Shanghai High School! The Champions of last year’s Shanghai 16 School Tournament! And this year wouldn’t be any different! Their lineup was as strong as ever, with two Diamond 1s, two Masters, and a Challenger team captain! His name was Zeng Rui, a name every high schooler in Shanghai had heard of! Beyond that, Tiny Teacup was his Summoner’s Name. This name reverberated through the Ionia server. Famous in the entire region for his outstanding Support skills! He was objective, logical, and meticulous to a fault. At any given time, he kept track of more than two dozen variables! They included ward placement, skills and summoner cooldowns, enemy experience, health, and damage potential! Some even called him mini Autumn, since that was his idol. Or so people said. How much of all this was actually true, no one knew. They only knew Zeng Rui from hearsay. None of them ever had the opportunity to play with or against him. So they made up stories about the guy who was undoubtedly the best player in all of Shanghai’s high school scene!

However, one thing was definitely true. Zeng Rui was a really good Support. Playing only this role, he’d fought his way up the ranked ladder all the way to the top 10 players in the Ionia server. When he played solo queue, he always queued up with and against famous and professional players. This was a one of a kind form of experience. No one here doubted that he’d eventually make his breakthrough into the professional scene.

The Jungler from Shanghai High School followed Zeng Rui’s gaze and looked at Lin Feng and Ouyang who were creating quite the spectacle. “I think those idiots are from High School 13.”

“High School 13?” The Toplaner scratched his chin, thinking hard where he’d heard the name before. “Oh! You mean tho–”

“Those are the guys that won all three of their games in the first round of the qualifiers. They topped their group by beating Tonji Affiliated High. High School 3 and 7 weren’t their match either,” Zeng Rui finished the sentence for his Toplaner. Then he nodded towards his Jungler. “I see. Understood.”

The Jungler laughed, resisting the urge to give himself a pat on the shoulder, and said, “As expected of the boss! You even bothered to research that crappy team! That’s some real dedication right there!”

“Crappy team?” Zeng Rui shook his head. “No. A team that beat Tonji Affiliated High does not qualify as crappy. They’re someone we need to pay some extra attention to.” His voice was steady and calm as if none of this bothered him. Just another point on his checklist. And that much was true. He wasn’t someone to lose his head to pride or arrogance. The objective truth was the only thing he cared about. His team was the best team here. That was a simple fact. But in the same breath, High School 13 was a team they had to pay attention to. It didn’t matter that High School 13 was one of the worst performing teams last year. This year. This edition of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament was all that mattered right now.

“Anyone who clings onto yesterday and refuses to look at today is a fool,” Zeng Rui stated. This was his catchphrase. A few words of wisdom he shared with anyone who’d listen to him. He looked over in the direction of High School 13 again, rubbing his temples in contemplation. “Hmm. They’re in the first group. Their opponent is North High. We’ll go and look at their game.”

✹

The clock ticked away until it struck 1:30 PM. The organizers announced the matches and on which isle of computers each match would take place. There was a short scuffle as the 40 players who were playing and everyone else who was looking to spectate a particular game found their way to the isles. High School 13 was among them. They raced to the computers they’d be playing on and sat down behind their monitors, changing the height of their seats and looking over their computer settings. Their lineup was somewhat of a surprise. At the last minute, Lin Feng had decided to swap with Wei Dong. Ouyang was struggling really hard to keep it together, and by playing as Support he could offer Ouyang the mental support he needed while not drastically changing the game plan.

Lin Feng looked over at Ouyang, who looked back at him, and patted his chest. “Don’t worry! You got me! We’ll win this! Easy!”

“B-but you’re just playing Support…” Ouyang muttered, terrified his possible mistakes would cost his team the game.

“Relax! I got this! I’m really good at Support too!” Lin Feng laughed. He then noticed a small crowd forming behind them from the corners of his eyes. Just a few at first, but as he turned to look at them, more and more arrived. “Hoh? Looks like we’ve got a pretty big audience again today!”

The people in the crowd weren’t here because this was such an exciting match. High School 13’s opponent was North High, a school who hadn’t made it to the main tournament last year. And after their performance this year in the first qualifiers, no one really believed these guys could make it through. High School 13, however, was a completely different story. They were this year’s dark horse. The underdogs who’d popped up out of nowhere, beating one of the favourites for the title! Everyone wanted to know what this team was all about.

Chen Ze looked at the crowd until his eyes locked on a group of five. His eyes went round. He knew them! They were the players from Shanghai High School! He turned to Lin Feng and said, “Hey, Lin Feng? You see those guys over there? They’re the team from Shanghai High School…”

Yang Fan followed Chen Ze’s gaze and locked onto last year’s Champions. He started nodding and forgot to stop. Rocking back and forth with his head, he said, “Are they here to watch us play? We really did draw a lot of attention last week.”

“The Shanghai High School? Those guys you keep talking about? The big Champions from last year?” Lin Feng asked, looking over at the five players the rest of the team was already looking towards.

Yang Fan was still nodding, but at least remembered to adjust his glasses. “Yeah. You see that guy in the middle? That’s their captain, Zeng Rui. He reached the top 10 Challengers in the Ionia server. There’s some rumours an LSPL team tried to recruit him, but he rejected them. He didn’t even let them make an offer.”

Ouyang’s mouth fell open. He stared at Zeng Rui and said, “D-damn! Really? Now that’s a Challenger! It’d be so cool to play with someone like him. So cool…”

“Hey! I’m also a Challenger! We’re playing together!” Lin Feng protested.

Ouyang laughed. The stress left his body for a moment and he just laughed. “Ha! I meant a real Challenger. Not whatever you are. Get an account to Challenger first, then we can talk.”

“Eh, I guess you’re right,” Lin Feng agreed. He couldn’t keep leaning on his old rank. It meant nothing anymore. He’d have to get a new account and get it up to Challenger! As for Shanghai High School watching their game, he wasn’t too bothered. He waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry about those guys. We’re taking first place this year! When we fight that little Challenger Support, we’ll crush him just like we crushed everyone else! Isn’t that right, Tang Tang?”

Tang Bingyao tilted her head. She looked Lin Feng in the eyes. They looked confident, to her at least. Then she nodded, “Mhm!”

Ouyang looked at Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao before turning back to his screen. The nerves that had left for a second came rushing back. His teeth started chattering. He bit down, trying to stop them. Then a shiver went through his whole body. His stomach felt funny and he just couldn’t sit still. “Dammit! H-how are you guys so confident? We still gotta win this game first!”

✹

North High versus High School 13
Top Lane: Darius versus Rumble
Jungle: Lee Sin versus Jarvan IV
Mid Lane: Twisted Fate versus Ziggs
AD-carry: Tristana versus Twitch
Support: Morgana versus Zyra

North High and High School 13 approached this game completely differently. On the side of North High, there was a Twisted Fate in the mid lane, who could use his ultimate to reveal everything in the fog of war in a large circle around him and teleport to any location within this circle. When combined with the Jungler, this could create for some terrifying ganks in the early game! As for the late game, the extra information of where the other team was could prove vital. Then there was High School 13 who chose a group of Champions with powerful area of effect ultimates. If North High huddled up too closely together, they’d get blown up before a fight could even start!

The players from Shanghai High School had walked around the isle of computers and were now watching over the shoulder of the players from North High. From here, they could somewhat make out the faces from the players from High School 13. The Jungler tapped on Zeng Rui’s shoulder and whispered, “Boss, that support for High School 13 played mid and top in the previous two games. Looks like he keeps changing up his position.”

Zeng Rui nodded. He looked at the members from High School 13 one at a time, trying to extract as much information from their expressions as possible. Lin Feng sat at the end of the line. He was the last person Zeng Rui observed. “Mhm. He played Zed in mid and Riven in top. He dealt the most damage to Champions in both games. His engages were good, his teamfights were good. He successfully plowed through the enemy backline.” Zeng Rui paused for a moment, trying to piece the information together. “So he also plays Support? I wonder if he’s an all-rounder. Hmm… Interesting. Definitely interesting.”

“Oh, oh! Let’s do our best, guys! Watch me carry this game!”

Zeng Rui was physically repulsed. He watched Lin Feng make his announcement. Heard him make the announcement so loudly that even people outside on the streets could hear him. So he really thinks he’s going to carry his team, eh? Then he noticed the other players from High School 13, saw them trying to hide behind their screens. His right eye twitched in response to the visceral cringe of the situation and he said, “Scratch that. He’s just a cocky shit. And a thundering dumbass.”

ANNOUNCEMENT: 

Yesterday on the Rise Discord Server, several readers decided to overthrow us. I, Devshard, decided it was best to surrender instead of subjecting everyone to a bloody coup. We passed the torch of Rise to them and allowed them to translate and edit chapter 115. Which led to what you will read below! 

Two teams, one secret ingredient of the Rise Chinese Raws. You, the Readers, will decide who wins on this poorly thrown together episode of Master Chefs: Translation Wars!

 Team Uprising was led by Lead Translator & Overseer of the Democratic Republic of the Rise Discord Server Piggy#8092. He was aided by several volunteer editors. Some of whom took this joke far too seriously. (At one point, they started talking about how bad Dev’s edits were)

Team Rise was, as always, led by LittleShanks. 

(Our version of the chapter will be posted two hours later – Shanks, Sietse, and Devshard)

ENJOY! 

——————————————————-

After the six games of day 2 had been completed, the final matches for Groups C and D were finally over, and the rankings were set in stone.

Today, the majority of the Chinese fans had received terrible news: Team Dust from the Chinese LPL had been eliminated from Group D.

In the group stage, Dust not only lost two games to SSK, the reigning champions from last year’s Worlds, they also failed to score a single win against Korea’s Warriors.

The only teams to make it out of Group D were the two teams from Korea’s LCK. Dust was unfortunately the first Chinese team to be eliminated.

Although this was not an unexpected outcome, a foul mood settled over the Chinese fans. It had seemed like a hopeless situation from the beginning. Dust was simply too unlucky this year; after being thrown into Group D with all of the powerhouse teams, their chances were too slim. As a result, the Chinese fans had already mentally prepared themselves to lose, making the experience less bitter. At least there was some comfort in the success of the other Chinese teams.

After the second round matches of Groups C and D, the group stage had come to an end and the eight best teams would advance to the quarterfinals!

First place in Group A was Europe’s Legend!

First place in Group B was Korea’s Fate!

First place in Group C was North America’s Season!

First place in Group D was Korea’s SSK!

Second place in Group A was China’s KG!

Second place in Group B was China’s HoG!

Second place in Group C was Taiwan’s Assassins!

Second place in Group D was Korea’s Warriors!

All the Chinese fans could see just how skewed the top eight were. Taiwan, North America and Europe each had only one team that qualified. China had two, and Korea had three teams making it out of groups, to the surprise of no one.

In reality, the performance of the Chinese teams could be considered very good so far for this year’s championship. Of course, this was still only the quarterfinals. Everyone understood that the toughest battles started in the matches after the quarterfinals, where only the best of the best played against each other. No team could get this far relying on sheer luck.

On the third day, the teams eliminated in the group stage would return home, while those who advanced would fly to the next stop of Worlds, Paris!

　　✹

At the same time, for those in the High School 13, the second round of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament had arrived. This was where things would start to get tougher for Lin Feng and his team. By passing the final elimination round, High School 13 would qualify to be part of the top 16! The location of the final round of the preliminaries was already set. It would take place in the NetCow Internet Cafe located in downtown Shanghai.

Since the Shanghai 16 School Tournament was a high school competition, the organizers had to take the student’s studies into consideration and end the first two rounds as quickly as possible. The 32 teams would be split into four groups of eight teams each, who would then play each other. At the end of the day, the top four teams from each group would advance to the final 16.

High School 13 stood together in the internet cafe, preparing themselves for the game.

“They say that after entering the final stretch, the venue will become more professional,” said Yang Fan, adjusting his glasses.

Ren Rou stood to the side nodding and added, “Starting from the first matches for the final 16, there will be special guest commentators who will be responsible for the interpretation and analysis of the games.”

Liu Yue’s eyes lit up, “That’s so cool! Do you think any famous League of Legends commentators will be there? Do you think I can get an autograph? Ouyang, what do you think?”

As he spoke, Liu Yue turned towards Ouyang, but was shocked to find that his face had gone blue and his lips were even trembling a little. He couldn’t help but be surprised, “Ouyang, are you ok?”

Ouyang was wavering just like a wavin’ flag, and then he shot back, still shaking, “I-i-it’s nothing, leave me alone.”

Ren Rou couldn’t help but laugh, “What is this guy doing? Knowing he’s going to play a game today and he’s so nervous… how lame!”

Ouyang strongly objected, “I am not!”

Ren Rou curled her lips, “You think I can’t tell what you’re thinking? Aren’t you just afraid that you’re going to feed later?”

After being exposed, Ouyang flushed and hesitated for a long time before finally answering, “Damn it, I’m playing in a competition like this for the first time. It’s normal to be a little nervous.”

He couldn’t help but look at Lin Feng, and ask in a rare weak tone, “Lin Feng, do you really want me to play today?”

Lin Feng was in high spirits, so when he heard Ouyang, he simply waved him off and answered with a grin, “Of course! Ouyang, you trained so much with the team just for this opportunity. If you don’t get on the Rift, then what’s the point of all that training?”

Ouyang replied, still hesitant, “But…”

Ren Rou interrupted suddenly, “What buts? What good are they? You’re a big boy now, don’t make excuses. If Lin Feng tells you to play, then play! I can’t stand someone who has no confidence!”

Liu Yue, who was standing next to him, gave him a punch and said, “Fight on, Ouyang! Don’t believe in yourself, believe in the me who believes in you! You can do it!”

Wei Dong smiled and said, “Right, right. Ouyang has to work hard, today it’s up to you.”

Listening to the excitement and encouragement from his friends, Ouyang gritted his teeth and shouted:

“I CAN DO IT! Isn’t it just playing a game? What’s the big deal? You guys should just sit back and watch me carry!”

　　✹

Since High School 13 had advanced to the top 32, they would be playing their first match today. They had arrived early at the venue at 1:00. It was now 1:20 and the game would be starting in 10 minutes.

Looking around, Tang Bingyao narrowed her eyes. “It looks like there’s a lot of people watching us.”

Hearing Tang Bingyao, Yang Fan looked around, eyes wide open, “Wow, it’s really true.”

Everyone subconsciously turned their heads after hearing that and noticed that many of the other players were looking at their team. After being discovered, most of them hurriedly withdrew their gazes, but there were still many people pointing at them and whispering to each other.

“Why are they looking at us?” asked Lin Feng curiously.

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses again and laughed. “Probably because of how good our record was in the last round of elimination.”

The team’s top laner, Chen Ze, nodded. “Of course, we defeated High School 7 and Tonji Affiliated High after all. The more the other teams find out about our performance, the more they’ll pay attention to our team.”

Chen Ze was right. After entering the top 32 matches, the teams participating in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament had begun to gather information on their competitors. However, of the various teams, the most eye-catching was High School 13.

A noob team full of trash that had lost in the first round of knockouts last time… Had not only managed to go beyond the first round, but they had even managed to win all three games? And against schools like High School 7 and Tonji Affiliated High?

Other achievements notwithstanding, just beating Tonji Affiliated High was already an amazing accomplishment. By defeating them, the virtually unknown High School 13 had beaten a previous semifinalist team! It was a major upset!

It was precisely because of their sudden success that the other top 32 teams were casting strange glances at the members of High School 13. They had already begun to reevaluate this new contender as a threat they had to take seriously.

“Oh, so that’s why?” Lin Feng realized.

Suddenly, he laughed boisterously and turned to his teammates. “Hahaha, this is great. We can win this tournament easily! The trophy is ours!”

His teammates jumped on him in an attempt to muzzle him. They had to! This dunce would make them the target of every other team otherwise!

“Oy dipshit, don’t you know how to whisper? Don’t be so loud!”

“Yeah, are you trying to make them hate us?”

“It’ll be over if the other teams hear you!”

Unfortunately, his bold statement had already reached the nearby teams.

As players of another team were discussing something in low voices nearby, a boy with a plain face and calm expression frowned upon hearing laughter, tilting his head to look where it had come from.

After looking around, his gaze landed on Lin Feng, whose mouth was covered by his teammates around him. Furrowing his brows, an incredulous expression came over the face of Zeng Rui, the team captain and support for Shanghai High School.

“Who is that idiot?”

“Another win for SSK sees them to 6 wins and 0 losses! Did anyone expect anything else?” 

“What a beautiful win by Season! That secures them the group!” 

“WOOO! Assassins! What was that! How! They did it! They’re through to the next round!” 

“Damn! The warriors from Warriors are REAL! They are the warriors that built this town! They hacked’n’slashed their way into the Quarterfinals!”

The second week of League of Legends World Championships had come to an end. All 12 matches were played and the results proved to be a heavy blow to the thousands of Chinese fans watching. They’d had high hopes for Dust, the LPL’s second seed. That small flame of hope raged into an inferno after KG’s last game a few days ago, where they had without a doubt, undoubtedly, unquestionably made the impossible possible. And then all of those hopes and dreams came crashing down. Dust didn’t perform like their fans would’ve liked to see. They were obliterated by the two Korean teams they got matched up against. It was hard to watch. Dust never really found their footing or had a chance to get their rhythm in any of their games. The Korean teams that Dust was up against, those were the strongest in the world right now. But to the Chinese fans watching, knowing that the difference was this big made them all the more hopeful for a David-vs-Goliath situation. Everyone wanted to see the underdog win. But that didn’t happen.

The Chinese fans had been prepared for this outcome from the very beginning. They knew Dust had pulled the short straw during the group stage draw. But it was never fun to see your team go out like this. Their only consolation was that two of their teams managed to qualify for the quarterfinals; KG and Hand of God. This was an impressive accomplishment. The only region and league with more teams in the quarterfinals was Korea’s LCK.

First place in Group A were the Legend from Europe!
First place in Group B was Korea’s Team Fate!
First place in Group C was Season out of North America!
First place in Group D were last year’s champions, Team SSK from Korea!

Second place in Group A was China’s KG!
Second place in Group B was HoG from China!
Second place in Group C were the Assassins from Taiwan!
Second place in Group D were Korea’s Warriors!

The group stage at Worlds was fun, but the teams here weren’t playing for the hardware or glory just yet. They were just qualifying to play for it. The knockout stage was where it all happened. The main course of the World Championships! The Chinese fans were ecstatic that they had two teams, two possibilities, two beacons of hope shouldering their pride! Fighting for the Summoner’s Cup! Their teams had survived London. The weather, the food, and their matches! Now the time had come to fly a little further south, to the beautiful city of Paris! That was where the knockout stage would be held.

✹

While the World Championships of League of Legends came to the business end of things, High School 13 had their own game to worry about. They’d made it through the first qualification round and now had to play in the second qualifiers. There were now 32 teams remaining and competing for the 16 spots in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. The second round of qualifiers would be held in the downtown Shanghai branch of the NetCow Cafe, which was where they gathered up today. In this internet cafe, the teams would be matched up against one other team. If they won, they would qualify and advance to the main tournament. If they lost, then their journey would end. They could go home early and watch the rest from their couches and through the haze of their tears.

The Shanghai 16 School Tournament was still a school event at the end of the day. So, in an effort to waste as little of the students’ time as possible, the organizers planned to have four matches going on simultaneously. This way they could keep the event organized and move things along, without too much waiting time for any one team. The goal was to finalize the teams playing in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament by the end of the night. Because if it took any longer, if they kept the students waiting for a second day, then that could take away from the time the students could spend on studying or preparing for exams. A failed exam could ruin a life! None of the organizers wanted to have that on their conscience.

The High School 13 esports team arrived at the NetCow Cafe just after 1 PM. The games would start in 30 minutes. They were one of the first eight teams to play. Lin Feng had them huddle up so he could rehash the strategies, tactics, and plays they’d be armed with for today’s games. He also had some last-minute advice and encouragement. Once that was done with, all of them relaxed and started shooting the shit while waiting for the event to kick off. 

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses as he looked at the others around him. “I heard some rumors, quiet whispers from sources I consider authoritative upon the subject, that this year the main event will take place in a real high quality venue. Based on my analysis of the growth of Lea—”

“Yep! Yep! I heard that too!” Ren Rou interjected excitedly and shouted. “They also invited professional shoutcasters!”

“Forreals?” Liu Yue asked. It took him a few seconds to process the news completely. Then his eyes went wide as he realized the implications. He grabbed Ren Rou by her shoulders. He looked into her eyes intensely and said, “THIS IS SO AWESOME! Do you know who? Are they the really famous ones? Is it Qinghe? Maybe I can get his autograph!” He let go of Ren Rou and turned to Ouyang. “Hey, buddy! BUDDY! HOMESLICE! You vibin’ with me here? You thinking what I’m thinking? You feelin’ my wavelength? What do you think? WOOT WO-ooo…?” Lie Yue’s excitement died the second he actually looked at Ouyang. The guy didn’t seem like himself. Or all that excited. Quite the opposite. Ouyang was staring off in the distance and his lips were trembling. This was not the Ouyang they had come to know and love. Their Ouyang would’ve hit the roof at the slightest bit of hype. This wasn’t small hype. But he just stood there quiet. Liu Yue put a hand around Ouyang’s shoulders and asked, “Eh? Buddy? Everything ok over there?”

Ouyang waved his hand and forced a smile. “N-no. I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’m good. All good. Yeah…”

Ren Rou grinned. Then she looked at him and laughed. “Don’t worry about that idiot. He’s just nervous because he found out that he’s playing today. He’s just a big old chicken! Pok! Pok pok pok! Should we check his pants for eggs? It might make him uncomfortable when he tries to sit on them!”

“N-no! No! Liar! T-that’s not true!” Ouyang denied.

Ren Rou stopped smiling and said, “Oh, shut up! You think I don’t know you? We’ve been in class together for years! We’ve been in this esports team together for years! I know you better than your mom does! And right now, you’re absolutely petrified that you’re going to play bad and embarrass yourself.”

Ouyang made some strange expressions. No one knew what he was trying to do. Or say. All they saw was his face becoming progressively more red. Then he shouted, “Dammit! Yes! I’m scared! It’s normal to get nervous before a big game, alright! Everyone’s got a pre-game ritual! Lotsa big athletes do it to get calm right before a game! I just didn’t get a chance to do mine today! That’s all! Okay! Stop riding a brother so hard!” He turned to Lin Feng and muttered, “A-am I really going to play today?”

“Of course you are!” Lin Feng replied, excited and full of energy. “You’ve been training with the rest of us all this time! If you don’t get to play at least one game, then what was the point of all that? There wouldn’t have been one! This is your moment to shine, baby! Go out there and show everyone how good you’ve become! Let ‘em know that nobody puts baby in the corner!”

“B-but–”

“Hmph!” Ren Rou cut him off. “No buts! You’re a grown ass man! Start acting like one! Why are you being this little whiny bitch about it? If Lin Feng says you play, YOU PLAY! Damn, there’s nothing I hate more than a guy without a backbone.”

Liu Yue slapped his friend on the back. “Do your best! I’ll be rooting for you!”

“What he says!” Wei Dong added. “Just play your best! We’re all waiting to see you carry this game! You can do it!”

“F-fine! Ok. I get it. I’ll do it!” Ouyang gnashed his teeth and then stamped his feet. “Uch. Ok. I sit down. I play my game. And we’re all good, yes? No big deal. I can do this! Yes! Watch me carry you guys with my amazing plays!”

As if waiting for Ouyang to find his confidence just so she could crumple it again, Tang Bingyao suddenly spoke up, “Hmm. Seems like everyone is watching us. I wonder what that’s about.”

Yang Fang turned his head around, as if in slow motion. All eyes were on him and the people around him. Everywhere he looked, more eyes were looking back at him. He turned back around and adjusted his glasses before saying, “Seems so.”

Lin Feng followed the gazes of the others around him and found more than a hundred people all looking at them. All the different teams had their eyes trained on them. Those strangers were whispering amongst each other, pointing at them. Lin Feng looked at the others, confused, and asked, “What are they staring at us for?”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and grinned. “They’re probably scared after they heard how we won all three games in the first round of the qualifier. Most of them probably watched us play.”

Wei Dong nodded. “Mhm. We defeated High School 7 and Tonji Affiliated High. There were so many people watching us play, especially in the last game. It’d be strange if they didn’t recognize us.”

The Shanghai 16 School Tournament was very important. It was a ticket into the pro scene! So every team had done their research before coming here today. Everyone in the NetCow Cafe had seen High School 13’s game versus Tonji Affiliated High. Most had watched it live, while the few who hadn’t had watched replays. A team that couldn’t even make it through the first round of the qualifiers last year suddenly beat some of the best teams in the entire tournament. This was an explosive piece of news! High School 13 was the dark horse they had to watch out for! They couldn’t let a false sense of security fall over them. High School 13 was the real deal! They were nothing like the team they were last year! This year, they were title contenders!

“Oh, I see!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “HAHAHA! That’s great! Isn’t it? We’re going for the trophy anyway! Hah–Mgmph! Mmphh!”

Ouyang had jumped at Lin Feng from behind and wrapped his hands around his friend’s mouth. Then he whispered into Lin Feng’s ears, “You idiot! Can you not be so loud!”

Liu Yue added, “Yeah! Are you trying to make them hate us? This is how you do that!”

Ren Rou kicked Lin Feng in the shin. “You idiot! If they heard us, we’re finished! They’ll put their energy into kicking us out of the tournament!”

However, Lin Feng hadn’t kept his calm. He’d screamed loud enough that everyone in the NetCow Cafe had heard him. Among them was a nearby team from Shanghai High School. Their team captain and Support, Zeng Rui, turned around to look at Lin Feng. To look at the fool who now had a teammate hugging him from behind. He turned back to his own teammates and asked, “Who’s that idiot?”

How are they? Are they doing well? What happened to them? Lin Feng found himself thinking about his old teammates a lot these days. He’d lay awake in bed at night, wondering about them. But just like he had with Tian Tian, he’d been the one to cut contact and ghost them. He had no idea what they were up to through his choices, his actions. In his calls with Tian Tian, they laughed and joked and talked about Worlds. He went along with it. They were good moments. But what he really wanted was to ask about his old teammates. Tian Tian would have the answers for him. However, it was a lot more difficult to ask this question than he’d expected. The words were on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to say them. He wanted to know how they were doing! But every time he opened his mouth to ask the question, the words refused to come out. He was afraid of what Tian Tian might say if he brought the topic up.

I ignored their calls. That was all me. Lin Feng wanted to talk to his old teammates again, if only to hear their voices one more time. He wanted to know that they were doing alright! But he didn’t know how to get back in touch, how he could face them again. Even over a phone call. Even the simple question of, “How are you?” felt like a monumental task. Back in Season 1, when they were on the same team, he counted on them to have his back and they counted on him to have their back. And then he walked away. He left them behind and didn’t even look back. Through their shouts. Through their frantic and worried calls. Through everything they tried to find out what was going on with him, he left. He broke the one sacred rule. He didn’t have their back.

I betrayed them… Lin Feng hated himself for it. He wanted to kick himself, curse in the mirror, or steal that one Delorean from that crazy kid and old man. Instead of sharing the cup of sorrow and letting his friends support him, like he would’ve for them, he ran away. Away from them and away from his problems. He bit his lips and looked down at the ground. I betrayed them… He’d tried to justify his actions. To come with an argument for why what he’d done was the right thing. But the harsh reality was that there was no argument. No justification. Nothing that could support his actions. He’d broken The Bro Code. He’d done the one thing no one should ever do. He’d turned his back on his friends and those who cared about him. I betrayed them.

Why… Why? Lin Feng knew that what he’d done was selfish. He was the most selfish person to ever walk this Earth! Yet when he reconnected with Tian Tian, when they heard each others’ voices for the first time in four years, Tian Tian wasn’t mad at him. Tian Tian was just happy to hear his voice again. Why didn’t he call me out? Why wasn’t he angry? Lin Feng didn’t know how to react to the fact that Tian Tian wasn’t mad at him. The guilt in his heart only grew stronger and so did the intense self-loathing. He was just holding back. He’s probably afraid I’ll run away again if he says something. He knew it! What he’d done was unforgivable! Tian Tian had to be mad at him! Lin Feng genuinely believed he deserved to get yelled at, ripped a new asshole. From one bro to the other. It needed to be said! He’d feel so much better! But the question was if it would make Tian Tian feel better. He didn’t know if it would. It didn’t seem like it. From what he’d noticed so far, Tian Tian was just happy to have his old friend back.

Lin Feng breathed in, deep and long, and then let it all out. He forced a smile and looked back up at his computer screen. His hands, that were below the desk, balled into two fists. It’s time I stop being such a whiny baby! I made my choice! I have to face the consequences. Whatever they are. Next time I call with Fatty, I’ll ask him about the others. I will! I WILL!

「wtf is wrong with lil bro?????????」

「He looks hella outa it man」　

「DID THE MAID POISON HIM??!??!」

「hey lil bro you ok bud? you look kinda pale? maybe lay down a bit?」　

「YO MAID go take care of lil bro!!!!」

「I’d also feel sick after eating so much… Did you guys see the pile of food he worked away???」

Su Xue turned to look at Lin Feng. His face was pale and he looked like he’d just puked. She placed her hand over his forehead and asked, “Are you ok? Is something wrong? Don’t tell me you caught a fever. I told you to put warmer clothes on! It’s getting cold at night. You have to be more careful with your health!”

「Go to bed, lil bro! You’ll feel better in the morning!」

「It’s already the middle of the night, man! We get it. Just get some sleep.」

「don’t worry about us… we’ll survive another evening with the maid…. if we have to」

「I’m already putting cheese in my ears for protection!!!!」

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and then smiled at the camera. “Oh, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me! I was just lost in thought for a bit there. Thanks for the concern, but I’m really fine!”

Su Xue flicked Lin Feng’s ear. “Oi! That’s all? You had me worried here for nothing! Why would you do that to me?” Then she ruffled his hair and turned back to the chat. Her eyes narrowed. They locked down on a specific kind of comment. There were many in the chat that thought they were being funny. “Where is the cheese in the ears guy? Step out! Show yourself! Let me ban you out of this channel! My voice is angelic! Screw you all!”

「Cheese in the ears? Who said that? I didn’t hear anything about that. Did you guys?」

「no no, me neither…. Maybe she’s seeing things again!」

「hey look! the next match is starting!!!! IT”S DUST!!! LEZZ GOOOOO」

「Ohhhhh h its duusstttttt!!!! GO DUST! GO DUST! WINN!!!!」

The previous three games of the day were exciting, to an extent. But none of them had really grabbed the attention of the viewers. They were all games between other regions. This next game, on the other hand, featured Dust! The third team from the LPL after Hand of God and KG! It wasn’t going great for Dust. They were in a group with two Korean teams and had ended Week 1, as could be expected, with one win and two losses. They were on the brink of being knocked out. The only way to stay in it was to beat at least one of the Korean teams. They had to! For their fans! And then the viewers saw who Dust was up against in the first game. All hope was gone. This game was lost. Dust could never win against SSK. No one could.

✹

All across the world, Chinese fans gave up. There were even those who turned the stream off and went about finishing their homework or focusing on their job. Anything was better than watching Dust getting their ass handed to them by SSK. There were a lot of strong teams and most of them could face off against each other for a match that could, in theory, go either way. But there were exceptions. SSK was one of them. With a King and the number one player in the world, they were a force no one could beat. All hope was lost if you had to play against them. It didn’t matter how people tried to spin it. Dust would lose. There wasn’t a single doubt in their minds.

SSK had it all. The number one player in the world. There wasn’t anyone who could even get close to shaking his position, not even the other three Emperors! Then there was the King. Another phenomenal player. The other three players that rounded out the team couldn’t be looked down on either. They were all at the top of their game and played together with absolute perfect synergy. Leading this group of freaks was a famous veteran coach and a strong team of analysts. They were the perfect team.

Lin Feng saw the matchup and directly said, “Dust is going to lose this match.” There was no hesitation in his voice, no second to think about it. He didn’t even consider Dust winning the game. It was too ridiculous an idea, even in his mind.

The game played out as anyone would’ve expected. Lin Feng gave some good analytical insight, but there was no need to build up the hype. There was no hype to this game. SSK played a clean game. At 25 minutes, they’d destroyed two inhibitors and gotten a 9,000 gold advantage. This was something no one could come back from. In the last three minutes of the game, SSK just had a little fun. They ran around the map, looking to pick up kills and even going so far as to camp Dust on their fountain, letting the Nexus survive for a few extra seconds.

Rake was the MVP of the game. His Xerath ended the game with a score of 11/0/6. He’d made full use of the long range of Xerath to shoot down the players from Dust even when they were hiding underneath their own towers. No one was safe from him. It was a display of absolute domination! The strength of the Emperor!

「… hows anyone supposed to beat him」

「this was fucking hopeless……」

「dust got crushed and left in the dust」

「OOFF that was hard to watch」

「Let’s give Dust a big F, guys!」

Su Xue knew, just like the others, that Dust was going to lose. But there was a big difference between losing and whatever this game was. Dust got stomped so hard that she wasn’t angry with them. She just felt bad for them. “Jeez! That Xerath was way too good. Right, guys?”

Lin Feng didn’t say a word. He’d reverted to his quiet self, staring at the screen, staring at that one name. Rake. He’s stronger. The Rake that Lin Feng had just watched was so much better than the one he remembered from Season 1 that there really was no comparing the two. If he were to face off against this Rake, he’d lose miserably. It wouldn’t even be a game. He dug his nails into his palm and bit down hard on his lips. It was hard to admit. He really didn’t want to admit it. But it was also the truth. He was the second-fiddle. There was no beating this guy, not right now at least.

I have to become strong! I have to fight! Lin Feng stopped worrying and instead redirected that emotion into motivation. Rake was strong. But he was also really good at the game! He just lacked training. Rake had four years on him on that front. So he had to work hard and catch up. His breathing calmed down. I will. He came to the decision he should’ve come to a long, long time ago.

The first match in Group C was the game to watch! It was a clash between two titans, a game that guaranteed edge-of-your-seat-almost-shit-your-pants moments! Team Season versus Team Meteor! A battle between North America and Europe. Two of the teams most likely to make it through to the next round. The winner of this game could very well cement their position as number one in the group! The crowd in the Wembley Arena was cheering. The casters were hyping up the game! And Su Xue tried to do the same with her viewers. “This is a super hype game, bois! A Midlaner who’s a King up against an Emperor Support! I really wonder how this game will go!”

Su Xue’s pathetic attempts at building hype fell flat. The viewers on the stream just ignored her. Besides, they weren’t here in this particular stream to listen to her. They were here for Lin Feng. His insights, his breakdown of the game. They knew he saw more in the game than they did. So they waited until he decided to chime in.  Lin Feng shook his head, disagreeing with Su Xue’s assessment. “I don’t think we should see this game as one between a King and an Emperor. The roles that each of them are playing, they’re too different to compare directly. I think. But… uh, let’s see what happens in champion select first, yeah? We can learn a lot from that. Then we’ll talk about who’ll win this game!”

Kings and Emperors weren’t only given the title for sheer mechanical skills. There were many other variables taken into consideration, such as showmanship both domestic and international games and their ability to build plays that substantially impact the team’s performance. Spoon from Team Meteor was Midlaner and a flashy-sort of King. People watched games with Team Meteor just to see him and his outstanding game mechanics! Autumn, on the other hand, was a completely different type of player. It really made no sense comparing the two. Autumn was much more of a team player. He wasn’t really flashy, nor did he ever do anything that focused the spotlight on him. What made him great was his ability to ward the map to maximize vision just where it was needed, the calculations he did to create opportunities for his team, and the plays that he called for his team. His presence alone made his team far better than they could be without him, all while he stood in the background. This skillset is what earned him the nickname of God Support and the title of Emperor.

For this first game of the day, Su Xue and the casters all focused on the idea of a titanic clash between a King and an Emperor, the rest of the players on both teams were afterthoughts. People there to round out the numbers. But Lin Feng thought this was ridiculous. This game was Season versus Meteor. Two strong teams, both talented in their own way. It was a fight for dominance between raw individual skill and perfect teamplay. Of course, this wasn’t to say one had no teamplay and the other no individual skill. They were both among the best teams in the world, skilled in all aspects of the game. It was simply a matter of what they excelled most at.

✹

The two teams entered into Champion Select. It was Season on the Blue team and Meteor on the Red team. Season banned Mordekaiser, a strong Champion in the current meta. There were other meta champions that were generally banned out in every game, like Gangplank, Azir, Darius, and Lulu. These Champions were too strong right now. However, instead of taking one of those Champions off the board, Meteor banned Thresh. Thresh wasn’t especially strong in this patch, but he was a frightening Champion in the hands of Autumn! Meteor showed their respect. They weren’t going to try and compete against the world’s best Support on his best Champion.

The Champion Select ended without any surprises or shocking twists. The teams loaded into the game while the fans and analysts were discussing the picks. More specifically, they were honing in on the King versus Emperor perspective. They couldn’t let this go. Spoon had picked Yasuo in the mid lane, while Autumn went with a support Morgana. One of Yasuo’s skills was a Windwall that could block Morgana’s skillshots. So the analysts argued that Meteor had come out with the advantage in the draft.

“Meteor is farming minions. Season is farming minions. Man, why are these European and American teams always so boring in the early game? All they do is farm and farm and farm even more. I wanna see them fight!” Su Xue complained. To which her viewers were quick to point out that this was just how Europe and North America played the game. They prefered to scale up into the late game and then win it through one big teamfight.

The Jarvan IV from Meteor did try to force a fight at bot lane. Several times, in fact. But the first two times failed miserably. Autumn had warded correctly and spotted the Jarvan IV before he was even close to lane. They backed away to their tower and didn’t even try to fight. That changed during the third gank. Autumn had his Morgana retreat a little, but not completely back to his own tower. There was just enough room to bait the Jarvan IV into jumping at him.

The Jarvan IV flashed forward and then used his flag-toss combo to dash at the Morgana and knock her up. Autumn was ready. He activated Dark Shield on his Morgana, blocking all crowd control effects. She wasn’t knocked up. The Jarvan IV found himself out of position, far ahead of his teammates. The Morgana binded him with her dark magic–Dark Binding! Then she used her ultimate skill–Soul Shackles! Wings unfolded from her back. She unleashed the full force of her Celestial power! Chains of suffering made corporeal latched onto the Jarvan IV, slowing him and dealing damage before stunning him. All the while the Tristana blasted the Jarvan IV with her cannonballs and Explosive Charge. They ended the Jarvan IV’s pitiful existence before the stun ended.

“Wow! Nice! Awesome play!” Lin Feng exclaimed, giving a thumbs up at the camera. The people watching Su Xue’s stream were quick to agree. They flooded the chat.

「HOLY SMOKES!!!! if only my support was that good. ez game then」

「teach me senpai!」

「what a support play! just goes to show you dont have to play a carry to carry」

「Did you guys see that reaction speed? Like fk dude. That was fuckign mental!」

“It really was a brilliant bait. Autumn knew there wasn’t enough space for a flag toss combo. He didn’t just get the Jarvan to jump at him, but also waste his Flash while doing so!” Lin Feng explained to the chat and Su Xue. “He also knew he didn’t have to worry about Jarvan’s ultimate. That was still on cooldown after the little skirmish Jarvan had with Elise in the jungle a little earlier. There were still at least 30 seconds left on that cooldown. Autumn knew all of this and made the perfect play for it. That really was great to see!”

「that’s some great insights lil bro!」

「see, maid? That’s how you cast a game! You should take a lesson from his book!!」

「You know so much lil bro! That’s really cool! Thanks!」

「this just goes to show: LIL BRO >>>>>>>>>>> the maid. GO BACK TO THE KITCHEN WHERE YOU BELONG!!!!!1!」

✹

While Autumn was making plays in bot lane, Spoon tried to do the same in mid. To no effect. Season’s Midlaner had picked Lulu, a defensive Champion who was hard to pressure in lane. Then there was the Elise, the Jungler from Team Season, who was also focused on shutting mid lane down and constantly hovering around it. Whenever the Lulu needed any help, she’d be right there to provide it. There was nothing Spoon could do, except farm the minions and stay even in CS with the Lulu.

“Heh. That Spoon isn’t all that great… Is he really a King?” Su Xue asked Chat. She chuckled and added, “Roundy is way better than him! Right, guys? Roundy should take his spot and become the new King!”

Su Xue’s viewers agreed. All of them. Without exception. Because they only remembered the last game. Their judgement was based solely on Roundy’s Hecarim and Riven game and Spoon’s Yasuo game. And then not even on the actual quality of their play, but rather how it looked on the screen. Lin Feng understood this and he knew how wrong they were. He thought for a second about arguing with the viewers over it, but then decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

Spoon wasn’t making flashy plays nor was he getting solo kills on the Lulu. But no one could reasonably expect him to. That just wasn’t how the game worked. Lulu was a strong pick in mid lane because of how defensive she was. It was really hard to get a solo kill on her, almost impossible. To this end, it was rather impressive how Spoon forced the Jungle Elise into mid lane to protect the Lulu. This was a testament to his skill. Something the viewers completely missed. And when the Elise and Lulu would make a mistake, and they would—people always did—he’d be there to make the outplay and pick up the kill. That was the skill of a King.

Lin Feng looked at the minimap, at the icon of the Morgana. It’s just… Autumn is just better. A lot better. Spoon is great, but it’s not enough. He really needs to do something special here, otherwise Autumn will walk away with the game on his Morgana. Autumn is playing super good!

At 14 minutes, the second Dragon spawned. Season had gotten the first. The game was slowly slipping out of Meteor’s hands. They really needed this Dragon if they wanted to stay in it. So they warded aggressively around the Dragon pit and tried to force Season away. It looked like a success. A few skillshots hit and Season retreated into their own jungle, around the edge of a wall. A wall they then used perfectly.

The players from Meteor had to walk around it to chase Season. The Morgana ran at the front of Season’s team, and the Jinx from Meteor at the back of their team. A wall separated them, but they could almost touch hands if it wasn’t there. The Morgana called upon her dark magic. No wall could stop it. She threw it at the Jinx and bound her–Dark Binding! Then she flashed over the wall and cast her ultimate–Soul Shackles! Wings unfolded from her back. She unleashed the full force of her Celestial power! Chains of dark pain lashed onto the Yasuo, Jarvan IV and Jinx, slowing them and dealing damage before stunning them.

The other four players from Season turned around as if they’d been waiting for this exact moment. They were ready and pounced on the three Champions that were pinned down. Yasuo and Jinx were blown up fairly quickly, since they were squishy, and the Jarvan IV barely managed to survive longer than those two. The remaining two Champions from Meteor knew what was coming and were already in the process of retreating. But Season didn’t chase after them. The second Dragon was way more valuable than an Ace.

“Nice catch!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “That was a great play! They got baited so hard! Haha!”

That teamfight turned out to be the one that decided the game. Season grabbed such a large advantage from it that there was nothing Meteor could do to turn things around. Not that Team Meteor gave up. No one ever gave up during Worlds. But they never really had a chance to claw their way back. Team Season methodically played it out, taking down every Red tower on the map. Finally, at 32 minutes, Team Season destroyed Meteor’s Nexus and ended the game.

“Autumn was amazing! He was really amazing! Wow! That was crazy! Did you guys see it? Can we see a replay? I want to see the replay!” Lin Feng couldn’t get enough of Autumn. From start to finish, he played a perfect game on his Morgana. He showed the world why he was the second Emperor and proved himself worthy of the title. He played like a machine, and didn’t make a single mistake.

Lin Feng stared at the screen, but had stopped watching what it showed. Watching this Autumn play made him recall his old Support. These two were polar opposites. One played meticulously. Like a machine. The other played full of style and passion. They were completely different approaches to the game. And both worked, when coupled with the right ad-carry. He grinned. The perfect bot lane. A duo that complemented each other’s plays perfectly into a tango. That was something special. Season showcased it this game, and he’d seen the Support and ad-carry in his old team do the same. His old teammates, they were great. Every single one of them. He smiled wistfully and rubbed his eyes. I miss those guys.

「you watching next round with us lil bro?」

「YAAASSSS QUEEN! ^^^^^^ WHAT HE SAYS!!! PLSSSSSSS,」

「That would be so cool! Please do it!」

「are you really good at shoutcasting too?」

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and grinned. You guys! He looked in the camera and said, “Of course I’ll be here for the next round! We’ll watch Worlds together and I’ll be your shoutcaster!”

「sswweeettttttt!!!! i can finally watch this stream with the sound on!!」

「finally a good caster! beats those three buffalos on the official broadcast」「Buffalos? Alright there, Chief Wigwam.」

「wowowwww Prophet Stone is awesome! But lil bro is definitely better! LEZ GO LIL BROO!!!!」

「I just wanna listen to lil bro!!! hes the best!!!!!!!!!」

“Yeah! You guys get it! We vibin’!” Lin Feng laughed. He gave a thumbs up to the camera and said, “I’m really good at shoutcasting too!”

“U-uh? What the fuck?” Su Xue muttered. She looked at the camera and then at Lin Feng. She saw his bright smile. He was talking to her viewers again. They were cozying up to him. Not her. Him. All he had to do was say a few words and they were all over him. They had completely forgotten about her! “Oh. I see how it is. If he’s shoutcasting and watching Worlds with you guys, what am I supposed to do?” she asked chat. That, of course, was the wrong question.

「just keep our cups topped off like the good maid you are!」

「we already suffered enough listening to your screeching excuse of a voice.」

「 please stop damaging our ears….」

「 ill have my lawyer come after your ass otherwise!!!!」

「FIRE HER! FIRE THE STUPID MAID! BAD MAID! BAD MAID!!!」

「his cup is still empty??? You guys seein htis? ITS EMPTY!」

✹

Su Xue decided that while Lin Feng was here, they should hold another fan in-house. Lin Feng agreed, which set off a buzz in the chat. Excited messages flooded in. They were more than a little excited at the chance to play a game with their favourite streamer! Lin Feng! Su Xue had timed this fan in-house perfectly. Her average viewer count had jumped up to 2,000. They were what was left of the people that found the stream when Lin Feng played with Nightsong and Hermes. However, though they stuck around, they couldn’t be considered loyal fans yet. There was still a way to go for that, and one way to do that was with this in-house! This was a great opportunity to make sure these people would keep coming back to her stream!

The custom game was created. Eight lucky viewers were selected through a lottery. Su Xue was the Blue team captain and decided to play Jinx. An ad-carry she’d come to really enjoy as of late. Lin Feng was the Red team captain. He also played in bot lane, but unlike Su Xue he was playing Support. His Champion of choice was Blitzcrank. A fast moving machine with an extendable arm!

At 4 minutes, Lin Feng looked up from his screen and at Su Xue. There was undisguised surprise on his face. “Wow, you’ve gotten better!” he exclaimed, shocked. He meant it as a genuine compliment, but to Su Xue and the viewers, it sounded like anything but. The chat flooded with messages making fun of Su Xue, while the person in question had her head burn red.

“Uh, no no!” Lin Feng said, waving his hands in front of his chest. “Not like that. I’m serious! She has gotten a lot better! Just look at how she’s positioning! And there, see? She hasn’t missed any CS yet! That’s so much better than it was. She’s really gotten a lot better!”

Su Xue had improved a lot. She still wasn’t at the level of a Diamond player, but she was better than the average player that just hit Platinum. Since the first day Lin Feng started coaching her, she’d worked overtime to try and soak up as much information as possible from him and apply it in the game. All that hard work was definitely paying off. Her reddened face warped from anger to joy, real quick. She laughed and said, “Of course! Who do you think I am? All I had to do was put my heart into it! Then nothing can stop me! Watch! Ima get to Diamond real lickedy-split-quick. But first. Tee-hee! I’m going to crush you guys!”

“Oh, I see…” Lin Feng nodded. His hands were back on his mouse and keyboard. He focused on the screen again. “Guess I should get a little serious too, then.” Graves, Malcolm Graves, was his ad-carry. A renowned mercenary with a big double-barreled shotgun! The Graves was last hitting minions and was just about to kill the one right in front of Su Xue’s Jinx. Lin Feng pushed down on his Q key as the last auto from Graves flew in the air. It was timed to perfection. The Rocket Grab passed over the minion in the millisecond after it died and grabbed the Jinx, then pulled her back!

Lin Feng hit the Jinx with a quick auto attack, then had his Blitzcrank charge up his fist and smash the Jinx airborne–Power Fist! He landed another auto attack while she was in mid air and also ignited her. The Jinx started burning, with every tick of the Ignite dealing true damage.

The Graves dashed forward, giving himself bonus attack speed–Quickdraw! The Jinx stood right in front of him. Point blank range. He raised his double-barreled shotgun and squeezed the trigger. Three large bullets shot out in a cone, all three smashing into the Jinx–Buckshot!

The Jinx was almost dead. One more auto attack would do it. The Graves was clicking on the Jinx, ready to kill her. But he was never given the opportunity. Lin Feng had his Blitzcrank go into Overdrive and raced in circles around the Jinx while the Graves peppered her with Buckshot, and then auto attacked her at the last possible second to take the kill.

《You have slain an enemy!》

《You have been slain!》

Lin Feng and Su Xue sat next to each other in Su Xue’s bedroom. The game sounds overlapped. One announcing victory and the other defeat. Lin Feng found himself with some extra gold, enough to buy himself something nice in the fountain shop, while Su Xue’s screen went grey. She stared at it, dumbstruck.

「hahhahaha lil bro >> maid knew it. always rated lil bro!」

「666666666666666!!!」

「serves her write for getting all cocky saying she gonna beat the lane」

「U TRIED BE A SIETSE THUNDERCOCK BT U TOO FLACCCCCCIIDDD!」

「that blitz was so sick lil bro. Like. so sick!」

Lin Feng leaned over a little towards Su Xue so he could read the chat. He grinned as he went through them and said, “I know, right? My Blitz is really good!”

Su Xue couldn’t take it anymore. First he told her she wasn’t good enough to learn Riven, after she’d made him dinner, and now he did this! It was too much! Too damn much! “LIN FENG! YOU BRAT!” she screamed, her nose twitching. “Would it kill you to go easy on me? Just once! Don’t try and run! This time I’ll get you! I’m going to teach you a lesson today or my name is not Su Xue!”

Lin Feng knew what this meant. He was a trained escape artist. A true master of all trades. He jumped up from his chair, putting it between himself and Su Xue. Then he ran to the far side of her bed. She ran after him, so he jumped up on her bed and held her off. She tried to run around the bed, to whatever side he was closed. But he’d just run to the other side. She jumped on the bed, and he jumped off, running back towards the computer and putting the two chairs between him and Su Xue. Su Xue almost fell down from the bed in her hurry to chase after him. A brief moment of lost balance. The short moment Lin Feng needed to escape her clutches and jump back on her bed.

“AARRGGHHHH! LIN FEENNGGGG!”

The perfectly calm fan in-house devolved into a game of cat and mouse. Jerry ran around the room while Tom tried to enact judgement! But Jerry was a slippery little bastard! And Tom never got to give his good slapping. The people watching Su Xue’s stream turned away from the game and only looked at the webcam feed, as did the eight actually playing the game. None of them cared for a game of League right now. This webcam feed was better entertainment than prime tv! Some viewers even started giving live commentary.

「xue xue has missed again! how many more times can she not catch lil bro! find out next time on DBZ!!!!」

「lil bro evading the maid with some sick positioning!」

「we can all learn from this! watch closely and apply it to your league games!」

「Oh! He’s going to jump through her legs again! They’re too long! It’s too hard to close them in time!」

「dang she almost had him…… COME ON SU XUE!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!! If anyone can do it, it’s you!」

✹

The second day of Week 2 at Worlds wasn’t anywhere near as spectacular as day one. There were no big upsets of any kind, nor were there any particularly great plays to watch. The teams who made it out of Group A and B were decided. In Group B, Hand of God did what their fans expected. They qualified for the next round with 4 wins and 2 losses. Both of these losses came against Fate. HoG couldn’t put up any resistance against this Korean powerhouse. A hard to accept reality for their fans. As for KG, they also did what was expected of them. They beat the wildcard team. It all came down to whether Legend would find a win over Flash. And they did. There was no suspension. They crushed Flash, which meant that Legend and KG made it through to the next round.

The final games in Group C and D were held at the end of the week. There was first a two day break at Worlds. The next part of the Shanghai 16 Schoul Tournament was also held over the weekend. This gave High School 13’s esports team a couple of days to work hard on their game. Every day after school, they raced down the stairs and across the road to the NetCow Cafe, where they would rent a private booth. Lin Feng did the coaching and the other seven did as he instructed.

The three consecutive wins in the first round of the qualifier had changed their minds. Where before they were full of doubt, now they were eager to play against the strongest teams in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Because they believed they could. They finally, after a lot of struggling, had enough confidence in themselves that they weren’t afraid to face off against the best teams in the entire tournament. Ouyang had explained why to Lin Feng, the others nodding to his words. “We beat Tonji Affiliated High. Tonji was a semifinalist last year. That means we’re as good as a semifinalist! And we’re still getting better every training! We work hard and are awesome! It can only go better for us! That first place trophy is ours! We just gotta go and take it!”

✹

It was Friday. Worlds was back on. Today it was all on Group C and D to show the world what they had! Lin Feng came home early from training with the esports team at the NetCow Cafe to gobble down some dinner before helping Su Xue with streaming. But Su Xue had something else in mind. She’d decided to hold a mukbang! They would turn on the stream and eat in front of the camera. Maybe the viewers could eat with them from wherever they were! She’d laid out all sorts of delicious dishes and turned her stream on, smiling at the camera. They’ll love this!

「wtf…. friggin maid makes food for herself but not for us??? im out」　

「Can you also send me some food? I’m always here and nice to you, Xue Xue.」

「You should be honoured by my presence and send me some of your homemade food!」

「did you cook the rice in your bathwater??? can i buy some???」

「FINALLY! The maid is taking care of our lil bro…」

「 now if only she could also take care of us.」

「WE HAVE NEEDS TO YOU KNOW!」　

「ddaannnggggg that looks delliicciiiouuussssssss」

「so hungry. my mom is a shit cook. Pls come cook for me, love <3」

“Bathwater? Make for you guys? What? NO! You should’ve eaten before the stream! It’s already past 7! Not my fault you can’t cook.” Su Xue tried to hide a smile behind faked anger, but the joy in her eyes was hard to miss. They were practically shining. She turned to Lin Feng and said, “Come, sit! Let’s eat!”

Lin Feng didn’t need to be told twice. He picked up his bowl and chopsticks and made himself at home. There was nothing better than a good dinner! Not right now, at least. He smacked his lips and said, “Alright! I’m digging in!”

While Su Xue and Lin Feng were enjoying dinner and the viewers were enjoying watching their host devouring his food, Worlds began. The Chinese fans were most excited to see what’d happen in Group D. That was Dust’s group. But the first match was one in Group C. So they turned their attention to that.

Su Xue picked up a morsel of cabbage and said, “Group C seems pretty evenly matched up, huh?”

Everyone agreed that Group C had three strong teams and that any of them could make it out of Groups. Each of these teams had at least a King on their roster. The Assassins from Taiwan’s LMS had Read XIII. He was their Jungler, a master on Lee Sin and Evelyn. The pressure he could put on the lanes and the opposing Jungler was second to none! Then there was Spoon, a strong Midlaner. He played for Meteor from Europe’s LCS. However, the best player in Group C belonged to the third team. He was the second ranked Emperor and played for the North American team Season. Autumn. A God-tier Support.

Lin Feng rubbed his nose as he looked at the lineup for team Season. His eyes were locked on the name of their support. A name that brought back memories from four years ago. He pursed his lips and shook his head. It was a name that he knew intimately. The God-tier Support on his team back in Season 1 had the same summoner tag. Autumn.

Chasing red. Su Xue charged after Lin Feng. She wouldn’t let him off. Not this time. He’d really done it now! She’d worked so hard! She’d done everything he taught her! All those sleepless nights where she was working behind her computer, trying to get good enough to pass his training. He’d started giving her compliments. A few of them. Here and there. And now he did this. They were back where they started. He dared to tell her she wasn’t good enough! He was siding with her viewers again! She grabbed his shirt, but he pulled free and slammed the kitchen door shut behind him.

Su Xue slammed on the door. “Lin Feng! You little shit! Open the door! NOW!” And he did. Just as she asked. But he didn’t give himself to her. Instead, he slipped through the gap between her legs as she was trying to block him and ran into the living room. She was breathing heavily, a sharp pain in her side. Why is he so fast! He was on the couch. Jumping around. Trying to keep her away. Back and forth. And she kept running after him, always a step too late.

She clutched her stomach, wheezing and gasping. Lin Feng was still jumping around, full of energy. He wasn’t even sweating! She leaned on her knees and said, “E-enough! W-w… Dammit! I-im done! So fast. Why? I-i thought esports… not track and field!”

Lin Feng jumped down from the couch and struck his victory pose. He clenched his fist and threw it up in the air, grinning like a fool, and shouted, “That’s because I’m really good at running too!”

Su Xue rolled her eyes. “Of course you are. You’re good at everything. How could I have forgotten?” She breathed in deeply and then let it all out. “Alright, alright. Enough fooling around. The food is getting cold. Let’s go eat.” 

The two returned to the dining room and resumed their dinner. Lin Feng did, at least. Su Xue still had something she wanted. To learn how to play Riven. She looked at Lin Feng, hopeful, and asked, “Hey hey, do you really think I can’t learn Riven?” She was desperate to prove her viewers wrong. But she needed Lin Feng to do so. If he taught her Riven, she could! She just had to change his mind! Or maybe he already had and he was just having some fun with her! Either way, if she convinced him to teach her Riven, she could prove her viewers wrong! Then it’d all be worth it! Plus, when she made the flashy plays God Roundy had shown at Worlds, that would definitely attract new viewers. Learning Riven was a win win!

“I fink ish bttchur if chu keep pracishing yur ad-kary,” Lin Feng replied. There was too much food on the table and not enough time to eat it all before it went cold. So he couldn’t bother to elaborate or even slow down the speed at which he ate to reply to her.

“Hmm. Maybe you’re right.” Su Xue rubbed her chin. He had a point. There was no good reason to change course right now. Her hard work and practice were paying off. The improvements in her skills as an ad-carry were noticeable, and she saw herself climbing up the ranks in Platinum. Even Diamond seemed feasible! Diamond! When she got that rank, she would finally shut all her viewers up! Then she could finally call herself a good player! Just the thought of showing off her rank on stream made her smile. Evening Snowfall. Diamond ad-carry! Her viewers wouldn’t dare to make fun of her again! She would be making fun of them! She started grinning as she rubbed her hands together, and then broke out in full laughter!

Lin Feng ate his fill. He rubbed his stomach and leaned back in his chair. Satisfied. He was in a much more talkative mood now. “Hey, did you watch the match between HoG and COG? Who won?”

Su Xue looked at Lin Feng, dazed. She blinked a few times as the words registered in her head. Oh! Worlds! She snapped out of her daydreams. If the topic was Worlds, she was always happy to talk! She was watching Worlds all day these last two weeks. And when there wasn’t a game on, she was watching reaction videos! She loved everything Worlds related! “Oh! Yeah, of course I did! HoG won that big! You should’ve seen it! It was awesome! COG thought that now that they had Seven, they would suddenly win. He was their super-duper trump card, or whatever the analysts called it. He got really hyped up. And then he totally bombed! Hahaha! It was hilarious! He couldn’t get anything done! HoG kicked their asses!”

“Oh, nice! Sounds like HoG is going to make it out of Groups too!” Lin Feng nodded, excited as ever. This match was supposed to be a great game. A battle between Kings! That was why he was curious, though it helped that HoG was from the LPL. But the prospect of Hermes and Seven facing off was the far more exciting part of this match! It looked like it’d be a close game on paper. One full of excitement and battle! But it sounded like none of that had come to pass. It was just a one sided stomp. Though Lin Feng wasn’t too surprised.

Many people expected that HoG versus COG would be a close matchup. However, the only reason they thought this was because it was a match between Kings. They never stopped to think who the Kings were, nor what the teams around those Kings were. HoG was the better team. One player couldn’t change that. HoG reminded the hopeful North American fans that there was a lot more to League of Legends than putting a strong Toplaner into a team. They beat COG and now COG was in danger of being eliminated from Worlds!

COG did great in the North American LCS last year. They’d had some skirmishes against other teams around the world and won. Those few wins gave them far too much confidence. They decided it was best to hide their full strength at Worlds. To say a player wasn’t available in Week 1 and have him chill in London. For even with their substitute, they believed their group would be easy. It proved to be anything but. Conceit was not rewarded. Due to their own stupidity, they were now at risk of being eliminated before even reaching the quarter finals. This was a good reminder to all other teams. Only the 16 best teams in the world qualified for Worlds. None of them could be underestimated!

“Worlds this year is really competitive! It’s like it doesn’t even matter if your team has Kings or Emperors. Anyone can win! It’s so nice! The games are crazy exciting! Wouldn’t it be super weird to not see COG make it to the next round? What do you think?” Su Xue asked, lost in her own excitement.

“Yeah, I suppose some Kings and Emperors have lost. But those are just a few games. I don’t see them getting knocked out of Worlds in Groups,” Lin Feng said, scratching his hair. No team was invincible. At Worlds, anything was possible. Take the KG versus Legend game. A team without even a King had beaten an Emperor team! The underdog would win. And every tournament had a dark horse that could make it all the way to the end. If the analysis on a piece of paper would decide the outcome of a match, there’d be no excitement. No one would watch that.

That said, the title of Emperor carried an entirely different weight. Even on the world stage. This was more than just a good player. This was a good team. The best teams! They were the final bosses in a video game. There was a reason why they always made it deep in tournaments, and why they’d never been eliminated in the group stage of past Worlds. They were of a different caliber. They were on a level of their own!

Lin Feng didn’t care much for the group stage. There were some fun matches, but nothing too crazy. That was reserved for the knock-out stage! Emperor teams could face each other. They would be long and bitter battles in a best of five series. Those were the games to look forward to! That was where the silverware would be decided! The battle had only just begun!

✹

After helping with the dishes, Lin Feng disappeared into his room and sat down behind his desk. He cracked open his textbook and got started on his homework. He tackled the easy problem first. Then as he built up momentum, he moved onto the more difficult ones. Until eventually, he finished the hardest. Leaning back against his chair, he checked the time on his phone. I wonder if Su Xue is still up… He got up and strolled over to her room. 

Su Xue was still up. She was playing a ranked game! Her focus was entirely on her monitor, so she missed Lin Feng walking into her room. But her viewers didn’t. Many of them had their eyes on her webcam feed. They spotted Lin Feng the moment he walked in. The new viewers who hadn’t met Lin Feng yet were the first to type their feelings out in chat.

「THE FUKKK! WHOS THAT!?!!」

「watch out, xuexue! you got a creep sneaking into your room!」

「this some of kind of new roleplay!? How exciting!」

「is that her bf or sumtthing? fukkk! The betrayal!」

「thats no creep….. THATS LIL BRO!!!!!!1」

「lil bro is here!」

「LIL BRO!!!! hurry and come over! we missed you to death!」

「damn how could you ditch us all day like this! you made us watch worlds with the maid…………….」

Su Xue noticed the commotion in the chat and looked over her shoulder. “Oh? You finished your homework?” 

“Yeah, I did!” Lin Feng said. He pulled up a chair beside Su Xue and sat down. Then he waved at the camera with a big smile and said, “Heya, everyone!”

「ayeee! evening!」

「mah bro,, what’s upppp」

「yayyyyyy, it’s feng feng!」

Chat forgot about Su Xue. They forgot about the game. All that they cared about was Lin Feng. Their favourite streamer was back! They wouldn’t have to be bored by the maid any longer! The main man was back to take over and show them some real gameplay! To show their support for him, they even started spamming crying emojis and complaining about all the bad things the maid had done in his absence.

「how could u leave us for so long!」　

「we wanted to watch Worlds with you!」

「right! we wanted to hear ur thouhts on the game, but we neded up listening to the maid instead!」

「u dont even know our pain! i’d rather hear a jackhammer next to my ear than listen to her. Al she does is shout and gasp. I’d get more meaningful commentary out of a cricket! 」

「(╥ᆺ╥；) I feel like i popped my ear drums from all her screaming.」

The vein on Su Xue’s forehead bulged. If looks could kill, her stream would be empty now. These fucking ingrates and their stupid fucking JOKES! She hated this. They were great viewers, most of the time. But at moments like this. They really knew how to get under her skin. She shouted at the camera, “Hey, you bastards! Speak for yourselves! You lot became 666 spam bots whenever a big play was happening!”

Lin Feng scratched his hair and apologized, “Oh, sorry guys. I had a tournament today. I couldn’t make it back home in time to watch Worlds with you guys.” 

“Right! See, if it isn’t chasing after girls, it’s something else! He doesn’t care about you guys at all! Why care about him? I say we don’t! Let’s only care about me! Alright? Right!” Su Xue said, grinning. She wanted nothing more than to see her readers go off on Lin Feng. They always made fun of her. For once, just once, she would like to see them make fun of Lin Feng.

「shut it! who asked you??????」

「go fetch the water… we want to hear lil bro talk!」

「hey hey! what kind of tournament did you play?」

「didja win? you definitely hard carried right!? RIGHT?!?!??!?」

「Of course he did! He’s li’l’ bro! When he plays, he wins!」

Su Xue stared at her chat. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing! They were cheering him on again! Why is it always like this? Why do they never back me? Why do they only care about him? I’m the streamer! It’s me! Me! I’m the streamer! She wanted the attention the viewers gave Lin Feng. She pouted, “So what? It’s just some crappy high school tournament. He only got lucky and passed the first round of the prelims. Nothing worth talking about.”

「hot dang! Really? GRATZ LIL BRO!!!」

「Niiiiiceee! that’s amazing! We’re so proud of you」

「see what’d i tell you that’s our feng feng」

“Yeah! Really! Thanks guys! I’ll win the whole tournament!” Lin Feng said, striking another victory pose. The viewers loved it. They spammed the chat with 666s and kept telling him how great he was. Lin Feng laughed when he saw all of this. It was always nice to hear people talk nice about you.

“You guys didn’t even watch the tournament! We don’t even know how he actually played! What the hell are you congratulating him for!” Su Xue was at a loss for words. Time and time again, she was blown away by how much better her chat treated Lin Feng than herself. His brief absence wasn’t met with anger, but longing! They wanted to see him back! And now that they did, they couldn’t find enough words to welcome him back. If she didn’t know any better, and perhaps she didn’t, she’d believe they were in love with him!

“I’ve had my fun. It’s time for you kids to make your move.
“I’ve had my fun…
“I’ve had my fun….” 

The words echoed in Lin Feng’s head, bouncing off the sides of his skull. Booming through his ears. Just a few words, but they carried so much meaning. Three wasn’t old. Far from. But his years in the spotlight had come to an end. He’s had his fun… time for me to make a move…

Lin Feng was so caught up on those two sentences that he almost missed the next. Three’s voice rang out through the phone, “There’s no room for an old fart like me. I’ve had my 15 minutes of fame. It’s time you young’uns take the lead. Step up and find your own paths! Don’t let anyone tell you how to do it. Do what you think is right.”

Three was passing on the torch. Lin Feng understood how important this was to his old mentor. And how important it was to himself, too. He listened in earnest. Soaking it all up and giving it a special place in his mind. He’d had his fun. It’s time I have mine.

“Fatty should be good for now. Your little speech really helped him fight through his own head. He looks good. I think he’ll keep up his performances and become one of the Seven Kings. But that’s not enough. I won’t be happy with just that. We’re better than that. We got the talent! I expect at least half of the Seven Kings and Four Emperors to come from the LPL! Anything less is a failure! But more than all of that. You. You’re good, kid. You’re really good. There’s a reason One saw something in you. You know he was the best in the world? He was better than me and everyone else. And he saw something special in you. You’re the special one. Follow in his footsteps. Make him proud.”

Lin Feng took in every word. When Three spoke of Fatty, he smiled. It was great to hear his friend doing so well. And then came the last few sentences. One was the best. And he was One’s protege, so he had to become the best too. That was his dream. He was going to give everything he had to achieve that, no matter how hard it was. “I understand.” He nodded, earnest. Then he grimaced. “I lost to Rake once. He’s got to enjoy that long enough. It’s about time I beat him back”

There came a chuckle from the other side of the line. “That’s what I was hoping for. I’m looking forward to it. But. What are you doing right now? Fatty said you’re doing some school stuff… What’s that all about? Some kiddy League tourney?”

“Oh, that.” Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and chewed on his lips. “The Shanghai 16 School Tournament…”

“Why? Ah, nevermind. Sure. Have your fun with that little tournament. But when that’s done, you’re coming back, right? You can easily find a second rate team to brush your skills back up. A lot of the veterans still know you. They’ll have you in a heartbeat! Do one season in the LPL with that team and then move to one of the top teams. It should be easy for you. Is that what you’re going to do? Or what’s your plan?”

“No. I want to start from scratch. I’m starting all over.”

“Starting all over… Why?”

“Yes! It’s going to be a fresh start. I’m going to build a new team and start at the bottom. We’ll climb our way up to the top, one step at a time.”

Lin Feng was incredibly talented at League of Legends. So much so that even when he was out of practice, he was still more than good enough to make his way into a lower ranked team in the LPL. If he familiarized himself with the new competitive scene and found his groove, he could even make his way up to the top of the LPL in a relatively short time. However, he didn’t care about becoming just a professional player. Or just one of the best professional players. He only had one goal. To be the best League of Legends player in the world. Anything else could only be considered a failure. And he didn’t think he could reach that goal if he jumped right back into the competitive scene. It didn’t feel right. If he wanted to become the best, he needed to do something different. That was why he wanted to build a team from the ground up. To grind his way through the different leagues and fight his way into the LPL and finally Worlds. He believed that only by doing all of this could he work his way to the absolute top.

The number one player in the world, who took the throne of Sovereign all the way back in Season 1, hadn’t sat idly by all these years. He’d worked hard to become better and better. Rake of SSK was fully deserving of his title. And it wasn’t just him, but his whole team that played together perfectly. There was no random team that could beat them. Lin Feng couldn’t magically find synergy with four players and beat this team. It was with all of this in mind, for example, that he chose to compete in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. A challenge. An opportunity to prove himself. To himself. Step by step he would get stronger and build a team around him that had perfect synergy. They would push past any setbacks and he would take the throne. Sovereign Lin Feng!

“Haha! That’s some mindset, kid. Sounds like you’ve been doing some soul searching these last few years. Hmm… I agree. One didn’t make a mistake. He was right about you all along,” Three said.

For the first time since Lin Feng’s departure from the professional scene in Season 1, Three understood why One had let Lin Feng go. I was so disappointed. I didn’t even see… Back then, Three morphed his disappointment into anger and resentment. He hated that Lin Feng gave up and wanted to quit! But he wasn’t allowed to stop Lin Feng. One stopped him. One forced him to let Lin Feng go. For the kid’s own good… To let him find his own path… To come to terms with everything that happened… He felt these were all excuses. And not especially good ones. But when he listened to Lin Feng now, over the phone, he understood. One was right. All those years ago, One made the right call. Because the person on the other end of the line didn’t sound like the boy he remembered. This man was like a treasured sword, tempered under years of real life. His edges were sharper. His cuts more precise. But he was always good at that. The real difference was that he now also knew when to sheath that sword. He’d learned the skill intimidation. For the real danger wasn’t in the known, it was the unseen blade.

Lin Feng and Three spoke for a while longer, but they were both lost in their own thoughts. They barely listened, nor did they talk much. After hanging up, Lin Feng put his phone away and stared at his feet, the silence of the dark night around him magnified. Then he looked up into the sky. The faces of his friends, both young and old, and the scenes of everything that had happened flashed before his eyes. The pain and heartache on one side versus the joy and happiness on the other. He took a deep, long breath, bit on his lips, and then hollered out into the night sky, “FIGHT ON! BE THE BEST!”

Lin Feng grinned, still looking up at the moon. So that’s why wolves do it, huh? I feel great! He looked in front of him and started walking again. That was when he noticed the faces. There were only a couple other people in the street. But they’d all stopped walking and were just looking at him, as if he were a severe mental case. He rubbed his nose and started laughing, only reaffirming what the other pedestrians thought. Then he started running, sprinting, racing home as fast as he could.

✹

It was already late when Lin Feng got home. He pushed the front door to his apartment open and shouted inside, “I’m home!” Then he sniffed, loudly. A strong and fragrant aroma assaulted his senses. He started salivating as his eyes widened and pure bliss appeared on his face. Expectation. Hunger. Deliciousness! “Ohhh! That smells amazing! I want!” He kicked his shoes out and rang to the dining table. Su Xue had prepared all sorts of dishes, with steam coming off of them. It was a feast to his culinary eye. “Wow! That’s … That looks amazing! Can I? Can I?”

“Lin Feng! Put your shoes in the rack! Go and wash your hands! Hey! Don’t touch the food with your fingers!” Su Xue yelled as she came walking out of the kitchen with another steaming plate. Then she asked, annoyed, “Do you know how late it is? Why didn’t you call me? Where were you!”

Lin Feng scratched his hair. “Oh, uhh… The tournament only started at 7, and then it ran way later than I expected. Sorry, haha.”

Su Xue put the hot plate down on the table. She looked over at Lin Feng, a little curious, and asked, “So. Did you at least win?”

“Hehe! Of course we won! We won all three matches and are through to the next round! It was great!” Lin Feng laughed.

“Oh? Not bad. Not bad at all.” Su Xue nodded, impressed. Then she ruffled his hair and said, “But whatever. It’s just a little kids tournament. Nothing to get excited about. You know what is something to get excited about? Today’s games at Worlds! Like O.M.G, you missed the best day of Worlds! KG and HoG did absolutely phenomenal. And God Roundy was so cute! He carried and everything! Come come come! Let’s eat! I prepared this feast to celebrate!” She showed Lin Feng all the different dishes she’d made. Most of them were some kind of chicken. She knew he liked that. “Oh, right.” She paused for a moment and added, “I suppose we can celebrate your wins too.”

“Ok! Sounds good!” Lin Feng ran to the table, his hands still wet after washing them. He didn’t care what this meal was for. This wasn’t a celebration for him or for KG at Worlds. This was a celebration of food! And he would enjoy and savour every second of it! He grabbed his bowl and filled it with a chicken curry. All the while, Su Xue narrated the events that’d happened at Worlds, “Ok, so. When you were playing your games, right? The most amazing things happened at Worlds! KG played so good! You should’ve been here! It was like… Ah! I don’t know! But it was super amazing!”

Su Xue didn’t eat a bite herself. She waved her arms around and tried to show everything that happened. To the point where she grabbed some items around the table to make a replay of the best scenes, like the five man Hecarim ultimate. “See? See? Like this! That’s how God Roundy did it! Amazing, right? Only he could do that! I was holding my breath the whole time! It was too exciting! And his Riven! You should’ve seen his Riven. It was like. And he beat Demon so easy. But like! Ah!” She fell silent. She remembered something and looked up at Lin Feng. “Hey!” 

“Mhmphpg?” Lin Feng mumbled, his mouth full. He didn’t even bother to look up at her as he took another large bite from his chicken curry.

“Hey! HEY! YOU!” Su Xue yelled. She pushed up and reached across the table, pulling Lin Feng’s face up by his chin. Leaning forward, she stared into his eyes and screamed, “ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING? WHAT DID I SAY? WHAT?”

“H-hruh? Whagh?” Lin Feng asked, bewildered and scared. Some food spilled from his mouth, together with that nice, thick sauce.

Su Xue let go off Lin Feng’s chin and wiped her hand clean. “You’re disgusting! Stop talking with your mouth full! Also…” She stared at him and hesitated. Then she looked away for a moment before mumbling, “Also, I’d like to learn how to play Riven. Think you can help me with that?”

“Learn Riven?” Lin Feng asked, tilting his head. “Why?”

“Yes! Yes!” Su Xue nodded, frantically so. “I really want to learn Riven! Did you not listen? God Roundy was so good on his Riven! I want to be that good too! And those degens in my chat said that I can’t. They keep saying I suck! Screw them! I’m good enough! I can play her! I’ll show them! But please, I need you. Help me teach those degens how wrong they are!”

“Mhm-mm. I see…” Lin Feng nodded. He rubbed his chin, rocking back and forth and pretending he was deep in thought. All the while his eyes were locked on the stir-fried eggplants. How do I get them on my plate without her yelling… 

“What do you see?” Su Xue asked, nervously.

She sounds distracted. Now! Lin Feng reached out for the stir-fried eggplants with his chopsticks and grabbed one of the bigger ones. Then he put it in his mouth and started chewing, enjoying every bite. “Mhm-mm!” He rubbed his belly and looked up at Su Xue with a large smile on his face. The food was eaten. She couldn’t take it back! Now he could tell her, “Oh, I think your viewers are right.”

The table became quiet. Lin Feng held his chopsticks still, waiting. Su Xue just stared at him. His words had caught her completely off guard. Of everything she’d prepared for, this wasn’t it. Then her face turned red and she yelled, “You little punk! Think I’m stupid! Are you itching for a beating? Did you miss them these last few days? Get your ass over here! Let me slap some sense into you!

“HEY! Don’t run! Stay here!

“Dammit! Get your ass over here! I’m going to slap those cheeks red if it’s the last thing I do!”

Tian Tian’s mentor looked at Tian Tian. After hanging up his call with Lin Feng, Tian Tian had started crying. Not just a little bit. No. He was bawling his eyes out, rocking back and forth on his behind. What is wrong with him… It didn’t make any sense. A moment ago, Tian Tian was still beaming with joy! He rolled his eyes and said, “What are you crying about this time…” If he had a straight leather prop flogger whip, he’d be going to town on Tian Tian right now to smack some sense into him! You’re the best player at Worlds today, for fucks sake… Why do you have to be like this?

“No, no! That’s not it!” Tian Tian replied, wiping the tears from his eyes and blowing his nose in his sleeve. “I-it’s just. I’m really happy!” There were too many things that’d happened today. Too many good things. The games were great. He’d led his team to two big victories, even beating an Emperor in the second one. That alone was normally enough to push him over the edge. But beyond all the hectics around Worlds, there was something far more important. Something he’d stopped dreaming about and had given up on. An old friend. A dear friend. Someone who really understood him. He’d finally reconnected with Lin Feng. Finally!

“Oh! Uh-uhm…” Tian Tian rubbed his nose and looked up at his mentor. “Eh, Lin Feng promised me he would treat me to a big meal for playing so well today. It’s just… He isn’t here right now, s-so…” He carefully examined the reaction of his mentor. From the slight movement of the man’s hands to the twitch in his eyes. When he felt it was safe to continue, he asked, “I-i heard London has a 2 Michelin star restaurant… It’s supposed to have some really good food…”

The smile disappeared on Tian Tian’s mentor’s face. It warped from delight to fury in an instant. He gnashed his teeth and grabbed for his phone with a lot more force than he intended. Then he barked, almost next to Tian Tian’s ear, “SO THAT’S HOW IT IS, HUH?” He shook his head and walked towards the exit of the bathroom. “He wants me to treat you in his place? That little brat! He’s got some guts… trying to pass the buck on me!” He pushed the door open and walked away, shouting over his shoulder, “You coming, or what?”

✹

High School 13 had played their three matches. They’d passed the first qualification round of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament and had qualified for the next one. The night was already getting pretty late. So the players of High School 13’s esports team decided against celebrating their victories. That could come another day. They had school the next morning and they couldn’t be late for that. Besides, there was still a way to go before they could qualify for the main tournament. Everyone went home and soon Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao were the only two left, walking down a brightly lid sidewalk.

Lin Feng hung up the call and put his phone away. Then he made a strange face. He put his hand in front of his mouth and looked for something bright to look at, squinting his eyes. “Aaachoo!” He shook his head and wiped his nose clean and muttered, “Hmm, someone must be thinking about me!”

Tang Bingyao stood next to Lin Feng. She tilted her head to look up at him and tapped him on his arm. “Were you calling with him? You know, him.”

“Yeah!” Lin Feng nodded, smiling. He felt his phone in his pocket and started grinning. “Yeah! One got me in touch with Fatty! Fatty said he won both games today! He says he played great! If he says that, he really did super good! KG should be through to the next round!”

“Mhmm.” Tang Bingyao held up her phone for Lin Feng, which showed the score from the KG versus Legend game. Specifically, the final score of Riven. “Look. It’s all over the news. Roundy Round hard carried both games. The first with Hecarim and the second with Riven. Look at these stats. They’re pretty amazing.”

Lin Feng balled his fist and threw it up in the air, then shouted, “Of course! Fatty is my old teammate! He was always amazing! And he’s still amazing!” He looked at Tang Bingyao and smiled, still clenching his fist, and continued, “Seven from COG is the best Toplaner and the best of the Seven Kings, right? Everyone says that. Fatty is at least as good as Seven. They both deserve the title. I think they should give it to him. He is the newest addition to the Eight Kings!”

“That is a stupid idea and it sounds stupid too. It’ll make the title meaningless if you keep adding people…” Tang Bingyao replied.

Lin Feng nodded and grinned, “Yeah! True!” He agreed. If you started calling them the Eight Kings today, then who was to say it wouldn’t be the Nine Kings tomorrow? They were the Seven Kings and Fatty deserved a spot amongst them. All he had to do was keep playing like he was, and he would secure a spot amongst them! He was more than good enough for that.

Tang Bingyao went quiet and focused where she walked, paying the utmost attention not to step in the cracks between the pavement. They walked together in silence and turned a corner. It was still a bit until they got home. She paused and asked, “Who’s One?”

Lin Feng also paused, caught off guard. He scratched the back of his head and laughed, a little uncomfortable. “Oh, him… Haha. Well… He’s a really, really amazing person.”

“How amazing?”

“Hmm…” Lin Feng looked around, then put his hands on his chin, pensive. He moved his head a little, weighing his thoughts, before ultimately replying, “Really amazing!” He knew that wasn’t the reply she was looking for. He could see the look in her eyes, even under this dim lighting. “It’s like this. One is like a mentor to me. He’s a really amazing guy. He helped me so much! You know. Back when I qualified for Worlds in Season 1, I was only 15, right? Well, the Global Esports Association was being difficult and wouldn’t let me participate. We’d almost given up. It seemed like no one could help. But then he came. One said a few simple lines and all was good. I was allowed to compete.

“One has always been there for me. Whenever I’m going through something rough, he’s helped me. When I wanted to contact Fatty, I didn’t have his number. So I didn’t know how I would even go about contacting him. That was when I remembered One. I still had his number. He’d given it to me on a piece of paper four years ago. I still have it! So I called with One and he said he would help me. Then after we hang up, he called Three who flew to England to talk with Fatty, an–”

“Wait. Hold on,” Tang Bingyao said, confused. She looked Lin Feng in the eyes and asked, “One and Three? Why do you call them that? It’s really confusing. How many number people are there? Why don’t you just call them by their names? So the one who flew to Worlds isn’t the one you spoke to on the phone, right?”

“Right! I first called One. He called Three.  Three went to London. Then Three called me!” Lin Feng explained, matter of factly. He felt his explanation sounded perfectly reasonable. But Tang Bingyao disagreed. She opened her mouth a few times before asking, “Is it really ok that you call them by… numbers?”

Lin Feng shrugged. Then he rubbed his nose and grinned. “Oh, it’s fine. Haha! You wouldn’t understand.”

“Ok. Fine too. Don’t tell me,” Tang Bingyao said, scrunching up her nose.

✹

Lin Feng looked over his shoulder at Tang Bingyao. She’d turned the corner to go home. He still had to walk straight a little further and he’d be home too. But he didn’t walk. He hesitated and just stood there in the middle of the street, staring and thinking. I should thank him. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, then dialed a number. It quickly connected.

“What do you want? Haven’t I done enough yet?”

“Three! Thank you! Really, I mean it. You went all the way to London for me.”

“Oh? So you do realize how much trouble this little errand of yours caused me? Did you think this little trip wasn’t expensive enough already? You even tried to get me to pay for Fatty’s food? You know how much that kid eats! In a 2 Michelin star restaurant? Are you trying to get me bankrupt? That’s not a very sincere thank you, Lin Feng.”

“Ah! Haha! U-uh… That was a misunderstanding. Yes, totally a misunderstanding!”

“You think I’m stupid? Screw it. Forget it, I’m going. And not to take Fatty out for food. KG’s management will do that. They’re taking the whole team out for dinner tonight, so you’re lucky. I won’t be hounding you for the money. Besides, those guys can show their gratitude by paying for all of his food. Haha! Alright, I’m leaving now. It’s been enough fun here.”

“Leaving? What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? I’m going back to Barcelona. Of course I’m leaving. What did you think? I only came here to pass your message along. That’s done. Fatty is doing great. What use is there in me being here? My nice hotel room is waiting for me in Barcelona. I want to go back to the sun!”

“Oh, right, right. Thank you again! It was really nice of you!”

“Don’t thank me. You know me. I like the kid. There was no way I wouldn’t have gone. Plus I got to see two great games. That was plenty. I would’ve been really upset if I’d come here for nothing. Hehe. Actually. If you really want to thank me, how about you start playing in the professional scene again? I know how good you are. You can lift up the LPL. We stink right now! Only one King. Ha! What a joke! A disgrace! Only one! You need to get some fame back for all of us!”

“You could do it yourself! You’re more than good enough! Maybe you’re a little old and rusty, but you got plenty of experience to do something beautiful. I believe in you. You can really do it! Why don’t you try and do it?”

“There’s no point in talking about that. I’ve had my fun. It’s time for you kids to make your move.”

KG stood with half a foot in the quarterfinals of Worlds! This win over Legend had secured that. All that was left to do for them was to play the wildcard team and win. But that shouldn’t be an issue. Even when KG was at their worst, only a week ago, they’d still beaten the wildcard team. The only other development that could rock KG’s boat was if Legend screwed up in their last game against Flash. If they lost, there would be a three way tiebreaker between Legend, Flash and KG. Anything could happen in a tiebreaker. But Legend had never lost to Flash. There was nothing to suggest they would start losing now. Their loss against KG was a momentary setback, nothing more. Flash would be easy pickings for them!

The players from Hand of God had watched the KG versus Legend game in the VIP viewing area. Hermes and Nightsong were sitting together, chatting about the last game in Group A. They were rooting for KG, of course, and were happy to see Roundy make it to the next round. Hermes nudged Nightsong and said, “I don’t think that tiebreaker is happening, man. Legend has never lost to Flash. Ever. Never ever. I don’t see it suddenly start happening now.”

“Yup, you’re right! Flash is fucked! No way they beat Legend. Nope. Don’t see it happening. That’s an Emperor team. We did it back at MSI cause we have me! But Flash doesn’t! I didn’t think KG could do it either, but I guess some of my big dick energy must’ve rubbed off on Roundy back at the buffet!” Nightsong patted himself on the back and smirked. “You see, that’s why you should feel lucky to have me. I’ve got a way of making the impossible possible.”

“Sure sure. It had nothing to do with Legend underestimating KG. Oh, and definitely nothing to do with Roundy playing out of his mind, right?” Hermes grinned, elbowing his friend in the side. “Still, Legend really dropped the ball this time. They disrespected KG, and Roundy walked all over them for that. I guess they figured Demon would always beat Roundy and didn’t play for otherwise. Roundy really carried the hell out of that game.” 

“Told ya!” Nightsong laughed, proud of his self-imagined contribution. “It’s all me! Roundy wouldn’t have solo carried those games if it wasn’t for me!”

“Yep, yep. All you. Like you keep saying.” Hermes shook his head and grinned. His friend was an idiot. “You know. If Roundy keeps playing like he is, he’ll probably take Chris’s spot and become one of the Seven Kings. I don’t think it even matters how KG ends the tournament. He just has to keep playing like he is.”

Nightsong looked at his friend and winked at him. “Or he might displace you, who knows! But whatever. It’s good that KG is finally winning their games. The LPL needed this. This is good for all of us! We also gotta make it to the quarterfinals!”

Hermes chuckled and said, “That’s the spirit! Yep. We were the first to qualify in the LPL. It’s up to us to show everyone that we’re the best team in China! So we better kick some asses!”

The players from KG and Legend had left the stage. It was empty while the stadium announcer was hyping up the crowd for the next game, while replays of both teams appeared on the giant LCD screens above the stage. Hermes and Nightsong looked at it, watching themselves play. Their opponent was North America’s COG. This was a winnable matchup. They waited until the little videoclip came to an end and a picture of the five players appeared. Then they got up from their seats and walked up the stage with their teammates, waving at the cheering crowd.

In Week 1, Hand of God had beaten COG. It was a resounding victory, but it didn’t paint the full picture. COG had a King on their roster, just like HoG. However, unlike HoG, their King had to sit out last week. Due to circumstances, he couldn’t play. But now he was ready. Back with a vengeance. COG finally showed up with their strongest lineup! This game would be a battle between Kings! On one side was Daybreak Hermes in the midlane and on the other was Seven, North America’s best Toplaner!

The crowd in the Wembley Arena was clapping and cheering. This game was no battle between Emperors. This game was also not the previous game. It didn’t hold the excitement. The thrill. But that didn’t mean this wasn’t a match the people looked forward to. This was a battle between Kings! Two of the best players in the world would go toe to toe! Anything could happen and they were excited to see what this game would bring!

✹

While Hand of God and COG got into their match, the fans cheering their names, Tian Tian had retreated to a bathroom stall backdoor. His bathroom stall. But instead of hiding away in it, he left the door open, cuddling a phone with both hands. He had tears of joy in his eyes as he dialed a number and waited for the other side to pick up. When they did, the floodgates opened. Through the tears and joy he started rambling, “L-lin Feng! Lin Feng! I did it! I promised you and I did it! I won! W-we beat Legend! I-t was really cool! I won!”

Tian Tian was using his mentor’s phone. His mentor who was also in the bathroom, listening in on the call. He watched Tian Tian caressing the phone and weeping, and shook his head. “I must’ve been really drunk when I decided to help him… What did I think? Fatty…  He’s such a crybaby! Even when he’s happy those tears flow. How did I ever think he could follow in my footsteps?”

There was a moment of silence. Tian Tian’s mentor looked over. Tian Tian was listening, his mouth hanging open a little. He was nodding, vigorously, every few seconds and sometimes mumbling a few words. Then he used his sleeve to wipe his eyes dry and said, “Yeah! B-both games! We won both of them!” His face started shining. It could light up the darkest room. Full of pride he was. “I carried both games! Y-you should’ve seen it! I really did it! I didn’t let you down! First I played my Heca. Y-you need to go see a replay. I landed a 5 man ult! I hit all five of them! … Yes! Also on that Chris, haha! It was really cool! And, and then in the second one I went with Riven. I-i knew it would take something special. So, so, so I did! I went for it! And it worked! It was so cool! We won and I got a perfect game against Legend!”

Tian Tian’s mentor smiled. He looked at this young man who he’d given so much attention to. This kid who’d given him so many sleepless nights and headaches. A foolish crybaby. But this same kid. This same crybaby… Fatty had just shown the entire world one of the best top lane performances ever seen in League of Legends! This was the level he knew his pupil could reach, at minimum. The Seven Kings were nothing for Fatty! All he had to do was get a little more consistent. Once he did that, his eyes would be on the Four Emperors. Though, it was a little bit early to be thinking about them. A few good games wouldn’t see Fatty enter their ranks.

The Four Emperors, huh? Tian Tian’s mentor thought back to the days he still played competitively. He’d lived and breathed esports. He’d stood at the top and seen it all. He’d fought with the best, and against them. I suppose we weren’t all that different back then compared to these Four Emperors. 

Number 4: Moon. Midlaner for Fate. Competing in the Korean LCK. 

Number 3: Phoenix. Midlaner for Legend. Competing in the European LCS. 

Number 2: Autumn, Support for Season. Competing in the North American LCS. 

Number 1: Rake. Midlaner for SSK. Competing in the Korean LCK. Best player in the world.

Tian Tian’s mentor and his friend in Hawaii, both of them were invested in the LPL. More specifically, they were invested in Tian Tian and Lin Feng. Rake was the catalyst that led to Lin Feng quitting the scene. This still left a bad aftertaste. Everytime Tian Tian’s mentor heard the name, or saw the man play, he got a little annoyed. He didn’t like this Rake one bit. But it didn’t matter if he liked Rake or not. Fact of the matter remained that Rake was an exceptionally talented player. The best in the world. There was no one who could beat him. Not right now, at least.

“The next three years will be Rake’s golden years…” The words rang in Tian Tian’s mentor’s head. Those were the words an old friend had said to him last year, when SSK won the Season 4 World Championships. “The only thing that can stop Rake is if his team falls apart. There’s no other team, or player, who can contest against him right now. Maybe they lose a game after a crazy patch. But other than something extreme like that, I don’t see anyone else winning over them.”

League of Legends was already five years old. From a small game primarily played in North America, it was now a worldwide phenomenon. There were tens of millions of players, if not more. But a player from all the way back in Season 1 was still the best. He started playing in Korea when the queue times for games were long because there weren’t enough people yet. But since that first edition of Worlds until now, no one had appeared on the professional team that could beat him. The only person who came close was Lin Feng. But that was so long ago, it didn’t really count anymore.

Lin Feng, huh? Tian Tian’s mentor looked over at his pupil. Tian Tian was still holding his phone as though he held the most valuable item in his hands, listening to what Lin Feng was saying on the other end of the line. He smiled. No one was invincible. There was always a higher hill to climb. And there was an opponent who could challenge Rake. Maple. The kid who at only 15 years old had challenged and fought through the rounds in Worlds until finally losing in the fifth game of the Finals. He was the first and last player to ever give Rake a real difficult time. But Maple had quit. If he wanted to play again, he first had to get back into the game. He had to prove to everyone all over again how good he was. If he could do that. If he could fight through everything thrown his way and get back to where he once stood. Then, and only then, would Rake finally have to fight, really fight for his position on the throne!