And as the sun disappeared behind Shanghai’s skyline, the tense and nervous atmosphere in the room became warm and relaxed. The two talked about their day to day lives and everything unrelated to League of Legends. But that was also the only subject both of them were really interested in. It was finally Fang Hao who made the first move with a simple question. “Did you watch the World Finals?”

Lin Feng nodded and replied, “Yeah, I did.”

Fang Hao shook his head and sighed. “SSK is so strong. Han Seho, or Rake, is just getting better and better. And just when you think he can’t possibly get any better, he does it again. Lee Dojae’s antics aside, SSK deserved that world title. And it really hurts having to admit that.”

“I’ll catch up to him,” Lin Feng replied, determined. He looked Fang Hao in the eyes and continued, “And then I’ll surpass him.” He didn’t leave any room for discussion. This wasn’t a joke, nor light-hearted banter between friends. This was his conviction. Both his hands were clenched into fists. I’m going to catch up to you, Rake. Just wait. I’m coming for you and then I’ll get my redemption!

Fang Hao would’ve laughed if anyone else had said these words. But he knew Lin Feng. He knew the monstrous talent this young man possessed. So he just smiled and nodded. “That’s what I wanted to hear. I believe in you.” I’ve never met anyone as talented or as driven as you. The way you played and trained in Season 1. The manner in which you could lift your entire team up a level, that was something special. We’ve searched for someone like you ever since you left. We found some with a lot of talent, and others who were incredibly driven. But they never have it all. Not like you. 

But talent alone isn’t going to win Worlds. You’ve been away for four years. That’s four years of catching up you have to do. Fang Hao shook his head and said, “But I think it’s a little early to talk about beating Rake. Let’s focus on the Winter Collegiate Cup first.” He paused for a brief moment before continuing, “Chu Fang should’ve called you about that and given you the details, right? And he also should’ve told you that your opponents aren’t just the university teams but also the two high school teams from Beijing and Guangzhou, right? Let me give you a bit of extra information. Beijing insisted on this change. I can only see them do this if they have a very strong and talented team ready. You shouldn’t underestimate them. Or Guangzhou for that matter. All teams competing are going to be very strong.”

Fang Hao didn’t hold any information back that might help Lin Feng, because this was going to turn into a battle for power between the three great esports cities of Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. A fight for power. But let them come. I’ll fight back. And our high school team is going to give them a nice surprise. We’ve got the biggest talent League of Legends has ever seen. This little tournament is going to be an easy win for us! All their stupid tricks aren’t enough to beat the absolute talent of Lin Feng! Ha! He grinned at himself before looking at Lin Feng again. He smiled and said, “I’ll have Chu Fang send you all the information we have on the two teams from Beijing and Guangzhou. You should also get in touch with the rest of your team. You guys are going to need all the practice you can get. But that shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right? I heard from Chu Fang that you all know each other and are getting along great. So that’s good.”

Lin Feng grinned and replied, “Yeah! We’re all good friends! Chu Fang drafted a great team! It’s going to be a lot of fun to play together with Zeng Rui!”

✹

In an apartment building in Shanghai, Zeng Rui sat at the dinner table with his parents. He had his chopsticks in one hand and a bowl in the other. Then both fell to the table. A cold shiver ran up and down his spine, again and again. Drips of sweat appeared on his forehead. Something feels wrong. Very, very wrong. What just happened? He looked around him, searching for the source of his discomfort. But he couldn’t find anything.

“Are you okay?” his mother asked.

Zeng Rui nodded, though he couldn’t shake that uncomfortable feeling off. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” Then he gritted his teeth as another cold shiver ran up and down his spine. This is the same feeling I got when the Midlaner from High School 13 said something really cringe. Don’t tell me I can now feel it when he… No, that’s stupid. That can’t be. Don’t let this get to your head, Zeng Rui. He clicked his tongue as he grabbed his chopsticks back up. I still have to call him. I actually have to play on the same team as him. This must be some cruel joke.

Lin Feng stepped out into the hallway and looked around for a quiet corner. School was out and there were students laughing and shouting everywhere. He pushed against the flow of students, glancing at his phone to make sure that it was still ringing. Why would Chu Fang call me anyway? The Shanghai 16 School Tournament has ended and doesn’t he have work to do? It’s a normal work day… He searched around for some privacy, but couldn’t really find it. His phone was still ringing, but wouldn’t for much longer. So he accepted the call and placed the phone next to his ear, using his free hand to plug his other ear. “Heya, Chu Fang! Why are you calling? What’s going on?” 

“Hey, Lin Feng,” Chu Fang said. “You should be done with school by now, right? Do you have a minute to chat?”

“Yeah, school is out. I was about to head home,” Lin Feng replied. “Why? What’s up? Are you calling to buy me dinner? If so, then yes! I’d really like some chicken cutlet!”

Chu Fang chuckled and said, “Oh, you can come over and I’ll treat you to some food. But I live pretty far away. It’s going to be way past dinnertime by the time you get here. Are you sure you can wait that long?”

“Oh. Yeah… Guess I can’t…” Lin Feng replied, dejected.

“But I called today about something else,” Chu Fang continued. “Have you heard about the Winter Collegiate Cup? It’s basically the big brother of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Or the Shanghai 16 School Tournament for universities. It’s a big tournament. Anyway, it’s taking place next month. Would you be interested in participating?”

“Me?” Lin Feng blurted out. The Winter Collegiate Cup? I was talking with Fatty about that just the other day! He grinned and said, “Fatty made the same mistake the other day. I can’t play in the Winter Collegiate Cup! I’m still in high school, remember?” He paused for a brief moment, then added, “But you knew that. We spoke at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! Wait, is this one of those hypothetical questions? Then my answer is yes! It sounds like a really cool tournament with so many great players! Of course I want to play in it!”

Chu Fang laughed and said, “Never change, Lin Feng. Never change. And yes, I know you’re still in high school. But no, this isn’t some hypothetical situation. The Collegiate Cup used to be exclusive to university teams. But there were some changes made to the format of the tournament this year. One of those changes is that we’re inviting three high school teams to join. One from each of the three big esports associations: Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. It’s basically an opportunity for our most talented players to get some early experience at the university level. So, are you interested?”

“Are you asking me if I want to play in the Collegiate Cup?” Lin Feng asked, ecstatic. “Yes! YES! I’ll be the best at the university level too! This is going to be awesome! We’re going to beat everyone and become the best high school team and the best university team too!”

“WaitWaitWait!” Chu Fang interrupted. He waited for Lin Feng to stop talking and then explained, “Yes, I want you to participate. Just you. This isn’t High School 13 participating, but the best high schoolers from Shanghai playing. I’ve been put in charge of drafting the Shanghai team. The team I have in mind right now consists of you in the mid lane and BunBun in the Jungle. And…” He paused and shuffled some documents before continuing, “…Tang Bingyao? The ad-carry on your team? I want her as the team’s ad-carry. As fo—”

“Oh. That makes sense! I’ll play in the mid lane!” Lin Feng interrupted. “I’ll go and tell BunBun and Tang Tang right now about it! I’m sure they’ll want to play too! Talk to y—”

“Wait! WAIT!” Chu Fang said. “Don’t hang up! Wait a second!”

Lin Feng had already moved the phone away from his ear and was about to end the call when he heard Chu Fang cry out. He placed the phone back to his ear and asked, “Huh? Did you say something? Is there something else? Didn’t you call about the Winter Collegiate Cup? You told me about it already! I want to tell BunBun and Tang Tang the good news! They’ll be so happy!”

“Yes, I did say something and yes there is something else,” Chu Fang replied. “I wanted to let you know what the full line up will be for your team. I drafted the Support and Toplaner from Shanghai High School. I ho—”

Lin Feng laughed and said, “Oh, that’s fine! Is that all? I’m going to tell BunBun and Tang Tang then. By—”

“Wait! Please! One more thing!” Chu Fang shouted. Then when the call stayed connected, he quietly said, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hide it any longer. The boss…”

Words entered Lin Feng’s ears, but he didn’t hear them. There was a loud banging sound that he couldn’t quite place. He stared at the last couple of students walking down the hallway. “I couldn’t hide it any longer.” He didn’t need to ask what Chu Fang couldn’t hide any longer. Fang Hao knows. I wanted to make a quiet return to the scene. I wanted to slowly work my way up. And then face everyone when I’m ready for it. On my terms. But I ran into Chu Fang at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament and now Fang Hao also found out… How much longer before the others find out? What if Rake finds out and sees me playing at a high school tournament? His heart slammed into his ribcage with every beat, his throat dried up, and he had to fight back the urge to run away. I can’t do that! I won’t do that again. I’m not going to abandon my friends! And I won’t let Fang Hao down again. But…

✹

Lin Feng walked back into his classroom a couple of minutes later. His friends were all still there, waiting for him. But he didn’t see them, not really anyway. He was still lost in his own mind, trying to come to terms with what Chu Fang had just told him. And every time that he had a new thought about the situation, his facial expression changed with it.

Ouyang had been barely able to contain himself for the last few minutes. Ren Rou had to almost physically restrain him from running after Lin Feng. But when he saw Lin Feng walking back into the classroom, he couldn’t stop himself any longer. He ran up to Lin Feng, threw an arm around his friend, and shouted, “Best bro! What did the vice president of the Shanghai Esports Association call you for? Tell me! You can’t keep secrets from me! That’s against the bro code! Tell me!”

An Xin looked past Ouyang’s excitement and at Lin Feng. He looks like he saw a ghost… What did Chu Fang say to him? She nodded at Lin Feng and probed, “Are you ok? Did Chu Fang call with bad news?”

Lin Feng shook his head and said, “No. He actually had some really good news, I suppose.” He scratched the back of his head and explained, “We’re invited to play at the Winter Collegiat—”

“THE WINTER COLLEGIATE CUP? NO WAY!” Ouyang cried out.

Lin Feng nodded and continued, “Yeah, BunBun, Tang Tang and I will be representing the high school team from Shanghai.”

“Really?” An Xin asked, surprised. “That’s… that’s really cool!”

Tang Bingyao’s mouth fell open a little, dollar signs in her eyes. After learning how much prize money the Shanghai 16 School Tournament offered, she’d done her research on other tournaments in Shanghai and China, including the university tournaments. The prize money increased exponentially at the university level! We don’t even have to win. A good performance will already get us so much money. I’ll have so much spare change! Mhm!

“Uhh…” Ren Rou interrupted. “Isn’t that great news? Why were you looking so out of it a moment ago?”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and said, “Oh, well, you see… That’s because…” He rubbed the deep creases on his brow and sighed. “It’s nothing. Nothing.”

An Xin had been watching Lin Feng since he walked back into the classroom, studying his constantly changing expressions. And she finally figured it out. Chu Fang told someone. But you don’t look mad, I think. So did you already expect it? Was Chu Fang forced to tell someone? Maybe his boss? It’d be hard to keep it a secret from Fang Hao after we won the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. That could be it…

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and asked Lin Feng, “Right, so you, Tang Tang, and BunBun are playing. But that’s only three. A team consists of five players. Who are the other two players on the team?”

“The other two?” Lin Feng asked. “Oh, they’re those two from Shanghai High School. Their Toplaner and Support!”

✹

Chu Fang had also called Zeng Rui to invite him to represent the Shanghai Esports Association. Zeng Rui had accepted and informed Chu Fang that Zhang Hao, who was Shanghai High School’s Toplaner, would also accept. This was the kind of opportunity no one wanted to pass up on. Now he sat in the computer science lab at Shanghai High School, waiting for the rest of his team to come. When they did, he told them about his call with Chu Fang and that he and Zhang Hao were going to play at the Winter Collegiate Cup.

Zhang Hao pointed at himself and said, “Me? Sweet! Thanks for accepting the invite on my behalf!”

The other three players from Shanghai High School’s team were also very excited.

“That’s awesome! You guys are going to play in a university tournament! That’s almost at the professional level!”
“Cap and Hao Bro are going to play against university students! That’s so cool! I wish they’d also invited me…”
“Aghhhh! I’m so excited just thinking about it! I can’t imagine how exciting it must be for you guys! Just imagine! You’re going to be playing against university students! That’s, like, almost the professional level of League!”

Zeng Rui smiled and nodded at his teammates and he also felt some of their enthusiasm. But he wasn’t nearly as excited. He sat down behind a computer and lowered his head. It is really nice that we’re invited. You don’t get these kinds of opportunities often, so I had to accept it. That much is obvious. This tournament is going to be a lot more difficult too. That is a valuable experience. If I want to become a professional player at some point, I’m going to need experience like this. It’s just…

Zeng Rui frowned. He couldn’t help but feel the pressure. If he was going to play, he wanted to win. And he was well aware of how good the teams at the Collegiate Cup were. He’d watched them play before and recognized many name tags from the Challenger ladder on the Ionia server. There was one name in particular that stood out to him. Samsara. This player’s real name was Sun Ruinian, a student at Zhejiang University. And he was the best ad-carry Zeng Rui had ever played with in the solo queue. When I play with him, the games are always so easy. I don’t think we’ve lost a game playing together. But when I have to play against him, I suddenly have to try so hard. He knows just how to get me off my game. And he is only one of many. His team didn’t even make it to the Finals last year! There are so many really good players who can make my life difficult.

Zeng Rui pulled up a website on the computer in front of him and browsed through the list of players who’d participated in the previous Collegiate Cups. Know him, him, him, him, him, him… I’ve played against so many of them. And they are on Challenger grade teams! At the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, we still had so many teams with not even Diamond line ups. There were Platinum players and worse… But now we’re going to have to beat Challenger level teams. I don’t even think we can make it to the quarterfinals. It’s going to be really difficult. But I really don’t want to give up before we even start playing. It’s just really hard to stay optimistic knowing how good the opponents are going to be.

Zeng Rui leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. I’m playing to win. I won’t go there to become second, third, or anything like that. I’ll have to lead our team to victory! That’s what I’m going to do! He sat up straight and opened his eyes. They radiated with a blazing determination! I’m going to be the first high schooler to win a university tournament! It’s going to be difficult, but if anyone can do it, it’s me! I’ve been at the top of Challenger for a long time now. And that girl from High School 13 in the Jungle is also really good. Zhang Hao is a strong Toplaner. That ad-carry from High School 13 also seemed good enough in the final game of the finals. We just have to keep her at that level consistently. That just leaves… Zeng Rui gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to say it. Now he could still pretend it wasn’t true. But he also knew that wouldn’t change anything. If he wanted to win, he had to do it with the team that Chu Fang drafted. He picked the thundering dumbass for the mid lane. He could’ve picked anyone else. But no. He went with the thundering dumbass. I’m going to have a headache.

Lin Feng stopped a few steps short of the intersection and turned to look at Tang Bingyao. What’s got her all shivering? It’s not that cold… Well, it’s cold. It’s almost winter! Wait. No. Don’t tell me this is about the food. Does she want me to pay? I offered her half! I only ate it all when she said that she didn’t want any! He looked at Tang Bingyao and probed, “What’s up?”

Tang Bingyao stared at Lin Feng, clenching her fists in her mittens. Then she glanced at the stoplight at the intersection. Still red. I need to say it. It’ll turn green soon. If I keep making excuses, I won’t say it at all. Mhm! I’ll say it! She bit on her lips and looked down at her feet. “Uhm, Lin Feng?” she repeated. “Uhm…” She glanced up at the stoplight again, waiting for it to turn green. Turn green! Go! Now! … Now! It jumped to green a few seconds later, which was her cue. She looked up at Lin Feng and said, “It’s my birthday next month… Oh! The light is green. You can’t miss it, go! See you tomorrow! Bye!” Then she turned the corner and ran home.

Lin Feng stared after Tang Bingyao, dazed. What? Then he shook his head and shrugged. That was probably nothing. Oh, I should go home! He crossed the street at the intersection and then walked the last bit home. Su Xue called out to him from the kitchen when he opened the front door, saying something about dinner. He wasn’t entirely sure, his mind playing the scene with Tang Bingyao on repeat. I missed something. There was something there. Right? Was there? Maybe I’m just imagining things. But that was a hint, right? I think so… But what was she hinting at… Her birthday… Birthday… Then he shrugged. I don’t know. I’ll think about it later. He went to his room and played a game of League of Legends, waiting for Su Xue to call him for dinner. But still, something didn’t feel quite right. He just couldn’t put his finger on what that was.

✹

Su Xue looked at the feast she had prepared, proud of herself. That came out better than expected! Lin Feng is going to love it! Talking about that kid… “LIN FENG! DINNER’S READY!” she shouted through the apartment.

Lin Feng dashed out of his room and sat down at the dining table. His eyes went wide when he saw all the food and he said, “This looks delicious! Can I? Can I?” He didn’t even wait for Su Xue’s nod. He put a chicken cutlet in his bowl and grabbed it with his chopsticks. Then he paused. Tang Tang… What did she want? Birthday… He put his chopsticks down and mumbled, “I’m not really hungry. Tang Tang bought me some chicken cutlet on the way home…”

“WHAT? AGAIN?” Su Xue blurted out. Then she threw her own chopsticks on the table and shouted, “It’s the same thing every day lately! Wasn’t I clear to you about this just the other day? I spend hours in the kitchen preparing dinner for you! HOURS! What am I doing all this hard work for if you’re not even eating it? I could’ve spent that time streaming!” She clenched her fists and breathed in, trying to hold back the tears. She waved at the food and yelled, “IS MY FOOD NOT GOOD ENOUGH? DO YOU NOT LIKE IT? IS THAT IT?”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and explained, “Of course I like your food! It’s really good! But I can’t help it that Tang Tang bought me milk tea and chicken cutlet on the way home. It was really filling. Maybe I’ll be hungry again in a few hours. I’ll just eat your food then!”

Su Xue glowered at Lin Feng, a vein throbbing on her temple. “You knew I was making dinner. You could’ve told Tang Tang that I was making dinner. Or you could’ve called me and told me you were having chicken cutlet. OR YOU COULD’VE SAID SOMETHING WHEN YOU GOT HOME!”

“Well, you see, Tang Tang was treating me and I felt bad for not eating it. So it’s not really my fault…” Lin Feng argued.

Su Xue growled through gritted teeth, “It is your fault. Don’t try to blame Tang Tang! This was all you!” She took a deep breath. Calm down. He is helpless. He is helpless. He doesn’t understand it. He is an idiot. She forced a smile and asked, “Why is she treating you so often anyway?”

“I don’t know! She says she had some spare change! If I didn’t eat the chicken cutlet, it’d be a waste of food!” Lin Feng fired back. Then he grinned and continued, “Besides, I couldn’t say no! She was just trying to be nice!”

That hit the wrong snare. Su Xue exploded and yelled, “OH, IS THAT SO? THEN WHAT ABOUT ALL THE FOOD I MADE FOR YOU TONIGHT? HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO THAT?” She took short, laboured breaths and closed her eyes. Deep breaths, Su Xue… Deep breaths. Calm down. You can’t hit him. That’d be child abuse. And getting angry is bad for your skin. Yes I won’t let him ruin my perfect skin. She took several deep, calming breaths and then asked, “You still didn’t answer me. Why does she keep buying you food?”

“How should I know? She just has a lot of spare change lately!” Lin Feng answered, finding nothing strange about it.

She just happens to have a lot of spare change lately…?  Su Xue shook her head. Oh, Tang Tang… She knew what Tang Bingyao was trying to do. She’d tried to do it herself too back in high school. It was so easy. Just find an excuse to get some alone time with your crush. Then offer him the food and smile cutely. He’ll melt and stumble over his words as he asks you out on a date. But I never crushed on a blockhead like Lin Feng… My god, how can he be so oblivious? I have to contact the Guinness Book of World Records one of these days. He deserves to be in—

“Oh, right!” Lin Feng suddenly shouted, interrupting Su Xue’s thoughts. “Tang Tang told me her birthday is next month!” Then he shook his head and added, “I was really scared when she brought it up. She looked so embarrassed that I thought she was going to ask me to pay for all the food she bought me. I don’t have that much money! Buying skins on League of Legends is expensive, you know! But…” He looked at Su Xue, uncertain. “…maybe I should pay for it sometime? She always pays… What do you think?”

Su Xue shook her head and said, “I swear, it’s a miracle you get any girls to talk to you at all! You’re an idiot. I’m done. I’m done. I can’t talk to you right now. I just can’t.” She gorged down the rest of the food in her bowl, shaking her head every few seconds, and then got up from her chair and walked to the kitchen to do the dishes.

✹

Lin Feng spent the hours after dinner on his homework and procrastinating. At 11 P.M. sharp he finished and glanced over at the alarm on his nightstand. I’m not tired yet… Maybe Su Xue is streaming? He got up and walked over to Su Xue’s room, where he poked his head around the door. She is streaming! I’ll just keep her some company! She’ll like that! He walked into the room and sat down next to Su Xue.

「OH SHIIIIIIIZ is that lil bro!?」
「who’s that guy?!?!?!?! does xuexue have a bf????」
「CREEP ALERT CREEP ALERT! THERE”S A CREEP IN SNOWFALL”S ROOM!!!!!!」
「Could someone kindly explain to me who that guy is and what is going on? Thank you in advance.」

Su Xue looked over at Lin Feng and asked, “You’re done with your homework?”

“Yep! All finished!” Lin Feng replied, grinning. He then leaned closer to Su Xue and waved at the camera. “Hey guys! Long time no see! How is everyone?”

「FENG FENG!!!! WELCOME BACK!!!!」
「ahhhhhhhhhh! haven’t seen you in so long! missed you so much!」
「How’s school, lil bro?」
「OUT WITH THE MAID! OUT WITH THE MAID!」
「the maid is tryna show off on korean server. But oh my lord she’s bad. Like, no joke, i wanna hang myself!!」

“What the… HEY! I’m not doing that badly!” Su Xue cried out just as her screen went grey again. She looked at the top right corner of the game client, which showed her KDA. Her Lucian was 2/5/4. She shook her head and mumbled, “Well, I might be doing a little bad… But that isn’t my fault! I just wanted to play at a higher rank for my second commentate video and since I’m Platinum on the Ionia server, I thought I could also play at Platinum on the Korean server! Who knew the skill level would be so much higher here! You really can’t blame me for this! And I still got two kills!”

「You can’t even rank your Korean Gold account to Play… Why did you think you could play in Plat? Lol」
「just let lil bro take over. hell carry this for yaaaa」
「DONT FORGET TO GET HIM SOME WATER!!!!!!」
「I wanna see Feng Feng carry DO IT」

Lin Feng turned to look at Su Xue and asked, “Want me to play the next game? This one looks about over…”

Su Xue pursed her lips but eventually relented. She said, “Fine fine! Play!” Then she glared at her camera and said to her viewers, “But I don’t want to hear any of you threaten to unfollow me again!” She focused back on the game. It’s lost. No point in continuing to push for it… She sighed and started a surrender vote, which was unanimously accepted by her team.

Lin Feng quickly pushed Su Xue out of her gaming chair and sat down in it. Then he looked at the account and flexed his fingers. He laughed and said, “Platinum on the Korean server? This is going to be so much fun! Watch me carry this game, guys!”

「CARRY WITH YOUR LEBLANC!!!!」
「godleeeee i wanna see your godleeeeeee」
「LIL BRO >>>>> KOREANS HARHARHARHARHAR」
「feng feng is playing. Ez gg」

Su Xue sat down in the chair next to Lin Feng and smiled as she watched him bantering around with her viewers. We’re the perfect duo. I’m the cute face that tries really hard and he is the pure talent many people want to see. And when we get together, there’s always something fun to see for the viewers. Jokes to make. He really helped me turn this one-person stream into a team-stream. And the viewers are loving it! She pretended to sulk when the viewers said something mean about her. And she got up and brought Lin Feng a glass of water as had become tradition. She didn’t mind doing it. It was all part of the game. And she was winning. She relaxed back in her chair and watched Lin Feng play. These are the days. I wish it could be like this for the rest of my life. That’d be perfect.

✹

Lin Feng woke up the next morning with Tang Bingyao’s message about her birthday still on his mind. He thought about it under the shower, while eating breakfast, and while walking to school. Why did she tell me that and then run away? She was just really embarrassed about it, but why? Does she normally not celebrate it or something? Maybe she didn’t have a lot of friends to celebrate it with? No, that’s ridiculous. She has so many friends! Guys keep approaching her! It wasn’t until he walked into the classroom and saw his friends that it started to make sense to her. Maybe she really wants to have a big birthday party but is too shy to tell everyone, so she confided in me! Right, so how do I go about this?

Lin Feng mulled on that thought for the rest of the day, until finally the dismissal bell rang. I should just tell the others. They’ll know what to do! He turned to Ouyang sitting next to him, then to Yang Fan sitting in front of him, and finally to An Xin sitting on the other side of him and said, “Yo, guys! Guys! I need to tell you for Tang Tang that it’s her birthday next month!”

Ouyang’s eyes went wide. It took him a moment to recover and then he shouted, “PARTYYYYY!”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and said, “Next month already? That’s pretty soon. We won’t have much time to organize it.”

An Xin leaned over from her desk and chimed in, “Let’s get started then. It’s for Tang Tang, so we have to do it properly. We’re going to throw her a big party!”

“YES! A PARTY! I’M THE KING OF PARTYING!” Ouyang shouted, grinning. Then he patted his chest and said, “All we need is 10 beer kegs and a ton of plastic cups! Oh oh! Chen Ze and Wei Dong can help out too!”

Lin Feng nodded and said, “Yeah! Let’s do that! That sounds great!” Then he turned to Tang Bingyao who’d just walked over and said, “See? That was really easy to say, right? You don’t have to be so shy, you can tell us! We’re all friends here! Of course we’ll celebrate your birthday! We’d love to!”

Tang Bingyao stared at Lin Feng, dazed. W-what… How? Uh? What is happening? Then she mumbled, “Uh, oh, uh… thanks.” But she didn’t look happy. She lowered her head and chewed on the inside of her cheeks. That’s not what I meant. It’s not at all why I told you. I could’ve told them. I’m not that shy. I wanted to tell you…

Ren Rou sat down on Yang Fan’s desk, quietly following the conversation. And while everyone else was excited about the prospect of a big party, she was the only one who noticed Tang Bingyao’s dejected response. She glanced at Lin Feng and then back at Tang Bingyao before shaking her head. You poor girl. He’s braindead, you know that. We talked about this. You need to spell it out for him, and even then he might not get it… He’s braindead. Don’t let him drag you down with hi—

RING-RING-RING! RING-RING-RING!

Ouyang turned to look at Lin Feng, confused. It took him a moment to gather his thoughts before asking, “Who’s calling you?”

Lin Feng rummaged through his pockets and located his phone in his coat. He grabbed it and checked the Caller ID before scrunching his eyebrows in surprise. “Eh? Chu Fang? Why is he calling me? Wait. How does he even have my phone number?”

Ren Rou stood at the door of the computer science lab, where the esports club held its meetings, with a large bowl in her hand. It was filled to the rim with small and carefully folded pieces of paper. She’d spent all day preparing them for today’s event. An exhibition match. The champions of Shanghai would play against the lucky few club members who won the raffle. Club members were in excited conversation with each other as they tested their luck. Most got an empty piece of paper. But exactly five times, someone waved a piece of paper over their head and shouted that they got a winning ticket!

Waiting inside the computer science lab were the players of the team. Tang Bingyao, Liu Yue, Chen Ze, and Wei Dong were already sitting behind their computers. They had opened their League of Legends clients and were now looking over their shoulders, welcoming the club members in various ways. Tang Bingyao just nodded at everyone who called out her name, and sometimes waved a little. She wasn’t sure what to do. Liu Yue was the complete opposite of her. He waved at everyone, shouted out some names, and told them to get closer so that they could watch the game.

But a League of Legends team has five members. The fifth player for this exhibition match was standing a few steps away from the computer, complaining. An Xin stood next to him. She was a beautiful and kind girl. And after the team’s performance at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, every student in the school knew who she was. Guys crushed on her, girls wanted to be friends with her, and everyone would do whatever she asked of them, all because of her warm smile. There was, however, one exception. A lesson everyone quickly learned. Whenever Lin Feng said something asinine, her whole demeanor changed. The kindness morphed into a terrifying anger. And Lin Feng had clearly just said something stupid.

The steady stream of club members entering the computer science lab came to an abrupt stop. The room suddenly felt cold. Students started pushing back, frantic. They were shouting that it was happening again. “It’s the murder smile! THE MURDER SMILE!”

An Xin looked over at Lin Feng. She tilted her head slightly, smiling her trademark smile, and asked, “HMM? What did you say? Say it again, I dare you!”

Lin Feng was the only guy in the entire school who didn’t seem scared by An Xin’s murder smile. “Stop it, BunBun!” he complained. “You shouldn’t threaten me! It’s really unfair!”

An Xin glared at him and retorted, “Oh? Is it?”

“Yes! It totally is!” Lin Feng replied, grinning. “I knew you’d understand! I just said I didn’t want to play this exhibition match!”

“Sit down and play,” An Xin ordered, leaving no room for discussion.

Lin Feng grumbled and whined, but he also listened. He sat down behind the computer next to Tang Bingyao’s and opened the League of Legends client. Then he leaned closer to Tang Bingyao and said, “Can you believe her? She’s forcing me to play!”

Tang Bingyao tilted her head and asked, “Hm?” After which An Xin leaned over Lin Feng’s shoulder and added, “HMM?”

Lin Feng grumbled some more but still logged into his League of Legends account and joined the rest of the team in the lobby. All the while, Ren Rou had been trying to get everyone back into the computer science lab, which she finally succeeded at. The room was jam-packed with students a few minutes later. And the five lucky students took place behind the designated computers.

The esports club members started finding their confidence again when the warm smile returned to An Xin’s face. They dared to move a little closer to the 10 computers that were placed opposite each other in two rows of five. More specifically, they gathered behind Tang Bingyao and watched over her shoulder.

Lin Feng still wasn’t happy but stopped complaining when they got into Champion Select. He loved League of Legends and this was just another opportunity to play the game. Besides. He looked over his shoulder at the students gathered there. Everyone is here to watch me play! I should pick a good carry and show them how good I am! Hmm, yeah! Let’s go with Fizz! He flexed his mouse-hand and said to the student standing near him, “I’m really good at Fizz too!”

✹

Lin Feng’s Fizz was up against a Gold player’s Orianna. And Lin Feng was showing off. He picked up an early kill two minutes into the game, and then another one a minute later. There wasn’t a single opportunity for a kill that he missed out on. And after five kills in 10 minutes, the game was as good as over. He could hear the students cheering behind him. For me! Haha! They’re all here to watch me carry! An Xin was right! This is great!

At 10 minutes: Lin Feng’s Fizz destroyed the mid outer tower.

At 15 minutes: Lin Feng was roaming around the map, searching for more kills because the respawn time on the Orianna was too long. He got bored waiting for her.

At 20 minutes: Lin Feng finally became Legendary, with 9 kills to his name.

At 25 minutes: Lin Feng won his team the game by destroying the inhibitor in mid lane and then the nexus, while the rest of his team was still playing in their own lanes.

Lin Feng sat back in his seat, grinning. Yup! How do you like that? My Fizz carried this game! We never even got to the team fights or anything like that! I just pushed mid and won the game! Ha! I carried so hard that the rest of my team didn’t even need to be there! He turned around to look at the students gathered there, only now listening to what they were saying.

“Tang Tang is the best!”
“She carried this game!”
“I wish I was as good as Tang Tang!”
“Did you guys see her at the Finals? I saw her there! She was so amazing! It’s so cool we get to see her play from up close now!”
“I love your playstyle Tang Tang! You’re so aggressive! It’s perfect! I hope to one day be as good as you!”

“Wait, what?” Lin Feng only now noticed that the club members hadn’t gathered around him, but around Tang Bingyao. “Eh? Why are you guys not cheering for me?” he asked, baffled.

A few students briefly glanced at Lin Feng before turning back to Tang Bingyao, but most didn’t even seem to notice him. They were all focused on Tang Bingyao and talking to her about her Tristana. Her score at the end of the game was 7/0/5 and she’d pushed all the way to the bot lane inhibitor tower. That was enough for the students to be convinced that she had done all the carrying, in no small part because they liked her more than Lin Feng. Not just because she was a nice, beautiful girl that they wanted to get closer to, but also because they didn’t particularly like Lin Feng. He was the guy who first set An Xin off and then stomped on a Gold opponent.

There was also another reason why the club members were more impressed with Tang Bingyao than Lin Feng. This was a result from the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, especially the last game because that was the game everyone remembered. The club members believed that Tang Bingyao had won them the Shanghai 16 School Tournament with her Vayne. She became immensely popular on the back of this. Every student knew her name, and even League of Legends fans from other high schools in Shanghai knew who she was. She was the only female ad-carry who competed at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. And many people also argued that she was the best ad-carry at the tournament.

Tang Bingyao didn’t care much for all the extra attention she was getting. But she couldn’t just sit and do nothing with everyone chanting her name. She looked over her shoulder at the crowd, smiling. This only invigorated the club members as they got louder and louder. Hm… What do they want? Should I get up and thank them? Uhh, hmm… She finally got up and nodded and waved, thanking everyone for coming to watch her play.

The club members couldn’t believe their luck. Tang Bingyao had heard them. And now she was speaking to them! They pushed their fellow students aside and crowded around her, asking her questions and telling her how much they admired her. There were girls asking how to get better at League of Legends and there were guys asking if she was going to do any more 1vs1 Love Confessions in the near future.

An Xin winked at Lin Feng, who had found his way to her, and said, “Wow, Tang Tang sure has gotten popular.”

Lin Feng kicked a pen away and sulked, “No one cheered for me…”

An Xin chuckled and asked, “Aren’t you worried? If you aren’t careful, someone might snatch her away from you!”

“Snatch her away?” Lin Feng asked, scratching the back of his head. Then he waved his hand and said, “That won’t happen! Tang Tang already promised to be our team’s ad-carry! She won’t join another team! You’re worrying about nothing!”

An Xin shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Nevermind. It’s pointless talking to you.” Then she turned to some of the club members that had gathered around her and were asking questions about League of Legends and her lovelife. She smiled and started answering them, ignoring Lin Feng.

Tang Bingyao received a lot of attention, but most of it was centered around League of Legends. This wasn’t the case with An Xin. There were many guys who came to her and straight up asked her out on a date. She turned all of them down. But rather than being disheartened by this, the guys left with a smile on their faces. An Xin had somehow convinced them that it was really for the best that they wouldn’t date, and that there was someone out there waiting for them. They just had to keep their eyes open for that special someone. But that didn’t stop them from daydreaming about An Xin and wishing they could spend more time together. The regular student envied the esports club members, who got to see An Xin twice a week during club activities. And the esports club members envied the students from Senior Class 7, who could stare at An Xin all day from Monday through Friday. The entire school was infatuated with her.

✹

The next day, Senior Class 7 started the morning with Mathematics, after which they had English Literature. When the period bell finally announced a break, they turned to their friends and started complaining about their grueling schedule. Ouyang was, as per usual, the loudest voice amongst them all. The students were usually annoyed by this. They’d glare at him or tell him to shut up. But this was one of those rare occasions in which everyone agreed with him.

Right then, a student from Senior Class 8 knocked on the door and poked his head through the door opening. The entire classroom became quiet. All eyes fell on him. His face turned red as he held up a postcard and said, “Uhh… An… An Xin? Uhh… You, uhm, I… I mean, you, me, and uhm…”

Ouyang’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped to the floor. “What? Is that another love letter?” he exclaimed. “Hot damn! BunBun! Another one for you! Damn girl, they just keep coming for you! How do you do this!?”

Ren Rou glared at Ouyang and snapped, “Shut up.”

“But Rou Rou…” Ouyang started before closing his mouth again. An Xin had stood up from her desk and was smiling at the student from Senior Class 8. Oh my god! How does she do this! It’s that same smile every time! And then she’s going to turn him down! And then that poor bro is going to be happy about it. Every single time! He watched her walk over to the classroom door and mumbled, “Poor guy.”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and said, “You’re right if you mean that she’s going to turn him down. Just look at him. He clearly has a few too many pounds on his body and those zits on his face aren’t helping either.”

Ouyang watched carefully how An Xin dealt with the student from Senior Class 8. He suddenly whisper-shouted, “Look, look! She accepted his letter! Maybe she does like him?”

Yang Fan chuckled and shook his head. “No, Ouyang. That’s how she does it. She accepts the letter and then tells them the bad news. Did you already forget what happened yesterday?”

“Oh, oh, right. I forgot,” Ouyang replied. He turned back to see An Xin turn the guy down. He lowered his head and was clearly taking it hard. But then he looked back up at An Xin. Ouyang’s eyes went wide and he mumbled, “H-how does she do that? He looks happy!” Then he shot up from his seat and shouted, “BUNBUN! How did you do that? You turned him down, right? Right? Why is he so happy? He should be upset! He got turned down!”

“Ouyang!” Ren Rou shouted, glaring at him before An Xin could.

“But Rou Rou,” Ouyang said, looking to start an argument. But when he saw the look in Ren Rou’s eyes, he knew better than to keep talking. He closed his mouth and then zipped it with his hands. He followed up by locking it and finally he swallowed the key. Then he nodded at her, as if saying, “See? I can’t say a word!”

An Xin walked back to her desk and sat down. She put the love letter at the corner and then reached into her backpack to grab something. This was also the moment in which Lin Feng lost to his curiosity. He reached over from his desk to grab the love letter while asking, “BunBun, what did you two talk about? Can I read the lette— AI!”

An Xin had slapped Lin Feng’s hand away and said, “Keep your hands to yourself! He wrote this for me! Don’t be so nosy!” Then she giggled and added, “Or are you jealous? Is that it?”

Lin Feng pointed at himself and asked incredulously, “Me? Jealous? No way! I was just curious! You know, I wanted to know what kind of idiot would get fooled by your looks!”

An Xin stopped giggling. She clenched her fist and punched Lin Feng in the face. “YOU IDIOT! I knew nothing good would come out of your mouth! Jerk!”

✹

The dismissal bell rang at the end of the day. The students from Senior Class 7 packed their bags and streamed out of the classroom. But Tang Bingyao stayed in her seat. She rummaged through her backpack and grabbed her wallet. Then she counted out ¥25, enough to buy two milk teas and a chicken cutlet, and stuffed it in her pocket. Finally, she waited for Lin Feng to walk up to her desk. This was their daily routine when there were no club activities.

“Let’s go!” Lin Feng said, excited as always.

“Mhm,” Tang Bingyao replied with a nod. Then she got up and walked through the hallways and off the campus with Lin Feng. They walked down the streets of Shanghai until they arrived in front of a small little shop that served milk tea and chicken cutlet. She paused here and pulled the money from her pocket. “Hey, uh, Lin Feng? I’ve got some spare change… Do you want to stop for some milk tea and chicken cutlet?”

Lin Feng completely missed the expression on Tang Bingyao’s face. All he heard was the chicken cutlet, and from there that was all he could see and smell. He nodded and replied, “Yeah! I want some! Thanks, Tang Tang! By the way, you sure do have a lot of spare change these days. But that’s really good! More chicken cutlet for me! Haha!”

Tang Bingyao walked into the shop and placed the order, listening to Lin Feng giving her a lecture on chicken cutlet and how to correctly prepare it. Then, when their portion was delivered, he pointed at it and shouted that that was exactly how it was supposed to look and smell. A bite and yelp later, he also noted that this was how it was supposed to taste. She smiled.

The two friends left the shop and continued walking home, Tang Bingyao sipping on her milk tea and Lin Feng wolfing away the chicken cutlet. It wasn’t until he had eaten more than half of it that he realized Tang Bingyao was walking next to him, and she had paid for the food. He sheepishly offered it to her and said, “Uhh, Tang Tang, do you want some too?”

Tang Bingyao smiled and shook her head. “Mnh-mnh, I’m good. Thanks.”

“Oh, alright,” Lin Feng replied with a full mouth.

Tang Bingyao didn’t play her game of jump-the-cracks. She walked next to Lin Feng and looked up at him. How do I tell him? Do I just say it? Or am I supposed to hint at it? I don’t know. Maybe? Or… She glanced in the distance, towards a large intersection. That was as far as they walked together every day. She bit on her lips. I have to say it now, or I won’t say it at all. Mhm! She nodded at herself and then said, “Uhmm, Lin Feng?”

Lin Feng stared out the window of the train, though it wasn’t the scene of Shanghai that played before his eyes. It was Season 1 again. His team had made it to the Finals of Worlds. They were sitting behind their computers in a small room. He looked over to his left. Silent sat next to him and Autumn two seats over. They were focused but he could tell they were happy. Then he looked over at the two players sitting to his right. Eleven and Tian Tian, both nervous and both excited. Lin Feng turned back to look at his own screen as An Xin yelled at him from behind to not get distracted. We were so happy! He smiled, grabbing his mouse with one hand and placing the fingers of his other hand on the keyboard. It’s time to play! And win! This world title is ours!

The smile disappeared from Lin Feng’s face. We lost. We… we lost. He remembered how he walked away after that loss. Everything that happened to his team after that point was a blank. But now Tian Tian had filled in that blank. Lin Feng found himself watching the events unfold before his eyes. The team looked lost without him. They kept staring at the seat in the middle, his seat. It was empty. Their expressions turned sour. Tian Tian reverted back to his normal self, wrecked by his nerves. I wasn’t there to help him. I was the only one who knew how to help him. But I left him behind. I left him. And now… and now… Lin Feng quickly wiped away the tears from his face, and then blew his nose into his sleeve. Fatty would have achieved so much more if it wasn’t for me… He could’ve been an Emperor. He’d have multiple world titles under his belt! But I left him… Lin Feng watched as Tian Tian got up from his seat and walked towards a group of strangers. They welcomed him, but his shoulders were slumped. I abandoned him…

Lin Feng turned his attention back to the rest of the team. To Eleven. You were one of the best Junglers in the world. Screw that! You were the best Jungler in the world! Read XIII had nothing on you! You were supposed to stay! You were supposed to keep playing and helping the team with your great skills! No one could jungle like you! Lin Feng banged his head against the window in a slow, steady rhythm, quietly cursing himself. He closed his eyes, but the scene kept playing in his mind. Eleven got up from his gaming chair. He walked towards a team that was ecstatic to have him. A second-rate team in the LSPL. Of course they’re thrilled to have you! You’re the best in the world! They don’t deserve you… You’re so much better than this! And if I hadn’t left… If only I’d stuck around a little bit longer… Maybe you wouldn’t have left.

There were only two people left in Lin Feng’s vision. They were Autumn and Silent. Lin Feng turned around and desperately searched for An Xin, but she wasn’t there. She’d already left. I kept them all together. And when I left, it all fell apart. There was no team left for her to coach, so she left. Why would she stay? She was my friend. She was helping me! And I left her, just like I left the others. I left her too… Lin Feng knocked his head a little harder against the window of the train, cursing himself for leaving his friends behind. I should’ve been there for them!

Autumn and Silent stood up together. There were teams literally begging for the duo to join. But they ignored them. Lin Feng was gone. Their team was gone. The dream was gone. And so they walked away from the scene. Two of the best players, icons in their respective roles, disappeared. Lin Feng watched with bloodshot eyes as they strolled away, becoming shadows of a time past. You two were so good together. Your playstyles complemented each other and everyone knew they were watching something special when the two of you played… You should’ve never left! The game needs you! I… I want to see you two play together again… 

Autumn was the most unique Support player in the world. He had an aggressive playstyle, but combined that perfectly with a high level of unpredictability. It made it impossible for teams to prepare for him. But it was when he played together with his ad-carry Silent that he stepped up to another level. Silent was the pony to Autumn’s jockey. He played steady and firm, focusing on his creep score but engaging when Autumn presented the opening. They were perfect together and no one could stop them.

Lin Feng slumped back in his seat. We were so close to winning Worlds… Our big goal, the dream that brought us all together, the one thing we were going to achieve together! And then I screwed up. I lost that Finals. Game 5, my loss. We would’ve won if it wasn’t for me. He chewed on the inside of his cheeks and fidgeted with his fingers. Tian Tian had told him his old teammates had all found their footing in life. They were moving forward. And he was supposed to be happy for them. But he couldn’t get himself to feel happy. They were the best players in the world. And now, almost no one remembers their names… They should’ve won the world title! If only I didn’t hold them down! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Lin Feng shook his head furiously and punched the side of the train. “AH!” He grimaced, rubbing his fist. Stop this. He forced himself to take a deep, calming breath. Why did they quit League? Did they just give up? We all had the same dream. We were going to win Worlds… together. That was the dream. They spoke about it at length at every opportunity they got. We’re going to win Worlds! We are going to win Worlds! A knot twisted in Lin Feng’s stomach. He reached for it and hunched over. D-do they regret joining my team? Do they hate me for ruining our dream? I… He chewed on his lip, but couldn’t get himself to even finish the thought. His mind went blank, until a couple minutes later a final thought hit him. Do they still want to win?

✹

Su Xue had spent much of the afternoon in the kitchen to prepare another delicious feast dish for Lin Feng. And it was delicious. She hummed happily as she sat across from him at the dining table, eager to see him dive in. He’s going to love this! I made it just how he likes it! And it came out so well! Huh, why… She first thought that he was looking at the food, but now she was starting to doubt that. He is looking down, but… Is he looking down at his lap? “Uhh, Lin Feng?” she asked, puzzled. “Are you… not hungry?”

Lin Feng mumbled without looking up, “Already ate.”

“What the…” Su Xue said, speechless. Then she glared and shouted, “You could’ve told me that before I spent several hours working my ass off in the kitchen! You know how much work this was?” She wanted to continue shouting, but he wasn’t reacting at all. Then she sighed and shook her head. “What’s with that glum look, Lin Feng? Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry, I’ll eat,” Lin Feng mumbled. He reached for his chopsticks with one hand and his bowl with the other. It was still empty, but he didn’t notice. He grabbed at the air in his bowl with his chopsticks and then took a bite. Chewing. Dazed.

Not this again… Su Xue looked at Lin Feng, annoyed. Then she wagged her finger at him and lectured, “If there’s something bothering you, say it already! Stop bottling it up all the time. You have friends around you who want to help you. But they can’t if you won’t tell them what’s going on! Now tell me, what’s got you down today!” Is this going to be a weekly thing? Why does he always have to bring the entire room down with his sulking? Did a girl say something mean to him or something… Maybe I should call BunBun and see if she knows what’s wrong this time.

Lin Feng looked up at Su Xue through watery eyes. Then he rubbed his face and slapped it a couple of times. The depression disappeared and he forced out his usual grin. “Don’t worry! I’m okay! If something’s bothering me, I’ll tell you! Really! I’m good!”

My ass! Su Xue shook her head, frustrated. She finally sighed and asked, “Really? Are you sure?”

“Really! I’m sure!” Lin Feng replied, laughing. “Oh! Oh!” he continued. “How are you? Did you stream today? Were the viewers nice to you?”

Su Xue’s stream was her achilles’ heel. She completely forgot about what they were talking about as her eyes lit up. “It’s going really well! I’m getting hundreds of new viewers every day! And so many of them stick around! I get so many new followers and subscribers today! Oh! Oh! And donations! Donations too!” Then she pursed her lips and added, “But the videos aren’t going that great…”

Su Xue had started making commentary videos a while ago. She initially tried to make them with gameplay provided to her by Lin Feng, but that didn’t work out so well. It proved very hard to sound excited and give good commentary when she didn’t even fully understand what was going on on the screen. Lin Feng could get a penta kill and she’d just sit there and stare, baffled by the moves that led up to the fight as well as the fight itself. So she ended up commentating on her own gameplay, which she then sent to editor-in-chief Zuo You.

Zuo You was incredibly talented at video editing. With a few simple touches, she increased the quality of Su Xue’s video to such a level that she barely recognized it as her own video. And Su Xue was in love with the result. She hugged and thanked Zuo You a thousand times and was convinced that this video would get her more viewers than she could dream of! So she uploaded it to PlayMoreLoL, which was a video streaming website specifically for League of Legends gameplay, and notified her stream followers to go and check it out.

The initial response to the video was just as Su Xue had expected it to be. There were tens of thousands of views and thousands of likes and positive comments. But after a few days, the video hit a plateau. The views stagnated and the positive comments were drowned out by negative ones.

「another shitty commentator joining on the bandwagon?」
「Who even uploads this crap…」
「at least add your facecam so we can look at your personalities………」
「FK THIS SHIT SUCKS!!1!!」
「Worst. Video. Ever. 」
「friggin bronze and silvers thinkin they can commentate vids of their own shitty gameplay lawl」

“See?” Su Xue said as she pushed her phone in Lin Feng’s face. “Look at all these messages! Stupid trolls have nothing better to do then make fun of my video!” She gritted her teeth, hesitating, but then finally added, “Most of the positive comments are from my stream fans. The negative ones are almost all from the people who watch on PlayMoreLol… They don’t seem to like it…”

Lin Feng took the phone from Su Xue and read through the comments. All the while, Su Xue kept complaining. First she argued that it was a lot more difficult to commentate videos than she expected. And then she said that most of the negative comments were probably trolls who were just trying to look cool and that her video really wasn’t as bad as some comments made it seem.

After a few minutes of this, Lin Feng shrugged and said, “Eh, this is normal, isn’t it? Everyone has something bad to say about new commentators. It’s just how it works. But you got your viewers helping with good comments. And the video is really nice too. I’m sure you’ll get there! You just have to keep trying!”

Su Xue pursed her lips, ready to argue. But she stopped herself from doing that and instead nodded. I know he’s right. I have to keep pushing. It’s just that… No, he’s right. She forced a smile and said, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It just would’ve been nice if they all liked it. But yeah, I just have to make another one. Keep working hard and find the formula that works. Yeah! I’ll slowly get popular. I can do this!”

“I believe in you! You’ll get super popular!” Lin Feng cheered. Then he added, “Besides, nothing is perfect the first go. But this was really good. You’ll only get better and those negative commenters are going to come back next time and fall in love with your videos!”

Su Xue rolled her eyes and said, “Well, hello mister optimistic. Where were you a minute ago, when I was having dinner with this moping sack of depression?”

Lin Feng looked up and asked innocently, “What? Me? I didn’t look sad!”

Su Xu threw her arms in the air and shouted, “Whatever!”

Lin Feng smiled and said, “I’m telling you the truth! I don’t know what you’re talking about! I wasn’t sad!”

Su Xue jumped to her feet and kicked her chair back. Then she leaned over the table and wagged her finger in Lin Feng’s face. “Now you listen to me, you little shit!” she shouted.

Lin Feng looked at Su Xue and really smiled for the first time that evening. He nodded as Su Xue lectured him on how to be a good roommate, a good friend, and a good little brother. He listened to her at first, but when she started repeating herself, his mind drifted back to his old friends. Winter break is coming up in another month and a half. I’m going to visit the guys then. And I’m going to apologize to each of them! Maybe we can even have a team reunion then! But first they deserve a proper apology. I left them. Sorry, Eleven. Sorry, Autumn. Sorry, Silent. I mean it.

✹

The biggest event of the year for High School 13’s esports club had ended. They had won the first big prize for the school, and the winner’s cup was placed in the brand new trophy cabinet. But that also meant that the team members didn’t need to practice every day anymore. They suddenly found themselves with a lot of freetime. Or so they thought. They hadn’t had much time for their studies over the last few months and they’d fallen behind. More importantly, most players on the team were in their senior year. So they threw themselves at their study books in preparation for the college entrance exams that were coming up later in the year.

Ren Rou was the only member of the esports team who had more work to do than before. Every student in the school suddenly wanted to join the esports club after their victory at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. And Ren Rou was determined to accept them all. So she welcomed them to the club, taught them the game, and organized all kinds of activities that were fun for players from all levels to participate in.

There were, of course, numerous activities centered around the team members who had won the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. There was the ‘play-a-game-with’ event, where new members could play a game of League with their favourite player on the team. Tang Bingyao was the one who played most of these matches by a long shot. Everyone wanted to Support her, and they all asked her to play Vayne. Then there was the ‘free coaching lessons by…” event. Ren Rou had explained to all the new members that the only reason the team won was because of the coaching they received from An Xin. The new club members hoped they could also quickly improve their skills by a few lessons from An Xin.

Everyone on the esport’s main team helped out, even Lin Feng. He grumbled and complained. He argued that he had better things to do with his time. And he tried to sneak away when he thought nobody was looking. But all it took was a single glare from An Xin for him to suddenly start volunteering to help organize activities or play with club members. And everyone understood why. There was something about the way An Xin smiled at Lin Feng that sent shivers down their spines. They unconsciously stepped away and held their breaths, terrified to get caught in the crossfire. All eyes would then turn to Lin Feng, begging him to do the smart thing. To do whatever An Xin wanted him to do. But he just never seemed to get it.