Chu Fang felt all the colour drain from his face. Potential candidates… Shit. He’s going to yell at me. Sweat prickled on his forehead and he felt a sudden chill in the air. He looked sheepishly at Fang Hao, who sat behind his desk calm as ever. Maybe he doesn’t know. Just a coincidence. A shiver ran up and down his spine as he desperately tried not to show fear in his eyes. I’ve done nothing wrong. I could’ve told him about Lin Feng, sure, but I didn’t have to. I didn’t do anything wrong!

Fang Hao ignored the sweat on Chu Fang’s forehead and the worry in his subordinate’s eyes. “So,” he started. “What do you think about inviting high schoolers to participate in the Winter Collegiate Cup?”

Chu Fang forced himself to take deep, long, calming breaths. He finally looked up at Fang Hao and smiled. “I think it’s a good idea. It’ll be a good chance for them to experience some higher level competition.” He paused for a moment, hesitating, then added, “Besides, the Shanghai 16 School Tournament just finished, and I’ve watched the final rounds myself. I know how strong all the high school teams are and which players can participate at the university level.”

“Right, the Shanghai 16 School Tournament…” Fang Hao dragged the words, smiling slightly. “Who won again this year? High School 13, was it?”

Chu Fang felt his heart knocking against his ribs in an increasingly violent rhythm. He knows. He knows! Does he? It took all his self control to give Fang Hao a calm answer. “Yes. They were the underdogs for a long time, but they suddenly looked very strong in the semifinals when they beat Shanghai International. Then they won 3-1 in the Finals against Shanghai High School. They have a few especially outstanding players.” He recalled a certain promise he made. I’m trying my best to keep it a secret, Lin Feng. But he’s going to find out. One more question from him and he knows, if he doesn’t already. He probably already knows. I sent him the information. I sent him the…

Fang Hao nodded repeatedly and said, “Yes, yes, so I’ve heard. Very outstanding. Oh, what was the name of their team captain again?”

Chu Fang gulped. “Ahem. Well, uh… You know, it’s… Did you read my repo—”

Fang Hao slammed his fist down on his desk with such force that Chu Fang jumped up in fright. Then he shouted, “YOU LITTLE SHIT! How long did you plan on keeping this from me!? Huh! I thought I could trust you!”

Chu Fang pushed himself back in his chair, as far away from Fang Hao as he could without offending his boss. He knows. Yep. He knows. I’m done for. He’s going to eat me alive. I’m going to be demoted and he’ll have me sweeping the floors. He knew this was coming the moment that Fang Hao had called him and asked for the information on High School 13. But somewhere deep down he’d hoped his boss would glance over the information and miss it. He said, “I can explain. Really! There’s a good reaso—”

Fang Hao didn’t care about an explanation. He cut Chu Fang off with a stare, then leaned forward and asked, “Tell me. Is it really him?”

Chu Fang froze for a moment. Then he slowly nodded and said, “Yeah. It is him.”

“Maple,” Fang Hao mumbled. “Maple…” He fell back in his chair and stared past Chu Fang at nothing. It’s him. He said he’d be back. But it’s been four years, and he was just a little kid back then. He did come back! Maple is back! His eyes started beaming and his mouth moved of its own volition. “He’s back. Maple. Maple…”

“He is,” Chu Fang said. Lin Feng will understand why I had to tell Fang Hao. And I haven’t really broken my promise. But I really don’t want to end up sweeping the floors… He took a deep breath and then explained, “I only found out myself during the semifinals. We spoke for a bit and he told me that he doesn’t want everyone to know that he’s back yet. So he asked me to keep his return a secret for a while longer…”

Fang Hao waved his hand and said, “It’s fine. It’s fine.” He then grinned and looked at his subordinate. It’s been four long years. We haven’t had any luck since he left… This… It feels unreal. But Chu Fang looks serious enough… “T-this isn’t some elaborate joke, is it? It’s really him? I swear I’m firing you if this is all some stupid joke! Tell me. Is he really back? Is this Lin Feng really the Lin Feng? Maple?”

Chu Fang nodded and confirmed once more, “Yes.”

Fang Hao was finally convinced. He looked at his subordinate and started laughing. Louder. Louder! “HE’S BACK! BACK! THIS IS GREAT!” He got up from his desk. He had the urge to throw up his hands and jump in the air. But he managed to stop himself. He lightly coughed and let himself fall back in his chair. Grinning from ear to ear, he looked at Chu Fang and said, “That little punk! It’s about time he showed himself again!”

Chu Fang smiled. He understood exactly how Fang Hao was feeling, because that was also how he’d felt when he found out. They’d both been part of the League of Legends scene since Season 1. They were there when the LPL still competed for the world title. More importantly, they’d both witnessed the raw talent and potential of Maple. He was far better than all the other talents they’d scouted over the years combined. And now he was back.

✹

A train came rolling into the station. Lin Feng and Tian Tian were watching it come to a stop. Then Lin Feng turned to his friend and said, “Fatty, you have to practice hard! And let me know when you’re free again! I’ll come hang out and I’ll bring BunBun and Tang Tang too!”

Tian Tian nodded and said, “I will! I’m going to train really hard! Uhm, you should also do your best!” Then he suddenly thought of something and asked, “The Winter Collegiate Cup is happening soon. Are you going to participate?”

“Huh?” Lin Feng blurted out. Then he grinned and shook his head. “I won’t. That’s a university tournament, right? I’m still in high school!”

“Oh… Right,” Tian Tian mumbled. He scratched his head in embarrassment and apologized, “I forgot you were still in high school…” He shook his head. W-why do I keep forgetting this? He’s a few years younger than me… 15 plus 4 is 19…

Tian Tian’s daytime job was being a professional League of Legends player as the Top Laner for KG. But he also attended university. There was a special arrangement in place for students playing professional sports. He was allowed to skip his classes and work on assignments on his own time. Then he had to report to his professor every couple of weeks. They’d discuss where he was at and what he should do next. The last time he’d spoken with his professor was just a couple of days ago. Tian Tian thought back to that meeting and mumbled, “I talked with my professor. He said I should join my university esports team… I was thinking it might be fun to do if you were also playing…”

Lin Feng chuckled and replied, “How could they let you play? You’re a professional player! And you’re the best in China too! The other teams might as well give up if you join!” Lin Feng took a deep breath and then added, “Though it would’ve been fun!”

The train conductor blew her whistle, interrupting the conversation between Lin Feng and Tian Tina. Lin Feng looked behind him and saw the doors closing. He hopped on the train and shouted through the closing gap, “Let’s meet up again soon, Fatty. See you!” Then the doors closed. He waved at Tian Tian as the train started moving, his friend waving back at him. He smiled until the train left the station. And not a second longer. He stumbled to the nearest seat and fell down in it, every last speck of joy disappearing from his face.

Back in the restaurant, Lin Feng had asked Tian Tian about his old teammates. Tian Tian had hesitated at first, but Lin Feng had pushed for an answer. That was how he learned about how their other three old teammates were doing.

Eleven was the only one still playing League of Legends competitively. But circumstances had forced him to join a second-rate LSPL team, where his talent was going to waste.

Lin Feng bit on his lips. Playing in the LSPL is as good as quitting… But at least he’s still playing… Autumn and Silent were the names of the Support and ad-carry of his old team. Both of them had quit the competitive scene shortly after him. I abandoned them, and then they left. They left because of me.

Autumn had returned to his hometown where he’d opened a small cybercafe. He hadn’t cut off contact, but he wasn’t trying to keep the friendships going either. Tian Tian had dropped by the cybercafe multiple times, and he’d chatted with Autumn over the phone. But he was always the one instigating, and friendship was a two way street. He eventually gave up and contact between them  slowly withered off.

Lin Feng banged his head against the side of the train in a slow but steady rhythm. I tore our friendships apart by leaving. They all stopped talking with each other after I stopped talking to them. After I left them… I didn’t even tell them that I was leaving. I was a terrible friend. The worst friend.

Tian Tian hadn’t had much to say about Silent, whose name fit him incredibly well. Silent never spoke much, even when the team was still together. But after Lin Feng left, Silent had mostly become a mute until he left through the backdoor just like Lin Feng had. Tian Tian had no clue what happened to Silent after that, except from little tidbits he heard from Autumn. Silent had apparently moved back in with his parents to help them with their family business.

I guess they all landed on their feet, in their own ways… I didn’t ruin their lives. Lin Feng didn’t believe it. He’d abandoned them and broken up their friendship. And from what he could see, none of them were really friends with each other either anymore. They’d come together with a shared dream. To become the best and win the world title! That dream was gone. There was nothing left of it. They’d given up, just like he had. All their long nights talking about becoming the best and every long session, it was all a thing of the past. They’d moved on, because he left them behind to fend for themselves. He was the glue that had kept everything together. And when he left, he tore the team apart. This group of brothers was now nothing more than strangers.

The first week of Worlds had been a big disappointment for KG and Tian Tian. And the second week was the complete opposite. Tian Tian had single-handedly carried his team to the knockout stage of the tournament. He’d gotten a 5-man ultimate with Hecarim, and he’d shown to the world just how good of a Riven player he was. His fans had appeared from everywhere, flooding the online landscape with messages about his skills. They told everyone who wanted to listen that KG RoundyRound deserved to be crowned a King, since he was the best Toplaner in the entire world!

Tian Tian was proud of his performance in the second half of the group stage. He only felt more confident when he read the messages on social media. It’d felt like the entire world, every last human being walking this planet, had lifted him up onto their shoulders. Like they were all chanting his name. And most importantly, Lin Feng was at the head of them. Lin Feng was back in his life! And Lin Feng believed in him.

KG made it all the way to the semifinals at Worlds. That was where they ran into SSK. Tian Tian knew this was going to be a far bigger challenge than any of the previous matches. But the fans were chanting his name, and he had Lin Feng by his side again. That sparked confidence. He’d spent an entire week mumbling to himself about how Lin Feng believed in him and how he couldn’t let his fans down. He hyped himself up and really started believing that his team stood a chance against SSK. But nothing could’ve prepared them for that series. SSK was far better than he’d ever imagined. KG got crushed and lost the series 0-3.

No one blamed Tian Tian for the loss against SSK. His fans were still posting on social media, talking about how good his performance at Worlds had been. Even Lin Feng called him multiple times, expressing just how proud he was. But Tian Tian didn’t feel proud. He felt guilty and responsible for the loss. I-if only I was better, like Lin Feng… I-I could’ve carried harder and won! Maybe then I wouldn’t have let them all down…

After returning to China, Tian Tian had barely gotten more than a couple hours of sleep each night. He kept tossing and turning in his bed, thinking back to the semifinals against SSK. Every mistake, no matter how big or small, played on repeat in his mind. After which an alternate scenario popped up. One in which he didn’t make that mistake. One where he ultimately won the series, and where his fans and Lin Feng were proud of him. Truly proud.

And when sleep did get him, it was always the same nightmare. Lin Feng stood in front of him, looking him up and down, and said, “Was that all you have in you? You couldn’t even beat SSK? I’m disappointed in you, Fatty. Maybe I should just leave again, just like last time. You weren’t worthy then either.” Then he’d wake up in a bed wet with sweat and tears, his stomach heaving and bile rushing up his throat. Lin Feng leaving him all those years ago was one of the worst days in his life, something he’d blamed himself for. And now that Lin Feng was back, he was terrified that it’d happen again.

Tian Tian lifted his face off the table at the hotpot restaurant and wiped away the snot and tears from his face. Then he looked up at Lin Feng through water-blurred eyes and sobbed, “L-Lin Feng, so-sor-sorry. I-I—”

Lin Feng knitted his brows and sternly said, “Stop crying.”

Tian Tian’s lips quivered. He covered his face with both his hands and tried to suck the tears back up into the tear glands. I-I’ll try to stop crying. Just don’t leave me again… His elbows fell on the table and he rested his face in his hands, shaking his head. I-I want to stop crying! I’m trying! P-please don’t go!

“Hey, Fatty, look at me,” Lin Feng said. He waited for his friend to look up and then continued, “Don’t apologize. There’s nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t let me or anyone else down. You were fantastic at Worlds.”

Tian Tian felt fresh tears pushing through the old. He rubbed his nose, trying to hide it, and mumbled, “B-but, but I and SSK…”

“You lost to SSK 0-3, right? I know,” Lin Feng cut Tian Tian off. He looked Fatty in the eyes and said slowly, “So what? That was one series, against the best team in the world. You think I could’ve done any better than you?” Lin Feng shook his head. “I couldn’t have. You were really good.”

Tian Tian shook his head, flustered, and argued, “N-no way! If you were playing, you’d have won! B-because you’re the best player in the world! I know you are! You’re better than Rake! Y-you would’ve won. A-and I lost! I let you down. Again!”

“No,” Lin Feng cut in. “You didn’t let me down. Not back then and not now. Rake is better than I am, for now anyway. I’d have lost. But you were there, and you put up a fight. Just for that, I’m proud of you.”

Tian Tian bit on his lips and continued to argue, “B-but didn’t you beat that Fizz earlier? You said he was probably a pro player… L-look what you did to him!”

Lin Feng waved his hand and countered, “I said he might be a pro. We don’t know for sure. Plus, he was being way too aggressive and I was playing on one of my best Champions. It was a combination of different things that got me snowballing so hard.” He took a deep breath and then continued, “And so what if he is a pro? At best, he’s playing for some random LSPL team. The fact that I beat him doesn’t mean anything.”

Tian Tian opened and closed his mouth. H-he’s right. He was the best Midlaner in the world. E-even if he isn’t as good as back then, beating some LSPL Midlaner should be easy for him… B-but he only just came back and is already beating a professional player! He looked away from Lin Feng and said, “B-but… but…”

Lin Feng smiled at his friend and said, “It’s fine. You don’t need to spare my feelings. I know I’m not as good as I was back in Season 1. I’ve got a long way to go.” He clenched his fist and added, “But I’m back. I’m only going to get better. And when we’re ready, we’re going to win Worlds. You and I, together. And I’ll finally beat Rake too!”

Tian Tian looked up at Lin Feng, confused. H-he looks so confident. He sounds so sure of himself… He suddenly felt a jolt of surprise when he met Lin Feng’s fiery gaze. H-he hasn’t given up on me. He’s still here! H-he hasn’t left me again! A smile broke through his face of tears and snot and he nodded. “Yeah! I believe in you! You can beat Rake! You’re going to win Worlds!”

Lin Feng laughed and said, “We, Fatty, we’re going to win Worlds! Anyway, I’m starving! Quick, tell me what you want already! I’ll go and order!”

✹

The waiter brought the hotpot and ingredients over to Lin Feng and Tian Tian’s table, carrying a delicious smell. The two friends grabbed their chopsticks, licking their lips in expectation. Food was good for their nerves. It was the same now as it was back in Season 1, when they’d clean out a whole kitchen the night before a big game. The waiter kept bringing more food, and the two friends wolfed it all down. In half an hour, they ate more than the average customer ate in an entire week.

Tian Tian burped loudly and rubbed his stomach, pushing his seventh empty bowl away. “Whew, I’m stuffed! That was so good!”

Lin Feng also rubbed his stomach in satisfaction, and replied, “Yeah. That’s what I call a feast!”

The two friends grinned and then leaned back, giving the food time to digest in their stomachs. Their eyes started feeling heavy, the early signs of the after dinner dip. They were looking at each other, smiling and letting the food coma take them. Tian Tian closed his eyes and allowed his head to process everything that happened. He’d seen Lin Feng in the flesh for the first time in four years. He’s still the same. I-I’m so happy! Ahhhh! And this food was so good!

“Hey, Fatty…” Lin Feng said, breaking the silence.

Tian Tian snapped out of his daze and looked at Lin Feng. “Hm-huh? What?”

Lin Feng looked up at the ceiling, counting the dirty dots and feeling a knot twisting in his stomach. I’ve been putting this off for too long. I can’t keep walking away from it. They were all my friends. And I walked away from them. They must hate me. But Fatty has been great… He felt his throat sore up and knew that if he postponed this question any longer, he would never ask it.

Tian Tian asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

I have to ask it now. Come on, Lin Feng. Put on your big boy pants. You’ve been pushing this off long enough as it is. The knot in his stomach twisted even harder. He felt the urge to puke, but forced it down. He moved his lips around, but kept them firmly pressed together. Then he scratched his forehead, hiding his shame behind his hand, and mumbled, “Tell me about Eleven, Autumn, and Silent. How are they?”

Eleven was the Jungler of Lin Feng’s Season 1 superteam, Autumn was the Support and Silent the ad-carry. But they weren’t just his teammates. Lin Feng loved them like brothers. And he hated himself so incredibly much for walking away from them four years ago. He wanted to punch something, preferably himself, in frustration every time he thought back to those days. He’d abandoned his brothers. And he’d left them without any ability to contact him. I abandoned them. I let them down. He suddenly felt incredibly nervous. What if something is wrong with them? What if… He spread his fingers just enough so he could see Tian Tian through them. I hope they’re doing well. I hope that they can forgive me… 

✹

Chu Fang walked through the hallways of the Shanghai Esports Association headquarters to the president’s office. He knocked twice on the door before inviting himself inside. This was the largest office in the building that gave a beautiful look over the center of Shanghai, large windows covering two of the four walls. The president had added a reading corner to one side, with a large bookshelf backed up against the far wall. On the other side stood a single desk. Fang Hao, president of the Shanghai Esports Association, sat behind it, looking through some documents. Chu Fang raised his hand to his mouth and lightly coughed. “Uh, sir? You were looking for me?”

Fang Hao glanced up from his work at Chu Fang. Then he nodded and said, “Ah, you’re here. Take a seat.”

Chu Fang sat down with a straight back in one of the two large chairs across the desk from Fang Hao. Then he waited for his boss to talk.

“The Beijing Esports Association sent an email earlier today. Did you see it?” Fang Hao asked. He searched through a large stack of papers and took one out from the middle of the pile. Glancing over its contents, he continued, “It’s about the Winter Collegiate Cup.”

Chu Fang nodded and replied, “Yes, I’ve read it.”

Fang Hao nodded and said, “Good. We’re in charge of the preliminaries and the Finals. I want you to get in touch with your contacts and start setting everything up. When you have the basic infrastructure in place, report back to me.”

“Understood, sir,” Chu Fang accepted. “I’ll have it ready for you by Thursday at the latest.”Fang Hao nodded in approval and then added, “Oh right, one more thing. The guys in Beijing pushed for a small change. They want to invite the strongest high school teams from Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to participate in the Winter Collegiate Cup. Since you organized the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, I think you have a better idea of which players are potential candidates…”

Bloodsucker stared at his screen as it sprung back to life, vibrant colours replacing the dull tones of grey. He knew it was only temporary, though he refused to admit it. He stubbornly guided his Fizz back to mid lane. All I need are a couple of last hits. That’ll see me right back into the game! I just need a few more… a few more! He gritted his teeth. If it wasn’t for this damned LeBlanc, I’d be winning right now! LeBlanc was always there, cutting him off when he tried to last hit a minion or zoning him away from the lane entirely. Then he’d hide underneath his tower, the only place where he could at least get the experience from the dying minions. But LeBlanc didn’t even let him get experience. She baited him to use Playful Trickster, the only skill that could help him escape, and then killed him with a sudden burst of magic damage. And then it started all over again. And again.

At 17 minutes, Bloodsucker had completely given up on the mid lane. He didn’t even want to look at it anymore. He had his Fizz move into the Red team’s top side Jungle and attacked the Raptor Camp, which was adjacent to the mid lane. He could use Playful Trickster to land some splash damage and speed up killing the Raptors, but he didn’t. LeBlanc was somewhere, he didn’t know where. And if she came, he needed Playful Trickster to escape. I just need a bit more gold… a few more kills… then I’ll finally be relevant again! I’ll sh—

A silhouette dashed over the jungle wall into the middle of the Raptor Camp, just as Bloodsucker’s Fizz was about to kill the big one. Two Sigils of Malice slammed into Fizz, followed by LeBlanc’s Ethereal Chains. Bloodsucker’s screen flashed red for a brief moment before it turned grey again. He never even got to use Playful Trickster to escape. LeBlanc’s burst damage was too high.

《You have been slain!》

Bloodsucker pinched his mouse and lifted it up, searching for a wall to throw it at. Then he gritted his teeth and fought back that urge. “FUCK!” He slammed the mouse back down on its pad. “FUCK! FUCK! HE FUCKING DID IT AGAIN! HOW DID I NOT SEE HIM? FUCK!” He smashed down on the E key, his screen still grey, and shouted, “PLAYFUL TRICKSTER! PLAYFUL TRICKSTER! JUMP, YOU STUPID FISH!”

The game wasn’t even 20 minutes in and Bloodsucker found himself at the same score as in his previous game, 0/8/2. But in his Tryndamere game, he was playing against God Roundy in his secondary role. He didn’t like losing, but he could still accept that. But now he was playing his main role against some no-name Midlaner with his main Champion. He ground his teeth, glaring at the LeBlanc. FUCK THIS GAME! AND FUCK THIS STUPID LEBLANC!

Bloodsucker hurled a constant stream of abuse at his monitor, calling LeBlanc every bad word under the sun. But when his Fizz respawned, he didn’t chase after her. There was something else he felt beside humiliation. Fear. This was the first time in his still relatively short League of Legends career that he’d played against someone who made him feel utterly and completely helpless. I’ve scrimmed against LSPL teams and played against almost every big name on the Ionia server… I didn’t win every game, but that was never really my fault. They always come to gank me, and my Junglers usually help other lanes… Or my Junglers suck, like this one. He gave a fucking kill to the LeBlanc! But I should still be crushing her. How is she this good? Who is she? Where the fuck did she come from? God fucking dammit! He slammed his fist on his desk and shouted, “I’m supposed to be the most talented Midlaner in China! I’M SUPPOSED TO DEFEAT RAKE AND GET SOME HONOUR BACK FOR OUR REGION! ME! ME! ME! NOT SOME FUCKING RANDOM PLAYER IN SOLO QUEUE!” Then he slumped back into his seat, out of breath. He can’t be better than me! HE ISN’T BETTER THAN ME! I’m the best! I’m going to play at Worlds next year! I can’t lose to some fucking nobody! I WON’T!

✹

At 20 minutes, Lin Feng’s LeBlanc was still hunting down the Fizz. But it became harder and harder to find him as he started refusing to even leave the base. Lin Feng looked around the map to take stock of the game. Bot lane was minding their own business, having what looked like a fun skirmish that went back and forth. And Tian Tian was steamrolling the top lane after a slow start. Lin Feng smiled and shrugged. “Guess I’ll keep hunting the Fizz, all the way to the fountain if I have to. But maybe I can bait him out too…” 

[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「Sooooo boring. Guess I shouldn’t have expected more after seeing your top… lol」
[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「Maybe if you’d stop spending so much time shittalking people, you could actually get a little good at this game… Though I suppose you’re really not all that talented…」

Bloodsucker grimaced in humiliation. He wanted to yell at LeBlanc that he did have talent. And that he was going to become the best Midlaner in the world! But he couldn’t get himself to. It’d sound ridiculous right now. Even he could see that. He took a deep breath and growled as he exchaled. Then he suddenly started smiling. You want to act cute? Ok. Fuck you.

[All] Bloodsucker (Fizz)「Me? Talking shit? Loool… I haven’t said anything. Oh, you mean last game?? That wasn’t shit talking!」
[All] Bloodsucker (Fizz)「All I said was that KG lost 0-3 to SSK. And that that stupid fat pig was an embarrassment to all Chinese players!」
[All] Bloodsucker (Fizz)「That isn’t shit talking! I was only stating the facts! KG did lose! And Roundy did play like the fat pig he is! Is that not allowed anymore? You sensitive pussy! HAHAHAHAH!」

Lin Feng slowly nodded. Sure, keep at it. That’s going to ease the pain for you. But I can state some facts too. He smiled as his fingers started gliding over his keyboard again.

[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「Oh, well, let me state some facts for you then.」
[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「It’s a fact that you fed last game and showed that you have exactly 0 talent as a Toplaner.」
[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「And it’s a fact that you’re just as terrible in the mid lane.」
[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「Did you buy a boosted account to look cool to your friends or something?」

Bloodsucker read that last sentence, gnashing his teeth. Lin Feng had struck him where it hurt the most. He was proud of how good he was in the mid lane. And he liked how his friends looked up to him! I CLIMBED THE LADDER MYSELF! AND I AM A GOOD MIDLANER! It became harder to breathe as his nostrils flared. He grabbed at his hair and wanted to pull, but kept himself from doing that at the last moment. Then he smashed his fingers down on his keyboard.

[All] Bloodsucker (Fizz)「you wanna play it that way? Ok, go for it! Have fun! But that doesn’t change anything. KG IS STILL TRASH!!! THEY LOST 0-3! WHAT GOD ROUNDY???? HE’S JUST A FAT PIG! A DISGRACE TO THE LPL! THAT SHAME WILL FOLLOW HIM FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE! HE’LL NEVER MAKE UP FOR IT!!!!」
[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「You sure about that? Well…」

That message caught Bloodsucker off-guard, briefly replacing anger with confusion. He scrunched his eyebrows and mumbled, “Sure about that? Yes I am. What the fuck is he talking about?” He started typing a response, but then stopped as LeBlanc sent another two messages.

[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「Actually, nevermind! That’s got nothing to do with you anyway.」
[All] MapleInShrub (LeBlanc):「You’re just a boosted noob.」

“W-wha—” Bloodsucker erupted into a coughing fit. Lin Feng had dealt yet another stab to his already damaged ego. FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! YOU FUCKING FUCK! His vision grew dark as the world in front of him started twisting and swirling until he couldn’t even see his monitor anymore. His head was buzzing and his entire body was trembling violently. He forced his eyes shut and bit down hard on his tongue. That brought back enough clarity to his mind to move his hands. They slammed down on his keyboard and pressed the keys in a practiced rhythm, writing out increasingly vile and disturbing messages that were sent to all chat.

✹

The Red Team voted to surrender in the 22nd minute of the game. Their nexus exploded and the energy inside morphed into a large victory emblem for the Blue team. Lin Feng looked at his screen and shook his head. “You know, Fatty? That Fizz was actually pretty skilled. Good awareness and great game senses.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Think he might even be a pro player.”

Tian Tian looked over at Lin Feng in surprise and asked, “A pro player? Y-you really think so?”

Lin Feng nodded and explained, “Yeah. It’s just the little things, you know? The warding, map movements, roaming attempts, and other little things. It’s the stuff you don’t really see from the best solo queue players, unless they’ve played professionally before.” He looked at Tian Tian and said in a serious tone, “If he really is a pro, that makes this so much worse. The fact that he’d say all those things? It’s a disgrace.”

Tian Tian let his gaze fall down to the ground. He was fidgeting with his fingers. I-if Lin Feng is right… Another pro player thinks about me like that? T-then what about the fans… M-maybe even Li—

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Lin Feng said, interrupting Tian Tian’s thoughts. Then he rubbed his stomach that growled in response. “Man, I’m starving! We’ve played three games and won three games. That’s plenty, right? Yeah! Let’s go get something to eat!”

✹

Lin Feng and Tian Tian sat down in a hotpot restaurant across the street from the cybercafe. Lin Feng grabbed a menu and started flipping through it, mumbling, “Hmm, what to eat… what to eat…”

Tian Tian sat on the other side of the table. He was slouched back and fiddling his fingers underneath the table. L–lin Feng trusted me. He believed I could win against SSK. B-but I let him down. I let everyone down. I-I should apologize to him. Maybe… Maybe he’ll forgive me. I-if he doesn’t, I can understand that. I wouldn’t want a loser on my team either… He quickly wiped away a tear with his sleeve and then croaked, “L-Lin Feng, I’m sorry.”

Lin Feng looked up from his menu, confused, and blurted out, “What? What are you sorry for?”Tian Tian wiped away another tear with his sleeve and tried to hide behind the menu. “W-we lost 0-3…” he started with a hoarse voice. “At W-w-worlds! T-that guy was right. I couldn’t do anything for my team! I let everyone down! I… I’m a dissa… disha-poiintcheed jyuu gwaaaaaah!” He collapsed onto the table and buried his face in his arms. He lost all control over his emotions and broke down, begging for Lin Feng’s forgiveness through his sobs.

Bloodsucker was a troll. He loved to talk people down on the internet, just so he could feel better about himself. This rang especially true after having played a bad game of League of Legends. A loss stung so deeply into his ego that he needed a release. So, like a trained professional, he hurled abuse at his teammates throughout the game and in the endgame lobby. But then they talked back to him. All four of his teammates ganged up on him and told him it was his fault they lost the game and that he could piss right off. That stung even worse than losing the game, because somewhere deep down he knew they were right. But he’d never admit that. So he took the easy way out. Bully the fat kid.

Tian Tian was one of the biggest names in all of League of Legends. But unlike many of his fellow professional players, he didn’t walk with his chest raised, full of confidence. He was about as far away from that as possible. He slouched, bit his lips constantly, and looked like a nervous wreck more often than not. And on top of that, he was the quiet fat kid. That made him the perfect target for Bloodsucker. Someone who didn’t talk back, regardless of how much abuse was thrown at them. So Bloodsucker bullied Tian Tian until he left the endgame lobby. And then Bloodsucker sent Tian Tian a friend request, just so he could get a little more abuse in.

Lin Feng sat next to Tian Tian in the cybercafe. He watched over his friend’s shoulder as Bloodsucker sent the long string of messages, stewing. His eyes were wide open and bloodshot. He hadn’t blinked once after the bullying started, committing every message to memory. Then he muttered, “I’ll remember this. You’re going to regret this, Bloodsucker.” He spit out the last word. You crossed the line so far that you can’t even see it anymore! Bloodsucker. I’ll remember your name. And I’m going to find a way to pay you back for this! I’m going to make you feel how shitty you make others feel with your words! AND THEN MUCH, MUCH WORSE!

Tian Tian did what he always did when he got bullied. He tried to act like the words didn’t hurt him, even though they destroyed what little confidence he did have. He chewed on his lips, forcing back the tears, and invited Lin Feng to another game. When his friend didn’t accept the invite right away, he glanced over. And his eyes widened. L-Lin Feng! His lips quivered as he muttered, “L-Lin Feng, I’m okay. I really am! D-don’t get angry, please.” T-that guy was just a troll. There are so many of them… And they always go away eventually if you just ignore them. I-I would know… They always bully me. No, no. He shook his head and blinked a tear away. P-pretend it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen. Nothing happened. He looked back at Lin Feng, who looked like he was about to explode, his entire face red in rage. “P-please don’t get yourself in trouble for me…”

Lin Feng looked at Tian Tian and forced the anger off his face. Then he smiled weakly. I can’t ignore this. You’re my friend. Friends stand up for each other. I’m going to get Bloodsucker back for this. He’s going to regret ever having said anything about you! But I know you don’t like confrontation. So don’t worry, I’ll do it. You won’t have to do a thing. He nodded and said, “It’s okay. I won’t get myself in trouble. Anyway, let’s queue up for another game!” Now, how do I find this asshole? And how do I teach him a lesson he’ll never forget?

✹

Lin Feng and Tian Tian played their Top-Jungle combination again in the second game. Tian Tian was still visibly upset at the start, but quickly forgot about Bloodsucker the Bully after Lin Feng helped him get a kill. From there, the two friends found their rhythm from the first game again. They were joking and laughing and completely decimating the Blue team. Towers fell and they were knocking on Blue team’s base after only 15 minutes. Two minutes later, they destroyed the top inhibitor. And another two minutes later, they destroyed the Nexus and won the game.

Lin Feng invited Tian Tian to a third game and started the queue. Then  he looked over at his friend and said, “I think I’m going mid this game.”

“Oh, yeah! Ok, that sounds good,” Tian Tian replied.

The two friends accepted the queue and moved into Champion Select for the third time that day. They were on the Blue Team. Tian Tian chose to play Irelia in the top lane, and Lin Feng went with LeBlanc in the mid lane. Then they went into the loading screen and got a look at their opponents. One of them was the mid lane champion Fizz. His Summoner ID was Bloodsucker.

Tian Tian’s eyes widened and he asked in surprise, “That Fizz, isn’t he…?”

“The Tryndamere from the first game,” Lin Feng finished the sentence. Then he started grinning. This wasn’t his happy-go-lucky smile, but something terrifying. You’re going to regret what you did so badly. A fire blazed in his eyes and he clenched his fists. “What a coincidence that we see him again!” he said, laughing like a maniac. “This makes it so much easier!”

Tian Tian shivered, afraid to even look at Lin Feng. He felt a rage that was about to explode bubbling next to him. He uncomfortably moved in his seat, unconsciously inching away from Lin Feng. T-that Tryndamere has really done it. I’ve almost never seen Lin Feng this upset… He bit hard on his lips, fighting to find enough courage to look at his friend. But he couldn’t get himself to. He let his eyes fall to Lin Feng’s legs below the desk and mumbled, “Uh, L-Lin Feng? A-are you sure you’re okay? You sound and look… I mean…”

✹

Breezy was one of 16 professional League of Legends teams that competed in the LSPL, the second highest league in China. They were too small for a headquarters in Shanghai, the esports capital of the world, and instead had a small gaming house in Guangzhou. Their gaming room was little more than a bedroom refitted with six computers, one for each team member and the last one for the coach.

Bloodsucker sat in his gaming chair, chewing on some gum and playing with his red curls. Shit, what a shitty game that was. He took a deep breath and then blew all the air from his lungs. At least I finally got myself to calm down a bit. But damn that Lee Sin… Why do I always get these trolls? He shook his head and looked at his loading screen. Let’s see who I’m up against thi—

Bloodsucker’s eyes went wide. He shot up in his seat and took a double take, then exclaimed, “KG RoundyRound and… MapleInShrub!” The initial surprise quickly disappeared and a smile that turned into full blown laughter replaced it. “Haha! AWESOME! That fucking Rengar! Is he duoing with Roundy or something? Haha, whatever, I don’t care. But I found him again! I can make him pay for that shit he pulled on me!” He jabbed his finger at his monitor and shouted, “I’ll get you back for that, you hear me? Mid is my main role and my Fizz is the best in the LSPL! And probably the LPL! Maybe even at Worlds! I’ll show you! Hahaha!”

Bloodsucker was a relatively new face in League of Legends. He’d started playing not too long ago, and quickly found out he had some real talent for the game. He breezed through Gold, Platinum, and even Diamond. And when he finally reached Challenger, the professional team Breezy reached out to him and offered him a spot on their roster. They called him a big up and comer, and he knew they were right. There’s almost no one who can beat me when I really try! I always win! This is just one season in the LSPL. Then I’ll move to the LPL and qualify for Worlds in the summer. And then I’m going to show everyone that our region does have better talent than that fit fucking pig of a Roundy! 0-3… What a fucking disgrace for a player! The government should have him banished! He suddenly started smiling and mumbled to himself, “Good thing I’m playing on my second account. I can tell that fat pig exactly what I think of him and no one will know it was me. Haha!”

Bloodsucker focused on Tian Tian’s Irelia in the loading screen and said, “So what if you’re a good Toplaner? I’m a Midlaner! That’s the only reason I couldn’t carry the last game. And we only lost that game because my Midlaner was the single worst Syndra in Challenger I’ve ever seen! She belonged in Gold or something!” Then he shifted his attention to the LeBlanc and smirked. “But this game, I’m Mid. My main role. And I’m against this MapleInNoob LeBlanc. Haha, what a joke! I should be competing against the likes of Rake and Phoenix! But this is awesome. I’m going to show this camping bitch just how good my Fizz is. And how good I am!”

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

Lin Feng’s LeBlanc walked from the blue fountain to the mid lane and Bloodsucker’s Fizz came from the red fountain. They taunted each other in the middle of the lane until the minion waves crashed into each other at 1:45 minutes. Both players were out for blood. They played with absolute focus, last hitting every minion while also finding openings to land some poke. This lasted for a little more than a minute when Lin Feng’s LeBlanc completely outplayed the Fizz to secure first blood.

《First Blood!》

Bloodsucker stared at his gray screen in disbelief. His hand trembled and he muttered, “D-did that just happen? I… Maybe if I…” He couldn’t comprehend how he’d just given away a solokill, so he just sat in his gaming chair, incredulous. Then his Fizz respawned as colour returned to his screen. He shook his head and had hiz Fizz run down the mid lane again. One mistake. No big deal. I got this!

Lin Feng didn’t follow his usual LeBlanc tactic of killing the opposing Midlaner and then looking for a gank in one of the other two lanes. He recalled back to the fountain, bought items, and then returned to the lane. He continued last hitting minions and waited for the Fizz to come back. Then he started looking for openings again. Every small and miniscule mistake by the Fizz was taken advantage of by Lin Feng’s LeBlanc. And two minutes later, he found the opening for a kill. Eat this!

《You have slain an enemy!》

Bloodsucker fell back in his gaming chair, stunned. What the fuck is happening? How is he… He bit on his lips and shook his head. No. NO! I can’t let this continue! Where is my fucking Jungler anyway? Why do I have another useless Lee? FUCKING HELL! He started pinging Lee Sin and furiously typed away at his keyboard.

Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「Yo Lee! You could’ve had two kills already! This LeBlanc keeps overextending? What the fuck are you doing? Stop jerking off in your fucking jungle! Come and kill this LeBlanc. FUCK!」

Red Team’s Lee Sin came for a gank a minute later. He waited in the brush above the mid lane for Lin Feng’s LeBlanc to overextend. All the while, he was forced to listen to a cacophony of pings as Bloodsucker was pinging him to engage.

Lin Feng grinned. He had a ward in the brush that Lee Sin was hiding in. How nice of you to give me two kills! That’ll make it so much easier to toy with this bully! He then straightened his shoulders and leaned a little closer to his monitor. Let’s get this double kill.

Lin Feng’s LeBlanc moved forward, seemingly overextending. Red Team’s Lee Sin ran out of the brush and Bloodsucker’s Fizz threw his ultimate skill. But LeBlanc was one step ahead. She dodged the Fizz ultimate by sidestepping it, then locked the Lee Sin down with her Ethereal Chains. The Fizz jumped at her, but she jumped away, dragging him with her under her tower–Distortion!

Lin Feng’s LeBlanc didn’t wait underneath her outer tower. She activated Mirror Image, replicating the last skill she used. Then she jumped back out, firing a Sigil of Malice at Lee Sin before the splash damage from the jump killed him. Then she started auto attacking the Fizz, who’d taken two energy shots from the outer tower. Her Sigil of Malice came off cooldown and she threw that in between her auto attacks, shearing away Fizz’s health.

《Double Kill!》

Bloodsucker’s eyes were twitching as he stared at his grey screen. That was three deaths now. And this last one hurt so much that he temporarily forgot to take his anger out on his teammates. He just sat in his gaming chair, numb. When his Fizz respawned on the Red fountain, he rolled his shoulders and said through gritted teeth, “My Fizz is the best. Your stupid LeBlanc just got lucky. I’m going to kill you!”

At 8 minutes, Bloodsucker’s Fizz arrived back in lane. And thirty seconds later, he gave away another kill. It all happened so quickly. He didn’t even really know how it happened. The LeBlanc appeared out of nowhere, linked her skills together flawlessly, and his health just vanished. Then that grating voice from the game announcer echoed in his ears, taunting him with LeBlanc’s success. His eyes looked lifeless as his entire body started trembling and shaking violently.

《Unstoppable!》

“Unstoppable!”

“Unstoppable!”

“Unstoppable!”

Bloodsucker belonged to a specific subset of the League of Legends player base. He’d risen up to the top of the ranks and was a far better player than any of his friends. When they found out how good he was at the game, they started cozying up to him. They were suddenly his best friends and wanted to play with him whenever he had some free time. Then they’d tell him how good he was and how he was carrying them out of elohell. The compliments boosted Bloodsucker’s ego, until eventually he became convinced that he was the best player in the entire game. Whenever he won a game, he told his teammates that they sucked and that they should thank him for carrying them. And when he lost, then it was never his fault. His teammates were to blame.

In this game, Bloodsucker was too eager to kill God Roundy’s Riven. He failed to see the trap and walked his Tryndamere right into the brush where Rengar was waiting to kill him. Lee Sin had warned him, but he didn’t like to listen to his teammates. He was convinced they were bad players, and so they weren’t worth his time or energy. But now he was dead. He got baited. He, the best player in all of League of Legends! I DIDN’T GET BAITED! If only this Trashlee had come for back up, we would’ve gotten a double kill! And why is this Rengar so strong anyway? WHAT THE FUCK! HOW BAD IS THIS LEE SIN? How did he already give a kill away? THIS IS FUCKING STUPID! WHY AM I ALWAYS STUCK WITH THESE STUPID FUCKING TEAMMATES? I always have to do everything myself… This is going to be hard. I just gotta carry these trashplayers.

Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「Would’ve gotten the double if your useless ass wouldn’t have been so busy being a whiny little bitch! Stop feeding that stupid Rengar!」

The Lee Sin player was pissed. He glared at his team chat and wanted nothing more than to respond to Bloodsucker. This fucking troll! I warned him! I WARNED HIM! He took a couple of deep breaths through gritted teeth. I can’t argue with him. Must not argue. That’s just going to get me more upset. Don’t stoop to his level. Just play the game. Ignore that fuckhead! He took one more breath and then exhaled loudly. Calm down. Just ignore top for a bit. He turned his attention to the other lanes as he went back to his jungle to farm his jungle camps.

✹

The game was 6 minutes in. Lin Feng had just cleared his top side jungle and was looking for a gank opportunity, when he saw Tian Tian’s Riven reaching Level 6. Trynd is still Level 5. Time to go top for another easy kill! He said to Tian Tian, who sat next to him in the cybercafe, “Fatty, I’m coming for a gank! Push the lane!” Then he had his Rengar sneak into the Blue team’s top side Jungle.

Tian Tian glanced at the minimap while he started pushing the minion wave into the Blue Team’s outer tower. “Ok! We’re going to dive him?”

“Yeah!” Lin Feng replied, grinning. He had his Rengar stop in the brush that opened into the Blue Team’s top lane right behind the outer tower. Then he flicked his screen and watched Tian Tian engage. Nice! Push him to me, Fatty! Lin Feng waited in the brush as Tian Tian’s Riven unleashed all her skills on the Tryndamere, hacking away at him with her reforged blade. Yes, yes. Push him my way. Haha! This Trynd is so predictable!

Bloodsucker’s Tryndamere got away from the Riven. He smiled as he stopped some distance behind his outer tower. Suck that, Fat Roundy! His Tryndamere had less than ten percent health remaining, but he’d survived a towerdive by RoundyRound! What a fucking noob! I should go play professionally, maybe China would finally wi—

Lin Feng had waited patiently for the Tryndamere to walk into range of Unseen Predator, Rengar’s passive skill that allowed him to leap at champions and minions from a brush. Too predictable. He clicked on the Tryndamere. His Rengar leaped from the brush and clawed down onto the Tryndamere. Then, just as he was about to deal the killing blow, a pure and powerful green ki cut through the Tryndamere, shearing away the last of his health. Tian Tian’s Riven had dealt the killing blow with Wind Slash!

《An enemy has been slain!》

Lin Feng laughed and exclaimed, “Sweet! Top lane is yours now!” He paused for a moment before adding, “Fatty, you want to take the tower too? Or…”

Tian Tian shook his head and said, “Eh, not yet. I think it’s better to keep it up a little longer.”

Lin Feng nodded and suggested, “Then how about I come gank him two more times? We’d tilt him off the face of the earth!”

“I don’t know. I think top is pretty much over,” Tian Tian said. He looked around the map and then asked, “Why don’t you farm the Jungle a bit?”

“Farm the Jungle?” Lin Feng rubbed his chin and scanned his own Jungle. Nah, too boring. Then he looked at Blue team’s Jungle and started grinning. “Sure! That could be fun too!”

Lin Feng had his Rengar go back into Blue team’s top side Jungle and attacked the Gromp, which was the nearest jungle camp. All the while, grinning like a child who’d gotten their hands on the cookie jar. This reminds me of Season 1… What did they always say? Shit, can’t think of the exact words… Something like ‘My jungle is mine and your jungle is mine too!’ Watch me Lee Sin. Your jungle is mine now!

The Gromp died. Lin Feng’s Rengar went to the Wolves Camp next, which was left of the Blue Buff Camp. Lin Feng attacked the two small wolves first before killing the big one, panning his camera around the map. Lee Sin is gonna come top for another gank. He has to if he wants his team to win! Or Fatty will just 1vs5 them. So I just have to be there waiting for him, hehe!

✹

There was a lull in the game for the next few minutes. Lin Feng farmed his own jungle and Blue Team’s jungle, while also searching for Lee Sin. But he seemed to have disappeared from the map. After the failed gank in top lane, he hadn’t shown himself in any lane.

Then at 9 minutes, Lee Sin made a gank in the mid lane and helped his Syndra kill the Ziggs. It was a fast kill in which both Blue team’s Champions used all their skills. Lin Feng was farming the Gromp in Blue team’s top side jungle, and was too far away to offer any help. But before he could complain about this, Lee Sin ventured into the top side’s jungle. Lin Feng’s Rengar hid in a brush and waited for Lee Sin to walk by. And then he killed Lee Sin. There was no suspense to it. Lin Feng’s Rengar was stronger right now and the Lee Sin’s skills were still on cooldown.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Tian Tian had also found an opening in the top lane. He pushed the minion wave into Blue team’s outer tower and then activated his Riven’s ultimate skill–Blade of the Exile! A resplendent green light lit up around her, reforging her broken blade! Then she lashed out with the first strike of Broken Wings! She followed up with the second and finally hacked down into the earth for the third, knocking the Tryndamere up into the air!

Bloodsucker’s Tryndamere only had a sliver of health remaining when he fell back to the ground. Undying Rage! His lust for battle reached new heights just as a lethal slash of runic energy cut through him. The attack didn’t kill him as red rage exploded from his body, turning him for a short period into a true immortal! Then he activated Ghost and used the bonus movement speed to run far away from Tian Tian’s Riven.

“Lin Feng!” Tian Tian shouted.

“I GOT THIS!” Lin Feng hollered in reply. He pressed down on the R key–Thrill of the Hunt! Rengar entered stealth as his eyes appeared above the Tryndamere who was now in between his outer and inner tower. Lin Feng’s Rengar prowled through Blue team’s top side jungle and then charged into the top lane. He leaped at the Tryndamere and slashed him down! SAVAGERY!

《Killing Spree!》

“Thanks!” Tian Tian smiled. “That was great!”

Lin Feng laughed happily and said, “That Trynd must be so mad! This is hilarious! Oh! And I’ve got 3 kills now too!”

Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「Trash Rengar.. Get off Riven’s cock. Can you be any more in love with this trash player? Fucking cocksucker.」

Tian Tian’s smile evaporated when he read the message in all chat. He didn’t like to be insulted, but he hated it when his friends got insulted! “This Tryndamere! Seriously, this is a Challenger game. Not Bronze,” he complained. Then he hit the Enter key and started typing out a reply, until Lin Feng stopped him.

“Don’t,” Lin Feng said as he shook his head. Then he grinned and added, “Look how bad we made him tilt! And it was so easy too! How about we pay him back for that message by killing him again?” Then he stared at the Tryndamere. You’re such an idiot. So let me give you a special treatment. I’ll set up a tent in top lane and camp until you rage quit!

✹

Lin Feng kept true to his word. He never left top lane, except to buy items in the fountain. And the Tryndamere didn’t learn from his mistakes. He kept going in on Tian Tian’s Riven, and he kept getting killed by Lin Feng’s Rengar. The Syndra and Lee Sin tried to help Tryndamere a couple of times, but quickly gave up on that. They realized that Tryndamere was a lost cause. He had tilted so hard that he couldn’t distinguish right from left anymore. All he could do was feed another kill and then insult the entire team and their mothers.

At 20 minutes into the game, Tryndamere had died a total of 8 times. The last of which was by far the quickest and easiest death. He’d been trying to get some gold by killing Jungle camps, when a wild Rengar jumped on him. He was dead before he even knew what happened. A slur of insults followed in all chat, followed by his teammates begging for him to stop typing.

Lin Feng was having a great time in top lane. He was laughing and joking with Tian Tian as they killed anyone who came to their top lane. And whenever Tryndamere died, Lin Feng shouted, “Another point on the rage-o-meter! Let’s get another point! Rage more! Rage more!”

The Blue Team tried to fight back against Lin Feng’s Rengar and Tian Tian’s Riven. But they weren’t winning the other lanes either. Little by little, they found themselves being pushed back. Top lane lost its inhibitor after 23 minutes, and bot lane lost its inhibitor tower a minute later. There was no more winning and finally after 25 minutes, the Blue team surrendered.

The 10 players were transported to the end game lobby. There was a chat here that everyone could see. And they all got front row seats to the Tryndamere blowing up another storm of abuse.

Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「Fucking trash shit ass teammates! All these fucks know how to do is kiss ass to pros!」
Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「You dumb fuck retards might as well offer to suck his dick!」
Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「Boosted fucks!!!!」
FishyCat12 (Nami):「r u on drugs or something!??!?!!?」
Moody Steer (Syndra):「bro, you got your ass beat by Roundy before the Regnar even started ganking you. Grow up already, please」
SpeedDemon (Lucian):「Why is it always the feeders who think they’re the best player in the world? Jesus, you’re such a flaming pile of shit, Tryndamere. Reportx9, pls」
LyricalRifle (Lee Sin):「I fucking warned you for your first death! You could’ve backed then and had a good game!」
LyricalRifle (Lee Sin):「But no. You had to go in. And then you got fucking owned!」
LyricalRifle (Lee Sin):「That’s on you. Not us. YOU> WE LOST BECAUSE OF YOU!」
LyricalRifle (Lee Sin):「My god. What are you? 12? Or just mentally unstable?」
Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「Shut your ugly fat face lee… Or stuff it like your dear shitty noob roundy does!」
Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「I bet you’re just as fat a pig as that disgusting fatass is!!」
Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「What are you even sucking his balls for? he lost 0-3 to ssk like the fat noob he is..」
Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「Your precious god of fast food is a fucking embarrassment to China!」
Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「GOD OF FAST FOOD! GOD OF FEEDING! GOD OF EVERYTHING THAT”S WRONG WITH THIS SHITTY FUCKING GAME!」

Lin Feng looked at Tian Tian after that last comment. His face had turned pale and his upper lip was quivering. Lin Feng could see it quivering under the mask. Tian Tian’s eyes turned shiny and he blinked faster and faster as water pooled into them. Those last few comments had really hit home, and Lin Feng could visibly feel how much they’d upset Tian Tian. Lin Feng turned his head back to his monitor and narrowed his eyes. You can say whatever you want about me, I don’t care. But you went way too far with Fatty! You crossed the line there. I’m going to make you regret this! I don’t know how yet. Or when, or where. But no one touches Fatty! I’m gonna make you pay for this!

Lin Feng had lost his original account, the one that he used to get all the way to the Season 1 World Championships. It was locked out, and he didn’t feel ready to play on that account again. He had made a completely new account, a fresh one, on the Ionia server. Right around the time he started making commentary videos with Su Xue on the Korean server. 

Ever since he made that account though, he’d been playing a lot of games every single day. It started out with games he played for Su Xue’s stream and with her in training. Then he started playing games with his friends in the NetCow Cafe. And he’d put a lot of hours in during practice for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. On top of that, he also played a ton of games by himself in solo queue. Especially after he saw how good Rake was in the Season 5 World Championships. 

Between all of these things that happened recently, Lin Feng had played so many games in the ranked queue on the Ionia server that his new account had reached Challenger! And Tian Tian sitting next to him was KG RoundyRound! They were two of the best players in the game about to wreak havoc on some unsuspecting players in the duo queue!

There were millions and millions of people playing League of Legends every day in China. Most of them were stuck in Bronze, Silver or Gold; sometimes called elo-hell. A term that bad players used as an excuse to explain why they couldn’t climb the ladder. But there were only 200 Challengers on each server, a hard cap put in place by Riot Games. Of those 200 Challengers, many played on professional teams and never went to an internet cafe. On the rare occasion they did, everyone at the cybercafe would crowd around them to ask for autographs or advice on league or burning personal questions. And beg them to play their main champion, the one they rose to prominence with. 

Lin Feng created a lobby and sent Tian Tian an invite, then entered the queue. There weren’t many players at a matchmaking rank this high, so it took a couple of minutes to find a game. Lin Feng looked over at Tian Tian and asked, “What roles do we want to play… Hmm… OH! I KNOW! How about you go Top and I’ll Jungle!?”

“Sure!” Tian Tian agreed. I’m just happy to play with you again. It’s been years since we last played a game together… Years! You could’ve said you wanted to go ad-carry, and I would have supported you! He smiled as old memories surfaced. But Top-Jungle is better. Just like the old days. No one could beat us when we played Top-Jungle. That was so much fun!

The queue popped. Lin Feng and Tian Tian clicked “Ready!” and entered Champion Select. Then both of them, like trained professionals, typed a quick message and slammed down on the ENTER key.

MapleInShrub:「Jgl!」
KG RoundyRound:「TOp pls!」
IllusoryFigLeaf: 「t」
IllusoryFigLeaf:「God Roundy!?!??」
Protector:「Holy shit! havent seen you in ranked in forever!!」
Zabuza445:「omg!!! Heyyyyyyy! pls add me as a friend after this game!」

The three random players on the team were all incredibly friendly towards Tian Tian. He was the puffy, friendly face in the Chinese League of Legends scene that everyone loved. Even his opponents cheered for him when he made a good play! There was just something about him that made it impossible to dislike him. So when the three random players saw one of their favourite players in the game in Champion Select, they briefly forgot that they were Challengers themselves. They swarmed over Tian Tian like teenage girls meeting their idol. Top lane was his. Jungle was for his friend. And they’d do everything in their might to make this game his game!

KG RoundyRound:「Let’s all just have fun!」

Lin Feng looked over at Tian Tian, who was smiling like a happy child, and grinned. They all love you, Fatty! Just look at the chat! You achieved so much after I left. Then he shook his head and turned his attention to the long list of Champions. Now, what to play, what to play… He scrolled through the alphabetical list.  Amumu? Nah, don’t feel like it. Maybe Nidalee? Could be fun. Hmm… He continued looking until he got to the r. Rengar. Yeah, let’s play him! I haven’t played with him in a while. When was the last time? Must’ve been all the way back against that Rose streamer. Wonder if I made her quit after that… He started grinning as he recalled how he’d stood up for Su Xue and helped catapult her stream that night more than a month ago.

It was Tian Tian’s turn to pick a Champion. He glanced through the champion list and clicked on the image of Riven. He didn’t lock her in yet, but his teammates could see that he had her highlighted.

Zabuza445: 「RIVEN!!!! Yes yes!1!! Play rivennn!!!」
IllusoryFigLeaf: 「his riven is the best!!! Did you guys see his riven at worlds? My god that was amazing~~~」
Zabuza445: 「IKR!!!! I bet that one game was enough for him to become a KING!!!!!」
Protector: 「i read somewhere that the new list isnt updated yet coz riot is gunna make the list」
Zabuza445: 「I READ THAT TOOO!!!! We just gotta wait a few more weeks. AND THEN. AND THEN! GOD ROUNDY IS GONNA BE CROWNED KING!!!!! WE”RE PLAYING WITH THE NEWEST KING GUYS!!!!」
IllusoryFigLeaf: 「so deserved~~~」
KG RoundyRound:「Uhh, thanks. But there’s many good players. I don’t think I’m that good..」
Zabuza445: 「DON”T BE SHY! YOU DESERVE IT!」
Protector: 「yeah, your heca and riven were crazy good. Ive been tryin for a 5man ultie… i dunno how you did that」

Tian Tian felt his face heat up. He never knew how to react to compliments, not four years ago and not now. He just felt incredibly awkward when he became the center of attention. The last few weeks, he hadn’t even dared to go on social media. Everyone was lauding him. They were calling him the best Riven in the world. The best Hecarim in the world. And they were discussing which player he was going to replace on the Seven Kings list. His go-to tactic in these situations was to look away and pretend his nose was bleeding.

Tian Tian looked away from the chat, squinting his eyes far enough so that he couldn’t see it anymore, and glanced at which Champions were being locked in. It was Lin Feng’s turn and he quickly locked in Rengar. Tian Tian frowned and turned to Lin Feng. “You’re going Rengar?”

Lin Feng chuckled and said, “Yeah! I wanna have some fun too!”

He always came with the most random champions… Tian Tian grinned and nodded. “Ok! Let’s carry this game together then!” Like we always did.

Blue Team vs. Red Team

Top lane: Tryndamere versus Riven
Jungle: Lee Sin versus Rengar
Mid lane: Syndra versus Ziggs
AD-carry: Lucian versus Jinx
Support: Nami versus Alistar

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

[All] SpeedDemon (Lucian):「This is a challenge to SliceSpike! Let your wallet do the talking!」
[All] LyricleRifle (Lee Sin):「Good luck & have fun everyone!!!」
[All] Moody Steer (Syndra):「sup roundy! Long time no see, dude. How bout you go easy on me this game? I really don’t want to get my ass pounded like last time. That shit hurt for weeks! Haha!」
[All] KG RoundyRound (Riven):「Haha! What are you talking about, Moody? You played really well that game, it just wasn’t enough」

The 10 players had just spawned on the Rift, but the all chat was already blowing up. Lin Feng grinned as he read the messages. He pointed at the Lucian’s message on Tian Tian’s screen and said, “Read that message! What’s he even talking about? I love how every game always has that one guy who has to say something absolutely random!” Then he caught up to the exchange between Moody Steer and Tian Tian. Hmm, I know that name… Oh! Isn’t she the Midlaner for that LPL team… Ah crap, why can’t I think of their name? He pointed at the message and asked, “Isn’t that the one from that LPL team?”

Tian Tian nodded and replied, “Yeah. He’s a really nice guy. Their team has a lot of potential, I think.”

Lin Feng smiled as he looked at the happy expression on his friend’s face. Fatty really has been doing great! Then he turned his attention to the game. Minions had spawned and there were only a couple more seconds until the Jungle Camps would spawn. His Rengar was sitting next to the Gromp Camp, which was located in the Red Team’s bot side jungle. Waiting, Lin Feng panned his camera to the bot lane. Their Botlaners aren’t in lane, so they’re probably helping Lee Sin kill the Krugs. Then they go to the bot lane and Lee Sin goes for his Red Buff Camp. This should be fun!

The Jungle Camps spawned. Lin Feng’s Rengar attacked the Gromp, and killed it with the help of his Botlaners. Then he ran past his Blue Buff Camp and into the river. Past the Dragon pit and into Blue Team’s bot side jungle. Through the tall grass and around the backside of the Red Buff Camp. Then he stopped in the brush adjacent to the Red Brambleback.

The Blue Team’s Lee Sin was indeed fighting the Red Brambleback. Lin Feng’s Rengar waited, prowling in the brush. Lee Sin’s health bar dropped below half. And then down to a third. Now! Savagery! Lin Feng’s Rengar pounced on Lee Sin and brutally stabbed him!

Lee Sin didn’t try to fight. He flashed away! And then he ran! But no one could escape from Rengar in the jungle. Unseen Predator, Rengar’s passive skill, allowed him to leap at enemy champions every time he entered a brush or stealth. Lin Feng’s Rengar jumped after Lee Sin, then entered a brush before pouncing at his target again.

《First Blood!》

[All] LyricleRifle (Lee Sin):「Damn, I didn’t see that coming. Well played.」

One of the big differences between higher and lower elo games was the mentality of players. Most players who reached the higher ranks had learned that raging in chat only impaired their gameplay. From there it was a quick slope to losing the game. It was best to stay calm. To accept the screw up and to focus on the next play. But lower ranked players usually didn’t understand this logic. When they made a bad decision, they started searching for increasingly convoluted explanations as to why this wasn’t their mistake. Why their teammates were the real reason that they lost the play. And then the game.

Tian Tian laughed and said to Lin Feng, “That was a really nice invade!”

“Thanks!” Lin Feng replied. Then he looked over at Tian Tian’s screen and suggested, “You should kill that Tryndamere too! I’ll have your back!”

Tian Tian scratched the back of his head and finally mumbled, “Ok, I’ll try. But this Trynd is pretty good. I’m not sure I can kill him already.”

“It’s not just you. It’s us! I’m coming top for a gank!” Lin Feng explained, grinning.

Lin Feng recalled back to base to spend the gold for first blood and instructed Tian Tian to start pushing in the wave towards Blue team’s outer tower. He then had his Rengar walk into his top side jungle to clear the Red Buff Camp, after which he walked up to the top lane. Tian Tian had pushed the wave far enough, allowing him to walk into lane unseen. He snuck into the first brush along the top side of the lane. Then the second. And he finally stopped in the third. Fatty is pushing pretty hard right now. Lee Sin has to be coming for a gank soon. This is going to be fun! He grinned and said to Tian Tian, “Set up the bait!”

“Got it!” Tian Tian said. He had his Riven get a little bit too aggressive by walking past his minions to attack the Tryndamere underneath his own outer tower.

The bait worked flawlessly. Lee Sin appeared from the lane and hopped towards the Tryndamere with Safeguard. Then the Tryndamere sliced through the Riven, his blade spinning around and around.

Tian Tian’s Riven dashed away with Valor, opening his back to the Tryndamere. Mocking Shout! The Tryndamere bellowed out a deafening roar, slowing down the Riven! Then the Lee Sin fired off a Sonic Wave. But Tian Tian had seen this combination coming from a mile away. He was already doging the Lee Sin’s attack before it even came. Then he slashed out with Broken Wings, jumping into the brush Lin Feng’s Rengar was waiting in.

The Lee Sin player hesitated. His danger senses tingled. Something’s off. This is God Roundy’s Riven. He pinged the Tryndamere to retreat, but his warnings fell on deaf ears. Tryndamere charged head first into the brush, ready to finish off the Riven!

Lin Feng’s fingers glided over his keyboard. Savagery! His Rengar slashed down on Tryndamere with his daggers. Bola Strike! A bola wrapped around Tryndamere’s legs and slowed him down. All the while, Tian Tian did what Riven was best at. Firing of a Ki Burst and then hacking away with her blade until there was nothing left of her victim’s health!

《An enemy has been slain!》

The Lee Sin player shook his head and grumbled a quiet complaint, his hand hovering over the enter key. Do I say something? I shouldn’t, but… Dammit. He finally pressed down and wrote a message in his team’s chat.

LyricalRifle (Lee Sin):「Dude, I told you to back… 」
Bloodsucker (Tryndamere):「Fuck off.  Jungle better, 0/1 Trashlee!」

BRRIIIING-BRRIIING-BRRIIING

The school bell rang, and Lin Feng immediately started packing up. He jammed his pencil case and textbooks into his bag as quickly as he could, got up from his desk, and ran to the door. But just before he could step through to freedom, he ran into An Xin. Blocking the door. She was standing right outside the classroom door with her arms crossed. She looked at the startled Lin Feng and smiled. 

“Slow down, Lin Feng. You’ll run straight into someone rushing around like that. Speaking of which… why are you running? And why are you in such a hurry? Planning on meeting up with someone after school? Who is this new friend of yours that you didn’t tell any of us about?” An Xin asked. 

“Mhm! You didn’t mention any plans to me either!” Tang Bingyao added. She was still at her seat in the third row, but all of her attention was on Lin Feng right now. 

Ouyang decided he needed to help Lin Feng out. Well, mostly. He also really wanted to hear what was going on and know who Lin Feng was going to see after school. Especially after he saw Lin Feng messaging in class. He got up from his seat and started to walk over. But was jerked back towards his desk. Yang Fan had grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back. Ouyang looked back at Yang Fang, who still had a tight grip on his shirt, and said “Lemme go! Bro Feng needs me!” 

Yang Fan gave Ouyang a serious glare before intensely whispering, “Have you lost your mind completely? You really want to jump into the middle of that? You want me to let you jump into the middle of that?” 

“Wha? Oh! OH! Yeah, no. Maybe not.” Ouyang replied, and then he quietly sat back down in his seat. I dodged a bullet there! I’m a good bro, and I want to be there for Bro Feng… but there’s nothing scarier than two women. Two jealous women. And Bro Feng didn’t ask me before he got himself into this mess! I would’ve told him to be more careful, helped him out. But he decided to do his own thing! So, as a bro, I don’t have any responsibility. What happens to Lin Feng is his own business. I’m staying far, far, far away! This whole thing is his own fault anyway! Who decides to message a third girl in the middle of class when they’ve already got two girls in the same class already? Bro Feng… that man is either a legend or a moron!

“What? Oh! I’m rushing ‘cause I’ve gotta get to the train! Hm… To get to where Fatty is. I’m going to meet up with him today. Hang out for a bit.” Lin Feng said, scratching his head. He didn’t understand what the big deal was or why everyone was so interested in him hanging out with Tian Tian. 

“Fatty?” An Xin asked, surprised.

Lin Feng nodded in high spirits. “Yeah! Fatty! You know, Tian Tian. God Roundy. Fatty! He’s not practicing today and he’s finally got some free time away from the House. So he messaged asking if I wanted to hang out today. I haven’t seen him in forever! Actually, do you wanna come too? You haven’t seen him in a while either, and the three of us haven’t spent time together in ages!”

An Xin was the coach of Lin Feng’s old team, so she was friends with Tian Tian as well.

Ohhh! FATTY! So that’s what’s going on here! An Xin thought. Of course! That makes so much more sense! Where would this clueless moron meet a girl anyway? And he definitely wouldn’t be texting a girl he met in the middle of class! I’m an idiot for even thinking that could be possible. LIN FENG TEXTING A GIRL! That’ll be the day Rake decides to take up a competitive shooting game and give up on League!  Of course he’s texting Tian Tian, this all makes sense now. Then she remembered Lin Feng’s invitation. Those two haven’t seen each other in four years. I should probably let them… But she hesitated for a moment. She wanted to see Tian Tian also. Wanted to hang out together like they did before. Nah. I should let today be just about the two of them and I shouldn’t meddle. We’ll all hang out together in the future! She looked at Lin Feng again and shook her head, “I’d like to come… but this was super sudden. I can’t today, I gotta be home early. But I’ll be there next time! ” An Xin made up a generic reason to excuse herself from the meetup today.

“You don’t want to come? Why not? Wait! Hm… why don’t you want to come? Are you not feeling well? What do you have to do at home that you need to be there early? You can just call them and let them know, they’ll understand! Wait… you don’t look sick.” Lin Feng asked. He couldn’t understand why An Xin didn’t want to spend time with two of her oldest friends. He was always planning to drag her along to meet up with Tian Tian. And he definitely did not buy her excuse that she had to be home early. It just didn’t make sense to him. Then his eyes widened as he experienced a flash of insight. He knew what was going on with An Xin! He slapped his forehead and yelled, “OOOOHHHH! I GET IT NOW! Did old Aunt Flo come to visit you?!”

All the Senior Class 7 students that still hadn’t left immediately looked over in Lin Feng and An Xin’s direction. Shocked.

An Xin froze. She’d known Lin Feng for a long time, and was more than prepared for how clueless he could be most of the time. But every once in a while, he’d pull something out that surprised even her. This was one of those times. She just didn’t know how to react to Lin Feng’s supposed epiphany. And then her face turned red. She took a deep breath and looked straight at Lin Feng. “Hey idiot. Do you want to die!?”

✹

Lin Feng saw An Xin’s face after he asked her about “old Aunt Flo”. He saw her face turn red. And then he heard the venom in her words. He knew, immediately, that he had messed up. He couldn’t think of anything to make the situation better. And he knew better than to say anything more. That would only make the situation worse. He continued to look at An Xin’s furious eyes for a few awkward seconds longer. 

Then he pivoted around and walked over to Tang Bingyao. “Tang Tang, do you want to come meet Fatty?” As far as he was concerned, Tang Bingyao and Fatty were both going to be on his new team. He saw no harm in introducing them to each other sooner rather than later. They’d have more time to get to know each other, and his team would come together that much faster.

Tang Bingyao was the only person other than An Xin in High School 13 who knew anything about Lin Feng’s past. She also knew who Fatty was. KG’s Top Laner and God Roundy, Tian Tian. And she knew that Tian Tian was Lin Feng’s best friend. She also knew that their history was stormy, and this was the first time Lin Feng would be seeing Tian Tian after many years. 

Tang Bingyao tilted her head. She thought about going for a moment. She wanted to meet the God Roundy in person. More importantly, she wanted to meet Lin Feng’s best friend. This isn’t the right time for that. Mhm! She shook her head. “No thanks. I have a lot of homework tonight.”

“Oh… Okay. That’s fine…” Lin Feng replied. He sounded a little dejected and disappointed. This was an exciting day and no one wanted to come with him! But he quickly perked up again. “That’s fine, I’ll go by myself.” It didn’t matter if everyone else was busy. He was going to meet Fatty today, and this was going to be their reunion after four long years! 

✹

Lin Feng and Tian Tian had agreed to meet up in front of an internet cafe. Lin Feng arrived at the designated meetup location first, and waited for Tian Tian outside. After a few minutes, he spotted Tian Tian walking over from across the street. Tian Tain was trying to keep a low profile, and blend in with the crowd. But his large body made that impossible, and his attempts at blending in only made him more conspicuous.

Lin Feng’s face lit up when he saw Tian Tian, and he started waving his arms around wildly. ”Fatty! Fatty! Over here!”

Tian Tian heard Lin Feng and looked around. He saw Lin Feng flapping his arms around everywhere, and his face also lit up with joy. He ran across the crosswalk and sputtered to a stop right in front of Lin Feng. A little out of breath.

“LIIIN FEEEENG!” Tian Tian cried out with the last bit of air in his lungs. Then he had to pause to take a few quick breaths. Once he got his energy back up, he wrapped Lin Feng in a giant bear hug! Then he pulled down his face mask.”I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!” His chubby and ruddy cheeks jiggled with emotion, and tears started welling up in his eyes.

Lin Feng chuckled. “I missed you too, buddy! I miss you too! Hey, you even got fatter!”

“Yeah, haha… I’ve been eating a bit more lately.” Tian Tian laughed, scratching his head in embarrassment. Then he looked Lin Feng up and down and said, ‘“Lin Feng, you’ve gotten taller!”

“Of course! I’m really good at growing up too!” Lin Feng replied.

After a few more minutes of excited small talk, they started trying to figure out what they were going to do today. Lin Feng had a rough plan ready, “Let’s go inside and play a few games together. Then I’ll treat you to dinner! We’ll have a feast!”

“Sure sure sure! That sounds great!” Tian Tian said while nodding excitedly. It didn’t really matter what Lin Feng decided to do today, Tian Tian was always going to agree. It had always been like that between the two of them. Ever since they became teammates years ago. Lin Feng led, and Tian Tian followed. And he was fine with it being that way. It didn’t matter to Tian Tian that he was the older one. Or that people made fun of him for being so easily led around. Following Lin Feng around was something he took pride in! He considered himself lucky to have a friend like Lin Feng who cleared the way for him!

✹

Tian Tian put his face mask back on before he walked into the internet cafe behind Lin Feng. The place was crawling with League players, many of whom followed the competitive scene. He was God Roundy. An LPL legend who had recently played in Worlds. Every single person in this internet cafe could recognize his face instantly. And if they did, they’d start swarming all over him. That would make it difficult to hang out with Lin Feng in peace.

Lin Feng understood the situation with Tian Tian without being told. He did his best to shield Tian Tian from view while they walked through the internet cafe. And then booked some game time for the two of them in a relatively remote corner of the internet cafe. They made their way to the corner and sat down.

Lin Feng settled into his booth and started turning the computer on. While waiting for it to boot, he looked over at Tian Tian and said, “Oh! Right! You remember BunBun, right? I thought I’d bring her along today, but she had something important to do at home. She would’ve been here right now if she wasn’t busy!”

“BunBun!?” Tian Tian’s eyes widened into saucers. “ BunBun? An Xin? BunBun’s here too? You saw her today?”

Lin Feng nodded. “YEAH! BunBun! She transferred over to the school I’m at. Really recently! We’re even in the same class! And she’s on the esports team with me! She even helped coach our school’s team for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Wait! Before I forget, she told me to tell you that she said hi.”

“Wow? I haven’t seen BunBun in forever. I miss her so much!” Tian Tiang said.

Lin Feng waved his hand. “It’s fine, she’ll be here next time and we’ll all hang out!” Then he paused for a second and added, “… I’ll bring Tang Tang along too, so you can meet her!”

“Tang Tang?” Tian Tian asked with a look of confusion. “Who’s that?”

“Oh! She’s also a classmate. Same class as me and BunBun! And she’s a great ad-carry too! She was on the esports team with me at the 16 School Tournie! But listen! She’s going to be the ad-carry for our new team!” Lin Feng explained excitedly. 

Tian Tian was surprised. “A girl?” He asked. 

“Yeah!” Lin Feng replied.

Tian Tian was intrigued and curious to know more about this phenomenal female ad-carry that he’d never heard of before. “If you say she’s good, then she must be good. But I’ve never heard of a Tang Tang before. Or any new female ad-carries. There aren’t many girls who play that position well enough to be competitive. Is Tang Tang a nickname? What does she look like?” As far as he knew, BunBun was the only unknown female player in the competitive scene. And the best female player that he could recollect.

“What does she look like?” Lin Feng rubbed his chin. He racked his brains around this question, and answered, “Oh, she’s okay. About the same as BunBun!”

If the boys from High School 13 heard what Lin Feng had said right now, they would have joined together to beat him into a bulb. They would have ripped his arms and legs off and kicked him until he resembled a tulip bulb! It was almost incomprehensible! Lin Feng casually stating that two of the goddesses from their school were merely okay in his eyes! 

Lin Feng and Tian Tian had already opened their League clients and logged in. Lin Feng waved his hand and said, “Forget about that for now! We’ll play a few games first! We can talk about all this stuff later. We haven’t duo-queued together in years!”

Monday morning, the start of a new week at the Shanghai Esports Association. Fang Hao walked into the building and rode the elevator up to his office. He opened up the doors to his office and walked in. Then he looked around his office and asked, “Back here already, eh?” He wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular, or himself. He just wanted to break the silence in his office with some noise. Fang Hao walked over to his desk and sat down in his chair. Then he sighed and looked out the window. The weekend always goes by so quickly, and the week goes on for so long. I miss my bed already. How long is it going to be until I get two days off again? Weekends like the one that just passed were a rare occurrence for Fang Hao. Those special weekends where he got two days off, he called those Golden Weekends. 

He looked at his desk, wondering if he should start clearing space for everything that was about to be piled on it. “Hah, I miss my soft bed already.” He just couldn’t bring himself to start.

Fang Hao reclined against the soft, plush leather of his chair and closed his eyes. He was preparing himself mentally for what was about to start. This was the one moment of peace he got every morning in this office. In the next few minutes, people would start walking in and filling whatever space existed on his desk with documents. Piling them high. Then he’d have meetings, phone calls, and constant reminders for what he had to check up on or provide input on. And any time in between all of that, he’d have to spend it working on the never-ending pile of documents. Once he started working in the next few minutes, that’s all he’d be doing for the rest of the day until he went home.

The life of an Esports Association President, eh? Not as glamorous or laid back as you thought it was going to be, is it Fang Hao? You thought all the work was getting here and then you could sit back and relax. Turns out the work was just starting out! You sucker! Fang Hao thought to himself before rubbing the Monday Blues out of his eyes and getting down to work. 

Shanghai was known as the Capital of China’s esports scene. Beijing also had a thriving esports scene, but it just wasn’t as competitive or as well-known as the Shanghai scene. The third largest city with an esports scene was Guangdong. But the city and the esports scene had taken major hits in the last few years, and was nowhere near what was happening in Shanghai or Beijing. Together, the three Presidents of the Esports Associations from Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangdong decided all things concerning China in the international scene. They also decided the country’s future in esports. Since Fang Hao was the President of the Shanghai Esports Association, he had as much power and influence as the President from the Beijing Esports Association. And significantly more influence and say in the country’s esports future than the President of the Guangdong Esports Association.

Fang Hao wielded near-complete authority when it came to China’s esports scene. But with that great power comes great responsibility, and the weight that comes from such responsibilities. But Fang Hao did not mind that weight, or the stress that came with being President of the country’s biggest esports association. Because this was the path he’d chosen for himself, and he’d willingly accepted all of that.

Fang Hao had devoted himself to esports from the very beginning. He’d been one of the few people who saw the potential in competitive video games, and worked to make sure China was ready to make a name for itself when the international scene came into being. He saw the potential in the Defense of the Ancients MOBA, but it didn’t capture his heart. Then League of Legends came out, and that’s where he saw China’s future in esports. He poured blood, sweat, and tears into the Esports Association. Devoted himself to climbing up the ladder until he was in a position where he could start influencing the scene. Then he continued to push until he climbed to the position he was in today as the President of the Esports Association. But for Fang Hao, this journey that he was on was not about fame, money, or authority. What he wanted more than anything was to spend his lifetime and his career cementing esports as a viable career path and international competition. One where China was known as a force to be reckoned with. Fang Hao was one of those rare people who climbed to the top of the corporate side of esports with a pure love of gaming and competition. 

And now that he had made it to the top, Fang Hao had one goal left to fulfill. One last dream. That was the rise of the LPL under his leadership. Then he could finally relax, having accomplished everything he set out to accomplish all those years ago.

Thinking about his dreams and the rise of the LPL naturally turned Fang Hao’s thoughts to the Finals of the Season 5 League of Legends World Championships. The game that took place last Saturday. His mood immediately plummeted and he no longer wanted to get himself into a productive headspace. Instead, he stared through the giant glass windows of his office out into the city of Shanghai. Hm… Season 5 Worlds… It did not feel great when SSK won that championship trophy. Again. But I’m not even mad at the LPL teams who made it all the way to Worlds. HoG, Dust, and KG all trained hard. They played hard. It wasn’t their fault they got knocked out. But still… there has to be something I can do! I’m so tired of Korea always winning! Why are we stuck in a place where we’re always behind them? 

Fang Hao regretted the fact that no matter what he did, the LPL could not overcome Korea. He started to wonder if the situation they were in today was his fault. Then he thought about the Season 1 World Championships. Season 1. Now that was a show! Our miracle team… those guys tore through every other team in their path until they made it all the way to the Finals. Everyone thought China was worth shit back then. We only got a pity ticket to the World Championships. But we sure showed them! Until the very end. Where Korea managed to knock us back and win again. Fang Hao sighed as he thought back to those days. And how they had made it to the very end of the World Championships and then lost to Korea 2-3. The Korean team they lost to was equally amazing. It was disappointing that they lost the Championship Trophy by only a single game. But they had firmly cemented China as an Esports Powerhouse! 

Thinking back to that moment, and what happened after soured Fang Hao’s mood even more. We made it to the very top back then! Everyone talked about us, the entire country was buzzing about esports. What did we do with all that energy? NOTHING! We didn’t capitalize on the momentum that the miracle team generated for us at all! And since then… well, since that one team and one Championship, we haven’t even had a team get to the Finals. Not a single LPL team in the Finals in the last four years!

Fang Hao sighed. “What a pity. We were so close…” Then his thoughts turned to what happened at the end of the Finals. When Lee Dojae handed the Summoner’s Cup to Rake at the end of the Finals. And made his speech about passing on the torch and the Dynasty of Rake. Dynasty of Rake… an unbroken line of champions! Fang Hao smacked himself in the face when he remembered that moment and Lee Dojae’s speech. “What a moron! How could someone be that pretentious? And his whole passing-the-torch bullshit? Where did that even come from? This new Rake is a winner and an actual legend. When was Lee Dojae a legend while he played as Rake? Is Lee Dojae delusional? Thinking he was the legend of his era? Back when that pretentious moron was playing DotA under the name Rake, the real legend was someone else! Lee Dojae was so far behind in second place that no one even cared that he existed! Now he’s up on stage spewing horseshit to rewrite history!”

Fang Hao was known for being a calm and composed leader. Everyone thought of him as someone who calculated and thought before he spoke, and believed that he never lost his temper. But that wasn’t always the truth. Fang Hao was calm and preferred resolving issues rationally more often than not. But even he had his limits, and a fierce temper that he constantly kept in check. His fuse was long and it took a lot to trip it. But it did happen every once in a while. The last time that he could think of right now was back during the Season 1 League of Legends World Championships. He was only the Vice President of the Shanghai Esports Association back then, but that didn’t stop him from going toe-to-toe with the bigwigs from the Global Esports Association. He went off on them and refused to back down until they agreed to let China’s miracle team play. Fang Hao took great pride in his actions that day. He had stood up for and represented a team that counted on him, and that single action built a reputation for China in esports!

As he thought back to that moment, Fang Hao chuckled at his younger self. But he didn’t regret his actions that day at all. He’d done what needed to be done for China’s Esports Association, and he’d continue doing what needed to be done to support the Shanghai Esports Association and China. But moments like that were only memories now. He’d been unable to do anything to get the LPL past the barrier they’d been stuck at for years. He shook his head to snap out of the thoughts of the past. The future is what matters! I need to do something for the LPL like I did for the miracle team back then! 

Fang Hao started working for the day. He flipped through the first file of documents on his desk and raised an eyebrow. Arrangements for the All-China University Tournament. Otherwise known as the Collegiate Cup. The sister-tournament to the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, but one that was meant for College and University level players, rather than high school students. This tournament used to be held once a year as an annual event. But it had been changed to a bi-annual event starting this year. More opportunities to compete would lead to better players filtering into the LPL was the reasoning. A month from today marked the start of the next All-China University Tournament!

Fang Hao looked through the details of this tournament and thought about Chu Fang again. As Vice President of the Shanghai Esports Association, Chu Fang was the person that Fang Hao trusted the most. And a potential successor once he decided he was done. Fang Hao had let Chu Fang handle the Shanghai 16 School Tournament entirely on his own. That was a relatively small event, but one that gave Chu Fang some much needed and valuable experience. Chu Fang did really well with the 16 School competition. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. Hm… I should probably let him handle this next one too. He’s going to need to know how all of them work if he’s going to be President one day. Actually! Speaking of Chu Fang… 

Fang Hao remembered asking Chu Fang to send him information on the two teams that had made it to the Finals for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament this year. He turned his computer on and checked his email. And the message from Chu Fang with a document containing the information he requested was sitting right there. Chu Fang… what a responsible guy! He opened the PDF and skimmed over the names of the players. Let’s see who I’m going to keep an eye on for the next few years. Hm… WAIT! Fang Hao’s thoughts froze when his eyes skimmed over a name on the list. He stood up so fast that his chair hit the back wall of his office. And he continued to stand there, staring at his screen in disbelief. Staring at the name in disbelief. The name of High School 13’s Midlaner. “L-lin. F-feng…? Lin Feng? LIN FENG!?

A certain face popped into Fang Hao’s mind. Could it be… ? He quickly shook his head and took some deep breaths to calm himself down. “No, it has to be a coincidence. It can’t be, right?” But the possibility kept creeping back into his mind, refusing to disappear. His heart started racing. ”But what if it really is him!?”

　✹

Monday afternoon in High School 13. The students had already sat through most of their classes. The excitement from winning the Shanghai 16 School Tournament two days ago had mostly died out. Life had returned to its normal routine pace of classes, assignments and exams.

Lin Feng was stuck in class and starting to doze off. His eyes were heavy and every blink lasted longer and longer. Right as Lin Feng was about to drift off to sleep, his phone buzzed. The sharp vibration woke him up a little, and he checked his phone. A message from Tian Tian. That was exciting enough to completely wake Lin Feng up. He opened up the message and read it.

Fatty:「Lin Feng, what are you up to? I don’t have practice today! Wanna hang out? Get something to eat?」

After their knock out in the Semifinals of the Season 5 World Championships, KG returned to China. But they didn’t come home to mope around or go on vacation. They spent their time analyzing their games at Worlds, talking about what they needed to change up and what they needed to practice more, and setting up goals for next year’s Worlds. It was a lot of work and many hours of team meetings. Tian Tian had been busy ever since he got home. Until now. The first thing he did once he got a chance to leave the gaming house for a bit was to message Lin Feng to see if they could hang out.

Fatty wants to hang out? Lin Feng’s face lit up. He immediately replied to Tian Tian’s text.

Lin Feng:「Great! I’ll take the train over. Then we can decide on a place when we meet up!」

The two of them agreed to meet up after school and wander about until they found an internet cafe to hang out at.

Once he finalized plans with Tian Tian, Lin Feng put his phone away. But he sat there with a happy smile on his face. Then he looked around to see what everyone else was up to, and found Ouyang staring at him. Lin Feng scratched his head, confused by the suspicious glare Ouyang was giving up. He waited for Ouyang to say something, but nothing happened for a few awkward seconds. Eventually, Lin Feng decided to speak up. “Uhm… what’s up, Ouyang? What’s with the look?”

Ouyang inched himself closer to Lin Feng and asked, “YOU WERE TEXTING BRO! Who were you texting? I saw how you looked. The only time a bro looks that happy while sending a message is when he’s texting a girl. I know that look! No bro has that much fun texting another bro. You were really into those messages!” Then he paused and whisper-yelled, “YOU WERE TEXTING A GIRL!” He was loud, but not loud enough for the teacher at the front of the classroom to hear him. It was a loud whisper. And, unfortunately, just loud enough for An Xin and Tang Bingyao, sitting ahead of them, to overhear. Both of them turned around to look at Ouyang and Lin Feng.

The two girls had the same exact thought. Lin Feng was messing a girl…? They looked at each other, and then shook their heads. An Xin raised an eyebrow, and Tang Bingyao  scrunched up her nose.

The esports club arrived at the barbeque place much more glum than they intended. The original plan was to celebrate their victory with grilled meat. But watching Worlds and the unstoppable might of SSK put a damper on things. They walked in quietly, everyone lost in their own thoughts about Worlds and SSK. But the smell of grilled meat and the happy atmosphere of the restaurant soon snapped them out of it. They all ordered, and soon the conversation turned to the food that was about to arrive. Then the food arrived and everyone started eating. 

Lin Feng grabbed a pork belly rib and gnawed on it. Grease stuck to his lips and his fingers were a saucy mess. But he couldn’t care less as he took another bite. Superteam. Superteam. We were so good back in Season 1. Eleven and me… Those were the days. Fatty and me… He grabbed a piece of char siu and wolfed it down, completely ignoring the conversation around him. I’ma make a new team! A new superteam! Better than last time! A 2.0! 

An Xin tried to follow the conversation Ouyang and Liu Yue were having, but found herself glancing over at Lin Feng. Are you also thinking about our old team? I think about those days all the time. We had something great! She closed her eyes as a touch of a smile appeared on her face. We had a top 3 in the world player in each position! And we had you in the midlane. I don’t care what happened in those finals. You were the best. You really were. We lost, yes. But that was only because we got unlucky. You were the better Midlaner!

The food at the barbeque place tasted great, but An Xin wasn’t really hungry. She tried to get out of her own mind and looked over at Ren Rou, who was talking about how the LPL never really achieved anything in the world of League of Legends. We did. People just forgot. We were great in Season 1! We would’ve won, if we didn’t get so unlucky. Our team was better than SSK! And that’s an honest assessment. We were just better. But they got lucky. That was the difference. We lost because they got luck—

Lin Feng jumped to his feet and clenched his fists, shouting, “Don’t worry, guys! We got this! We’re going to win Worlds!” He wiped the grease from his lips with his sleeve. A fire burned in his eyes. He looked at his friends, each in turn, then proclaimed, “Trust me! We’re gonna climb to the top and win Worlds!”

Ouyang shook his head and said, “There he goes again. Bro, be a little realistic here. How are we going to win Worlds?” He sighed, letting his gaze fall down, and added, “You’re my bro. I don’t wanna make fun of you. But you’re kinda asking for it right now… What? You think HoG or KG will win it next year? Did you forget how SSK stomped them?”

An Xin looked at Lin Feng and smiled. Then she interjected, “HoG and KG aren’t good enough. You’re right about that, Ouyang. But why can’t a new team rise up? Who knows, maybe there’ll be a new superteam next season!”

Ouyang was stumped for words. He just stared at An Xin and then finally argued, “What’d ya mean, superteam? A team with five super players who can magically beat SSK? Tell me, where should these super players come from? The LSPL? Have you watched their games this season? They’re dogshit! Nightsong is a million times better than all of those ad-carries combined! You know, there’s a good reason why those teams aren’t in the LPL! And why we aren’t winning Worlds…”

An Xin shook her head and giggled. “Who said anything about the LSPL?”

There was a stunned silence. Everyone glanced at each other but no one said anything. It started to turn a little awkward when Lin Feng suddenly slammed his hand on the table and shouted, “There’s my team! I’m going to remake my team!”

Ouyang pointed at Lin Feng and asked An Xin, “Is this your superteam? Our challenger bro and hi—” Wait. Hold on! Remake? He abruptly turned to look at Lin Feng and said, “Yo. What do you mean, remake your team? When did you ever have a team?”

Lin Feng smiled at Ouyang and shook his head. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, just like the Challenger thing all over again. I’ll just have to show it to you. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry about it. That’s not important. All that matters is that we’re going to win Worlds! I’m sure of it!”

Everyone started laughing and no one took Lin Feng seriously. Ouyang eventually raised a cup and proposed a toast to Lin Feng’s new superteam! This evoked a second round of laughter, after which Liu Yue chimed in with a joke. More laughter. Followed by another joke. They’d known Lin Feng for a couple of months now, and had grown accustomed to his wild and impossible-sounding claims. But they appeared to have forgotten that each one had been realized. Him being a Challenger. Them winning the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. All of it came true.

An Xin laughed. Not at Lin Feng, but at his friends. She knew Lin Feng better than anyone. She knew exactly what he was capable of. And winning Worlds, he was capable of doing that. We’re going to go back there. And this time, it won’t come down to luck. I have to get better, and come up with stronger strategies. There’ll be nothing left to chance.

Tang Bingyao was the only one who didn’t laugh. She looked at Lin Feng and knew he was serious; the determination in his voice told her that. He asked me to join… I always said no. She pursed her lips and looked at her friend. Her best friend. Do I want to play League of Legends professionally? Do I want to do that with him? With BunBun? She glanced over at An Xin and then nodded. I do. Mhm!

✹

High School 13’s esports team feasted and celebrated at the barbeque place until well after 3 A.M. They eventually paid the bill and started saying their goodbyes, until Lin Feng turned to look at An Xin. Everyone stopped talking. It was an almost reflexive move by now. They’d seen this exact scenario play out many times before in just the last week! A circle spread out around the two. No one wanted to be caught in the crossfire!

Lin Feng nodded at An Xin and said, “You coming over to my place again?

An Xin raised her eyebrows and asked, “You’re missing me already?”

“Missing? You? No,” Lin Feng denied, shaking his head. “I just wanted to know if I had to sleep on the couch again…”

On the couch? Wait… Ouyang’s eyes went wide. His desire for the latest bit of gossip clashed with his fear for An Xin. I need to know what happened the other day! Did he say something stupid while they were in bed together? WERE THEY IN BED TOGETHER? He was about to take a step forward when An Xin shook her head. She looked at Lin Feng and said, “You worked hard today. The least I can do is let you get a good night’s sleep in your own bed. I’m going to take a cab home and sleep in my own bed.”

“Oh, okay!” Lin Feng replied. Then he turned around to look at Tang Bingyao and said, “Tang Tang, let’s walk home together!”

Tang Bingyao chewed on her lips, thinking for a moment, and then nodded. “Hmm, sure.”

Liu Yue had snuck over to Ouyang and pulled him to his side, whispering, “Man, Lin Feng’s so lucky. When he tires out one, he just moves to the next!”

Ouyang grinned and replied quietly, “BunBun says no, so he takes Tang Tang. Haha! My best bro always has a girl wrapped around his arm!”

Liu Yue nodded and said, “And they’re both so pretty… Out of all the girls in our school, he gets the prettiest two… Three if you count his roommate. How the hell is he so good with girls…?”

“Yeah! He should teach his bros the magic! Maybe we can also get some hot chicks!” Ouyang whisper-shouted, dreaming of a life with a hundred gorgeous girls fighting each other for a night with him.

Liu Yue looked from An Xin to Tang Bingyao and then back at An Xin. “I wonder which one he’s gonna pi—”

“Enough, you two,” Ren Rou interrupted. She grabbed Ouyang by the ear and glared at Liu Yue. “Or maybe you want to speak up a bit, so BunBun can hear you?”

Ouyang and Liu Yue froze. They slowly, very slowly, turned to look at An Xin. She was saying something to Tang Bingyao. And more importantly, wasn’t looking in their direction. They still felt a chill run up and down their spines as they thought of An Xin’s scary smile. They shook their heads and said to Ren Rou,

“NoNoNo, haha…”
“Uhhh… I’ll shut up! I promise!”

✹

The streets were empty in the dark of night. The first winter chills lingered in the air and a white mist draped the street, refracting the light from the lampposts to a yellow haze. Lin Feng walked with his hands buried deep in his coat and his shoulders raised to protect his neck from the cold. He watched Tang Bingyao hop over the cracks in the pavement in front of him, smiling.

Tang Bingyao smiled. This feels right. She hopped over another crack and quickly glanced back at Lin Feng, making sure he was there. I missed this. It feels like so long ago that we… She shook her head. So much happened after BunBun transferred to our class. And after I bought Lin Feng chicken cutlet… She glanced over her shoulder but couldn’t make out Lin Feng’s face in the dark. He’s probably thinking about Worlds. He did seem a lot happier tonight, even after Rake won Worlds… She shivered from the cold chill in the air and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jacket. Then she hopped over another crack and started smiling again. This feels right. He’s behind me. He has my back. Hmm, I didn’t think I’d miss this so much.

The streetlights jumped to green as Tang Bingyao approached. There was almost no one else out on the streets. She skipped over the street, humming to a calm melody. I finally feel myself again. This feels great! Mhm! She slowed down a little and looked up at the sky. No stars tonight. She giggled and nodded. We’ll become stars! I’ve thought about it enough. Way too much. Rou Rou was right. He’s a little clueless and I don’t really know what it is I want either. If something happens, it happens. And if it doesn’t, then so be it. Hmm-mm! It doesn’t really matter if nothing happens. I quite like things the way they are. But… I do want to stay by his side. I wonder if he still wants me to be his team’s ad-carry… I did carry in the Finals today. And he knew I would!

Tang Bingyao abruptly stopped and swirled around. Then she tilted her head and asked, “Lin Feng, are you really going to remake your superteam?”

“Huh?” Lin Feng blurted out. He looked at Tang Bingyao who was suddenly standing right in front of him, surprised. Guess I got lost in my thoughts again… “Superteam? Oh!” he exclaimed. Then he nodded and said, “Yeah! Of course!”

Tang Bingyao opened her mouth, but then paused. Come on, say it. You can say it. She bit her lips, a nervous feeling in her stomach, and then said, “Remember what you asked me before? I’ll do it. I’m in.”

“Uh? What did I ask you?” Lin Feng asked, trying to figure out what was going on. Did I ask her something today? No. I don’t think so. I told her to carry with Vayne, but that can’t be it. Can it? What were we talking about again? Superteam? If I’m rema— He slapped himself on the forehead and said, “OHHH! You’re talking about you being my team’s ad-carry!”

Tang Bingyao nodded. “Mhm!”

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and asked in confusion, “But hadn’t we already decided you were going to be the ad-carry?”

“Whuh?” Tang Bingyao mumbled. Did I… No! She shook her head and said, “No! You kept telling me yes and I said no! I never agreed to it!” She paused for a moment and then added, “But now I do.”

“I see!” Lin Feng laughed. “So it’s all good! Nothing’s changed! You’re the team’s ad-carry!”

Tang Bingyao stared at Lin Feng, speechless. Then she took a deep breath and then turned around. Hmpf! Stupid Lin Feng! She started hopping over the cracks in the pavement again with a little more aggression than before. I think I understand why BunBun beats him up so much…

Lee Dojae had done something truly vile! He’d used the Worlds award ceremony to show his supremacy to the rest of the world! Countless stream chats lit up with angry messages and questions about why Riot Games had allowed this! But this was only a cover to hide their despair. SSK had defended their world title. Rake had won Worlds for a record breaking third time. And there wasn’t a single team in the world who looked capable of beating them.

「Fuck… It wasn’t even close at the end… 」
「SCREW THAT! FUCK THOSE STUPID COCKY ASSHATS!」
「how much did they pay riot for this stupid fucking show!>?!?!!」
「… ssk was the best. UCH i hate to admit it…. but they got this through their own hard work…」
「:CCCCC how we evah gonna win????????? iz hopeless guys :C just give up」
「Is there really no one who can beat them?」

Countless professional players all around the world were also upset. They cursed and shouted and flung their monitors out of the window. But their anger didn’t stem from Lee Dojae being an arrogant prick, though they all agreed that he was. Their anger was aimed at their inability to compete against SSK. They’d been practicing every day for years, yet they weren’t even good enough to stand on the same stage as SSK. As a professional, as someone who considered themself as one of the best in the world, this was incredibly difficult and painful to accept.

In Taipei, Taiwan. Read XIII was the Jungler for Assassins. He’d played in Season 5 Worlds and made it all the way to the quarterfinals, where he eventually lost to KG. But he’d put in a strong performance. His team had done well. And they were overall happy with the result. Tonight, that changed for him. He’d watched the Finals. More specifically, he’d been analyzing how Mafa played in the Jungle.

“FUCKING HELL!” Read XIII yelled as he threw his mouse across the room and shoved his keyboard off the desk. “How the hell am I supposed to compete against that? FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!” I’m a King, just like Mafa! I should be just as good as he is! He gritted his teeth and slammed his fists down on his desk. “FUCK!” He pulled at his hair as he looked back at the stream. It zoomed in on Mafa holding the Summoner’s Cup. “ARGHHHH!” He smashed his fist into the monitor, cracking the screen. How is he so much better than me? WE’RE BOTH KINGS—

Read XIII suddenly had a moment of clarity. The anger disappeared from his body as he collapsed in his chair. No. I’m no King. I’m a fucking nobody next to him! He looked around the room at the damages he’d caused. He sighed and said, “Fucking hell. I train every fucking day, ever since I lost to Eleven during the Season 1 World Championships! All to get revenge on him… And look where I’m now… What a joke. I’m competing against a guy playing in the LSPL. Maybe that’s where I went wrong. Maybe I’ve been focusing on the wrong person this whole time…”

IN London, England. Team Legend had watched the finals of the League of Legends Season 5 World Championships together in their gaming house. They’d started watching that night with a drink and some chips, just there to watch a good game. And that was how they still felt after the first two games. Both Season and SSK showed strong performances. Legend’s players pointed things out they noticed and chatted about aspects of the game that they should put more time and effort into. That could help them win next year.

But that all changed in Game 3. And then Game 4. SSK was so much better than Season that it wasn’t even funny anymore! It looked like professional players giving a masterclass to a group of high schoolers! The laughter and chatter died down. No one touched the chips or took a sip from their drinks. They just sat there, stunned.

Legend’s Jungler finally grabbed his beer and chugged it down. Then he slumped back in his gaming chair and said, “Don’t mind Rake. Even Mafa is so insanely good. It’s… I don’t know, guys. I have no clue how to get that good…”

No one said anything for the next couple of minutes, until Demon finally broke the silence. “It’s not just Mafa. Even their Toplaner… That guy’s awareness in teamfights is better than mine… He might actually be better than me.”

Phoenix shook his head and sighed. He took a sip of his beer and then said, “Their Midlaner and Jungler. Their Toplaner, Support and ad-carry… All five of them are phenomenal players. And they only get better when they play together. They’re the world champions for a reason. Even on our best day we can’t beat them. Rip.”

IN Shanghai, China. Hermes had joined Nightsong in the Hand of God headquarters right as Worlds was about to start. They’d watched the games together and were now watching the replay together. During the first two games, they felt optimism. SSK and Season both looked beatable. There were openings and opportunities that the two of them felt confident they could exploit. But then Game 3 started. The dread they felt while initially watching it returned.

Hermes leaned back in his chair and sighed loudly. “Crap, Nightsong. Crap, that’s how I feel.” He shook his head and looked back at the monitor. Then he continued, “I thought it was back when we watched it live. But it only looks worse on replay. They’re playing it perfectly. I don’t… I don’t know, man. They’re next level.”

Nightsong stood up from his gaming chair and started laughing. “We’re idiots. You know that, right? We actually thought we could compete against them! HA! WHAT A JOKE! You know it, Hermes. Screw SSK. We can’t even beat Season! We’re…” He gritted his teeth and felt his stomach contracting. We’re not even good enough to beat Season! I was right. We’re trash! TRASH! He snorted and then said, “It’s true. You know it, Hermes. I’m the best ad-carry in China. And you’re the best Midlaner…” He started laughing again, shaking his head, and continued, “You know what’s funny? Those guys, there, on screen? They probably think about us just like we think about high schoolers. FUCK MY FLACID DICK! WE’RE TRASH! TRASH!”

Hermes looked up at his friend. You’re right. He pursed his lips. Then he shook his head and said, “We’re David. Season is Goliath. And SSK is Kronos. Hahaha. Crap. Crap. Am I really saying this? Crap.” He took a long, deep breath, then continued, “What do we do now? Continue training like nothing happened? What do we even train? Mechanics? Strategy? Champion pools? Team synergy? Awareness? Or do we just replace our coach and blame it all on him?” He paused for a moment, then added in a quiet voice, “Or maybe we’re just not good enough…”

Nightsong let himself fall down in his gaming chair. We’re little kids next to SSK. We’re the little kids… He thought back to the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Back to the kids he’d seen playing. They weren’t half bad. That Lulu was actually really goo— “TRASH! SHUT YOUR UGLY PIEHOLE!” You’re better than this. You’re better than some stupid high schooler! You’re going to lift yourself up and find a solution. That’s what you do! You get better in the face of challenges. You don’t give up like a pussy!

Hermes looked up at his friend, spooked by the sudden outburst. But then collapsed back in his gaming chair and looked at the stream, half hoping to see SSK losing. It was still Game 3. And SSK was still crushing Season. “Crap,” he mumbled.

“Hey, Hermes?” Nighsong asked, looking over at his friend. “What do you think? Will we get some new talent on the team? I really want to believe that we stand a chance. But… It’s just… Well, just look at the screen! How are we going to beat them? And if we don’t, then who? We’re the best dickslapping, tentacle-fucking badasses China has to offer! We’re all there is!” He shook his head and added, “I’d just like to see us win for once. It doesn’t even have to be me. Just a Chinese team is enough.”

Hermes watched the end of Game 3 in silence. Then he finally turned and looked Nightsong in the eyes. “We’ll win. And if we don’t, another Chinese team will. Someday.”

✹

High School 13’s team exited the NetCow Cafe well after 1 A.M. The Finals of the League of Legends Season 5 World Championships had gone on for a little over two hours. They decided to have an afterparty at their favourite barbeque place around the corner before going home. It was the same place they always went to after a big win or a drink too many. The original plan was to go here to celebrate their victory at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, but the World Finals had dampened their mood. It had once more shown just how big the gap was between them, the best high schoolers in Shanghai, and the professional scene.

Ouyang shook his head and grumbled, “I’d give up our win in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament for Season winning Worlds!”

Ren Rou rolled her eyes back and said, “If we’re going by that logic, I’d have rather given up our win for KG to win Worlds.”

Ouyang groaned and replied, “I don’t care who wins, just not SSK…”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and interjected, “It can’t be helped. SSK is the best team in the world right now. You saw it. Season just isn’t strong enough. And honestly, I don’t think there’s any team in the world who can really compete against SSK. We just have to learn to admit that.”

An Xin took a large gulp of her soda as she listened to Yang Fan’s analysis. She finally shook her head and said, “This really didn’t come as a surprise. We knew from the start that Season was most likely going to lose. SSK is the better overall team. They have five very strong players, each with deep champion pools.” She took another gulp of her soda and then continued, “Now look at Season. Yes, they have Autumn. But what else? Their other players are good, but not as good as the players from SSK. And their Toplaner and Jungler have relatively shallow champion pools on top of that. That just makes them easy targets. SSK knew exactly what they were going to be up against and could prepare for those specific scenarios.” She shrugged and added, “It was always going to be difficult for Season. SSK is just the better team.”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and said, “I agree. SSK was the better overall team.”

“This is mad,” Chen Ze said, lowering his head. “According to you, no one can beat SSK… They got the deepest champion pools, the best players, and the best coaching staff, and I don’t know what more! That’s mad, right? What are they? Some kind of superteam?”Lin Feng had been lost in his own little world ever since the World Finals began. He didn’t even really hear what his friends were talking about for most of the night. But when Chen Ze said the word “superteam”, he suddenly was back in the present. He looked over at his friend and mumbled quietly, “A superteam?” He smiled and nodded at himself. We had a superteam back in season 1. With me, Fatty, Eleven, those two in the bot lane… And An Xin as our coach. We should’ve been the best team in the world. We were! Worlds should’ve been ours! And we were still getting better so quickly… If we’d kept going, SSK wouldn’t have won tonight. I would’ve made sure of that!