Cup Noodles’ Tristana was only Level 5. She had pushed the minion wave in bot lane, which had cost her a fair bit of health, before coming mid. And now the Level 7 Orianna attacked her with several skills. Each dealing substantial damage. Her health was dipping low, only a few more hits from death. This was something the Ahri wouldn’t let happen. She dashed toward her ad-carry to support her, firing off an essence bolt at Orianna–Spirit Rush! The Tristana wasn’t on the same page. She just wanted to get away, but her Flash was on cooldown. So she started running. Running into the Sejuani.

The Sejuani appeared from the bottom side river brush. She Arctic Assaulted into the Tristana, knocking her Airborne, and then threw a Glacial Prison! A bola flew at the Tristana, and the Ahri next to her, freezing the Tristana and slowing the Ahri. The Tristana couldn’t move. She couldn’t do anything for the next 1s. The Orianna moved toward the Tristana and commanded her Ball to attack while throwing out an auto attack.

《Killing spree!》

Cup Noodles stared at his screen. It was grey. His Tristana was dead. He’d died in a Gold game. A Master on the Ionia server had just been killed by some random Gold player on the Korea server. He didn’t know what to say or do, so he just sat there, staring at his screen.

Old Huang was also silent. He watched the fight happen on his recording software and hit replay. Then he watched it again, and one more time. “U-uhm…” He was searching for the words, but they sounded wrong. They sounded impossible. He still asked the question, “D-did you just get outplayed?”

“N-no, I-i, t-this…” Cup Noodles stuttered.

Cup Noodles knew it and Old Huang knew it. The Orianna had outplayed Cup Noodles. For some reason, this Gold rank player knew how much damage she had and that she had enough to kill the Tristana. But that could also be explained as an overly confident play. Those happened all the time in Gold. The real surprise was pulling the Tristana out of her Rocket Jump. The Orianna used her ultimate in the exact moment that it would shock the Tristana out of her escape. That took actual skill, or more luck than most people found in a lifetime of playing video games.

“… was luck, right? I-it has to be!”

Old Huang blew out some smoke rings, then shook his head and shrugged. “Who cares what that was? That Orianna got the fancy play, not you. I need you to do that. Those are the plays I need. Just do what that Orianna is doing!”

Cup Noodles chuckled, though he didn’t sound happy. It was more of a worried confusion. He slammed his hand down on his desk and said, “It’s fine! Really! It’s all fine. That was just a small slip up. Nothing to get worried about. I won’t do it again. Don’t worry. I got this!”

“Alright, I believe you. Just stop messing around,” Old Huang sighed. He then glanced at mid lane. At the Orianna. She was 3/0/0 and had almost double Ahri’s creep score.

✹

Cup Noodles had had his fun. It was time to get serious. He had to if he wanted to win this game. Fortunately, he was still a Master on the Ionia server. As much as this game wasn’t going his way right now, he was a really good player. When he returned to bot lane, he did what he did best, carrying. He pushed the lane towards the Blue team’s outer tower and kept poking the Jinx. Then, at 10 minutes, his Nami support threw a bubble that connected with the Jinx–Aqua Prison! The Jinx floated in the air, unable to do anything. Cup Noodles had his Tristana jump in and kill the Jinx. He didn’t even care for the tower aggro, because of Tristana’s Rocket Jump. This skill reset on a kill. So after bursting the Jinx down, he jumped back out and laughed into his microphone, “Haha! Pretty slick, eh? What do you think? That’s what you want, right?”

“Slick my ass! Hurry the fuck up! That Orianna is coming for you!” Old Huang shouted back over voice chat. He could already see what was going to happen. It was all too obvious.

“Eh?” Cup Noodles muttered. He looked at his minimap, where he found Orianna almost arriving at bot lane. “EH? How did she get here so fast!”

Cup Noodles ran towards his own outer tower. But Blue team’s Thresh wasn’t about to let this happen. The Thresh flayed the Tristana back and then threw a lantern to the river entrance. A shield wrapped around the Orianna as she was pulled to the Thresh’s side. Then she commanded her Ball to Attack and then Dissonance! The Ball shot towards the Tristana and then released a pulse of energy.

《You have been slain!》

Cup Noodles’ screen turned grey again. The announcer’s voice rang out in his ears. He stared in shock. The window on his screen showed him where most of the damage came from. Energy shots from the outer tower. He’d gone too far. His outplay had turned into a misplay real quick. Then he looked back at bot lane. The Nami was still alive. Well. She was. The Thresh and Orianna were chasing her down and had enough damage and crowd control between them. There was nothing the Nami could do.

《Enemy double kill!》

There was silence on the voice chat. Old Huang looked at the Orianna’s score. 5/0/0. And then at the 2/2/0 on Tristana. “Dammit! Who the hell’s gameplay am I recording? Yours or that Orianna’s? She looks like the Master! You look like the Gold player here!”

✹

Lin Feng was finding a steady groove this game. Push out mid lane, maybe pick up a kill, and then go to the Wraith Camp in the jungle for some extra gold and experience. Then it was back to mid lane and pushing the minion wave out again. And when the opportunity presented itself, he’d roam down to bot lane. He had a specific purpose for these little trips down bot lane. They weren’t something obvious like gold or kills. He already had both this game, more than he could ask for even. The real reason he terrorized Red team’s Botlaners was that Tristana. The ad-carry who’d roamed up the river to gank him twice. He had to enact revenge on her!

At 13 minutes, Lin Feng roamed bot lane for the second time in the game. His presence alone made the Tristana Flash away and then Rocket Jump for good measure. The Nami didn’t have these tools at her disposal. She tried to dodge the Thresh hook but failed. Orianna’s Ball was attached to the Thresh as he pulled himself towards the Nami–Death Sentence! And that was all she wrote. The Orianna’s damage was too damn high. It was a quick and easy kill.

At 16 minutes, the Sejuani went for a gank in bot lane. Lin Feng panned his camera over and watched what happened. The Sejuani missed her ultimate, with the ice storm merely slowing the Tristana and Nami down. They had enough of a headstart to safety. With only a sliver of health, they arrived at their outer tower. But the Sejuani had a lot of health and they had almost none. The Sejuani could towerdive. So they kept running all the way back towards their inner tower.

Lin Feng recognized the opening. He was already walking through the Red team’s bottom jungle to cut off the Tristana and Nami’s path of retreat. There was an entrance to the jungle halfway between the outer and inner tower. The Tristana and Nami walked past just as Lin Feng’s Orianna arrived there. She commanded her Ball, the damage from this first attack enough to pick up another double kill!

《Godlike!》

Lin Feng smiled and muttered, “Keep coming mid. Heh. Keep coming mid…” He sounded borderline insane as he had his Orianna walk back towards mid lane, leaving behind the two bodies of his latest conquest.

✹

Lin Feng looked down at bot lane. “Oh, another opening. This should be fun!” He’d just pushed the minion wave into Red team’s outer tower. The Ahri wasn’t there. She probably backed, or something. So he had his Orianna move down to bot lane. Through the river brush right below mid lane, and then a second brush. And then, from out the jungle they came. Ahri and Rek’Sai! They’d been waiting for him! It was an ambush!

Ahri used the first two dashes of her ultimate skill to close the distance, while Rek’Sai burrowed a tunnel to arrive right underneath Lin Feng. Then she Unburrowed. But Lin Feng wasn’t that easy to kill. His fingers glided over his keyboard. He knew precisely what to do. A quick sidestep from the Ahri’s Charm that was already flying his way, and then a Flash to dodge the knock up from the Rek’Sai. All the while, he commanded Orianna’s Ball to stay put right on top of the Rek’Sai and Ahri.

“Command: Shockwave!” Lin Feng exclaimed as he pressed down on his R key. An electromagnetic pulse ripped out from Orianna’s Ball and dragged Ahri and Rek’Sai back towards it. Then he pressed down on the W key–Command: Dissonance. A pulse of energy erupted from the Ball.

The Ahri and Rek’Sai turned around to escape. Their health bars were almost empty and they didn’t want to give any more kills to the Orianna. They ran into their jungle, towards a ward from the Blue team. This ward lit up. The Irelia was teleporting in! Behind them was a fed Orianna. In front of them was an Irelia who was more than strong enough to finish them off. There was no left or right way to escape to. They put up a last struggle before both dying. One kill went to the Irelia, the other to Orianna.

《Legendary!》

Lin Feng pressed the TAB key. It showed his kills, deaths and assists. 8/0/2. The game announcer was right. He was Legendary! “Oh, wow!” he exclaimed. Then he grinned and added, “Man, my Orianna is really awesome!”

✹

Cup Noodles and Old Huang were also checking out the game score. More specifically, they were looking at the Orianna. The game wasn’t even 20 minutes in, yet she was already Legendary and had somehow found the time in between kills to get over 200 CS. It almost felt like it should be impossible. But this Orianna had somehow done it. At this point, it was hard to see anyone kill her, even in a 5vs1.

“It’s over…” Cup Noodles sighed and shook his head.

Old Huang lit up a new cigarette and blew out some smoke before saying, “What the hell? I recorded a highlight reel for this Orianna… Dammit! This was supposed to be a highlight reel of you! What good are you if this Orianna in a Gold game beats you!”

Cup Noodles wanted an excuse. He needed one! “Hey! I didn’t expect to run into this Ori. She’s definitely not Gold. She must be a smurf, and a really high ranked one. She’s way too good.”

Old Huang snorted. “Aren’t you a Master? What random player is better? What? Are you going to tell me this is that oh so great Midlaner from Season 1 you were talking about?”

“Haha. Maybe… I don’t know? Probably not. Doubt it.” Cup Noodles fell silent for a brief moment, thinking back to Season 1. Then he sighed. A deep and long sigh. “It’d be great if he was. He was something else. If he came back, the LPL would have an Emperor finally.”

“What? A solo kill?” Cup Noodles yelped into his microphone. “What the hell is that Ahri doing? Wasn’t she low health? Why did she not back?”

“No, wasn’t like that,” Old Huang replied. He looked at his screen, blowing out a large breath of smoke, and shook his head. “That Orianna played that good. She flashed in the very exact moment that Ahri threw out her orb. There was nothing she could do.”

“Damn really??” Cup Noodles laughed. This is only Gold, what did I expect… He clicked his tongue and said, “Whatever. Just a typical solo kill in Gold. When that Ahri hits Level 6, she’ll be fine. She’ll dive and I’ll get my time auto attacking while they all jump on her. First blood was mine. I’ll carry this game. Easy.”

Cup Noodles had a point. Tristana was a late game hyper carry. A maximum level, full item build Tristana was almost unstoppable! The more kills she got in the early game, the faster she reached that point. That super late game didn’t always come to pass, though. But that didn’t really matter either. Starting from two items, a third on her way to completing her build, she would suddenly receive a big power spike!

“Mhm.” Old Huang stared at his screen, nodding. Everything Cup Noodles said sounded logical, but it still didn’t feel quite right. So he warned, “Just be careful. You can have a little more fun at bot, but then go take care of mid! Late game Orianna can get really strong. I don’t wanna see that. The viewers would hate it. You gotta carry this one. Carry it hard!”

“Chill! Chill, man!” Cup Noodles said. Then he chuckled and added, “You just said that Ori used her Flash, right? Here. Let me show you what we do with a flashless Ori!”

✹

At 5 minutes, Lin Feng returned to base and spent his gold. The items he bought gave him the edge over the Ahri. When he returned to lane, he started pressuring the Ahri even harder than before. She wasn’t allowed to do anything but sit behind her tower and try to stay in range for the experience. Lin Feng continued to widen the gap, accurately getting every last hit on the minions while keeping her from even getting one. It was painful to watch.

Lin Feng was pushing into the outer tower in mid lane, when he spotted the Tristana walking up the river into his lane. She Rocket Jumped on top of him and placed a bomb on his head–Explosive Charge! Then she Rapid Fired at him with her auto attacks, dealing physical damage and charging up the bomb! His Orianna’s health fell. The bomb would explode in a few more seconds too. He pushed down on his E and then his W. Orianna’s Ball retreated to her side and protected her with a shield before it sent out a pulse of energy. This pulse boosted her movement speed and she sped away.

The Tristana kept firing at the Orianna all the way until the Orianna reached Blue team’s outer tower. Then she had to give up. Her damage in the early game just wasn’t enough. It’d take a little more scaling before she could burst down her targets. But she did leave the Orianna with almost no health.

Lin Feng rubbed his chin and grinned. “Hehe, that Tristana looks a little interesting. This might be fun!”

The Tristana’s gank wasn’t a gank in its truest form. Unlike most Junglers, Tristana didn’t have any crowd control. All she could do was fire off her cannon and harass, in this case, the Midlaner. There was never a real threat to the Orianna. It was just a little trick to help the Ahri in her lane and force the Orianna to give up on some of the pressure she was exerting.

✹

Cup Noodles had his Tristana walk back to bot lane while laughing into his microphone. “Haha! Did you see that? Did you see her run away? Haha! Man, I totally pissed her off! She’s probably tilting off the edge of the world right now! Haha! Did you see that? Haha!”

Old Huang blew out some smoke, smiling. “Not bad, not bad. That was some quick thinking. Great move! It really worked great! This should make the game even easier! Now let’s get that Quadra or Penta!”

Cup Noodles had played this little gank in mid lane to perfection, as could be expected from a Master player. He first pushed out his wave in bot lane, making sure that there was nothing he was losing from his roam, before going up to mid lane. Then he attacked the Orianna, forcing her to give up on a minion wave and retreat. He got the Orianna’s health down, made her lose CS, and gave the Ahri some breathing room to finally get some CS. This little gank couldn’t have gone any better for Cup Noodles!

“That’s how you reach Master as ad-carry. Takes some real awareness,” Cup Noodles said into his microphone. He started laughing, proud of his little play. Then he decided he should explain it to Old Huang in a little more detail. Old Huang wasn’t a Master, after all. “If you can’t push for any direct advantages in bot lane, you want to look around the map and see if you can put pressure somewhere else. Like here, I saw Ori pushing in mid. It was the obvious choice. You help your Midlaner, and that helps you later into the game. Now I tilted that Ori and this’ll be an easy win.”

Cup Noodles got back to bot lane and almost instantly started pressuring the Jinx again. This lane was too easy for him. He looked back up to mid lane. His Ahri was really far behind. He rubbed his chin and said, “Ahri can use a little more help. Plus, it’ll be so much fun to tilt that Ori even harder! I’ll go for another gank in a few! Hahaha!”

“Alright, sounds good.” Old Huang checked the footage from the last gank in mid and saw some openings for his commentary. “Make it good. I can talk a story around it. This should be good! Let’s do it and get a useful game!”

《Any ally has been slain.》

Cup Noodles panned his camera to mid lane. It hadn’t even been a minute! The game clock read 6:30 minutes. And there was already another kill! “What the… How did she die again? Is she feeding? Trolling? What is going on?”

The Ahri wasn’t feeding. Or trolling. She was a Gold player playing against a Challenger. Playing against one of the best players in the world. Lin Feng had baited her, showing an opening that really wasn’t there. The Ahri had just reached Level 6 and learned her ultimate–Spirit Rush! She dashed forward and fired an essence bolt at the Orianna. Then she dashed again and attacked the Orianna with three Fox-Fires! That was when the real threat revealed herself. Sejuani. Blue team’s Jungler. She charged at the Ahri and knocked her Airborne with her Arctic Assault.

Fidget Spinners flew at the Ahri. The Orianna’s Ball was on top of her, also dealing damage. She wanted to get away. Flash or the third dash of her ultimate. Either could work! But neither would. She was Airborne and couldn’t do anything. Then, as she hit the ground again and used her ultimate again, a shockwave spread out around her. It damaged her and dragged her backtowards Orianna’s Ball. Her health was almost zero. She was dead.

Behind his computer, Lin Feng shook his head, smiling. “So naive. She really needs to be a little more careful next time. Hehe.”

If the Ahri player knew what was happening, how she was being played by a Challenger on the Ionia server, she’d understand her frustration and anger. This was unfair! Absolutely unfair! There was nothing she could do about this. She couldn’t win this game. She just wasn’t good enough to face a Challenger. She was Gold! Dirty! This was a dirty play! Nothing more!

✹

Cup Noodles started to feel a little worried. That Orianna now had two kills. His own lane opponents, the Jinx and Thresh, were playing absurdly defensive on top of that. He could get all the CS he wanted, but it was impossible to get anything more out of this lane. The Orianna would scale faster. Would deal more damage. Might even carry the game. “This is shit. We need to shut down mid asap!”

Mindlessly farming minions in bot lane, unobstructed by Blue teams Botlaners, Cup Noodles panned his camera to mid lane again. He had to do something, or risk losing control over the game. “I’ll make another roam mid in a bit. Just have to wait for Ahri’s ult to come off cooldown. If we play that right, worst case scenario we force Ori to blow her Summoner Spells. Best case, we get a kill and a tower. That should shut that Ori down. Ahri should finally be able to get back into it then.”

At 8 minutes into the game, Cup Noodles had pushed out the minion wave in bot lane. He roamed up the river, looking to gank mid lane again. The Orianna was standing close to the bottom side river brush, farming minions in the middle of the lane. Cup Noodles chuckled. “Perfect. You’re dead! Hehe!” He walked through the river brush and then placed an Explosive Charge on the Orianna’s head before Rapid Firing away, dealing physical damage and charging up the bomb!

Cup Noodles grinned, happy with his little plan. This is going to be easy. Doesn’t even matter that I’m not Level 6 yet. There’s nothing that Ori can do to me anyway. Even if everything goes wrong, I still got my Rocket Jump. I’ll just fly away! Haha! And there’s also the Ahri. She’s a little behind, but should still deal enough damage to be of some he—

The Orianna’s Ball flew straight towards Cup Noodles’ Tristana and hit, dealing magic damage. Then a pulse of energy spread out–Command: Dissonance! “Shit!” Cup Noodles exclaimed. The Ahri was right there! He expected that the Orianna would run away in this 2vs1. It didn’t make any sense for her to stick around! But the Orianna didn’t flee. She was going hard on him instead! His Tristana’s health was getting low and the Ahri hadn’t even started helping yet. He flicked his mouse and pressed down on his W key–Rocket Jump! His Tristana aimed her cannon to the ground and fire, launching herself into the air.

Lin Feng smiled and muttered, “Keep coming mid. Heh. Keep coming mid…” He pressed down on his R key. This was Orianna’s ultimate skill Command: Shockwave! A skill that sent out a large shockwave around Orianna’s Ball and pulled in all Champions caught within its range. It didn’t matter if they were in the middle of an animation or not. The Tristana was pulled out of her Rocket Jump to safety and suddenly found herself in a peculiar position.

“Fuck.”

VICTORY

“Ha! Great game! I played that perfectly!” Lin Feng leaned back in his chair and laughed. Another win. The third in a row. Each next one more dominating than the last. He didn’t care what his teammates did. They could feed to their heart’s content for all he cared! He’d carry them and win the game anyway! Though it had to be said these games were only in Gold ELO. The opponents weren’t his match on their best day and his worst. It gave him the chance to ease back into it and start finding his form again. He played in mid lane and picked Champions like Lulu, Twisted Fate, and Viktor who were strong in the current meta. 

This was the first time in four years that Lin Feng played on his own account. He felt the added pressure. These games were on his name. He couldn’t hide behind different Summoner names anymore. Every move was truly his now. But that didn’t bother him in the game. Not really. He played like he always did, comfortable and confident. He overwhelmed his lane opponents and forced them to hide behind their towers. It was all they could do, or they’d feed him and make it even worse for themselves. However, hiding behind their towers was not the answer either. Lin Feng would simply go somewhere else. There were three lanes and a big jungle. There were five players on each team. He could go after whoever he liked. So he pushed out his lane and started roaming around the map, showing up just at the right moment wherever he went. This was something called Awareness. To know when and where to be and exert the greatest impact on a game. It was one of, if not the greatest divider between professional players and people climbing the ranked ladder.

Awareness was far more important than game mechanics. There were plenty of very strong mechanical players in Master and Challenger. They were a dime a dozen. Some random players were even better than professional players in this regard. But their mechanics had no purpose if they didn’t know when and where to apply it. The awareness to follow up. The awareness to navigate a chaotic teamfight. The awareness to play the whole map to their advantage. This was the skill of a professional player.

There was an element of talent to awareness. But most was borne from hard work. That was what Lin Feng was focusing on right now, and also the reason he chose to play on the Korean server rather than on the Ionia server. The best way to hone awareness was through teamplay, something that was simply far more prevalent on the Korean server. Even in lower ranked games in Gold, players were actively looking to work together to win the game. His plan was simple. He’d climb his way up the ladder, each rank becoming a little more difficult to win, to work on his awareness. Then, by the time he reached the top of Challenger, he might even get the chance to test his progress against him. Against the Sovereign.

From as early as Season 1, Rake was considered the best professional League of Legends player. He was the Midlaner for SSK and Lin Feng’s ultimate target. But Rake didn’t just stand at the top of the professional scene, he also stood at the top of the Korean ranked ladder. In fact, he had three accounts up there. One was in first place, one in fourth and the last in tenth. He had to play consistently to keep these ranks, so it wouldn’t be strange for Lin Feng to run into him down the line. Lin Feng would face Rake again. The same guy who had beaten him four years ago and had led to him quitting the game. But the past was the past. Lin Feng didn’t think about that anymore. He looked up ahead. At the challenge in front of him. A dream that seemed almost impossible. But it was exactly this apparent impossibility that motivated him to fight!

Lin Feng pursed his lips together and blew out the air from his mouth. He looked at the end game lobby screen. Gold 2, 85 lp. He’d gained 34 lp for this last win. One more and he would be in his promo series for Gold 1. Another step towards his goal. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed in and then back out again. Then he started smiling and set up straight again. He placed his right hand on the mouse and his left on the keyboard. “Just you wait! I’ll climb up to Challenger and beat you!”

✹

Dirty clothes were strewn across the floor. Old Huang sat on a sweater in front of his computer. He had his League client open on the Korean server. His recording software was properly set up and he’d just tried a test run. Everything was good to go. He was on voice chat with Cup Noodles, the Master player he’d invited to help him make a video. “Yo, Cup, you ready?”

“Yup yup! All good to go on my end!” Cup Noodles replied.

“Awesome! Let’s make something great today. Give your best, ya hear?” Old Huang scrolled through the comments on his most recent video. The comments were all pointing in the same direction. His fans knew what they wanted. He knew what he had to create. “I want to see a Quadra or Penta! Nothing short of that! My viewers have been bitching about how lame my videos are. They wanna see something cool. You better show me something amazing! We gotta blow them outta the water! I wanna shut them up and get them off my ass!”

Cup Noodles queued up for a ranked game and chuckled. “Chill, man. I’m a Master. Did you forget? Ha. And you’re having me play in Gold. This is going to be too easy. Just watch. I’ll make the plays happen.” He was an ad-carry main. And a very good one at that. He’d hit Master on the Ionia server relying only on his own skills. Not to mention that it was generally a lot harder for Botlaners to climb up the ladder because of how much they had to rely on their fellow Botlaner. He was one of the best in his role.

Many players were stuck in Gold. The queue never took long to pop. Before he knew it, Cup Noodles entered Champion Select and called his role. No one argued. They let him have it. So he picked his ad-carry and didn’t pay much attention to the rest of Champion Select. It didn’t really matter to him. This was just a Gold game. Until they went into the loading screen. That was when he noticed the name of a player on the other team. “Huh. That’s funny. Look. That guy on the other team, he’s also Chinese!”

“What? Howdya know?” Old Huang asked, confused. He was making sure his recording software was working properly. That it was recording at the correct resolution. So he wasn’t paying attention to the game yet.

“Dude. How do I know? Look at his name… CN•Maple. It can’t get any more obvious than that,” Cup Noodles replied. He looked at the loading screen, at that specific summoner name, and sighed. “That name brings back memories. We had a pro back in Season 1 with that name. Maybe this one is a fan or something?”

Old Huang shrugged and focused back on his recording software. “Eh, never heard of him. Season 1 was too long ago. Those guys all retired pretty much. And like, why care about some random pro?” He started playing League of Legends in Season 3 and back then hadn’t bothered with the professional scene. Even the famous players from Season 4 were fuzzy in his mind. He only really knew what was going on since recently, because it could help him with his videos. But beyond that, he simply didn’t care about it.

Cup Noodles shook his head. “You don’t get it, man. He was China’s number one Mid! Everyone looked up to him. I only started playing at the end of the first season and even I became a huge fan. It’s a damn shame everybody forgot about him.” 

Old Huang chuckled, uncaring. “Alright, I get it. I get it. You’re a hipster. You played League before it was cool. Quit ya braggin’. We’ve got a video to shoot here! Focus on getting me some content! I want that Quadra or Penta!”

✹

Lin Feng sat in Champion Select and moved his mouse over several different Champions. Whenever he played with Su Xue or his friends from school, he’d choose whichever Champion he felt like playing. They were mostly assassins, because they suited the style he enjoyed to play the most. His godly LeBlanc was just one example. Or his Fizz in that duel against Zuo You’s friend. But these games today were not for fun. He was playing on the Korean server and on his own account to get better. To find his form back. So he played all kinds of different Champions. In this game, he chose to play one of the most reliable mid lane Champions out there. Orianna.

Blue Team versus Red Team
Top lane: Irelia versus Gnar
Jungle: Sejuani versus Rek’Sai
Mid lane: Orianna versus Ahri
AD-carry: Jinx versus Tristana
Support: Thresh versus Nami

Lin Feng looked at the portraits on the loading screen while waiting for the game to start. He noticed that the Tristana’s Summoner Name was Paomian. It read like pinyin. “Another Chinese player?” Lin Feng mumbled, scratching the back of his head. Then he shook his head and slapped his cheeks. “Ah, whatever. Doesn’t matter. I’ll just win and go on to the next game!”

Lin Feng followed behind his minions towards mid lane. His lane opponent was Ahri. A sexy fox spirit who held an advantage over his Orianna in the early game. This was in a large part due to Orb of Deception and Charm. The first skill allowed Ahri to send out her orb in a straight line in front of her and then pull it back, dealing magic damage on the way out and true damage on the way back. Charm was a little more devious. Ahri could blow a kiss and if it hit an enemy, they would fall under her charm, stopping their movement abilities and causing them to walk harmlessly towards her. Charmed Champions even took increased damage from Orb of Deception!

However, Ahri’s main abilities were skillshots. She had to hit them for them to deal any damage. So all Lin Feng had to do was dodge them and attack her with Orianna’s Ball and auto attacks. And that was what he did. The Ahri was only Gold, and played more than a little predictable. He sidestepped her attacks before she even used them and counterattacked when her skills were on cooldown. The game wasn’t even 4 minutes in, when he had her down to half health. She was hiding behind her outer tower and wasn’t getting any last hits on the minions.

《First blood!》

Lin Feng sat up in his chair, surprised. First blood wasn’t his. He looked around the map and found where it’d happened. Bot lane. The Nami and Tristana stood over the dead corpse of the Jinx. His best guess was that the Jinx got caught in the Nami’s bubble and was killed. He nodded, his brows raised, and said, “Oh, that’s pretty good.”

✹

Cup Noodles grinned. He’d just picked up a kill on the Jinx with his Tristana. It was an aggressive play, but he knew his limits. He’d played it perfectly. “Ha! See? I told you Gold was easy!”

“Never doubted you for a sec. That play was pretty nice. You just keep doing your best. Don’t forget to give me a Quadra or Penta!” Old Huang laughed. These first few minutes of gameplay looked promising.

“Just leave it to me! I’ll solo carry. Just watch!” Cup Noodles said. He then hit the TAB key and looked at the scoreboard. It looked a little different than he was hoping to see. “What in the world… Look at that! How is that Ori so far ahead of the Ahri in CS?”

Old Huang was spectating the game from Red team’s point of view. He moved to the mid lane and found the Ahri hiding behind her tower, desperate to get some last hits on the minions. “Oh, looks like she’s going to have to back. She’ll just die if–”

Old Huang didn’t get to finish his sentence. The Ahri walked forward instead of retreating, eager for that last hit. She threw out her Orb of Deception to try and get some gold. That was the cue for the Orianna. She flashed forward. Then commanded her Ball to Attack and then Dissonance! A pulse of energy spread out and struck the Ahri. She followed up by throwing a Fidget Spinner. 

The Ahri was immobilized during her cast animation. She couldn’t do anything for a brief moment. Then she flashed away. Her health was low, but she wanted to make it out. She still had at least 10 health remaining. I’m out! But she wasn’t. As she flashed away, the Orianna had thrown one last Fidget Spinner. It flew through the air, following her through the Flash, and struck her.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Lin Feng smiled and gave himself a pat on the shoulder. “Mhm! Good job, me! Well done! Played that perfectly!”

Video content creation. It was a spontaneous suggestion by Zuo You. A spur in the moment topic that could blow away into forgotten lands by the time the subject shifted again. But Su Xue didn’t want to forget it. Video content creation, and then specifically gameplay commentating, was on the up in China. There were many people doing it with great success. They would hire a professional or famous player and record gameplay with them, then commentate and finally prepare the video for release. This was another avenue for streamers to get their name out there and become popular enough, so that they could make a living by playing the video game they loved to play!

The main gripe as a streamer was that you could only attract viewers while you were online. It was the content that was created in the moment that got everyone together. If the streamer was lucky, they could get a feature on the main page of their streaming website and more people would come and watch. Then there was word of mouth advertising and short clips on social media. But beyond that, there weren’t a whole lot of ways to find new viewers, because the only way they’d come and stay was if you were online and they liked what they were seeing.

It was completely different on a video hosting website like PlayMoreLoL. There was no need to be online at specific times. People could come and watch a video whenever they felt like it. On top of that, PlayMoreLoL was at least as popular as the big streaming sites like HuyaTV. Content creators could reach an entirely different set of people who might enjoy their work! And who knew, maybe some of those new fans would come and watch the stream, or vice versa. The traction created through this would only make the content creators more popular. It was a win-win situation for them.

Su Xue enjoyed browsing PlayMoreLoL. She used to do it all the time, before she started streaming. Though not so much anymore. She was struggling to find any free time. And what time she did find was spent preparing dinner for Lin Feng. Just getting in a good night’s rest sometimes felt impossible. But she knew PlayMoreLoL. She knew how videos could easily gain traction and reach hundreds of thousands if not millions of views. Not to mention the much larger number of featured slots on the frontpage. It also helped that Su Xue was already a streamer. She could have her fans watch the videos, like them and leave a comment. There was no way this plan could fail.

All of this information swirled through Su Xue’s head even long after Zuo You had left. She’d done the dishes, absentmindedly, and sat back down at the dining table. Just staring in front of her. Maybe. Maybe I really could? The more she thought about it, the harder it became to see the negatives. Her mind focused completely on everything that could come from it. There were no negatives! Not that she could think of at least! It would be a success! There was nothing stopping her from becoming famous except herself! She looked into the hallway at the door to Lin Feng’s room and shouted, “Lin Feng!”

A few seconds later, the door opened and a head popped out. “Yeah?”

Su Xue beckoned him over with her hand. “Come! Come here! I want to talk with you about something.”

“Ok?” Lin Feng mumbled as he pushed open the door completely and walked over towards Su Xue. He sat down across from her and asked, “What is this all about? Is everything ok?”

Su Xue clasped her hands and looked at him. There was no smile in her expression. No joy. No anger. Just utter concentration. “What do you think of Zuo You’s idea? You know, the thing about me making videos.”

Lin Feng ruffled his messy hair. “Oh, sounded like a good idea. Probably going to be really exhausting though. Aren’t you already complaining all the time about how little time you have? It’s only going to get worse. You’re basically going to need twice the time!”

“Don’t worry about me,” Su Xue replied. She breathed out, letting all tension escape her body. “I’m new to the scene. If I want to make a name for myself, I can’t chill. I can’t sit back and expect everything to be handed to me. It’s going to take hard work. I’m willing to put in that hard work. I’ll make this a success.” She then turned to Lin Feng and looked him in the eyes. “But this plan from Zuo You. I can’t do it alone. If I’m going to do this, I’ll be needing your help. For the first bit at least.”

Though Su Xue had never done commentary videos before, she’d watched plenty of them to know what was important. A good video had two strong elements. The commentary and the gameplay. Both had to be of high quality. Commentary was something she would have to work on. All she had to do was put in the time and effort to research how others did it and then create her own style. It was a lot of work, but it was doable. However, quality gameplay was something a lot more difficult. She couldn’t just start playing like a professional player. She wasn’t that good at the game.

Quality gameplay was just as important as a good commentator. The Chinese people watching videos on PlayMoreLol were particularly picky about this. If someone new tried to break into the scene, the viewers would put this new video content creator under a loop. All it took was one mistake. One bad play. One bad comment on a good play. And it was all over. Their hopes of becoming a video content creator would be ruined. Even Diamond players weren’t immune to this. Only the best players could create the gameplay the Chinese fans felt was worth watching. Anything else and they would take to the comment section and write out their displeasure.

「I’d be embarrassed even uploading this garbage. What a waste of bandwidth.」

「Gold gameplay? Lmao. get out of here fucktard」

「lol, no point in watching this. Not even a quadra or penta…..」

「pls learn to play before posting this shit….. scratch that. just dont post and delete your acc」

「if your mom saw this shed off herself」

「I’ve seen two year olds with more personality than whoever this idiot is.」

Su Xue had read through these kinds of comments many times before. She knew how ruthless people could be on the internet. Even her stream saw it from time to time. But this example also showed why she needed help with procuring gameplay. Diamond players weren’t good enough. She was Platinum. It was absolutely hopeless if she tried to make some videos herself. Her only hope was that Lin Feng would be willing to step in and help her get quality gameplay.

Lin Feng didn’t need to think twice at her suggestion. “Sure! Of course I’ll help you!”

Su Xue smiled. She’d spent the last half an hour worrying how she was going to get her hands on quality gameplay if Lin Feng said no, and hadn’t come up with any solution. There really was only Lin Feng she could rely on for this. “Thanks,” she said. Then she added before he could say anything, “I won’t let you do this for free, of course! You’ve already helped me out so much! I can’t keep taking advantage of you! How about this, if this ends up making money, we’ll split the profits 50-50?”

Su Xue and Lin Feng lived together. They shared everything together and were quickly coming to see each other as family. But just because they were so close, that didn’t mean Su Xue felt good with Lin Feng helping her for free. She was making money for the time he spent streaming! As long as it wasn’t more than a little here and a little there, she didn’t feel too bad. She’d just prepare him a little extra for dinner to thank him. But if it became something more permanent, a deal where he would actively have to make time free in his schedule to record with her, then it became something different. She would have to pay him for his time with money, or she wouldn’t feel good about it.

Lin Feng waved his hands. “No need. Let’s talk about money when you’re actually successful. You just go and find out how we can record the gameplay. It doesn’t really change much for me anyway. I’ve been meaning to get my own account and play some solo queue anyway!”

✹

Lin Feng looked at his laptop. He’d spent the last few hours finishing up his homework. But his mind was never really on it. Not after the SSK versus Dust game the other day. That game had helped him realize how far behind Rake he was. How much work he had to put in to reach those heights again. He would find his old form again and then only get better! His games with Su Xue or High School 13’s esports team were only child’s play in comparison. They were good fun but wouldn’t really help him. If he wanted to achieve his goals, his first step would be to make an account and fight his way up the ranked ladder in solo queue.

The Koreans were the best players in the world right now. By that logic, their solo queue should also have the strongest players. It was the best place to get better. So Lin Feng chose to play on their server. He downloaded a VPN so that he could connect to it and bought a Gold-rank account that had finished its placement matches. Then he opened up the Korean League client and entered his new login information. The client loaded in. He took a deep breath. A smile spread on his face. Let’s do this!

Lin Feng had felt pretty comfortable about his chances of getting back to the top of the League of Legends scene, until that SSK versus Dust game. That one game had shook him awake. He realized how wrong his thinking had been. A four year hiatus wasn’t just him being away for four years, but also everyone else becoming better for four years. Rake was the number one player in the world. But the Rake of Season 5 was incomparably more dominant than the Rake from Season 1. They were like two different players. If Lin Feng wanted to have any chance against Rake, just playing a few games here and there wouldn’t do. He needed to take this seriously. He had to put his all into this. And he would have to work every waking moment on improving if he wanted even the tiniest chance of catching back up again.

Lin Feng breathed in through his nose and then let it all out. It was time to finally do this. He amped himself by moving around in his chair and then said, “I need to get better! That’s the only way!”

✹

In a small town in the Northeast of China was an almost abandoned apartment building. That was how it looked, at least. No one could be reasonably expected to live here. But voices could be heard and lights were on. In one of the apartments, in a dirty room with dishes piled up in a corner and a thick layer of dust, a man in shorts and a tank top sat on the floor in front of his computer. He had the QQ messenger app open and was talking with someone.

Smut Sentinel:「Are you ready?」

Cup Noodles:「Okay, ready.」

Smut Sentinel:「Good. Get on voice.」

Smut Sentinel, or Old Huang as he was called in the outside world, lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply, letting the smoke fill his lungs. Then he blew out rings of smoke, smiling brightly. His plan was a success. He’d found someone who could help him bring his videos to the next level!

Old Huang was still new to the whole video content creation scene, but he was already doing phenomenal for himself. His choice of name in combination with his skillful commentating style that heavily leaned on his sexual humour got his videos to average 250,000 views. This was a very impressive number for a newcomer. However, his viewers were never satisfied. They always wanted, even demanded, more from him. It was to the point where his channel was stagnating.

The comments sections below his most recent videos all complained about the same thing. Gameplay. The quality of the gameplay didn’t live up to the quality of his commentary. But his own rank was only Diamond 5, so he couldn’t use that. As for his friend who was helping him, he was high Diamond. That still wasn’t enough. So Old Huang had reached out to a Master player on the Ionia server and asked them to help him get some source material. To make it even more interesting, for this next video specifically, this mystery Master would play on the famous Korean server!

For the first time in history, High School 13 had qualified for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! They had done it! The impossible was made possible! They were going to fight 15 other teams for the title! High School 13 was now officially one of the best esports high schools in Shanghai! “Everyone has a dream, but what if you can make that dream come true?” It was something Lin Feng liked to say. One of his main motivators! The what if was now answered by Ren Rou, Ouyang, and the others who’d fought for this opportunity ever since setting up the esports team. They were jumping up and down with joy! Cheering and hugging and professing their undying loyalty to Lin Feng.

High School 13 had played their matches. Their next would be in the Round of 16 of the main tournament! They stuck around a little longer to see how their potential opponents played before deciding to go and have some dinner together. A team celebration. The rest of their research would come some other time. They went to a barbeque restaurant that served special Belgium beers. It was one of Ouyang’s favourites, if the amount he talked about it was anything to go by.

After the waitress brought them their beers, in full and big glasses, Ouyang turned to Yang Fan. “Do you really think we can win this thing? Even you?”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and nodded. “Yeah, I really think we can.” He believed this team could do it. They had the talent and the drive. That golden trophy would be theirs! No one could beat them! They would fight and win! Not for the legacy they’d leave behind at High School 13. Not for the teachers, the students or anyone else but themselves. This was their dream! It was their hard work and never giving up mentality that got them here! And it would lead them to the trophy! Their dream would come true!

Ouyang laughed. He shook his head and raised his glass. “Then first place will be ours! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”

The players from High School 13’s esports team lost themselves in their joy for qualifying for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. They forgot for a moment they would still have to play in it. All they’d done was pass the qualifiers. This was nothing. A first, tiny step. Tonji Affiliated High was the only strong team they’d faced so far. A team that never took them seriously and was caught off guard more than anything. A second game against them wouldn’t go the same. Then there were other strong teams like last year’s finalists Shanghai International School and Shanghai High School. These teams had the talent to make it far in higher level competitions, even at the National level. This was the kind of opposition High School 13, a team that averaged at Platinum only a few weeks ago, would have to beat to claim the title. It seemed nothing short of impossible.

“Mhm. It’s good that there’s a challenge!” Lin Feng exclaimed, flushed. He raised his empty glass to the air, another empty one on the table, and said, “How boring would life be if it was easy! Right? Let’s fight!”

However, High School 13 wouldn’t be fighting again that night, or the next day. The main tournament wouldn’t start until a week later. This gave the teams some time to research their opponents and prepare for the matches. Higher quality League games were what the organizers were looking for! The only deviation from this structure, and they’d only learned of this from hear-say, were the semi finals and finals. Those would be on the same day. But all of this was good news for High School 13. They were the ones furthest behind. They were the ones who had the most room to improve. And most importantly, they were willing to put in the time to improve! There was no relaxing. No slacking off. No anything but working their asses off and preparing for the next set of games!

Practice! Practice! Battle! And then practice some more! Through exhaustion! Through setbacks! Through anything and everything thrown their way! They would never give up! They would keep fighting! They would keep improving! And when the main tournament of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament finally began, they’d be ready to show all of Shanghai who the best school was! Battling their way through the rounds and lifting up the trophy! Anything less would be a massive disappointment.

✹

The weekend came and went. High School 13’s esports team spent all their free time practicing. Working hard, just to improve enough before the start of the main tournament. After another long day, Lin Feng got home. He took his shoes off and went to wash his hands, peeking his head into the living room to see what was going on. There were two voices. One belonged to Su Xue, but he also recognized the other one. It was Su Xue’s friend who would come over to mooch for food. Mooch for his food! He’d have to eat twice as fast when she came by!

Lin Feng walked inside the room and stopped for a moment. His foot hung in mid air. There was something different about Zuo You. Something a little more fiery. He looked her up and down and then stared at her hair. “Oh, wow! It’s even redder than normal!”

Zuo You chuckled and winked at Lin Feng. “I just had it re-dyed. Liking what you see?”

“Uhh…” Lin Feng scratched the back of his head. “It’s not very different. I mean, it was fine before…”

Zuo You rolled her eyes, annoyed. “Pfft. No point in talking to a kid. Do you even understand why I dye my hair? Let me tell you. I dye it to my mood!” She pointed at her hair and added, “This is my mood today!”

“You’re feeling really lucky and thinking you’re going to win the lottery?” Lin Feng asked.

“No. Idiot. It means I’m pissed off! I’m fuming! I’m raging! I’m fucking angry!” Zuo You yelled.

Lin Feng raised his eyebrows high and nodded, wisely keeping his mouth shut. He knew better than to argue with an angry woman. So he sat down next to Su Xue and put some rice in his bowl while listening to Zuo You vent. It turned out she had every reason to be upset. Life had handed her a couple of bad cards. Back in the day, she used to work for the editing department of a large corporation. She hated it. Destested it. And wanted nothing more than to find another job. Which she had. She got accepted to the marketing department of another company and worked her way up until she was the woman in charge! But just when everything looked up, when she was enjoying her work life, upper management came to her. Their editing department was lacking in manpower and they couldn’t find qualified replacements for the short term. Upper management knew of her past in editing. So they decided to transfer her over. Temporarily. She had no say in the matter.

“Honestly, you have no idea how terrible an editor’s job is!” Zuo You grumbled. “It’s the absolute worst! I wake up and I have to think about it. I want to have lunch, but I can’t. There is work to be done. I want to go to sleep early, but there is a deadline that has to be made. There is no rest. No fun. Nothing except the next project. And I was just having so much fun with the marketing. All I had to do was take a client out for coffee, charm them a little, and everything else would fall into place. It was fun and relaxed. That’s what I want! Not this constant stress!”

Su Xue looked at her friend, worried. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

“Do about it? What can I do about it? Quit another job again? How’s that going to look on my resumé?” Zuo You asked. She slammed her chopsticks on the table and then wiped away the tears, that weren’t really tears, from her eyes. “I’ll work at this shitty editing department. Work behind my stupid computer all day and night and fight with this stupid fucking video editing software that crashes every ten seconds! I’m going to die from stress before I even hit 30!”

Su Xue didn’t eat. She’d placed her chopsticks down and leaned with her elbows on the table, staring at her friend. “It’ll be okay. You’ll be fine. This is just temporary. I’m sure you’ll get transferred back soon. Just a week or so. They just have to find someone for the position. Right? That can’t be that hard! I’m sure everything will be fine!”

Zuo You curled her lips and looked down at her bowl. Her loud voice turned quiet, even sounding a little weak. “Who knows? Maybe they’ll be so impressed with my skills that they make the transfer permanent. I’m just really good at this video editing. But I hate it. I don’t want to do it. Maybe I should start slacking off… That might help them send me back to the marketing department.”

“You’re actually a good video editor?” Lin Feng asked.

“What do you mean, am I actually good? Of course I’m good! Didn’t you listen? I was a video editor at my last job! They tried everything they could to keep me! I’m that good!” Zuo You grinned. Though she didn’t pat herself on the shoulder, it very much felt like she was from the expression on her face to the tone in her worse. She then put up her index fingers and pointed at Su Xue. “Speaking of which. You’re still dead set on that streaming stuff, right? It won’t ever work if all you do is stream a little. You need more. Have you thought about recording some videos and putting those up? You know, a vlog, commentary, reaction videos, those kinds of things?”

“Huh?” Su Xue blurted out, sitting up straight. “Posting videos? What do you mean?”

“Posting videos is what I mean! Every popular streamer has a video channel! If you want to become like them, you have to get one too! There are people who get really popular just making videos! You don’t even have to stream! All you need is some content and a good video editor. And well, you got me! You can be like that guy Smut Sentinel. He’s been getting crazy popular by making all sorts of funny and sexual jokes while doing commentary. His videos are already averaging in the hundreds of thousands of views!” [mfn]The name of the video content creator “鉴黄师” translates to something like porn viewing master, basically a reference to a specific government censoring position whose sole job is to scour the internet for pornographic content.[/mfn]

Su Xue glared at her friend, sitting back in her chair and far away from Zuo You. “What. Are you saying I should copy him? Make some sexual jokes? Wear a sexy maid costume?”

“Is this even a question?” Zuo You asked, her voice thick with ridicule. “Of course that is what you should do! Tell me. What is better than a guy making sexual jokes? A hot girl making sexual jokes, obviously! Oh. But I don’t mean you should copy him. All I’m saying is that his thing works. There are plenty of other styles that also work. You just have to find what works best for you. And I’m serious here. This could really help your stream.”

Zuo You grabbed up her chopsticks again and looked at her bowl, which still had some rice in it. Then she looked back up at Su Xue and continued, “I’m not telling you to stop streaming. Just make the videos on the side and send them to me. I’ll handle the video editing and special effects. You don’t have to worry about it. If the video tanks, whatever. Lesson learned, right? But if it does well, you’ll get more viewers, more fans. Your stream will become more popular. There are only ups to this plan!”

“That does sound good,” Su Xue admitted. She turned to Lin Feng and asked, “What do you think?”

Lin Feng had just stuffed a big piece of red braised pork into his mouth. He looked up and nodded. “Shounds god rto me.”

Zuo You started smiling. This was her chance. The kid was eating and her friend was interested. She said, “Plus, you won’t have to worry about finding any original source material. You got the kid. He’s pretty damn good at the game. Just have him play and you can commentate on his gameplay! It’s a match made in Heaven!”

“I’m not sure about that. That feels a little dishonest,” Su Xue countered.

“What dishonest?” Zuo You chuckled, shaking her head. “Other commentators do this all the time! They invite a professional player to make the gameplay while they talk. It’s just how these things work. But you got no connections. All you have is Lin Feng. But he should be good too. I saw him play against my friend. He’s good. So that’s good.” She turned to Lin Feng and nodded at him. “What do you think? Think you’re good enough to help Su Xue?”

What Zuo You asked of Lin Feng wasn’t as easy as him playing a few matches on the same Champion. Other video content creators invited famous players in different roles who played different Champions to get different perspectives. This was impossible for Su Xue right now. She could only rely on Lin Feng and his Champion pool. But Lin Feng didn’t seem one bit worried about this. He just laughed and pumped his fist into the air. “No worries! I got this! My Champion pool is really deep! I can play anything!”

Crude! Ugly! Terrible! A bunch of rabid dogs! The crowd could think and say whatever they wanted about High School 13’s performance, but it didn’t change the facts. It was effective. They were winning the game, and convincingly so. Their team composition that looked risky in Champion Select due to their lack of a beefy frontline showcased its strengths and never really got in danger of collapsing! This was reminiscent of Season 2 and 3 in the Ionia server’s solo queue. Players were still finding out what the best team compositions were and tried the strangest concepts in the process. Most didn’t work. Players were flamed, abused, and told to uninstall the game! But every now and then, something special was discovered. Such as compositions that focused solely around comboing ultimate skills, which High School 13 leaned towards in this game. Or compositions where one Champion would split push a different lane while the rest of his team fought back the five on the other team.

There were a lot of less popular team compositions in League of Legends. Sometimes, there’d be a patch where one of them rose to fame. So too the backdooring strategy. It all began after a European team made it work on the highest stage. Suddenly, every League player wanted to try their hand at it and show everyone how good they were. It was the days of Jax pushing down in top lane, never coming to help his team. Or Master Yi running around the map with the movement speed from Ghost and just being a nuisance. Shaco, the Demon Jester, throwing down boxes and spamming the laugh emote to piss his opponents off. To drive them mad!

Beyond all of that. There was something more that could decide team compositions. Pure skill. That was what happened in the North High versus High School 13 game. Lin Feng helped his team pull ahead. They were stronger. And from that moment on, nothing else mattered. They could do whatever they wanted, be however brave they felt like being, and there was nothing that North High could do to stop them. North High lost the game when they let the Twitch get fed. They just couldn’t get close enough to him to stop him. And his ultimate decimated their ranks. It was even fair to say that the game was lost before it even began. Because Lin Feng was on High School 13’s team.

✹

Zeng Rui lost his interest in the game. He didn’t care for the rest of the game, or what would happen from High School 13. He’d been worried about Lin Feng. The stories told to him gave him every reason to! And Lin Feng really did surprise him. That Zyra was playing extremely well. But that was just it. The Zyra did all the playing. There were no other members on the team, not really. The Twitch was decent. But that was it. The others all relied completely on the Zyra to have any kind of impact on the game. Without the Zyra, they would’ve lost to an already weak team. Zeng Rui could only come to one conclusion. High School 13 might win this game, might qualify for the main tournament, but they weren’t contenders for the title. They just weren’t good enough as a team for that.

Zeng Rui snorted while looking at the players from High School 13. The Toplaner was a joke. A terrible player and an even worse team player. The same held true for the Midlaner. Both of them were gatekeepers in Diamond 5, at best. More likely, they were stuck somewhere in Platinum and blamed their teammates for their mediocre skills. Then there was the Jungler. Zeng Rui didn’t even feel like wasting his breath on that guy. A wreck of nerves with zero impact on the game. If that guy ever made it out of Gold, then that was completely on his teammates. He didn’t belong at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Except for in the bleachers to watch the game, far away from any keyboard or mouse. They’re only winning because of that Zyra and Twitch. Mostly the Zyra. She’s carrying. Not even very great either…

Zeng Rui didn’t just find fault in the individual skill of the players on High School 13’s team, but also in their team synergy. They were like a group in solo queue, with zero coordination starting from the moment they entered Champion Select. Their strategy going into the game was flawed, and quite honestly, terrible. The execution wasn’t much better, with the shot caller saying nothing but “Go in! Go in!” or “Fight fight fight!” These were the tactics of a team in Silver, full aggression with zero thought, and not of a team about to qualify for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament!

“Dumbfuck…” Zeng Rui muttered. His team had won the Shanghai 16 School Tournament last year. He knew what it took to lift that trophy. And High School 13 didn’t have it. He didn’t have to worry about this dark horse. They wouldn’t be competing for the title. Their individual members were subpar and their shotcaller didn’t make up for this either. A good shotcaller helped his team improve their teamwork and synergy. This Zyra did none of that.

In the last edition of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, the Finals were Shanghai High School versus Shanghai International School. The deciding factor didn’t lie in a difference in the skill of the individual members, though it had to be noted that Shanghai High School had one additional Challenger. But comparing teams based on the average rank of their members was the mark of a fool. Shanghai High School won because of Zeng Rui’s meticulous research and precise commands during the game, and his teammates executing on them flawlessly. All his teammates could be at a lower rank. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the match. His research was what had changed the outcome.

Thinking back to last year and then the possibility of having to face High School 13 this year, Zeng Rui laughed. Ha. They? What a joke. High School 13 were like farmers moving to the big city. They were completely out of place! There was no challenge in beating them! Except. Zeng Rui looked at the ad-carry. She was playing fairly well. They’d have to watch out for her and shut her down early. Then there was that Support. Mr. Dumbfuck.

The Riven who had solo carried his team to a win versus Tonji Affiliated High. That was an achievement. Something to actually watch out for. And also the kind of tactic Zeng Rui detested the most. Teamwork! Strategy! Those were the most important in League of Legends! Not some guy showing off his skills on Riven in the top lane. But it didn’t matter how he felt about it. Lin Feng had shown he could solo carry a game. That was a skill Zeng Rui would have to watch out for. Prepare for. Something he couldn’t look down on. Let’s see what role he plays next game. Maybe I can learn something more from that…

However, Mr. Dumbfuck didn’t play the second game. He actually sat out. Lin Feng got up from his gaming chair after the first game and said to Wei Dong, “The next one is all you!” He patted his friend on the shoulder and added, “I’ve given us the head start, now go and finish it. Don’t let me down!”

Zeng Rui couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Is he stupid? Is he actually stupid? Did his mom drop him? Did he hit his head on the concrete? Lin Feng was the best player from High School 13. By a long shot! They only won the first game because of him! And now he was sitting out. He was leaving the second game to the others on his team. If that game started like the first. If the rest of his team didn’t step up their game. That would be a loss. High School 13 would be in danger of losing their spot in the main tournament! What in the world is he thinking… This makes absolutely no sense!

✹

The first game against North High gave High School 13’s esports team all the confidence they needed. Ouyang especially made all the difference. There were no shakey plays from him. He went in for ganks full of confidence, and this confidence paid off. Everything he tried kept working. There even seemed to be a hint of something called team synergy blossoming in this game! This led to kills in the early game, and by the 10th minute, High School 13 had a lead of 6 to 3 kills. Five minutes later, this gap had increased to 10 to 5 kills.

Wei Dong was no Lin Feng. He didn’t act like he was either. He played to his own strengths and showed that if you put in the hard work, anything was possible. He’d transformed from the unconfident Support who hid behind his own outer tower to the confident Support who engaged for Tang Bingyao to capitalize on. They were becoming a phenomenal bot lane duo!

However, it wasn’t the bot lane synergy that was making the difference in this game. It was Yang Fan in mid lane. He played Twisted Fate, and unlike North High’s Midlaner last game, he did manage to push out the lane. He roamed bot and top and made plays all over the map, making full use of his ultimate–Destiny! His prediction of the future saw High School 13 go 2-0 and win this best of three series.

At 20 minutes, the game went from bad to worse for North High. Tang Bingyao hit Tristana’s power spike. Her damage soared and she had the range where it became impossible for the players from North High to jump on her. She became the killing machine North High couldn’t put a stop to.

Standing amongst the crowd, Shanghai High School’s Jungler said to Zeng Rui, “I guess that’s the game. Look at those guys from North High. They look like they’ve already given up.”

Zeng Rui nodded. He’d lost interest in the last game already. There was only the matter of Lin Feng. He wanted to research this player. But Lin Feng wasn’t playing, so there was no point in him staying here any longer. He turned around and walked away. “Trash facing Trash. Come on, let’s go.”

The game ended at 31 minutes. High School 13 won. The crowd wasn’t as big anymore. Most of them weren’t all that invested in this game. But that didn’t kill the excitement of the players from High School 13! They jumped up from their seats and started cheering and hugging each other! This was a dream come true! Something a lot of them never considered possible! Ouyang, Yang Fan, Ren Rou, and Chen Ze. They were half the team. The long time members of the esports club and the first to have given up. But now they were back. And they were back with a vengeance! High School 13 had officially qualified for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament!

Lin Feng struck his victory pose. The others saw it. They knew what was coming next. Lin Feng laughed and pumped his fist into the air. “Awesome! Next up is first plac–

“Dammit, Lin Feng! You need to stop saying this kind of stuff in front of so many people! It’s not funny! You’re not funny! You’re embarrassing all of us!” Ouyang complained after jumping on Lin Feng and covering his mouth again.

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and smiled. “I don’t know, Ouyang. I think I’m with Lin Feng this time. We’re going to get first. I really believe it. We can do it!”

Tang Bingyao saw the Thornsplitter plants and felt it. That indescribable sensation that settled over her when she saw Lin Feng’s Zyra unleash her ultimate. She knew in that instant that Lin Feng saw an opening, the possibility to win this fight. The chance to get some kills. She wasn’t looking at him, but she knew exactly what Lin Feng looked like at that moment. She could see his calm expression, the intensity pouring out of his eyes, and that imperceptible shift that came over him whenever he tasted blood. She knew his Zyra would go on the offensive now and start attacking instead of flashing away. And she also knew what she had to do. And she started doing it before Lin Feng finished saying, “Now! Go in!” 

The Stranglethorns spread out and the Morgana and Tristana were perfectly lined up. She pressed down on her R key–⁠Rat-Ta-Tat-Ta! The attack range of her Twitch grew. Twitch aimed at the Morgana and then squeezed the trigger. Empowered toxic bolts shot from his crossbow and pierced the Morgana and then the Tristana!

North High’s Jungler saw the health bars on his Botlaners drop. They were already at half health before the fight started. Now they were a few more hits away from death. He placed a ward in the lane and dashed toward it–⁠Safeguard! He followed up with a Sonic Wave. The Blind Monk didn’t know where to jump to. He needed to find a target first. His Sonic Wave was aimed perfectly. It went straight for the Twitch. The Twitch who didn’t have a Flash or any other ability that could help him dodge. But then, just as he was about to be hit by the Sonic Wave, a massive cannonball barreled into him and sent him flying backwards–⁠Buster Shot!

The Tristana sabotaged her own Jungler! Her Flash was on cooldown. She’d, again, used her Rocket Jump to engage. And the Twitch had turned around on her. Her health was too low. There was no way out. She needed to get rid of the Twitch. His toxic bolts would kill her! So she moved forward and fired off her ultimate at him. Anything to knock him away! But by doing that, she killed any hope for her team of killing High School 13’s Botlaners.

Tang Bingyao still had Flash. North High’s ad-carry had acted on fear and he was about to come to regret it. Twitched disappeared with a flash of mottled light before reappearing right back where he was a moment ago, the moment before a giant cannonball slammed into him. The Tristana was there. The Morgana was there. And his ultimate was still active. He fired at them, empowered toxic bolts skewering the two players from North High.

The Morgana ran away. Out of range from the Stranglethorns. Because this ultimate skill from Zyra had a secondary effect. First, the twisted thicket spread out before the thick vines would snap upwards, knocking anyone caught within airborne! She got out just in time. But the same couldn’t be said for the Tristana. She tried to run away, but the range was too large. It was too far. She was thrown up into the air. All the while, Twitch focused her down.

North High’s Jungler refused to give up on his ad-carry. She was still alive. There was still something he could do! Maybe this isn’t lost yet… Let’s do this! His Lee Sin was already on the Twitch. He pressed down on the R key–⁠Dragon’s Rage! The Lee Sin roundhouse kicked the Twitch, launching him back, far away from the Tristana!

However, before the Twitch flew away, Tang Bingyao pressed on her E key–⁠Expunge! Her Twitch wreaked havoc on the poisoned Tristana and Morgana with a blast of his vile diseases! There was no protecting against it. The Morgana found herself with only one auto attack worth of health left, while the Tristana dropped dead to the ground.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Awesome! Great work! Let’s get the Morgana next! We can do this!” Lin Feng exclaimed. These were the moments he played the game for! Full of excitement they were! He was happy that the Lee Sin had come for a gank, it made the whole play that much more fun! Besides, it finally lured the Tristana and Morgana away from the safety of their outer tower. He exhausted the Lee Sin to get him off their backs while he chased after the Morgana together with Tang Bingyao.

Tang Bingyao activated Ambush. This skill camouflaged her Twitch for a short duration, granting him bonus movement speed. The Twitch caught up to the Morgana before she could even reach her outer tower. Her health was too low. One final auto attack left Twitch’s crossbow and pierced the Morgana. Her health hit zero. The Twitch picked up another kill.

《Double kill!》

The Lee Sin saw the two players from High School 13 chase after the Morgana and kill her. He knew this was the end. There was nothing he could do to change this fight around anymore. The most he could do was to not give High School 13 a third kill. Two was already too much. So he turned around and ran up the river and then into his own jungle. Far away from any wards from High School 13. Then he started channeling a recall.

There was nothing stopping Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao from taking down the outer tower. They waited for the next minion wave to slam into it and then started attacking it, while Lin Feng also called over Ouyang. They didn’t need Ouyang’s help in taking down the tower. However, after the tower Lin Feng also wanted to take down the Dragon. That was why he needed Ouyang. The Lee Sin had run away, and most likely also backed away, while North High’s Botlaners were both dead. If they were fast, they could take the Dragon uncontested.

North High had come for a gank on bot lane. A 3vs2. This should’ve been their win! Their outer tower! Their Dragon! Instead, High School 13 had turned it around and taken everything for themselves. There was nothing North High could do about it. And to add insult to injury, they heard that same, annoying, frustrating voice from the side of High School 13. “Hahaha! Good job, guys! That was awesome! We really pulled ahead with that fight!”

Standing behind the frustrated members from North High’s esports team was Zeng Rui. He didn’t care for who won the game. Nor the results of a gank. None of these players looked like a threat to him. Except for one. There was one player who kept surprising him. That Zyra. His eyes were glued on her. Impossible! How did he do that? Could he really… Ha– No. He’s just an idiot. Idiots also get lucky. Luck. Zyra’s Rampant Growth could be cast in combination with Deadly Spines or Grasping Roots to summon plants that helped her deal damage and block projectiles. This wasn’t some grand secret. Every half decent League player knew of this aspect of her kit.

Zyra could lay down a Seed with Rampant Growth, then germinate it with Deadly Spines or Grasping Roots. This was her regular skill combo. It could also be executed in reverse order, though that required low latency and fast fingers. But it also gave the opponent less time to react. This was a skill only seen at the higher ranks, or by Zyra one-trick ponies. However, what Lin Feng had done wasn’t that simple. When the Morgana flashed forward with Dark Binding, there wasn’t enough time for even the reverse Zyra method to block it. But he had done just that. There was only one possible explanation. He predicted Morgana’s next move and cast his skill the same moment that Morgana flashed! That was the only explanation that made any sense. Just that it didn’t make any sense! No one was that good!

How… It can’t be. Zeng Rui kept shaking his head. It was hard to accept. He couldn’t accept it! But the facts were laid out right in front of him. They were shoved into his face. There was nothing he could find to deny them. They looked true. Fast reaction speed. Perfect reflexes. Strong mechanics. Top. Mid. Support. A monster in every lane he plays. Who the hell is he…

✹

At 10 minutes, the balance of the game tipped back in High School 13’s favour. After securing the first tower and Dragon, Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao roamed over to mid and started helping Yang Fan pressure the outer tower. This was a worst case scenario for Twisted Fate. His power came from pushing his lane out and then putting pressure on other lanes with his ultimate. When he instead got pressured, his ultimate was useless. He became useless. On top of that, Tang Bingyao’s Twitch was already 3/0/0! She was already strong enough that she could sweep through North High’s entire team with a well placed ultimate.

“Our team comp is really good!” Wei Dong remarked. He had nothing better to do since he was sitting out this game. So he decided to provide some commentary to Liu Yue and Ren Rou. “We don’t really have a bulky frontline, but we don’t need to either. Yang Fan has all the poke in the world with his Ziggs. Then we got Lin Feng and Chen Ze with crowd control that also deals a lot of damage, and Ouyang with his Jarvan to engage. And Jarvan also has his ulty! Our team has so many AoE crowd control skills that it’s easy for Tang Tang to get off a good ultimate and clean up anyone still alive!”

Wei Dong’s analysis was on point. It didn’t even matter that mid and top had fallen behind a little. Yang Fan only had to worry about being annoying by hitting his explosives, while Chen Ze’s Rumble only needed to get his Sorcerers’ Shoes to become a menace. His ultimate would do the rest. And with Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao helping these two, they would get back into the game soon enough and have the items to become even more of a problem for North High.

Ouyang’s anxiety also disappeared. His team was winning and he felt like a God. There was nothing to worry about. He pressed his skills, ran with the rest of the team, and tried his best to get successful flag-toss combos off.  It didn’t even really matter if he missed a combo. Lin Feng was always there with more crowd control. This knowledge gave him all the confidence he needed. His skill shots started hitting more and more often. He actually became an asset to the team.

North High quickly found themselves in a position where the game seemed lost. They were losing everywhere. Their only hope was to drag this game out and hope for a miracle in the ultra late game. Perhaps their Tristana could outperform the Twitch then. It was a steep task, but their only hope. So they hid behind their towers and gave up on the game objectives. They bided their time, pumping the few resources they did get into the Darius for a tanky frontline and the Tristana for her damage items. But High School 13 wasn’t about to let them get back into the game. They were looking to end it. And Lin Feng led the charge.

“GO GO GO! Let’s fight, guys! If we aren’t fighting! We aren’t winning! 

“Ouyang! Don’t think! Just go! Dive straight into their backline! Go ham or go broke! 

“Don’t save your Rumble ult! Just throw it down, Chen Ze! Even if you whiff it, I’ll force them to walk into it!” 

Over the next eight minutes, Lin Feng’s voice continuously rang out in the voice chat. He was the team captain. He was the Challenger on the Ionia server. He was their coach. If he told them to fight, they would fight! If he told them to sacrifice a death for the team, they would offer themselves up! And if he told them to–anything game related, they’d do it for him. So they fought!

The crowd laughed and whispered and joked. High School 13’s team looked like a pack of rabid dogs! There was no grace to their play. It was literally just fight fight fight! Their tactics were crude and simple. But somehow it worked. They came out on top in every teamfight. They never gave away an objective. And slowly but surely, they fought their way towards North High’s base. It looked stupid. It looked like it shouldn’t be working. But it did. It was frighteningly effective. For some reason, it just always worked. North High lost all control over the map and High School 13 was brute forcing their way to victory!

Top lane was a win! Mid lane was a win! Jungle was a win! North High was dominating the map everywhere, except for bot lane. They had a small problem brewing there. Twitch, the Plague Rat. A weak early game Champion, just like Tristana, but a late game hyper-carry. One well timed ultimate from him could decimate his opponents! Rat-Ta-Tat-Ta! Twitch could unleash the full power of his crossbow, shooting bolts over a great distance that pierced all enemies caught in their path! If Twitch went on a rampage, he could turn any fight around. It didn’t matter how far ahead North High got in the other lanes, they had to shut him down before he became too big of a problem!

Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao were playing in-sync. Tang Bingyao focused on farming with her Twitch, while Lin Feng pushed the Botlaners from North High back underneath their outer tower. His Zyra was strong. Her damage was disgusting. She would plant seeds that couldn’t be targeted wherever she wanted using Rampant Growth. They could only be broken by walking over them, and that was something Lin Feng wouldn’t let happen. His fingers were hovering over the Q and E keys, lightly tapping on whichever felt more appropriate in the situation. The first time the Tristana had moved forward to step on a seed, Lin Feng had gone with Grasping Roots. His Zyra sent forth vines through the ground to ensnare the Tristana and also to grow the seeds into Vine Lashers. These were vicious plants that lashed out in melee range to deal damage and apply a slow!

There was still Morgana. She could use her Black Shield to protect the Tristana. The roots couldn’t root and the Vine Lashers couldn’t slow. Nor was their damage enough to break the barrier. It was the perfect counter. However, Morgana had only one Black Shield. It had a long cooldown timer. And Lin Feng was on point with his plays. He baited out the Black Shield on either Morgana or Tristana and then would quickly switch targets. If the Morgana tried to wait and cast her Black Shield a little later, the damage would be done. She had to make that decision. But it never worked out in her favour.

The crowd watching the game could agree on one thing. Bot lane looked like a horror lane. The Tristana and Morgana were pushed underneath their tower, and even there they weren’t safe. Lin Feng targeted them. Harassed them with his skills. The damage kept piling on. And if Tristana or Morgana made a slight misplay, the Twitch would jump in and help the Zyra attack. Their health dropped and they were ready to flip their tables and yell at their counterparts across from them. This wasn’t any fun!

✹

At 8 minutes, Lee Sin roamed towards bot for the second time in the game. He’d timed it just right. High School 13’s wards had worn off. They had no vision of the jungle entrance or up the river. Their Botlaners were pushing into North High’s outer tower, like they had been for the last couple of minutes. The Zyra especially caused the Tristana and Morgana a massive headache. She’d single-handedly harassed them down to below half health. If they got caught by her Grasping Roots, they’d be dead. The Lee Sin had to be fast.

North High’s Support looked at the minimap. He knew their Jungler was coming for a gank. High School 13 looked ill-prepared for it. This was their chance. “Let’s do this. We can still win!”

The ad-carry from North High nodded. His eyes were locked on the Twitch. He wanted revenge. He needed it! “Mhm. You engage first. I’ll follow right behind. Try and lock down Twitch, but if you can’t, go for the Zyra. I don’t care who we kill, just that we kill one of them.” Because after the Tristana got the first kill, her Rocket Jump cooldown would reset. She could chase after the second and pick up the kill. North High’s ad-carry was confident he could do at least that much. His Tristana should be strong enough.

Standing behind the players from North High was still Zeng Rui. He glanced at the minimap. Jarvan IV’s portrait popped up in top lane. Twisted Fate was still in mid. Lee Sin came bot for a gank. There were no other variables coming into play. This would be a 3vs2. The Lee Sin, Morgana, and Tristana were all three Level 6. They had the damage to kill the Zyra and Twitch. They also had the crowd control to lock them down, so that they couldn’t escape or turn the fight around on them. Looks like they’ll finally get something going in bot.

✹

“Watch out! Lin Feng, back!” Yang Fan shouted in voice chat. He was the first on High School 13’s team to notice. As the ingame clock hit 8:35 minutes, Lee Sin’s portrait appeared on the minimap. He came walking down the river into bot lane. Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao were still pushing into North High’s outer tower, harassing the Morgana and Tristana underneath. They had their Zyra and Twitch run back towards High School 13’s side of the lane.

“Ha! Want to run? Fat chance!” North High Support laughed. He had his Morgana move forward, to whichever from Twitch and Zyra was easier to bind.

North High’s ad-carry was in even more of a rush. This was his change to get a kill back! To show everyone watching that he wasn’t the worst player in the game who’d lost a winning matchup! He slammed down his W key–Rocket Jump! His Tristana pointed her cannon to the ground and fired. She arced through the air and landed in front of the Zyra! Then she placed a bomb on the Zyra’s head–Explosive Charge!

The Morgana wouldn’t wait any longer either. She flashed forward and appeared right in front of the Zyra. Then she activated her ultimate–Soul Shackles! Two wings appeared on her back as she released the full force of her Celestial power! Her feet left the ground. She floated and lashed out chains of dark pain on the Zyra. They slowed and dealt some damage. And after a brief delay, would also stun. She followed up by conjuring her dark magic to lock the Zyra down–Dark Binding!

Zeng Rui nodded. “Not bad. That’s the right play.” The Morgana was playing it just like he would, by focusing the Zyra. That was the correct play in this situation. A point blank skillshot was hard to miss. If she’d instead tried to hit the Twitch, that would’ve been asking for problems! But something didn’t feel quite right. It didn’t make sense. He’d been paying close attention to the bot lane and gotten some understanding of how Lin Feng played on his Zyra. This didn’t look like a dead Zyra.

Lin Feng looked at his screen. The Lee Sin was ganking. He was a little out of position. This was his mistake. He should’ve warded. The Morgana flashed towards him. Her Soul Shackles wrapped around his Zyra. And then the Dark Binding appeared. His breathing stayed calm and there was no sweat on his forehead as he moved his mouth and then pressed down on his Q key–Deadly Spines! Thick vines spread through the ground and exploded into spines in between the Zyra and Morgana. There was a seed. It bloomed into a Thorn Spitter plant. The Dark Binding hit the plant and bound it. The Zyra was free.

“W-what? I-it was blocked?” North High’s Support muttered. He stared at his screen. It didn’t make sense. He was right in front of the Morgana. His attack should’ve hit! He should’ve locked the Zyra down! How did he do that? H-how is that even possible? Was he waiting? Did he know? No. There were no wards. I swept for them. Then how?

Everyone in the crowd needed a second to process what happened. Even the players from Shanghai High School were thoroughly impressed, and that included Zeng Rui. This was something else. This was something truly special! Then the silence broke. People started talking. Cheering. Shouting! 

“OH SNAP! Did you see that? Did you? Did you?” 

“WOOOO! That was sick!” 

“How is that possible? That looks like a bug!” 

“He makes it look so easy…” 

“My god… How. Just how.”

Lin Feng wasn’t quite done yet. This was only a little trick. There was nothing impressive about it once you knew how to do it. He pressed down on his E key–Grasping Roots! His Zyra sent forth vines through the ground that ensnared those caught by it. The Morgana was the first, well before she could even think about casting Black Shield. And the Tristana was second. Lin Feng rooted both North High’s Support and ad-carry with one well placed skillshot!

“WOOT WOOT! That’s Lin Feng for you right there!” Liu Yue shouted, high fiving Wei Dong.

“Oh, yeah! Nice! Awesome! Couldn’t have done that any better!” Wei Dong laughed, slapping Liu Yue’s hand as hard as he could.

A loud slap sounded out and Ren Rou shook her head. Boys will be boys… Then she looked back at Lin Feng and said, “Good job! Nice play! Keep it up, guys! You can do it!”

There was one last play left in Lin Feng’s playbook. One final skill that could complete the turn around. He glanced over at Tang Bingyao and said, “Now! Go in!” His fingers glided over the keyboard and he pressed down on the R key–Stranglethorns! His Zyra summoned a twisted thicket. It passed through the Morgana and Tristana, damaging them. The seeds in the thicket then grew enraged, growing into massive Thorn Spitter plants!

“Wow! Did you see that?” 

“Yes. I did. I’m right here…” 

“That was so amazing!” 

“It really was. I don’t think I could’ve done that.” 

“Haha! Definitely not! You suck at this game!”

While gasps rang out from the crowd, merging together with the hushed whispers, Ren Rou cheered together with Wei Dong. Lin Feng had averted the gank! His Zyra stopped any hope of the Lee Sin jumping on them! They could get out scot-free. “Nice! Let’s go! Get out of there!” she shouted, eager to support the team in any way she could.

However, Lin Feng didn’t go back. Nor did Tang Bingyao. They knew what the other was thinking. There was no need for words. But Lin Feng was in one of those moods, full of energy. He shouted, “Tang Tang! Let’s do this! Fight!”

“Mhm.” Tang Bingyao nodded while having her Twitch move forward. Her target was the Tristana. Twitch was in range. He cackled as he fired off a venom laced bolt. Then he stepped to the side. It looked harmless, a simple reposition or an attempt to cancel his attack animation. But then a Sonic Wave flew past where he just stood. The Blind Monk was searching for his target and failed. Tang Bingyao had guessed perfectly what the Lee Sin’s next move would be and dodged it before it even happened! She followed up by pressing down on the W key–Venom Cask! The Twitch hurled a cask of venom that exploded on top of the Tristana and Lee Sin, slowing them and applying a deadly venom.

“Oh, damn! That was sexy!” 

“I know right! She’s playing crazy good!” 

“You’re hot High School 13 ad-carry!” 

“Awkward creep… Just enjoy that awesome play!” 

“My god! She actually predicted he would throw his Q!” 

“What rank is she? She must be Diamond, right? Like, at least!” 

“Sick skills, girl! Now turn this fight around!”

✹

“D-dammit! Fine! You want a fight? I’ll give you one!” North High’s ad-carry had had it up to here! Until here and no further! This matchup should be his! His Tristana was stronger than the Twitch! His Morgana was a really strong Support on the current patch. And that Zyra was completely useless in this meta! There was no excuse. He had to win! He had to! This cocky bitch! How dares she attack me when my Jungler is ganking! I’ll show her! He pressed down on the W key–Rocket Jump!

The Tristana aimed her cannon at the ground and fired, launching herself into the air and towards the Twitch. She landed on top of him and put a bomb on his head–Explosive Charge! Then she fired off an auto attack. The Morgana and Lee Sin were trying to catch up from behind, but the minions in the lane were blocking a direct path.

Behind North High’s ad-carry, Zeng Rui from Shanghai High School shook his head. Fool. This was a mistake only the worst players made. The Devshards. Beginners who had no clue what was going on and had zero feeling for the game. It took a special kind of stupid to jump in when you didn’t know where the opponent’s Jungler was, even more so when you were the ad-carry. Squishy and easy to kill.

Tang Bingyao didn’t run. She let the Tristana jump on her and just kept attacking. This time, she was the bait. Because coming down from the river, shouting in her ears and pinging on bot lane, was none other than Ouyang with his Jarvan IV! “Coming in hot! Time to save the princess!” he shouted. Then he flashed forward, walking until he was almost on top of the Tristana, and then executed his flag-toss combo! He was right on top the Tristana. There was nowhere for her to escape to. He had his Jarvan IV dash through her and knocked her up into the air! He followed up with an auto attack before calling upon the ancient kings of Demacia to shield him from harm and slow the Tristana–Golden Aegis!

F-fucking. Dammit. Argh. Fuck. Shit. North High’s ad-carry was rapid firing insults at himself. He should’ve never jumped in like that. Now he knew! How should I know that Jarvan was right there! He smashed down on his keyboard, trying to Flash away, while he watched his Tristana’s health drop lower and lower. “Black shield! Morg, give me a black shield! Come on! Hurry up already!”

The Morgana caught up. She cast the Black Shield on Tristana, protecting her from all disabling effects with a barrier of starlight. She followed up with a Dark Binding. The dark magic flew through the air, straight for the Jarvan IV. If she could stop him, her ad-carry would still have a chance to survive!

Lin Feng paid close attention to the Morgana. He was well aware of how the Tristana could escape. He was going to counter that. Zyra could plant seeds and she could also have them grow into monstrous plants! Lin Feng had planted a couple of these seeds, preparing for this very moment. Morgana’s Dark Binding flew through the air. He pressed down on his Q key–Deadly Spines! Thick vines spread through the ground and exploded into spines, feeding one of the seeds. The seed grew into a Thorn Spitter plant and rose up right in the path of the Dark Binding. It ate the attack of dark magic and died. But it also blocked the attack from connecting with Ouyang’s Jarvan IV!

“How in the world…” 

“Wow…” 

“Was that…” 

“Yeah, it was… Jesus, that guy is good.”

The crowd couldn’t believe what they were seeing. This play was out of this world! Beyond that, even Zeng Rui was caught off guard! This Zyra went from one high skill play into the next as if it were nothing! Wow. Those reflexes and reaction speed are something to watch out for. 

Ouyang and Tang Bingyao could chase after North High’s ad-carry without a worry in the world. The Tristana was almost dead, the Morgana had no damage and no crowd control skills left, and it’d be suicidal for the Lee Sin to jump in. This was the very definition of an easy kill. They attacked the Tristana a few more times until Tang Bingyao pressed down on her  E key–Contaminate! Twitch blasted the poisoned Tristana with his vile diseases!

《First blood!》

Ouyang could hear his teammates cheering behind him. The “WOOT WOOT!” from Liu Yue was especially resounding. Liu Yue approved of his play! I-i’m doing it! I’m doing it! He started laughing. There was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to fear. This game was in the bag. He’d carry it with his Jarvan IV! “Oh yeah! Bro, my Jarvan is fucking fantastic! Did you see that gank? Damn, I was so awesome there!”

Zeng Rui snorted. Who is this idiot? He didn’t care one bit for Ouyang’s performance. It was mediocre at best. And the only reason it looked mediocre and not straight terrible was because that Tristana was just as bad as the Jarvan IV. Two terrible players having a little fun. They were having fun, but there wasn’t anything to see for the crowd. Why did that Tristana even Rocket Jump in? How was it not obvious that the Jarvan IV was coming? The Twitch stayed to fight! That was such a dead giveaway… There were so many problems and issues with the Tristana and Jarvan IV’s plays that he didn’t know how to end complaining about them. Until he shifted his attention towards High School 13’s ad-carry. Tang Bingyao. She stayed calm and played well. Impressive.

However, the most impressive player was still Lin Feng. Zeng Rui looked at Lin Feng again. The cocky dumbass… Lin Feng’s mechanics on Zyra were really good. Really good. It wasn’t just one time either. In these first four minutes of the game, he played perfectly. Zeng Rui couldn’t find anything to complain about, at least gameplay wise. Is he really that good? Was it luck? But he’s done it before on Riven and Zed. There is no such thing as coincidence…

✹

The game started great for High School 13. But the few minutes after the first blood went all North High’s way. The first big moment came at 6 minutes. The Twisted Fate had reached Level 6 and learned his ultimate–Destiny! He predicted the fortunes of his foes, revealing them and enabling the use of Gate. A portal he could use to travel to any target location in 1.5 seconds. Chen Ze’s fortune ended first. The Twisted Fate teleported to the top lane and helped his Darius pick up a kill on the Rumble.

A minute later, at 7 minutes, the Twisted Fate returned to mid lane. Ouyang had been waiting in a brush for this. He wanted to help his Midlaner get a kill. Maybe even help Yang Fan win the lane. He jumped on the Twisted Fate with his flag-toss combo! The Twisted Fate flashed away, back to tower safety. His health had dropped low. Ziggs had his Mega Inferno Bomb and Jarvan IV had Cataclysm. Ouyang made the call. He towerdove the Twisted Fate. His Jarvan IV heroically leapt at the target and smashed the Twisted Fate down into the ground so hard that the surrounding area terraformed into an arena. Together with Ziggs’ long range attacks, the Twisted Fate died. But the Jarvan IV was also locked up in his own arena. Underneath North High’s outer tower. He forgot to cancel his ultimate skill in time and died to a last energy shot from the outer tower.

Yang Fan breathed out, deep and hard. “Come on! Ouyang! You should’ve backed away, dude. You know you can cancel your ult, right?”

There was no need for Yang Fan to yell at Ouyang. Ouyang was more than a little upset with himself already. Still, he blurted out, “I was backing away, alright? It’s just that minion that was in the way. And there was a slight delay in canceling my ult. This stupid game! It bugged! Shit!”

Standing behind the players from North High, Zeng Rui couldn’t hide his contempt. The gamescore was two kills for two kills. Four idiotic deaths that could’ve all been evaded. Easily. If he would’ve played, none of this would’ve happened. He would’ve made sure of that! Second rate teams showing off their third rate gameplay… All his interest for High School 13 disappeared. Their bot lane was good, he had to admit. But the rest of their team was dogshit. Terrible. The worst players he’d ever seen play the game. Two strong players wasn’t enough at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Not to contest for the title, at least. High School 13 wouldn’t be a title contender. He wouldn’t have to prepare for them. It wasn’t worth his time.

“Finally,” Zeng Rui mumbled. Though he’d already decided High School 13 didn’t amount to much, he still stuck around to watch the game. Mostly because he just felt this urge to watch the Support Zyra die. Something about the excited shouts of that Support player had rubbed him the wrong way. At 8 minutes, something big was brewing in bot lane. Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao would have to do some truly spectacular to walk out of this one alive!

This was the final hurdle! All High School 13 had to do was to win this best of three series against North High, and then they’d qualify for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! Two games stood between them and their goal. They’d make sure it never even got to a third and deciding game! Two wins. Fast and clean. A stomp in game one to swing the series in their favour and then ride the momentum through the second game. Easy enough. But their opponents felt the same. North High wouldn’t let High School 13 walk all over them without putting up a fight. They would struggle for every inch! They would take game one and then game two! High School 13 wouldn’t win this series, they would! The players from both teams slowed their breathing as they zoned out everything but the monitor in front of them. Everyone but the players on their team. If they wanted to win, they had to find that competitive mindset and never lose focus!

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao rushed down from the Red team’s fountain into bot lane. They stopped halfway in and ventured into the jungle. Opposite of the Blue buff camp was the Gromp. A lone monster. They waited for it to spawn and then killed it, juggling its aggro so as to take as little damage as possible. The experience from killing it would get them close to Level 2. A small advantage that could see them win the lane! Except for the fact that on the Blue team, North High’s Botlaners had the same idea. They were killing the monster camp closest to their bot lane, the Krugs; durable monsters of stone! This was a tactic often seen in professional play and was being copied more and more in regular games.

The minion waves in bot lane clashed. Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao had their Champions rush to lane to get as much experience as possible. While clicking towards the lane, Lin Feng looked over at Tang Bingyao and grinned. “Seems like they had the same idea. Doesn’t matter. Let’s crush them!” He didn’t care that the champion he decided to go with, Zyra, had fallen out of favour for a lot of players. They couldn’t do what he could! He would carry this game all the same!

“Mhm.” Tang Bingyao nodded. Her focus was on her screen. She was going to give it her all, like she always did. It was just… This stupid two-legged rat is ugly. Not cute at all. We have to end this game quickly. She’d started playing Twitch because Lin Feng told her to. He was the coach and she wouldn’t argue. But that didn’t mean she enjoyed playing Twitch. This stupid rat was one of the Champions she hated the most! I can’t let this drag on.

✹

Zeng Rui from Shanghai High School stood behind North High’s team. His gaze was firmly on their screens. This game had started normally. He looked at the Toplaner’s screen. He was fighting a Rumble with his Darius. Darius was a strong Champion in the current meta and had an advantage over Rumble during the early laning phase. But as long as Rumble followed two simple rules, he could still win. The first was to avoid Decimate, an ability where Darius would heft his axe and swing it around himself. The second was that Rumble needed precise management of his Heat, which was the resource that Rumble used to cast his abilities. If he kept to these two rules, then and only then, would he push the Darius out of lane and get an easy win.

Top lane could be fun to watch, but it wasn’t what Zeng Rui cared most about. That was bot lane. His evalutation of Lin Feng had gone down substantially after Lin Feng’s little outburst, but that didn’t change the facts. This cocky dumbass had played two games and carried hard in both of them. So Zeng Rui would devote some extra attention to the bot lane. He narrowed his eyes and focused on Lin Feng. Still grinning like an idiot… I can’t believe he’s any good… But. There’s that stupid word. But he did carry his team twice now. I should see if there’s anything I can learn from him.

✹

North High had the advantage in the bot lane matchup. Tristana had the attack range advantage over Twitch and could deal significant damage with her Explosive Charge, blowing up a bomb on someone’s head, all the while the Morgana supported her from the rear with a powerful binding tool in Dark Binding. Twitch had no dashes, no jumps, no nothing to dodge these Dark Bindings. And Zyra had little to nothing to protect him, especially in the early game. The lower Twitch’s health became, the harder Tristana and Morgana could push the lane. They could force the Twitch to use his Summoner Spells and force High School 13’s Jungler to come down for support. There really wasn’t any other way this lane should play out. However, none of this happened. To the surprise of even Zeng Rui.

Tang Bingyao focused on farming the minions, while Lin Feng threw auto attacks at the Tristana whenever she tried to last hit a minion. The Tristana wasn’t having a good time. It couldn’t go on like this. She had to do something. So she walked forward a bit to throw an Explosive Charge on the Twitch. That was the wrong thing to do. Tang Bingyao had her Twitch turn around the moment the Tristana started moving. The Twitch threw a Venom Cask over his shoulder, which exploded in the Tristana’s face. It slowed her and inflicted her with Deadly Venom. If this wasn’t bad enough, what Lin Feng did definitely was. He didn’t walk away like the Twitch. Quite the opposite. He had his Zyra move forward and pressed down on the Q key–Deadly Spines! Thick vines spread through the ground and exploded into spines, piercing the Tristana! Her health dropped a lot from this short exchange.

Zeng Rui raised his eyebrows halfway up his forehead and nodded. “Not bad… Not bad at al–”

“Wow! You’re really in the zone today, huh?” Lin Feng exclaimed, loud enough for everyone to hear.

While the rest of the NetCow Cafe looked over at Lin Feng, Tang Bingyao ignored his very existence. She didn’t have time for his nonsense. Not right now. If she wanted to win this game quickly, she had to focus. She was a Draven main. A master at putting pressure in the early game and dominating her lane opponents! Even if this Twitch was nothing like Draven, in every sense of the word, that aggressive playstyle she was so comfortable with still shone through.

✹

“What the hell is this? Why is this Twitch playing so aggressively? Why are we letting her?” North High’s ad-carry complained. “I’m playing Tristana. I should be bullying that stupid rat! Not the other way around! What the fuck!” He pushed forward to try and get a last hit on a minion, only to find his health drop low again! The Zyra. It was the Zyra! His eyelids twitched. “That stupid plantgirl keeps attacking me. She’s fucking mental. Their Support is crazy!”

Whenever he tried to attack the Twitch, there was Zyra. Whenever he tried to last hit a minion, there was Zyra. Whenever he tried to just get a second of freedom, there was Zyra! She was always there, poking his Tristana and being a generally obnoxious piece of shit! He couldn’t take it any longer! And then she hit Level 2. She sent forth her vines through the ground and ensnared his Tristana–Grasping Roots! He felt frantic! Clicking towards his tower and trying everything to get away. The only saving grace was that the Twitch was out of position. He was too far back and couldn’t get to his Tristana in time. That was the only reason he survived. It was too close. That Zyra had played it perfectly. He knew it. If he didn’t do something about his positioning quickly, the same would happen again. And next time, next time he feared the Twitch wouldn’t screw up. Fuck.

✹

Lin Feng glanced at his minimap. Their Jarvan IV was clearing the Red Buff Camp. That meant that Lee Sin was doing the same. The Junglers were on the second Buff Camp in their jungle. Their next step would be to look for a ganking opportunity. Did Lee start on Blue or Red? Lin Feng looked at the information he had, which was restricted to the flow of the lanes. His eyes fell on the Morgana and Tristana in bot lane. They were letting the minion wave push towards their outer tower. It looked sketchy. A little too easy.

At 4:35 minutes into the game, High School 13’s minion wave was pushing towards North High’s outer tower. Tang Bingyao had her Twitch go up for a last hit, extending just a little further than she normally would. There. Lin Feng spotted it immediately. He’d been wary, but now he was sure. A gank. The Morgana was moving forward. He mirrored her actions, walking towards the opponent ad-carry.

The Tristana stood near the river wall. The tri-brush connecting the lane, river, and jungle was just above her. She moved forward a little, just far enough to get in range of the Twitch while also staying back. Then the Lee Sin appeared. He rushed towards the Tristana from the fog of war and shielded her–Safeguard!

Lin Feng pressed down on his E key before the Lee Sin even appeared–Grasping Roots! The Zyra sent forth vines through the ground, heading straight for the Tristana. As Lee Sin rushed to her side, the vines passed through them, ensnaring them both. They were rooted! “Haha! Beautiful! Great job, me!” Lin Feng exclaimed.

Amongst the audience was Zeng Rui. He bit down on his lips, fighting back the intense urge to knock some humility into Lin Feng. This goddamn kid! Stop bragging… That play was great. He’d seen Lee Sin come for the gank. It’d looked perfect. He didn’t see how High School 13 would stop it. But Lin Feng was one step ahead of everyone, and stopped the gank before it could even happen. That was a really high level skill. Zeng Rui had to admit that. But then he had to go and pat himself on the back… Shut up and play!