“WOOT WOOT! The championship is ours! WOOT WOOT!”
“YEAAAHHHH! Sing with me, bros! CRUSH! Crush every enemy! AND SEAL! Seal our victory!”
“Good job! You guys were all amazing! I’m so happy!”
“That was a great game! BunBun and Lin Feng’s perfect synergy carried us to the win. We might actually win this thing! We’re going to be the Champions of Shanghai!”

Liu Yue, Yang Fan, and Ren Rou were rooting for High School 13 to win, while Ouyang cupped his hands around his mouth and sang a victory song. High School 13’s students in the audience fell silent, listening to the two team members and looking at the victory crest on the large screens above the stage. The last hints of anxiety and fear that their club was going to eventually screw up disappeared and was replaced with boundless joy. Lin Feng and An Xin had done it! The magic couple had not only won Game 3 in the Finals and brought High School 13 to championship point, they’d also torn Shanghai High School apart at the seams! They left nothing of them whole!

“WE WON! We’re going to win! We’re going to win!”
“Hahaha! With Lin Feng and An Xin, no one can beat us!”
“Look at Zeng Rui! Just look at him! We’ve won! Hahaha!”
“He looks like he saw a ghost! Man, he must be feeling shitty!”
“Lin Feng and An Xin are our magic League couple! WOOT WOOT!”
“CRUSH THE ENEMY! SEAL OUR VICTORY! Let’s fucking goooooo!”

✹

Shanghai High School’s team retreated backstage after Game 3. But even here they could still hear the audience, a thousand voices booming in their ears. They could even feel the floor shaking from the audience jumping up and down. Zeng Rui looked at his teammates and said, “I need some silence. I need to think.” Never in his wildest dream did he expect to find himself in this position. We’re losing. We’re going to lose! I’m losing to that thundering dumbass! How can this…

Zeng Rui shook his head until all distracting thoughts were gone. He sat down on a fold-up chair. Then he placed his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands. Think. Think! He rubbed his temples, focusing only on the game ahead of him. The external stimuli disappeared. His teammates disappeared. 

Zeng Rui found himself in a dark space with only himself. How did it get to this? I need to think of something to deal with those two… But we dragged out the previous game just so I could think of how to deal with them. I couldn’t think of anything! I always know how to win. There is always a way! How are they… What are they… His head was throbbing and his eyes were bloodshot. He could hear his teammates talking again and the faint sound of the audience in the background, but he ignored them. He grabbed his phone and started searching the internet. I need to find something. Maybe if I… He didn’t even know what search terms to put in, or where to look. He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. We can’t deal with them. I can’t deal with them. They’re too good together. How are they so good?

A tournament official walked up to Shanghai High School’s team and informed them that the next game was about to begin and that they had to go back up on stage. Zeng Rui nodded and looked past the official. He saw the audience roaring and cheering outside. He didn’t want to go and he could tell his teammates didn’t want to go out there either. But they had little choice. Zeng Rui took two deep breaths, then raised his head and looked at his teammates. “We’re not giving up. This next game is ours. I’ll tell you guys how once we start playing. Let’s get back to the computers.” I still have time. Walk slowly to the stage. Take our time in Champion Select. There’s still time to think of something. There must be something we can do, right…?

✹

The mood in High School 13’s team was completely different from Shanghai High School’s. They were little balls of excitement and nerves. They were so proud of what they’d achieved so far, while also being extremely nervous about the next game. Everything they’d been working so hard for these last two months was winding down to the final moments. They were one game away from winning the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! This was their Championship point! Their hearts were pounding in their throats. Beads of sweat were forming on their foreheads. And their hands were trembling.

Chen Ze looked over at Lin Feng and said, “Those Ahri plays though. You madman. That was awesome!”

Lin Feng laughed and pounded his chest. “I know, right! I’m really good at Ahri too!”

“Hey Hey!” Wei Dong interrupted. “Don’t forget about BunBun! Her Lee Sin basically won us that game single-handedly!”

Chen Ze waved his finger at Wei Dong and shouted, “Right! BunBun was the madwoman! We need a female Lee skin just for her! She was like a pro up there! That was double awesome!”

An Xin shook her head, smiling, and said, “We all did great. It was a team effort. And Lin Feng, learn some modesty, or else…” She raised her fist and reminded him of only last night when she’d punched him in the face.

Lin Feng, however, didn’t make the connection between the fist and last night. But he did know what An Xin wanted to hear. He laughed and said, “Ok ok, team effort. It was definitely a team effort!”

Tang Bingyao looked at her four teammates laughing together. She watched Lin Feng and An Xin starting off another one of their little arguments, the murder smile already creeping up on An Xin’s face. Tang Bingyao chewed on the inside of her cheeks and zoned her friends out and let the other sounds in. The cheering audience hit her in full force. They were chanting For High School 13. For An Xin. For Lin Feng. Not for me. I screwed up. I don’t deserve any compliments… I should’ve… If I didn’t try and force a play, maybe… She shook her head and tried to drown out the audience.

After the audience was gone, her teammates’ conversation entered her ears again. Tang Bingyao stared at the ground. “Lin Feng, you’re so good! And you were also great, BunBun! The best!” These were the words of Tang Bingyao’s friends. None of these compliments were directed towards her. I don’t deserve any. She chewed harder on the inside of her cheeks, stamping her foot on the ground and blinking away a tear. Why can’t I. I… Maybe if I’d done something different? Am I not good— No! She shook her head, banishing that last thought from her mind.

Maybe Lin Feng could cheer me up… Tang Bingyao looked wistfully at Lin Feng. He was sitting next to An Xin, their faces awfully close together. She frowned and her eyes felt moist. I can’t be with him. She’s his. They’re so good together. It only makes sense. Tang Bingyao felt her chest physically hurting as those last thoughts appeared. Then came the memories she had of the times she’d seen Lin Feng and An Xin together.

The first time An Xin arrived in class… Why did she have to come to our school?
Last night, after the Semifinals, when they went home together. Why didn’t he invite me to his place?
Later last night, when they were streaming together. They looked so happy… Everyone was saying what a great couple they were… 

Tang Bingyao wiped her eyes dry, and then her cheeks. Why am I crying? What do I care what he does with his life? It’s not my life. She’d long forgotten about the game and her disappointing performance. She was upset about that, no doubt. But seeing Lin Feng happy with An Xin hurt far more! I don’t want to care. I don’t care! He can do whatever he wants! Mhm! She looked up and saw An Xin looking at her. Tang Bingyao’s eyes went wide. Did… Did she see me cry?

An Xin saw the pain on Tang Bingyao’s face. It was the same pain she’d seen the night before. You poor girl… She took a deep breath and then waved for Tang Bingyao to come over. “Tang Tang. Come, join us. The fourth game is about to begin and we need to go over our game plan again. I made a couple of changes. I think you might like them.”

Lin Feng turned to look at An Xin and said, “Changes? Why not stay with the same comp as last game? Our Mid-Jungle synergy is the best! We’ll wreck them and win that trophy!”

“Yeah! Let’s go with the same team composition as last game! Shanghai High School couldn’t do anything against us!” Wei Dong said, grinning.

“Right! Do you two have more deadly combos like the Ahri-Lee Sin one? I want to see something like that again! Madman and madwoman tearing the game up! Come on, come on, show us!” Chen Ze said with a big, carefree grin.

“Shut up. I’m the coach,” An Xin said sternly. Wei Dong and Chen Ze closed their mouths. Lin Feng tried to complain some more, but was quickly shut down. “We’re going for another substitution this game,” An Xin said. She turned to look at Wei Dong and continued, “You’re sitting out. I’ll play Support and we’ll have Liu Yue back in the Jungle.”

“Oh, uh… sure,” Wei Dong mumbled. He got up from his seat and waved over towards Liu Yue, then halted. He turned back to look at An Xin and asked, “BunBun, are you sure about this? You and Lin Feng were so good together… I really want to win  this tournament, you know…”

“Yeah! See? They also want to see us play together!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “Just stay in the Jungle! You can always play some duo queue later with Tang Tang if you really want to Support her!”

An Xin glared at Lin Feng and asked, clearly articulating every word, “Are you the coach, or am I? I am, right? Ok. So shut up.” She then turned to look at Tang Bingyao and smiled. “Tang Tang, let’s kick some ass together! Show everyone that two girls can beat eight guys.” Then she winked.

“Eight? W—” Lin Feng barely got one word out when An Xin glared at him. He ducked away and knew that An Xin was serious now, so he kept his mouth shut.

Tang Bingyao sat in her chair, stunned. Why does she want to come down to bot lane and be my Support… Is it to babysit me? Is she worried I’ll feed again? She finally nodded and said, “Oh… Okay.” But she’s really good at jungling… She looked up at An Xin and said in a near whisper, “Are you sure you want to come Support? I think it’d be easier for you to carry us in the Jungle. I mean, I’ve lost bot three times now and we’ve still won… Maybe just stay in the Jungle and carry us from there.”

“Oh, please! You didn’t lose. You were just in a hard lane and you kept it at least even! Don’t worry about it. I’m coming to Support you and that’s that,” An Xin said, leaving no room for discussion. She hesitated a moment before adding, “Don’t misunderstand me here. This is a serious strategy, and I play a pretty mean Support. Anyway, what do you say? Shall we show these boys how much better we are?”

“I don’t get it. Your Jungle is way better. Why would you go Support…?” Lin Feng muttered.

An Xin smiled at Lin Feng, balling her fists, and asked, “You’re really testing my patience. I’ll punch you in the face and then I’ll kick you in your balls if you don’t shut up and do as I say. I’m the coach, not you! If I say you jump off a bridge, I better see you jumping!”

✹

Shanghai High School’s team walked back up on the stage and sat down behind their computers again. A tournament official walked over and whispered something into Zeng Rui’s ear. He looked over at High School 13’s team and spotted the change. They had made another substitution. Their coach was now Support and their original Jungler was back in the Jungle. He gritted his teeth and mumbled to himself, “What’s she doing? What is her strategy? Is she just trying to mock me? Trying to get to me? Is that how she wants to beat me?”

“Uh, Captain?” a Shanghai High School teammate asked over the team’s voice chat.

Zeng Rui looked up and nodded at his teammates. Then he said over the team’s voice chat, “I don’t know what those guys are up to. They made another substitution… Whatever. It doesn’t matter. We’re sticking to our strategy as planned. There’s no value in throwing things around now. Let’s ban LeBlanc, Fizz, and Ahri.”

The Champion Select went fast. High School 13 was playing on the Blue Team, while Shanghai High School was on the Red Team. They banned the Champions they didn’t want to play against and picked the ones that fit their team compositions. Then the game went into the loading screen, allowing the audience to see the final line up for Game 4 of the Finals.

Game 4 of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament Finals:

High School 13 (Blue) versus Shanghai High School (Red)

Top lane: Irelia versus Gragas
Jungle: Jarvan IV versus Lee Sin
Mid lane: Lulu versus Yasuo
AD-carry: Vayne versus Kalista
Support: Nami versus Leona

High School 13’s substitution was not announced to the audience yet. Some had noticed the line up change, but they weren’t sure what that meant. Then came the loading screen and they could see what changed. An Xin’s name was underneath the Nami’s portrait, while Liu Yue was playing Jarvan IV in the Jungle.

“OH MY GOD! She’s going Support! She’s going Support!”
“Coach, Jungler, and Support? What is she? A Queen of All Trades?”
“An all girl bot lane! ALL GIRL BOT LANE! Show us that GIRL POWEERRRRRRRR!”

《Your team has destroyed a turret!》

At 13 minutes, Lin Feng and An Xin had destroyed Shanghai High School’s outer tower in the mid lane, while Shanghai High School had killed Tang Bingyao’s Vayne. Both sides looked towards the Dragon. Lin Feng was the first to walk down the river towards the Dragon pit, with An Xin following right behind him. They dropped down wards near the river entrances to guard against any potential flanks from Shanghai High School.

Zeng Rui also decided to head for the Dragon pit. He said over the team’s voice chat, “Stop them at Dragon.” After which he had his Nami move up into the river. The Jinx and Elise followed right behind him, all three of them dropping down wards where they could. Zeng Rui didn’t feel like getting blindsided again and kept hammering on the need for more wards. They arrived at the Dragon pit at the same time as Lin Feng and An Xin. Both teams started firing off skillshots at each other, looking for an opening or a play.

“This’ll be interesting!” Westwind’s voice boomed through the venue. “Shanghai High School is the stronger team right now. 3vs2 and all! No way that Zeng Rui is going to give the Dragon to High School 13! Look at how they’re only using poking abilities. They’re saving all their crowd control for the engage.”

Silent Reed nodded and said, “This is going to be a feisty one! Fireworks and the whole shabingle! But they’re patient. Shanghai High School is waiting for the Syndra to finally arrive! That’s also giving High School 13’s Vayne the time to respawn and join the fight again! It’s just… That Vayne is in a pretty bad spot right now. She must be feeling terrible.”

Shanghai High School had a lot going for them in terms of kills and item advantages, especially between ad-carries. But it wasn’t all good news for them. Jinx and Syndra, their two main damage carries, didn’t have Flash available. They had to play a lot more carefully, because one misstep was it for them. So they sat in the back, hiding far behind their Darius and Elise, and waited for an angle to dash out some damage.

At 13:50 minutes, all hell broke loose. High School 13 had retreated back into their own Jungle near the Blue Buff Camp. They played around with the vision there, trying to land skillshots that Shanghai High School didn’t see coming. An Xin finally fired off a Sonic Wave that connected with Shanghai High School’s Elise. A pair of eyes and a half moon appeared above the Elise, covered in a blue radiance. Lee Sin knew exactly where his target was. He could dash towards her and attack!

Lin Feng was getting bored with playing it safe. So, when An Xin hit the Sonic Wave, he shot up straight in his chair and shouted over the team’s voice chat, “Nice! Awesome! Go in! GoGoGoGO!”

“I’m not deaf! Stop shouting in my ears!” An Xin shouted. One, she didn’t need her ears blown off by Lin Feng. And two, she didn’t need Lin Feng telling her to go in. She knew that perfectly well herself. She pressed down on the Q key to activate the second half of her skill–Resonating Strike! The Lee Sin dashed towards the Elise. Then he placed a ward behind the Elise and hopped towards it–Safeguard! He was right in front of the Jinx, who didn’t have her Flash available. But he did. He blinked past her, turned around, and sent her flying towards High School 13’s team with a roundhouse kick–Dragon’s Rage!

“YEEEEEEEKUUUUUUUUUUUUH!” Lee Sin’s voice boomed out from the speakers in the venue, quickly followed by the deafening cheers of the audience. It all happened so fast! One moment the two teams were trying to get some poke in on each other. The next, Jinx was flying over towards High School 13’s team!

“Nice! We got her! Gimme the kill! Gimme gimme gimme!” Lin Feng exclaimed as he pressed down on his R key–Spirit Dash! His Ahri jumped forward, firing off an essence bolt at the Jinx who was still in midair. Then she aimed her Charm at the Jinx. Charmed! The Jinx was infatuated with the Ahri and started slowly ambling towards her like a love struck puppy. The Ahri activated her remaining two skills, Orb of Deception and Fox-Fire. The orb that Ahri always carried with her flew through the Jinx and then back again, while three Fox-Fires shot towards the Jinx and burned away what little remained of her health.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Shanghai High School lost their main carry before the fight had even started! This was a massive blow to team morale! Worse even, the Darius had flashed forward to try and stop the Ahri. But not only did he fail to stop her, his Flash was also completely wasted. Ahri’s ultimate skill had three charges. She used one to get close to the Jinx, and the other two to run away from the Darius. Shanghai High School’s Toplaner was cursing relentlessly at himself. He was so far out of position that his team couldn’t help him. High School 13’s Dr. Mundo was hurling cleavers at him, while Vayne started firing off silver bolts.

The fight started at the Jungle entrance near the Red Team’s Blue Buff Camp. It was a funnel point that Shanghai High School was afraid to step into. The Syndra moved forward, intending to help her team, but a Death Sentence came flying at her from the fog of war. By the time she saw it, she was already hooked. Shanghai High School’s Midlaner followed the example of their Toplaner and started cursing over the team’s voice chat.

Zeng Rui shouted over the team’s voice chat, “Quiet and focus! Wait for my call to retreat.” Then he pressed down on the R key in an attempt to give his teammates a way out–Tidal Wave! His Nami called forth a wave that surged through the funnel, knocking four High School 13 champions up into the air! Then she threw an Aqua Prison towards the fifth player before turning around and running away. Zeng Rui ordered over the team’s voice chat, “Now. Retreat!”

The Elise followed closely behind the Nami and got away from High School 13. But the Syndra was still hooked by the Thresh and Darius was slowed by Dr. Mundo’s cleavers. Neither was able to get away with their lives. Their screens turned grey and their Champions were sent back to the fountain. The teamfight was a resounding victory for High School 13, which was made even sweeter when they took the Dragon on the back of it. The first Dragon Buff granted bonus attack damage and ability power. High School 13 had turned their fortune in the span of one teamfight. They went from falling behind to being back in the driver’s seat!

Westwind shot up from his seat and shouted out, “OH MY! Beautiful! That was absolutely stunning! STUNNING!” Then he moved his microphone to just above the caster desk. He raised his hand and then smacked it down as hard as he could. The microphone picked up the impact sound and sent it booming through the speakers in the venue, silencing the audience. He smiled and continued, “This wasn’t a High School 13 win. It wasn’t! This was a Mid-Jungle win! That Ahri and Lee Sin are so good together! It’s like they can read each other’s minds! Their synergy is definitely over 9000!”

Silent Reed asked, “How many times is this now? Three? Four? I hope we get to see more of them. I’ll never get bored of watching those two play. They’re so good together…”

“Fourth. Must be the fourth time already! It’s insane!” Westwind replied. He shook his head and continued, “They’re such a scary combo. Shit. That Lee Sin and Ahri are like a match made in Heaven! The best of the best! You can call them high schoolers all you want, but they look better than most professional players! Watch my words, those two are going to make it big! I’ll eat my shoes if they’re not going pro!”

Westwind and Silent Reed were saying what everyone else was thinking. From first time League of Legends viewers to professional players and coaches, they all agreed that the way Lin Feng and An Xin were playing together was something special. Coaches from all the different professional teams were looking at their lineups and seeing how they could fit these two monster talents in. Because the way that Lin Feng and An Xin picked off the Jinx was a work of art, something that belonged in the LPL. They belonged in the LPL.

Zeng Rui sat back in his chair, frowning. This game was entirely outside even his wildest predictions and expectations. I screwed up. My calculations are off. I didn’t expect the thundering dumbass to be so good. I didn’t expect that dumb coach to be so good. But we can work around that. I just don’t know how to work around them when they’re playing together. How do you stop… that? Shit! How are they this good? It’s ridiculous! That’s what it is! Just… how?

Zeng Rui shook his head, his brain functioning at a hundred and twenty per cent. He had to come up with a method to deal with the Ahri and Lee Sin. Those two were too strong together. Dammit! They knew this. They knew! That Ahri is fed, she can blow up whoever she wants and the Lee Sin just helps with the engage! We can’t win a fight right now… He let out a deep, long sigh. And we’ll lose the late game as well. When all champions are Level 18 and have five or six items, Dr. Mundo and Vayne are better than Darius and Jinx. Now or late game, it doesn’t matter. They prepared for every perceivable situation and are now just bringing this win home. Did she really think all of this out? Shit! She’s scary.

Once Zeng Rui understood that the game was lost, he got very practical. He told his teammates it was over, and that they were going to drag it out for as long as they could, so that he could review their approach for the next game and double and triple check whether they needed to make any last minute changes. I really dislike making last minute changes. But I might have to. I can’t be stubborn and refuse to see the problems. Something has to give, or we’re losing the next game as well. Damn it. We lost. We lost again. Shit!

Tang Bingyao and Chen Ze never got the chance to build the items they needed to become a threat in this game. Lin Feng and An Xin carried High School 13 to a win long before that. At 29 minutes, they forced another teamfight and aced Shanghai High School. Then they killed Baron Nashor and recalled back to base to spend their gold. A minute later, they were storming down the mid lane and besieged Shanghai High School’s base. The siege lasted exactly 20 seconds, when An Xin’s Lee Sin landed another vital Sonic Wave. The resulting teamfight was a one-sided stomp. High School 13 lost one champion while acing Shanghai High School for a second time. Then they destroyed the inhibitor tower, the inhibitor, the nexus towers, and finally the Nexus. A red victory crest floated up over the screen.

VICTORY

“WOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Westwind cried out into his microphone. “HIGH SCHOOL 13 HAS DONE IT FOR A SECOND TIME! They’re up 2-1 in the Finals of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! One more win! One more win is all they need to win the whole tournament! Who would’ve thought? No one, right?” He chuckled before continuing, “But here we are. MATCH POINT FOR HIGH SCHOOL 13, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Silent Reed was on her feet as well and shouted, “AMAZING! Beautiful! What a game by them! What a game by Lin Feng and An Xin! They carried this game so hard! They’re really something special together. Oh Em G. That was so impressive!”

The audience was up on their feet, jumping and shouting for the two players of the match. Lin Feng and An Xin’s performance was so good that the rest of High School 13’s team might as well not have been there! No one noticed the stunned expressions of Wei Dong and Chen Ze as they stared at the victory screen, deeply impressed by Lin Feng and An Xin. Nor did anyone notice Tang Bingyao bordering on the verge of tears. The audience only cared about Lin Feng and An Xin right now!

“WIN FENG! WIN FENG!”
“AN WINS! AN WINS!”
“BEST LEAGUE COUPLE EVER!”
“WOOOOOOOOO!”
“AHHHHHH! Those two are soooooooo good!”
“Are we up? Are we really winning? Tell me, are we winning? Am I seeing this right? Ohhhh!”
“Hahaha! No more losers! High School 13 is finally good for something thanks to Lin Feng and An Xin! You two are the best! WHAAAAAAA!”

“WOOOO! What a level of play! Phenomenal teamplay by both sides!” Westwind shouted into his microphone. He looked out at the audience and then back at the screen above the stage. “Now, some of you might not play that much League, so let Reed and me give you all a little insight into just how good this game is!” He turned to Silent Reed and said, “Why don’t you kick it off? What’s happening in the… hmm, top lane?”

Silent Reed glanced at her spectator screen and said into her microphone, “Top lane is an interesting match up. Darius versus Dr. Mundo. It’s a time battle. Mundo is way scarier after he gets a couple of defensive items. You wanna go one of two extremes. Ignore his existence, or beat him down until he can’t leave the fountain anymore! Looks like Shanghai High School is going with the first option. That makes it a question of how good this Mundo is. Can he annoy Shanghai High School enough to make them focus him down? But until Mundo gets those items, Darius is going to enjoy the advantage. His dunk to win style will be the far bigger threat for the next couple of minutes.”

Westwind laughed and responded, “Couldn’t agree more! Exactly right! Alright, let’s move on to another lane. I’m sure the crowd would love to hear what I think of the mid lane. RIGHT? RIGHT? I CAN’T HEAR YOUUUU!” He grinned at himself, the audience still going along with him, and then continued, “Lin Feng is ahead. That’s right! You heard it here first! The guy on the killing spree is stronger than the one on a dying spree! High School 13 has the clear lead here! Now… Drum roll… Reed, talk us through the bot lane?”

“I think we just saw what it looks like in the bot lane. Zeng Rui is just so much better than High School 13’s Support. You don’t need to be an expert to see that,” Silent Reed started. She then took a long look at Tang Bingyao and continued, “I would’ve liked to see the girl do well. We don’t see enough female players on the big stage. But Shanghai High School is just better in the bot lane.”

Westwind nodded and shouted, “It’s okay! Because High School 13 has two female players! Their ad-carry and their Jungler! Oh boy. Let me tell y’all something. That Jungler. She’s good. She’s really, really good! Her ganks are what’s keeping High School 13 in this game! But the Elise is also doing pretty well for herself, especially considering how painful the start of the game was for her. Taking everything into consideration, I’m going to give a small edge to High School 13 in the Jungle!”

Silent Reed giggled and said, “That is why this game is so even! Top and bot are in Shanghai High School’s favour right now, while mid and jungle are going High School 13’s way. There really is no telling who’s going to win this one. But I have a feeling that something is about to happen. Something big. Game deciding big. I’m really looking forward to the fight that’s going to turn this game in one team’s favour.”

✹

Tang Bingyao sat behind her computer, beads of sweat popping up on her forehead. I need to be better. Mhm, better! She focused on the game, like she’d seen Lin Feng do so many times before. The minions were losing health. Right before one died, she had her Vayne fire off a silver bolt. The minion was pierced and collapsed to the ground. Another point added to her creep score. Her tally was steadily increasing, but she was still lagging behind Shanghai High School’s ad-carry. I can’t lose. I have to be better! Maybe if I say the voice lines like Lin Feng does… She thought of Vayne’s quotes and mumbled under her breath, “I bring swift death.” She cringed.

No. No. Mnh-mnh! Tang Bingyao shook her head and kicked the back of her desk in frustration. “Ah!” she groaned before shutting up again. I’ve lost a lane in three games now. All three. I’m losing. Losing. Again and again. I must be better. For the team… For Lin Feng. Her mind distracted her just a bit too much. She missed a minion. No! She bit her lips, fighting back more and more against her own spiraling thoughts. In Game 1 I only got kills because Lin Feng gave them to me. He could’ve gotten a penta if he didn’t try to help me… Then the second game I lost. We lost because of me. And now again. I’m losing. I’m losing…

The only pressure Tang Bingyao felt was the pressure she was putting on herself. But it was suffocating. She could only think of the mistakes she’d made, glossing over everything she had done right, and how she had to play better. She bit hard on her lips, the sweet taste of iron seeping onto her tongue. Stop. Stop thinking about this. Focus. I just need to play better. I can’t drag them down. I… Mhm, I need to try harder. I won’t drag Lin Feng and the others down. I can’t disappoint him!

Tang Bingyao focused on her screen. The game was 11 minutes in. Shanghai High School’s Botlaners were pushing the minion wave towards the Red Team’s outer tower. Jinx had taken out her bazooka and was firing off missiles, their splash damage poking down at the Vayne and Thresh’s health bars. 

I can’t let this continue Tang Bingyao thought. The Jinx could just keep abusing her range and eventually force her back to base, dead or alive. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her hand was shaking, nervous. I have to play better and make something happen! I’ll finally help the team! Mhm!

Tang Bingyao’s Vayne was hit by another Jinx rocket while she was trying to last hit a minion from under her tower. I can’t sit here. I have to move! She ignored the minions, letting her outer tower kill them, and fired off a silver bolt at the Jinx. I’m going in! She moved forward, another Jinx missile taking a bite out of her health bar. She fired off a second silver bolt. The Jinx threw out her Flame Chompers in reflex. The three stun grenades landed right in front of the Vayne.

Tang Bingyao’s face lit up. Mhm. This was what she’d been waiting for. She pressed down on her R key–Final Hour! A dark aura wrapped around her Vayne, increasing her stats. Then she Tumbled forward, dodging the stun grenades and disappearing into stealth.

Zeng Rui narrowed his eyes. He expected a move from the Vayne and here it was. There weren’t many directions the Vayne could go in. Jinx’s Flame Chompers and the wall of trees along the lane forced the Vayne onto a small path. One, two… Now! Zeng Rui pressed down on his Q key–Aqua Prison! His Nami manifested a large bubble of water and tossed it out in the path of the Vayne.

Tang Bingyao was anticipating the Aqua Prison, ready to Flash over it. Her Vayne disappeared from the exact spot the bubble landed and reappeared a short distance away. But there was more to this Flash than just dodging the stun. It also positioned the Vayne perfectly for a Condemn! She lifted the large crossbow from her back, aimed at the Jinx whose back was to the wall, and squeezed the trigger. A thick, massive bolt flew through the air and pierced the Jinx, lifting her off the ground and pinning her to the wall. Stunned!

“We have an engage in bot! HIGH SCHOOL 13 IS GOIN’ FOR IT!” Westwind shouted into his microphone. He was up on his feet, supporting one arm on the desk and clutching his microphone with the other. “WHAT A FLASH-DODGE! INSANE! Is this going to be the comeback? Maybe! MAYBE! Watch out for the Tidal Wave! WATCH OUT!”

Tang Bingyao had been so caught up in her own head that she forgot to communicate with Wei Dong. She’d engaged without telling him a thing. He chased after her, trying to catch up while being out of range to offer any support or help. “Tang Tang! Wait! We don’t have any wards in the river! Tang Tang!”

“Now,” Zeng Rui said over the team’s voice chat as he pressed down on the R key–Tidal Wave! His Nami called forth a giant wave that washed over the Vayne and Thresh, knocking them up into the air. Elise then walked out of the brush at the river entrance, which was only a few steps away from where the Jinx was stunned into the wall. She fired off a globule of webs at the Vayne–Cocoon! The sticky webbings wrapped around the Vayne until they fit so tightly around her that she couldn’t move at all anymore.

Tang Bingyao felt her heart drop. The Jinx only had a little bit of health remaining. Just a few more hits. A few more! Please! She frantically clicked, chewing on her lips and shaking her head in refusal. I won’t die. Mnh-mnh. But just because she didn’t want to die, that didn’t mean Shanghai High School would let her live. The Elise transformed arachnid form. She pounced on the Vayne and sunk her fangs deep into the Night Hunter’s flesh–Venomous Bite! Then the Jinx broke free from the stun and switched to her minigun before firing off a close range Super Mega Death Rocket!

《You have been slain!》

Tang Bingyao slumped back into her seat as her screen turned grey. Shit. She could feel vibrations come up from the ground beneath her feet. She looked up past her screen and saw the audience. They were jumping and cheering. If she focused on it, she could even hear them. They were cheering for Zeng Rui, shouting at the top of their lungs that his Support was the best.  I… I… She let go of her mouse and keyboard as her hands fell down past the desk and to her side. It took her everything she had not to let her head fall down on the keyboard. That was all my fault. I… I should’ve… I’m losing these Finals. I don’t want to… I don’t want to play anymore.

“WOOOO!” Westwind shouted, enjoying the moment. Then, after waiting for the cheering crowd to quiet down, he turned to Silent Reed and said, “So much for an even game. That girl in the bot lane is tilting hard! She had no vision and tried to 1vs2! These are the Finals of a big tournament, not some random solo queue game! I wonder what in the world she was thinking…”

Silent Reed shook her head and replied, “Yep. She’s showing that she has skill. But why waste it like that? There were no wards. She didn’t know where Elise was. Her mechanics are so good! But come on, you can’t just go in 1vs2 when you don’t know where the enemy Jungler is. That’s just common sense.”

Back on stage, Zeng Rui nodded at his screen. At the Vayne’s body. She’s tilting. That’ll make this game a lot easier. She won’t be much of a threat and we can get a few more kills on her if she keeps falling for these obvious baits. We’re going to need that for… He turned his attention to the mid lane and frowned. … those two. Their mid-jungle synergy is really good. That’s going to become a big problem. We have to do something about them. Soon preferably, or…

✹

Lin Feng pushed out the lane and attacked the Blue Team’s outer tower. The Syndra was desperately trying to hold it, but Lin Feng dodged all of her skillshots while hitting back with his own, The outer tower almost didn’t have any health left, so the Syndra started retreating back towards her inner tower. Just then, An Xin appeared from the jungle entrance between the outer and inner tower.

“Shit!” Shanghai High School’s Midlaner cursed as he slammed down on his D key–Flash! His Syndra flashed past the Lee Sin and towards her inner tower. There she kept running all the way back to her base and then the last bit to the fountain. She was terrified of the Ahri and Lee Sin, and scared that if she stopped running the two would catch up to her and kill her. “These stupid… Ugh! Sorry guys. I’m trying, it’s just. Shit! Sorry, that was close. I don’t have Flash anymore.”

Lin Feng and An Xin didn’t mind that their play in the mid lane didn’t end with a kill. Forcing the Flash and taking down the tower was more than enough. Besides, the Syndra was on a dying spree and wasn’t worth much gold to begin with. The same couldn’t be said about the Jinx. She was a nice, juicy target with a big bounty on her head. Lin Feng grinned and said over the team’s voice chat, “Let’s go shut that Jinx down!”

“Sure, she’s had enough fun,” An Xin replied.

「HELL YEAH WE DID!!!! BUNBUN 6666666」
「GODLEE! Oh wait! GODDESS LEE! WAIT! NO! AHHH GET THE EYE BLEACH!」
「bunbun is da friggn best ÜÜÜ」

Su Xue was watching the Finals of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament on her own stream. Her viewers were going bananas over An Xin’s play in the bot lane, where she had picked off the Nami from under Red team’s outer tower. Su Xue wasn’t even remotely as excited as they were. She’d slumped back in her chair and was now complaining. “She didn’t even get the double kill!” That was the question Su Xue kept asking in her mind after the gank ended. There were three Champions there. They had killed Nami without losing any health at all, and they’d done it quickly. It didn’t make any sense at all to Su Xue. Why didn’t she also kill the Jinx? It was so easy! Then she shook her head. Nah, nevermind! Forgot about that for now. This is a good chance to practice some live commentating. I gotta make this fun! She perked back up and leaned closer into the microphone, “That was great! Did you guys think our BunBun was this good? I know I’m surprised! I played with her last night and I could tell she was good at League. But that play… did you guys see that? Holy shit! My heart’s still pounding! She forced a play out of nothing! Only our BunBun could pull something like that off!”

「Of course we did. We ain’t blind! Now get back to commentating! You still have to practice!!」
「Yeah! share your deep insights with us, Maid Su!」
「hahahah, xue xue,, show us how much you know of this game Xdd」
「well give you some much needed feedback **wink wink**」

Su Xue read the chat and pretended to be annoyed. “Who you callin’ a maid? You’re the maid!” This was all part of being a good streamer. She needed to let them see that she was reading their messages and reacting to what they said. If she just did her own thing and the chat talked to each other, there was no interaction. Then she giggled, waved her hand and cleared her throat. Su Xue waited for 30 seconds to let the chat cooldown. Let’s see if all that work learning how to shoutcast got me somewhere. 

“Hihi guys! Let’s talk about this play a little! I’ll break it down for you and tell you what I saw. It’ll be so fun! Shoutcaster Su Xue, reporting for duty! First things first, I’m going to say that I’m a little sad they didn’t go for a double kill. That would’ve been so EXCITING, right? But I’m guessing that all their skills were on cooldown right after they killed Nami. And with that Darius teleporting in… retreating was probably the smart decision to make. They ended it on a high note and an absolute victory. If they went in on the Jinx while also trying to fight off the Darius… it wouldn’t have gone so well for them. Best case scenario, only one of them would die and add an asterix to that play. Worst case scenario, all of them end up dead and the play goes from a win to a loss.” 

Su Xue paused after she said all that to catch her breath. She didn’t actually need the break, but it was a good way to let her viewers digest all of the information she threw at them. Then she took a sip of water and winked at the camera. 

“Teehee! Everyone get all that? Ready to keep going? Okay! Let’s talk about what happened during the gank. We’ll break the whole thing down together. You guys keep an eye on me though, tell me if I get anything wrong or miss something important!” 

Su Xue leaned in a little bit closer to the camera and looked directly at it. 

“So the whole thing started with Thresh and Vayne squaring up against Nami. Our BunBun was running down to bot lane. When she got close enough, Thresh went in and started the whole thing. He threw a Death Sentence right at Nami. We all thought he was going to hook Nami and pull her in. But then he missed! I thought the whole thing was going to go south when he missed! But it turns out that was part of the play. Nami moved to the side to avoid the hook, and THAT’S WHEN THE PLAY ACTUALLY STARTED! I almost missed the moment when Vayne tumbled forward and pinned Nami to the wall with Condemn! They used the hook from Death Sentence to misdirect Nami! HOW BRILLIANT WAS THAT?” 

Su Xue paused and shifted in her seat. Then she pulled her mic a little bit closer. This was a tactic she learned from other streamers to make sure everyone was still listening and not tuning her out. 

“Once Nami got pinned to the wall, that’s when An Xin arrived! BunBun! She dashed around so quickly I could barely see what she was doing. But back to this, Nami’s pinned to the wall under her tower. That would’ve been a problem for anyone else, but not An Xin! Lee Sin runs in and throws down a ward near Nami. Then he dashes to the ward with Safeguard. AND THEN IMMEDIATELY USES FLASH TO GET BEHIND THE NAMI AND REPOSITION HIMSELF SO HE’S FACING VAYNE AND THRESH! That was the real centerpoint of the play. Now Lee Sin is standing there with the tower behind him and Nami in front of him. But he’s also in the tower’s attack range! Lee Sin kicks the Nami towards Vayne and Thresh, away from the tower. Then he uses Sonic Wave to mark Nami’s new position and rushes out of the tower’s range with Resonating Strike! Purr-fection!” 

Su Xue stopped to giggle at her pun. Then she licked her lips because she’d managed to tickle them with all the purring. Her plan was to end it with the wordplay. But she decided that it wasn’t a good conclusion. So she added, “One mistake and she would’ve died. She only survived because she linked everything together seamlessly! Those scrubs from Shanghai High School can’t do anything to stop her! She’s way too cute and too good at League!”

「6666666!!!1!」
「thought for sure she ded. but then she dashed after the nami…. Crazy」
「who cares about lil bro???? ALL WE NEED IS BUNBUN!!!!!!!!」
「BunBun is so friggin cool. I mean… I knew she was good, but that good? Man! I’m so impressed」

“Oh, look! They’re showing us the players!” Su Xue exclaimed. The official broadcast zoomed in on Zeng Rui looking annoyed. A few seconds later, it switched to An Xin’s smiling face. Then Wei Dong’s mouth falling open in surprise. And finally, it showed Tang Bingyao. Her head was hung low, and she looked a little sad. Even. Su Xue didn’t notice at first. She was only pointing at her screen and shouting, “That girl right there! Her! She’s the one Lin Feng keeps going out to see! It’s her! Ha— Uh? What’s wrong with her?”

Tang Bingyao had gotten the kill! Her Vayne was the heroine of this gank! She should’ve been celebrating. Or at least happy. But she didn’t look happy or excited. Instead, she was shaking her head and mumbling to herself. Then she looked aimlessly at her screen and the players next to her. She looked downright miserable! Su Xue scratched the back of her head and mumbled, “Did she eat something bad?” Then she shook her head and laughed at the camera again. “Anyway, see? I told you Lin Feng is a pervert! He chases after all the pretty girls! I think we should teach him a lesson about monogamy!”

「Thats lil bro for you!! Hahahahahha」
「She looks so sad!!! I really wanna go hug her and cheer her up :(((」
「lil bro has two GFs???? MY HERO! HERO!!1!!」
「lil bro is livin the life! He has a maid and AT LEAST two girls by his side! sooooo jealous >.<”」
「Monogamy only for tha fugly bishs!!!!!」

✹

There weren’t many people in the competitive scene who remembered An Xin. Most people in the Chinese esports scene didn’t even know who she was. But Chu Fang was one of the select few who knew her and remembered her. An Xin was the Coach for Lin Feng’s old team. She was right there with them, helping them get all the way to the Finals of the Season 1 World Championships. And she wasn’t just a coach either. An Xin was right up there with the rest of Lin Feng’s old team when it came to playing League of Legends. 

Chu Fang sat backstage, watching the game. His eyes were glued to the screen and his cheeks were red from the strain of the permanent smile plastered on his face. An Xin and Lin Feng! Playing together again! This is too good to be true! When An Xin ganked bot lane and pulled off a seamless play, he almost jumped up and started clapping. But he remembered his position and composed himself, covering up his glee with a quick cough. Not very well though. It was not difficult to notice how proud he was of An Xin after that play. 

“That’s BunBun for you!” he exclaimed to no one in particular while laughing. Then his screen showed all five players from High School 13. Lin Feng and An Xin were arguing about something. Chu Feng watched them and smiled. Waves of nostalgia washed over Chu Fang. This argument reminded him of all the arguments and fights those two had in the past. “Haha! I can’t believe they’re still doing that! Hell will freeze over before those two stop bickering.”

✹

Lin Feng panned his camera to the bot lane, confused, and blurted out, “Huh? You did a tower dive in bot?”

An Xin looked over at him and said, “Yeah, I did. I told you I was going all out this game.”

Wei Dong, still reeling and trying to piece together how they went from him missing the skillshot to killing, had no idea that Lin Feng and An Xin were talking. He didn’t hear what was said. Or the tone of the conversation. The poor guy was just staring at his screen and awed by An Xin’s awesomeness. Then he had to finally give voice to what he was feeling. Which is why he exclaimed, ““Wow! BunBun, you’re so good! That ult-flash was amazing! I had no clue you were that good!”

Wei Dong was a nice guy. He wasn’t trying to spark a fire with that comment. If he’d known that a storm was brewing between An Xin and Lin Feng, he would’ve stayed quiet. Not said anything at all. Ouyang had already warned him about how bad things got when Lin Feng and An Xin argued. It wasn’t just a simple warning or a for-your-information moment. Ouyang had told him that getting in between Lin Feng and An Xin during a fight would get him killed. That was the one thing that Wei Dong didn’t want to do. And somehow, that was exactly what he managed to do. Wei Dong was a truly unlucky soul. 

Lin Feng glared at Wei Dong and said, “Hey, hey! I can do that too! Just watch me, I’m coming bot!”

An Xin rolled her eyes back and slapped him down, “Don’t try to steal my spotlight! I know you’re a glory whore! Go win in your own lane so you can tell everyone how good you are at everything. There’s no one left for you to kill in bot. Who are you going to go for? The Darius? Who, by the way, you could’ve stopped if you started going to top! But you didn’t, so he teleported to bot lane to help his ad-carry! Or you going to do a towerdive and kill the Jinx? Or towerdive and kill them both? HAHAHAAH! YOU SHOULD DO THAT! Then you can tell everyone how you’re really good at rushing in and dying! Actually… Go ahead, show us how you’re going to kill them in bot.”

Lin Feng had no good comeback. He stopped pathing to bot lane and grumbled for a bit. Then he went back to farming minions in the mid lane. He knew that An Xin was right. 

Shanghai High School’s Toplaner had tried to save Zeng Rui’s Nami by teleporting to the bot lane. But he was too late. Nami had died before his Teleport finished channeling. He cursed at himself for being too late over the team’s voice chat. But Zeng Rui assured him that the Teleport was still good. It had stopped High School 13 from towerdiving the Jinx, and he could also stop them from taking the Dragon. There was, however, one big downside to his Teleport. That stupid Mundo is freefarming minions in the top lane while I’m stuck dicking around here. I’m not doing any god damned thing! How is this a good use of my teleport? It’s a waste. A complete fucking waste! I’m going to be behind in experience and gold. How am I supposed to keep that stupid briefcase throwing monster from scaling?

The game was still close in terms of gold, but the balance was slowly tipping in High School 13’s favour. Chen Ze was pulling ahead in the top lane, and Lin Feng was doing the same in the mid lane. They were only ahead by a few minions, but that was big in the early game. The deciding factor here was that Shanghai High School lost a fight in the bot lane. The only lane in which they’d been winning.

Zeng Rui lowered his head and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. I underestimated her. Shit. Why? How is she this good? It didn’t make sense to him. An Xin is the coach! Not a real player! A coach is supposed to be good at coaching and a player at playing. Not both. She shouldn’t be good at the game. Definitely not this good! 

He knew how valuable good coaches were. But the issue was that An Xin’s skill made her vastly more valuable to the team as a player. Zeng Rui couldn’t understand why High School 13 made someone as good as An Xin into a coach. She’s better than that other Jungler, dammit! He thought back to the professional teams Shanghai High School had practiced against over the last couple of months. She’s better than all of them. Is she? It looks like it. She’s like a professional Jungler… Wait. Is that it? Is she their secret weapon? If that’s the case, then we have to play more aggressively. Shut her down before she can set up another one of those plays. Maybe if we push her hard enough, she’ll start making mistakes. We can shut her down if we push harder in the bot lane… He took a deep breath and then said over the team’s voice chat, “Come gank bot in a minute.”

✹

At 9 minutes, Shanghai High School’s Elise had roamed down to bot lane. Zeng Rui told her where High School 13 had warded, so she walked around them. Then Zeng Rui had her wait while he looked for the perfect moment to engage. That came only a couple of seconds later when Vayne and Thresh moved too close together and a step too far forward. Zeng Rui activated his Nami’s ultimate skill–Tidal Wave! The Nami called forth a giant wave that surged towards the Vayne and Thresh, catching both of them off guard and knocking them up into the air.

The Elise ran into the lane and stopped in front of the Vayne. She waited until the last second before the Vayne hit the ground to hurl a Cocoon. Vayne was stunned!

Zeng Rui caught up to the Vayne and Exhausted her. A debilitating aura fell over her, vastly hampering her stats. Then he placed a Vision Ward. Vayne could turn invisible with Tumble after using her ultimate–⁠Final Hour. Zeng Rui wasn’t about to let that happen. While all of this was happening, Jinx peppered the Vayne with bullets from her minigun. The Vayne’s health quickly plummeted until there was nothing left.

《An ally has been slain!》

Wei Dong had been trying to do whatever he could to save Tang Bingyao instead of escaping what was a hopeless situation. After she died, he found himself facing three enemy champions alone with no way out. He started running to his outer tower, and the three champions from Shanghai High School chased after him. And somehow, against all odds, he managed to get underneath the tower. I-I survived? That was so clos— 

Just as he started relaxing under the safety of the tower, Shanghai High School’s champions decided to towerdive. He was fighting for his life again! CrapCrapCrap! I gotta do some— He panicked and started button mashing, activating every skill at his disposal with no rhyme or reason. He Flayed and threw out a Death Sentence, hoping just one of his skills would connect and help him maybe kill one of his attackers. But Shanghai High School was far too good for that. They juggled the turret’s aggro and killed his Thresh. Then they retreated, victorious. 

✹

The players from Tonji Affiliated High’s team were sitting at the front of the stadium. They heard the cheers erupt from the audience behind them, but didn’t join in themselves. Their Support shook his head and said, “That was a big mistake from High School 13. You really can’t underestimate Shanghai High School’s Botlaners.”

Tonji Affiliated High’s Toplaner frowned and chimed in, “That girl, Tang Bingyao, right? She’s playing well. Just that her lane is getting camped by the Elise. And the gap between the Supports is just too big. Such a shame. Could’ve been a really interesting lane.”

Tonji Affiliated High’s Support nodded and said, “Yeah. Maybe if this guy here…” He elbowed the Ad-carry sitting next to him. “… had had the balls to ask her out instead of running away, he could’ve taught her a thing or two. She might’ve been good enough to play against Zeng Rui, haha!”

Tonji Affiliated High’s ad-carry slumped back in his chair, his face a deep shade of red, and mumbled, “I didn’t run away. I had somewhere to be. I… I…”

“They’re just busting your balls. Don’t let ‘em get to you,” Tonji Affiliated High’s Midlaner said. He looked up at the stage and continued, “If High School 13’s bot lane is losing, it just means they’re worse. A difference of skill between the Supports and the camping… those are just excuses. You either win or you lose. That’s all that really matters in the end.”

High School 13 had just lost both Botlaners. The odds of them getting the first Dragon of this game weren’t looking good either. But Lin Feng and An Xin weren’t going to go down without a fight! Lin Feng engaged  the Syndra in mid lane with a Spirit Rush. His Ahri dashed forward and blew a heart-shaped kiss at the Syndra to charm her.

Just as the charmed Syndra started ambling towards Ahri, Lee Sin ran into the land. An Xin dropped a ward behind Syndra and hopped to it with Safeguard. Then Lee Sin unleashed Dragon’s Rage to roundhouse kick Syndra into High School 13’s tower.

Shanghai High School’s Syndra was already 0/2/0. The last thing the Midlaner wanted to do was die to Lin Feng yet again. He frantically clicked in an attempt to get away. The charm broke after what seemed like an eternity, and he Flashed. The Syndra blinked out of the tower range and moved towards the Red team’s top side jungle. For that single second, he started to believe that he was going to escape! But then Ahri charged up to his Syndra again with Spirit Rush. Ahri had caught up to him! He saw the Ahri winding up and hurling her Orb of Deception. That Orb of Deception was the last thing he saw before his screen went gray.

《Killing Spree!》

Lin Feng let go of his mouse and keyboard and threw both his arms up while he shouted over the team’s voice chat, “Nice! I told you guys! I’m really good at Ahri too!”

An Xin grimaced and replied, “You’re really good at stealing kills, is what you mean.”

Lin Feng and An Xin started another argument, while in the background Westwind started up his spiel with the audience again. Zeng Rui watched all of it happen, grinding his teeth the whole time. He couldn’t hear what An Xin and Lin Feng were saying. But he could guess. The joy, laughter, and lack of tension that he could see told him more than enough. He clenched his fists, raging. He’s snowballing again. She helped him snowball. She got him two kills. First that stupid Jungle invade and then the ganks. The mid lane. Bot lane. And now mid lane again. That’s four plays and three kills all thanks to her. It shouldn’t be like this. 

His team had just killed Vayne and Thresh and he wanted to take the Dragon. But now that their Midlaner was dead, it didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. Shit! Ahri, Lee, and Mundo. We can’t take them on and also fight the Dragon. We’ll lose too much. Damn it! We can’t take the Dragon. He took several deep breaths, fighting back the urge to yell at his Midlaner. Then he shook his head and said over the team’s voice chat, “We’re giving up on the Dragon. Go back to farming your lanes.” It’s time to turtle. Our teamfight is stronger. We’re the better team! Just gotta keep that Vayne down like we’ve been doing and this is going to look like a 5vs4 in another 20 minutes. That’s when we’ll win. It’ll work. We’ll be fine!

Shanghai High School’s Jungler started his pathing at the Krug Camp, exactly like he did in the previous two games. His Botlaners leashed the monsters and helped him kill them, which got his Elise to Level 2. Then the Botlaners went back to their lane to start farming minions. The Jungler started pathing to his Red Buff camp when Zeng Rui gave him a quiet warning over voice to be careful and keep an eye out for High School 13’s Jungler.  

The Jungler from Shanghai High School made a mental note to double-check around his Blue Buff camp before he started attacking the Blue Sentinel. An Xin took her Lee Sin to the Blue Buff, we spotted him there on a ward right before the Jungle Camps spawned. He won’t have enough health after that to come down and bother me at Red. I’ll be fine. He arrived at Red Buff Camp and started attacking the Red Brambleback.

High School 13’s Lee Sin burst out of the brush next to the Red Buff Camp. “Shit!” Shanghai High School’s Jungler cursed. His Elise was taking a ton of damage from the Red Brambleback and she was in no position to fight Lee Sin right now. “What’s he doing here?” Shanghai High School’s Jungler complained as he slammed down on his F key. His Elise Flashed away, just barely dodging Lee Sin’s Sonic Wave. He’d managed to escape and avoid becoming an early first blood. But he also lost all control of his own Jungle after clearing only a single Jungle Camp. “Shit!”

“Wow,” Silent Reed blurted out before Westwind could say anything! She turned to look at her co-caster and continued, “Wow! That’s really good for High School 13. And really bad for Shanghai High School.”

Westwind laughed and said into his microphone, “The spider got squished! An Xin, High School 13’s new Jungler, just made sure that Shanghai High School won’t be doing any ganking in the first couple of minutes! Go High School 13!” 

To which a large section of the audience shouted back, “Go High School 13! Go High School 13!”

Zeng Rui gritted his teeth. I can’t watch everyone all the time! I warned him! I told him to be careful in the Jungle! I even told him that something felt off and that he needed to check around the camps before he started attacking the monsters!  It was blindingly obvious that he didn’t put as much emphasis as he needed to into those warnings. His Jungler got caught out and was forced to blow his Flash. At least he didn’t die. Zeng Rui glanced at his Jungler and then said over the team’s voice chat, “Play safe. Focus on levelling up.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that. Will do,” Shanghai High School’s Jungler replied, nodding.

✹

An Xin decided not to bother with chasing the Elise after she Flashed away. There was no point in it since Elise’s health dropped low enough that she had to recall back to base for healing. An Xin knew that if she got too greedy for the kill and pushed further out while chasing the Elise, her Lee Sin would be in danger from either the Botlaners or the Midlaner from Shanghai High School. She also didn’t see any point in taking that risk now that she’d achieved what she wanted from this play. And an added bonus. Her Lee Sin attacked the Red Brambleback and killed it, taking Shanghai High School’s Red Buff for herself. Then her Lee Sin left along the same route he used to get there. An Xin smiled, this jungle invasion went exactly as planned. She set her Lee Sin on a path to her own Blue Buff camp so he could attack the Blue Sentinel there. This is only the beginning.

4 minutes into the game, Lee Sin had just finished killing the Red Brambleback on his side of the map. High School 13 was the Red Team, so the Red Buff Camp was located on the top side of the Jungle. An Xin glanced at her minimap quickly, and then set her Lee Sin on a path towards the mid lane. I’ve played way too much with Lin Feng. He started setting up this gank before I even got to my Red Buff! From that one look at the minimap, An Xin knew that Lin Feng had started letting the Syndra push him back in lane a minute ago. Because of that, the Syndra was now too far away from her outer tower to run away to safety!  

Lee Sin entered the mid lane through the brush right above the lane and dropped a ward down right behind the Syndra. Then he used Safeguard to dash to that ward, and slammed his palm down on the ground to slow the Syndra–⁠Tempest!

When Lin Feng saw An Xin place a ward behind the Syndra, he had his Ahri up past the Blue Minions. He’d almost gotten to the Syndra by the time Lee Sin used Tempest. Just as his Ahri entered into attack range, the Syndra quickly Flashed away. He kept running towards the Syndra, but he had his finger pushing the D key halfway down the whole time. There was only one way the Syndra could stop this gank, and that was with Scatter the Weak. This skill pushed back enemy Champions and minions. But more importantly, it synergized with Dark Sphere, another one of Syndra’s skills, to create a combo. If Scatter the Weak pushed a Dark Sphere into an enemy champion, then that champion would get stunned.

That was the combo Lin Feng was expecting her to throw at his Ahri. That was what he was waiting for her to do. And just like he predicted, that’s exactly what the Syndra did. She threw out her Dark Sphere and then blasted it at his Ahri with Scatter the Weak. But Lin Feng was ready and pushed down on the D Key. His Ahri Flashed over the stun and landed right in front of the Syndra. Then she blew out a heart-shaped kiss–Charm! The Syndra fell in love with the Ahri! She lost control of her body and started walking towards the Ahri!

An Xin’s Lee Sin pushed out with his palm, sending out a Sonic Wave straight at the Syndra who was still Charmed. After the Sonic Wave hit Syndra and marked her location, Lee Sin used the second half of this skill to dash towards her—Resonating Strike! He then started auto attacking her. 

While this was happening, Lin Feng ignited the Syndra. Then his Ahri auto-attacked Syndra once and then threw an Orb of Deception! It passed through the Syndra and then came flying back towards the Ahri, dealing magic damage both ways and whisking away the last of the Syndra’s health.

《First Blood!》

“WOOO! WHAT A GANK!” Westwind cried out, slamming his hand down on the desk. The audience screamed, howled and shouted. This was such a clean first blood! It looked completely effortless! Westwind turned to the crowd and clutched his microphone, shouting, “High School 13… FIRST BLOOD! Give it up for LEEEEEEEE SIN!”

Silent Reed looked around the audience. Everyone was going crazy over the Lee Sin. She shook her head and said, “Don’t forget the Ahri. Lin Feng played that really well. Shanghai High School’s Midlaner could take a lesson or two from him.”

There was another gank happening while the audience was still cheering for the first blood in the mid lane. This one was happening up in top lane. The Elise had just finished killing the Gromp, the Jungle monster right next to top lane, and saw an opening. The plan was for her to help Darius attack Chen Ze’s Dr. Mundo, and she started approaching stealthily. The Darius was attempting to maneuver Chen Ze into an optimal position for the gank. It would’ve been a glorious kill and a comeback moment for the Jungler from Shanghai High School. If he’d noticed the ward that Chen Ze had placed near the River. But he didn’t, and Chen Ze noticed the Elise creeping towards him. 

Right as the Elise got in position and started preparing her attack plan, Chen Ze’s Dr. Mundo Flashed away and escaped. If the Jungler from Shanghai High School hadn’t already used his Flash to escape from An Xin at the start of the game, he could’ve used it to close the distance. His Elise could’ve hopped on Dr. Mundo and immobilized him! But Flash was still on cooldown. Shanghai High School’s Jungler could only watch impotently as Dr. Mundo escaped. The gank was a monumental failure. Not only had he not managed to land a single hit on Chen Ze, he also lost precious time he could have used to continue clearing Jungle camps and monsters.

✹

The start of Game 3 was exciting! The invasion, counter-plays, and ganks had everyone watching on the edge of their seats. But after those first few plays, both teams calmed down. The laners focused on last hitting minions and the Junglers farmed Jungle Camps. The first few minutes of this game had not been kind to Shanghai High School. So they opted for a more defensive strategy that focused on building a gold and level lead into the mid-game through farming. This was the smart choice because the players on their team were individually more skilled than the players on High School 13’s team. With the exception of Lin Feng, who was currently doing better than their top lane and bot lane in mid lane. 

Lin Feng’s Ahri hit Level 6 at 6 minutes into the game, which unlocked her ultimate skill–⁠Spirit Rush! This skill granted Ahri three charges to jump in any direction and fire off an essence bolt. Lin Feng used it almost immediately. His Ahri jumped towards Syndra with the first charge. Then she used Charm! A magical heart hit the Syndra, and she started walking towards Ahri. The Syndra’s slow, lumbering steps gave Ahri more than enough time to line up and fire her Orb of Deception! The Orb whacked Syndra in the face and continued forward before abruptly stopping. Then it went straight back towards Ahri’s hands, whacking Syndra in the back of her head. But Ahri had also used Fox Fire right after launching the Orb of Deception. This skill created three balls of enchanted flame that would seek out the nearest target. The Fox Fire hit Syndra right before the second hit from Orb of Deception! Finally, Ahri used the second charge from Spirit Rush to jump up and land right in front of the Syndra. The essence bolt from the skill ripped through Syndra, killing her!

《You slain an enemy!》

The High School 13 students were in a frenzy! This was a solo kill versus Shanghai High School! A solo kill! Of course, this was their team picking up the kill. They were supposed to be impressed and cheering! There were many more, however, finding themselves cheering for High School 13. Amongst them were the coaches and players from professional League of Legends teams watching the official broadcast online. Every single one of them was up on their feet, calling out Lin Feng’s name. From Game 1 until now, Lin Feng was putting on a stunning display of skill. This solo kill only underlined the fact that he was far better than any other player on the Rift! He was so good that he even impressed the professionals!

Lin Feng, of course, was still the same old Lin Feng. He was just having a good time playing the game he loved with the people he enjoyed spending his time with. He patted himself on the shoulder and said over the team’s voice chat, “Hey, did you guys know? I’m really good at Ahri too!”

《An ally has been slain!》

The story in the other two lanes was very different for High School 13. They weren’t doing as well as Lin Feng. Especially the bottom lane, where Tang Bingyao and Wei Dong were having a miserable time. The game went from bad to terrible when Shanghai High School’s Elise came down for a gank. Tang Bingyao barely managed to escape. But she was forced to use all of her skills and her Flash to manage that. And she only made it out after using every tool at her disposal because Wei Dong had jumped in to protect her. Which led to his death.

An Xin clicked over to the bottom lane when she heard the announcement. Wei Dong’s Thresh lay dead on the ground. Tang Bingyao’s Vayne only had a sliver of health left and was currently recalling back to base. Then An Xin pressed the TAB key. Vayne was falling behind in kills and creep score to Shanghai High School’s ad-carry. I can’t let this go on. She smiled and said over the team’s voice chat, “Tang Tang, Wei Dong, hold on. I’ll come around bot for a gank.”

At 7 minutes, Wei Dong and Tang Bingyao arrived back in lane. Shanghai High School’s Botlaners had used the last minute to make the lane impossible for them. The minion wave was frozen just outside of Shanghai High School’s outer tower. Wei Dong looked at his minimap. An Xin was moving down the river, pinging to let them know they had to get ready for the gank. He hesitated before asking, “Are we really doing this?”

“Yep! We are,” An Xin replied confidently. Then she added, “Either you or Tang Tang go in first. Just stun one of ‘em.”

“Mhm,” Tang Bingyao replied, nodding and biting her lips. She focused her attention on the Nami and Jinx, her mouse hovering over one and then the other. I’ll engage! I gotta win this! There was a slight hesitation in the movement of her mouse. She didn’t know which Champion to go for. Do I—

Wei Dong had been playing with Tang Bingyao for a while now, and he’d learned to stop asking questions. Whenever she told him to do something, he did it. And he’d played with the rest of the esports team long enough to trust in his teammates. Whenever one of them told him to do something, he did it. Regardless of what they were asking him to do and how he felt about it. Right now, An Xin had told him to engage, so that’s exactly what he did. He lined up the skillshot and threw a Death Sentence at the Nami. He missed!

Hmm? Tang Bingyao saw the opening before it was even there. The Nami sidestepped the Death Sentence. But in doing so, she left her back to the wall. Tang Bingyao pressed down on the Q key and then the E. Her Vayne Tumbled forward and then lifted the heavy crossbow from her back. She took aim at the Nami and fired! A thick, heavy bolt flew out and pierced the Nami, lifting her off the ground and pinning her to the wall!

Wei Dong pressed his W key–Dark Passage! His Thresh threw a Lantern towards the river, right in the path of An Xin’s Lee Sin! She clicked on it and her Lee Sin dashed towards the Thresh. Then Lee Sin placed a ward in front of the Nami and hopped towards it–Safeguard! He followed up with a Flash to appear behind her and roundhouse kicked her towards Wei Dong’s Thresh and Tang Bingyao’s Vayne with Dragon’s Rage! Finally, he used his Sonic Wave to locate the airborne Nami and dashed out of the tower’s attack range before it could hit him. It also conveniently positioned him right next to the Nami so he could keep attacking.  

Wei Dong had his Thresh use Flay to push the Nami further away from her outer tower, cutting off any possibility of escape. Lee Sin and Vayne rained attacks and skills down on the helpless Nami. From the beginning of this play up until now, there was literally nothing that the Nami could do. She was stunned, launched airborne, pushed, and pulled all while constantly taking damage. Just as one crowd control skill ended, another one was used to render the Nami defenseless and paralyzed against the onslaught. And then finally, one silver bolt too many pierced her! The three silver rings around the Nami exploded, ending her misery! 

《You have been slain!》

Zeng Rui gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Calm! Stay calm! There was no point in him getting worked up over this. He got caught. The series of crowd control skills that hit him were too precise, brilliantly executed. I should’ve expected that the Lee Sin would come in for a gank! It’s over though. Can’t change the past, need to move on! I need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. He looked at his grey screen and the fight that was still going on. A light descended on their outer tower. The Darius was teleporting in. But he wasn’t there yet, while three Champions from High School 13 were. Shit. They’re going to kill the Jinx. He shouted to his ad-carry over the team’s voice chat, “Go back to base! Retreat! They’re going to towerdive you!”

An Xin walked up the stage. The audience fell silent. They’d watched her walk up those steps twice before, but this time was different. They could tell. The tension and focus had disappeared from her posture. There was a slight hop to her steps, her arms moving loosely by her side. She walked with purpose, with intention. The game always starts before the game starts. I know Zeng Rui’s watching. The more confident I look, the more he’s going to question himself! An Xin knew that the only way to beat someone like Zeng Rui was to turn his own strategies against him. And getting him so worked up that he lost his calm. 

Out in the audience, there was one student who had something completely different on his mind as he watched An Xin walk across the stage. An Xin… A pretty name for a pretty girl. EVERYTHING ABOUT HER IS CUTE! He watched An Xin walk across the stage without blinking. His eyes burned and watered, but he didn’t want to blink and miss a second. She looks so stern… So domineering… So hot! Butterflies danced in his stomach. His heartbeat jacked up to Mach 9, screaming out his adoration of this goddess with every beat. He could feel his heart beating in his eyeballs! He wanted to whisper the secrets from his screaming, beating heart into her ears. Mmmm…. her lovely ears. I’d smell her hair as I whisper… Is this what love at first sight feels like? 

He bit down on his lips, forcing back the urge to get up and run to her. I wonder if her armpits are shaved? What would it taste like if I licked them? WAIT! No…. she’ll think I’m a creep! Maybe there’ll be a chance later… He shook his head quickly to bounce all the deviant thoughts out and went back to staring at her. His face was plastered with a foolish smile as wholesome dreams from puppy-dog love played in his mind. Dreams of a future where he’d wifed up An Xin. Three kids? Or four? No, definitely just three! And a nice summerhouse on the beach… An Xin in a bikini… NO!NO!NO! Not that! An Xin making dinner… wearing just an apron with nothing underneath… SHIT! I did it again! Not this! NONO! Wholesome, not degen! Think about waking up with her by my side, this is better. We’ll go for long walks on the beach… 

As far as he was concerned, time itself had slowed down. He watched her raven black hair billow out behind her as she walked. In slow motion. He could see the individual strands undulating out in perfect detail. The ends wiggled and tickled his soul. I love her black hair so much. I just want to bury my face in it! He licked his lips. He imagined her hair in such vivid detail that he could feel it brushing across his lips. He could almost taste it! His eyes moved down to her slender waist, and his heart stopped beating. 

Her lithe waist curved to the left, then curved to the right, all in slow-motion to his eyes. The afterimages he saw traced a sultry bessel function in the air. His pupils dilated, and An Xin became even more radiant. His eyes continued further down, and he saw the curve from where her hips flared out. That single, sexy curve tantalized him, stroking his already ardent passion! He was a tiger, roaming through a jungle wreathed in the flames of infatuation! And An Xin was the gazelle, one with lovely bounding hindquarters, he was stalking. In his mind, time held no meaning or purpose. He was locked in this single moment for all of infinity, and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around that sylphlike waist!

Then all at once and with no warning at all, time went back to normal for him. The student saw his hand in front of him, reaching out for An Xin. He yelled out, “H-hey Coach!” But his voice was drowned out by the din of the crowd. She can’t even hear me! But… can she feel me burning up here? Then he saw her skirt, with its hem that swished with every step she took. And time slowed down again. That was completely acceptable, as far as he was concerned. He could stare at her willowy legs all day, modestly ensconced in her thigh-highs. There was just something about thigh highs that drove him wild. And An Xin’s legs in those thigh highs amped it up even more for him. There was just something about the way the svelte fabric silhouetted the lusciousness of her thighs, seducing and teasing him. An Xin is the girl of my dreams! She’s my everything! I need her to know I’m here! He called out again, “AN XIN, AN XIN, OVER HERE!” 

Most of the audience was up on their feet, clapping and cheering for Shanghai High School. Every attempt he made to get An Xin’s attention was lost in all that clapping and cheering. If she could hear me… see me… she’d know what I’m going through! She’d see what she’s doing to me… and the— He lost the ability to form words. An Xin had finally reached the steps to the raised platform where all the players sat, and right before climbing up she turned around to smile and wave at the audience. He’d finally gotten a good look at her face, and it took his breath away. Stole every rational thought and word and all coherence from him for an eternity. She’s got such a pretty smile… ARE THOSE DIMPLES? Dimples are so hot! And that white blouse that’s almost too small… Please let that button pop, please! Oh my god, her breasts will destroy society! 

He was just short of drooling as he pushed off the balls of his feet, trying to get a better look at her. At her skirt and her long legs that went on for so long that he couldn’t see where they ended. Why is it so warm here…? Oh god, she’s so sexy… I just wanna… I just wanna’ rock her body! He looked around the audience, annoyed that their noise was the only thing keeping him and An Xin apart, and then back at An Xin. She’s all the way over there, up on the stage. How do I get her to notice me? I need her to notice me! IF SHE JUST LOOKS AT ME ONCE… I JUST NEED TO GET HER ATTENTION!

There were only a few short minutes left before the start of the third game of the Finals! An Xin was climbing up the steps, and soon she’d be done and sitting. The student knew he had to do something quickly. If I don’t do something now, I might never see her again! I GOTTA DO SOMETHING! He started waving his arms, flapping them in the air. But he realized right after he started that it wouldn’t work. An Xin wasn’t facing the crowd, so she couldn’t see anything he was doing. I GOTTA GET HER TO TURN AROUND! BUT SHE CAN’T HEAR ME BECAUSE OF THE CROWD! BUT I GOTTA GET HER TO TURN AROUND! HOW DO I MAKE HER HEAR ME? He saw his perfect future, his happiness, everything that he could have with An Xin and more, all disappearing with every second that ticked by. The door was closing.

His desire for An Xin, his need to make her hear him and make her his, his fear that he’d never get another shot at it again. All of them combined into an overwhelming drive that unlocked something deep inside him. Something primal. All of a sudden, he was above his own body and watching himself. He stood up on his seat. And then, just as his most distant ancestors had, he declared his intent to mate with An Xin by slamming his chest with both fists. Then he bellowed out his primal call, one intended to both entice An Xin and scare away any others eyeing his woman! “OOH! OOH! OOH! AH! AH!”

An Xin stopped halfway up the steps. Did someone just make monkey noises? She turned around to look at the audience. What the fuck? She spotted a guy in the far back of the venue. He was standing on his chair and pounding his chest, making increasingly louder monkey sounds. What an idiot. But she still smiled. And as she continued to watch him go full-ape, she couldn’t keep a straight face. An Xin started giggling, and quickly covered her mouth with a hand. Then she gave the monkey-guy a wink before turning back around and walking up to her team.

There was a group of friends sitting in the front half of the arena, closer to the stage. They heard the monkey noises and turned around to see the guy standing up on his seat and beating his chest too. Then all of them pivoted back to An Xin to see her reaction. They saw her turn around and look at him, and then they saw her giggle! Their eyes widened when An Xin giggled! And then they saw her look straight at the monkey guy and wink! They looked at each other in utter disbelief.  “Did she jus—?” one guy asked, to which the others nodded. “She’s really hot…. Well, if she’s into that monkey shit…” All of them looked at each other for courage and confirmation. And then, all at the same time, they stood up on their seats and started pounding their chests just like the monkey guy. Then they also bellowed out their intent to mate with An Xin and their challenge to the first monkey guy!  “OohOohOoh! AhAh!”  “OH! OH! OH! OH! OH! OH!” “OOOHHH! OOOHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

Literally seconds later, other guys in the audience made the connection that An Xin liked the monkey noises and chest pounding. A few here and a couple there jumped up on their seats and started pounding their chests. As far as these guys were concerned, gone was any divide or rivalry between Shanghai High School and High School 13. Guys on both sides of the audience were standing on their chair and beating their chests, united by a single factor. Their infatuation with An Xin.

Then even more guys joined in, trying different variations of monkey noises to stand out from the ever-growing crowd of humanoid-apes. Some went Chimpanzee, others waved their arms around like Orangutans. A few heaved their sweaters and school uniforms off in an attempt to display the abs that they’d been working so hard on while waiting in queue for a League game. All of them continued pounding their chests, serenading An Xin in a symphony of monkey love. “OOH! OOH! OOH! AH! AH!”

The guys that went full ape in the madness of infatuation with An Xin, they represented a small portion of the audience. And they were a mix of High School 13 and Shanghai High School students. Standing on their seats, they pounded and smashed their chests, harder and harder. They were shouting their lungs out and their throats sore. The rest of the audience watched this happen, utterly confused as to why these students felt the sudden urge to act like this. It looked and sounded like the strangest standoff they’d ever witnessed. But a standoff nonetheless.

Students on High School 13’s side of the audience noticed  that their side was just a little less loud than Shanghai High School’s side. And there were fewer guys standing on their seats. They thought about it, and put two and two together. They realized that some of their classmates had regained their spirit, and were making these monkey noises to cheer their esports team on! It was another battle! They needed to show Shanghai High School that this loss in the last game had only bent their spirit, but not broken it! And so, completely misunderstanding the purpose of why the first few guys went full ape, students from all over High School 13’s side of the audience started standing on their seats and beating their chests. All while making loud monkey noise cheers for their esports team.

“Ooh aah ooh! Go Lin Feng! You’re the best! OH! OH!”
“Ooh ah ooh ah! Tang Tang, carry this game! Ah! Ah! Ooooh!”
“Hoo hoo ha! Smash that top lane, Chen Ze! HOO HOO!”

Students on Shanghai High School’s side weren’t deaf, and they heard the monkey cheering from High School 13. They became equally fired up and decided their school wasn’t going down without a fight either. Plus, the monkey sounds made a lot more sense to them when combined with actual cheers. They also jumped up on their seats. And started pounding their chests, all while making monkey noise cheers!

“Ooh ah! Ooh ooh! Ah! Zeng Rui is the best! Ooh ooh! Ooh ah!”
“Ooh hoo ah! Shanghai High School gets the trophy! Ooh ooh!”
“Ooh ooh ooh ooh! Ah ah ah! We’re gonna kick some High School 13 asses! Ooh!”

Westwind looked out over the audience with a most confused expression. He glanced at Silent Reed, who shrugged her shoulders. They’d only just returned after their break between the games and had missed why everyone was making monkey sounds. Why are they doing this? What is happening…? They think this is a zoo or something? Or they forget that this is a League of Legends tournament? Do they think we’re giving out a banana trophy? Wait-a-minute… BANANA TROPHY! The instant that thought entered his mind, he started giggling and his eyes lit up. He quickly grabbed his microphone. Then he looked over at Silent Reed and winked at her, as if saying, “Watch this!” Then he placed the microphone close to his lips and shouted, “I see what y’all are doin’! You’re having a monkey-sound face off! But who will officiate it? ME, ofcourse! In my possession I have the BANANA TROPHY! May the loudest monkey win! Ooh ooh! Ah ah!”

Some students from Shanghai High School started pushing High School 13 students away. They’d been competing with each other all evening. But that was about a game of League. They could only cheer their team on and hope for the best. But when it came to making monkey sounds, they could take the front stage and fight the battle! They shouted at their schoolmates who were still sitting to come and join, then placed their hands around their mouths and shouted in a joined effort to beat High School 13 in monkey-sound combat! “OOH OOH OOH! AH AH!”

High School 13 were still upset after losing the second game of the Finals. They felt like they had something to prove. So when Shanghai High School challenged them to monkey-sound combat, they were quick to respond. Every single High School 13 students got up on their seats. They started pounding their chests in a steady rhythm, shouting, “OOH!” on the beat.

The tournament officials had lost all control over the audience. A thousand high schoolers were standing on their seats, making monkey sounds. It looked ridiculous and it sounded stupid, but these high schoolers were really into it. Some were even getting aggressive about it. They were shoving and pushing and trying to take out the loudmouths on the other side. The officials were forced to intervene. They sent up a message to Westwind, cursing at him for making it a contest and telling him to put a stop to it.

Westwind heard the message from his earpiece. He was sitting next to Silent Reed, both of them staring out over the audience with wide eyes of shock. The official spoke in Westwind’s ear again, which was enough to wake him up. He grabbed the microphone and shouted into it, “Alright, alright! That’s about enough! We’ve had our fun. WE’VE HAD OUR FUN!” The audience barely heard him over the thundering noises of monkey-sound combat.

“THAT’S ENOUGH! TONE IT DOWN!” Silent Reed yelled through the venue, her sharp voice booming through the venue and piercing into the ears of every single person in the audience. This finally had the desired effect. Most people stopped making a sound and looked up at the speakers, confused. Silent Reed continued, “We’re not at the zoo. Stop acting like monkeys. The third game of the Finals is about to start. Let’s give both teams the respect they deserve. Sit your asses back down on your chairs and be quiet.”

Everyone quickly settled down and started returning to their seats. Except for one lone student from High School 13. No one knew who this unknown hero was, and no one would ever know. But this man, this champion, continued to stand on his seat after everyone else sat down. And in that single hushed moment where everyone else was catching their breath, he bellowed out, “BANANA TROPHY OURS! OOH OOH OOh AhAhahAhAH!”

✹

Zeng Rui watched An Xin walk up the stage. I wonder what you’ve got prepared for this game. Don’t let me down. He withdrew his gaze and focused back on his screen. There were a couple of minutes left before they would get into Champion Select for Game 3 of the Finals. Right now was usually when teams did some last minute tweaking to their strategy. But not him. He’d decided on his gameplan before the Finals had even begun and his teammates knew exactly what he expected of them. So he sat calmly and waited for the game to start, occasionally glancing over at An Xin. You’re good, I won’t deny that. But it’s up to the players to execute your strategy. And those players are really not good. You won’t be able to beat me with them. But I hope that you will at least try and make it a little bit more difficult for us. That’d be fu— What? What are you…

After walking up the stage, An Xin briefly talked with the players on her team. Then Liu Yue got up from his seat, laughing, and wished her good luck before walking down the stage. She sat down on his gaming chair. She then started adjusting the settings on the keyboard and the movement speed of the mouse. Finally, she put on her headphones and looked ready to play. Not coach. Play. An Xin was going to play in the Jungle! Zeng Rui was frozen in shock, while a massive commotion broke out in the audience.

“What the Teemo is going on here?”
“Did they give up? Is this a desperation move?”
“Why would they let their coach play in the Jungle? That just seems suicidal.”

“Just in,” Westwind spoke into his microphone. He was still thinking about the monkey sounds and was caught off guard. But he found his old rhythm again. “Just in! High School 13 is making a substitution! It’s official! Their coach is replacing their Jungler! Look at that! How good does everyone think she is? I wanna hear you tell me SHE’S VERY GOOD! WOOOO!”

This substitution caused waves of surprise in the audience and in the chat of the official broadcast. Every viewer on every stream expressed their shock and confusion. Even the chat buffer slowed down, unable to handle the sheer volume of input. Everyone, except for the viewers on one stream. That particular chat was excited for what was about to happen. Su Xue and her viewers had been waiting for this moment! Su Xue laughed and clapped her hands in excitement when she saw An Xin sit down behind the screen. Then she looked straight into her camera and spoke to her viewers, “Remember last night? Lin Feng and BunBun are crazy good together! This is going to be great!”

「oooooooomgggggggg it’s bunbn!!!!!」　
「I KNEW IT WAS HER! I told you guys! She was the one standing behind lil bro!!!!」　
「show us that #BunFeng synergy!!!11」
「u guys saw her play last night? this gunna be soooooooo goood XDDD」

Zeng Rui closed his eyes and massaged his temples. That’s three. I don’t like today. The thundering dumbass got me twice, and now her… He took a couple of deep breaths, calming himself back down. Then he opened his eyes and smiled. Surprises are part of life. I prepared for them. Stick to the plan. Always stick to the plan! He talked his teammates through Champion Select, reaffirming that they were sticking to the original plan. Then, after locking in his Support, he looked over across the stage at High School 13’s team. Let’s see if you can change anything by putting yourself on the team…

High School 13 picked the Champions as instructed to them by An Xin. Lin Feng was playing in the mid lane again, same as last game. Shanghai High School banned three of his favourite Champions, but there were many more he enjoyed playing, including assassin-type mid lane Champions. He picked one that could work really well together with Lee Sin, whom An Xin was playing in the Jungle. Both teams finalized their line ups and they went into the loading screen.

Game 3 of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament Finals:

Shanghai High School (Blue) versus High School 13 (Red)

Top lane: Darius versus Dr. Mundo
Jungle: Elise versus Lee Sin
Mid lane: Syndra versus Ahri
AD-carry: Jinx versus Vayne
Support: Nami versus Thresh

An Xin chose to play Lee Sin, which evoked a strong reaction from the audience. The skill of a Jungler was often judged by their skill with Lee Sin. If you were a Jungler who wasn’t very good at Lee Sin, you were a shit Jungler. It didn’t matter if you were Challenger or Bronze. A good Lee Sin was a good Jungler. A bad Lee Sin wasn’t a Jungler. This was true even in the competitive scene. The best Junglers in the world compared their Jungling skills by showing off what they could do with Lee Sin. And now, in this high school tournament, the coach from High School 13 substituted herself into the team and was going to play Lee Sin. There was no hiding behind a weak Champion. There were no excuses for a poor performance. Either she was a terrible Jungler and this was a disastrous decision by her, or she was a phenomenal Jungler!

Zeng Rui frowned. Something didn’t feel quite right. He glanced over at High School 13’s team. They didn’t look nervous. They were calm, and Lin Feng was just as excited as he always was. Zeng Rui said over his team’s voice chat, “Careful guys. Something feels off. Watch out for that Jungler.”

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

Shanghai High School and High School 13 spawned on their respective fountains. They bought their starter items and went to their lanes. An Xin pathed towards the bottom side Jungle, where her Blue Buff Camp was located. There, she waited for it to spawn, motivating the others over the team’s voice chat, “This game is ours! Just play your best and I’ll do the rest!”

The Blue Sentinel spawned, but An Xin didn’t attack it. Instead, she attacked the Gromp, the large toad in the Jungle Camp opposite of the Blue Buff Camp. Tang Bingyao and Wei Dong helped her kill it, making sure they didn’t leech any of the experience. An Xin hit Level 2 and ran down the Jungle into the river. She trudged through the ankle deep water and entered the Blue team’s Jungle. Her target was the Red Buff Camp. She walked along the wall of trees and stones around it and entered the brush adjacent to the opening. The Elise had already arrived and was attacking the Red Brambleback.

Westwind clutched his microphone tightly in his grasp and shouted, “Is this going to be the earliest First Blood in the entire tournament? Find out next time on RRIIISSSSEEEE!”

Silence. Despair. High School 13’s students were numb as they watched the game on the large LCD screens above the stage. They heard the happy laughter and the “I told you so’s” from Shanghai High School’s students. They heard the jeers aimed their way, the mockery and contempt, everything they’d grown so used to over the years. There were some who tried to say something back, but it wasn’t much more than a whisper, lacking all sense of confidence. The others lowered their heads and balled their fists, enduring the abuse being flung their way and mumbling for a miracle to happen.

An Xin watched the large LCD screens above the stage, but she could still feel the heavy, negative atmosphere all around her. The audience that was cheering them on a half hour ago had completely given up hope that High School 13 could win. Even the team members sitting next to her looked like they lost the will to fight. Ouyang had stopped cheering and laughing. He was just sitting back, looking like his grandmother had died. Yang Fan was rationalizing and analyzing the game from the most pessimistic point of view possible in an effort to distance himself from his emotions. And Ren Rou… she was quietly mumbling negativity and practicing what she would say to the esports team when they lost the Finals, “Shanghai High School was just too good. We tried our hardest, but we just didn’t have enough time to get to where they are. It’s not your fault that they’re so good. Be proud of everything we’ve achieved! I’m proud of you guys! We did great!” An Xin shook her head. They got a real confidence issue. If only I’d transferred in a couple of weeks sooner… I might’ve had enough time to coach them right. Whatever. It’s fine.

The players on High School 13’s team had improved tremendously over the last few months. But they were originally only Platinum and low Diamond players. Shanghai High School’s team had high Diamonds, Masters, and even a Challenger. They were better in every lane except for mid. If High School 13 wanted to win, they had to rely on strategy. On movements across the map that required the team to come together and act as one. That was easier said than done, because it meant they needed to beat Zeng Rui at his own game. 

Zeng Rui excelled at League of Legends strategy, with bonus points in method and calmness. He knew his team’s strengths and weaknesses and he’d researched their opportunities and threats. After the upset in Game 1, he didn’t panic and lose his mind. He kept his cool and stuck to what he’d prepared. He was rewarded for this decision in Game 2, with his team clearly in the lead 10 minutes in.

An Xin sighed. It doesn’t matter how good of a coach I am, I just haven’t had enough time with this team. I’ve only known them for a couple of days… She took a couple of deep breaths and weighed her options. Only one thing I can really do here. I’m just not sure… It doesn’t feel right to step in and help them win. I wasn’t here last year when they lost. I wasn’t even here at the start of the year when they all started practicing together. I only got here a few days ago, and now I’m going to tell one of them to sit out? It means so much more to them. I really don’t want to take that away from them. It’s just… She looked at her teammates for a good, long minute. No. I can’t keep sitting here. They’ll lose and that’s not going to make anyone happy. She shook her head and mumbled, “Guess I’ll have to step in.”

✹

Shanghai High School was throwing their weight around on the Rift. Zeng Rui knew where and when to strike, calling the shots over his team’s voice chat. “Push the minion wave in bot!” He furiously clicked around the mini-map, trying to maintain as much vision as possible. “Get a deep ward near their Red Buff Camp!” And ticked off every second on the timer without looking at it. “Dragon! Dragon!” He meticulously directed the flow of the game, expanding his influence to every corner of the map. 

High School 13 tried to fight back, they really did. But they couldn’t keep up with Zeng Rui’s fast and surgically precise plays. Their wards were cleared out faster than they could throw them down. Liu Yue was forced to deal with aggressive counter-jungling, and was eventually killed. Even Lin Feng got pushed into corner after corner where he had to play defensively.

Westwind relaxed in his chair. He was still shoutcasting, but not with as much enthusiasm or intensity as before. This game is boooooorrrring! Where’s the conflict? The spice? Shanghai High School is doing exactly what they need to be doing, and High School 13 can’t keep up. There’s nothing going on! I WANT SOME EXCITEMENT! He nodded to Silent Reed and said into his microphone, “Shanghai High School is putting on a very clean show here. Haven’t seen High School 13 do much of anything yet. It’s like we’re watching an LPL team playing an exhibition match against a… Well, a high school team. Completely different from how things went in the first game. I wonder what’s changed…” He leaned over his desk and looked at the audience. “Whatchu guys thinking? 1-3 for Shanghai High School?” This evoked a strong response from Shanghai High School’s students in the audience with most of them cheering. Except for one student who screamed out over all the cheering, “OF COURSE WE’RE GOING TO WIN 1-3! WE’RE SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL! THE BEST ESPORTS HIGH SCHOOL IN ALL OF SHANGHAI!”

Silent Reed grinned and winked at Westwind. “That’s the Zeng Rui I know. He’s always so calm and methodical. He leaves nothing to chance. He was probably just surprised by Lin Feng in the first game. That Wukong was exceptional. But you can see that he fixed those issues during the break. Now he’s showing us why he belongs in the LPL. Zeng Rui is carrying this game—”

Westwind clutched his microphone and interrupted, “Watch! WATCH! A teamfight! Is this going to be it? Shanghai High School might finish it all right here, right NOW!”

At 12 minutes, Shanghai High School gathered and started pushing down mid lane. High School 13 scrambled to mount a defense. Chen Ze’s Rumble was the first to arrive and assist Lin Feng’s Lissandra. They started pushing back against Shanghai High School and defending their tower. Chen Ze brought all of his rage and bitterness to the fight. The Darius had forced his Rumble out of lane a couple of minutes ago. Since then, he’d been farming Jungle Camps and sharing the experience with Liu Yue’s Lee Sin. He was embarrassed and frustrated, and more importantly he had something to prove. He pushed down on the E key and his Rumble launched an electrically charged harpoon at the cluster of enemy champions–Electro Harpoon! “Watch me!” he whisper-shouted to himself. He locked onto the Jinx and left the safety of his minions to land his second Electro Harpoon on her. 

Zeng Rui’s Morgana had been waiting in the fog of war. He noticed that the Rumble was a little too aggressive and tilted, so he’d told the Jinx to take a step forward. Too easy, haha. He hit the Q key for Dark Binding and his Morgana conjured a prison of dark magic that ensnared the Rumble. “Go, go!” Zeng Rui ordered over the team’s voice chat. Shanghai High School jumped on the Rumble and started bombarding him with all their skills. 

Liu Yue’s Lee Sin and Tang Bingyao’s Lucian got to midlane just as the Dark Binding hit Rumble and rooted him. They joined up with Lin Feng’s Lissandra and rushed in to try and save Chen Ze’s Rumble. But they were too late. The attacks from Shanghai High School landed and killed the Rumble before they could do anything. Chen Ze’s Rumble had died before he even had a chance to use any of his high damage skills.

After killing the Rumble, they switched their attention to Tang Bingyao’s Lucian. This game hadn’t gone well for her either, and she’d fallen behind in lane. Tang Bingyao couldn’t put up much of a fight, and she also died unceremoniously. Shanghai High School was dominating this team fight! Then Zeng Rui put a target on Liu Yue’s Lee Sin. In a single second, Liu Yue watched all his health disappear. He was literally one attack away from death. But in his final moments and as a defiant cry against his imminent death, Lee Sin unleashed Dragon’s Rage and killed Morgana with a roundhouse kick! Then Lee Sin also died. 

The only one left alive from High School 13 in this team fight was Lin Feng’s Lissandra. He’d been fighting the Darius in an effort to save Tang Bingyao’s Lucian. And managed to kill Darius right as Lee Sin was killed. Then he retreated to the safety of the inner tower. Lin Feng had known that the fight was lost before it even started, and decided to do whatever he could to somewhat even things out. 

The audience fell into a rare moment of silence. Shanghai High School’s students wanted to cheer, but couldn’t as long as Lin Feng still lived. The teamfight wasn’t truly over until he died. They’d seen him single-handedly turn a teamfight around in the last game! The students from Shanghai High School were worried that Lin Feng would pull something to turn this all around. On the other side of the arena, High School 13’s students were full of hope for the same exact reason. Lin Feng was the only player on the team who could turn things around! 

Everyone in the audience fell quiet. They were all on the edge of their seats, waiting to see how this teamfight would end. Waiting to see what Lin Feng would do. Except for two students, who were busy talking to each other. Normally, no one would have known these two were talking to each other, let alone hear what they were saying. But with the hush that fell over the entire arena, their conversation reached all the way to the distant corners.

“That Lissandra is so dead,” a Shanghai High School student said.

“Are you stupid? Or just blind?” a High School 13 student said. Then he snorted. From context, it appeared that he was attempting to make a sound of derision. An imitation of something that he’d read about in cultivation webnovels. But the noise he actually made was an odd sound, one that resembled gagging on a large penis rather than what he was intending. Then he gargled out, “Lin Feng is still alive. He’ll turn this around! He’s way better than your shitty ass team!” He took a large gulp of water after he finished saying that. The snorting had hurt his throat. 

“Hahaha, don’t make me laugh. I don’t care how good you think he is, he’s never going to come out of this alive!”

“Did you look at his Summoner Spells? He still has Flash. He’s going to outplay the shit out of your guys!”

“I like your confidence. I really do. But come on, man. Please. I don’t believe for a second that you don’t know how dumb and desperate you sound. It’s only one Lissandra. What’s she going to do against our Jinx, Orianna, and Rengar?”

“I…”

“Right, nothing.”

“He’s going to win this!”

Lin Feng’s Lissandra only had a quarter of her health remaining. She hugged the wall of trees on the bottom side of the mid lane as she ran towards the inner tower. Lin Feng’s finger hovered over the D key. The Orianna sped up the Rengar with Command: Dissonance. The Rengar caught up to the Lissandra and threw out an Empowered Bola, which was a root skill. Lin Feng flicked his mouse over the wall of trees and pressed down. His Lissandra flashed over the wall of trees into her own Jungle. Shanghai High School lost vision of her.

✹

The online broadcast of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament was turning out to be a massive success. There were currently thousands of viewers watching Shanghai High School and High School 13 duke it out in the Finals. Right now, all of those viewers were trying to figure out why Lissandra had Flashed into her own Jungle, rather than towards the safety of her inner tower.

「huh? What the hell? Is he stupid?????」
「wHY flAsH t0 thE juNGle?!?!??!?1/?!?1/」
「omg…. why would he…. wtf man,,,, why not flash to your tower????///」

✹

Lin Feng’s Lissandra crept around the Jungle and carefully positioned herself before launching Glacial Path. An icy claw flew out of the Jungle and into the mid lane! The Jinx, Rengar, and Orianna couldn’t see the claw until it came out of the fog of war. But just as they noticed it, Lin Feng tapped his E key again to activate the second half of Glacial Path. His Lissandra blinked to the location of the ice claw! Right in the middle of Shanghai High School’s team! The instant she landed, Lissandra sent a wave of ice blasting out and locked all three enemy champions down–⁠Ring of Frost! Then she skewered the low health Jinx with an Ice Shard.

《Double kill!》

Wei Dong’s Thresh finally showed up in mid lane after Lin Feng picked up his second kill of the teamfight. He threw his lantern at Lissandra and helped her escape from the Orianna and Rengar. The teamfight had ended in a draw, both sides lost three Champions. But High School 13 was still the loser. Shanghai High School held the pressure on the map, while Lin Feng and Wei Dong recalled back to base to lick their wounds.

The audience broke into cheers. The official broadcast’s chat was flooded with messages, congratulating Shanghai High School on winning the teamfight and professing Lin Feng as God. His Lissandra was, according to the backseat professionals, the single best Lissandra in all of League of Legends! Su Xue, who was also watching the game, didn’t take it quite that far. But she was still very happy to see Lin Feng picked up a double kill. She slapped down on her desk and exclaimed, “Nice going! That’s our li’l bro! Greedy idiots thinking they can kill him. Ha!”

The viewers didn’t care about Shanghai High School winning the teamfight, nor did they really care about High School 13. They only cared about Lin Feng, and he’d just made an incredible play. They continued lauding him in the chat.

「Lil bro crossdressing. He a trap. But he no fooling me. HE DA FRIGGIN BEST!!!1!」
「66666666」
「OH SHIZZLES! Im – fking – pressed!!!!!」
「LIL BRO LIL BRO YOU MY FUCKING HEROOOOOOOO!!!!」
「TOUCH ME WITH YOUR SKILLZZ !!11 IMPART YOUR ESSENCE INTO ME!」
「lil bro can do what no one else can doooo!!!!!!!!!」

✹

A single player alone wasn’t enough to beat Shanghai High School. Lin Feng continued to outplay Shanghai High School every time they came at him. But more often than not, they simply focused their attention somewhere else on the map and ignored him. Zeng Rui was too canny to let his annoyance of Lin Feng ruin his calm approach to the game. Steady and meticulous, that was his mantra. I won’t let this thundering dumbass get to me. I don’t care how many times he surprises me. He’s just one player.

At 32 minutes: Shanghai High School built up their lead over High School 13 to 9,000 gold, three Dragons, 6 towers, and 19 to 9 kills.

At 33 minutes: Shanghai High School won a decisive teamfight by towerdiving High School 13’s team under the inhibitor tower in the top lane. It was a perfect teamfight. Five kills and zero deaths. From there, they destroyed the base and High School 13’s Nexus. The energy trapped within exploded outwards and morphed into a red victory crest.

VICTORY

The series was now even again. Both teams had one win under their belt. But the audience and players painted a completely different picture. Shanghai High School was enjoying the moment. They were cheering, laughing, and having fun. They were jumping around, chugging beers, and comparing Zeng Rui to Autumn. They patted each other on the back and talked about how there was no one in all of Shanghai who could beat them. In stark contrast, the students from High School 13 were completely quiet and seated. Their spirit was completely broken. This game was all it took to prove to most of them that they weren’t really good enough to play at this level. They whispered to each other about the mistakes and bad decisions they’d made this game. And unanimously accepted that they were not good enough to play at the Finals of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament.

There were only two people from High School 13 who didn’t seem fazed by the result of the second game. Lin Feng was his usual cheerful self. “One loss, what’s that matter?” he laughed as he saw his friends’ long faces. “We’ll just win the next two! It’s easy!”

An Xin was the other High School 13 student who wasn’t affected by the result of the second game. She wasn’t worried at all. She was smiling and she looked excited. She’d been hoping that the team could pull this off without her having to play. But that just wasn’t possible, they weren’t at a point where they could overcome Zeng Rui. She was excited because now it was her turn to step up and show everyone how much influence one player could have on the outcome of a game of League of Legends! I’m going to turn this around for all my friends! I’m going to smack Zeng Rui and all of Shanghai High School down! We’re going home with the trophy! They want that trophy and they got all the way to the end. I’m not letting them go home empty-handed!

Zeng Rui’s jaw muscles pulsed with fury. He was incredibly frustrated with himself. I should’ve seen this coming. I should’ve seen this coming! But he hadn’t. And as a result, his entire team died. He had lost his team the first teamfight against High School 13 in the Finals of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! He was so caught up in self-directed rage for this turn of events that he barely noticed the Tristana jumping towards him. But he didn’t really care. There was nothing he could do, especially considering that his health was already really low from trying to save his teammates. He glanced down at the minimap one more time, just to confirm. Mostly out of habit. He knew he wasn’t going to reach the safety of a tower before she killed him. And even if he did, it wouldn’t change things. The rest of his team was dead. So instead of worrying about how to preserve what little remained of his life, he started thinking about how to turn this game around. 

《Triple kill!》

《Aced!》

“WOOOO!” Westwind screamed into his microphone. “What. A. Teamfight! Show me those High School 13 posters! Show everyone the posters!” And the High School 13 students happily obliged. They were on their feet, holding the posters up above their heads that read: “HIGH SCHOOL 13 CHAMPIONS!” A line that was screamed out over and over again by the other students, booming through the arena.

Whistling, jeers, and boos. Shanghai High School did everything they could think of to shut High School 13’s section of the audience up. But it had quite the opposite effect. The venue was far too small for the amount of people there. So anything they shouted was drowned out by everyone else that was shouting. All anyone could hear was a massive reaction to the teamfight win by High School 13!

Silent Reed giggled and said, “The Tristana picked up a very nice triple there, though Zeng Rui should’ve tried harder to escape. Still…” She shook her head slightly before continuing, “That fight was all Lin Feng. He won that fight for High School 13.”

Westwind laughed and said, “That is WIN FENG for you! Right, guys?” He was trying to bait the audience into starting a WIN FENG chant to serve as the background to the rest of his commentating. Unfortunately, the audience did not bite and continued their unintelligible shouting and cheering. Westwind didn’t care though, he was just thrilled to have the audience reacting to him. Any cheering and noise was good enough as far as he was concerned. He decided to continue whipping the crowd up, “A crazy 3-man ult to win the fight! WIN FENG was the bait and the trap! HOW AWESOME WAS THAT?” 

An Xin was up on her feet, together with Ren Rou, Ouyang, and Yang Fan. They were cheering for the team, for Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao who’d turned the losing teamfight around into a win. An Xin looked over her shoulder at the audience. The excited and happy expressions on their faces left her smiling. She turned back to look at Lin Feng and mumbled, “Not bad, you blockhead. You won the match.”

Zeng Rui knew, just like An Xin, that the game was as good as played. He’d prepared this teamfight specifically to deal with the Wukong who was the only real nuisance on High School 13’s team up until that point. Everything was going as planned. They got a couple of kills and baited the Wukong into action. Then they used their high cooldown skills to burst him down before he could do anything. That was where his plan fell apart. Zeng Rui stared across the stage at Lin Feng. Outplayed by him… He gritted his teeth and focused back on the game. His team needed him right now. They had to come together and find a way to stop the Wukong.

“Shit,” Zeng Rui cursed over the team’s voice chat. He rarely cursed, but he really needed to vent out his frustrations. “That went terrible, guys. Now we focus. We’re going to shut that Wukong down.” But how…? I didn’t see it coming. That’s the second time now where I didn’t expect his next move. How is he doing this? Is he just really lucky? No. Once, maybe. But not twice.

✹

High School 13 got the clear lead after winning the teamfight and securing the second Dragon. But getting an advantage wasn’t the same as winning the game. Shanghai High School started playing more defensively and made sure to give nothing away. For the next couple of minutes, this worked to great effect. High School 13 didn’t achieve much more than widening the creep score gap with their lane opponents. Then High School 13’s team recalled back to the fountain and bought the items they’d been saving up for.

At 18 minutes: High School 13 destroyed Shanghai High School’s outer tower in the mid lane.
At 20 minutes: Lin Feng helped Chen Ze pick up a kill on Shanghai High School’s Orianna, after which they took down the inner tower in the mid lane.
At 23 minutes: High School 13’s team, with the exception of Lin Feng, killed Baron Nashor. Shanghai High School’s team had vision of it, but they were too far behind to contest it and were instead pushing out the mid lane while they had the chance. The Jinx tried to steal Baron Nashor from the mid lane by firing off her Super Mega Death Rocket. The team that dealt the last hit got the reward for the kill. But she was too early. Her attack didn’t do enough damage to kill the large purple wurm. High School 13 dealt the killing blow and secured the Baron Buff. All the while, Lin Feng had snuck around Shanghai High School’s wards and arrived behind them.

“GoGoGo!” Lin Feng shouted over the team’s voice chat. He was looking at the back line of Shanghai High School’s team. All five were huddled up closely together in the mid lane. He grinned and pressed down on the E key, quickly followed by the R key–Cyclone! His Wukong jumped at Shanghai High School’s team and then started turning in circles, knocking everyone up in the air!

Wei Dong was at the front of High School 13’s team. He flashed forward, straight into Shanghai High School’s team and activated Morgana’s ultimate skill–Soul Shackles! Chains of agony erupted out from her and latched onto the five Champions that were still Airborne from Wukong’s ultimate skill. All the while, Tang Bingyao was firing away, helping her teammates blow Shanghai High School up.

Chen Ze activated Twisted Fate’s ultimate skill–Destiny! The entire map was revealed to High School 13, with five all-knowing eyes appearing above the five Champions from Shanghai High School. Three died in the next few seconds, with Tang Bingyao picking up a triple kill. The other two broke the tethers connecting them to the Morgana before she could stun them. Lin Feng was chasing after the Irelia and almost had her. But the Jinx was about to get away. Chen Ze smiled and pressed down on his R key again–Warp Gate! The cards opened up a portal for the Twisted Fate, allowing him to step through time and space and arrive right in front of the Jinx. He’d already selected the Gold Card from Pick a Card. It was the single target stun. The Jinx had used all her skills to escape this far. She was stunned by Chen Ze, and then killed by him.

《Aced!》

It was clear that Shanghai High School’s team had mentally tapped out after they lost the first teamfight. This last teamfight just underlined that fact. There was no scenario in which they should’ve allowed the Wukong to completely blindsight them again, especially since they had vision on Baron Nashor and could see he wasn’t there. But that wasn’t something Lin Feng concerned himself with. He just wanted to win this game and move on to the next one. “Let’s finish this right now!” he shouted over the team’s voice chat. Then he started pushing into Shanghai High School’s base. The rest of the team helped him, attacking the inhibitor tower followed by the inhibitor. They pushed towards the nexus and blew it up before Shanghai High School respawned.

VICTORY

“V-V-VIC—TOOOOO—RY!” Westwind shouted into his microphone. “Give it up for WIN FENG AND HIGH SCHOOL 13! WOOOOOO!”

The High School 13 students in the audience happily obliged. Their team was up 1-0 in the Finals of the most important esports tournament in Shanghai! It was only one game, and their emotions had been played multiple times already. But still. They were up 1-0! Maybe. Just maybe, they could win this whole damn thing! That fickle hope flared. Today was going to be their day! “WIN FENG! WIN FENG!”

The Shanghai Esports Association had invited several eliminated teams to come and watch the Finals. Tonji Affiliated High’s team was one of them. They sat together at the very front of the venue, stunned by the display of pure strategy from High School 13. This game was nothing like the game they played against High School 13. It wasn’t a one man show with Lin Feng hard-carrying High School 13 to a win. This was a team effort. It wasn’t LeBron James playing the whole game with the rest of the Cavs only there to fill out the numbers and pretend it was a team game. 

Tonji Affiliated High’s Jungler said, “Wow, they’ve gotten so much better… It’s like they’re a completely different team…” His teammates agreed with him.

Shanghai International’s team was also invited to watch the Finals. They didn’t really want to be there and they wanted to turn the invitation down. But Chu Fang was hosting the event, and Chu Fang was a big name in the professional League of Legends scene. Not just in Shanghai but in all of China. Showing up to the Finals was a fantastic opportunity to build a connection with him for Shanghai International’s star players. They had no choice but to accept the invitation. They grumbled and complained about having to go the entire way there, but they did show up at the Finals. Now they were seated near Tonji Affiliated High’s team and watching the game.

Yan Liang was stewing, forced to watch High School 13 play the Finals against Shanghai High School. This is physically painful to watch! I know exactly what to do! I already had a strategy to beat Shanghai High School ready! But I’m up here… IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ME DOWN THERE! I would’ve won this game already if I was down there. ARGH! I don’t know… Why’d it have to turn out this way? ISH! Just win already, Lin Feng! We’ll have some dignity left if you win. I’ll feel better knowing that we lost to the winners! But… we still lost. I lost to Lin Feng. Is he a better midlaner than me? Midlaner… toplaner… whatever he is…

Liu Zhengjie glared at Tang Bingyao and mumbled under his breath, “That stupid bitch got lucky again! How lucky can she get? Fucking hell! Just give me one game where she isn’t so damn lucky. One game! Everyone’ll see how shit she is! Fucking noob bitch whore! Only reason this slut seems good is cause Lin Feng’ll do anything to keep her on his cock!”

✹

After a brief intermission, High School 13 and Shanghai High School’s teams entered Champion Select for Game 2 of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament Finals. The two teams had switched sides and Lin Feng was back in the mid lane while Chen Ze went up top. There were no further changes from the first game. Shanghai High School stuck to the same tactic as they had before, banning out three strong mid lane assassins. This was to the surprise of An Xin. But she didn’t say anything about it and instead focused on High School 13’s team. Finally, both teams locked in their line-ups.

Game 2 of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament Finals:

High School 13 (Blue) versus Shanghai High School (Red)

Top lane: Rumble versus Darius
Jungle: Lee Sin versus Rengar
Mid lane: Lissandra versus Orianna
AD-carry: Lucian versus Jinx
Support: Thresh versus Morgana

Perhaps the biggest surprise in this second game of the Finals was that Zeng Rui let High School 13 pick Thresh. He picked Morgana. Other than that, both teams played strong Champions in the current patch. High School 13 was more focused on teamfights, with Champions like Rumble, Thresh and Lissandra offering powerful area of effect crowd control skills. While Shanghai High School was more focused on picking people off before it could ever get to a teamfight. It was going to come down to execution. The game went into the loading screen.

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

Shanghai High School decided to start the game with a lane swap. Their Botlaners went to the top lane and their Toplaner to the bot lane. This created a situation where the Toplaners from both teams had to play against two Champions, which was an impossible situation. But Darius had an easier time staying in lane and getting experience than the Rumble.

At 3 minutes: Shanghai High School’s Botlaners were pushing the minion wave in the top lane towards the Blue team’s outer tower. Chen Ze was hiding underneath it, unable to pick up any last hits on the minions. But he was still getting experience for being near the minions when they died. He thought he was safe farming like that. They were all still at Level 2 and didn’t have nearly enough health to towerdive. That was, until the Rengar snuck into High School 13’s topside Jungle and appeared behind the outer tower. He worked together with the Jinx and Morgana to kill the Rumble, perfectly trading aggro with the outer tower so that none of them died. First blood went to Shanghai High School.

At 5 minutes: Tang Bingyao and Wei Dong failed at pressuring Darius. They could push him back to his tower, but there he farmed up relatively safely. They tunnel visioned on the Darius, searching for a way to trip him up. The ward in the river wore off, but they didn’t notice and stayed there for a few seconds longer than they should have. That was all the time the Rengar needed to sneak up on them. He jumped on the Thresh and helped Darius kill him. Tang Bingyao’s Lucian got out, but that was little solace. Shanghai High School’s lane swap had worked out and left both High School 13’s top and bot lane at a disadvantage.

Shanghai High School was pulling ahead of High School 13 in the early minutes of the game. The only lane that was doing decent for High School 13 was the mid lane. Lin Feng, as was to be expected of him, had gotten a small lead over the Orianna. That wasn’t anywhere near enough to make up for the losses High School 13 had sustained elsewhere on the map. And he couldn’t exactly push for more. His Champion wasn’t an assassin like Fizz, who could towerdive at Level 3. And Shanghai High School’s Midlaner was playing Orianna who was one of the most defensive options available in the mid lane. All in all, this game was going terribly for High School 13.

At 7 minutes: Shanghai High School destroyed the hopes and dreams of all the High School 13 students in the audience. After taking down the outer tower in the top lane, the Botlaners went down to the bot lane. But rather than walking up to the outer tower and defending it from Lucian and Thresh, they walked into the river where they met up with Rengar and Orianna. The four of them went down to the bot lane and flanked Tang Bingyao and Wei Dong. Lin Feng still tried to help his Botlaners by Teleporting down. But there was little he could do. In the end, High School 13 lost all three Champions while only getting a single kill in return. Making things even worse, all three of those kills went to the Jinx. Seven minutes since this game started, and High School 13 was already tipping towards a loss.

“… he’s exhausted! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!” Zeng Rui screamed into his headset. He poured every ounce of concentration he had into the screen. We lost Xin Zhao, but now we’ll get to take Lin Feng and his Wukong out! Then we can wrap up the rest of this teamfight and get Dragon! GO! 

The four remaining Champions from Shanghai High School rushed towards Lin Feng’s Wukong. Orianna, Jinx,  Thresh, and Irelia. All locked in on the now exhausted Wukong. 

“What an Exhaust! What. An. EXHAUST!” Westwind screamed into the microphone. Half of the audience was chanting Zeng Rui’s name, agreeing with every positive thing Westwind had to say about their team captain. Westwind looked over the venue, grinning to himself, then continued, “A perfect display of pure skill… AGAIN! He knew the Wukong was coming in. HE KNEW!”

The Jinx was the first one of the four to get a lock on Wukong. She tossed out her Flame Chompers to root him down. Orianna followed up a split-second later and launched her Ball at Wukong while the Flame Chompers still arched through the air. Just as the Ball accelerated out from Orianna’s hand, Irelia materialized and fired four spirit blades at the Wukong—her ultimate, Transcendent Blades! Three Flame Chompers, one Ball, and four Spirit Blades flew through the air together, all aimed squarely at the Wukong! 

Just as Wukong was about to be rooted, pulled, rooted again and pierced by the volley of skills thrown at him, he dematerialized and blinked through everything! Then he rematerialized closer to the Dragon Pit, and started running towards the rest of his teammates. Wukong had escaped a shower of death and was now running towards safety! Lin Feng predicted what would happen when he went in for the kill on Xin Zhao, and he was ready and waiting with his finger on the D-Key. He Flashed through everything headed at him in the millisecond before they connected!

Silent Reed stood up for the first time in all the games she’d casted at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. She grabbed her microphone and shouted, “Zeng Rui isn’t done! He’s having his team chase the Wukong! OH! Look! Look at the Jinx! The Jinx!”

The Jinx activated her ultimate skill. She loaded the Super Mega Death Rocket in her bazooka and fired it in the general direction of High School 13’s team. It struck the Morgana, a large explosion sweeping out around her. Within the clouds of smoke and dust was a terrifying murder smiley. When the plume of smoke cleared, Rek’Sai’s fallen corpse was on the ground. The Jinx had picked up a kill! This in turn activated her passive skill–Get Excited! She got a boost in movement speed and raced after the Wukong, who had also been hit by the splash damage from her Super Mega Death Rocket.

The Orianna called her Ball back to her side. Then she cast Command: Dissonance! This skill damaged and slowed enemy Champions, but it granted ally Champions a speedburst. The Irelia and the Orianna made use of this speedburst to follow Jinx in chasing down the Wukong. All the while, the Morgana ran South through the river. No one chased after her. Wukong was the high value target. Not just in terms of gold, but also in terms of game objectives. After killing him, Shanghai High School could take the Dragon uncontested. That would put them in a comfortable lead.

The Jinx had the Red Buff, which added a slow effect to her auto attacks. She caught up to the Wukong near the Dragon Pit and fired off a rocket at him, slowing him. “Gotcha!” Shanghai High School’s ad-carry laughed over the team’s voice chat. 3vs1, this Wukong is toast! “I got him, guys! Gothim!” The Wukong turned left into the Red team’s Jungle and towards the Blue Buff Camp. Shanghai High School didn’t have any wards placed there, so they briefly lost vision of the Wukong.

The Jinx placed down a ward in the Red team’s Jungle to get vision on the Wukong again. He was just standing there, perfectly still. But Jinx, Irelia, and Orianna were so caught up in the chase and the heat of battle that they didn’t stop to think or question why he was just standing there. They charged at the Wukong and started attacking him, until a voice boomed into their ears. “Back, NOW!” It was Zeng Rui. He also started pinging for them to retreat and continued yelling over the team’s voice chat, “Spread out! GET OUT OF THERE! He still has his ultimate! He still has his—”

Keikaku doori, thought Lin Feng while grinning. He’d jumped into Shanghai High School’s team to bait out their long cooldown skills, like Exhaust, then flashed away to negate the effect of those skills. He made it look like he was desperate, as if he’d made a terrible misplay. But it was anything but that. Everything was within his control. He even paused ever so slightly while running away towards his Jungle to let the Jinx catch up and fire a rocket at him, slowing him. Then he cut their vision and used Warrior Trickster.

“He… He…” Westwind muttered into his microphone. The audience was still cheering. It hadn’t yet registered what was happening. The Shanghai High School students just saw their team chasing after the Wukong who was surely dying in the next few seconds. But Westwind was an expert of the game. He slammed his palm down on the desk and shouted, “THE TURN AROUND! WUKONG IS THE BAIT AND THE SHOOTER!”

Lin Feng was laser focused on the fight. His Wukong had split in two. The clone stood around as the three champions from Shanghai High School rushed up to it. The real Wukong ran towards the Jinx, Irelia, and Orianna under the cover of invisibility. His finger hovered over the R key. He pushed down lightly, stopping just before actuating the switch. “Tang Tang, goGoGO! Let’s win this!” Then he activated his ultimate. His Wukong whipped out his enchanted staff and held it out in front of him, then went into a wild spin–Cyclone! The Jinx, Irelia, and Orianna were knocked up into the air.

“People, people!” Westwind shouted at the deafening audience. “PEOPLE! Look at that outplay! They’re going to win! High School 13 is going to win this teamfight! Let’s hear it for… WIN FENG!”

Silent Reed exclaimed, “Westwind, look. Look! The Tristana!”

Westwind turned away from the audience, who were screaming whatever he made them scream, and looked up at the large screen above the stage again. There he saw it. Tristana, who hadn’t been in the fight at all until now, was jumping in. “Tristana! PeoplePeople! Let’s hear it for… TRISTANA!”

Tang Bingyao was out of position when the teamfight started. She was forced to walk a long way around to join the fight, which she only managed to do after Chen Ze’s Twisted Fate got killed. She’d decided to hang back and wait for the right opportunity to jump in. That was now. Lin Feng had asked for her help! She pressed down her W key–Rocket Jump! Her Tristana aimed her cannon at the ground and fired, launching herself towards Lin Feng and the three players from Shanghai High School. She then activated Rapid Fire. Her cannon’s muzzle ignited with a blazing fire, increasing her attack speed. Then she threw a bomb on the Jinx and charged it up–Explosive Charge! One auto attack was one charge. Each charge dealt exponentially more damage.

After the third auto attack, Tang Bingyao activated Tristana’s ultimate skill–Buster Shot! Her Tristana loaded a massive cannonball into her weapon and fired it at the Jinx. It dealt a ton of damage and also added the final charge to the Explosive Charge. The Jinx exploded.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Mhm!” Tang Bingyao smiled, briefly letting go of her mouse to ball a fist. She wasn’t going to lose this game, she was going to win it! The cooldown of Rocket Jump reset after getting the kill. She used it to jump on top of the Orianna, paying careful attention to the other Champions from Shanghai High School. Her finger hovered over the D key. I can’t make a mistake. I have to win this. I have to…

What he feared most happened in front of his eyes. Zeng Rui stared at his screen. For the second time in this game, he was caught off guard. He’d chased after the Wukong just like the rest of his team. He was the one who’d give the order! It wasn’t until Wukong disappeared in the fog of war that he realized something was wrong. He didn’t know why, or what was wrong. It’d just been a feeling. This thundering dumbass! His entire team was caught out! He had to do something. If he could help just one escape, that would already be a massive accomplishment. The Tristana was firing away at the Orianna. He aimed at her and pressed down on the Q key–Death Sentence!

Tang Bingyao pressed down on the D key–Flash! She’d been expecting the Death Sentence. Her Tristana disappeared as the sickle cut through the air. She’d dodged it! I can do this! Mhm. I can! She took aim at the Orianna again, who was trying to run away. I’ll kill—

Lin Feng had his Wukong leap at the Orianna. Then he raised the enchanted staff high above his head, clutching it tightly with both hands, and slammed down with shattering force–Crushing Blow! Killing Blow!

《Double kill!》

Tang Bingyao stared at her screen. He stole my kill… Then she shook her head. Mnh-mnh. I’ll kill the Irelia! She started firing at the Irelia, who was caught running back and forth between the Wukong and Tristana, lost as to what to do.

Wei Dong arrived back in the fight. He hovered near the edge, far away from the Thresh and Irelia, yet close enough to protect Tang Bingyao’s Tristana with a Black Shield. Morgana had arrived just in time! 

Irelia had finally chosen her target. She jumped on the Tristana with Bladesurge and tried to stun her with Equilibrium Strike. But Morgana’s Black Shield popped up just before Equilibrium Strike landed, negating the stun. The Irelia’s skill had been wasted, and was now on cooldown. Things just got worse for her from there. Since no stun was applied, Tristana used Rocket Jump to get some distance. The Irelia found herself  locked between the Wukong and Tristana again, taking damage from both champions. She had to make a choice once again. Just like before, she decided to run down the Tristana. Wukong was a melee Champion, so chasing Tristana was her only way to get some distance from the Wukong. But it didn’t matter. Her health was dropped quickly. She took an enchanted staff to the back of her skull, after which a cannonball smashed into her face and finished her off.

《Double kill!》

Tang Bingyao balled her fist again. Double kill. Mhm! Then she looked at the Thresh, who until now had been trying to help his teammates escape. He stood in the middle of the river, far away from Blue team’s tower in the mid lane. Tang Bingyao smiled and pressed down on the W key–Rocket Jump! This skill reset when she got a kill. The Tristana aimed her cannon at the ground and fired, launching herself towards the Thresh.

The spectators on High School 13’s side of the audience fell into a forlorn silence. They stopped all the cheering, the posters and signs dropped. In their eyes, Lin Feng’s death was the beginning of the end. When his Wukong rampaged across the Rift at the start of the game, hope burned bright. They started to believe they had a chance at winning the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! They started to believe they could beat Shanghai High School! But it was just a flash. When Shanghai High School attacked and killed Wukong, all that hope went up in a puff of smoke. 

They looked around at each other, embarrassed and sheepish. It was stupid of them to believe they had a shot at taking the trophy home to their school. Everyone from High School 13 knew this was it. Their esports team had lost the advantage they had in the early game, and it wouldn’t be long before they lost the game. Wouldn’t be long until they lost the series. Then all of them would go home together and life would go back to normal. They’d go back to being on the bottom. Back to being a terrible school. The energy from the audience died out, the substitutes for the team looked a little deflated, and even the players on the team felt their confidence waver. But the man at the center of it all wasn’t even slightly bothered.

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and laughed, “Oh man! That was embarrassing!” He looked over to his teammates and continued, “I got outplayed HARD! Big oof!”

Tang Bingyao and Wei Dong sat to Lin Feng’s right. They stared at him, completely forgetting that they were in the middle of the most important game they’d ever played. Both of them thinking the same exact thought. Lin Feng is hopeless! He’s beyond help. Truly a lost cause. He doesn’t even care that he made such a big mistake! Liu Yue and Chen Ze, sitting on Lin Feng’s left, were in the same boat. They stared at their screens, stunned and speechless. Chen Ze finally broke the silence, “I guess it wasn’t completely his fault. If the Thresh hadn’t shown up… I mean… th—”

“No, no! Listen! I died and that’s that!” Lin Feng interjected. “Don’t need to make excuses.” He looked back at his screen and nodded, ignoring the stares digging into him. “Alright! Won’t let that happen again! We still got this! Let’s move on!”

After the initial burst of cheering from the takedown on the Wukong died out, Westwind and Silent Reed pulled up a replay on the large screen to analyze what had just happened. 

“There you see the Thresh pathing through his Jungle to place wards.”

“And right here, we see the Wukong roaming towards the mid lane!”

“The Thresh was recalling back to base near the mid lane when Orianna got ganked.”

“He really was just in time to help the Orianna. That was so close. He wouldn’t have made it without that Flash.”

“Wukong didn’t stand a chance from that point onward.”

“That was all skill, right?”

“Yes. Pure skill. Zeng Rui is one of the best players in China. He has phenomenal mechanics and map awareness! You don’t see this kind of skill everyday!” 

“He’s a Challenger, a real life Challenger. That was such a good play by Zeng Rui.” 

“There you have it! Our analysis proves that that was pure skill by Zeng Rui! What a brilliant… PHENOMENAL play!”

Zeng Rui frowned. He ignored his teammates cheering him on over the team’s voice chat. I got lucky… I got lucky. He was having trouble accepting the reality of what just happened. The outplay didn’t matter. Things like Flaying an opponent out of a dash and hooking them under a tower were second nature. It took him no effort or even thought to do it. That timing… If I hadn’t been near mid… He just didn’t want to accept that the entire play came down to luck. Pure luck. I didn’t anticipate that gank! I failed at predicting what Lin Feng was going to do. That dumbass got one over on me, and that’s what’s pissing me off! The only reason I got that kill was luck! That’s fucking disgusting! It’s absolutely shameful that all of that came down to luck! 

Zeng Rui was a man of few words. He was stoic, controlled, and believed in himself and his teammates. He hated the word ‘luck’. The entire concept disgusted him! Only people who were bad at the game needed to rely on luck! He held himself and his team to a much higher standard. He could win a game on his own with skill and strategy. The only thing he relied on was careful planning! But in this particular instance, where he was being celebrated, he’d failed himself. He failed to plan and predict. The only reason things had worked out was because he got lucky. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time. If he hadn’t been, Orianna would’ve died and the Wukong would’ve been even stronger. But he was there, and he saved Orianna and took Lin Feng’s Wukong down. What haunted him was just how easily it could’ve all gone in the other direction. That’s why he found luck disgusting. How did I miss that? 

✹

Su Xue wrapped up her meeting with Huya TV as quickly as she could. Then she started streaming the Shanghai 16 School Tournament Finals. Thousands of viewers quickly jumped in to watch the game with her. As far as she could tell, the game was relatively even between the two teams. Even after Lin Feng’s Wukong got killed. But when that happened, Su Xue gasped and asked her viewers how it even happened. They jumped in with many different theories, all of which boiled down to the fact that the Thresh had gotten lucky. But all of them believed in their Li’l Bro and repeated that giving away one kill was no big deal at all. Especially since another Dragon would spawn in two minutes. There was going to be another massive teamfight at the Dragon Pit, and that’s where Lin Feng would have his vengeance! 

According to the consensus of the viewers on Sue Xue’s stream, Lin Feng was a God at teamfights. He always had a way of somehow going 1v5 and winning. Some of them added that they didn’t remember watching a single teamfight with Lin Feng where he didn’t come out on top. When this next teamfight rolled around, that’s when Lin Feng was going to punish Shanghai High School and the Thresh for killing him in a play that was pure luck.

“Shhhh!” Su Xue suddenly said, shutting the viewers up. Lin Feng had just run into Shanghai High School’s Jungler.

Wukong ran into Xin Zhao while he strolled around alone in the Blue team’s Jungle. The Xin Zhao was running low on health after clearing Jungle camps. Lin Feng noticed and smiled. Xin Zhao had not yet realized that Wukong was nearby. Lin Feng activated Warrior Trickster, and his Wukong turned invisible. 

Wukong crept up on the poor, unsuspecting Xin Zhao. The Jungler was blissfully unaware that something was out of place and still casually wandering about. Once Wukong got close enough to the Xin Zhao’s back to pick the lice out of Xin Zhao’s top-knot, he raised his enchanted staff high into the air. Then brought it down on Xin Zhao’s head–Crushing Blow! Wukong immediately followed up with a wild spin with his staff held out, which knocked the Xin Zhao airborne. This was Wukong’s ultimate skill, Cyclone!

Xin Zhao had figured out that his life was in danger while he was up in the air. He tried to retaliate the moment his feet touched the ground again. He swept his spear out in a wide arc and knocked the Wukong away–Crescent Sweep! 

But Lin Feng knew the knockback from Crescent Sweep was coming. He’d saved Nimbus Strike precisely for this moment, and it was here. Lin Feng pushed down on his E Key. Wukong dashed right back on top of the Xin Zhao, and then bashed his skull apart with a final Crushing Blow!

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Oh yeah! Sweet!” Su Xue exclaimed when Lin Feng got the kill. “It looks so easy when he does it! He’s the best! Who was saying something about him feeding? Ha! What a joke.”

「No joke no joke. He really gave away a kill earlier!」
「Lil bro is the best!!!1! He’s just having fun! Hahahahhaha」
「HE”S THE REALLL CHALLENGEER!!!!!!1!」
「lawl, that xin zhao is stupid…..」
「GRATS!!!!! WOOOOOO lil bro for the win BABBBEEHHHH!!!」
「sooooo easy… pffttt. this a finals? lawl」

✹

The second Dragon spawned when the game timer hit the 12-minute mark. Solo kills, like the one Lin Feng had gotten two minutes ago from the Xin Zhao, didn’t make a grand difference in the flow of the game. Teamfights had far more of an impact, and determined how the balance between both teams tipped. Both Shanghai High School and High School 13 had gathered near the Dragon Pit. Both teams were placing wards to maximize vision while searching for that perfect opening to engage a teamfight. There were a few skirmishes as both teams pushed their luck trying to place a deep ward on the opposing side of the map. The actual usefulness of these deep wards was up for debate though, since everyone knew where they were placed.

Shanghai High School had also bought four vision wards. These were specifically meant to deal with Wukong, since they could reveal invisible Champions. They placed two of them on their side of the map. If Wukong tried to flank them, they would see him and know. They placed the other two wards as close as possible to High School 13’s side of the map. But those two were quickly destroyed. 

While all of this warding and planning was going on, both teams were constantly throwing skillshots at each other to get some poke damage in. Beyond that though, Shanghai High School and High School 13 were deadlocked. Neither side was willing to force an engage. Both teams poked and danced around each other, hoping to bait someone on the other team into stepping over the line. But it hadn’t happened so far, and both teams continued to look for an opportunity. 

Until Chen Ze’s Twisted Fate took a single step too far in the wrong direction. A sickle shot out from the fog of war and hooked him.

“There’s the engage!” Westwind shouted into his microphone. “Thresh landed the… DEATH SENTENCE! This is it. The first. Big! TEAMFIGHT!” The audience fed on his energy, cheering and shouting for Zeng Rui.

Thresh’s Death Sentence had a second activation. After hooking a target, he could dash to them. Which is exactly what Thresh did. While flying towards Twisted Fate, he threw out a lantern behind him to Irelia. She clicked it and dashed after him. The two Champions appeared on top of Twisted Fate and started attacking him. Xin Zhao followed a step behind them.

Chen Ze slammed down on the D key–Flash! His Twisted Fate blinked away from Thresh, Irelia, and Xin Zhao. The rest of High School 13’s team rushed to his aid, charging towards the three champions from Shanghai High School.

Xin Zhao wasn’t about to let High School 13 save their Twisted Fate though. He activated his ultimate and swept his spear in a wide arc that knocked the Champions from High School 13 back before they could get to their Twisted Fate. Then he charged at the Twisted Fate with Audacious Charge! The Twisted Fate’s health was low after the initial engagement by Thresh and Irelia. When Xin Zhao’s Audacious Charge hit Twisted Fate, it blew through the last of his health and killed him.

Wei Dong pressed down on his Q key–Dark Binding! His Morgana locked Xin Zhao down with her dark magic before he could escape. Liu Yue followed up with his Rek’Sai, Un-burrowing underneath the Xin Zhao and knocking him up. But the crowd control was again not perfectly layered. The skill effects overlapped with each other, instead of flowing sequentially. This allowed Xin Zhao to break free early and rush back to his team with way more health than he should have had. Morgana and Rek’Sai chased after him, but Orianna intercepted and stopped them. She launched her Ball towards them and unleashed a powerful electromagnetic wave of energy with Command: Shockwave. 

Morgana Flashed away before the skill could hit. But Liu Yue couldn’t get his Rek’Sai out in time. He was pulled in towards the Ball, and separated from the rest of Highschool 13’s team. He was a wounded and lone gazelle on the wilds of the Rift, and the Jinx and Irelia wasted no time pouncing on him. They hacked away at his health. The smell of blood also enticed Xin Zhao, who stopped fleeing despite his dwindling health and turned back to the fight.

Everything was looking lost for High School 13. This teamfight was going disastrously. Shanghai High School got the kill on Twisted Fate and they couldn’t even kill the Xin Zhao in return. But then, just as it started to look like the fires of Mordor were swallowing High School 13 up whole, a piercing ray of white light shone from a brush. “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.” A figure riding the clouds and clad in heavenly battle armour charged into the battle with his enchanted staff! The Wukong dashed into the Xin Zhao and swung a staff down on his head–Crushing Blow! Killing blow!

The audience was already up on their feet. Everyone in the venue was going crazy. Both teams had a chance in this teamfight! Westwind knew this too. He was out of breath from all the shouting, but still clutched the microphone tightly in his grasp and moved it so close to his mouth that he could almost taste it. Then he shouted in his loudest voice yet, “WUKONG! WUKONG HAS ARRIVED!”

Zeng Rui smiled when he saw the Wukong. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He used the Summoner Spell Exhaust, causing a crippling aura to wrap around the Wukong, while shouting over his team’s voice chat, “Kill the Wukong! He’s exhausted! Kill him! Kill him!”