Fuzhou Tech was in a terrible mood after the disappointing loss in Game 1. But they could change their fortunes right away! The Winter Collegiate Cup’s Round of 16 was a best of three series. They were down one. Now it was time to go up two! The five players sat behind their computers in the soundproof booth, eager. And Silent Reed had the perfect vantage point to see this from the caster desk! She held her microphone close to her mouth and said, “Just look at the players from Fuzhou Tech! So serious! So ready for this game! Oh, and look! We’re loading in!”

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

“TEAM SHANGHAI IS GOING TO QUARTERS! WOOT WOOT!”
“They really are if Fuzhou Tech doesn’t bounce back from that abysmal performance. I’m honestly stunned that they’re still willing to show their face—”
“WOOOOOO! FUZHOU TECH GONNA GET BACK INTO THIS!”
“Please let this be a more entertaining match to watch!”
“Us neutrals want some spectacle! OR DRAMA! DRAMA IS GOOD TOO!”

The players from Team Shanghai and Fuzhou Tech spawned on their respective fountains and spent the 500 starting gold in the shop. This was the moment Silent Reed chose to move the focus away from the Fiddlesticks discussion and towards the matchup in the mid lane. She said into the microphone, “Last game was a fierce battle in mid with two strong players going head to head! Team Shanghai won that round, so Fuzhou Tech is certainly looking for redemption! That Fizz pick is plenty proof of that! And don’t forget that their Midlaner is a Master on the Ionia server!” She waited for the crowd to respond and then continued, “But we’ve all seen what Team Shanghai’s Midlaner can do on an assassin! The real question now is if his Zed is as good as his Yasuo!” She turned to look at Rollfire and asked, “What do you think? Does this Zed have the skill to outplay Fizz like he did in Game 1? Or will something else happen?”

Rollfire knitted his brows and looked at the large LCD screen above the two soundproof booths. His Yasuo last game actually looked pretty decent. Better than that Lux anyway. I’m not going to make myself look like a fool again! This game I’m going to be the hero and show the Shanghai Esports Association why I’m too good for this stupid series! I’ll make them regret not putting me on a better game! He smiled and said, “That’s hard to say. Technically, Zed versus Fizz is a pretty even matchup. It’s all going to come down to skill.” Those damn kids got lucky in the first game. But this time they’re going to make a mistake. Fiddle is proof enough! And when those stupid representatives of the stupid organizers screw up, I’ll be ready to jump on it! Make the best commentary by flaming those jackasses who put me on this stupid noob game! It’d be even better if the Zed is the one screwing up. Talking about Zeds… He grinned and added, “I don’t know how many of you guys remember, but there used to be a Zed main on Zhejiang University’s roster. He was a Kage! I wonder how this Zed will measure up to him.”

Kage was the highest rank title for masters of the shadows in the popular manga series Naruto. And Zed just happened to be a master of the shadows himself. So Chinese League of Legends fans used Naruto’s ranking system to rank Zed players. The lowest rank was Genin, followed by Chunin, Jonin and finally Kage. Right now, Rake was recognized as the strongest Zed player in the world. His outstanding achievements during the 2014 OGN Summer Playoffs on Zed had cemented that position. He was the real Kage. But there were plenty of other strong Zed players who’d been given the Kage title by their fans. One of them was the former captain of Zhejiang University’s esports club.

The players from Zhejiang University’s team looked at each other when Rollfire mentioned the Kage from their university. The Jungler asked, “He’s talking about Shi Hang, right?”

Zuo Cheng who was the current Midlaner for Zhejiang University nodded and said, “He is! He’s talking about the Captain! Captain Shi Hang is my idol! I’m still watching old videos of his Zed and trying to play just like him!”

Sun Ruinian smiled and chimed in, “Yes. That’s Shi Hang for you. His Zed is unbelievably good.” Shi Hang, you made us who we are today. You were the first all the way back in Season 1 to start about League. You made the esports club at our university. And then you went on to become a professional player! One of the best in all of China! He shook his head and grimaced. But why did you have to retire so early…? You still have so much more to give! Graduating from university can wait! You can be a professional player again! Sun Ruinian breathed in and smiled. But whatever you choose to do, we’ll always remember you for all the good you’ve done for our university!

“His Zed is the best!” Zuo Cheng continued, excited. He turned to look at Sun Ruinian and added, “If Shi Hang wants to play, he just needs to say the words! I’ll sit out! He can have my spot! Oh man, I so badly want to see him play again! I’ll be the waterboy! Benchwarmer! Anything just to see him play again!”

The other members from Zhejiang University’s team all nodded and spoke out their agreement with Zuo Cheng’s statement. They’d talked about this subject more than a few times over the last couple of months, especially in the period following their elimination from the previous edition of the Collegiate Cup. It wasn’t that they weren’t happy with Zuo Cheng. He was a great Midlaner and won them many games. But he wasn’t Shi Hang. If Shi Hang had played on their team, they believed that they’d have won the entire tournament.

Sun Ruinian scrunched his nose and sighed loudly. “Forget it, guys. He’s not interested. I’ve asked him about it too many times already. His answer is always the same. This tournament is kiddy stuff to him. And he’s right. He was one of the best professional players in the LPL! Even if he’s taken a break from competitive play, he still has the skill to cruise through this tournament! We’d just be along for the ride.” He looked at his teammates and concluded, “So let’s stop daydreaming. Professional players, former or current, won’t ever bother with a tournament at this level. We’re a kiddy league to them. You guys know how good Shi Hang is. You know what I’m saying is true. So let’s focus on what we can control, our skill. Now, let’s watch this game.”

✹

The players from Team Shanghai and Fuzhou Tech had bought their starter items and were now heading down their respective lanes. Team Shanghai opted to go with a lane swap. Zhang Hao went to the bot lane with his Gnar to face off against Kog’Maw and Alistar, while Tang Bingyao’s Ezreal and Zeng Rui’s Leona went to the top lane to fight Rumble.

“I don’t understand this lane swap,” Rollfire commented from the caster desk. He knitted his brows and continued, “Kog’Maw is very strong in the late game, but weak early on. Leona and Ezreal can really shut him down and make him irrelevant before getting strong enough. Gnar can’t do that. I’m really struggling to see the point of this lane swap.”

Silent Reed felt just as confused as Rollfire. She stared at the large LCD screen and guessed, “Maybe they’re really afraid of the Rumble getting one over on the Gnar? I mean, if he gets ahead, that’ll make it really tough for Team Shanghai to contest the first dragon. Rumble’s ultimate skill is just perfect to win fights at the Dragon Pit!”

Rollfire raised an eyebrow and glanced at Silent Reed, but he didn’t react to her assessment. I won’t give you the pleasure of lucking your way into a correct guess!! You’re WRONG! The high school kids are being dumbfucks! I just hope Fuzhou Tech will finally punish them for it! It’s about time these representatives of the Shanghai Idiots Association get knocked down! He narrowed his eyes and turned his attention back to the large LCD screen. I’ll just wait for the— DAMMIT! NOT AGAIN!

Fuzhou Tech’s Midlaner had picked Fizz as a direct result from what happened in the first game against Team Shanghai. He was convinced he got duped into losing by a trolling Yasuo. So he went with an aggressive Champion in Fizz who could push and punish the type of player he believed the Yasuo, or Zed in this game, was. But the start of the laning phase went anything like he’d expected. How did he get the minion wave to freeze right outside of his tower!? We’re barely a minute into the laning phase! And he keeps hitting those damn Shurikens! They’re impossible to hit! How do I keep walking into them? Does he know where I’m going to dodge or something? NoNoNo! Stop this! Focus and beat this troll! He’s just trolling!

The Blue and Red minions were in a fierce struggle just outside Blue team’s outer tower. Melee minions were clashing swords while caster minions fired their magic from the backline! Fuzhou Tech’s Midlaner watched this play out and gritted his teeth. I’m missing out on CS if it keeps going like this! The Junglers should still be clearing their camps. It’s a little bit risky, but I need to act now! I need to break this freeze open! Fuck! He moved his mouse over the nearest Blue minion and clicked on it. His Fizz started running towards it.

Lin Feng was slowly getting back in his old groove. He’d noticed the patterns in how Fuzhou Tech’s Midlaner  moved during the first game and applied that knowledge in the second game. Every time Razor Shuriken came off cooldown, he activated the skill. His Zed threw a shuriken in a straight line and each time it connected with Fizz, shaving away at his health! And then, just like in Game 1, Fuzhou Tech’s Midlaner crossed the midway section of the lane without having ward coverage. Lin Feng laughed and said over Team Shanghai’s voice chat, “He really fell for it again? He really fell for it again! ZengZeng, go in!”

“I’m going in,” Zeng Rui replied over the team’s voice chat.

“NOT AGAIN! GO BACK FIZZ! GOOOOOO BACK!”
“Shit! I can’t watch this. That Leona roam is so dirty!”
“How did that Fizz not learn from the previous game? Jesus!”
“RETREAT FIZZ! DON’T DO THIS!”
“Oh my god, he’s falling for it again… What a fucking noob!”
“FUCK ME! What’s wrong with this dude? Is he trolling?”

“It’s the Level 1 roam!” Silent Reed cried out from the caster desk. She grabbed her microphone and moved it close to her mouth. “Leona timed this roam perfectly! Fuzhou Tech won’t know what hit them! It’s going to be first blood in the mid lane again!”

Rollfire was steaming in rage next to Silent Reed. Why can’t they fucking ward? How stupid is this Fizz!? He said through gritted teeth, “It’s going to be really hard to escape from this roam for that Fizz.”

Zeng Rui’s Leona had walked down the river from the top lane and arrived in the mid lane just as Fizz ran forward to break the minion freeze. Zeng Rui had his Leona charge at Fizz and cast Exhaust on him! A debilitating energy wrapped around Fizz and drained away most of his stats! His movement speed slowed to a crawl and he was forced to use the only escape ability he had. Flash. But Zeng Rui was prepared for this. He flashed right after Fizz and then slammed his shield into the Fizz. Shield of Daybreak! It rammed into Fizz with such power that it stunned him!

“Nice!” Lin Feng cried out over the team’s voice chat. He last hit a caster minion, which brought him to Level 2, and then learned Living Shadow! This skill allowed him to place a living shadow of himself in front of him. “I’m coming!” he shouted as he activated the skill. A Living Shadow appeared right next to Fizz. Lin Feng then used the second part of this skill, switching positions with his shadow! He cast Ignite on Fizz! An unquenchable flame burned away at Fizz’s health bar! Zed followed up with an auto attack, his sharp blade dealing a ton of damage, before finishing the job with a Razor Shuriken!

《First Blood!》

The crowd erupted with cheers! Their voices boomed through the venue and slammed into the glass of the soundproof booths! And it wasn’t just the regular audience members who were impressed. Even the players from Zhejiang University were in awe. More specifically, their Support was deeply impressed with Zeng Rui’s gank. He exclaimed, “That roam! Holy crap that was beautiful! The way they set up the top lane to make it seem like nothing was going on! Wooo that was impressive!”

Zuo Cheng looked at the large LCD screen, entranced. He saw how Zed broke the minion freeze after picking up the kill and bit on his lips. “That Fizz just lost so much there. If that death wasn’t bad enough, losing out on all those minions is going to hurt real bad! This is looking rough for him already.”

Sun Ruinian looked from the large LCD screen to Zuo Cheng and felt his stomach drop. That play looked good and Zuo Cheng looks worried. He chewed on the inside of his cheeks as he turned back to look at the large LCD screen. Is he better than an A- Midlaner? A? How good is this Midlaner? Shit! How are we going to beat them? That Midlaner is better than Zuo Cheng! We need, we need… He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. We need Shi Hang. We’re not going to win without him.

✹

Tang Bingyao’s Ezreal froze the minion wave in the top lane. She could hold her own against a Rumble the first few levels because of her ranged attacks. This was also what allowed Zeng Rui to make the roam to the mid lane. But freezing a minion wave wasn’t as easy as Lin Feng often made it look. She tried to manipulate the minions to the best of her ability and the freeze persisted for a good while. But between Rumble trying to disrupt it and making small mistakes herself, the Blue minion wave grew in size. More and more Blue minions slaughtered their way through the Red minions until Tang Bingyao couldn’t hold the freeze anymore. A massive wave of minions started marching from the Blue outer tower to the other side of the lane.

Tang Bingyao pursed her lips and tightened the hold on her mouse. I can’t let Rumble get all this gold and experience! I just got a nice head start. Mhm! I’m going to stop him! I’ll push him away from the minions and make him retrea—

“Get ready, Tang Tang. We’re circling around,” Zeng Rui said over the team’s voice chat.

An Xin added, “I’ll engage!”

“Almost there!” Lin Feng chimed in.

The Blue minions charged at Red team’s outer tower, unafraid of death. Tang Bingyao’s Ezreal followed right behind them, firing skills and auto attacks at the Rumble to keep him from getting last hits on them. And then, right as the minions slammed into the outer tower, An Xin, Lin Feng and Zeng Rui walked into the top lane.

An Xin’s Fiddlesticks got close to the Rumble and cast Terrify on him! Nightmarish illusions incapacitated Rumble for a second, which allowed Zeng Rui’s Leona to land an easy Zenith Blade! A solar projection of her sword pierced through Rumble and Leona dashed at him! Then she slammed her Shield of Daybreak into him! Stunned!

Lin Feng’s Zed jumped in with his Living Shadow and then attacked with his Razor Shuriken and the blades attached to his gloves! It dealt a lot of damage, even this early in the game. Rumble’s health dropped fast. But they were fighting Rumble right underneath his tower. The turret locked onto An Xin’s Fiddlesticks and fired an energy shot at her. She had to move out of range before a second one could hit, which caused the tower to shift aggro onto Zeng Rui’s Leona. He ran away before the tower could attack him. As did Lin Feng’s Zed, because Tang Bingyao’s Ezreal had fired a Mystic Shot at the low health Rumble! The damaging bolt of energy whizzed through the air and knocked Rumble out cold!

《You have slain an enemy!》

“WHAT A TOWERDIVE!” Silent Reed shrieked at the top of her lungs. “Team Shanghai did it all perfectly! Fuzhou Tech didn’t know what hit them! And now with Rumble dead, Team Shanghai can take the top tower! That’s just going to make life so much harder for Rumble! Where’s he going to go? Is Fuzhou Tech going to follow along with the lane swap now? They really have to do something if they wanna stay in this! It’s their tournament life that’s on the line here!” She turned to look at Rollfire and asked, “What do you think? You have to admit that that was a beautiful play, right!?”

“It was,” Rollfire replied. He took a long, deep breath and added, “It was a good towerdive.” Those words were incredibly difficult for him to say. It was him admitting that Team Shanghai wasn’t just a team of high school students who didn’t know how to play the game. They were a team that could compete against university teams. That the game he was hired to cast wasn’t all that terrible after all. That the Shanghai Esports Association hadn’t screwed him over. He gritted his teeth and glared at the large LCD screen. It’s not over yet! Yeah, that 4 man collapse was impressive. Yeah they juggled the tower aggro correctly. And yeah they baited Fuzhou Tech well enough. And yeah there was no way Rumble could escape that. But that was just one gank! Or two now. But the game has only just begun!

Silent Reed was getting used to the little input Rollfire was giving in this series. She glanced at him but decided against mentioning it. I’ll just do the best I can! I’ll be Westwind and me! She grabbed her microphone and shouted, “Team Shanghai has the initiative again! But we haven’t seen too much from the Fiddlesticks yet. I’m really curious to see how they’re going to play with him! He’s such a niche Champion! But with how Team Shanghai is playing, they must have something special planned for him!”

Rollfire didn’t entertain the audience or Silent Reed with his opinion on the Fiddlesticks. But he clenched his fist under the table until his knuckles were white and gritted his teeth. You think they got a plan to use that Fiddle? Piss off! Yeah, Team Shanghai’s lanes are doing well and it might look like they’re winning now, but this is still a 5vs5 game! And that Fiddle is basically useless! Just wait until Fuzhou Tech sets up their line of vision! That Fiddle pick is going to look stupid then! Fuzhou Tech is going to fight their way back into this game after this minor setback and secure a win! Then we’re going to an all deciding Game 3 and the Shanghai Idiots Organization will find out that their team is also a group of cocky idiots!

Chu Fang was in charge of the East China Regionals, so he was present at the event. And he was also in charge of Team Shanghai, so he watched their games. Right now, he sat in a private room backstage in front of a large tv screen that showed the game between Fuzhou Tech and Team Shanghai. Staff members were walking into the room and asking him to sign off on things, but he brushed them away. His full attention was directed towards the screen, towards Lin Feng. Maple. He smiled and balled a fist. He’s good! Much better than the last time I saw him play! I don’t think it’ll take him much longer to reach Goalie’s level. That’s a good start for him. And from there we can push him to the real top!

The last weeks since Chu Fang had rediscovered Lin Feng came to mind. He lost a lot of his skill during his four year hiatus. I really wasn’t too impressed with what I saw… Chu Fang shook his head and grinned. But he was the best. And he still is the most talented player I’ve ever seen! If we use the normal grading system, Maple would’ve hit anywhere between 95% to a perfect score. And Lin Feng hasn’t dropped that far down. Some things you just don’t forget. I’ll give him a solid A right now. Yeah, I think that’s a fair grade.

The system to judge a player’s skill level was incredibly comprehensive. Lin Feng’s ability in some aspects had declined sharply over the last few years, his game mechanics being one of them. But there were other aspects of the game that he didn’t unlearn. He knew like no other how to roam around the map, follow up on engages and control the flow of the game. They were the aspects of the game that many professional players were still struggling with, yet he’d mastered them. This was why he could still play at the highest level despite his break from the game.

Chu Fang was in an incredibly good mood. Some of these things just come so easy to him! As if it’s second nature! So many pros struggle with learning how to roam their entire career, yet he just knows how to do it! It’s those little things that he’s just so good at! And then there also is… He turned his attention to the large tv screen which was currently focused on the mid lane.

A storm was brewing around the tip of Yasuo’s blade. Lin Feng had dashed through to one minion! Sweeping Blade’s cooldown was almost zero. He just couldn’t target the same minion twice. He didn’t want to. There was another minion closer to the Lux. He had his Yasuo dash through that minion and clicked on the Lux, his finger lightly pressing down on the D key.

Fuzhou Tech’s Lux panicked. She saw the fed Yasuo dashing towards her and knew she was dead if he got on top of her. Light Binding! She cast a sphere of light that flew straight towards the Yasuo!

Lin Feng was ready for the Light Binding. He cast Flash. Yasuo disappeared with a mottled flash of light, then reappeared on top of the Lux. He activated Steel Tempest. The storm brewing at the tip of the blade was unleashed onto the battlefield! Winds howled and raged, launching Fuzhou Tech’s Lux into the air! And then Yasuo used his ultimate skill. Last Breath! He blinked to the Lux and suspended her in midair! Then he unloaded a flurry of strikes on her before slamming her back to the ground! The unquenchable flame from Ignite started burning on Lux’s skin and a sharp cut from Steel Tempest pierced her body!

《You have slain an enemy!》

The audience erupted into cheers! Lin Feng had achieved a solo kill on the Lux! And he got away with zero damage dealt to him! It was especially the dodging of the Light Binding that evoked a strong response from everyone watching. That wasn’t just limited to the spectators, but also to other teams competing in the tournament. Even the players from Zhejiang University were feeling the heat. Their Midlaner, Zuo Cheng, started to realise that beating Lin Feng might actually be impossible, while Sun Ruinian began to reevaluate his earlier assessment of Lin Feng’s skill level.

Chu Fang grinned when he heard the cheers and started laughing when he saw the stunned expressions from Zhejiang University’s players on a second screen. That’s right! His game senses and awareness are slowly coming back! He’s getting better and better by the game! But what’s even more important are his mechanics! No one had better mechanics than him! And they’re coming back to him! We’re getting to see the real Maple mechanics again! He’ll stand on the Rift and become invincible again! Just like we planned!

“Maybe we can push him a little harder,” Chu Fang mumbled. He was better than Phoenix back in Season 1. Only Rake could put up some kind of resistance! But Lin Feng… Maple was the best! He just was! We need that player back so that China can finally grow into one of the big regions! He chewed on his lips and tapped his fingers on the table next to him. With the way he’s improving, I don’t really see anyone in this tournament being much of a problem for him. Even that Goalie guy won’t be his match. It would help if everyone knew how good he is. They might prepare harder…

Chu Fang shook his head and frowned. That Midlaner from Fuzhou Tech might be a Master on the Ionia server and a B grade Midlaner, but that’s just not enough to make Lin Feng really try. And it also doesn’t help that the rest of Team Shanghai is also doing great. If Lin Feng doesn’t really get pushed, he won’t show exactly how much he’s capable of. It’s a shame, really. Goalie won’t know how good Lin Feng is and won’t prepare for that. He’ll be screwed. I kind of… I really want to see a fully prepared Goalie take on Lin Feng. He sighed and focused back on the game.

✹

Lin Feng’s Yasuo was fed. There wasn’t a single player on Fuzhou Tech’s team safe from him. But the other players from Team Shanghai were also playing at an incredibly high level. Tang Bingyao’s Lucian and Zeng Rui’s Thresh decimated their opposition in the bot lane and destroyed the outer tower 13 minutes into the game. They then rotated to the mid lane and helped Lin Feng get another kill on Fuzhou Tech’s Midlaner followed by finally destroying the outer tower. Lin Feng had kept it up until now, just so that he could farm a few more kills on Lux.

An Xin also found the flow of the game, and of her Champion. Evelynn was the mistress of the shadows. There were so many potential plays An Xin could make with this Champion, because Evelynn could move around the map invisible. And that was exactly what An Xin started doing. Whenever Fuzhou Tech got the idea of teaming up to try and fight Team Shanghai, she would find a flank on them. Then she’d engage them from behind, bursting their backline down and distracting them from the follow up by the rest of Team Shanghai.

The audience didn’t understand what had changed. They mumbled questions about the Evelynn that started the game farming Jungle camps like a noob yet was now finding the perfect angle for every attack. There was only more confusion in the responses. No one knew what to say. They didn’t have the answer. Most of all, Rollfire didn’t have an answer. He sat quietly at the shoutcaster desk, letting Silent Reed hype everyone up for the next beautiful engage orchestrated by An Xin’s Evelynn!

“Get ready, I’m going in!” Became the staple sentence for An Xin when she’d found the gank. The other players from Team Shanghai knew that when those words arrived over the team’s voice chat, they didn’t need to wait any longer. They could rush forward and jump at Fuzhou Tech’s team! The ensuing teamfights were clean victories. Every last one of them.

The game time hit 20 minutes and the surrender option became available. But this was a tournament with serious money on the line. Fuzhou Tech wasn’t willing to surrender, arguing over their team’s voice chat that they still had a chance at a comeback as long as their nexus was alive. They finally agreed that they just had to play the game ultra-defensively and hope for Team Shanghai to make enough mistakes for them to catch back up. More importantly, the longer a game went on, the fewer mistakes Team Shanghai could permit themselves to make. Because there was a maximum level and maximum number of items each Champion could buy. Once those were reached, it was only a matter of time until the other team caught up.

But the game never reached that point, because Team Shanghai didn’t make any mistakes. Zeng Rui made sure of that. He guided his team from one tower to the next, pushing for objectives rather than kills. When the Dragon spawned, the team was preparing something in the two lanes bordering the dragon pit. And after slaying the Dragon, they’d go back to taking down towers. Fuzhou Tech lost their outer towers and inner towers. They tried to protect their inhibitor towers and inhibitors, but Team Shanghai was too far ahead.

At 25 minutes, Team Shanghai made the final push into Fuzhou Tech’s base. They were buffed by Baron Nashor and a powerful pink-purple aura flowed through their minions, bolstering their stats! It was overkill. Fuzhou Tech was torn apart, after which their Nexus towers and finally the Nexus itself were destroyed. The energy that exploded from the nexus morphed into the red victory screen for Team Shanghai.

VICTORY!

“WOOOOOO!” Silent Reed screamed her throat dry. She shoved the microphone halfway into her mouth and shouted, “THAT IS 1-0 FOR TEAM SHANGHAI!”

Rollfire stared at the screen, numb. H-how is this even possible? How did these fucking kids… He took a deep breath. A staff member reminded him through his earpiece that he had a job to do. So he grabbed his microphone and cheered, “Team Shanghai won this game! Yeeeey!”

“WOOT WOOT! BUNBUN IS THE BEST JUNGLER EVER!”
“WOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Fuzhou Tech got wrecked by a bunch of high schoolers! HAHAHA!”
“That Yasuo! HOLY FUCKING GOOOOOOOD!”
“GO GO! GO GO! TEAM SHANGHAI! YAY!”
“Lux spread her legs for that yasuo! LOL!”
“HAHA! Didn’t know Fuzhou Tech’s Midlaner was into hentai shit!”

Sun Ruinian ignored the cheering crowd behind him and the blaring shoutcaster at the caster desk. His entire being was focused on Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. More precisely, on the Midlaner. That dude… Lin Feng? He isn’t A-. He’s an A, maybe higher. Hard to tell from this game. Fuzhou Tech just isn’t good enough. Fuck! I want to be happy that there’s a talented Midlaner. It’s just… We need to play against him! He shook his head and glanced at the Midlaner on his team. Zuo Cheng isn’t that good. We’re going to have to find a strategy to deal with this Lin Feng. But it’s not just that either.

Sun Ruinian turned his attention to Zeng Rui and grimaced. Zeng Rui has also gotten a lot better. He’s right up there with that Midlaner, maybe a little bit worse. But still. He’s a good player that’s going to require a lot of planning on my part. He bit on his lips and looked at An Xin. And then there’s that girl. Her early game Jungling wasn’t anything impressive. We can beat that. But then… He shook his head. I don’t really get what happened in the mid game there, but it’s like she woke up and decided to play a little. I’ve got no clue how good she actually is. Maybe it was just luck and leaning on that Midlaner to carry her. But if any of that was real skill, then we’re in deep shit.

✹

There was a little downtime between the first and the second game. The players from Team Shanghai and Fuzhou Tech were given the chance to take a toilet break and unwind for a couple of minutes. What the organizers did during this time was having the casters reflect back on the game while playing highlights on the large LCD screen. Silent Reed took charge in this. She smiled and said into her microphone, “Team Shanghai really deserves some congratulations for that massive win! What a display of skill!” She turned to look at Rollfire and continued, “After a questionable start, Team Shanghai’s Evelynn really fell into her roll. What do you think, Rollfire? I know you had a few choice words for her early on.”

Rollfire bit back. Don’t think I can’t see what you’re trying to do! But I won’t let you get to me! He forced a smile onto his lips and replied, “You’re completely right. The start was really rough for her, which I pointed out. But it’s like she could hear me and took my advice to heart. She worked really hard to turn things around and by the end of it she looked pretty decent.”

“I think pretty decent might be underselling it a bit,” Silent Reed argued. She giggled and added, “Pretty damn goo—”

“However,” Rollfire interrupted. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Fuzhou Tech got too comfortable with how the Evelynn played early on. They should’ve set up a proper line of vision to stop that Evelynn from getting all those flanks on them. Had they done that, who knows, maybe they’d have won.”

Silent Reed looked at Rollfire and raised an eyebrow. Why can’t he ever say something positive? It’s like he’s got a personal vendetta against Team Shanghai. He’s not even trying to hide it! She shook her head a little and said, “I suppose you’ve got a point about Fuzhou Tech’s warding. If they’d invested more gold into vision wards, they could’ve stopped a lot of these engagements from Evelynn. But I’m not sure if that alone would’ve been enough for them. The Yasuo was the real carry here.”

Rollfire chuckled and concluded, “Let’s just hope Fuzhou Tech has learned from this first game. I’m hoping to see a stronger performance from them in the next game. Then they might actually punish that Jungler for the glaring holes in her ga—”

“I think that’s enough of that!” Silent Reed interrupted. She pointed at the large LCD screen and continued, “Looks like we’re getting ready for the second game between Team Shanghai and Fuzhou Tech! The series right now is 1-0 for Team Shanghai! Let’s see if they can bring this best of three series home, or if we’re going to an all deciding Game 3!”

Game 2 of the East China Round of 16
Team Shanghai (Blue) vs Fuzhou Tech (Red)

Top: Gnar versus Rumble
Jungle: Fiddlesticks versus Rek’Sai
Mid: Zed versus Fizz
AD-Carry: Ezreal versus Kog’Maw
Support: Leona versus Alistar

Silent Reed looked up at the large LCD screen and read through the line up. Then she mumbled, “Fiddlesticks? What? Why?”

A confused buzz murmured through the audience. Even the other teams competing didn’t know what to make of this choice of Champion. Fiddlesticks wasn’t a bad Champion, but he wasn’t particularly strong in the current meta either. His entire kit relied on him getting off a good ultimate. But a well organized team could plan for this and play around it. This was the main reason why his winrate in low elo games was incredibly high, yet he was almost never picked in the higher ranked games. And it was unheard of to pick him in competitive play.

“Jungle fid? Did they lose a few too many brain cells?”
“Oh god, those high school kids got cocky…”
“What the hell are they thinking? Do they want to lose!?”
“What bm! Holy sweetness! Gimme some of that!”
“Fuzhou Tech better wrecks them for this!”

Rollfire smiled a smile that didn’t get anywhere near his eyes. He grabbed the microphone and said, “Team Shanghai has chosen to go with Fiddlesticks Jungle! He’s a strong Champion that can easily ace Fuzhou Tech’s team! He’s a pentakill Champion! It’s just…” He paused briefly before continuing, “It’s just that Fuzhou Tech only has to cancel or evade Fiddle’s ultie to make that Champion completely useless! And there’s nothing Fiddle can do about it!”

Silent Reed bit on her lips and then argued, “He is not often seen in high ranked games. But that doesn’t make him a bad Champion.”

“Oh, he’s not bad. I’m not saying that,” Rollfire fired back. He shook his head and continued, “It’s just that when you play against a well prepared team, the threat a Fiddlesticks brings is greatly reduced. And we should be able to assume that the teams competing at the Winter Collegiate Cup have at least reached that level of skill. But I guess it all comes down to whether Fuzhou Tech can sort out their warding problems. Keep vision on the Fiddle and he’s useless.”

“I guess so,” Silent Reed said. She glanced at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. Why would they pick Fiddlesticks? He’s such a strange champion to go with. Do they have something specific in mind? I don’t get it… They must have a plan for this, right?

Rollfire chuckled and said, “I was talking about Fuzhou Tech needing to sort their warding out, and now they’re getting to show us right away if they have learned from their mistakes! If Fuzhou Tech messes up again, they only got themselves to blame for a terrible ending to this tournament. But let’s face it, they should be a strong team for making it this far. I’m guessing they’ll figure out how to ward properly.”

✹

Everyone was confused about An Xin’s choice of Champion. Even Zeng Rui wasn’t feeling it. He knitted his brows and asked over the team’s voice chat, “BunBun, you sure about this?” Fiddlesticks isn’t in a great place right now. It’s just how the meta works. We should be focusing on other Champions. That’ll also help us prepare for games further down the road. Why are we wasting a game to play with Fiddlesticks? I don’t get how this is going to help us as a team, even if we win the game.

“Don’t worry about it! I’m pretty good at Jungle Fiddlesticks too!” An Xin replied, forcing a smile forward. Zeng Rui needs to know about the game plan. I’ll just guide him through what he needs to know…

There was a strange silence. An Xin was clearly holding back, lacking her usual insightful explanation. It was painfully obvious to Zeng Rui, Tang Bingyao and Zhang Hao that An Xin wasn’t telling them something, but Lin Feng didn’t notice this. His focus was on the loading screen, which showed the lineup for the game. Fizz? FIZZ! He grinned and tapped his finger on Zhang Hao’s shoulder. “HaoBro! HaoBro! Do you see that? Those idiots picked Fizz!” He laughed and added, “I’ma have a fish steak sandwich!”

Rollfire and Silent Reed were arguing about An Xin’s Evelynn. They questioned her moves and pointed out aspects of her game that were subpar. The audience nodded along, slowly letting their focus be pulled away from the game. All they knew was Evelynn. Her every move was scrutinized and judged by Rollfire. Silent Reed would say a couple of words in An Xin’s favour. But An Xin’s Evelynn simply wasn’t all that impressive. The audience agreed with Rollfire and completely missed what happened in the game until the voice announcer blasted through the speakers.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“A KILL!” Silent Reed exclaimed in reflex. Huh? What happened? Where did the kill… She looked up at the large LCD screen that was already showing a replay of the fight, including the voice chat from Team Shanghai. She said into her microphone, “Let’s watch the replay!”

At 7 minutes into the game, Zeng Rui’s Thresh wandered up the river towards the mid lane. Blue Team’s Lux didn’t have Flash available after using it a little earlier. Nor did she have wards to protect herself from the gank. Zeng Rui’s Thresh walked into the lane and hooked her with a Death Sentence. Then he reactivated the skill to dash at her. “Go in, Lin Feng!” he shouted over the team’s voice chat as he Flayed Lux backwards.

Flay briefly knocked a Champion up. This allowed Lin Feng’s Yasuo to target Lux with Last Breath! He blinked on top of the Lux and suspended her in midair! Then he erupted with a flurry of slashes, his sharp blade cutting through Lux’s health bar! For the final attack he raised his katana high above his head before hacking down on Lux and slamming her to the ground!

Lux had a sliver of health remaining. She ran away and threw out a Light Binding behind her. The cage of light flew in a straight line at Yasuo, who dashed through a nearby minion to both dodge the skill and line up for Steel Tempest! He stabbed out with his blade and nicked her! Then he targeted Lux with the Sweeping Blade into Steel Tempest combo! He dashed through her and swept out in a wide arc with his katana!

The voice announcer’s kill message rang out, followed by Lin Feng saying over Team Shanghai’s voice chat, “Nice job, ZengZeng! That was a great roam! But you didn’t need to. I would’ve killed her anyway!”

The replay ended and the game on the large LCD screen returned to real time. Silent Reed sat at the caster desk, glancing at Rollfire to see if he had something to say. Do something! Anything! Open that stupid mouth of yours! She shook her head, annoyed. Fine! I’ll do it all by myself! She forced a smile and shouted, “WOOOOO! What a play! What a play! The Thresh found the opening where Fuzhou Tech wouldn’t suspect him to make a play in the mid lane. And… WOOOOO!”

Silent Reed breathed in, trying hard to hype herself up. Why can’t this guy help me? Fuck this! She breathed out and continued, “I’ve got some juicy intel on this Thresh! He’s a Challenger on the Ionia server! That would explain how he makes these perfect plays, don’t you think, Rollfire?”

Rollfire shrugged and replied into his microphone, “It was a good roam. But let’s be honest here. That kid in the mid lane was right. Lux is playing far too aggressively for the situation. Thresh or no Thresh, it would’ve been a kill.”

The players from Zhejiang University were sitting in the player seating area, trying their hardest to watch the game between Fuzhou Tech and Team Shanghai. But there was a commentator who through his lack of talking distracted them constantly. They glanced over their shoulders at the caster desk and then back at the large LCD screen showing the game.

“What’s wrong with that caster? Why is he so annoying?”
“I don’t know. Really killing the mood though. Maybe it’s his time of the month…”
“Dunno, but he’s being a massive dick. He should eat one!”
“To be honest, I thought the Thresh roam was really impressive. I didn’t see it coming.”

Sun Ruinian listened to his teammates and then glanced over his shoulder at Rollfire. They’re right. He’s a dick. Just because you don’t like a team doesn’t mean you should talk them into the ground… Show some sportsmanship, dick. He closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. Let him be a dick. We won’t be like that. We’re going to give Team Shanghai the attention they deserve. And from the looks of it, that’s a lot. We’re going to be up against them in the quarters if it goes on like this. Hmmm… He watched Zeng Rui move and replayed the previous roam that led to killing Lux in his head. He cross referenced that information with his own experience playing with and against Zeng Rui on the Ionia server. He was a B+ Support last year, and he’s only getting better. A lot better. Talking about general game skills, not role specific, he might even be as good as I am. That makes him at least an A-! No one should look down on players that good, especially not Dickfire at the caster desk. He glanced over his shoulder at Rollfire again, annoyed.

✹

Rollfire glared at the large LCD screen, his nose twitching. An organizer had just told him through his earpiece that he had to tone it down. Who cares what the fuck they want! They put me on this stupid game! He gritted his teeth and shook his head. Fuck! I need this gig. I can’t make them too upset. I’ll just tone it down a bit. Find my spots. Mock them when I can! He nodded and grabbed the microphone. He said, “Looks like Fuzhou Tech has got their work cut out for them. But that might all change really quickly! Jarvan IV is going to the Blue Buff Camp and Lux is doing the same. If she gets the Blue Buff, she’ll have all the mana to harass Yasuo. Even the mid lane isn’t over yet! This game is still wide open!”

“Oh, Oh! There!” Silent Reed exclaimed, pointing at the large LCD screen. Right. They can’t see what I’m pointing at. She laughed a bit and then said, “Evelynn is moving towards Blue team’s Blue Buff Camp as well! It looks like she’s going to invade! Oh my god, there’s a Red ward in the brush there! She has full vision on the Blue Buff Camp! It’s going to be an invade! Will she get the steal!?”

“SHE’S GOING TO STEAL IT!”
“Such perfect timing by that Eve!”
“That is such a dirty ward she placed there!”
“This is so impressive. Go steal the Blue Buff!”
“GoGoGo Evelynn!”
“Best ward on the Blue Buff Camp ever!”

An Xin’s friends from High School 13 were also in the stands cheering her on. Liu Yue jumped to his feet and exclaimed, “BunBun is going for her classic invade! This is going to be so much fun! WOOT WOOT!”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and said, “Rollfire made a big mistake looking down on BunBun. He’ll get a good hard slap in his face for his arrogant words. Our BunBun is a Super Challenger in the Jungle!”

Ren Rou nodded and chimed in, “Serves him right for being mean to BunBun! She’s the best Jungler at our school!”

“She totally is!” Liu Yue replied, laughing. He then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Our BunBun is the best Jungler! WOOT WOOT!”

Ouyang grinned and jumped up to his feet. He wrapped one arm around Liu Yue and threw the other up in the air, screaming, “BROPHINA! BROPHINA, TEACH THIS DUMB IDIOT ON THE CASTER DESK HOW TO JUNGLE!”

The caster desk was placed right next to the stands. Silent Reed looked into the crowd at the young man who’d managed to shout over everyone else and then turned to look at Rollfire. He’s steaming! He’s losing it! I can see the smoke coming from his ears! She placed her hand over her mouth and tried very hard to stop herself from giggling. I can’t do this. Stay professional. Don’t laugh at him! Don’t laugh at him! She took a deep breath and focused back on the game. “Evelynn is already closing in on the Blue Buff! She has perfect vision! And she’s pinging on it! Is this for the Yasuo? Are they looking to do something more than steal the Blue Buff!?”

The large LCD screen above the two soundproof booths zoomed in on the Blue team’s Blue Buff camp. Jarvan IV was attacking the Blue Sentinel and Lux had arrived to attack it as well. They looked oblivious to Team Shanghai’s Evelynn standing off to the side in stealth. This was one of the advantages Evelynn brought to the game. She was invisible unless revealed.

Sun Ruinian raised an eyebrow and nodded. Impressive. She has her timings down. And these are the kinds of plays you’d expect to see from an Evelynn. I’ll have to re-evaluate her. Didn’t expect her to play like this after watching her farm the Jungle before. And after Dickfire told us how bad she is… He glanced over his shoulder at Rollfire and shook his head. What a dick.

“I don’t think they know! I don’t think they know the Evelynn is right there!” Silent Reed exclaimed. “They don’t have a clue! Oh my god! What a mistake! WARD! PUT DOWN A VISION WARD!”

Rollfire snorted and said, “That’s a mistake by Fuzhou Tech. And it looks like they’re going to get punished for it. That Evelynn gave them a false sense of security early on and now they don’t see the obvious Blue steal. If that was the plan all along by the high school kids, then that is somewhat impressive…”

“Holy shit shit shit! It’s going to be a steal!”
“PLACE DOWN A VISION WARD! YOU HAVE IT WITH YOU!”
“I can’t watch this. Lux has the vision ward in her inventory! She just has to place it down!”
“PLEASE LUX! STOP BEING SO COCKY! PLACE THE WARD!”
“Tell me when it’s over! I don’t wanna see this!”
“I know I shouldn’t have applied to Fuzhou Tech! Now I’m stuck supporting this shit team!”
“Oh my god! Look at the Yasuo. He’s going to help Eve…”

The Blue Sentinel steadily lost its health until there was only a sliver remaining. Lux cast Lucent Singularity! An anomaly of twisted light wrapped around the Blue Sentinel and charged him up with electricity! She moved forward to auto attack the monster and discharge the electricity. But this small gap between the skill and her auto attack was too big. An Xin’s Evelynn revealed herself from stealth and targeted the Blue Sentinel with Smite. A monstrous hand slammed into the Blue Sentinel and claimed its life!

“SHE STOLE IT! THE EVE STOLE THE BLUE BUFF!” Silent Reed exclaimed. And the crowd reacted to her, just like they had to Westwind. People jumped to their feet and threw their arms in the air! They cheered and screamed in Team Shanghai’s support! Silent Reed smiled and shouted, “The high schoolers are winning! AND THE YASUO! THE YASUO!”

✹

“What the fuck happened there?” Fuzhou Tech’s Support asked over the team’s voice chat.

The Lux player snarled, “The Eve—”

“Yes yes! But why didn’t you place a vision ward down? You have it in your inventory!” the Support continued.

“Well, tha—”

“WATCH OUT FOR THE YASUO!” the Jarvan IV player interrupted.

Lin Feng’s Yasuo appeared around the outer wall of the Blue Buff Camp, right near Fuzhou Tech’s Lux. The Lux retreated back along the wall towards Jarvan IV and cast a Light Binding behind her! It was a panic reaction. Yasuo had the skill Wind Wall. He cut upwards with his sword, commanding the winds to protect him! The Light Binding disintegrated before it reached Yasuo!

“Sweeping Blade,” Lin Feng mumbled as he pressed down on the E key quickly followed by the Q key. His Yasuo dashed through the Lux and then swept out around him with his blade! Steel Tempest! Gusts of wind gathered around the tip of his blade, a storm slowly brewing. Jarvan IV was in range and Yasuo cast Sweeping Blade again to dash through his next target! He then linked this skill with Steel Tempest for a second time! His katana swept through Jarvan IV and a storm gathered at the tip of the blade!

“What’s he doing? Why is he dashing away from the Lux?” Silent Reed asked. She moved the microphone a bit closer to her lips and looked out at the audience. “Does he want to kill the tanky Jarvan IV?”

“Maybe those early kills got to his head,” Rollfire chimed in from the side. He grinned and continued, “Now he won’t get either of them! He threw away a surefire kill!”

The large LCD screen showed exactly what Rollfire predicted. Jarvan IV used his flag toss combo to get away from the Yasuo, jumping over the wall next to the Blue Buff camp and running away together with Lux! “See?” Rollfire asked, laughing. “He forgot to take Jarvan IV’s skill cooldowns into account! Now both Jarvan IV and Lux are getting away!”

“WHAT A MISPLAY!”
“This is going to cost them…”
“They could’ve had both of them!”
“Maaaaan, so embarrassing!”
“I wouldn’t wanna be in their booth right now, haha!”
“Kids gonna be kids.”

✹

Lin Feng smiled. It’s too easy at this level. Just too easy. He’d placed down a ward along the edge of the Blue Buff Camp on his approach. Now he had perfect vision as Lux and Jarvan IV tried to run away together. They were practically standing on top of each other in the thin pathways of the Jungle. Lin Feng glanced down at his skill bar. He’d cast Steel Tempest twice in a row already. His next attack would launch a tornado. He pressed down on his Q key and said over the team’s voice chat, “I’m going in! Give me the follow up!”

Yasuo swept his katana forward, unleashing terrifying winds onto Summoner’s Rift! They gathered together and spun around each other, forming a massive tornado that barreled through the Jungle! It chased down Lux and Jarvan IV and hurled them up into the air! This unlocked Yasuo’s ultimate skill, Last Breath! He Blinked towards the two Airborne Champions and kept them suspended there, attacking them with a flurry of strikes! Then he raised his katana high above his head and hacked down with all his might! Empowered by wind and with the help of gravity, he slammed Lux and Jarvan IV back to the ground!

An Xin’s Evelynn flashed over the wall separating her from the fight and then cast her ultimate on Lux and Jarvan IV! Agony’s Embrace! Venomous Tendrils erupted from the ground to lash out and impale Lux and Jarvan IV, hampering their health and draining their movement speed!

Lux was on the brink of death after eating these attacks. Lin Feng’s Yasuo struck her with Steel Tempest. The clean cut of the blade sheared away the remainder of her health. He followed up with Sweeping Blade, dashing through Jarvan IV and then struck him with an auto attack! Steel Tempest came off cooldown a second later and a clean cut pierced Jarvan IV! His health bar emptied out!

《Double Kill!》

“THEY GOT THE DOUBLE KILL! YASUO GOT THE DOUBLE!” Silent Reed exclaimed, smiling. They’re so much better than during the Shanghai 16 School Tournament! It’s really fun to see them progress! “GO TEAM SHANGHAI!”

“HOLY SHIT! WOOOOOOO! DOUBLE KILL!”
“WHAT A GOD! YASUO IS A LEGEND!”
“YASUO HAS HIT HIS POWER SPIKE! HE HAS HIT HIS POWER SPIKE!”
“Oh my god! How did he hit both of them!?”
“I NEARLY PISSED MY PANTS! YASUO IS MY NEW HERO!”
“Eve did bloody well as well!”
“TEAM SHANGHAI! WOOT WOOT!”

“Tell us what you think!” Silent Reed said to Rollfire. Let’s have a little fun here! Annoy this annoying ass! She giggled and continued, “Wasn’t that amazing? And you were totally mistaken! He didn’t let them get away!”

Rollfire glared at Silent Reed and felt his nose twitching again. Don’t think I don’t see what you’re trying to do! You’re trying to get my rating down so that you get more invitations to cast games! But it won’t be that easy! This was just a lucky play! Or skilled… He moved his lips around and furrowed his brows. Fuck me! Why couldn’t he miss that tornado? All he had to do was miss that damn tornado! He opened his mouth to say something, but then saw Silent Reed giggling again. He could also hear the crowd cheering in the background. They don’t want to hear anything from me. They’re already fired up. He took a deep breath and closed his mouth. Fuck, I’ll get back at you for this!

✹

Sun Ruinian watched the replay on the large LCD screen in silence. His teammates were cheering for the Yasuo and Evelynn, as was everyone else in the venue. But he didn’t have the time for that. That Yasuo knew what he was doing from the start. He needed a bit of luck to have Jarvan IV and Lux stack on top of each other. But everything else… His mechanical abilities, judgement, confidence… how is it all so good?

Sun Ruinian glanced at Zhejiang University’s Midlaner and pursed his lips. Shit. That Yasuo is better than our Midlaner. A lot better. I can only give so much credit to luck. That play was all Yasuo. Luck or no luck, he got the two kills. And this wasn’t even the first time this game! What rank wou—

Goalie. Sun Ruinian looked through the glass of the soundproof booth at Lin Feng. We gave Goalie an A+. He’s the best of the best. No one is as good as he is in the mid lane in this tournament. If the rest of that team comes together, they might even win this entire tournament! He glanced up at the large LCD screen again. But this Yasuo. He might be as good as Goalie… He knitted his brows and mumbled, “Or maybe I’m looking too hard into this. Maybe there was some luck and he’s only A-… Only A-, what am I saying? We can’t beat that.” He chewed on his lips and shook his head. I need to come up with something to deal with him. We can’t expect to play our game and just magically beat him. He’s good. Really good. Too good.

It was game time! Team Shanghai and Fuzhou Tech sat down behind their computers in the two soundproof booths and double-checked their settings. The hundreds of spectators in the stands were spending these last couple of minutes until Game 1 speculating about the final outcome of the best of three series. Many of them were relatively new to competitive League of Legends and hadn’t the faintest clue who Team Shanghai or Fuzhou Tech were. But there were also some who’d attended the previous edition of the East China Regionals. One of them turned to a friend and asked, “Fuzhou Tech got this far last time around too, right?”

“Think they might’ve even made it to the quarter finals last year. It’s a bit fuzzy… But from what I recall, they were on a roll,” the friend responded.

“Fuzhou is a pretty decent team then? Are they gonna win this one?” someone else asked.

The friend nodded and explained, “Yeah, I think they were pretty good. If I’m not wrong, they went down against Fudan in quarters. And Fudan was like the best team. Oh shit! I remember now! That was a pretty exciting series too! Fuzhou made it really difficult for Fudan, almost winning a game even! They really should’ve made it to semis…”

“You must be dreaming!” a random audience member butted in. He sat a row behind the friend and leaned forward to join the conversation. Then he continued, “Semis? Fuzhou in semis? Dream on! No way! Only the really big teams make it to semis. Think Fudan, Zhejiang and Shanghai University of Finance! Fudan was just trolling around a bit in that series. They’re like a gazillion times better than Fuzhou Tech!” He shook his head and laughed before adding, “A little team like Fuzhou Tech? They were lucky to get as far as they did. Bunch of noobs.”

The audience had gone mostly quiet, many people either listening or joining in on the conversation going on. One of those joining in was Han Ying. She attended Shanghai University of Finance and was a member of its esports club. She was also the one who’d welcomed Team Shanghai on campus and witnessed the 2-0 KO Team Shanghai dealt to Luo Yu’s team. If our team is one of the big three, then what about Team Shanghai? They destroyed Luo Yu! That Midlaner was a freak! We never did get his phone number after how that played out… She giggled and then said, “Team Shanghai might win this series then. They beat Luo Yu 2-0 a few weeks back in a scrim. It was a really one-sided series. Team Shanghai played that really well!”

There were many people in the stands who refused to follow Han Ying’s line of thought. They didn’t know Team Shanghai and had never seen them play. The only fact of interest to them was that Team Shanghai comprised five high schoolers, two of whom were girls. Their limited view on League of Legends consisted of their experiences in solo queue and the matches they watched on television. Neither spoke very highly of high school students or female players. That alone was reason enough to toss any notion of Team Shanghai actually being good aside.

“Just a bunch of fucking kids!”
“How good can they really be?”
“Fuzhou Tech has an Ionia Master Midlaner! Try and beat him, damn high school kids!”
“He’s a real life B Midlaner! And then you got the noob at Team Shanghai!”
“Noob high schooler better surrender if they know what’s good for them!”
“I should’ve skipped today… Boring matches. Fuzhou is just gonna stomp those high schoolers!”

There were also people in the crowd who’d attended the earlier rounds Team Shanghai had played in. They’d watched the high school kids tear through strong lineups of university teams! And they could hardly believe what they were seeing in those rounds. They’d mumbled and whispered with each other during those games, trying to comprehend what was going on. It didn’t make sense to them that high schoolers could be that good! But seeing is believing. And right now, as a direct result from those earlier rounds, they were on the Team Shanghai bandwagon!

“It’ll be a stomp for sure! But Fuzhou won’t do any of the stomping!”
“You noobs seen Team Shanghai’s Midlaner play? He’s a fucking god!”
“The Lin Feng guy is A+++! He’ll wreck that B scrub from Fuzhou Tech! Mark my words!”
“And they also got a really strong Support! He’s a crazy good Challenger on the Ionia server!”
“Don’t forget about their Jungler either! Her ganks were outta this world!”
“They’ve got such a strong team. Fuzhou won’t know what hit them!”

The former teammates from Team Shanghai had also come to attend this round of the Winter Collegiate Cup. They’d kept quiet, and even shrunk back a little when they heard the sheer ferocity with which some students vocally assaulted their friends. But after the first couple of positive comments rang out, they found their confidence again. Led by Ouyang, they all jumped to their feet and shouted in support of their team!

“TEAM SHANGHAI! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“IF ANYONE CAN, LIN FENG CAN!”
“ZENG RUI BEST SUPPORT IN THE WHOLE WIDE WOOOOORLD!”
“TEAM SHANGHAI ALL A+++!”
“What Fuzhou Tech? BUNCH OF NOOBS!”
“TEAM SHANGHAI FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!”
“WOOT WOOT! BUNBUN IS BETTER THAN ME!”

✹

The organizers of the Winter Collegiate Cup had hired some of the best casters they could find in Shanghai for Regionals. There were different duos for the different phases of the tournament. And for the Round of 16, they’d invited Silent Reed and Rollfire. Silent Reed was an up and comer working for Breaking Esports, a game media company, and had left a great impression after her work with Westwind at the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. Her co-caster was Rollfire. He was a rather famous individual in the scene as a second-rate caster with a lot of experience. The invitation to cast at the Winter Collegiate Cup was a given for him.

But Rollfire wasn’t at all happy about how it played out for him. He glared at the teams preparing for the games in the soundproof booths and then glanced at Silent Reed before quickly looking away. I should’ve declined the offer! What is this shit? Are they trying to make me mad!? I’m far too good for a game like this! A FUCKING HIGH SCHOOL TEAM! I have to cast a stupid fucking high school game! This is so far beneath me that it isn’t even funny! At least give me a game in the quarter finals! That’s the kind of games where I belong! I’m a professional caster! Not some stupid rookie like this one here. He glanced at Silent Reed again, his nose twitching in anger.

Rollfire was introduced to Silent Reed a few hours earlier. He’d cast games with many pretty faces before, but she still caught his eyes. So while he usually expected people to recognize him and take the initiative to greet him, he went out of his way to greet her. To start a conversation with her. To have a little fun before the games started. But she didn’t reciprocate his gestures. She nodded at him and then turned away to talk with someone else.

Bitch. You fucking slut! It’s just because I’m a second-rate caster, right? If I was first-rate… I’m basically a first-rate caster dammit! I’ll get the qualifications for it soon enough! And what are you? YOU’RE NOTHING! NOTHING! Rollfire was steaming in rage, his knuckles white and his teeth clenched. You’re just a pretty face, that’s all you’re good for! You should be happy to be here and cast with me! You stupid, stupid, FUCK ME! I don’t deserve this shit! I should be casting the quarter finals! This stupid fucking bullshit! I’m way too—

The audience started cheering and the large LCD screen above the soundproof booths jumped to life. Game 1 of the East China Round of 16 was already getting underway! Fuzhou Tech and Team Shanghai had locked in their Champions and they were in the loading screen, waiting for the game to start!

Game 1 of the East China Round of 16
Fuzhou Tech (Blue) versus Team Shanghai (Red)

Top: Mundo versus Darius
Jungle: Jarvan IV versus Evelynn
Mid: Lux versus Yasuo
AD-Carry: Tristana versus Lucian
Support: Morgana versus Thresh

Silent Reed looked at the lineup for both teams and said into her microphone, “Pretty standard lineups, as we expected. Except, oh! That’s strange. Team Shanghai’s Jungler is playing Evelynn! We’ve seen her play Lee Sin and Jarvan IV before, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen her on Evelynn! I wonder what brought about this change?”

Rollfire snorted and replied, “Evelynn? What a stupid choice. She relies completely on positioning. There are so many ways this can backfire. I don’t see how this is a viable option at this level of play.”

What’s got him going? Silent Reed glanced at her co-caster. Is he mad or something? He looks angry. What’s got into him? She shook her head and focused back on the lineups. I’ve seen that An Xin play quite a few Champions, but never the Evelynn type… I wonder why. Maybe she was just saving it? Right, I’m casting! She smiled and said, “I’ve seen her play before and she was really good! I think she knows what she’s doing.”

Rollfire snorted. Good? Piss off. She’s a dumb high schooler trying to show off. Or whatever. What the fuck am I even doing here? Why am I stuck casting this dumb ass game? They should be inviting me for the fucking main tournament! I’m too good for this! He looked up at the large LCD screen above the soundproof booths and noticed the names of the teams. Team Shanghai. Representatives of the Shanghai Esports Association. My boss. The assholes who hired me to do this stupid shit! He kicked against the back of his desk and grumbled under his breath, “Might as well just quit. Stupid shit. If these dumb high schoolers win, I’m quitting. I’ll quit this stupid ass profession!”

Silent Reed glanced at her co-caster, watching him grumble. What’s he saying? Why isn’t he casting? We need to cast! She tried to catch his attention without making it too obvious, but he didn’t see it. Idiot! Why can’t you be more like Westwind? He knew how to hype a game up! She smiled at the thought and then said, “Looks like the game has loaded! It’s Fuzhou Tech on the Blue team versus Team Shanghai on the Red team! Let’s go in!”

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

An Xin started her Jungle path on the Blue Buff Camp. She killed the large golem with the help of Tang Bingyao’s Lucian and Zeng Rui’s Thresh while glancing around the map. Mid looks gankable. It just needs a little push. She said over the team’s voice chat, “Hey, Lin Feng. I’m coming mid right after the Red Buff for a gank. Get ready.” She then had her Evelyn run to the other side of the Jungle to attack the Red Brambleback.

“Okay! I’ll be ready to kill Lux!” Lin Feng exclaimed, laughing.

The players from Team Shanghai knew better than to entertain Lin Feng. They ignored him and focused on their respective lanes. An Xin’s Evelynn attacked the Red Brambleback and killed it almost four minutes into the game. “Coming now,” she said over the team’s voice chat.

Lin Feng had been preparing for the gank by manipulating the minion wave. He’d focused on attacking Lux, causing her health bar to drop, and then baited her into attacking a minion instead of his Yasuo. The minion wave slowly pushed towards Red Team’s outer tower and Lux was forced to push further and further forward to get last hits. This was an incredibly dangerous move with Evelynn on the opposing team. Evelynn was the Mistress of the Shadows. She was invisible unless she walked over a vision ward or entered within range of an enemy Champion or structure. But An Xin was good enough at the game to maneuver her way into the mid lane and behind Lux unseen.

Lux pushed forward to last hit a minion and stay even in creep score with Yasuo right as Evelynn arrived in the mid lane. A storm was already brewing at the tip of Yasuo’s blade. Lin Feng activated the third cast of Steel Tempest! Yasuo swung his blade forward, commanding a tornado to blast over the Rift! It blew through Lux and knocked her up into the air! Yasuo followed up by dashing through a minion to close the gap with Lux and then attacked again with Steel Tempest! His blade cut through Lux and sheared away at her health! All the while, An Xin’s Evelynn stepped out of stealth and slashed twice at the Lux with Ravage! She followed up with a constant stream of Hate Spikes! Thorny shadows erupted from the ground and cut through Lux’s health bar!

《First blood!》

Silent Reed jumped up from her seat and clutched the microphone, shouting, “BEAUTIFUL! What a perfect flank by Evelynn! It was all timed down to perfection! There was no escape for the Lux!” She glanced at Rollfire. Come on, say something! I can’t be Westwind and me! Cast! You’re supposed to be good!

But Rollfire was in no mood to cast. He nodded and mumbled, “Yeah. Nice gank. Yeeey for Team Shanghai.” I just talked shit about the Evelynn and now she lucks her way into a successful gank! What is this bullshit? I should be casting the quarter finals! Not this crappy round! His eyes were bloodshot and his hands were trembling. I have to cast with this stupid disrespectful girl and now the stupid audience is also cheering for the stupid high school team and, and… He knocked his hand on the table and bit down on his lip. I’m quitting! I’m not degrading myself by casting these low ranked games! I’m really going to do it!

“Did the Lux forget she was up against an Evelynn or something…?”
“Why was she playing so aggressive…?”
“WOOOOOOOOO! TEAM SHANGHAI! WOOOOO!”
“WOOT WOOT! LIN FENG IS THE BEST!”
“It was so obvious that both Junglers were going to gank… Why in the world be so aggressive?”
“That Lux is stupid. Practically giving the game to Team Shanghai!”
“What a massive misplay by Fuzhou…”
“GOOOOOOOO! TEAM SHANGHAI FOR THE WIIIIIN!”

It wasn’t just Rollfire or the audience that could tell that Fuzhou Tech’s Midlaner had overextended, even his teammates had noticed as much. They glanced at their Midlaner and asked him why he didn’t play that more defensively. But the Lux player didn’t agree with his teammates. He shook his head and explained, “It’s not my fault! Really! That wasn’t my fault! It’s because of this Yasuo! I think he’s trolling me or something! It was so troll! I don’t know what else to say! I got confused by his trolling! This isn’t my fault!” He breathed in and chewed on his lips before adding, “Sorry. I’ll play better.”

✹

Sun Ruinian from Zhejiang University’s team was watching the game from the player seating area. The large LCD screen above the stage showed the game in spectator mode, meaning that he could see the Evelynn through the shadows cloaking her. And he also saw Lux moving forward for a last hit at just the wrong time before giving away first blood. He shook his head and mumbled, “What are you doing, mid? Play it safe! It’s an Eve Jungle. What did you expect? You can’t let her get behind you too easily!” He moved his lips around for a bit and eventually added, “The Yasuo played it well though.”

Yasuo was a melee Champion while Lux was a ranged caster. This gave Lux a big advantage in the early game, where she just had to sit back and land her skills and auto attacks on Yasuo. But Lin Feng wasn’t just any Yasuo. He didn’t let himself get harassed and struggle to keep his health up. He learned Sweeping Blade at Level 1 and continuously dashed through the minions, looking for openings to land some poke damage on Lux.

The aggression increased with Yasuo’s level. When he unlocked Steel Tempest at Level 2, he dashed through Lux and swept his blade out at her. Winds gathered at the tip of his blade. He would dash away through a minion behind him and get a second cast of Steel Tempest on a minion. Then, as the storm brewed at the tip of his blade, he dashed through a last minion to throw the Lux off guard and then blew a tornado at her!

Champions had low health at the early levels and minions could deal substantial damage. Lin Feng’s Yasuo was hemorrhaging health with this early game aggression. The Lux failed to hit any of her abilities and got constantly hit by his, yet her health wasn’t any lower than his. But this was acceptable, because Lin Feng wasn’t employing this tactic to get a kill on Lux. His goal was to annoy her until she made a mistake. And that was exactly what happened. She grew irritated with the Yasuo, made a couple of mistakes with last hitting minions, and tunnel visioned so hard on him that she completely forgot about Evelynn.

Sun Ruinian looked at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth and then up at the large LCD screen. He said, “The Yasuo is good. We can’t underestimate him. He won the mid lane with that little play.” I wonder what Zou Cheng thinks about him. He nodded at the man sitting next to him and asked, “What do you think? Is this guy B+? Better? How much better do you think? Can you beat him?”

Zou Cheng was Zhejiang University’s Midlaner. He knitted his brows and watched the Yasuo play. He’s good, really good! But I’m also really good! He said through gritted teeth, “He’s alright. I’m confident in myself.”

Sun Ruinian nodded and looked back up at the screen. It’s only first blood. Maybe I’m seeing things. Let’s see how this game plays out before coming to any conclusions. We’ve got time to prepare. But I saw the replays… He’s good. Really good. B+ at minimum. Probably better. Just a question of how much. We’re going to have to be careful about him.

✹

Tang Bingyao was focused on last hitting minions, constantly keeping an eye open for an opportunity to land some poke damage on Fuzhou Tech’s Tristana or Morgana. Her Lucian was the stronger ad-carry in the early game and she had to make use of that if she wanted to bring this game home. Zeng Rui was speaking in her ear, constantly telling her what to do. Which minion to hit, when to pause, and how to position. Mhm. I got this. I’m good. I got this.

At 4:30 minutes, Zeng Rui found the opening. He said over the team’s voice chat, “Go in!” He then had his Thresh walk towards the Tristana. A minion protecting the Tristana was one auto attack from dying. The bullet from Lucian’s gun was already in midair. Everything pointed towards Zeng Rui going for the Tristana. And Fuzhou Tech believed as much. Tristana didn’t wait to find out and Rocket Jumped away, while she also received a Black Shield from Morgana to protect her against crowd control. But Zeng Rui was never going for the Tristana. It was all a trick to get a clear line on the Morgana. Thresh’s scythe flew through the air and hooked the Morgana.

Tang Bingyao nodded and replied, “Mhm!” She had her Lucian follow after Zeng Rui’s Thresh with Relentless Pursuit! This activated Lucian’s passive skill. He raised both his guns at Morgana and fired a doubleshot! He then attacked with Piercing Light! Both guns were still aimed at Morgana as a beam of light blasted through her, followed up by another doubleshot!

Fuzhou Tech’s Morgana Flashed away, trying to get in range of the Tristana to get a heal and survive. But the Tristana had run too far away already and Tang Bingyao didn’t give her any time to turn around. Lucian flashed after Morgana and fired two more auto attacks to claim the kill.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“WHAT A HOOK!” Silent Reed exclaimed. She clutched the microphone and brought it close to her mouth, a little trick she’d picked up from Westwind, and continued, “That was some great skill by Team Shanghai! And I have a juicy bit of intel! This ad-carry and Support were on opposing teams before this tournament! Look at how they’ve come together! Team Shanghai is really pulling ahead here!”

Rollfire wouldn’t hear anything about it. He shook his head and argued, “That was just a bad play by Fuzhou Tech. This should’ve never ended in a kill. Everyone could tell that that Thresh was just baiting Morgana to use her Black Shield on Tristana. He was clearly going for the squishier target, which is the Morgana. I can’t believe how easily Fuzhou Tech fell for this very obvious play. But well done to Team Shanghai for showing some basic tactics.”

The people in the crowd weren’t nearly as invested in talking down the players from Team Shanghai as Rollfire was. There were a couple of halfhearted comments about how Rollfire had a point and several more people arguing that it wasn’t obvious to them at all that Thresh was setting up a bait. Most people, however, were simply cheering for a beautiful play.

“WOOT WOOT! TEAM SHANGHAI IS THE BEST!”
“TANG TANG! YOU’RE AMAZING!”
“What a play by Team Shanghai! Their mid and bot have already won!”
“Are they going to win top too now?”
“WOOOOOOOOO!”
“Sick Thresh hook! Absolutely mental! Impressive as fuck!”

Rollfire glared at the audience, annoyed. You idiots can’t even tell how bad these teams are playing! What’s worth watching here? Even I could’ve played that better! And I’m no great player. Only goes to show how terrible these two teams are! They shouldn’t be in the Collegiate Cup… Or, better even, I shouldn’t be asked to cast these crappy games! I should be casting the main tournament! He tried to breathe his annoyance away, but it wasn’t working. There were still people in the audience doubting him or ignoring him altogether, and his co-caster kept glancing at him too. I’ll show them how stupid they are! Stupid idiots! They don’t know shit!

“You see that Evelynn?” Rollfire asked Silent Reed. “See how she only managed to force a flash from Fuzhou Tech’s Mundo in the top lane when that play in bot went down? She’s basically been useless otherwise, except for the early play in mid. Doesn’t look like she knows how to play the Champion at all! How can Fuzhou Tech not be taking advantage of this?”

Silent Reed looked at Rollfire and shook her head, exasperated. First you make me do all the casting and now you’re bitching about something you don’t even need to bitch about? Can you be any more of a man-child? She closed her eyes for a brief moment and then asked, “Please, tell me more.”

Rollfire completely missed the sarcasm in Silent Reed’s words. All he heard was an invitation to talk more. He laughed and explained, “See, it’s very simple. Team Shanghai isn’t playing Evelynn like you’re supposed to play her! Her strength isn’t in clearing Jungle camps, which is what she’s doing. You want to use her invisibility in the early game to get a lot of map pressure! Force the other team to play defensively and help all lanes get ahead!” He briefly paused to make sure he had everyone’s attention before continuing, “Her initial gank in the mid lane was good. That’s exactly how you’re supposed to play Evelynn! But look at what she’s done since… Nothing! Absolutely nothing! There isn’t even any pressure on Fuzhou Tech! She’s, pun intended, invisible. I think that girl should practice playing this Champion a bit more before she pulls it out in a real tournament. She’s going to get punished for it.”

“Who knows?” Silent Reed replied. She looked at the large LCD screen and added, “The way I see it, we’re only a few minutes into the game and she helped two of her lanes while the third lane is doing great on its own. Why can’t she get a bit of experience in the Jungle as well?” She glanced at Rollfire and tried not to smile when she saw the red-hot anger on his face. Annoying idiot!

‘Twas the evening of the new moon, and the night sky was dotted with twinkling stars. Below that sky was the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, with all its bright lights. But throughout the city were quiet residential areas, illuminated by the pale-yellow glow of streetlights. These neighborhoods were quiet and peaceful, a stark contrast from the noisy downtown streets. It was nice, the fact that such warmth and comfort could be found in a forest of reinforced steel and concrete. 

That’s what An Xin was thinking about as she spoke to Lin Feng on the phone. She could see it all from the window in her room, high up on a skyscraper. Something about talking to Lin Feng always made her feel calm and peaceful. Cosy, even. Just like those neighborhoods woven through Shanghai. Until he asked her that question. 

“You aren’t lying to me, right?” 

That question was a cold wind, sucking away all the warmth and cheer from the conversation. You aren’t lying to me, right? The question echoed and lingered inside An Xin’s mind, hammering away at the cheerful façade she was trying so hard to maintain. Threatening to break apart the lie she crafted so well that even she started to believe it. Trying to break the box in her mind where she’d hidden away something she didn’t even want to tell Lin Feng. You aren’t lying to me, right? 

There was a long silence after Lin Feng asked her that. A long silence that An Xin used to consider what she was going to say. Should I tell him? Do I want to tell him now? How… An Xin opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. I expected this! I should’ve been ready! I’ll tell him! She cleared her throat with a little cough. And then said, “Why would I lie to you?” Not now. I’ll tell him later. This isn’t the right time… She sounded calm and collected, and threw the question right back at him with complete confidence. Like she had no idea what Lin Feng was even talking about. It was perfect. Except for the slight crack in her voice at the beginning, that’s what betrayed her.  

Lin Feng asked again, “How sick are you? Are you actually okay?” 

An Xin laughed. She put everything into that laugh, trying to make it sound reassuring and like she didn’t have a care in the world. Then she said, “I told you that already, didn’t I? Let me say it slowly since you’re having trouble understanding. I’m. Perfectly. Fine. REALLY! Everything is peachy! Look, you’ll see me at practice tomorrow evening. You’ll see that I’m fine. Why would I even lie to you about that? What reason could I possibly have to hide something important from you?” She paused right after that to let it sink in. Then she continued, “There is absolutely nothing wrong with my body. I’m fine… Ask some of the other boys at school, they’ll tell you I’m pretty fine too!” She laughed and paused again. Waiting for Lin Feng to laugh with her at the joke she just made. When he didn’t, she started talking again, “Lin Feng, tell me this. Have you ever seen me get sick? Ever? Nope! I’m the one that was always running around taking care of you every single time you caught a cold. You’re the one that’s always getting sick!”

Lin Feng scratched his head and muttered, “Yeah, I guess that’s true… But… Hm… I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel r–No, not that. Why do I get the feeling that you’re hiding something?”

An Xin smiled. But it was a sad smile. This guy is such a blockhead and oblivious to everything. But this he picks up on? Let’s see… “Stop overthinking! When has that ever done you any good? You think you can figure out everything that’s going on, Sherlock Feng? You sure you’re smart enough for that? Are you trying to pretend you’re Tang Tang now?

Lin Feng smiled. Now that An Xin was back to making fun of him and throwing out roasts, it seemed like everything was okay. He felt the knot in his chest loosening. But it didn’t disappear entirely. Lin Feng thought about everything for a couple of seconds, and decided to ask one last time. “Are you really okay?”

“I am.”

“You’re not lying to me.”

“I’m not.”

“You have to promise. You swear…?”

An Xin hesitated. Then she started to say, “I promise…­­–“  

Lin Feng cut in before she could finish. “Okay! I believe you! See ya at practice tomorrow! We need to get as much work in as possible before the next game. Oh! Oh! Remember to call Five!”  

An Xin laughed. “Alright, alright, I’ll call Five! I remember! Bye now!”

Lin Feng ended the call. An Xin’s fine… I think. He believed An Xin. She wouldn’t keep something important from him. But… There was still a knot in his chest and the lingering feeling that he’d forgotten something important. Something that was right in front of him and completely obvious. He just couldn’t figure it out. He thought about it for a couple of minutes, and decided not to bother lingering on it for now. It’ll put itself together in my head. I need to distract myself with something else! With that thought, he pulled his books out and started his homework. 

An Xin still had the phone in her hand after the call ended. She quietly lowered herself onto her bed and sat there with her head down. Silent. Her hand turned white and started shaking from the grip she had on her phone. Lying to you… I didn’t want to. I don’t want to. I tried so hard not to! But I just couldn’t tell you everything, Lin Feng. Please forgive me for lying to you! I just wanted to hide this for a little bit longer, I’m sorry. Please let me keep this illusion going for just a bit longer… 

✹

School started on the next day. An Xin wasn’t there in the morning. Lin Feng wasn’t too worried about this, since she told him that she would be at practice in the evening. 

Evening finally rolled around and Team Shanghai met up at the internet café. And An Xin was there, just as she said she would be. Everyone on the team breathed a sigh of relief that An Xin was well enough to practice. They ran up to her and started asking her questions.

“BunBun, are you okay? 

“Are you feeling better now?” 

An Xin replied with a smile, “It’s okay. I’m perfectly fine now! Sorry for worrying everyone”

“See! What did I say guys? BunBun is always fine! It’ll take a gorilla to knock her down!”

Zeng Rui looked at An Xin up and down. She looks fine. Okay. We can get back on track now! He nodded stiffly at her before saying, “Good! Now we continue practicing! We’ve only got two more days until the Round of 16 starts.”

An Xin nodded back at him with a smile. Then she said, “I wasn’t just sitting around doing nothing for the last two days. I’ve been thinking and I came up with a lot of strategies. For today’s practice, I want to try something different.”

Something different? Zeng Rui cocked an eyebrow and stared at An Xin. She wants to try something different two days before we play? Is she serious? He continued to stare at An Xin, and she stared right back. Her smile didn’t falter even a little bit. 

“Don’t you worry, Zengy! Nothing is going to change on your end. Well. Not much will change. I’m just going to try a new style of jungling. Something different! You’ll see when we get into the Rift.”

✹

Team Shanghai jumped into another intense training session.

An Xin started showing the rest of the team the new Jungle-play and strategy that she came up with. Her new style of jungling. And it started with changing her champion pool up. Her old pool of champions consisted of Lee Sin, Jarvan IV, and Rengar. All three were phenomenal Jungle champions. But An Xin really popped off when she played Lee Sin and Jarvan IV. But she had decided to abandon her well-known Lee Sin and Jarvan IV for completely different champions. 

 The new champions she decided to play were Rek’Sai, Evelynn, and Nunu. These champions had to be played very differently. Lee Sin and Jarvan IV were all about mechanics. The new champions An Xin wanted to play relied more on map awareness and planning rather than mechanical ability.  

Lin Feng noticed the change immediately. And was also the first to complain about her new champion pool. “Why aren’t you playing Lee Sin, BunBun? Why are you playing easy champions like Nunu and Evelynn?” Easy wasn’t the best word to describe those champions, but it was the one that made the most sense to Lin Feng. As far as he was concerned, An Xin had fantastic mechanics and it would be a waste for her not to take advantage of that. Nunu and Evelynn would not allow An Xin to showcase her mechanics.

Zeng Rui also noticed An Xin’s decision to go on a parallel playstyle. Lin Feng isn’t wrong. Lee Sin is deadly with An Xin’s mechanics. It is an advantage that we shouldn’t throw away. But this could also work for us if she can pull it off. She has the map awareness for it. He decided to speak up, “Hang on Lin Feng. This is not a bad idea at all. If An Xin expands her champion pool and adds a completely different play style, it’ll give us far more flexibility in the team comps we can run. It also expands the strategies we can try out. More importantly, everyone knows about An Xin’s Lee Sin already. When we go up against opponents like Zhejiang and Fudan, this’ll be one more ace up our sleeves.”

Tang Bingyao and Zhang Hao nodded, agreeing with Zeng Rui’s assessment. Lin Feng looked confused and glanced at An Xin quickly. Then he looked back at Zeng Rui and agreed with the change. Lin Feng glanced at An Xin one last time before he started playing again. Lost in thought. 

Team Shanghai continued training and honing their gameplan for the rest of the evening. And then they said their farewells and went home. 

Except for Lin Feng. After the team session ended, he continued to play. But he was playing on his Challenger account on the Korean server. He’d been secretly climbing on this account. Every night, he’d play at least five games to steadily raise his LP before going home.

✹

Two days flew by with Team Shanghai training every single night. In the blink of an eye, it was 5:30 PM on Saturday. The East China Regionals were about to start. Team Shanghai was in Group A, so they were scheduled to play in the first match. The other team in Group A was Zhejiang University, the team that had gotten fourth place in the previous Collegiate Cup. The team that had Samsara, a God-tier AD-Carry. They were scheduled to play the second match. 

Thirty minutes before the start of the East China Regionals Round of 16. The spectators were just starting to come in to take their seats. The stage lights were buzzed to life and flooded the entire venue with color. The air was electric. The tension palpable before the teams had even taken their places. The giant LCD screen above the stage was counting down the time until the games started. Everything about this particular stage dazzled and added to the hype. From the stage to the seats to the custom-ordered gaming chairs, keyboards, mice. Even the computers added to the ambiance, with flashing LEDs and lights. 

The seats at the venue were divided into two distinct sections. Red and Blue. Even the stage lights dancing over each section were different, highlighting the competitive vibe. As the audience filed in, they took the seats on the side of the team they wanted to support. People were getting ready with their signs and starting to plan out their cheering strategies. Most of the audience was male, but there were a few girls here and there.  

Once most of them had taken their seats, the giant speakers boomed to life. Epic battle music thumped in the chests of the people who had come to watch, amping them up even more. In 20 minutes, the awesome games that everyone had come to see would finally start! Every single team that had climbed this far into the tournament was great! Every single game promised pure adrenaline. 

This year was especially exciting because Fudan University, Zhejiang University, and Shanghai University of Finance had made it back into the Round of 16. They were well-known teams that had played well last year. But a lot of the excitement was reserved for Fudan University and Zhejiang University. In last year’s Collegiate Cup, these two teams placed 3rd and 4th respectively. That was the furthest that the East China region had ever gotten in the last Collegiate Cup. And neither of the two teams had given up. They spent the last year pushing themselves further and getting better. Now they burned with competitive ambition to claim the championship.

More importantly, the audience wanted them to win. They wanted to see the Collegiate Cup brought back to East China!   

“Fudan got unlucky in the semifinals last year, that’s all. They could have totally made it to the Finals and they were good enough to win the whole thing!”

“Well, you can say the same thing about Zhejiang! They’re definitely better than Fudan. But they got unlucky in the semifinals too and had to play last year’s champions. That’s why they’re stuck in second tier with Fudan.”

“Zhejiang? OMG! The Captain of Zhejiang’s team is soooo hot! He’s their AD-Carry! And I heard he’s also one of the top Challengers on the Ionia Server! He’s so intense! I wish he’d look at me like that just one time. My heart would stop but it’d be so worth it.”

That last comment came from a pretty girl in a cute Teemo hat. But the sentiment was echoed across most of the female fans who had come to watch the East China Regionals. They were all here for Samsara, the AD-Carry from Zhejiang University. 

Zhejiang University’s team captain, Sun ‘Samsara’ Ruinian, wasn’t only known for his superb skills as an AD-Carry. He was handsome and charming as well. Great gameplay packaged in such an exquisite container made the hearts of the female fans squeal with glee. 

Sun Ruinian was 181 centimeters tall with sharp eyebrows and deep, black eyes that sparkled like the night sky. He had a great personality too, friendly and polite to everyone. The man oozed charm, and a single smile stole the hearts of many maidens. 

“So what if he’s a little good looking? It’s not like that helps you win a tournament…”  

“He’s not only hot! He’s Hangzhou’s best AD-Carry too! If you think you can do better, go ahead and try!” The girl in the Teemo hat screamed back.

The male student who made the first comment was jealous. When the girl in the Teemo hat gave him a verbal smackdown, he had no comeback. He couldn’t claim to be a better player than Sun Ruinian, nor was he as handsome as Sun Ruinian. But he had to say something so he mumbled, “Yeah, well, so what? He’s good and good-looking. Big deal. Team Shanghai has TWO pretty girls on their team and they’re amazing too! I’ll bet their AD-Carry Tang Bingyao is just as good as Sun Ruinian! She’s probably better! And she’s way better looking than him!”

✹

Zhejiang University and Fudan University were clearly the crowd favorites in the East China Regionals. They were also the obvious front-runners. Both teams had won the Regionals last year and advanced all the way to the semi-finals of the Collegiate Cup. Everyone assumed the same thing would happen again this year. But an interesting twist made itself known in the form of a dark horse. Team Shanghai, the representatives of the Shanghai Esports Association.

Before the start of the Collegiate Cup, Team Shanghai was a literal unknown. All of the other University teams and even the fans assumed that a team formed from all high school players was a novelty. Something to give high school players experience for when they got to the real University teams. No one assumed that they would be a real contender. All of that changed after the first round of the Qualifiers. Team Shanghai proved themselves not only to be a real team, but also one that could upset what was a stagnant pool of teams and winners.

Every team in East China had heard about the scrims Team Shanghai played against Shanghai University of Finance by now. They’d discussed it extensively, and they were still talking about it. No one thought Team Shanghai would do as well as they did. Nor did they believe that Team Shanghai was capable of blowing Shanghai University of Finance out of the water. But that’s exactly what happened. And the news had trickled all the way down to the fans. 

When Tang Bingyao and Team Shanghai got mentioned again, a group of students from Tonji University who had come to watch the Round of 16 started talking about them. 

“Even Shanghai University of Finance got 2-0’d by them…Doesn’t that mean that Team Shanghai is at least good enough to make it to the quarterfinals of the Collegiate Cup?” 

“Don’t be so quick to judge or buy into the hype. How do we know that Shanghai University of Finance didn’t lose on purpose? They could have used it as a chance to play some mind games on the other teams. Think about it. How could a team that made it to the quarterfinals in last year’s Collegiate Cup get rolled over by a completely unknown team so easily?”

“So they’re better than Shanghai University of Finance. Big deal! Even if they’re good enough to make it to the quarterfinals, so what? It doesn’t matter at all. Team Shanghai is in Group A. So is Zhejiang University.”

That statement rang out in the minds of all of the spectators. Team Shanghai was in the same group as Zhejiang University. Only one of the two teams could advance past the regional quarterfinals, and everyone knew that it would not be Team Shanghai.

✹

The whole team from Zhejiang University sat together at the very front row of the spectator stand. At ground level in a special area reserved for official players and teams. Sun Ruinian, the AD-Carry and Captain, spoke to the rest of his team, “Unless something completely unexpected happens, Team Shanghai is going to win this game. We’ll be up against them in the Top 8. So pay attention and see how they play.”

Sun Ruinan had also done his research on Team Shanghai. He was confident that they were good enough to win this game and advance to the next round. And he was confident that his team could beat them in the Top 8. 

They’ll make it to the next round, but that’s as far as they’ll go… Sun Ruinian thought to himself while nodding. They’re a great team. This is just bad luck. They cannot win against us. He had watched both of the previous matches that Team Shanghai played and was impressed by the skill they displayed. As good as they are, they just aren’t ready to beat us yet. Maybe in a few years, after they play a few more tournaments and get more experience.  It’s going to be tough battle when we’re up against them in the quarterfinals. We can’t afford to underestimate them or take it easy. But Zhejiang’s going to be the team that wins! 

Sun Ruinian’s eyes lit up with competitive fire. This time, his team was aiming for the championship! They would not be stopped! Not again! Then he thought about Team Shanghai’s players and smiled ruefully. I feel a little bad for Team Shanghai. We’ll be cutting their Collegiate Cup run short here, and they’re good enough to deserve more games. But there’s nothing that can be done. The thought that his team might lose never crossed his mind. Zhejiang University had placed fourth in the last Collegiate Cup. Both him and his team had gotten stronger in the year since then, and they were aiming for higher than fourth!

✹

15 minutes before the start of the first match in Group A. Team Shanghai had already gathered in the lobby backstage. They were waiting to be called up to the stage to take their seats. Zeng Rui used the time to talk to the rest of the team about the research he’d done.

“Zhejiang University’s Captain is their AD-Carry, Sun Ruinian. He goes by Samsara in-game. He’s a Challenger on the Ionia Server and he’s also the best AD-Carry in all of Hangzhou” Zeng Rui paused to flip the page in the small notebook he carried around with his notes. He also massaged his temples for a couple of seconds, and then continued reading. “According to everything that I’ve been able to find about their team, Zhejiang University is somewhere between a B and a B+. Sun Ruinian’s individual skill as an AD-Carry is rated at B+.”

Zhen Rui paused again to look at the rest of his team. “All of this information is based on last year’s stats. We don’t know if Zhejiang University as a whole has improved as a team after last year’s Collegiate Cup. But I can tell you from what I’ve seen, Sun Ruinian has most certainly gotten better.” He flipped to another page in his notebook and glanced at what he’d written down. Then he looked up at Lin Feng, Tang Bingyao and Zhang Hao. “Hm. He’s probably an A- now.” 

Zeng Rui looked straight at Tang Bingyao as he said those words. Everyone understood what he meant by that. Zhejiang University was going to be a tough opponent for Team Shanghai. But most of the pressure was going to be on bot lane. And even more specifically on Tang Bingyao. She had improved considerably, and very quickly too. And she was still getting better with every game they played. But she had not gotten to the point where she was better than the best AD-Carry in Hangzhou, Sun Ruinian.

Tang Bingyao nodded. Slowly. Then she asked, “Zeng Rui, what’s all this B+ and A- stuff mean? You didn’t explain your rating system. Mhm! I know he’s better than me, but I don’t know how much better.” 

Zeng Rui massaged his temples again. “Sorry. Let me explain how this works. A player or team rated at a C+ or higher is considered to be at the semi-professional level. Above that, we have B and higher. That means that the team is a real contender for the Collegiate Cup championship. B+ means that the player is skilled enough to be a star player on B rated teams like Fudan or Zhejiang. He’s good enough to carry on teams that are already really good. Understand?” Zeng Rui paused to make sure that everything was clear. He saw Tang Bingyao nod at him, and then continued on.

“An A-, that means that the player has already passed the threshold of the amateur scene and is at the level of a professional player.”

Zeng Rui explained all of this calmly. There was no excitement, no dramatic flair, nothing. Every word was spoken in a completely detached tone. It didn’t sound like he considered any of this to be extraordinary or shocking. But his frank delivery did very little to soften the implication of what he’d just said. Team Shanghai was going to be up against an AD-Carry who was at the professional level in the quarterfinals of the East China Regionals. And all of that pressure was going to be on Tang Bingyao’s shoulders! 

Lin Feng thoughtfully rubbed his chin after Zeng Rui’s explanation. “Hm. So that’s what you meant. I didn’t know either. Good thing Tang Tang asked.” He thought about it for a couple of seconds longer and started to get curious. He snapped his fingers at Zeng Rui and asked, “Hey! Wait. ZengyZeng, what grade would you give yourself?”

Zeng Rui’s eyelids twitched. Thundering dumbass. But he quickly composed himself and calmly replied, “Last year, I would probably say that I was at a B+. As for where I am right now… I’m not sure. I don’t have enough information to come to a definitive conclusion on that.”

For anyone else, a grade of B+ would be cause for celebration. Zeng Rui was still only a high school student, and he was only a step away from being as skilled as a professional player. And that was last year. He’d grown since then and gotten even better. Zeng Rui was unquestionably a genius at the game. But it was not worth much for the current situation that Team Shanghai was in. 

“It’s not good enough,” Zeng Rui coldly stated. “There is no reason for us to believe that I can do anything about bot lane in the game against Zhejiang. Even if I had gotten to the point where I could say that I was A- now, it wouldn’t change anything. I’m a Support main at the end of the day. Zhejiang University has Sun Ruinian as their AD-Carry. What I can do against him is limited. At the base level, I won’t be able to exert as much pressure as I did in our previous games. This is going to come down to Tang Tang, and if she can hold her own against Sun Ruinian.”

This was as close to sugar coating something as Zeng Rui could possibly get. He didn’t want to throw so much pressure at Tang Bingyao before the game even started. But he did need to get the message across as nicely as he could. The truth was that he wanted to say something very different. He wanted to say that if Tang Bingyao couldn’t hold her own against Sun Ruinian, then they could not win. Bot lane would become Team Shanghai’s weak link, and would get targeted by Zhejiang University. And that was enough of a disadvantage to cost them the game. 

To make it even simpler, the bot lane would be the crucial factor that decided the game between Zhejiang University and Team Shanghai. And all of it revolved around the matchup between the two AD-Carries.

Tang Bingyao bit her lips. Hard. She had a complicated expression on her face as she processed all of this and the weight settled on her. Then she nodded at Zeng Rui and said, “I’ll do my best! Mhm!”

Zeng Rui nodded back at her before continuing, “Tang Tang’s probably a B grade AD-Carry right now.” He looked at Zhang Hao and said, “You’re a C+ Toplaner.”

Zhang Hao’s expression crumpled into disappointment with a hint of shame. In all fairness to him, a C+ was already very high for an ordinary high school player. In Shanghai High School’s team, he was the second best player after Zeng Rui. But when it came to Team Shanghai, he was one of the weaker links. Especially when compared to teams like Zhejiang University or Fudan University, where all of their players were at B- or higher.  

Zeng Rui turned to An Xin next. He frowned before saying, “BunBun…” He paused after he said her name. Zeng Rui was hesitating because he found himself having trouble giving An Xin’s skill an honest evaluation. Even though they’d played so many games together on top of all the training and practice sessions, something told him that he could not see her true skill at the game just yet. If I had to guess, I’d say somewhere between a B+ and A-… maybe? “I can’t figure out where BunBun stands accurately, but I can say that she’s higher than a B.” 

An Xin wasn’t the only person Zeng Rui had difficulty getting a read on. There was one person that he absolutely could not see through at all. He looked at Lin Feng for a couple of seconds, not saying a word. This thundering dumbass of a Midlaner… what would he be?  

Lin Feng noticed Zeng Rui glaring at him and asked, “Me?” Lin Feng pointed at himself. “You’re trying to figure out my grade?” He waved his hand and laughed, “I’m really good at getting graded too! I’m definitely an A+. But ZengyZeng, your grading system kinda sucks. Everybody gets an A! The standards are way too low.”

The vein on Zeng Rui’s forehead throbbed. This thundering dumbass thinks my standards are too low? MY STANDARDS ARE TOO LOW? Sun Ruinian is Hangzhou’s best AD-Carry! He’s the Captain for Zhejiang University’s Team! AND I ONLY GAVE HIM AN A-! How the hell is that too low of a standard? Wait. Is he just trying to make fun of me? 

The truth here was that Zeng Rui was wrong about his standards, and Lin Feng was being completely sincere. But Zeng Rui didn’t know that. 

An Xin glanced over at Lin Feng and smiled. She didn’t say anything to Zeng Rui or the rest of the team. But she was thinking along the same lines as Lin Feng. Zeng Rui’s system is great. But it’s limited. It only works if you’re trying to rank players from the amateur level to the base professional level. Beyond that, it has no value. 

The system used to evaluate and rank players in the professional scene was completely different, and it was based on a percentage system.

The base professional player threshold was 70%. This was what Zeng Rui determined to be an A- in his system. But this was where the ranking started for professional players. It was not the ceiling. Or even close to the top. 

Between 80-90% was where the real stars of the professional scene grouped up. All seven of the Seven Kings where somewhere at this tier. 

Beyond 90%, that was reserved for players at the pinnacle of the professional scene. Each of the 4 Emperors were beyond 90%. 

Back in Season 1, when Lin Feng was at his prime and stood at the same level as the current Four Emperors, he was also beyond 90%. One, his most respected mentor and coach, had given him a score of 95%. The same score that Han ‘Rake’ Seho, Sovereign among the Four Emperors, received.

✹

This entire conversation was chronologically out of order. Zeng Rui and the rest of Team Shanghai were talking about the team they’d be playing against in the Top 8. That was the next round. But in the next ten minutes, Team Shanghai was about to play the first game in the Round of 16. They had yet to win that game. They had not even started that game. But everyone spoke as if it was a foregone conclusion. 

Disregarding an opponent in a major tournament and casually speaking of the game after that was rude and insulting. But sadly, that was the reality of the situation that Team Shanghai was in at the moment. Team Shanghai’s opponents in the Round of 16 was Fuzhou Tech from the Fuzhou League. They had also made it to the East China Regionals last year, but they were a mediocre team at best. According to Zeng Rui and An Xin, Fuzhou Tech was the perfect opponent to test out their new strategies.

✹

Five minutes later, the first match in Group A of the Round of 16 started. Team Shanghai versus Fuzhou Tech!

Following a wave of cheers, both two teams walked up to the stage and sat down in front of their computers.

Sun Runian, seated in the spectator stands with the rest of his team from Zhejiang University, watched every player on Team Shanghai closely. And focused on the game that was about to be played. Team Shanghai… I want to see exactly how good these high schoolers are!

Just because An Xin wasn’t at the cybercafe for practice that didn’t mean Team Shanghai could afford it to slack off. Zeng Rui decided on a strategy and the four members sat down behind their computers. But they all knew something integral was missing. The glue that kept the parts together. An Xin knew where to gank, and arrived exactly when she needed to. She was the helping hand in many teamfights, always with a calm and confident smile. Now they had to play with a complete stranger who most likely didn’t have any of these qualities.

Junglers were the metronomes of their teams. And Team Shanghai looked lost without their Jungler. Zeng Rui worried about An Xin’s health. Not just for her wellbeing, but also for the effect her absence had on the team’s preparations going into the next round of the Winter Collegiate Cup. It was similar for Tang Bingyao and Zhang Hao, who were comparing every move of the replacement Jungler with An Xin. And this stranger in their Jungle wasn’t anything like An Xin. He lacked the pressure, the awareness… he lacked everything that made a Jungler good.

There was only one player on Team Shanghai that didn’t seem all too caught up in An Xin’s absence. Lin Feng. He was playing out of his mind. Team Shanghai went into five matches and came out victorious each time, and all because of him. His Zed, Lissandra, Orianna, Fizz, and Twisted Fate all achieved the Legendary status. He stomped on the mid lane and then roamed across Summoner’s Rift. The lanes that were losing suddenly found themselves with a few kills and breathing room. Double and triple kills were the norm for Lin Feng, one penta kill even blasting across Summoners Rift! Lin Feng was singlehandedly winning the games. He didn’t even need his teammates.

Zhang Hao threw his hands up in the air after the fifth victory. “Fuck!” he exclaimed. “I played like shit again! Fuck!” He grimaced before turning to Lin Feng and saying, “Damn dude. You’re playing out of your fucking mind today! These games are all about you carrying us. Fuck I’m bad!”

“Hehe, thanks!” Lin Feng replied, scratching the back of his head. These guys were just Master on the Ionia server. This isn’t enough to challenge me. It’s nothing like the games from last night…

Zeng Rui stared at Lin Feng and shook his head. He’s insane today! Every time I thought he couldn’t possibly carry any harder, he just had to prove me wrong. What got into him? It was… The thundering dumbass carried every single game! I played ok. Just. O. K. And he carried so hard! He is so much better than the rest of us… He plays so aggressively, but it always works. And he knows it will. He turned to look at the empty chair, the one An Xin was supposed to be sitting in, and grimaced. This reminds me of what you told me, BunBun. He’s only getting back in form. He’ll only get better. He forced himself to relax his shoulder and take a deep, long breath. At this pace, the thundering dumbass is going to be too good for any of us… I’ll be useless to him. No. I won’t let that happen. I need to work harder. He chewed on his lips and mumbled under his breath, “I hope you’re okay. We need you.” He then looked back at Lin Feng, who was grinning and his usual jovial self. He doesn’t look worried at all. Is BunBun not all that sick? I really hope I’m worrying for nothing.

Lin Feng laughed with Zhang Hao and Tang Bingyao, he chatted a bit with Zeng Rui, and the team had a long discussion about how to move forward. But he didn’t particularly care, because it wouldn’t change anything for him. They were going to win the Winter Collegiate Cup. That was where his line of thought ended and he started thinking about his other goals. Ones that put actual pressure on him, like reaching the Top 5 on the Korean ladder. The pressure is actually helping me! One was right! I really had to push myself a bit more! This university tournament wasn’t enough. How I played last night. And even today! It’s One’s push that got me into the right frame of mind! And I’m already feeling better! This is so much easier! But I can’t slip up. I can’t become lazy or complacent again. Realistic and hardworking. If I get distracted, I’ll be right back where I started. That’s why… He glanced at An Xin’s empty chair. That’s why I can’t let it bother me that you’re not here. I want you to be here. I need you here! But I also need to play. I need to win and get better!

✹

Lin Feng walked home together with Tang Bingyao after practice. He lagged a little behind her, watching as she carefully stepped over the cracks in the pavement. Why isn’t she hopping? And why is she so quiet and looking at the ground? Is it because she wasn’t playing her usual game today? Maybe I should tell her that we won anyway, so it’s fine? Would that help…?

Tang Bingyao suddenly stopped walking, causing Lin Feng to almost walk into her. She turned her head and looked at him, then asked, “Why were you playing so well today?”

“Hu-what?” Lin Feng replied, surprised. He scratched the back of his head and continued, “Oh, well, that’s because I was always good at the game.”

Tang Bingyao shook her head and said, “That’s not what I meant.” She chewed on her lips, briefly considering how to rephrase the question, and then asked, “Everyone is worried about BunBun. It reflected in our gameplay. But you didn’t play any worse. You played better than usual. Are you not worried about her…?” Her eyes went wide when she heard how her question came out and she shook her head. I didn’t mean it like that! I didn’t mean to make it sound like I’m accusing him of not caring! That’s not what I’m doing! I’m just… I don’t know! Please don’t be mad! “I… I didn’t mea—”

“No, it’s not that,” Lin Feng interrupted. He looked down at the pavement and breathed in deeply, grimacing. “I’m worried. I’m worried about BunBun.”

Tang Bingyao tilted her head and asked, “Then why ar—”

Lin Feng cut Tang Bingyao off with a wave of his hand and said, “But BunBun’s health and League practice are two separate things. I’m worried about her, but that doesn’t mean I should drop everything else and stop functioning. I need to focus on what’s right in front of me. At the training, that was League. If I can’t even do that, I’ll just end up disappointing myself and everyone I care about. Including BunBun.”

“Mhm, I get that,” Tang Bingyao said, nodding. I know that’s the rational approach. But that doesn’t help with this sick feeling in my stomach! How do you ignore that? Do you not feel it? It’s pushing up to my throat and I can’t do or think! “Mhmm, I get that. I do. But…” She chewed on her lips and tried to find the words.

Lin Feng smiled and assured, “BunBun is a lot tougher than you’re giving her credit for. Don’t worry about her. She’s always been super healthy! You won’t get her down and you never have to worry about her! She’ll be here smiling and happy and playing the game with us again in no time!” Keep smiling. Show her that you’re confident. Don’t let her know that you worry. BunBun, please tell me you’re alright. Tell me I’m wrong and that you’re healthy!

“Mhm, ok,” Tang Bingyao replied.

Lin Feng looked at her and then at the strangers passing by. My gameplay today was just a result of what happened the other night. The muscle memory was always there. I was really good back then. I just had to find that state again. One helped me with that. The extra pressure is helping me get back in that state of mind that helped me get to the world finals four years ago. They just don’t know that I was always this good, so it looks more impressive. But it’s normal, for me anyway. He chewed on his lips and started walking again, staring off into the distance. But why do I keep telling everyone that BunBun is super healthy? Has she always been? I… Dammit why can’t I remember this!? I should remember this. It’s about BunBun! I need to be there for her! Just like she’s always there for me.

Lin Feng shook his head and felt the knot in his stomach tightening. You’ve always been there for me! Always. From the moment we first met, you had my back. You stood up for me when I didn’t. You helped me through everything. I could always come to you. You can’t be sick. It’s just not possible. It’s not. Please don’t be sick. You can’t be sick! I want you to be here! I want to see your smile and help me out when I don’t understand something! He closed his eyes and was surprised to feel something wet at the corner of his eyes. He breathed in deeply. You have to be alright, BunBun. No matter what, you have to be alright! You just have to be! You are! You always are! You’re always super healthy! Yeah! He exhaled and looked over his shoulder at Tang Bingyao. He said, “BunBun is always healthy! She’ll be fine! You don’t have to worry about her! She’ll be okay!”

✹

Lin Feng arrived home just as Su Xue put the steaming dishes for dinner on the table. She dragged him to sit down and try out her latest attempts at a delicious meal. But he wasn’t feeling it. He played with his chopsticks and took a couple of small bites. Why do I think BunBun is always fine? That’s wrong, isn’t it? She’s always there for me, but… There was something. Why can’t I remember it? What was it? He placed down his bowl and chopsticks and knocked himself on his head a couple of times. “Remember it. Stupid brain, remember it,” he mumbled.

Su Xue watched Lin Feng hitting himself and raised her eyebrows. What’s got him down tonight? My food isn’t that bad, is it? No it’s not! And he eats anything. Her eyes suddenly went wide. Please don’t let it be another episode… She looked at Lin Feng and asked, “What’s wrong tonight? Is my food that bad?”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and said, “No, the food is good. It’s just… I feel like I’m forgetting something. Or can’t remember it? A memory from years ago…”

“Oh,” Su Xue muttered. She looked at him and joked, “Isn’t that normal for you? You forget everything! I had to glue the house keys to your forehead! You’re the goldfish!”

Lin Feng shook his head slowly and mumbled, “No, no. I think it was something important.” He got up from his seat and said, “Let me help you clean this up.” He didn’t wait for her answer as he gathered the bowls and brought them to the kitchen. Then he wandered off to his bedroom and let himself fall down on his bed. What was it? Why can’t I remember what it was?

Lin Feng lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling, feeling the touch of his phone in his hand. I should remember what it was. She always has my back. It’s the least… He grimaced. It’s not coming back. I’m just going to call her! He brought the phone in front of his face and dialed An Xin’s number. Then he placed the phone to his ear and waited for the call to connect.

“Hello?” An Xin asked.

Lin Feng hadn’t realised how tense he’d been all day, until his body relaxed when he heard her voice. She sounds fine! See? She’s fine! There’s nothing to worry about! She’s always healthy! “Hey, BunBun! It’s me! Lin Feng!” he replied.

An Xin giggled and said, “Of course it’s you! I could see when you called! Did anyone ever tell you how dumb you can be? But what’s up?”

Lin Feng scratched his forehead and answered, “Well, nothing I guess… You weren’t at school or practice today and everyone was worried. They wanted to know if you were okay, but didn’t want to bother you at home…”

“It’s fine! I’m fine. Don’t worry,” An Xin said. She briefly hesitated before explaining, “I was just feeling a little under the weather. You know how my mom and dad get. They overreacted when I told them and they had me stay home. I wanted to come to school in like the third period, but they made me stay home. Apparently they even called the school to request sick leave…”

“Oh! Yeah, the teacher told us! So that’s really all there is?” Lin Feng asked, pushing back his worries with a grin. His voice grew excited with each next word. “So nothing is wrong? You’re fine? You’re really fine! Everything is ok! You’re always healthy!”

An Xin giggled and replied, “Yep! I’m in perfect health! I might be back in school tomorrow already! And if I don’t, I’ll be at practice. Talking about practice, how did that go without me?”

“I did super well!” Lin Feng exclaimed, excited. An Xin had successfully diverted the topic. Lin Feng droned on about how he’d carried the games and how the random Jungler was a terrible player. Then he briefly talked about how the others played and finally he told her about how they were in Group A and how they had to play against Zhejiang University in one of the next few rounds.

“Zhejiang, huh?” An Xin remarked. “We’ll have our work cut out for us then. Zeng Rui thinks we’re playing them in the quarterfinals?”

“Yeah! That’s what he said!” Lin Feng replied. He grinned and continued, “It’s going to be easy! We’re going to stomp them and qualify for the main tournament! We just have to win the quarterfinals! There are no semis or finals! Top 4 go to Nationals! AndAndAnd I’ve gotten a lot better too!”

An Xin smiled and said, “Oh? Is that so? You sound really confident.” She giggled and continued, “If you don’t go Legendary next game, you’ll have to treat me to dinner as punishment!”

“It’s a deal!” Lin Feng exclaimed, patting his shoulder. “Oh! Did I tell you about my call with One yet? I don’t think I did. Hmm… Right! So One called me the other day and I answered. He made me play in Korean solo queue on his old account! I have to climb all the way to the Top 5 on it! Cool, right!?”

An Xin asked in surprise, “He wants you to climb to the Top 5 on the Korean solo queue ladder?”

“That’s what I just said, yeah!” Lin Feng replied, laughing. He then added, “But he gave me CN•HOOK2! I can’t just get to the Top 5. That’s not good enough! I have to get Top 3 or first place! I have to make One proud!”

An Xin smiled and remarked, “You sound more and more confident with every word. How far do you think your ego can inflate?”

Lin Feng completely misheard An Xin. How far to him meant how far up the ranked ladder. He pumped his fist in the air and said, “I’m going to hit the Top 5 easy! One asked me to do it and I won’t let him down! I’m going to hit the Top 5 and then continue for the Top 3 and first place!” He suddenly stopped rambling and added, “Right! One told me that Five really misses you. Asked if you could give her a call sometime.”

“Five?” An Xin asked in surprise. “I haven’t talked to her in so long. Yeah. I’ll call her. Of course! Just send me her number and I’ll give her a call tonight!” She then changed the topic back to League of Legends and advised, “You’ve got the right mind. But you need to focus on the meta Champions! Fizz, LeBlanc and Twisted Fate are all the rage right now. And Anivia is also popping back up again. Pick or ban them. You shouldn’t give them to the opponent, even if you want to practice against those Champions. You have to play this seriously, or you’re going to end up doing stupid things!”

Lin Feng listened to An Xin giving him advice, nodding along to everything she said. I know all of this! I could be playing ranked now! BunBun is fine! I don’t need to worry about her! She’s helping me again. This is how it should be! Everything is alright! Everything is… She changed the topic. He scrunched his nose and ruffled his hair. Why did she…? Something is wrong.

An Xin hadn’t stopped talking. “The Korean pros usually get on after 10 P.M. That’s when they get home from practice with the team. You should play before then to have an ea—”

“BunBun,” Lin Feng interrupted.

An Xin paused and asked, “Yeah?”

“You’re not lying, right?” Lin Feng asked. “You’re really alright? You’re not lying to me, are you? Is everything okay? Are you doing ok? Is there anything going on I should know about? Please tell me! I want to help you!”

The line went silent. An Xin didn’t have a reply to the question.

Lightless grinned when he saw the endgame lobby. He won and more importantly he gained 13 League Points! Hum, would’ve really liked to see that game last a little longer. Playing with that Lissandra was really nice! I want to do that again! He clicked on CN•HOOK2’s profile and sent a friend request. A couple more games tonight would be nice. And maybe some more tomorrow… Some duo queues with him and my rank will go up fast! That’ll be great! Hum… What’s taking him so long? He canceled the friend request and sent it again. Maybe he just didn’t see it…

Five minutes came and went. Lightless sat behind his computer in the dark gaming room from Dark Glory, waiting. Just waiting. Why isn’t he accepting my friend request? Everyone always wants to add me! I’m the best mid in China after Hermes! He should want to add me! Why isn’t he… Lightless clicked through CN•HOOK2’s profile page, but that didn’t help either. He grimaced and mumbled, “Everyone always wants to play with me!” Hum, he just didn’t see my friend request. He just didn’t see it. Our synergy was too good! He’ll want to play with me! He canceled the friend request and sent it for a third time. Come on, just look at your friend requests and accept it!

The clock ticked deeper into the night, but CN•HOOK2 wasn’t accepting Lightless’ friend request. And Lightless did not enjoy that. He chewed on his lips and shook his head. He just doesn’t see it. He just… Hum, I really wanted to play a couple more games with him! Our Mid-Jungle sync was insane! That never happens! Just a few more games. Please add me! ACCEPT! ACCEPT!

Lightless clicked around, refusing to go into another game on the off-chance that CN•HOOK2 was going to accept his friend request. After browsing around the profile page in the League client, he found himself going to a League of Legends statistic website and searched for CN•HOOK2 there. His jaw dropped down and he moved closer to the monitor, blinking away the exhaustion of a long day of League. The most played Champions on CN•HOOK2’s account were Thresh, Blitzcrank, Annie and Leona. These Champions had one thing in common. They were all Supports. Holy shit! What? What are all these wins? How the fuck is this possible! Hum? Why are all these Champions Supports? Only the last few games are mids. Is he a Support main? Don’t tell me that he’s a Support main… His Mid is so good!

“Impossible. Impossible,” Lightless mumbled as he clicked on a random match history. Hum? He’s playing with another CN prefix player here… He clicked on another match history and found the same name. He’s duoing a bunch with this CN•DancingShoes? Ad-carry and Support… Hum… That makes it less crazy. Just a bit. Maybe… If he’s duo queuing then I guess it’s possible to win this much. They just both have to carry really hard. Still really damn impressive, but not as impressive. Yeah. It’s not that impressive to win every game in duo queue! I can do that too! Screw him and this stupid friend request! He canceled the friend request, and then sent it again. Dammit! I just want to play another game with you!

Lightless moaned and complained for another couple of minutes, mindlessly browsing the League statistics website. But the more he looked through CN•HOOK2’s account, the better he started to feel. The initial knock to his ego subsided. This guy is beating all the high level players on the Korean server! Duo queue or not, that’s really impressive! I wonder who those two are. Hum… CN•HOOK2 and CN•DancingShoe, I probably know them. Hermes and Nightsong? They could maybe pull this off? But… He scrunched his nose and scratched his forehead. Why do I feel like even those two aren’t good enough? No, no. They can! They’re good enough to do that. Yes. Hermes and Nightsong. Has to be the two of them. Even though Hermes doesn’t play on the Korean server… But it’s the only explanation that makes sense! Yes! He grimaced and shook his head. It didn’t make any sense to him. None of it.

✹

Between Lightless and FatMelon’s viewers, there were more than a hundred thousand people wondering about the identity of CN•HOOK2. But none of them would link it to Lin Feng. They could find out that the name was one of the aliases One used all those years ago. But at this point, it could be anyone behind the monitor. And Lin Feng wasn’t intent on helping these people figure it out. After he finished his last game of the night, he shooed Su Xue out of his room. School was starting in only a couple of hours and he still wanted to get some sleep. He didn’t even bother to brush his teeth, taking his clothes off haphazardly and throwing himself down on his bed.

The alarm rang and buzzed Lin Feng awake only a few hours later. He pushed his eyes open, groggy, and stretched out long. “Uch, too early. I wanna sleep,” he complained, slamming down on his alarm until it finally stopped making a sound. Then he turned around to get another few hours of sleep. He closed his eyes and smiled. Just a little longer. A few more—

The door to Lin Feng’s bedroom swung open. Su Xue stood in the entrance wearing her pink Jinx pyjamas. She held a meat cleaver in her hand and rhytmically rapped the dull side of the blade against her palm. “Are we getting up, or do I need to help you again?” she asked.

“I’m going! I’m going!” Lin Feng yelped. “I’m up already! I’M UP!” He jumped from his bed and threw his clothes on. His normal hairstyle was the fresh out of bed style, so he didn’t see a reason to put more effort into that. He rushed to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, then grabbed a sandwich before running out of the door and to school. But at the corner of the street he paused and looked back up at the apartment. He grinned and mumbled, “I’m really good at dodging cleavers too!”

✹

The first bell rang when Lin Feng bolted into the classroom. He said a quick apology to the teacher and sat down at his desk in the back of the classroom. “Hey,” he said to Ouyang and then he turned around to An Xin’s desk and repeated, “Hey!” Huh? Where’s BunBun? She’s never late…

The teacher started the class, demanding everyone’s attention. She reminded the students that the college entrance exams were coming up and that this was the most important test in their lives. That they absolutely couldn’t let anything or anyone distract them right now! And Lin Feng took that to heart. He turned his attention to the teacher following the Tang Bingyao approach. I’ll earnestly listen to everything the teacher says! That works for Tang Tang, it’ll also work for me! I’m really good at imitating people too! It was his only option to get a good score. Because between the Winter Collegiate Cup, the Korean ranked ladder and streaming with Su Xue, there was practically no time to also do his homework.

Most students in Senior Class 7 didn’t share the same devotion as Lin Feng. They were distracted by the empty desk in the back of the classroom. It was strange to call in sick so close to the college entrance exams. This was the single most important test in their lives! It decided if they were going to become professional cleaners or doctors! Yet An Xin was apparently sick enough that she gave up on these valuable few hours of class! Quiet whispers buzzed through the classroom. Their messages were largely similar. “Where is BunBun?”

The teacher asked a question, pulling everyone’s attention back to the front of the classroom. It was a difficult one. The kind that Tang Bingyao or An Xin would usually answer. But An Xin wasn’t in class. Her warm, soothing voice wouldn’t sound out from the back of the classroom. Nor would the students get to hear her happy laughter during the breaks. She wasn’t there to answer their questions in between classes either. It was quiet in the class. No one answered the teacher’s question, not even Tang Bingyao who was glancing over her shoulder at An Xin’s desk.

“An Xin called in sick,” the teacher finally said. “Her mom said she’ll be back in two days. Now, can someone please give me the answer to my question?” She paused briefly before adding, “Focus! This is important!”

✹

It was early in the afternoon. The winter sun rose over the buildings, casting its golden glow into Senior Class 7’s classroom. It reflected off the dust particles fluttering in the air and pushed away the cold air. Students were fighting off the drowsiness, listening to their teacher drone on and on about English Literature. Snoring sounds occasionally rang out, until the teacher caught Ouyang sleeping. He received a lecture on going to bed on time and how paying attention in class set him up for a bright future.

The teacher turned back to face the chalkboard. She grabbed some chalk and wrote down how weird the word weird was spelled. It was so dull that even Tang Bingyao was finding it difficult to keep her focus on the lecture. She chewed on her pen and tilted her head at an angle where she could both look at the teacher and glance at An Xin’s desk at the back of the classroom. What’s going on with BunBun? Yesterday she couldn’t even grab some paper and now she’s sick? Something is wrong. Something has to be wrong. But what? Why won’t she tell us? Is she afraid? What can I do? Mhm—

“OUYANG! WAKE UP!” the teacher yelled, waking everyone up. “If I hear you snoring one more time, you’re going to the principal’s office!”

“It wasn’t me!” Ouyang argued, the sleep crust thick on his eyelids. He quickly wiped it away and added, “I’m paying attention! I am! You were talking about weird being weird!”

“You got lucky,” the teacher said. She shook her head, exasperated, and turned back to the chalkboard. “Nevermind. Let’s go on with the lecture.”

Ouyang grinned and nudged Lin Feng with his elbow. He leaned in closer and whispered, “Did you see that, bro? Got out of that nicely, huh? I’m Challenger at sleeping in class!”

Lin Feng blinked a couple of times, trying to stay awake himself. He looked over at Ouyang and nodded a couple of times before turning back to look at the chalkboard. Weird. Yes. Weird is weird. Right. That’s where we were…

Ouyang nudged Lin Feng again and nodded at An Xin’s desk. He whispered, “What’s going on with BunBun anyway? She sick? She looked fine last night. What do you think? Did she just sleep in and get her mom to call in sick?” He glanced at the teacher, making sure she wasn’t glaring at him again, before continuing, “She even joined us at dinner last night! I mean, she wasn’t all that talkative or anything, but no one is always. Right? She looked perfectly healthy! When did she get sick?”

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and mumbled, “Don’t know.”

“Didn’t you bring her home last night?” Ouyang asked. He pricked his finger in Lin Feng’s side and continued, “Did she tell you something? Do you know something? The bro code states that you can’t hide anything from a fellow bro! If you know something, you have to tell me! Wait, wait! She wasn’t feeling great! That’s what she said right before leaving! She must’ve told you more, right? Tell me what she said!”

Lin Feng scratched his nose and stared at An Xin’s empty desk. Something felt wrong last night. But she said she was fine… She said she was fine! I left her at the subway station… But her mom called the school, so BunBun got home safe. She didn’t look fine. That’s why I kept asking! But she wouldn’t tell me! What can I do when she won’t tell me what’s wrong? I can’t do anything if she won’t tell me! He grimaced and shook his head. “I don’t know. She told me she was fine. Just tired…” There was something more going on! Even I could tell! But what is it? Why wouldn’t she just tell me? And what is this stupid feeling in my stomach? Am I hungry…? He ruffled his hair again and focused his attention on the chalkboard. I’ll call her to check up on her later. Maybe that’ll help my stomach…

✹

The dismissal bell rang and the students from Senior Class 7 packed their bags and left the classroom, except for the players from High School 13’s esports team. Yang Fan swirled around in his chair, while Ren Rou and Tang Bingyao walked over to Lin Feng from the front of the classroom. All of them looked at An Xin’s empty desk and then at Lin Feng.

“Maybe she caught a cold last night when going home,” Ouyang suggested. “It’s been really cold outside, but the sun makes it feel warm! Maybe she just wasn’t dressed properly and got cold! Detective Ouyang has cracked the case!”

Yang Fan shook his head. He adjusted his glasses and said, “Doubt it. She didn’t look sick yesterday and she had plenty of layers of clothes on. But she did say she wasn’t feeling too great at dinner last night.”

Ren Rou nodded and said, “If it’s not a cold, then it has to be something more serious, right? What if she’s really sick…” She looked at Lin Feng and asked, “Do you know something? Is she… physically healthy? Like, is there something we just don’t know about? Something that happened years ago and is still bothering her or something? Do you know something?”

Lin Feng shook his head and replied, “No. She’s never been sick a day in her life!” He paused and scrunched his nose. Never? That doesn’t feel right. She has been sick… Has she? Why can’t I remember? It feels like I’m forgetting something…

“How about we visit her?” Tang Bingyao asked.

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and argued, “I’m not sure if that’s the right approach. We don’t know what’s wrong. Who knows, maybe she really just needs rest. What if we go there and interrupt her rest? She’ll need to recover longer! Let’s not do that to her.”

Ren Rou nodded and added, “What Yang Fan says. But we can’t do nothing either. How about…” She turned to look at Lin Feng and asked, “Lin Feng, how about you give BunBun a call? Ask her if she’s alright and tell her that we’re all worried about her and want to know if she’s ok. Then let us know what’s going on, ok?”

Ouyang jumped from his chair and threw an arm around Ren Rou. He then turned back to look at Lin Feng and said, “What Rou Rou says! You and BunBun have been friends forever! She has to tell you! Just ask her and then report back to us! That’s the broway!”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head, watching Ren Rou slap Ouyang away, and finally said, “Yeah. Okay. I’ll give her a call.” I was going to call her anyway. I hope she’s okay. But… Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something? I should know this… He chewed on the inside of his cheeks. I feel like I know what’s going on with her. Dammit, Lin Feng! THINK! What is it?

✹

The next round in the Winter Collegiate Cup was only a couple of days away. Team Shanghai was still a new team that above all needed time for the individual players to grow closer and come together as a team. So even though An Xin was home sick, Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao met up with Zhang Hao and Zeng Rui at the cybercafe. They would simply have to focus on the aspects of their game that didn’t rely on An Xin’s Jungling.

“Where is An Xin?” Zeng Rui asked. “Did she have to go to the toilet?”

“She’s sick,” Tang Bingyao replied, frowning.

Zeng Rui looked at his three teammates, and then at the empty chair and the fifth computer that was turned off. He grimaced slightly before saying, “That’s not great. I received the information for the Round of 16. It’s a bit different from the previous round. There are four groups, and two teams from each group move on to the next round. We’re in Group A together with Zhejiang University…”

“Shit!” Zhang Hao cursed. “Do we have to play them right away? What are we going to do without BunBun?”

“No, not right away. But we’re facing them soon enough,” Zeng Rui answered. “As for your second question…” He looked at his teammates and sighed. I don’t know… But we need her. The most likely situation is us having to play Zhejiang in the quarters. They’re going to make it to Nationals or we are. We need to be ready for them. And we can’t prepare for that without BunBun! We need her here for this! What are we going to do if she doesn’t get better in time? Do we need to find a replacement! We already don’t have a lot of time and I still gotta deal with the thundering dumbass! He chewed on his lips and grimaced. Shit! This is really bad. Really fucking bad!

Zhang Hao slumped back in his gaming chair and mumbled, “I just hope BunBun is going to be okay. But it’d be nice if we could also win, you know?”

Zeng Rui massaged his temples and took a deep, calming breath. He said, “We have to do our best. Four or five of us, we have to play our best and give it our all!” He turned to Lin Feng and added, “Make sure to call her. We need to know what we’re up for. If she isn’t good to play, we’ll have to find a replacement asap.”

Lin Feng nodded and said, “I will call her tonight! And I’ll let you guys know! Don’t worry too much, you’ve still got me! I’m really good at carryin—”

“Too,” Zeng Rui finished the sentence. “Yeah, yeah, we know. But we need our coach and Jungler to win. Just call her and find out how she is and when she’ll be back.”

Lin Feng nodded a bit slower than before. I know… I know. Just trying to lighten the mood a little. I’m sure she’s okay. She has to be! She’s BunBun! She’s always there for me! We need her now, so she’ll be there for me again! It’s how it always goes! It’s how it has to go! He took a deep breath and said, “Okay. I will.”

FatMelon leaned forward in his gaming chair and was just short from shoving the microphone into his mouth. He play-by-play commented on the fight in the bot lane, “Blue team’s Nami and Jinx are stunned by Leona’s ultie! Red team’s Irelia is teleporting in, in, in! She’s there! And now she’s on the Nami hacking away with her blade! That’s an Equilibrium Strike! The Nami gets slowed right after the stun disappears! AND THE JINX FLASHES THE ZENITH BLADE!”

「SSIIIIIIICKK!!!!! Hwo did she dodge that? Aaaaaaaaahhhh Im losing tittt!!11!」
「sheee llivveeesssssss WTTTTFFFFF HOWWWWWW」
「JINX IS GREAT! JINX IS GREAT! 666666」
「WHAT A FLASH! WOOOFNOANSFINAF」

FatMelon wasn’t a very high level player and the gross of his viewers were stuck in Silver or Gold. They hadn’t the faintest idea about the intricacies of a high level fight. All they saw was Jinx flashing away to dodge Leona’s Zenith Blade, and for that they celebrated. But Lightless wasn’t sharing in their happiness. He clicked down on his mouse with a little bit more aggression, unconsciously hoping it would make his Lee Sin run faster, and cursed, “No, idiot! Why Flash? Jarvan is just going to knock you up now and kill you! What a stupid panic-flash!”

The Champions on the Rift couldn’t feel the emotions of their Summoners. Lee Sin ran at the same speed as before and couldn’t reach the fight faster than Jarvan IV. Lightless was forced to watch as Jarvan IV threw down his Demacian Standard and struck out at it with his lance–Dragon Strike! The two skills connected, making Jarvan IV dash forward! The Jinx was out of range, but a Flash fixed that. Jarvan IV carried all the momentum with him and threw Jinx up into the air! He followed up by casting Cataclysm, leaping at Jinx with such force that he terraformed the earth around her into an arena!

「NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO」
「ded jinx jinx is ded, kek」
「wtf! Did you guys see that J4 flag toss flash combo! In-fucking-saaaaaaannneeeee!!!!!」
「WHAT A FLASH! NUWONFNENGOIEGNJS」

✹

Bowie was playing Lucian. The gank in the bot lane in large part his handiwork, coordinated by him through a series of pings. Those pings right now were focused on the Jinx as he shouted at his computer, “Focus the ad-carry! Get that Jinx! Get her!” His teammates couldn’t hear his shouts, but his pings got the message through. Irelia ignored Nami and dashed at Jinx, while Jarvan IV kept stabbing at Jinx with his lance!

“Just a little more! Just a bit!” Bowie mumbled, his fingers gliding over his keyboard. Lucian raised his two relic guns and fired a beam of Piercing Light at Jinx! His passive skill Lightslinger activated. He aimed at Jinx and fired a doubleshot! Then he dashed forward, relentlessly pursuing after Jinx, and raised both guns for another doubleshot!

《You have slain an enemy!》

「rip jinx….. Lightless too… he too late」
「darius and lightless both late to the fight… go figure. NOOB JINX!」
「why did jinx not save her flash?????? Stupid nubs…」
「FK! DON”T LET THEM GET BACK INTO THE GAME!!!!!」

“NOOOOO!” FatMelon cried out. He panned his camera, searching for Lee Sin and Darius. “They’re too late! Nami is still in the middle of the lane! Lightless has lost the damage dealer! HE HAS LOST THE DAMAGE DEALER!”

FatMelon was about to go into an explanation why this play was so detrimental for Lightless’ team when he noticed that the Blue team didn’t give up. He quickly pushed the microphone closer to his mouth and continued, “Lightless hasn’t given up! He’s going in! Safeguard to the Nami! He’s next to Leona! AND HE’S HIT HER WITH A SONIC WAVE! HERE IT COMES! ROOUUUUNND HOOUUUUUSE KIIIIICK!”

After Lightless used Safeguard to dash to Nami, he activated Sonic Wave followed by Dragon’s Rage! His Lee Sin marked Leona and then struck her with a powerful roundhouse kick! She couldn’t keep her feet on the ground, flying off into the distance! Jarvan IV was right behind her. Leona hit him with such force that he was hurled up into the air! It didn’t slow her down. She flew further and crashed into Irelia and Lucian, knocking both of them up into the air!

FatMelon felt beads of sweat popping up on his forehead. He quickly wiped them away, money signs shining in his eyes. “FOUR PEOPLE! HE HIT FOUR! FOUR WITH ONE ULTIE!” he exclaimed, his viewers flooding the chat with similar messages. His throat felt dry, but he ignored it. These high hype moments were when he made the most money! He grinned and shouted, “Now’s the time! Send your gifts! Give your power to Lightless!”

The viewers reacted straight away. They threw their money at FatMelon in the form of subscriptions, donations, and gifts. A hundred thousand people emptied their pockets, lost in the hype! This was the kind of excitement they came to see! And somehow, FatMelon always managed to deliver! He always found the most impressive games and the best plays.

✹

Leona was still marked by Lee Sin’s Sonic Wave. Lightless activated the second half of his Q skill. His Lee Sin dashed at Leona and then slammed his palm down on the ground! A Tempest of qi swept out around him, striking all four Red Champions and permeating into their bodies! The rogue energy wreaked havoc and Crippled them!

Darius strode over into the bot lane and swept out with his axe to Apprehend Irelia and Lucian! They were caught by the axe’s hook and pulled towards him. He then grabbed his axe with both hands and channeled all his power into a wide swing! Decimate! He spun around and cleaved through the air. But Irelia and Lucian Flashed away before the axe could cut them.

「WE GOT THIS BOOYYZYZZZZZ EASY WIN EAZY GAMEEE」
「chase em!!!!!」
「blood for the blood gods, skulls for the skull throne!」
「we gunna win this un!」

FatMelon didn’t consider himself a good player. But after watching so many high elo games, he did believe that he had some understanding of what was going on. He looked at the fight and then read his chat. He shook his head and said, “No. Lightless should give up. That’s still a 3vs4! Red team’s cooldowns will be down soon and then they’ll just kill the Nami and then Lightless and Darius. Look, Lightless has stopped attacking. He’s going to ba—”

“WaitWaitWait!” FatMelon exclaimed. He saw the pings and flicked his camera upriver. Lissandra was moving down the river and closing in on the bot lane. “Lissie is coming! LISSIE IS HERE! We have to fight it! Go in, Lightless! GO IIIIIIIN!”

「dat timing!!!! GOOOOOO LISSIEEEE!!!!」
「get the killllssssss!!!! WOOOPP WOOOOPPPPP!」
「Where’s that idiot who always has his idioms ready? GIMME A STUPID IDIOM!」
「somethingsomething… lost fight won fight, harharhar」
「It’s like having a mattress right under you when you fall over trying to squat on the toilet and take a shit!」
「xDDD youre the hero we need but not deserve」
「LUCIAN BE SHITTIN HIS PANTS RIGHT ABOUT NOW!!!!!」

✹

Lightless smiled when he heard the pings. He glanced at his minimap and confirmed what he already suspected. This Lissandra is great! Hum, always there when you need her! I should have her tryout for Dark Glory! We’d be great together! I’ll even go back to the Jungle! He grinned and shook his head. Can’t believe I’m about to say this… He’s playing better than I am. The thought came as a shock to Lightless. He shook it away and focused on the game. Lissandra was in the bot lane and about to engage. He just had to follow up and help her secure the kills. I’ve played so many games in Korean Challenger. But I’ve never met anyone like her. CN•HOOK2… What a player!

Lin Feng’s Lissandra sent forth an ice claw! It carved a Glacial Path across the Rift, until Lissandra appeared on the far end of it. She intercepted the retreating players from the Red team! Her appearance was too sudden. No one reacted before she flung her arms up into the air, calling forth the ice around her and slamming it into the four Red Champions, rooting them with the Ring of Frost! She followed up with her ultimate! A Frozen Tomb of ice shot up from the ground below Lucian and locked him up inside!

Lightless had his Lee Sin chase after Red team’s Champions, using the dash from Safeguard to close the gap faster than Nami and Darius could. “Nice going!” he shouted at his screen. “Let’s clean this up, Lissandra!” He didn’t care that she couldn’t hear him. He was just feeling great. The synergy he had with Lissandra was something he didn’t have with anyone else. It’s like she knows exactly what I want to do, and then she helps me do that! She’s always there for me! Hum… This is great! He grinned and threw out a sucker punch to knock the health out of Leona. This is the feeling!

Lin Feng’s Lissandra packed a ton of damage after her earlier kills. Her ice magic froze the life from Lucian! An Ice Shard then slammed into Irelia and depleted the last of her health! The smaller chunks of ice knocked into Jarvan IV and claimed his life! Only Leona was still alive. But she was caught out between two enemy Champions with no skills available to escape. She ran towards her outer tower, but fists and ice magic whittled her health down until there was nothing left. Her corpse fell to the ground well before ever reaching the outer tower.

《You have slain an enemy!》
《Double kill!》
《Triple kill!》
《Quadra kill!》

Lin Feng grinned and said, “That’s a win in the bot lane! Didn’t you say something about the bot lane?” He turned to look at Su Xue and laughed. Then he opened his mouth and nodded at Su Xue to feed him another bite of chicken cutlet.

Su Xue felt numb, dazed, shocked! She grabbed some food and shoved it into Lin Feng’s mouth, her mind going haywire. He got a quadra in Korean Challenger… A QUADRA! Oh my god… Oh my god! A quadra! She fed Lin Feng more chicken cutlet and shook her head in disbelief. “A quadra, you actually got a quadra…” She looked at the food in her hand and the rest on the desk. Then she grabbed it all, including what she’d bought for herself, and fed it to him. “You deserve this! I’ll go and make some more! You eat it all up! Eat it!”

✹

The more than a hundred thousand people watching FatMelon’s stream lost it. They absolutely and completely lost it. They expected a brilliant performance from Lightless. That was why they’d tuned in. But they got so much more than just a Lightless show. The Chinese Lissandra in the mid lane was putting on a clinic!

「Hahaha! This is the best! Two Chinese players hard carrying in Korean Challenger!」
「I know right! Who said China has no talent!? KOREA HAS NO TALENT!!!!」
「were gonna be best region!!!!」
「Lawl. Suck that cocky shitheads! china>>>>>>>koreascrubs」
「cant believe how hard theyre carrying, just wow」
「lissie and lightless needa duo queueueu!!!!!」

It wasn’t just the viewers having a good time watching the stream, Lightless was also having a good time playing the actual game! The more he played together with Lissandra, the more fun he was having! He was playing Lee Sin, who was a strong early game Champion that fell off hard in the mid to late game. His real prowess lay in the ability to set up for his teammates. To work together and seize opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist. But to do any of that, he needed teammates who understood him. This Lissandra understands me! I’m stuck with players who don’t know what to do half the time. Some follow up halfheartedly. But it’s so rare to find someone like this lissandra… this CN•HOOK2, he just knows exactly what to do! he plays so incredibly well!

Lightless chuckled and mumbled to himself, “I wonder who this guy is. CN•HOOK2, hum… I know it from somewhere, I must. Just, I don’t remember. Who is it?” He wanted to send a message in team chat again, but held himself back. He hasn’t replied to anything yet. Probably doesn’t want to reveal who he is. I’ll let him have that and just enjoy this game. He nodded and smiled. I really want to know who you are though. But… Having fun in this game is still more important. I’ll bug you after the game! We can chat then!

✹

Lin Feng didn’t care about the stream that Su Xue sometimes showed him on her phone, nor what Lightless was typing in chat. He was playing this game with two goals on his mind and he wouldn’t let his focus from that waver. The first goal was the one he’d given himself. To push himself and keep getting better. And then there was the task One had given him. He had to reach the Top 5 on the Korean ranked ladder. I can’t let One down! And I can’t let anyone think poorly of the name CN•HOOK2 either! I’m going to hit the Top 5 and then keep climbing! This name deserves to stand at the top! That’s what I’m going for!

CN•HOOK2 was one of the names that One used for his secondary accounts. This was completely different from how Lee Dojae gave Han Seho the online handle Rake. Lin Feng didn’t take over the CN•HOOK2 account to carry on the legacy of a name. Because to him and to One, names didn’t matter. He thought back to a conversation he’d had with One years ago. A legacy isn’t about something flimsy like a name. It’s about the spirit that’s hidden behind it. Don’t try and be me. Be you. You’ll create your own legend, just like I have, and everyone will know you for it.

Every time that Lin Feng thought back to that conversation, his heart started racing again. One has always believed in me. He still does! He says I can create my own legend! I will do that! I’ll keep pushing myself and get better! His eyes blazed with an unquenchable fire. This little challenge? Getting to the Top 5? Easy. Consider it done. I’m going to be doing so much more! I’ll be a legend!

✹

The game was still moving forward. Team Lin Feng was destroying Team Random Koreans. Lin Feng’s Lissandra was so far ahead that he had both the damage and the health to kill everyone who came at him. And when the Red team tried to play around him, he just chased after them. He helped his teammates and played in near perfect sync with Lightless’ Lee Sin. Most of all, he was having a good time.

Lightless was in a similar state of mind. There was no real pressure for him when he played in solo queue, nothing like the pressure he felt in professional games anyway. But there was usually the problem of teammates who didn’t know how to play with him. This Lissandra did know how to play with him. He played without hesitation and knew that Lissandra had his back. And that brought with it a kind of joy he rarely felt. He smiled and played. He had the time of his life! Until the 20th minute. The Red team was so far behind that when the ability to surrender opened up, they took it with both hands. Lightless’ camera was pulled over to the Red Team’s base just in time to see their nexus explode. A blue victory crest floated up on his screen.

VICTORY

Lightless only noticed now how he was sitting on the edge of his seat. He let himself fall back in his gaming chair and just stared at the monitor for a good couple of seconds. “We won…?” he mumbled. “We already won…?” Games almost never end this quickly! These Korean Challengers never give up! Why did they have to give up now… He frowned and shook his head. “Would’ve been nice if I got to play a little more. This was a fun game.”

✹

「EZGG! hahaha! We won!」
「LOLLOOLOLOLOL 20min ff hahahahha」
「EASY GAME EASY LIFE!」
「what a motherfucking game!」
「shit that was satisfying!!」
「GG NOOBS」

FatMelon shook his head, laughing, and said, “You guys got it all wrong! Those Koreans weren’t noobs! They’re some of the best players out there! It’s just that our two Chinese players were the real stars! They were just way more awesome! We kicked those Korean butts!”

「yep yep, we’re just too awesome!」
「hahaha! Lightless and that cnhook2 were 6666666666!」
「the mid-jungle synergy was off the wall!」

“I’m still curious to find out who that is, though,” FatMelon mumbled more to himself than to his viewers. But this question was also something his viewers had been trying to answer. Now that the game was over, they could finally focus their attention on CN•HOOK2 and figure out exactly who he was!

「Hey, didn’t somebody say they were going to look up CNHook2’s profile?」
「anyone look him up yet????」
「who is he? DOES ANYONE KNOW WHO HE IS!!! I NEEDA KNOW」
「Where are the streamdetectives!?!??!?!?」

《An enemy has been slain!》

Lightless was in the middle of clearing a Jungle Camp when the message sounded out in his ears. Hum? He moved his camera to the mid lane and found Lissandra clearing Red minions on top of Orianna’s dead body. What happened? He rubbed his chin and mumbled, “That Liss got a solo kill on Ori? How did she do that? Ori still had her Flash…” He shook his head in disbelief and added, “Must’ve really caught her off-guard. Crazy.”

The people watching FatMelon’s stream hadn’t missed what happened in the mid lane. FatMelon was interested in the Lissandra from the very start. Another Chinese player on the Korean Challenger ladder meant another business opportunity for him. So when he noticed Lissandra engaging on the Orianna, he pivoted his camera away from Lightless and showed his viewers how Lissandra butchered Orianna. His eyes went wide in shock over the next couple of seconds. This Lissandra is so good! He grinned and exclaimed, “Oh my god! Did you guys see that? Did you guys see that? HOLY SWEET MOLY!”

「whittle ori down. throw some ice at her. kill her. EASYYYY PEEASSSYYY LEMON SQUEEEZYY」
「bloody hell, mate! The way Lissie over there used her ultie, like a friggin tomb of ice!!!!」
「66666666」
「Mad props to that liss! She knew exactly how much damage she had and linked that perfectly together with her CC!!!」
「LISSIE BEST LISSIE! CHINA>>>>>>KOREANNOOBSS!!!!」
「thats one for the boooks!!!!! SICK!!!! play. fucking mental! X.X”」

FatMelon nodded along to his chat while quickly working his software to pull up a replay of the fight. “Let’s look at this one again! This deserves some extra attention!” he said, grinning. This’ll help me set up for following that Lissandra! Everyone is going to want to watch her! I just gotta hype her up properly!

“Here we go!” FatMelon exclaimed to the camera. He then focused on the replay and reacted to the plays, “Lissandra hits Level 6 right there! See how the Orianna is already low on health? But that doesn’t matter when Liss flashes in!

“Frozen Tomb! WOOOO! Liss uses her ultimate to seal Orianna in a tomb of ice! Orianna can’t move or do anything, while Liss just keeps on firing ice magic at her! Damn! This Chinese Lissandra is gooooood!

“Oh! Orianna flashes away! But… THE LISSANDRA SAW IT COMING! Hahaha! She cast her only movement skill, Glacial Path, in the right direction! Orianna flashed towards it! This was too easy for Lissandra! But damn, what a play! WHAT A PLAY!”

「that final ice shard was soooooo bm! Hahahah XDDDD」
「66666666666666」
「SHOW MORE LISSIE PLAYS PLSPLSPSLPSLSPSLPLS!!!!!」

FatMelon watched the response in his chat and grinned. His eyes read money. Lots and lots of money. This Lissandra is so good! It’s like I’m dreaming! CN•HOOK2, eh? You’re going on the list! I’ll make sure you get a few highlights, especially if you keep playing like this! It would be even better if I can figure out who you are… Just imagine if you’re someone like Hermes! I’ll get hundreds of thousands more viewers! He turned to look at the camera and said, “What an amazing guy that is… I really wanna know who he is! Do any of you have a clue?”

「sounds familiar… but im not sure…」
「psure that’s a dota smurf… shit it’s been like 10 years…. So long」
「I WAS STILL WEARING DIAPERS 10 YEARS AGO!!!!!」
「a dota smurf?!」
「European pancakes >>>>> shitty american small obese pancakes」
「DOTA IS THE BEST MOBA! 1V1 ME!!!!」

✹

Su Xue jumped from her chair in Lin Feng’s bedroom and shouted, “That was great! You just solo killed a Challenger! A Korean Challenger!” She reached for Lin Feng’s shoulders and shook him back and forth. “A KOREAN Challenger!” She smiled. I knew he was good. But. But. He’s beating Korean Challengers! Korean Challengers! Oh my god! Oh my go— She suddenly noticed the half eaten chicken cutlet on Lin Feng’s desk. He hasn’t finished his food? Since when doesn’t he… Oh! He’s too focused! I can help him! She reached for the chicken cutlet and stuffed it into Lin Feng’s mouth, saying, “Here! Eat this! You need to keep your energy up! Eat. Eat!”

Lin Feng kept his eyes on his monitor. He opened his mouth and let Su Xue stuff it full with food, but he didn’t let it distract him. His breathing remained calm and steady and his hands never stopped moving. “Tasty,” he said.

“Good! Eat it all!” Su Xue replied, smiling. I can help him! I just need to help him stay in the zone! Maybe I should get a portable potty in case he needs to… She shook her head and looked at the food again. There isn’t too much left and he’ll need all the energy to stay on his game. She chewed on her lips and then said, “How about this! If you get more kills like that, I’ll prepare you something else!” He’s beating Korean Challengers! Oh my god! Oh my god!

Lin Feng was slightly distracted. Food was a big part of his life. His eyes remained on the screen but he asked, “Do assists count?”

“Yes, yes! Assists count!” Su Xue exclaimed. She leaned closer towards the screen to get a better view and continued, “Just show me more amazing plays! And win the game! Win it! I wanna see you win!”

Lin Feng nodded slowly. I need to win. I’m going to win! All the way to the top of the leaderboards! And I’m also getting food as a reward! This is great! He grinned for a brief moment, but then the focus returned. Focus. Stay focused.

✹

Lin Feng’s Lissandra pulled far ahead of the Orianna, both in terms of creep score and kills. It came to the point where there really wasn’t any value for Lin Feng to stay in the mid lane any longer. So he started to look around the map, searching for opportunities to help his team grab a bigger advantage. His camera stopped on the top lane.

Blue team’s Darius was being pushed in by Red team’s Irelia. Lightless’ Lee Sin was moving up the river to help his Toplaner out. Lin Feng searched around the map. Where is their Jungler? If he goes top… He’s going top. I’ll go top. Lin Feng had his Lissandra push out the minion wave in the mid lane and then sneaked up the river. Every few seconds, he moved his camera up towards the top lane to see how the gank was progressing. Knew it.

Lightless’ Lee Sin and Darius chased after Red Team’s Irelia. But rather than retreating to her outer tower, she waited for Lee Sin to throw his Sonic Wave before jumping on Darius! She dodged the skillshot and then attacked Darius with Equilibrium! Her blade hacked down into Darius and stunned him! Right then, Jarvan IV rushed out of Red team’s Jungle into the top lane and flag tossed at Darius and Lee Sin, landing the double knock up! He followed up with his ultimate skill–Cataclysm! He leaped up at Darius and then slammed down into the ground with such ferocity that the earth terraformed into an arena! All four Champions were locked up inside!

Lin Feng couldn’t help himself from grinning. They’re making it too easy for me! His Lissandra arrived in the top lane and cast Glacial Path! A claw of ice broke through the earth and moved towards Jarvan IV’s arena! Lin Feng pressed down on the E key again to activate the second part of this skill. His Lissandra blinked towards the ice claw, arriving right between Irelia and Jarvan IV! Ring of Frost! She raised her arms with a sudden ferocity, calling forth every particle of ice hidden within the ground. They wrapped around the Jarvan IV and Irelia and rooted them!

“Another frozen corpse,” Lin Feng mumbled, his finger pushing down on the R key–Tomb of Ice! Pillars of ice shot out of the ground and immobilized Irelia! The ice wrapped around her skin and drained away her health. All the while, Lissandra attacked Jarvan IV with Ice Shard. They exploded on his armour, smaller bits and pieces smashing into Irelia behind him!

Lin Feng was purposely switching between attacking Irelia and Jarvan IV. The double is mine. I’ve got enough damage. Doesn’t even matter what the other two do. He glanced at Darius and Lee Sin. Just hope they’re not going to try and kill steal this… Doesn’t matter. I got this. He smiled and pressed down on his Q key for one fine Ice Shard. The attack slammed into Jarvan IV again, before the remaining bits and pieces drained away the last of Irelia’s health. One attack, two kills.

《An enemy has been slain!》

《Double kill!》

Lin Feng didn’t stop to celebrate. He pinged on the outer tower while having his Lissandra clear the Red minion wave that was marching into the top lane. His two teammates understood the message. They helped him kill the minions and then the three of them attacked the outer tower.

Lightless’ Lee Sin followed right behind Lin Feng’s Lissandra. The player in question sat behind his computer in Dark Glory’s headquarters, smiling. This guy is awesome! It’s so refreshing to play with a Midlaner like him! Reminds me of playing with my teammates! I don’t need to say a thing, he just knows what I want to do! Hum… I just have to follow him and I… I can actually… He shook his head and chuckled. I feel like I can trust him. Trust someone in a solo queue game. Kind of ridiculous… and funny. He shook his head again and pressed down on the Enter key.

CN•Wuguang (Lee Sin):「Good job, Lissandra!」

There was again no reply for Lightless. But where it was a conscious choice the previous time, this time Lin Feng didn’t even see the message. Su Xue was stuffing him with more chicken cutlets and telling him how great he was, and he was just trying to keep his eyes on the game. In this process, his happy-go-lucky approach resurfaced a little. He grinned and let go of his mouse to pound his chest. “This game is in the bag! See? I told you I’m really good at roaming too!”

✹

The Red Team had lost the mid lane and also the top lane after Lin Feng’s roam there. Blue team’s Darius got the advantage he needed to pressure the Irelia away from the minions. But the same couldn’t be said about the bot lane. The Red team was dominating that part of the map. This was in large part due to Bowie, the ad-carry for the Red team. He was a famous player on the Korean solo queue ladder who was currently ranked 116th, but he’d peaked in the Top 50! More impressively, he was scouted by a team in the NLB, the second division in Korea!

Bowie sat behind his desk grumbling quiet complaints at his monitor. His Lucian was 2/0/1 and up 26 CS on Blue team’s Jinx at only 10 minutes into the game. Yet he was losing. More accurately, his team was losing. It’s that guy again! He’s… Bowie gritted his teeth. He’d recognized the name CN•HOOK2 in the loading screen and knew his team was in trouble. I thought he was a Support! But… He did play a couple of Mage Supports… He took a deep breath and then mumbled, “Frick!”

There weren’t many players Bowie remembered in solo queue. Most just weren’t good enough to gain his attention. But CN•HOOK2 was one of few exceptions. “CN•HOOK2 and CN•DancingShoes, I remember you two. The Botlaners who rekt me!” He glared at the Lissandra and complained, “I thought you were a frigging Support! What are you doing in the mid lane!?” He’d played against CN•HOOK2 more than a week ago. It was just a single game, but he still got goosebumps when he thought back to that match. They were so good… So frigging good! They rekt me in the bot lane! I couldn’t do anything against them! They were just so in sync. It was… frigging friggity!

Bowie forced himself to calm down through long, deep breaths. But images from that lost game against CN•HOOK2 kept appearing in his mind. And it wasn’t just that game… I looked them up! They had so many wins! I had to double and triple check! Frigging insane! How the frig do they keep winning? I got recruited by an NLB team, and I’m better than any LPL ad-carry… Including that frigging Nightsong! Who the frig can they be? Why can’t I find any information about them? He shook his head, frustrated. They could make it all the way to the Top 10 on the ladder with the way they were playing! How can they not be pros!?

“Why is CN•HOOK2 not playing Support?” Bowie mumbled to himself. He scrunched his nose and complained, “And why is he winning so hard in the frigging mid lane!?” This is frigging stupid! I can’t let him win this game! I’ll splash some red on all those green victories of his! Maybe they’re Koreans with some sick humour? No. No one would be that stupid! We can’t let anyone with that prefix get to the top of the Korean ladder! I’m going to stop him right here! He gripped his mouse tightly, focusing on pushing away Blue Team’s Jinx in the bot lane. I just need to focus and pull really frigging far ahead! Really frigging far! Because that stupid Lissandra already is. Darnit!

Bowie tapped himself on the head and grumbled, “This is going to be a hard one. But I’m not going to let some Chinese nobody beat me again! Or a professional player, who cares? I’m going to beat him!”

✹

Su Xue tapped on Lin Feng’s shoulder, worried. She pointed at the minimap in the bottom right corner of the screen and said, “Red team’s bot lane is winning really hard! I think they’re pretty good! You need to stop them! If they get any further ahead, you’re going to lose!”

Lin Feng shook his head and replied, “It doesn’t matter if their Botlaners are doing good.”

“Because you’re too far ahead?” Su Xue asked. Oh! His Toplaner is also ahead! And Lightless is playing Lee Sin! She moved around in her seat in excitement and said, “Oh, oh! Is it because your Toplaner is really strong? And with the Lee Sin, you guys can kill the Lucian at the start of the fight! Is that it?”

“Yeah!” Lin Feng said. “Lee Sin is pretty good. And we’ve got a nice synergy going on!”

Su Xue rolled her eyes and replied, “Of course he’s good. That’s Lightless! He’s the best player of Dark Glory! You should be happy that he let you go mid!”

“Uh, no,” Lin Feng retorted. “I picked Mid. He didn’t have any say in it.”

“That’s even worse! He’s a famous Midlaner!” Su Xue exclaimed.

　✹

FatMelon’s stream went from following Lightless’ journey in Korean solo queue to fanboying for CN•HOOK2. Everyone wanted to know who this mysterious player was, but they didn’t want to take their eyes away from the game either. FatMelon was just like his viewers, forgetting to even check his chat most of the time.

「this lissandra is awesome」
「lissie has best awareness and roams! 666666」
「LISSIE >>>>> LIGHTLESS MID! FIGHT ME!!!!」
「where the effin ff did this lissandra pop up from? Did anyone confirm if this is that smurf from the DotA guy?」

“WaitWaitWAIT!” FatMelon suddenly exclaimed. He held his hands up and shushed his viewers. “Bot lane! Bot lane!” He moved his camera and focused on the teamfight that broke out in the bot lane 14 minutes into the game.

Red team’s Leona got the jump on Blue team’s Botlaners with her ultimate. She called down a Solar Flare that slammed into Lucian and Nami, stunning both of them! In the brush at the bottom side of the bot lane, a pillar of red light descended. Irelia was teleporting in! And Jarvan IV was charging down into the bot lane from the river entrance!

Lightless had expected the gank in the bot lane and was already on his way. He pinged his Botlaners to let them know that he was only a couple of seconds behind them!

FatMelon took his spot as commentator. He grabbed his microphone and placed it against his lips, shouting, “A huge fight in the bot lane! Lightless is almost there! Darius is teleporting in! IT’S GONNA BE A 4v4!”

「LIGHTLESS SHOW YOUR JUNGLE SKILLS!!!!!」
「CARRY EM NUBS LIGHTLESS!!!!!」
「lightless best JUNGLER IN KOREA!!!!!!」
「Gawd… soooooo boring!」
「Tomb Raider King is so much better than this shit…」
「has the advantage of a god-tier translator like MiracleRifle!」
「Not this Shanks scrub >.>」
「OMGOMGOMGOMGOGM FIGHTFIHGTFIHGT!!!1」

There were different kinds of streamers. Some relied on their good looks, others on their gameplay, and still others on the gameplay of others! FatMelon belonged to this last category. He kept close tabs on when professional players were in solo queue and would then spectate their matches. His current stream was following CN•WuGuang who was better known as Lightless Heart, the Midlaner for the LPL team Dark Glory. He was widely accepted as the second best Chinese Midlaner, only behind Daybreak Hermes, and his team had made it all the way to the playoffs in the previous LPL season. Dark Glory almost even made it to Worlds, but lost that hope to Dust.

FatMelon glanced at his viewer count. It had stabilized at well over 100,000 viewers after the previous game. Perfect! I could get like 300k if I show Rake, Moon, or one of those guys. But there are others already doing that. I’d have to be better than all of them. I was the first streamer who specialized in following Chinese players on the Korean server though. Hehe! Best to stick to this. It’s more than exciting enough! Look at Lightless here! He’s ranked 176th on the Korean server! That’s basically the highest out of any Chinese player! Now just to hype it up a bit more…

FatMelon winked at his camera and said to his viewers, “We’re going to see another game by Lightless Heart! He’s still playing on the Korean server! Will it be another stunning victory? What Champion will he pick in the mid lane this time? STICK AROUND AND FIND OUT!”

「Lightless was freaking awesome last game!」　
「yo no kidding, even the korean challengers cant do anything against our pros」　
「WTF was that teamfight shit though? FUCKIN NUTTY !!!!!」
「shittin good what you mean, yeah? My lord those dudes over there in the Korea land are so much better than us!」
「Their solo queue is, anyway. Ionia is shit next to that!」
「DEFFEFUCKINGNIVETILY higher quality than on Ionia !1!1!!!」

FatMelon read the response he got in chat and grinned. His plan when he started streaming had worked. Chinese fans were fed up with the Korean players claiming they were the best in the world. But it was also a widely accepted fact that the Koreans were the best in the world right now. And that the Korean server was the most competitive in the world. That also meant that there was nothing more exciting to many Chinese players than seeing their fellow brethren lay waste to Korean opposition and rising up the ranks in Korean Challenger!

Individual skill, roams, teamfights, coordination… These Koreans are better at everything. FatMelon shook his head. There was no point in worrying about this. I should be happy! It’s getting me all the viewers I could ever want! I’ve got more than a hundred thousand people tuning in when I stream just to watch Chinese pros play on the Korean server! He took a deep, long breath and read through his chat messages again. A hundred thousand people all came here to watch me spectate a game! I’ve made it big! I am a success!

FatMelon kept an eye on Lightless’s account. Queue in Challenger could take several minutes, which gave him all the time he needed to really hype up his audience for the next game. He pulled up the Korean ranked ladder and scrolled down to 176th. “Just a bit more till he finds a game, guys! While we’re waiting, let’s take another look at the ranked ladder! You all saw how he jumped to 176th after the previous game! But look at this! If we assume he gets the same LP again, he’s going to jump up all the way to 174 if he wins again! Imagine that! We’re going to have a Chinese player ranked 174th!”

Just as FatMelon was about to continue with another tidbit of information, the queue popped for Lightless. FatMelon clicked on the spectate button and his stream showed Champion Select. CN•WuGuang was third pick on the Blue team.

「Hey ! Look at first pick!」　
「Whaaaaat! Check the summoner name!」
「CN•HOOK2? WHAT ABOUT IT?!?!??!?」
「A FELLOW COMRADE!」
「holy shit11111 weve got more challengers/////////」
「wowsers!!! CHINA TAKING OVER KOREAN SOLO QUEUEUUEUEUE!!!!!」

FatMelon was an entertainer. He cared more about the response in chat than about the actual game itself. And right now, his chat was losing it over the player who had first pick. He looked at the name and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Is that another pro?” he mumbled to himself. I don’t know who he is. I don’t think that’s Hermes’ name… Hmm… He does have the CN prefix. Has to be Chinese. He looked at the camera and said, “Looks like you guys are right! Another Chinese player! But I haven’t the faintest clue who this is…” He shook his head before adding, “Maybe it’s a new alt account. The account does look pretty new. It only just got to Challenger. Who knows! But this is great news! It means we have another Chinese player climbing the Korean ranked ladder!” He smirked. Great for my stream! I found him first! I’ll get so many views from this!

「maybe it’s hermes alt???」
「you think? WHat i heard was that hermeS doesnt play on the KOrean serever…..」
「THIS IS A CALL TO ALL HUYADETECTIVES! FIND OUT WHO DIS IS!!!!!!」
「maybe its some troll korean making fun of us……..」
「NO WAY! He has to be Chinese! HAS TO BEEEE!!!!!!」

✹

The headquarters of the Dark Glory gaming  organization was located in downtown Shanghai. It was already deep into the night, but the lights were still on in the gaming room. More specifically, one monitor illuminated the room. Lightless sat in his gaming chair with his feet on the edge of the seat. “One more game. This is the last one,” he mumbled to himself. He was currently sitting in Champion Select and looking at the names of his teammates. His eyes narrowed and he muttered, “CN•HOOK2… I don’t think I’ve seen that name before. Have I? Maybe I have… He looks Chinese… I wonder who…” He looked around the dark room, then shrugged and pressed down on the Enter key. No point in guessing when I can just ask him.

CN•WuGuang:「Hey first pick. Do I know you?」

Lightless Heart waited. And he waited. He’s banning Champions… Maybe he didn’t see it? I mean, why wouldn’t he even reply? He’ll reply. Hum… He’ll reply.

✹

“Look at the chat! LIN FENG! LOOK AT THE CHAT!” Su Xue screamed right next to Lin Feng’s ears, jabbing at the screen with her greasy finger. “Tell him! Say something! He’s a real life pro! Oh my god! I can’t believe you get to play with a real life pro! This is so cool! Say something to him!”

Lin Feng scratched his cheek and said, “I mean, what is there to say? I don’t know him. That’ll be the end of that conversation. So why bother?” He shrugged and started browsing through the list of Champions. Who shall I play? Hmm… I could go for something like LeBlanc. But that’s dangerous in first pick. And I don’t really feel like it. What to play… Oh! His cursor landed on Lissandra. She was an Ice Mage with high damage and powerful crowd control skills. I’ll pick her! He clicked on the icon and then locked her in.

“W-what did you just do?” Su Xue mumbled, staring at Lin Feng in horror. Then she smacked him on his head and shouted, “You stole mid lane from Lightless! YOU STOLE MID LANE!”

“What the! Oww! That hurts!” Lin Feng complained, rubbing his head painfully. “I didn’t steal anything! I’m first pick! That means I get to pick whatever I want! I don’t even know who he is! Why would I trust him to carry from the mid lane? No. The only one I trust in the mid lane is me! So I’m going mid!”

✹

“Isn’t talking, hum?” Lightless mumbled to himself.  “Guess he isn’t who I thought… Oh well.” He shrugged and was browsing through a list of Midlaners, considering which one he wanted to play, when he noticed CN•HOOK2 locking in Lissandra. His eyes widened in surprise and he slowly nodded. “Another mid main, hum? Okay, okay.” His surprised expression morphed into a smile. “I guess that narrows the scope down a bit. I should be able to guess who he is… Just need to see him play a bit first.”

Lightless waited for his turn to pick and read the team chat. Every role was claimed except for the Jungle, so he limited his search to Junglers. I haven’t played around in the Jungle much after the changes in the team… Should be fun to show off what I can do. And I guess it won’t hurt to brush up my Lee Sin a bit, hehe. That’ll also give me a good vantage point to watch this CN•HOOK2 a bit more. Hum… Just gotta camp the shit out of mid lane. He locked in Lee Sin and adjusted his Summoner Spells, runes, and masteries while waiting for the game to load up. “He must have reached Challenger only recently. I would’ve ran into him before otherwise. Who has been playing a ton of ranked lately? Or who hasn’t, I guess. Hum…”

✹

「hooooly shit who the fck is this HOOK2!!!????!」
「is he fcking blind!?!??!/1?」
「wooooooow he actually stole mid from lightless :OOOOOOOO does he think he’s a better mid or something
「WAY TO SCREW OVER YOUR OWN TEAM! NOOOBB!!!!」
「Watch him feed. If he feeds, I swear…. FUCK I WANNA SEE LIGHTLESS MID!」

FatMelon had completely different thoughts from the people posting messages in his chat. He shook his head and said to his camera, “I think you guys are jumping to conclusions here! Who knows how good this CN•HOOK2 dude is? He did make it all the way to Korean Challenger! And look at his match history! It’s almost all wins! Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt!” Let’s do that, hehe. Maybe it really is Hermes! I’ll get rich!

FatMelon shook his head and threw that thought away. Hermes doesn’t play on the Korean server. Don’t get your hopes up! He turned his attention back to the Champion Select and shifted the topic away from CN•HOOK2 and back to Lightless. “Look! Lightless is Jungling! We’re getting to see him in the Jungle again! His Lee Sin is great!”

Lightless Heart was originally a Jungler before making the switch to the mid lane midway during the previous season. He was just far more talented in the mid lane, and the opportunity presented itself after some internal tumuld in Dark Glory. It’d worked wonders, with the team going further than ever before and only just failing to qualify for Worlds. But that wasn’t to say he was a bad Jungler. Anything but. His skills in the Jungle were right up there with the best Chinese Junglers.

FatMelon latched onto this tidbit of information and hyped, “We all remember Lightless’ Jungling skills! Let’s see if we can get any cool Mid-Jungle combos! Some real Chinese synergy! I can totally see those two carry the game together!”

「idk…. still think it would’ve been better to have lightless on mid」
「Seriously! Who the fuck does this hook2 guy think he is? WHy the fuck would he steal mid????」
「fking noobs! IM SO PISSED RIGHT NOW!!!!」
「Maybe fatso streamer dude is right and this hook guy knows what he’s doing…」
「I hope… but dude. what are the odds of that happening????//」
「pls gimme a good game! Plsssss im staying up late for this!」

✹

Su Xue tugged on Lin Feng’s sleeve and asked, “Hey, hey, are you serious? This is Korean Challenger! Not Ionia… If you lose your lane, people are going to rip you to shreds! You know there are always people watching these games! Here, watch!” She grabbed her phone and went to HuyaTV. There she quickly found FatMelon’s stream, which was showing the Champion Select that Lin Feng was in. “See!? And there are a hundred thousand people watching! They’re going to eat you alive! You can’t just snatch mid from a real pro! Oh no, I can already see the clips online…”

Lin Feng just shrugged and grinned. He said, “It’s fine. You don’t need to worry. I’ll carry this game! I’m really good at carrying games too!”

Su Xue looked at Lin Feng and saw the pure confidence in his gaze, felt it in his words. She took a deep, long breath and browsed through the comments on FatMelon’s stream. Most of them were talking about how CN•HOOK2 was going to feed. But if Lin Feng is this confident… Maybe I should believe in him? I can just watch, and if something does happen, I’ll be here for him. Yeah. I’ll make sure nothing happens to him! I’ll be here for him!

Lin Feng felt the weight of his mouse in one hand and the brief resistance from the keys against the tips of his fingers. He closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath in. I can do this. You’re wrong to worry, Su Xue. A few hours ago? Maybe. But not now. I’mm good enough to carry in Korean Challenger. I am right up there with the pros. He breathed out and opened his eyes again. Laser focused. Nothing could distract him. Every second he was finding a little bit more of his old self. I’ll be back where I was, and then get better! An inferno of confidence blazed in his eyes as the loading screen appeared on his monitor.

Team Lin Feng (Blue) vs Random Koreans (Red)

Top lane: Darius versus Irelia
Jungle: Lee Sin versus Jarvan IV
Mid lane: Lissandra versus Orianna
Ad-carry: Jinx versus Lucian
Support: Nami versus Leona

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

The game started without much fanfare. Lin Feng’s Lissandra and Red team’s Orianna were both control mages that needed items to deal damage. So they placed their main focus on last hitting minions. But that didn’t mean they forgot about each other. Orianna’s Ball kept flying at Lin Feng’s Lissandra, and he kept dodging it. All the while, he fired back shards of pure ice. His health remained high, while Orianna’s health started dipping a little bit lower with every exchange.

Lin Feng’s Lissandra took the lead and forced Red team’s Orianna to retreat back to her outer tower. But she had enough skill to make sure Lin Feng couldn’t freeze the minion wave. It pushed towards Red team’s outer tower, forcing Lin Feng’s Lissandra to move further and further forward if he wanted to get last hits on the Red minions.

Su Xue sat next to Lin Feng on the edge of her seat, biting her nails. Her eyes shifted all around, beads of sweat popping up on her forehead. Top! Top! What’s happening in top? Are they doing ok in bot? And where is Lightless!? Oh, he’s in the Jungle. But he isn’t ganking! What if J4 is ganking? Where is J4? JARVAN! Her eyes went wide and she shouted, “Careful! Jarvan IV has to gank a lane soon! He might come mid!”

“I know,” Lin Feng replied calmly. His eyes were trained on his screen as he kept pushing the minion wave towards Red team’s outer tower. That’s why I’m pushing. To make Jarvan gank in the mid lane. He just needs to hurry up. Where is that guy… He glanced at the gametime. Three minutes in. It should be now. I just need to push a little bit more.

Red team’s Orianna let herself be pushed in, waiting patiently for the Jarvan IV to come and gank. And when the Jarvan IV arrived in the brush right above the mid lane, she made her move. She ran forward and commanded her Ball to attack Lissandra! This was also the cue for the Jarvan IV, who charged into the midlane and dashed at Lissandra with his flag-toss combo!

Lin Feng’s eyes narrowed. The change in movements from the Orianna gave the gank away before it happened. He shifted his attention towards the top of the lane, from where the Jarvan IV appeared. Focus. Calm. Wait for the flag. He had his Lissandra wait for Jarvan IV to place down his Demacian Standard, and then dodged the knock up from the flag-toss combo by side stepping it. His finger gently pressed down on the Q key–Ice Shard! Lissandra gathered magical particles of ice into a sharp chunk and hurled it at the Jarvan IV! It smashed into him, damaging and slowing him!

Several pings resounded in Lin Feng’s ears. Lee is finally here. About time. Jarvan IV was right on top of his Lissandra after dashing at him with the flag toss combo. This opened up Lissandra’s second skill for use. Ring of Frost! A wave of piercing cold energy exploded out around Lissandra! Everything caught within was frozen stiff! Red team’s Jarvan IV was rooted!

The Red minions were all fighting Blue minions at Red Team’s Outer Tower. Jarvan IV stood completely out in the open in the middle of the lane. Lightless’ Lee Sin punched the air, sending a discordant wave of sound flying forward! It connected with Jarvan IV, revealing him. Lee Sin activated the second part of the skill, Resonating Strike! He dashed at Jarvan IV, giving him a quick kick, and then slammed his palms down onto the ground! Cripple! A blast of foreign energy penetrated Jarvan IV through the soles of his feet and slowed his movement speed!

Jarvan IV panic-flashed. His health was down to the last few percentages and one more skill would kill him. But that also meant flashing in this situation was the wrong decision. Both Lissandra and Lee Sin still had their flashes up and could chase him whenever they wanted to. But they didn’t need to. Lin Feng’s Lissandra ran after Jarvan IV and quickly got in range to cast an Ice Shard. Still hampered by the slow, there was nothing Jarvan IV could do as the chunk of solid ice slammed against his armour and sheared away the last of his health.

《First Blood!》

「fckkkkkkkkkkk that was a nice turn around」|
「holy shit, r we sure those two aren’t duoing? That was so liit!」
「66666666」
「LIGHTLESSS!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOO」
「that was so sick! SO SICK! SUPER SICK!」
「Those Koreans got baited HAAARRRRDDDDH HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH」

FatMelon clapped his hands and shouted, “That was great! PERFECT! HA! We found ourselves a new great Chinese player on the Korean server! Did you guys see the Lissandra root to let Lightless Q in!? It felt like they were on voice chat! Maybe they’re duo queuing! What do you guys think? And! And! Jarvan IV Flashed away! Hahaha! He flashed! He flashed! Liss and J4 didn’t flash! He did! They didn’t!”

Lightless’ reaction was almost similar to that of FatMelon and his viewers. He hadn’t expected much from CN•HOOK2. All he noticed at first was the Lissandra putting herself in a dangerous situation. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that Jarvan IV was coming for a gank. But it was the way in which the gank played out that caught Lightless by surprise. Hum… That Lissandra never looked out of control. Like she’d planned that all along. Interesting… He chewed on his lips and finally mumbled, “Is he an old Lissandra main maybe?”

✹

Lin Feng nodded and evaluated, “This Lee Sin is pretty half-decent! That was some super okay follow up there! Not bad! Not bad at all!”

Su Xue rolled her eyes and replied, “Duh… He’s a professional player! His team plays in the LPL! And he saved your ass! If he didn’t come to help you out, the Orianna wouldn’t have backed right away and you would’ve died!”

Lin Feng waved this accusation away and concluded, “Nobody cares about what might’ve happened! Only what happened matters! I got first blood! The rest is irrelevant! And from now… I’m good. I won’t need any more help.” He smirked. I’ll show everyone just how good I am. All one hundred thousand of them! This Orianna is just another player that isn’t Rake! I will beat her. I’m going to stomp her so hard that she’ll uninstall the game! And then I’ll carry the game!