Lin Feng didn’t queue up for a ranked game right away. This is One’s smurf! One ranked on it! I… His hand trembled slightly. I need to know. His mouse moved away from the play button and towards the profile button in the top right corner. He clicked and a new page loaded. It showed the recently played matches. Lin Feng’s eyes went wide in shock. So many wins! They’re all wins! Wins everywhere! It’s green, green, GREEN! It’s a Challenger account! How is he getting all these wins!? Lin Feng scrolled through the recent match history, a perfect field of 10 wins. Wait, huh? Annie? Thresh? Why is he playing Supports? What’s going on? One is a Midlaner! He scrunched his nose and moved his head back, confused.

Lin Feng opened up his browser and went to a League of Legends summoner statistics website. There he typed ‘CN•HOOK2’ in the search bar. Come on, show me already! Why is it taking so long!? Go faster! Faster! Ah! The page loaded and showed him a detailed analysis of the games played on the CN•HOOK2 account.

Some of the most impressive statistics appeared on Lin Feng’s monitor. CN•HOOK2 was a relatively new account that played all its games in duo queue together with an account called CN•DancingShoe. Lin Feng recognized this name right away. He knew it almost as well as he did CN•HOOK2’s. Five! That’s Five’s account! One is duoing with Five! They’re playing together! Oh… Now I’m playing on this account, so they can’t duo… But One gave it to me! I have to try my best!

Lin Feng scrolled through CN•HOOK2’s statistics. Wow! One still has it! There are so many wins! He’s winning everything! How isn’t he Top 1 Challenger yet? All these wins! There were a total of 90 games played in duo queue. And nearly all of them were victories. It was only once the account hit Challenger that a couple of losses started appearing. But even then, One and Five were climbing fast! They’re so good! If the Koreans knew about them, they’d be shitting their pants! One will pound them hard! He’s the best! All those analysts saying Korea is the best, they don’t know One! He’s still at the top! He’s still so good! He… He… 

Lin Feng took a long, deep breath. He browsed through the statistics website for another 10 minutes, letting the reality of the situation settle in. This is such a strong account. It went straight to Challenger in only 73 games! That must be like a record! And even in Challenger he barely loses anything! I can’t screw that up! I won’t! Lin Feng balled his hand into a fist, his eyes blazing in determination. I’m going to make One proud! This account is going to go on a massive win streak! I refuse to lose even a single game! Top 5? SCREW THAT! He pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “Watch me climb, One! I’ll make you proud!” He then tabbed back into the League client and entered the queue.

“Hmm, what to play, what to play,” Lin Feng mumbled to himself. I can’t play Support like One has been doing. If I want to carry and reach the top of Challenger, I need to carry. So I’ll play Mid. The queue popped and he entered Champion Select. He smiled as he went through the practiced motions of banning and picking Champions. I’m going to go mid every game and carry! For One, and for myself.

✹

Lin Feng was on the loading screen, waiting for his first game to start. He’d locked in Yasuo, one of his best Champions right now, and had to play against an Ahri. “Let’s see what rank you are,” Lin Feng mumbled while tabbing out of the League client and looking up the Ahri’s statistics. Master? That’s all? I’m playing against a Master Mid? My Yasuo is getting better. There’s no way a random Master can test me. This game will be easy! He smiled and tabbed back into the game.

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

At 4 minutes: Lin Feng’s Yasuo received the help from his Jungler Jarvan IV to pick up first blood on Ahri.
At 6 minutes: Lin Feng’s Yasuo picked up a solo kill on Ahri.
At 8 minutes: Lin Feng’s Yasuo roamed to the bot lane, where he worked together with his Botlaners to secure a kill and an assist.
At 10 minutes: Lin Feng’s Yasuo followed after Ahri who was trying to help her Jungler gank the top lane. He turned the gank around singlehandedly, picking up two kills and an assist. His score was a staggering 5/0/2 with a 96 creep score!

Lin Feng’s teammates were getting carried so hard by Lin Feng that they used a combination of Korean and broken English to write a couple of messages in team chat. They thanked him for carrying them and even gave him a couple of compliments, which was quite an achievement. Koreans rarely ever had anything nice to say about Chinese players on their server. But Lin Feng didn’t care about any of these messages. They weren’t worth his attention, because they didn’t mean anything. He was stomping on a Master player. That was still too easy for him. Just this much doesn’t mean anything. I need to play against Challengers! Against the top Challengers! And so he kept playing, laser focused on the game.

At 20 minutes: The outer and inner towers in the mid lane were already destroyed. Lin Feng’s Yasuo pushed up the lane all the way to the inhibitor tower. The Red team’s Ahri and their Jungler Rek’Sai were defending it. Lin Feng’s Yasuo attacked the Red minions twice with Steel Tempest, a storm quietly brewing at the tip of his blade. Then he unleashed the tornado onto the Rift! It blew through Ahri and Rek’Sai, knocking them both up into the air!

“Last Breath!” Lin Feng shouted. His Yasuo blinked to Ahri and kept both Red team Champions suspended in midair. He attacked with a flurry of slashes before slamming them back down to the ground! The damage was massive! Two more auto attacks finished Ahri off and a Steel Tempest did the same to Rek’Sai. Then Lin Feng destroyed the inhibitor tower followed by the inhibitor.

At 24 minutes: Lin Feng’s Yasuo destroyed Red Team’s Nexus with the help of his teammates. The energy contained within the crystal exploded outwards and morphed into the victory emblem. The all chat blew up with compliments for Lin Feng from his teammates, and salty messages from his opponents about reporting the Ahri for feeding. Lin Feng ignored all of this. He clicked out of the game and checked the League Points he gained for his win. 17 LP! The focus disappeared from his face, making place for his usual grin. I’m really good at gaining LP to— He stopped himself and forced the grin away. This was an easy game against a weak Midlaner. I need to stay focused.

✹

Lin Feng was so focused on the game that everything else around him disappeared. There was only him and his Champion. He played a second game. His lane opponent was a little bit better this time around. They were Challenger and playing Fizz. But Lin Feng still crushed them all the same. He knew the ins and outs of Fizz. Nothing this Korean Challenger threw at him could surprise him. It took him 32 minutes to close the game out. His teammates were impressed with him again. He’d hard-carried them to victory.

The third game followed quickly after the second. And it played out in much the same fashion. Lin Feng’s opponent in the mid lane was a Challenger who played an assassin type Midlaner. Those were simply in the meta, so it came as no surprise to Lin Feng. But he excelled at exactly this type of Champion. He went with Ahri this game and shut Red Team’s Yasuo down. Then he stomped the other lanes and carried his team to a win. It was his third victory of the night.

Lin Feng slowly took a deep breath and then yawned. He stretched out long and rubbed his eyes. What time is it? He glanced at his phone and nodded in surprise. Two in the morning? Those games didn’t take that long, did they? I got school tomorrow. I should probably… But I also kind of want to play another game… Just one mo— Hmm? He looked over his shoulder at the door. There were footsteps on the other side, followed by a soft knocking sound.

“Lin Feng?” Su Xue whispered. She knocked on the door again and then pushed it open. She poked her head through the opening and looked into Lin Feng’s bedroom. “Are you still up, Lin Feng? I saw the lights—” Su Xue pushed the door open, revealing her pink Jinx pyjamas, and looked at Lin Feng sitting behind his desk. She said, “Why are you still up? Don’t you have school tomorrow? Do you know what time it is? It’s almost 2 A.M. young man!” She glanced past Lin Feng at the screen of his laptop. “League?” She narrowed her eyes and continued, “You’re still up because you’re playing League? You little addict! Turn that off and go to bed! I don’t want to spend all morning tomorrow trying to wake you up! I swear, I’m gonna use the sharp end of my cleaver on you one day!”

Lin Feng leaned on the back of his chair and said, “But—”

“To bed or a beating! Your choice!” Su Xue interrupted, glaring at Lin Feng.

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and mumbled, “Oh, uhm, I’ll go to bed… in a bit.”

“Did I stutter?” Su Xue asked. She wagged her finger and ordered, “You’re turning off your laptop and going to bed right now, young man!”

“Ah, come on! Don’t be like this!” Lin Feng complained. I just want to play one more game! I’ll wake up fine in a few hours! He turned his chair around and blinked a couple of times, imitating An Xin’s puppy eyes. He then placed his hand together in front of him and begged, “Please, please! Just let me play one more game! One more game! That’s all I’m asking you!”

Su Xue stamped her feet on the floor and yelled, “You’re an addict! You’re acting like an addict! You know that real professional players value their rest! A good night’s sleep is…” She shook her head in frustration. STOP LOOKING AT ME WITH THOSE DAMN PUPPY EYES! I NEED TO BE MAD AT YOU! She pinched her eyelids shut and yelled, “TO BED WITH YOU!” But she couldn’t stop herself from opening her eyes and glancing at him. Damn those puppy eyes! She chewed on her lips and finally caved, “Fine. One more game. But this is your last game! No more excuses after this!”

“Okay! I promise! This’ll be my last game!” Lin Feng exclaimed, excited. I’m feeling good and focused! This is how it should be! Just a few more games! I need to feel this state! Get back into it! I can’t quit now! This is gonna be goo— His stomach growled and rumbled.

Su Xue rubbed her forehead and shook her head. “Jeez, what’s gotten into you? Even your stomach is protesting against you playing this much! Fine, fine, whatever. I guess you’re hungry, right? Let me just call for some late night delivery. They’re used to staying open late just for you anyway…” She sighed to herself. I finished my stream… Might as well stick here and watch him play his last game. Then I can also make sure that he actually does go to bed. Uch… Tomorrow is going to be terrible. How will I get him out of bed in time for school? I’m not his mom, dammit!

✹

Lin Feng was a habitual late night snacker. It was so bad that the local chicken shop stayed open late just for him. It didn’t take more than five minutes before the doorbell rang. Su Xue got up and went to pay for the chicken cutlet, octopus balls and soda. When she got back to Lin Feng’s room, she sat down next to him and looked at the League client. Lin Feng was already in the queue. He should get into a game in no time! And knowing him, he’ll carry it to a win in 15 minutes! It’s okay. He’ll be in bed before 3! She smiled and said, “Alright, let’s eat.”

“Ok!” Lin Feng exclaimed, grabbing the chicken cutlet and sinking his teeth into the tender meat. He swallowed it down and was about to take a second bite when he looked up at Su Xue. He said, “They’re really fast these days!”

Su Xue shook her head and said, “That’s because I paid extra for express delivery! And probably because they keep a portion ready just for you. We order almost every single night! You do know eating this late is bad for your health, right? We really need to stop doing this!”

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and asked, “Is it? I didn’t know.”

“Yes it is! You don’t eat 12 hours after breakfast! That’s just common sense!” Su Xue countered. She sighed and rubbed the back of her head. I’m too young to be a mother… Why do I feel like I’m his mother? He’s 19! But he acts just like a little kid most of the time! She shook her head and said, “You kids don’t seem to care about your bodies at all! I’m surprised you’re still alive sometimes…”

Lin Feng reached for the octopus balls and popped one into his mouth. He sunk his teeth in the crunchy outside, and then he yelled! “AAAH! HOT! HOT! HOTHOTHOT!”

“Are you stupid?” Su Xue screamed. She grabbed the soda and clicked the can open, all the while complaining, “I told you to be careful! I always tell you to be careful! But nooooo, you have to go and get your tongue burned! Here, drink this!” She pushed the can to his lips and tipped it slightly to let the cold liquid flow into his mouth. “SLOW DOWN! Slow it! You’re going to choke! Oh my god! How stupid are you!”

“The soda is good! Thanks for feeding me!” Lin Feng said, grinning again. He then grabbed the chicken cutlet and took another bite from it. “Mhhmmm! Delicious!!”

Su Xue shook her head, but knew better than to argue. She kept glancing at Lin Feng, making sure he didn’t do anything else that required her intervention, then grabbed her own chicken cutlet and nibbled at it. “It is good,” she mumbled. “Just… I’m going to get fat if I keep eating this with you…”

Lin Feng swallowed another big bite and briefly paused to say, “You can just not eat it and give it to me…”

“Like it’s that easy!” Su Xue complained. She turned her head to look at Lin Feng and whined, “You don’t get how hard I have it! I smell this delicious food every night, so of course I’m hungry! I want to eat it! But then… Then I look at the new up and coming streamers.” She shook her head and grimaced. “You know that 90% of them are female? And they’re all really pretty! They must be using some kind of filter, but still. It’s so unfair! They’re getting all those views with their looks! I’m working really hard here to create something special and they just come barging in with their boobs fitted in clothes three sizes too small!”

“You’re losing viewers?” Lin Feng asked, surprised.

“NoNoNo! I’m doing good! I’m still getting more viewers. But still!” Su Xue exclaimed. “I should be getting more!”

Lin Feng grinned and looked at his League client. The queue still hadn’t popped, something that wasn’t strange. There were only a few hundred this high on the ranked ladder. The game needed to find 9 of them at the same time for a match. “Oh!” he suddenly said. “How are your videos doing? Going any better yet?”

The gloominess disappeared. Su Xue sat up a little straighter and a smile blossomed on her face. She said, “Yeah! I was just about to tell you about that! The second video got a much better reception than the first! There are still some idiots who don’t like it and the usual trolls and flamers in the comments. But who cares about them? There are many more who like my videos!”

Lin Feng swallowed another piece of chicken cutlet and shrugged. “There are always flamers and trolls. Best to ignore them. You shouldn’t worry about them. Just keep making more videos! You’ll find an audience who loves them!”

Su Xue nodded and replied, “I won’t let the trolls get to me! No worries! Not like I can let that happen! I want to become the biggest streamer in China, remember? There’ll always be trolls…” She shook her head and looked at Lin Feng’s monitor. “What’s got you all pumped up to play tonight anyway? Are you in your promos or something? Is that why this queue is taking so long?”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and said, “Oh, I’m in Challenger. There aren’t any promos.”

Su Xue nodded along, nodded, nodded, and then her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. “CHALLENGER? Did you just say Challenger!? This is the Korean client! I thought your account wasn’t in Challenger yet! How are you in Challenger already? This is so unfair! How did you get to Challenger this quickly!? I look away for one second and you’re suddenly playing in Challenger? This is so unfair! No! I don’t believe it! You’re lying! You have to be!”

Lin Feng shrugged and opened his profile page. He then pointed at where it showed his rank. “See? Challenger. I’m not lying to you.”

“W-w-w-w-w-w,” Su Xue muttered. W-w-w-w-when did he get to Challenger? She grabbed Lin Feng by the shoulders and shuffled him around, yelling into his face, “Tell me! When did you get Challenger! There are like only five Chinese players in the Korean Challenger! AND THEY’RE ALL PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS! When did you get there! Are there 6 now? Are there? Tell me! TELL ME!”

“Eh, what? No, no,” Lin Feng replied, shaking his head. “I didn’t get to Challenger myself. A friend lent me his account.”

Su Xue blinked a couple of times and then slowly repeated, “A friend lent it to you…?”

Lin Feng nodded and added, “Yeah, he wants me to get it to the Top 5.”

The way in which Lin Feng was talking was far too casual. Top 5 on the Korean ranked ladder was something even the best professional players from China couldn’t achieve. They were lucky just to get into Challenger! That was what Su Xue had read online, anyway. She stared at Lin Feng’s laptop and back at him again. “W-w-w-w…” She grabbed her soda can with trembling hands and downed cold liquid. Then she took a deep breath and asked, “What did you say?”

Lin Feng looked at Su Xue. What’s got her all worked up? Maybe she didn’t hear me? “I said,” he repeated slowly, articulating every word overly clearly. “I need to climb to the Top 5 of the Korean ranked ladder.”

Su Xue’s mouth fell open. She closed it with her hand, only for it to fall open again when she moved her arm away. She then felt her own forehead before reaching out and feeling Lin Feng’s forehead. Something is wrong. Either I’m really, really sick and losing it… Or he is! That has to be it! He stayed up too late too much and now he’s sick! His mom is going to kill—

“What are you doing?” Lin Feng cut in.

“I’m trying to see which of us is running a fever!” Su Xue replied. There’s no way I heard that correctly! Top 5 in Korea? There hasn’t been a Chinese player who managed to get to the Top 10! This is ridiculous! Something is going on here! Who has the fever! She wanted to reach out and feel Lin Feng’s forehead again, but was stopped by Lin Feng shoving her away.

The queue had popped. Lin Feng’s gaze became serious and he said, “Enough. I need to focus.” He didn’t listen to Su Xue complaints and focused on Champion Select. He was first pick on the Blue team. That meant that he could ban three Champions. Hmm, who do I ban? I could… He shook his head before the thought could even take shape. Three random Champions. I need to practice against the best! He banned Skarner, a rarely played Jungler. Then he glossed through the list and banned Cho’Gath, a Toplaner and sometimes also a Midlaner. People rarely ever touched him. And finally he also banned Galio, a Support Champion who was in dire need of a rework.

Su Xue took the time Lin Feng used to go through banning three Champions to look at who else was on his team. Maybe I’ll r— Her mouth fell wide open. She pulled on Lin Feng’s shoulder and shouted, “OH MY GOD! CN•WuGuang! THAT’S CN_WuGuang! You know who that is? Do you? Do you!? That’s Lightless Heart! LIGHTLESS HEART!” 

Lin Feng pushed Su Xue’s hand away, annoyed, and asked, “Who is that?”

The illustrious person known as One was a 28 year old man living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He’d bought a small villa on the outskirts of the city where he lived together with the woman of his dreams. Just the thought of her awoke that warm, happy feeling in his stomach reaching up to his heart. He was napping on the couch in his living room, vaguely listening to the sounds coming from the television. The faint sound of a door creaking suddenly clapped in his ear like thunder. He shot up straight and ruffled his puffy hair to look somewhat representable. Then he looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. I love you.

Five had wrapped a white bath towel around her chest and was brushing her long, black hair. “Hey, sweety. Anything fun on tv?”

The words didn’t register. One just stared at Five and counted his lucky stars. It’s like God put an Angel on Earth just for me. You’re perfect. How you look and who you are. There’s nothing else, no one else in the world as perfect as you are. I didn’t believe perfection existed, until I met you. On that day, I wanted to give you my heart. I wanted to tell you everything and give you everything! You have no idea how happy I feel just to be near you! He bit on his lips and shook his head a bit, smiling. “Hmm?”

“The TV,” Five repeated, nodding at the large television affixed to the wall. “Is it fun?”

“Oh, that,” One replied. He scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, I guess?” He glanced over his shoulder and then quickly back at Five. He looked into her dark obsidian eyes that were so bright, and he smiled. He just smiled. Smiled and stared into her eyes. You’re perfect in every way! But your eyes, your eyes are something else entirely. There is such a strong life shining in them! I just… Nothing is difficult when I look into your eyes. I just want to take you in my arms and hold you! “You’re as pretty as the first day I met you,” he said before even realising he did.

Five giggled and said, “I was going to ask your opinion on some new clothes I bought the other day, but…” She placed her finger on the rim of her towel, just above her breasts, and seductively moved it around the edge. Then she winked and moaned, “But it seems you’re more interested in something else.”

One breathed saliva down the wrong hole. He lurched forward, coughing loudly into the couch. Fuck I love her! His eyes teared and his lungpipe hurt, but he forced the coughing down. He looked back up at Five, smiling again, and said, “Please… You know that I love everything you wear! And that I also love it when you don’t wear anything at all!”

“You smooth criminal!” Five replied, giggling. She blew One a kiss and added, “Pointless to ask your honest opinion anyway. You’ll say anything to get laid!”

One and Five weren’t just looking to spend the rest of their lives together, they’d already spent a short lifetime together. The two met each other on the competitive stage of DotA, where they fought together on the same team. They quickly became the most famous esports power couple in the world. Two legends at the game. And when One eventually took the crown of best in the world, Five was right beside him. She was his Queen, not just in name but also in merit. She was the best female DotA player and had, just like One, eventually received a place in the Esports Hall of Fame.

Five let One coax her into sitting down next to him. She wrapped the towel a little tighter around her, her buttocks planted firmly on the soft leather of the couch. I should get changed. He’s just looking for some… And he’s dirty! I’m finally clean after a nice shower… I’m not going to get dirty again! “Nope! Not happening!” Five said decisively when One reached over to kiss her. “When was the last time you showered!? I… I think I should go and put some clothes on!”

“What? I showered this morning! Here, smell! Don’t I smell great?” One said as he leaned over again, planting his lips on her. They’re so soft… He moved his hand along her side and reached lower, but she quickly slapped him away.

“Nope! Not happening,” Five repeated.

“Awww,” One replied. He then grinned and threw his arm around her shoulders, looking back at the television. The two sat there like that for a good few seconds, until One said, “Right. I called Lin Feng the other day.”

“Lin Feng?” Five asked, surprised. She turned to look at One and said, “I haven’t spoken with him in ages! How is he doing these days? You said he was playing again a bit, right? How’s that going?”

One smiled and explained, “He’s doing alright. A bit slow, but that’s okay. He’s trying to find his old form again, just isn’t going about it too fast. So I gave him a little push. You know, my Korean account we sometimes play on. I’m kind of excited to see what he’s going to pull off on that.”

“A little push? Your Korean League account?” Five said, her eyes growing wider. “We got your account to Challenger! What, are you going to tell him to get to the top of the ladder and play a few games against Rake!?”

“Exactly!” One replied, laughing.

Five giggled and asked, “You sure that’s the reason? It has nothing to do with you being so bad that you need me to carry you? Was it too embarrassing to ask me for help?”

One rubbed his nose and grimaced. “Well, uhm, you know… That’s just not fair! We duo queue! I’m just as valuable! Plus, this is for his own good. He’ll never catch up to that Korean kid if he doesn’t challenge himself a little. And come on, he’s pushing himself by playing some university tournament… He isn’t going to learn anything there!”

Five watched One in silence as he argued why the little push he gave was all in Lin Feng’s best interest. She eventually nodded and said, “Sounds like you know what you’re doing. Eh, he’s a good kid. If anyone can do it, it’s him.”

One laughed and said, “We’ll see, we’ll see! Right now I’m just hoping he can stay in Challenger. It would really suck if my account drops back down to Master. Took us way too long to get to Challenger…”

“You know…” Five said. She winked at One and continued, “If you’re so worried about your account dropping ranks, how about you give him my account. It’s also in Challenger. Doesn’t that sound like a good plan? Yeah! Come, let’s call him and tell him the good news!”

“No, no! He needs my account!” One quickly countered. He leaned a bit closer to Five and continued, “I gave him your number and told him to give it to BunBun. She should call you soon. I’m sure you can find someone to carry your account.”

“BunBun? How is she?” Five asked. Then she giggled and added, “Those two are still together, huh?”

One nodded and said, “They are. Even on the same team! And she’s playing on the team too this time. Just…” He looked at the television and mumbled, “Just for some reason she’s playing in the Jungle… Hey, hun. My memory is pretty bad these days. Was BunBun a Jungle main?”

“Jungle? No, I think that was her least played role. Why would she be playing in the Jungle?” Five replied, equally puzzled.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” One mumbled in response. “It’s strange. I wonder why she chose to play in the Jungle. There must be a reason for it, I guess?”

✹

Lin Feng had returned to the restaurant after seeing An Xin off. There he enjoyed another hour of entertainment with his friends before going home together with Su Xue. When they got to the front door of the apartment, Su Xue opened it because Lin Feng had forgotten his keys again. He quickly brushed past her and said, “Thanks, Su Xue! I’m going to do my homework!”

A lot of Lin Feng’s free time went to playing League of Legends. But he never forgot to do his homework. The first thing he did every day after coming home was blitzing through his homework. It didn’t matter to him if he lost sleep over it, or if he missed out on some League of Legends because of it. He had to finish his homework first. This time that meant studying for an upcoming Mathematics test and writing a short story for his English Literature class.

It was already nearing midnight when Lin Feng put his pen down. “Finally! That took long, but…” He looked at his homework. It was all done. “I’m really good at doing homework too!” He grinned and then closed the document he had open on his laptop. League of Legends… The shortcut for the League of Legends client was the first thing that drew his attention on the homescreen. I should get started on that. I’m going to need all the time I can get if I want to complete One’s challenge.

Lin Feng connected to the internet through a proxy server and opened the Korean League of Legends client. Then he took out his phone and opened his WeChat conversation with One. There, as promised, was the account information. I wonder what account One got me. Did he really climb to Challenger himself? Of course he did! He’s One! Lin Feng typed in the information and logged in. The League of Legends client loaded him to the front page. He looked at the right top corner where it showed the Summoner Name.

CN•HOOK2

CN•HOOK2! Lin Feng had prepared himself for the possibility that this was One’s account. But this account was so much more than just a random account One boosted to Challenger! CN•HOOK2 was the online handle of One’s second account back when he played DotA competitively. Everyone back then knew that it was One’s account! And they might still! I have to do the name proud!

Lin Feng’s eyes were wide and his stomach twisted into a tight knot. His breathing was short and raggard. One gave me his account! This is really his account! I promised One to get his account to Top 5. But… This is his account! This isn’t just some random account or some random name… This is his name! His name! Lin Feng felt his heart smashing into his ribcage, his mind as messy as the hair on his head. His name. I promised to get his account to Top 5 Challenger. But this is really his account! He has given me his name! I’m playing on his account! I’m the legend… I can’t let him down. I can’t, absolutely can’t let him down. Lin Feng stared at his screen, a fire blazing in his eyes. I won’t let him down. Top 5? Screw that! This account is going to the top of the ladder! I’m going to be the best!

Zuo You looked around the table at the members from Team Shanghai and the few other people she remembered from the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. They’re Lin Feng’s friends. I don’t forget faces. Her job back in her old role was to suck up to people. And she was very good at it. She smiled and nodded at herself. All right! Time to get this party started! I’ll show these kids why the boss used to pay me so much money! She glanced at Tang Bingyao and An Xin. And we need to celebrate a little extra for you two. Girls beating those competitive boys! I love seeing that! Serves those dumbasses right for saying girls can’t play games! Shut them right up! You two were fantastic!

“Hiiiiiiiiii!” Zuo You said, drawing everyone’s attention. She stood up and raised her glass, a large pint of beer, and said, “Today was a great day! We saw Tang Tang and BunBun here carry you guys to the next round, once more proving that girls are just as good as guys!” She winked at Tang Bingyao and An Xin and added, “Did Lin Feng tell you girls I’m a diehard feminist? And I’m also a League addict! I love nothing more than to see girls do good at League! Watching you two play today was a dream come true! It was fantastic!”

Lin Feng looked from Tang Bingyao to An Xin and back to Tang Bingyao. He then mumbled, “I think I played really good too…”

An Xin glared at Lin Feng and was about to say something, but Zuo You was faster. “You were also great! Your Fizz gave me flashbacks to that time you helped me out with my coworker! And you looked so much better! But anyway…” She raised her glass a little higher. “I just wanna congratulate all of you on a well played series! GRATS!”

“GANBEI!”
“PROOST!”
“SKAL!”
“ROUND OF 16 NEXT!”

Everyone raised their cups and drank them empty! One big swig, as was tradition! The alcohol flowing through their veins boosted their social skills, opening up a night of fun and laughter! That was how Zuo You had imagined it, anyway. She glanced around the table, confused. Why did they all order soft drinks? Aren’t they 18? Why don’t they get the good stuff? I’ve never had to socialize with… sober people… “Uhh…” She briefly hesitated before asking, “Why are you guys all drinking soft drinks? Aren’t you all legal? Don’t tell me you guys don’t like beer. You know there are other alcoholic drinks, right? If you don’t like beer, you can just get some wine or even something sweet like a breezer…” She trailed off, stopped by the wide-eyed looks of horror around her.

Ren Rou and Ouyang were shaking their heads, terrified. “No! NO!” was what they were trying to say without spelling out the words. It was their best attempt to keep the booze away from Tang Bingyao without telling her to her face that she was not a fun drunk. Everyone felt like this, all in their own ways trying to convey the message to Zuo You. The memory of Tang Bingyao’s birthday party was still fresh in their minds. And they knew for a fact that they enjoyed her company better when she was sober.

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and looked around the table. Why is no one saying anything? Oooooh! They’re playing a game of ‘don’t say the words’! He grinned and nodded at Zuo You, grabbing her attention. He then pointed with his eyes at Tang Bingyao and said, “Bad stuff happens when the alcohol comes out.” He pointed with his head at Tang Bingyao and continued, “We’re not drinking!”

Zuo You scrunched her nose and looked at Tang Bingyao. She asked, “Bad stuff? What does that even mean? Is Tang Tang bad with the alcohol? Or…?”

“Not just bad!” Lin Feng exclaimed, forgetting all about the game. He shouted, “She’s terrible! You don’t know what happened last time! But it was terrible! She became this completely weird pers— AJJHHH!” He abruptly turned to look at An Xin and yelled, “BunBun! What did you hit me for!?”

Tang Bingyao slumped back in her seat, trying to hide from the others. They can have alcohol if they want. I can just not have any. Mhm. What happened at my birthday party that they don’t want to drink with me anymore? Why are they all looking at me? Did I do something… She bit on her tongue and wanted to disappear. It wasn’t that bad, was it? I just… Lin Feng had to carry me home, but… Oh my god, he had to carry me to his place. Her face heated up. She scratched her forehead, trying to hide her embarrassment behind her arm, and mumbled, “N-no! It’s… It’s… I just…”

Tears wetted Tang Bingyao’s eyes. She inhaled sharply, trying to draw them back. Don’t cry. Don’t let them see you cry. She chewed on her lips, the inside of her cheeks and her tongue. Her stomach was tied in a knot and she really wanted to get up and run away. I can’t run away. No running. Mm-mhm. I can’t look at them again then. They’re still my friends. She took a deep breath and finally said, “I just had a little too much last time we drank. Mhm.”

Zuo You looked at Tang Bingyao and then at the others around the table and shouted, “What’s wrong with you people? Socially inept freaks!” She turned back to Tang Bingyao and smiled warmly. “Hey, Tang Tang. Don’t worry about it. That happens to the best of us. It’ll be a fun story in a few years. Here, come, have a drink and let’s just have fun! Ignore those insensitive assholes!”

✹

The waiters brought the food out and with that came the return of the lively atmosphere. The delicious smells made everyone forget about Tang Bingyao and alcohol, and even Tang Bingyao herself sat up a little straighter again. But it wasn’t until Lin Feng grabbed a chicken wing that everything returned to normal. He clutched it tightly, then punched it up into the air and declared, “We’re going to win the Collegiate Cup!”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and analysed, “This is the first time high school teams are competing. If you guys win, that means you’ll become the first ever high school team to win a university tournament.”

Ouyang nodded and said, “Yeah, yeah! Our bros are gonna win this! They’ll be the first high school team to win the Collegiate Cup!”

Zhang Hao took a big swig from his drink, pineapple flavoured, and said, “We’ve already reached the Top 16 at Regionals. I think the only two teams who can stop us now are Zhejiang and Fudan. We’ll win against everyone else!”

“TTSSSSSSK!” Zuo You replied. She giggled and continued, “Have some confidence! I saw you play today. Fudan and Zhejiang are shit! You guys can totally beat them! And it’ll be super fantastic when Tang Tang and BunBun carry you to Nationals!”

Lin Feng quickly chimed in, “And me! I’m really good at wrecking university teams too! Who cares about their names!?”

Zeng Rui felt the nagging throb at the back of his head again. She’s just as bad as he is. They’re like some overconfident twin-duo-something… Thundering dumbasses… He took a deep breath and explained, “Zhejiang University and Fudan University are strong teams. It’ll take a lot of careful planning to beat them.”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses again and said, “You’re right. They’re very strong. I’ve watched some of their games. But I’ve also seen you guys play. I think you guys stand a good chance. It’s winnable.”

“Of course it’s winnable!” Ouyang shouted. “These are our bros! They’re the best! It’s gonna be an easy win! HOORAH FOR OUR BROS!” He raised his glass and drank it empty.

An Xin hadn’t said much of anything all night. She looked around the table and smiled. They’re all happy. That’s good. But I… She gritted her teeth and took a long, deep breath. This is too much for me right now. “Guys…” She waited for everyone to look at her before continuing, “I’m… I’m sorry. I’m not feeling great. I think I’m going to go home and get some rest. You guys celebrate. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Goodnight.” She got up from her seat and grabbed her stuff. Then she looked at everyone, an apologetic expression on her face, and said, “I…” She paused and took another deep breath before continuing, “I’m sorry.”

Everyone looked at An Xin in surprise. They hadn’t even really noticed how absent she’d been until now.

“Are you okay? Get some sleep.”
“Yeah, go home and rest a bit. I hope you feel better in the morning.”
“Do you want me to call you a cab?”
“Is there anything we can do for you?”

Su Xue looked at An Xin. She looks a little pale. Is she really ok? She chewed on her lips and listened to the others wishing An Xin a speedy recovery. No. We can’t just let her go home like this. She nudged Lin Feng, who was sitting next to her, and whispered, “Hey, bring her home. Make sure she’s ok.”

Lin Feng felt Su Xue nudge him and vaguely heard what she was saying, but wasn’t really paying attention to it. His eyes were locked on An Xin. What is this feeling? Why do I feel like I should… He chewed on his lips and rubbed his stomach. What did Su Xue say…? He turned to look at her and finally connected the dots. Bring An Xin home. That’s what I’m feeling. “Hey, BunBun?” he asked. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

An Xin raised her eyebrows, surprised. Him? She smiled at Lin Feng and said, “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a long day. I need to rest a bit and I’ll be as good as new!”

“Oh, okay…” Lin Feng replied. I can’t let her go home like this. It feels all wrong. I’m going to send her home! He got up from his seat and grabbed his own coat. “Hold on. I’ll bring you home!”

An Xin paused. She turned to look at Lin Feng, confused. You’ll bring me home? Did you just decide to bring me home all by yourself? That’s so not you… But it’s a nice change. She smiled and briefly considered it, but then shook her head and said, “It’s nice of you to offer. But there’s no nee—”

“I’m bringing you home,” Lin Feng cut her off. He put on his coat and wished the others a good night.

An Xin bit on her lips. I don’t want… She shook her head and closed her eyes. “Fine. Fine.” She allowed Lin Feng to grab her arm and walk her out of the restaurant.

Tang Bingyao watched this happen from her seat at the table. She hadn’t said anything through this entire scene, except for a quick goodnight. There was no jealousy that led her to act like this, but rather worry. Something’s wrong with BunBun. I saw her hand tremble when she took that piece of paper from Zeng Rui. That really happened. She’s not okay. She’s lying about something. What’s wrong? Is there something I can do? Mhm. I’ll have to ask. When I get her alone, I’ll ask. Mhm!

✹

It wasn’t far to the subway station, which was where An Xin wanted to go. Lin Feng offered to call her a cab multiple times, but was quickly shut down each time. When they arrived in front of the subway station, An Xin stopped and tried to pull free from Lin Feng’s arm. She smiled at him and said, “It’s okay. You brought me far enough. I can go the rest of the way by myself.”

Lin Feng nodded slowly, but didn’t let her go. He looked at her and asked in a tone that was far more serious than he usually spoke, “BunBun. Are you really okay?”

An Xin forced a smile and nodded. “Idiot. I told you I’m okay. I’m really, really, really okay. Ok? I’m just a bit tired.”

“Really? Why does it feel like you’re lying to me then?” Lin Feng asked, doubtful.

“Lying? Since when can you tell when someone is lying?” An Xin asked sarcastically. Please let me go. Please.

Lin Feng glanced past this attempt to change the topic and repeated, “Are you really okay?”

“Yes I’m sure! Drop it!” An Xin said, annoyed. Drop it and go!

“Really?” Lin Feng asked again. Something is feeling wrong. Why does this feel wrong? Can I really let her go alone? “Really?”

“REALLY! REALLY! REALLY! I’M FINE!” An Xin yelled, quickly becoming very angry. I can’t hold this up! GO AWAY!

Lin Feng chewed on his lips and looked An Xin up and down. He finally asked, “Really?”

I need to look strong. An Xin suddenly stood very straight. She raised her fist and smacked Lin Feng on the head. “You’re an idiot! I said I’m fine, so I’m fine! Now I’m going to go before I miss my train. Stop following me! Goodnight!”

Lin Feng rubbed his head in pain, but didn’t leave. He took a deep breath and said, “Alright. Alright. Call me if anything happens. Please.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I know. I’ll call you if anything happens. Now go!” An Xin said, shooing Lin Feng away.

Lin Feng let An Xin push him away. He walked a few steps away from the subway station, but then stopped and turned back around to look at An Xin. He said, “BunBun. I’m serious. Are you really okay?”

An Xin looked at Lin Feng, the dark of the night hiding the tears popping up in her eyes. I’m not. She chewed on the inside of her cheeks and blinked away a tear. He looks actually worried. I should tell him… No. No. She shook her head and said quietly, “Really. Please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

Lin Feng nodded and then turned around and walked away. This feels wrong. This feels all wrong. But I can’t force her if she doesn’t want me to stay. It’s just… He stopped after only taking three steps and turned back around again. An Xin was walking down the stairs into the subway station. He called out after her, “BunBun? Are you sure? Are you really okay?” But she didn’t answer him. She kept walking until she disappeared from his view.

“I’m just worried about you,” Lin Feng mumbled, scratching the back of his head. “I’m just worried…” But An Xin was gone. She won’t like it if I go after her. She’ll just smack me and tell me to go away… He pursed his lips and, though his stomach was moving around and twisting tightly into a knot, he walked away.

An Xin glanced over her shoulder, searching for Lin Feng. He left. Good. She finally let the tension on her body drop. Her hand started trembling violently and the world swirled darkly before her eyes. She leaned against the wall and tried to stay on her feet. That was too much. I pushed myself too far. I shouldn’t have let him come with me. I just need to… I need to rest. She let her knees relax, falling semi-controlled to the floor. There, she leaned against the walls and closed her eyes. I just need a bit of rest.

It was late at night and she was in a subway station. An Xin knew she couldn’t sit here for long. So after only a couple of seconds, she forced herself back to her feet. Every movement of her body cost her a lot of energy. Drops of sweat appeared on her forehead. Just keeping it together was asking a lot from her. She took slow, deep breaths, trying to stay calm. The sound of a train arriving came from deeper in the station. I need to hurry to catch the train… A bead of sweat rolled down her face. She felt it make its way around her eye and down her cheek, before rolling over the edge of her chin. It fell to the ground and she reached her hand out.

There was the faintest sound of the drop of sweat hitting the palm of her hand. But in An Xin’s mind it sounded like thunder. It echoed and it smashed against the walls of her sanity. It was a painful reminder of the situation she was in. Her heart trembled. Just this much is already pushing it. I don’t know how much more I can… She bit on her lips, fresh tears watering her eyes.

There were a lot of universities looking for a spot at the main tournament of the Winter Collegiate Cup. And only a limited number of spots. But to give everyone a chance, the tournament went through local divisions in seven different regions before moving on to Regionals. To fit all of this into the schedule, the tournament officials were forced to move through the different phases at a very high speed. Only days after the local divisions ended, the numerous university teams gathered together to play the first round of Regionals. The format was a 32 team bracket which played down until there were only four teams remaining.

It’d take a few days to get through the first round of Regionals, but that didn’t stop every team in East China from attending Day 1. This was a rare opportunity to watch their potential future opponents play. They could see the team dynamics off the Rift, as well as how their rivals played together on the Rift. From how they argued inside their soundproof booths to how their Champions moved in the game.

There were two teams in the East China Regionals that were so much better than the competition that their spot in the main tournament was almost guaranteed. They were Zhejiang University and Fudan University. This made the fight for the other two spots at the main tournament that much more frantic. But in this edition of the Collegiate Cup, it didn’t stop there for East China. Rumours had started spreading that there was another team that was distinguishing itself from the competition, stepping up above everyone else. They were voted online as most likely to clinch a spot at the main tournament! And it was a team no one expected; the high schoolers from Team Shanghai!

The footage of the local divisions had made its rounds around the various competing universities. Everyone had seen how Team Shanghai had two girls on their roster, and how they stomped on their opposition in their local division. It was this combination that confused the university teams here today. They didn’t really know what to expect from Team Shanghai. So in an effort to be ready for anything, they all paid special attention to Team Shanghai on Day 1 of the East China Regionals.

The venue for the East China Regionals was similar to the one at the East China Medical School, where Team Shanghai had played its first two rounds. University students and League of Legends fans had gathered on the stage and were watching the first series of the day with one eye and the players from Team Shanghai with the other.

“You see them sitting there? What do you think?”
“I don’t know… I saw the replays but it’s just hard to believe it was them. Ya know?”
“It’s going to be really damn annoying if they are that good… That’s another spot gone!”
“We got lucky to get this far. But, uch, I really wanna make it to the main tournament now…”
“Fat chance with Fudan and Zhejiang taking two of the spots.”
“And Team Shanghai… Those kids over there. I really wonder if they can replicate their performance from their local division. They were bloody good!”
“Let’s hope not. Let’s hope not.”

✹

The players from Team Shanghai sat together at the front of the venue, close to the soundproof booths. They were looking around, catching almost everyone in the venue looking at them rather than at the large LCD screen displaying the first series. It was very off putting and Zhang Hao especially made more than a few comments about it, complaining that it felt incredibly creepy to have everyone staring at them. He finally had had enough of it and turned to look at the others. He said, “I really want to win this. That’ll make them stop looking! I hope—”

“Don’t worry!” Lin Feng interrupted, laughing. “We’ll win this! I’m really good at carrying too! The mid lane is mine!”

An Xin curled her lips and said, “Egomaniac.”

Tang Bingyao nodded and added, “Mhm. You’re shameless.”

Zeng Rui looked at Lin Feng and felt a throb at the back of his head. He’s going to give me a headache again! What’s wrong with him? Where does he get his confidence from? We’re playing a strong team today! We need to be on our A-game! He narrowed his eyes. And I’m going to be the one carrying. He said, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’ll see who plays best.”

The last few days had been different for Team Shanghai. The trust that was lacking before was slowly seeping into their game. And with that trust came a newfound confidence. They were a team that was preparing to win the Winter Collegiate Cup, a sentiment even Zeng Rui dared to speak out loud! Yet right now they were still in the qualifiers. They all agreed that none of these teams could make them try. Not really, anyway. And they were eager to prove that, both to themselves and to each other.

✹

The first opponent Team Shanghai had to beat at the East China Regionals turned out to be a familiar name. It was East China Medical School. They had reached the Top 8 at Regionals in the previous edition of the Collegiate Cup and were looking to improve on that achievement. They’d trained very hard the last couple of months and had made several improvements to their roster. The two best of three series in the local division went as expected for them. They were easy wins. Now they were looking to continue that streak at Regionals.

But the East China Medical School had the misfortune of facing Team Shanghai in the first round. They were put under immense pressure from the first minute in the first game all the way until the last second of the second game. Team Shanghai was simply the better team in every aspect of the game.

Lin Feng dominated the mid lane throughout the series. He pushed his lane opponent around and grabbed up solo kills on several occasions. One time, he even got close to picking up a penta kill in a fight he started all by himself. The other two lanes weren’t doing any worse. Zhang Hao was crushing his lane opponent while Zeng Rui was setting Tang Bingyao up for double kills every couple of minutes. And whenever  East China Medical School tried to send their Jungler to help a lane out, An Xin matched his movements and made sure that Team Shanghai came out ahead.

The audience didn’t know what they were seeing. They expected some kind of spectacle, but the kind where two strong teams were fighting each other for all they were worth! This wasn’t anything like that. This was a one-sided stomp. There wasn’t a second in the series where it looked like East China Medical School had any chance of getting even a single kill.

“BEJEBUS! How good are those kids!?”
“WOOOOOOO! Uh. Why am I cheering for them? PLEASE LOSE!”
“Yeah! PLEASE LOSE! WE DON’T WANNA PLAY AGAINST YOU!”
“WOOT WOOT! GoGo Lin Feng! If anyone can, YOU CAN!”
“This is just silly. How good are they? My god…”
“HOLY SHIT TAP WATER TASTES LIKE SEWAGE!”
“They’ve got that third spot. Everyone on their side of the bracket is properly fucked.”
“Can’t believe our team is losing to some high schoolers…”

The regular audience weren’t the only ones impressed by how Team Shanghai was playing. Even the players from Zhejiang University and Fudan University nodded in respect. They knew a good team when they saw one. There wasn’t a doubt in their minds that Team Shanghai was going to qualify for the main tournament, which placed them in a peculiar situation. On the one hand, they wanted the East China region to do well. Training together with Team Shanghai was a logical next step. Yet at the same time, they also needed to prepare a strategy against Team Shanghai in the event they had to play each other at the main tournament.

✹

Su Xue had brought her good friend, and video editor, Zuo You with her to watch Team Shanghai play in the first round of the East China Regionals. After Team Shanghai won their first series, the two girls walked up to Lin Feng and greeted him. Zuo You did this by waving her arms around, her bright red hair distinguishing her from everyone else at the venue, and shouting, “Good job, kiddo! That looked pretty damn good!”

Su Xue curled her lips in disapprovement and said, “Don’t be so nice to him. It’ll go straight to his head!”

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and argued, “I did almost get a penta with my Fizz. I deserved that compliment!”

Su Xue wanted to say something, get into a typical argument with Lin Feng, but stopped herself. Let’s not do this in front of his friends. She smiled at the other four players from Team Shanghai that approached and said, “Congratulations on that win! It was really nice! I loved that triple kill you got Tang Tang! Oh! I was thinking that we should celebrate this victory with some food!”

“Great idea!” Zuo You exclaimed before Lin Feng could. She grabbed her purse and waved it in front of Lin Feng, adding, “Let’s GoGoGO! It’s my treat! You guys deserve it after that performance! We need to celebrate this win! Come!”

“YEAH! BROS! FOOD!” Ouyang shouted from a short distance away. He pushed himself through a few people until he arrived next to Lin Feng. He then raised his arms and continued, “Us bros need to celebrate this massive win! And we can’t turn Zuo You down either! Bros gotta give their bro’s chicks face! Isn— AAAJJJ!”

Ren Rou grabbed Ouyang by his ear and pulled him away, saying, “I’m sorry for this swine’s behaviour. Please forgive him.”

The other old teammates and classmates from Lin Feng also arrived. Liu Yue was at the front of them. He’d heard the words food and quickly pulled out his phone, which he now held in front of Zuo You’s face. “Here! LookLookLook! There’s this really good restaurant! It’s right around the corner! See these reviews? They’re all super woot woot! I’ve been wanting to go forever! Wanna go here?”

Zuo You looked at Liu Yue and giggled. “Sure. Sounds good. You lead the way. We’ll go have our celebratory dinner there!”

“WOOT WOOT!” Liu Yue shouted. He stuffed his phone away and started leading the way, saying over his shoulder, “Keep up! Keep up!”

Zeng Rui watched Liu Yue running away. Seriously, how do I always get in these situations? I need to go over the footage from today’s games… And I just know I’m not going to have time for that because they’re going to drag me along. Again! He glanced at Lin Feng, who was talking with Su Xue and trailing after Liu Yue. The thundering dumbass will look over his shoulder and go, Oh, ZengZeng… He grimaced, hating himself for using the nickname, and shook his head. Screw it! Celebrating every win it is! No point in trying to argue with him. He caught up to An Xin and matched her speed. “Hey, BunBun,” he said. But that doesn’t mean I can’t get anything done. He smiled and turned his head to look at her. “I came up with a plan for Champion Select last night. Six different team comps fit into it. Can you take a look and tell me what you think?”

An Xin looked at Zeng Rui and replied. “Sure. I can do that.”

Zeng Rui nodded and handed An Xin a sheet of paper that was scribbled full with letters and drawings. “Thanks. Here.”

An Xin reached out to grab the paper and touched it with her fingers. Zeng Rui let go, expecting her to have it. But she didn’t. The sheet slid from An Xin’s grasp and fell to the ground. “Oh, sorry! My bad!” Zeng Rui quickly said. He reached down to grab it, but An Xin beat him to it.

“It’s fine,” An Xin said, reaching out to grab the paper from the floor. “It’s my fault.” Come on. Not now. Please not now. She gritted her teeth and tried to pinch the paper between her fingers. But that only made her hand tremble. The sheet of paper slipped through her fingers again. Please! She closed her eyes and reached out with her other hand too. Just work for me. Grab the paper. Please.

Tang Bingyao had been walking behind An Xin when the piece of paper fell. She stopped walking and tilted her head. Why did she drop that? Mhm, probably nothing. She shrugged and was about to walk around An Xin when she noticed it. An Xin’s hand trembled. Tang Bingyao narrowed her eyes. Why is her hand trembling? She can’t grab the paper? What— Her eyes went wide. She can’t pick up the paper! She crouched down next to An Xin and put an arm around her friend’s shoulder. She asked worriedly, “BunBun, are you okay? Do you need some help?”

An Xin bit on her lips and pinched her eyes closed. She ignored Tang Bingyao and focused as hard as she could on her hand. Please! She pinched the sheet of paper with everything she had and finally managed to hold on to it. Why does this… She grimaced and quickly put the paper away in her pocket. Her hand relaxed again. An exhausted breath escaped her lips. She could feel Tang Bingyao standing beside her and Zeng Rui in front of her. Act natural. You’re okay. Just tell them… She opened her eyes and smiled. “Don’t worry, Tang Tang. I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m okay, really.”

You’re lying, was what Tang Bingyao wanted to say. But she stopped herself after glancing around. Zeng Rui stood next to them and Lin Feng had stopped walking too. If she’s trying to hide it… She’s trying to hide something. What is she… Tang Bingyao bit on her tongue and nodded at An Xin. I won’t say anything. That’s your choice. Her stomach heavily disagreed, but she pushed herself to say, “Mhm… Okay. If you say so.”

The Korean ranked ladder was the most competitive one in League of Legends. Professional players from every region visited Korea just to have a shot at reaching Challenger on this server. And most of them failed. They got to Master and then found out why it was so difficult to get any higher. Pure, raw talent. There were so many outstanding players on the Korean server that the level of each game was far above the worldwide average. Even the Ionia server, the most competitive server in China, couldn’t come close in prestige to the Korean server. Yet One threw Lin Feng at it as if it were nothing.

Lin Feng still held his phone close to his ear, but he wasn’t talking or listening. His eyes were focused on his laptop and he was chewing on his lip. He wants me to hit Top 5 Challenger? Can I even do that? I know the rankings… Back in the day, yeah, but I’m not there yet. I’m not anywhere near to that point yet. Chinese professional players are better than I am right now. And most of them can’t even make it to Challenger on the Korean server! What am I going to do?

Chinese players challenged themselves to climb the Korean ranked ladder every season. They wanted to prove to their Korean rivals that there was some talent in China. That there was hope for China on the international stage. That the League of Legends world wasn’t centered around Korea! But they never got all that far. The Chinese players who reached all the way to Master were proud of themselves, and the couple who made it to Challenger were either professional players or players being scouted by professional teams. But none of them ever made that final step into the Top 10. It was just too difficult to beat the many talented players on the Korean server.

Top 5, Top 5… Collegiate Cup and Top 5… Where am I going to find the time to even do that? Can I even do that? But I told One… Lin Feng chewed on his lip, biting off a thin layer of skin. His stomach dropped and he grimaced. I wanted to take it one step at a time. Slowly make my way back to the top. But One’s right. I can’t do it like this. There’s no challenge for me here. The Collegiate Cup is just another tournament where I don’t really have to try. I can just… I can take it easy. It doesn’t matter if I screw up a bit, because I can just turn it around later… He scratched his forehead, tense. I can’t go on like this. I need to challenge myself sooner or later. One is right. I need to fight. And the Korean ladder is probably the best bet for that!

Something swirled in the pits of Lin Feng’s stomach. His heart started racing faster and faster, pounding against his ribs. He felt his face heat up. A real challenge! And One gave it to me. He trusts me. He believes I can do it! He believes I still have it! Lin Feng closed his eyes and tried to push the rush of adrenaline down. One trusts in me! I’ll repay him with results! Top 5 Challenger? Ok. Yes. I’ll do it! It’ll be hard. But I’ll do it! 

Lin Feng’s eyes shot open. A new fire burned in them. He tossed the Winter Collegiate Cup to the back of his mind. What am I getting all worked up about a university tournament? I made it all the way to the world finals! I need to remember why I’m even competing. To find good teammates and to start building a team! But it’s not to get back in form. I need to do something else for that. This might just be that something! The Korean ladder… He took a deep, long breath and closed his eyes again. Rake. Rake will be there. I’ll have to play against him if I want to make it to the top of Challenger. I’ll have to play against him… I’m not good enough yet… He chewed off a second bit of skin from his lips and then suddenly slammed his palm against his head. NO! I’ll face him! I’ll play against him, with him, whatever! It’s not a big tournament. It’s practice. I need to get better, and to do that I need to face better players. He nodded, confident, and said to One, “I can. And I will.”

“Good to hear,” One said, laughing. “Oh, right,” he added. “Do you have a Korean account?”

“Uhhh…” Lin Feng scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. I was so caught up about beating Rake… My account isn’t Challenger yet. It’s going to be really hard just to get there. He said, “Well, I do. But it’s not in Challenger yet. I can get to the top of Master, but someone needs to lose their Challenger spot for me to take it…”

“Yeah, that won’t do. There isn’t enough time for that,” One agreed. He briefly paused and then said, “I’ll just give you my Challenger account.”

Give a Challenger account? The words went off like a bomb in Lin Feng’s mind. Give a Challenger account? GIVE? He muttered a few incoherent words, trying to make sense of it. A Challenger account is super expensive! It’s way better to just buy something in Plat for $5! How can he just borrow me a Challenger account? That’s insane! I don’t have that much mon—

“Of course,” One interrupted Lin Feng’s thoughts. “If you fail to reach the Top 5, I’ll just take my account back. But how about this. If you do make it to the Top 5, the account is yours to keep.”

…my account. Lin Feng finally understood what One was implying. One has a Challenger account? Is he playing again? He actually made it to Challenger on the Korean server? How is he still that good!? He was so good at DotA, but that was DotA and this is League! How can he still be this good? He’s better than I am right now… He breathed unevenly and his head started swirling. “D-do you… Wait! DID YOU—”

“Alright, I’ve kept you up for too long. You’ll need every second you can get. I’ll send you the account information in a bit. Just gotta change the password around,” One said over the phone. “Oh, and kid, don’t let me down.”

Lin Feng nodded, too dazed to realise One couldn’t see his response. Oh, and kid, don’t let me down. Don’t let me down… Lin Feng’s hands were trembling. He’s passing his account on to me. His hard work. I have to pick up and carry on for him! One is giving me a real test! To prove to him that I’m good enough to pick up where he left! He balled his fist and grinned. I have the talent! He knows I do! But I have to move forward. I can’t stop taking the safe route. The Top 5 on the Korean server is just the first step. I’ll do it. For One. For myself. I’ll do it. He nodded to himself again and then said, his voice trembling, “I’ll do it. I mean, I won’t.”

One chuckled when he heard the response. Good. It sounds like he understands what this means. He’s going to have to try really hard, but he can do this. He just has to want it. Anyway, that settles that. He said, “Something else entirely, I heard BunBun moved to Shanghai? You two are on the same team then, I take it?”

“Yeah!” Lin Feng replied, rediscovering his usual grin. “We’re on the same team in the Collegiate Cup! She’s our coach and the Jungler! It’s amazing! Just like the old times! She’s a really good coach!”

“Huh? She’s jungling?” One asked in surprise. Did she jungle before? He shook his head and moved past it before Lin Feng could latch on. “Sounds like she’s still a great coach then! Hey, do me a favour. Tell her to give the missus a call. She’s been asking about BunBun a lot lately.”

“Five? You mean five? The missus is Five, right? Right?” Lin Feng exclaimed, excited. “How is Five? Are you two on your honeymoon right now? Is she having a good time? How is Five?”

“Hey! Her name isn’t Five!” One interrupted. He briefly paused to breathe and then complained, “That’s Mrs. One! We’re engaged now! Ha! If she hears you call her Five, she’ll give you a spanking! And a couple of jabs too!”

Lin Feng grinned and said, “Lies! She’d never do that! Five is way too nice for that! She’s the best! How is she doing? Did she ask about me too? What did she say when I won the Shanghai 16 School Tournament? Did you watch it with her?”

One listened to another minute of Lin Feng badgering him with questions before giving up. He shook his head and said, “You’re hopeless. You know what, I’m hanging up. Talk to you later.” He put the phone away from his ear and could still hear Lin Feng firing off questions. That kid. He shook his head and chuckled, ending the call. He’ll understand. One then leaned back on his sofa and looked at the television that was playing Lin Feng’s most recent game at the Winter Collegiate Cup. I wonder if he can do it. I hope he can. It’d be fun to see him up there with Rake again.

One closed his eyes and thought back to the Season 5 World Finals. Lee Dojae really went all out with that award ceremony. That was quite the thing. ‘Passing on the torch’, haha! I like it. It has a nice ring to it. Would be kind of cool if Lin Feng can help me do something like that. But… He chuckled and shook his head. That kid is still far away from getting there. But I’m in no rush. There’s still plenty of time to make that happen. I’ll pass my torch onto him eventually. I’m sure he’ll get there. And my torch is way bigger than Lee Dojae’s torch!

The next couple of minutes were spent laughing about Lee Dojae’s torch. But then One narrowed his eyes. Lin Feng needs time. He’s nowhere near ready to face Han Seho again. Rake… Lin Feng just isn’t there yet. And I wouldn’t mind letting him take his sweet time. It’s just… He took a deep breath and shook his head in annoyance. The Chinese esports circle isn’t going to be so patient. They’re going to find out soon enough that he’s back and then they’re going to push him. I just need to give Lin Feng a couple of pushes right now, so that when it comes to that, he’s ready. Besides, it’s not like a little bit of added pressure is bad for the kid.

One laughed as he remembered the excited tone in which Lin Feng told him about the Shanghai 16 School Tournament a while back. And how excited he now sounded about beating two university teams. He’s having a good time and slowly making his way back. That’s his way. We should respect that. But he’s also going out of his way to not really push himself. A university tournament? That’s just too easy for him. Top 5 on the Korean ladder. He can do it and it’ll also be an actual challenge. He might even start losing some games and remember what that’s like. And he’ll have to play with and against Rake. Against Rake… He nodded and mumbled, “That’ll be good for the kid.”

The television mounted on the wall in One’s living room played scenes of Lin Feng toying around with a random Midlaner. One shook his head and mumbled, “No challenge, no growth. He needs to put himself out there. Just not so much that he breaks again. I’ll have to make sure those esports guys don’t try and push him too hard.” He continued watching the screen that switched focus from Lin Feng to An Xin. One rubbed his chin and wondered, “That girl, did she always Jungle? I don’t recall her ever Jungling…”

The Beijing Esports Association had assembled a team of seven talented players for the Winter Collegiate Cup. None of these players needed any experience at the university level. They could skip straight to the LSPL! And that was precisely why the Beijing Esports Association had recruited them. Because only with a lineup like this could they clinch the Winter Collegiate Cup title and show to the Guangzhou and Shanghai Esports Associations that they were the strongest and most talented region in all of China!

Team Beijing had played a good number of games, including scrimmages against university teams and the first couple of games in the Winter Collegiate Cup. They won each of those games convincingly, quickly becoming a terrifying opponent for the other teams competing. But what really threw the teams in North China off was that Team Beijing was playing with their B lineup. Their two star players, the Midlaner and Toplaner, hadn’t played a single game yet! This was a tactic the Beijing Esports Association had come up with in preparation for the main tournament. No one would know just how good they were until it was already far too late to do anything about it!

The substitute Toplaner looked at Fan Yuan, the team’s manager, and shrugged. He glanced at his teammates and said, “I don’t know what you guys think, but…” He pointed at the replay they were watching on the projector. “That Toplaner is shit.” Why do I even need to spend time on this? I’m a Master in the Ionia server! And that Zhang Hao? Yeah, that dude is like Diamond… His Fiora sucked hard. Fucking waste of my time watching this!

Fan Yuan nodded and said, “Thanks for sharing your insights.” He then turned to the others and asked, “What about you guys? Anything to add to that?”

Team Beijing’s ad-carry stretched his back and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He yawned and said, “I don’t know. Those Botlaners are a terrible match. It doesn’t really matter how good they are individually, they can’t play together for shit. All I could see were the glaring mistakes they kept making because of communication issues. If they play like that? We don’t even have to try.”

Fan Yuan slapped the ruler in his palm. He took a deep breath, looking at each of the team members in turn. “Stop this. Sit up straight. Watch the footage.” He slapped the ruler behind him, where the beamer was projecting the replay of Team Shanghai’s game against the East China University of Science and Technology for a second time. “Look at what they’re doing right! We’re not going to underestimate them! We’re going to study them, and then when we play them, we’re going to tear them apart!” He narrowed his eyes and added, “Don’t forget. They beat Shanghai University of Finance 2-0 a while back. That’s a strong team.”

“The way I see it,” Team Beijing’s Support started. He pushed his glasses up the rim of his nose, irritated, and then looked straight at Fan Yuan. “The way I see it, Team Shanghai tricked them. Their Support is Zeng Rui, yeah? He’s a Challenger and I’m guessing the captain of the team. He has a decent idea about shotcalling. Not at all strange that they won against the Shanghai University of Finance. And that university team most likely underestimated Zeng Rui’s team as well. There really isn’t a whole lot to it. Zeng Rui used the little skill he has to trick Shanghai University of Finance. I don’t see why we need to spend time on this.” He chuckled and added, “Can’t wait to kick that noob’s fat ass though.”

Team Beijing’s ad-carry glanced at his Support, surprised. What’s got him all worked up? He never talks this much… And what the fuck was that laugh? But, hmm, a Challenger Support? Team Shanghai is better than I expected then. We shouldn’t underestimate any Challenger. Fan Yuan is right to tell us we need to prepare. He looked at his Support and asked, “Zhang Hongyi, how good do you realistically think he is? A Challenger is impressive. We can’t just push that aside.”

Zhang Hongyi turned his head to look at his ad-carry and snorted. How good? Not good enough to worry me! I would’ve also been Challenger by now if there isn’t a hard cap of 200 players! I’m at the top of Master! Screw that noob’s fat ass! He finally said, “Don’t worry about him. I got this.”

Team Beijing’s Jungler looked at his two Botlaners and said, “If Zhang Hongyi says so, let’s assume that he’s got it. He’s been playing a ton of duo queue at the top of Master, so he’ll have plenty of experience against Challengers. Let’s forget about that Support for now. What about that Midlaner? That guy actually looked good.”

The substitute Midlaner raised his eyebrows and moved his lips around. I’m a Master. He can’t be that much better than me… Right? Fuck me. He is. That dude played that far too well. He looked at the footage, which was still playing, and said, “He plays his lane really aggressively. I’m not sure I can beat him in the early game…”

“Doesn’t matter,” Yu Ping said. He sat at the back of the room, leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table. “I’ll play against him.”

Fan Yuan looked at Yu Ping, who was Team Beijing’s main Midlaner, and smiled. He looks confident. Good. We know how good our opponents are and he is still so confident. And no one knows a thing about Yu Ping! This plan is going to work out great! He nodded at Yu Ping and said, “Good. I’ll leave that to you then.”

Yu Ping snorted. He couldn’t be bothered to entertain Fan Yuan with a response. What a pathetic waste of time! Team Shanghai? Team Shangshit! I hope they get knocked out before we have to play them. Then I can focus on Team Guangzhou. On Goalie. His annoyed expression became a little bit tense. He narrowed his eyes and flexed his jaw. Goalie. Show me what a Rank 7 Korean Challenger is worth. I finally want to test my skills. Please make it fun. I don’t want to win this tournament without any challenge.

✹

Team Guangzhou was going through a similar preparation as Team Beijing. They’d gathered at the Guangzhou Esports Association and were watching the replays from Team Shanghai. The two coaches paused the videos on the large LCD screen every now and then to point out a couple of things, but they otherwise watched the games in silence. And in boredom. They came to the same conclusion Team Beijing had. There was a lot lacking in the gameplay from Team Shanghai. The only person on the team that looked on top of their game was the Midlaner. But Team Guangzhou had Goalie in the mid lane.

One of the two coaches turned to look at Goalie. He was a small and thin youth with a sickly pale complexion. And his small, beady eyes were easy to miss. The coach asked, “What do you think about that Midlaner? Will he be a problem?”

The interpreter sitting next to Goalie translated the question to Korean. Goalie looked at the interpreter in confusion and then turned to the coach and raised an eyebrow. There was a spark in his eyes that was easy to miss due to how small they were. But the smirk on his lips said it all. He replied to the interpreter in Korean, though everyone could guess what he was about to say.

“He says,” the interpreter translated into Chinese. “That he won’t waste any more of his time on this Midlaner. This Lin Feng has no real skill. Goalie says he can beat him on his worst off day with three fingers in his nose.”

Goalie noticed how the interpreter raised three fingers and suddenly scrunched his nose. He moved his head back and forth and then raised his hand and placed it behind his back. Everyone could guess what he meant. He was saying that he only needed one hand to beat Lin Feng. He then said in broken Chinese, “Easy.”

✹

Team Shanghai was making the most out of the little time they had to prepare for the next round of the Winter Collegiate Cup. They were still only a newly formed team and really needed every second they could get to work on their synergy and plan out strategies. This was further reinforced by the minor setback due to Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao changing their approach to the game. It made them better players, but it’d take time to adjust the team’s strategies and synergies to these changes. So they practiced every afternoon, meeting up at the cybercafe after school and only going home for dinner.

Lin Feng went through the motions. School in the morning, practice with Team Shanghai in the afternoon and walking home with Tang Bingyao around dinner time. Su Xue was waiting for him at home every night, dinner usually already on the table. They’d share a quick bite together, after which he went to his room to do his homework. The night ended with him joining Su Xue on her stream, playing a couple of games with her or her viewers.

Before Lin Feng could grow too comfortable in this rhythm, it was interrupted. He’d just finished his homework and was about to have fun with Su Xue on stream, when his phone started ringing. Who;s calling me this late at night? He reached for his phone and checked the caller ID. His eyes went wide in shock. He double-checked the caller ID, just to be sure. Then he smashed on the green phone icon and placed the phone next to his ear. “Sir!”

“SIR!” Lin Feng repeated a second later impatiently. He moved the phone from his ear again and checked to make sure the call was still connected. It was. He was on the phone with One, his mentor, the most famous player in world esports! There were many people out there trying to make a name for themselves, like Han ‘Rake’ Seho or the older Lee ‘Rake’ Dojae, but none of them reached the illustrious height of One. He was renowned worldwide as the best player in the famous massive online battle arena game DotA! He was the first name added to the Esports Hall of Fame! He was everything Lin Feng aspired to be! It’s One! One is calling me! One! One!

“Sir, sir! Are you there?” Lin Feng asked for a third time.

“Hey, hey? Can you hear me?” One asked. “Sorry, I’m in Thailand. The signal is pretty terrible here.”

Lin Feng smiled and quickly replied, “It’s good! The connection is good! I can hear you!”

“Good! That’s good!” One said. “I heard you’re playing in the Winter Collegiate Cup? How’s that going?”

“Yeah, I am! We won the first round! And the second round!” Lin Feng exclaimed, grinning. “We crushed the opponents! It went really well! I guess I’m still really good at winning games too! Oh, I think we’re going to the Regionals next!”

One chuckled and asked, “You’re winning the tournament, yeah?”

“Of course I am!” Lin Feng replied, almost sounding insulted by the question. “I wouldn’t let you down! We’re going to win this tournament easily!”

“Good, good,” One said. He breathed in sharply and looked out the window of his villa at the beautiful green scenery outside. Winning a university tournament when he was the best player in the world. He played at the World Finals! And now he sounds excited about winning a university tournament… How the mighty have fallen, hehe. He shook his head and moved his lips around. But he really needs to start challenging himself. He won’t learn anything from this. Hmm… Can I help him somehow? What could I make him do? He looked at his computer, which had the League of Legends client open. I could do that… The season is almost over. Some last minute climbing of the ladder could challenge him… Yeah, that’ll work. He smiled and asked, “Did you know that the competitive ranked season ends in a month on the Korean server?”

“I guess?” Lin Feng replied. “Why?”

One ignored Lin Feng and continued, “The top ten Challengers in the Korean server are being tracked live until the season ends. Right now, Rake has got three accounts in that top 10. First, second and ninth. And it would be one, two and three if there were more hours in a day. You know how good he is. The entire top 10 could be his if he had the time and energy to go for it.”

Lin Feng listened to One, his usual grin disappearing. He stared at his laptop and chewed on the inside of his cheeks. I know. I know. I know he’s playing really well! He’s the best player in the world! I’m nowhere near good enough to be playing against him yet. I need more time! A lot more time! But he’s using that same time to get better himself! It’s difficult! I don’t know… It’s really difficult! Maybe I’m not good… I’m good enough, but maybe there isn’t enough time… He laughed at himself. He shook his head and laughed at himself. Here I was all happy about beating some Diamond players in a university tournament… What am I doing? Am I really happy about this!? Those guys were never my opponents! I’m way too good for that level! It’s not even… It’s not even worth my time. I’m only falling further behind Rake. All the time I’m spending messing around, Rake is getting better! And better! AND BETTER!

Lin Feng was breathing faster and faster, biting on his lips in frustration. I’m letting myself get distracted! My goal isn’t this Collegiate Cup! I want to become the best player in the world! And I can’t do that if I’m satisfied by beating a couple of Diamond players! That won’t help me improve! There is only one thing I should be focusing on. To get back to my original level. Get on the level of the Four Emperors! Screw these damn qualifiers! They mean nothing! I need to stop letting myself get so happy about winning them! It’d be a disgrace if I lost them! These teams are bad. I’m so much better that I don’t even have to try to win! He knocked himself on the forehead. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!” While I’m here having fun, Rake is working hard to become better! I need to get my head in the game! I’ll never get to his level like this!

One breathed out loudly, interrupting Lin Feng’s thoughts, and asked, “That Midlaner from Team Guangzhou? Goalie? You know who I’m talking about?”

“Yeah,” Lin Feng replied, dejected.

One continued with a second question, “He peaked at Rank 7 on the Korean Challenger ladder, right?”

“Yeah,” Lin Feng repeated in the same dejected voice.

“You’re going to beat him, right?” One asked.

“Yeah,” Lin Feng said, still dejected.

One paused for a brief moment before saying, “Alright. Then I have a job for you. Something that might actually push you. Before this whole Winter Collegiate Cup ends, I want you to climb up to Challenger on the Korean server. And you’re not stopping when you get there. You’re going to surpass Goalie’s peak and then break into the Top 5.”

Lin Feng stuttered a few incoherent words, speechless. Top five? Top five in the Korean server? Can I? That is right up there at the top! Rake is there! I’d have to play against Rake… and, and I’d have to beat him! I can’t get to the top five if I don’t play against Rake! Unless I only play when he isn’t around. But he’s always playing… I’ll have to play against…

“What?” One interrupted. He chuckled and asked, “Don’t think you can do it?”

The message landed. Lin Feng clenched his phone and gritted his teeth. He breathed in deeply, letting the air fill his lungs, and then breathed every negative emotion out of his body. His laptop stood on his desk. He glanced at it, determined. “I can do it. Of course I can do it! I’ll do it! I’ll get to the top of Challenger on the Korean server before the Collegiate Cup is over!”

Team Shanghai was through to the next round of the first preliminary of the local division of the regionals of the nationals of the Winter Collegiate Cup! It was just the first step, but a good start was half the work. Zeng Rui looked at his teammates from Team Shanghai and said, “We’re going. East China University of Science and Technology is a stronger team than whoever we’re facing in the next round. We don’t need to spend our time watching them. East China Medical School is the only other team in our local division who’s half-decent. But since they’re in Group 1, we won’t have to play them until Regionals anyway.”

An Xin nodded and added, “What Zeng Rui says. And also, it’s pointless to worry all the time about our next opponent. Sometimes you just have to let go and relax a bit. I think this is a good time for that.”

Lin Feng grinned and suggested, “I’m hungry! Let’s go celebrate our win over a lot of food!”

“Celebrate?” Zeng Rui asked, surprised. There is nothing to celebrate, you thundering dumbass! He shook his head and said, “We’ve only won the first round of the first qualifiers. What’s there to celebrate?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s there to celebrate’?” Lin Feng countered. “We won! That’s worth celebrating! We’ve taken our first step towards the championship! Of course that’s something worth celebrating!”

An Xin smiled and asked, “Does that mean we’re going to celebrate after every round?”

Lin Feng rubbed his chin. Food after every round? That does sound good! He clapped his hands together and said, “That sounds like a perfect idea! It’s a deal! We’re going to celebrate every win with food! It’s going to be delicious and a great boost to morale! Great idea, BunBun!”

“Enough, goldfish!” An Xin smacked Lin Feng on the back of his head. She then turned around to look at the others, a smile replacing her annoyance with Lin Feng, and suggested, “It’s still early. I like the idea of having some dinner together. Just tonight. We’re not going to do this every time we win.” She turned back to look at Lin Feng and added, “And Lin Feng, I swear, if I hear a peep…” She raised her hand again.

Lin Feng rubbed his head painfully and grumbled, “What was that good for!? You just suggested the same thing I did! This is so unfair! And I’m NOT A GOLDFISH!”

Zhang Hao looked at Lin Feng, sympathetic. He always knows just how to say the wrong thing. Maybe he could use some advice… He said, “Lin Feng, maybe don’t talk so much. She always hits you when you start saying things.”

Zeng Rui looked at the exchange taking place and shook his head. What is wrong with these people? How did I end up with them? What did I do to deserve this…? He finally waved his hand and said, “Alright, fine. We’ll find a food stall and grab a quick bite to eat.”

Tang Bingyao raised her hand and said, “Mm-mhm. I want to sit down and eat.”

✹

“Hotpot! Let’s get some hotpot! I’m really good at eating hotpot too!” Lin Feng exclaimed, walking down the pavement with the others from Team Shanghai.

An Xin glared at him and said curtly, “Hotpot is too heavy. We’re not having that again. Let’s get something a little lighter.”

Lin Feng looked a bit upset when everyone agreed with An Xin. But he got all excited again when they found a small restaurant. If he couldn’t have a heavy dish like hotpot, he could just order a ton of light dishes! So he started ordering numerous dishes, soups and white rice. He grinned at the others, who were all shaking their heads, and proclaimed, “Look! This isn’t too heavy! I’m really good at ordering light dishes too! And my metabolism is really good too!”

An Xin glared at Lin Feng. Her lips curved up into a smile and she narrowed her eyes. “HMM? What was that? I dare you to say that again!”

Lin Feng ignored the stares from his teammates and looked away from An Xin at his beverage. It was mango juice. I really want a beer… He glanced at Tang Bingyao. But she can’t hold her alcohol at all. I don’t want to have to carry her home again! That was such a hassle! Yeah, better to just not bring up alcohol. I’ll have to get really good at not getting Tang Tang drunk too! He grinned again and then raised his glass. “I know it ain’t alco— I mean… Let’s have a toast! We won today! Ganbei!”

“Cheers!”
“Proost!”
“Skal!”
“Santé!”

Everyone clinked their glasses and took large swigs from their fruit beverages. After which Lin Feng stood up and started shushing everyone. When they were all silent, he exclaimed, “We’re playing again in three days! And when we win that one, we’re going to Regionals! And then we’ve got the main tournament! So many more dinner celebrations! We’re going to win the whole thing! I’m really good at winning games too!”

An Xin looked at Lin Feng, a smile creeping up on her lips while bloody murder started glowing in her eyes. She said, “HMM? Did you put alcohol in that drink? Or are you just that stupid? We’re not even close to qualifying for the main tournament! Don’t get ahead of yourself! Now sit your ass  back down!”

Zeng Rui massaged his eyelid, feeling it starting to twitch again. He said, “The next round should be easy. But the Regionals are going to be tough. We might even run into Fudan or Zhejiang University. We’ll have to be ready for that. Keep training and stay focused on the goal.”

“Hey, Zeng Rui?” Zhang Hao asked. He waited for his friend to look at him and then continued, “I heard Fudan and Zhejiang University both invited coaches and analysts to help them prepare for this tournament. They were already some of the strongest teams in the competition… What are we expecting to do against them now?”

“So what if they did?” Lin Feng interjected, confused. He grinned and pointed at An Xin. “We’ve got a better coach and analyst!”

Zeng Rui ignored Lin Feng and took a minute before answering Zhang Hao’s question. They hired people to help them. Yeah, I know. But they didn’t hire BunBun. Or me. We’re both really good. I don’t think we’ll have an issue on that front. He finally said, “We’re good in terms of coaching. But…” He paused and made sure to catch Lin Feng’s attention before continuing, “Those teams have been playing together for far longer than we have. They have more experience at the big tournaments than we have. They have better scrimming partners. They have better facilities. They have a lot of things in their favour that we simply don’t have right now. We need a lot more than some fancy strategy to beat them.”

An Xin nodded and added, “If we want to beat opponents at that level, we have to start by perfecting our laning phases. We have to win every single lane from here on out. Because if we’re not ready to win against Fudan and Zhejiang in the lane, then we’re certainly not winning against them in the mid and late game. They have too much experience to let that happen.”

Zhang Hao nodded along to An Xin and when she finished said, “I understand. I’ll work hard on improving my laning phase! I’ll give it my all!”

Tang Bingyao tilted her head and then pumped her fist in the air, “Mhm! I’ll win my lanes!”

Lin Feng looked from Zhang Hao to Tang Bingyao and then back at An Xin. He scratched the back of his head and asked, “So you’re saying I have to carry you guys?”

An Xin giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, and said, “Sure. If you want to take it like that, you carry us!”

Zeng Rui wasn’t laughing, or giggling. There is that serious look again… He thinks he can really carry us? Who is he? He looked at Lin Feng, quietly observed him, and finally said, “Only if you can carry the games by yourself.”

Lin Feng waved his hand and replied in complete confidence, “You guys should’ve told me this earlier! Don’t worry! I’ll carry! I’m really good at carrying games too!”

Thundering dumbass! Zeng Rui wanted to argue. Every little part of him wanted to argue. But he reeled himself back, forcing himself not to go down that path. He glanced at An Xin. You said he can beat every Midlaner. I’ve never seen him lose in the mid lane. And he is always so confident. Why can’t you guys just tell me what I’m missing? What’s so special that I can’t know about it? Just tell me already! Can he really beat every Midlaner and carry all the games…?

A phone started ringing, pulling Zeng Rui away from his thoughts. Everyone turned to look at Lin Feng, who was already searching around in his pockets and on the floor. “Where’s my phone? Where’s my phone?” he mumbled repeatedly, until Tang Bingyao pointed at the phone buzzing on the table. “Oh! There’s my phone!” Lin Feng laughed and answered the call, “Hey! Chu Fang! What’s up? Did you see us play? We totally wrecked them!”

“So you’re through to the next round?” Chu Fang asked from the other side of the line.

Lin Feng grinned and said, “Yeah! We won! 2-0! It was super easy! Our next game is in three days!”

Chu Fang replied, “That’s good to hear! Keep at it!”

“Don’t worry! We’ll keep going at it!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He then struck his trademark victory pose before adding, “We’re going to win the entire tournament! Zero losses! Many wins! I’m really good at winning too!”

Chu Fang laughed and said, “Good, good! I’ll be looking forward to that. And when you guys make it a little further, I’ll make sure to come and cheer you on in person!”

“You get to see me carrying again! Just like before!” Lin Feng replied, laughing.

✹

Chu Fang was in Fang Hao’s office at the headquarters of the Shanghai Esports Association. His phone call with Lin Feng was played on speaker, so that Fang Hao could also listen to everything being said. After the connection broke, the two men looked at each other. They knew Lin Feng and how happy he liked to act, especially when things were going right. Fang Hao was eventually the first to talk. “Good,” he said.

Chu Fang nodded and said, “Sounded like he was pretty confident. It’s good to see him like this again.”

Fang Hao laughed and replied, “The happy little kid.” He grinned before continuing, “But it’s too early to celebrate. All I want is to see him return to his real form. This is only a university tournament. It’d be terrible if he lost.” His expression suddenly fell. He gazed out of the window and took a deep, long breath. He finally added, “I’m afraid it’s not enough though. It’s taking him too long to get back to form.”

Chu Fang didn’t reply right away. He sat back in his chair and followed Fang Hao’s gaze out of the window, looking out at the night sky of Shanghai. What Lin Feng is doing is great for anyone else. We’d be jumping around with someone that talented. But… This is Lin Feng. This is Maple we’re talking about! He was already playing in the World Finals when he was only 15 years old. And now, at 19, he’s playing in a university tournament. It is slow. It isn’t going fast enough. The new season is going to start soon and before we know it, Worlds is back. Where will he be? We need him back on his game! We need Maple! Some high school kid having fun at a university tournament is worthless to us. Come on, Lin Feng! Find your rhythm again. We need the real you to step up. Help everyone remember the wonderkid from Season 1! We know you can do it. You just… You need to do it already. Step up! He breathed in long and deep, then let it all out. But he’s still just a kid. Can we really ask so much from a kid? Isn’t that what we did four years ago too? And that’s when he left. It was too much pressure. He chewed on his lips and finally asked, “Don’t you think we’re asking too much from him? Maybe we should just be happy that he’s on his way back…”

“I know we should be happy. Don’t think I don’t,” Fang Hao replied. He then shook his head and continued, “But who else can do what he can? Do you know anyone who’s as talented as he is? Absolutely anyone out there who has what it takes to beat Rake? Because I don’t. I can’t think of a single player here in Shanghai who has even half of his talent.”

Chu Fang had no response to this. They both knew that Lin Feng was still just a kid who liked to act as such. But hidden behind that playful exterior was a monstrous talent. Zeng Rui is good, but not that good. Tang Bingyao is good, but not even close to that good. BunBun… They’re all great players. But they’re not Lin Feng. He is just so much better. And it comes so easily to him. It’s… He shook his head. We need Maple.

Fang Hao stood up from his seat and walked over to the window. He looked at the busy streets below and said, “There’s no one else. We both know it. It has to be him. It can only be him. I wish, I really do wish that there was someone else. Someone who could share the burden with him. But there just isn’t. He is so far above everyone else that we can only turn to him. When he gets rolling, there’s no stopping him. That’s the Lin Feng… We need Maple, it’s that simple.”

Chu Fang slowly nodded. “I know.”

Fang Hao chuckled and shook his head. “Of course One had to be the one to find this kid. It takes talent to find talent, or something inspirational like that. One was so good in his active years. He still is. It almost sounds like a fairytale when you think about it. China’s biggest talent finds an even bigger talent! And we’ve got front row seats. I just really hope Lin Feng can do half of what One did for the Chinese esports scene.”

✹

The second best of three for Team Shanghai took place on Friday. The team traveled to East China Medical School after their classes ended and waited for their turn to play. The audience was a bit more on their side because of the spectacular fashion in which they beat East China University of Science and Technology in the first round. And this second best of three series wasn’t any different. Their opponents just weren’t good enough. Team Shanghai won their lanes and from there carried the two games to quick victories. Both games ended on the 20-minute mark, one by a unanimous surrender vote and the other by a destroyed nexus. With this series in the bag, Team Shanghai secured their spot in the next round of the tournament. The East China Regionals.

Every local division concluded around the same time. Replays of all the games were uploaded to the tournament website, giving a first glimpse into the strength of the teams still in it. This opened up the possibility for teams to prepare for the next round by working through the available data from their potential opponents. They could search for weak spots and come up with tactics to counter a team’s favoured Champions.

Every team competing in the East China Regionals was doing this. And while researching, they also looked at the games from Team Shanghai, who’d made it two rounds further than most people expected. It quickly became evident why Team Shanghai had made it to Regionals. They were a far better team than anyone initially expected. From individual skill to team synergy, they were better at every facet of the game compared to their opponents.

Rumours started floating around that Team Shanghai wasn’t just playing in the Winter Collegiate Cup to get experience at the university level, but to compete at the university level. People started comparing their games with those from Fudan University and realised that Team Shanghai had the raw skill to make it to the main tournament. This was a very important discovery, because that was where it became region versus region.

In the Regionals of the Winter Collegiate Cup, the teams from East China duked it out between themselves to see who would move on to Nationals. But once there, they wanted to make sure that the teams from East China made it as far as possible. So they trained together and gave each other feedback and ideas. Anything that might be of help to see the teams from East China make it a step further in the main tournament. This was especially important this time around because their best team in the previous edition only made it to third place.

The condescending tone disappeared when people discussed Team Shanghai. They didn’t talk about the high school team or about the team with two girls on its roster, but about a team who could potentially make it to Nationals and achieve a great result for East China.

✹

The teams in East China weren’t the only ones reviewing the games from Team Shanghai. The high school team from Beijing, Team Beijing, had gathered in a conference room at the Beijing Esports Association. There was a large projection on the wall, showing the replay of the third game played by Team Shanghai. It was a fast game, where the different lanes beat their opponents with relative ease. There was a lot of action, and somehow it all ended in Team Shanghai’s favour. But the members from Team Beijing quickly lost interest. If they wanted to watch some random team stomping another random team, they could do that anywhere. There was nothing about this game that really stood out to them. And it was the third one of its kind.

Team Beijing’s manager was Fan Yuan, a 28 year old man with short, black hair. He was one of the three Vice Presidents from the Beijing Esports Association. He pointed a couple of things out on the projection with his ruler and kept on talking throughout the entire replay, not once looking at the members of the team. When the replay finally ended, he turned to look at them and asked, “So what do you guys think about Team Shanghai?”

There were a couple of shrugs and one team member was picking his nose. They really didn’t care about Team Shanghai. If these games proved anything, it was that there were better things to waste their time on.

“Hey!” Fan Yuan shouted. He pointed his ruler at the team members and said, “We’re having a team meeting! Pay some attention! Tell me what you guys think about Team Shanghai!”

It was the substitute Toplaner who eventually replied. He snorted and said, “I don’t know? What do you want us to say? You saw the games, right? They look like shit. What are we wasting our time on them for?”

Wang He stared at his monitor, numb. DEFEAT! They were the same letters from a couple of days ago when he lost to Tang Bingyao in solo queue. I-impossible! I lost to her again! This can’t be! No! We were going to win the Regionals this year! We were finally going to make it to Nationals! This… He didn’t even feel angry anymore. Everything he’d worked so hard for crumbled down around him. The long hours he spent practicing with his university team suddenly felt like the biggest waste of time in his life. “W-we lost… We lost to a bunch of high schoolers.”

The other players from East China University of Science and Technology weren’t in much better shape. The game was over after Lux’s play in the mid lane at 18 minutes, yet the game lasted until the 26th minute. They couldn’t surrender, it just wasn’t done in this type of competition. So they played those 8 minutes of pure torture, grinding their teeth and raging at the fact they were losing to high schoolers. Now the game was lost, morale was at an all time low, and they had to play again.

Zhu Feng looked at his teammates and said over the team’s voice chat, “Alright, guys. We can’t sit here and sulk. It’s a best of three series. The next one is gonna be our game! We’re going to win and kick their asses! Let’s make everyone remember how good we are!”

“Just one more game,” Hu Hui grunted. “One more game and we’re out. Out in the first round is bad enough. But out against a high school team? No. Just no. We can’t let this happen. We just can’t!”

Zhu Feng nodded and added, “We can’t! Now let’s focus on the next game. Champion Select is about to begin. We’re just going to have to play our best! We can still do this, guys! We’re starting at zero again. Two wins, same as last game. Two wins and we’re through.”

“Can we ban his Thresh?” Hu Hui asked. It got a quick round of approval from the rest of the team.

That was how the Champion Select started. East China University of Science and Technology banned three strong defensive Supports, while Team Shanghai banned three powerful meta champions. Next up was locking in Champions. East China University of Science and Technology was on the Blue team this game, so they got first pick. They locked in Irelia. Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao were up next, locking in Orianna and Lucian respectively.

Everything pointed towards a lineup that was similar to the first game. But that all changed when Zhang Hao locked in Fiora. He was normally a team-oriented Toplaner. This meant that he chose Champions that provided Support to his teammates. They were defensive Champions like Mundo, high utility Champions like Gnar, or even a teamfight monster like Rumble. What he never played was the aggressive duelist. The kind of champion that won the lane and kept on pushing until they destroyed the Nexus. But that was exactly the type of Champion Fiora was.

There were a couple of raised eyebrows in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth at Zhang Hao’s choice of Champion. But Fiora fit the strategy An Xin had decided on, so no one said anything about it. But that quickly changed when it was Zeng Rui’s turn to choose a Champion. He glanced at Lin Feng and chewed on his lips. I’ve thought about it enough. That stupid thundering dumbass is right. It’s impossible. It is! But he’s right… I need to trust them. We play aggressively… He scanned through the viable Support options for their game plan and finally landed on Annie. She was a highly aggressive Support, completely different from Zeng Rui’s usual high health and strong crowd control skill type Champions.

Lin Feng grinned and said over the team’s voice chat, “Nice choice, ZengZeng! You really want to set this game on fire, huh! Blast them away with your fire!”

“You’re mistaken,” Zeng Rui replied calmly. “Annie fits in best with our team comp.”

Tang Bingyao looked at Zeng Rui and tilted her head. She said, “Mhm? You’re lying.”

Zeng Rui’s eyelids twitched but he kept his voice calm and steady. “Incorrect. I’m telling the truth.”

Tang Bingyao raised an eyebrow and repeated, “You’re lying.”

An Xin giggled just loudly enough for the others to look at her. She then winked at Tang Bingyao and said over the team’s voice chat, “Alright, let’s move on. Nothing wrong with getting a little pumped up every now and then!”

✹

Game 2
East China University of Science and Technology (Blue Team) vs Team Shanghai (Red Team)

Top lane: Irelia versus Fiora
Jungle: Rek’Sai versus Lee Sin
Mid lane: Ziggs versus Orianna
Ad-carry: Jinx versus Lucian
Support: Nami versus Annie

The audience got excited when they saw the lineups for the second game. East China University of Science and Technology went with a safer team composition that relied more on teamfighting in the mid and late game. It was the safe and expected choice after the first game. But Team Shanghai went fully on the aggressive! They picked powerful Champions, like Lee Sin who was the strongest early game Jungle, to win this game before it could even get to the mid game!

“What do you guys think? Another win for the high schoolers?”
“Maybe they’re getting a bit cocky here…”
“What? Lol. You saw how good they were in the first game, right?”
“Still… This seems like taking unnecessary risk… If you lose you’re out!”
“Doesn’t matter to them. They can lose one and still be in! Haha! Zhu Feng is the one who has to worry!”
“Annie to win the bot lane! Lee Sin in the Jungle! Fiora smashing in top! And then that fucking GOD in the mid lane!”
“WOOP WOOP! Win to Team Shanghai it is! WOOP WOOP!”

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

The game started. Both teams went with normal lanes and neither side was interested in invading the other team’s Jungle. The first minion waves spawned and the whispers started sounding throughout the venue. This was a boring start to the game. But that all changed in the next couple of seconds. Completely unlike the start of the first game, Zhang Hao’s Fiora suddenly played hyper aggressively! She Lunged at the Irelia every time the skill came off cooldown and dealt poke damage. This culminated into a beautiful kill at Level 3. Irelia underestimated how much damage Zhang Hao’s Fiora did and was punished for it.

《First Blood!》

The audience barely had any time to cheer for this kill when the excitement continued in the bot lane. Pyromania was Annie’s passive skill. After casting four spells, her next one would stun the target. Zeng Rui had charged Pyromania up and now waited in the brush for Blue team’s Nami or Jinx to step out of line. 

Nami made the first mistake. She stepped a little bit too far forward in an attempt to dish out some poke damage on Tang Bingyao’s Lucian. Zeng Rui’s Annie flashed forward with a mottled radiance and cast Incinerate! A blazing cone of fire spread out in front of Annie, stunning the Nami!

Tang Bingyao’s Lucian followed up with Relentless Pursuit! She dashed forward and raised both her guns to fire a double shot at Nami. She kept both guns aimed at Nami to fire Piercing Light at her, and then another double shot. The burst damage was too damn high! Nami’s health bar simply disappeared.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“The heck is going on? That’s the second one already! It’s not even five minutes!”
“Sweet jeezsuss! They’re poppin’ off for real!”
“The high schoolers really are gonna knock Zhu Feng out! Shit! Who would’ve thought!”
“That Support and Toplaner are really fucking carrying this game…”
“It’s like they took something after the first game…”
“FUCK THEY’RE GOOD!”

But the most terrifying aspect of this abrupt change in Team Shanghai’s playstyle was the fact that Zhang Hao and Zeng Rui were still the same as before. Just because they slightly altered their approach to the game, that didn’t mean they lost their heads. Zhang Hao was playing as solidly as ever, though he was channeling that into a far more oppressive and overbearing manner than before. And Zeng Rui still commanded over the lane and the game with his cold, analytical approach. Because, as he realised, it was very much possible to combine the trust Lin Feng spoke about with the methodical playstyle he’d mastered over the last couple of years.

It went without saying that Lin Feng, An Xin, and Tang Bingyao were also playing at a very high level. Tang Bingyao found a rhythm in Zeng Rui’s aggressive playstyle that hummed in perfect harmony with her own. The two played better together than ever before, pushing until the Blue team’s Botlaners were either dead or forced to recall back to their base to buy health pots!

An Xin’s Lee Sin was running around the map. She fought the monsters in the Jungle Camps and only appeared to gank when East China University of Science and Technology’s Jungler did. But she always appeared right when he did. It was like she knew exactly where he was. As if she were mirroring his Jungle paths. But it wasn’t completely similar either, because she was very much pulling ahead in experience and gold.

There was one more player on Team Shanghai. Lin Feng. He was the best player on the map, just like in the previous game. His Orianna pressured Zhu Feng’s Ziggs until she forced him back to hide underneath his tower. Lin Feng built up a lead in creep score, as well as in gold and experience. And the few times Zhu Feng’s Ziggs tried to do anything about it, Lin Feng was always one step ahead. He dodged the attempts on his and countered with attacks of his own.

“How the fuck is that Ori that good!?”
“It’s mental. Just mental. Fucking crazy!”
“WOOOOOOOOO!”
“ZHU FENG IS GETTING BANGED IN THE ASS!”
“WOOP WOOOOOOOP!”
“Someone call an ambulance! Someone is getting stomped!”

✹

Zhang Hao was completely focused on his screen. He’d already pulled ahead of Irelia and was now looking to extend that lead. Get the last hit, deal some damage. Get the last hit, deal some damage. He looked for every opportunity to attack the Irelia, even if just with an auto attack. In this manner, he’d already gotten her down to about half health. His eyes suddenly narrowed. She’s too aggressive. He glanced down at his minimap. Crap! My ward wore off! Shit, Rek’Sai!

Hu Hui’s Rek’Sai appeared from the river entrance in the top lane. He dug a Tunnel and arrived underneath Zhang Hao’s Fiora. Un-burrow! The Rek’Sai charged out of the ground and knocked Zhang Hao’s Fiora up into the air! Blue team’s Irelia followed up to the gank. She dashed forward to strike Zhang Hao’s Fiora–Bladesurge! Then she stunned him with an Equilibrium Strike!

An Xin saw the gank in the top lane. As expected. She smiled and had her Lee Sin move up into the top lane. That’s why I was killing the Gromp. “Zhang Hao,” she said over the team’s voice chat. “Fight! I’ll be right there!” Oh, wow! I need to hurry if I want to get an assist! He’s killing them both!

An Xin’s Lee Sin ran into the lane and fired a Sonic Wave at the Rek’Sai, who was already below half health. The second part of this skill allowed her to dash at the marked target. Lee Sin flew forward with his leg in front of him, kicking Rek’Sai in the face for some extra damage. She then slammed her flat palm down on the ground for a Tempest of damage!

Zhang Hao’s Fiora was already Level 6, unlocking her ultimate skill. Grand Challenge revealed the four Vitals on Rek’Sai. If he hit all four of them, a healing field would appear on the ground. But there was another way to activate this healing field. And that was by killing the Rek’Sai.

《You have slain an enemy!》

The healing field spawned on the ground. Zhang Hao’s Fiora had lost nearly half of her health in the gank by  Rek’Sai, but now saw it shoot back up until it was full again. Blue team’s Irelia wasn’t so lucky. Her health was already below half at the start of the fight. Her Jungler was dead now too. She ran away and hid underneath her tower in a final attempt to survive, but that didn’t stop Zhang Hao. He had his Fiora Lunge at the Irelia and finished her off with a couple of quick cuts and slashes.

《Double kill!》

Zhang Hao grinned, almost looking a little like Lin Feng. It’s so much easier when you’ve got a Jungler that always has your back! BunBun really helped me get the kill on Rek’Sai there before anything bad could happen! He nodded at An Xin and said over the team’s voice chat, “Thanks for that gank, BunBun! You just helped me win the lane! I’ve got this!”

✹

Zeng Rui was playing Annie. The way to play her was to make plays happen. This wasn’t just limited to the bot lane. Zeng Rui scanned the minimap while putting pressure on Blue team’s Botlaners. At 9 minutes, he saw an opening in the mid lane. Red team’s Ziggs was pushing just too far out from underneath his outer tower. That’s a mistake by the Ziggs! Lin Feng can’t kill the Ziggs by himself. But… He’s waiting for me to come, isn’t he? He knows I have to come… Zeng Rui gritted his teeth but still made the move. He had his Annie run up the river and when he arrived in the brush right below the mid lane, he said over the team’s voice chat, “Go in!” Then he flashed forward and activated his ultimate.

Annie’s passive skill was active. Her next skill would stun whomever it hit! She threw her teddy bear up into the air. Fire suddenly blazed from within it! Its eyes radiated a fiery energy as its body grew several times in size! And then it dropped down to the ground, smashing its feet onto the Ziggs. Stunning the Ziggs.

“Coming!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He pressed down on the D key, quickly followed by the Q and W keys. All the while, keeping his index finger hovering slightly above the R key. His Orianna appeared right in front of the stunned Ziggs with a mottled flash of light. He then commanded his Ball to attack! It flew towards Ziggs and landed on top of him. Then it let out a pulse of dissonant energy, rupturing the Ziggs’ health bar!

Zhu Feng’s eyes went wide. “STUPID! Fuck!” he cursed, slamming down on his W key–Satchel Charge! The exact moment that the stun broke, his Ziggs placed down an explosive charge underneath his feet. And then Zhu Feng pressed the W key again. The charge exploded, knocking Ziggs away towards his outer tower. For a brief moment.

Lin Feng’s finger fell down on his keyboard, activating Orianna’s ultimate. Orianna commanded her Ball to send out a shockwave. The pulse of energy wrapped around the Ziggs, who was in midair, and pulled him back towards the Ball. Gotcha! Haha! Lin Feng clicked on the Ziggs. His Orianna threw out a fidget spinner. Its sharp edges cut away the last bit of Ziggs’ health.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Lin Feng turned to look at Zeng Rui with a grin that reached from one ear to the other and said, “Nice roam! See? Didn’t I tell you, ZengZeng? This is far more effective! We should’ve played like this from the start!”

Zeng Rui didn’t give Lin Feng the pleasure of being right. He ground his teeth and stared at his screen. I hate him so much. I hate him so much! Why does this thundering dumbass have to be right? Why can’t he just be wrong about this? Yes. YES! I’m feeling great! I’m loving this, you stupid thundering dumbass! Dammit! I hate him. I hate him so much!

While Zeng Rui had his Annie return to the bot lane, he glanced at Lin Feng. He took a deep, long breath to calm himself down. Trust. It’s all about trust with him. But he’s right about that. There’s something so… so liberating about playing the game like this. I don’t have to worry about what he might do. All I have to do is trust that he’ll have my back. And he had. He always has. We have each others’ backs. That’s how you play. And together we win. That’s teamwork. Why is this working so well? Why can’t it just fail? He pinched his eyelids closed and took another deep breath. Because it works. Because it’s a really good way of playing the game. He chuckled and said over the team’s voice chat, “Let’s do that again.”

✹

Team Shanghai had more skilled players in each role compared to the East China University of Science and Technology and on top of that, they were the better team. They pushed for an overwhelming advantage in the three lanes, while An Xin started to call Blue team’s Jungle her home. All three outer towers from the Blue team fell before the 10th minute. And a few minutes later, Team Shanghai found themselves in such a commanding lead that it was hard to see them losing the game.

It turned out that it wasn’t just hard to see them lose this game, it was impossible. Lin Feng’s Orianna had the items to burst down any Champion that came her way. And Lin Feng had enough mechanics to outplay every second, third and fourth Champion that came at him to help their teammates. It wasn’t any different in the other lanes. Everyone kept pushing, brute forcing their way towards the East China University of Science and Technology’s base.

The 21th minute of the second game came around. Team Shanghai was pushing all three lanes. Red minions were crashing into the blue inhibitor towers. The East China University of Science and Technology team could only passively defend, and even then had to be careful not to give away a kill. They were too far behind. There was nothing they could do to turn this around anymore.

“FUCK THIS BULLSHIT!” Wang He suddenly shouted over the team’s voice chat. He slammed down on the Enter key and typed /ff.

Zhu Feng bit on his tongue. He wanted to tell Wang He off for starting the surrender vote. This is an official tournament! We can’t surrender! That’s bad manners! We have to play this out! And we’re still in it! If we can somehow win… STUPID! He stopped himself. He knew they couldn’t win. Two more green bars lit up, signaling that two teammates had agreed to the surrender vote. He let his head fall down. “Fine. Let’s surrender,” he finally said over the team’s voice chat.

The energy contained in the blue Nexus broke free. It twisted and turned and morphed into the victory emblem for Team Shanghai. It was game over for the East China University of Science and Technology. Team Shanghai was moving on to the next round after winning the first best of three series in a promising 2-0 fashion!

VICTORY!

“A SURRENDER VOTE! THEY SURRENDERED!”
“HAHAHAHA! The high school kids got Zhu Feng to surrender! This is brilliant!”
“Oh my god, what a disgrace! Absolutely hilarious!”
“SWEET LORD! GOOOOOO TEAM SHANGHAI!”
“WOOP WOOOOOOOOP! HIGH SCHOOLERS FOR THE WIIIIIN!”
“GG to the high schoolers. They carried the shit out of that game!”
“Fuck they were good… Who’s gonna beat them?”
“DID YOU SEE THAT? THEY SURRENDERED! HAHAHAHAHA!”

✹

Wang He walked out of the soundproof booth behind Zhu Feng. He slightly bent his knees, just far enough to hide his figure behind his team captain. He didn’t want anyone to see him now. We’re going to have to… I’m going to have to… He glanced across the room at the door of the other soundproof booth. Team Shanghai was walking out, cheering and laughing. I’m going to have to shake hands with… with her. After everything I’m going to have to… He chewed on his lips, his stomach twisting in a knot and pulling tight. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

Zhu Feng looked over his shoulder and said to his teammates, “Be nice guys. Good sportsmanship and all that. Just congratulate them.” He grimaced before adding, “I know.”

The two teams shook hands. East China University of Science and Technology did the best to hide their shame and disappointment. Even when Lin Feng was telling them how much fun the games were, they just nodded and wished him good luck in the next round. It was especially difficult to face An Xin and Tang Bingyao. When they first saw them, they joked about the two girls. They told each other that the first round was in the bag, because Team Shanghai had two girls on their roster. But they were proven wrong about that in a painful fashion. The two girls had torn them apart.

Wang He glanced past Zhu Feng at Tang Bingyao. He dreaded having to shake her hand. Please don’t recognize me. Please don’t recognize me. Please tell me you didn’t watch my stream. You don’t know who I am! Please tell me you don’t know who I am! He didn’t dare to meet her eyes, extending his hand to her and quietly mumbling a few congratulatory words. Please don’t recognize me. Please don’t recognize me…

Yuck. Why is his hand so sweaty? Tang Bingyao looked at Wang He, surprised and uncomfortable. A cold shiver ran up and down her spine. What’s wrong with him? He gives me the creeps… She squinted her eyes a bit. Do I know him? Mhm? Lin Feng was pushing her forward, dispelling those thoughts. She moved on to the next person in line and gave them a hand. “Well played.”

Wang He glanced over his shoulder at Tang Bingyao. She isn’t looking back. Good. She didn’t recognize me. She really didn’t recognize me! She didn’t! The short burst of excitement disappeared again. She didn’t recognize me. She didn’t recognize me… He shook hands with the next person on Team Shanghai, but kept looking at Tang Bingyao. She… She doesn’t even know who I am. His shoulders slumped and he kicked against an imaginary pebble on the floor. The knot in his stomach tightened so hard that it tore him apart. I spent all day worrying about her and she… she didn’t even recognize me! SHE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW WHO I AM!

Wang He’s world collapsed around him. He stood in front of the soundproof booths. The audience was clapping and cheering, his teammates were trying to push him along, and Team Shanghai was celebrating in the background. None of it registered in his mind. Why did I worry so much about her? I haven’t even thought about the game. All I wanted to do was get my redemption against her… She doesn’t even know who I am! What am I doing here? I had a bad game, that was all. How did I turn that into this big storyline? He shook his head, listless. She doesn’t even know who I am. I’m such an idiot. Everything, it was all just in my head… He gritted his teeth and looked at his teammates who were walking away, leaving him behind. I need to stop living in my head. “Hey, guys!” he shouted after them. “Wait for me!”

Zeng Rui was only in high school, but his League of Legends achievements were representative of someone much older. He’d reached the top of the ranked ladder in the Ionia server and became famous as an up and comer Support. On top of that, he was the team captain of the Shanghai High School esports team. His team had won the 2014 edition of the Shanghai 16 School Tournament, where he was voted the most valuable player. And in 2015 they came in second place. Professional teams were scouting him and he had even turned down an offer from an LSPL team. His talent at the game was undisputed.

In all his time playing League of Legends, Zeng Rui stuck to one particular playstyle. What he strove for was the most logical and rational way of playing the game. He didn’t like uncertainty, or leaving anything up to chance. A plan had to be perfect, or it was worthless. He needed to have a grasp on every single variable in the game, which included his teammates. They had to listen to him, move as he instructed them to. And then he’d make sure everything came together seamlessly. Just like Autumn! This is how Autumn plays! He’s an Emperor and the only Support Emperor! So he must be doing something right. And it’s always so nice to watch him play. It’s so clean and methodical. That’s how the game should be played, right?

Zeng Rui stared at his monitor. Team Shanghai had taken down the inner tower in the mid lane and was now recalling back to base to spend their gold. He did the same, moving through the actions though his mind was drifting. It all changed when I was put on Team Shanghai. That first training with the thundering dumbass… He glanced at Lin Feng who was grinning like always. His playstyle is everything I hate! He just does whatever he feels like and lets the rest of his team clean up his mess! We always have to clean up after him! It’s impossible! You won’t get anywhere playing like that! But… he does get somewhere. Every single time he gets there… He even beat me in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. He… He was better than me.

The top lane was the next part of the map that Zeng Rui wanted to focus on. He made the calls over the voice chat, but his mind wasn’t really in the game anymore. Team Shanghai, his team, was so far ahead that losing wasn’t really possible anymore. He makes me go crazy. My eyelids have been twitching almost daily since we started playing together. I just… I can’t control him! And I can’t make him see that we need my level of control to win! Zeng Rui chewed on the inside of his cheeks. He comes up with the craziest tactics in the middle of a game. He only sticks to a game plan as long as it makes sense to him. When he sees something that he believes is better, he just goes for it. He doesn’t tell me or the others. He flashes in and expects us to be there to support him! It’s impossible!

Zeng Rui closed his eyes. There wasn’t a real need to pay attention to the game. East China University of Science and Technology was too far behind. Lin Feng’s Lux alone was enough to win this game. So Zeng Rui had his team take down towers in an orderly fashion while thinking back to the many arguments he’d had with Lin Feng over the past couple of weeks. I get mad. I try to argue with him. Make him understand how wrong he is. But he just never seems to take it seriously. He just laughs it off and does something else entirely in the next game! Just now with that ridiculous engage on his Lux… He shook his head, exasperated.

But… Zeng Rui’s latest argument with Lin Feng was almost exactly the same as the one before that, and the one before that. But there was something this time around. Between the laughter, jokes and brushing off the responsibility, Lin Feng said a couple of words that made Zeng Rui pause. “You guys are my teammates. I can make these plays because I believe in all of you!” There was something about those words that surprised Zeng Rui. It was an approach to the game he hadn’t considered before. He always makes stupid excuses for his own egotistical playstyle! Don’t let yourself be fooled by him! But… It’s just… It sounded so casual. Like he really believed it. He glanced at Lin Feng and muttered to himself, “Teammates… You can make these plays because you believe in us…”

What nonsense! This is completely illogical! Zeng Rui shook his head and felt the urge to start arguing with Lin Feng again. But there was something about the way Lin Feng said those words that stopped him. He really believes it. That wasn’t a joke. He looked actually surprised that we didn’t understand him. Why does he think that’s so logical? It’s completely illogical! But… Zeng Rui took a long, deep breath. He scrunched his eyebrows and rubbed his mouth. It’s so simple and honest. How can he say it like that? It’s just… Why am I even considering this? He’s just… Argghhh! He’s making sense again! Why? WHY! This doesn’t make any sense! He isn’t right! He… He can’t be! It’s impossible!

Zeng Rui looked at Lin Feng and said, “Nonsense.” It was his go-to response. But there was something hidden in that message, a small jump in his voice. Because no matter how much he wanted to disagree with Lin Feng, no matter how much everything he knew about the game told him that Lin Feng was being a thundering dumbass, there was something in the honest, almost childlike way in which Lin Feng said those words. “You guys are my teammates. I can make these plays because I believe in all of you!” Maybe it does hold some merit… And that ‘maybe’ sounded through in his voice. “Nonsense,” he repeated.

An Xin turned her head to look at Zeng Rui in surprise. They’d just taken down Baron Nashor and were preparing for a final push to end the game. She was just waiting for him to make the call. Nonsense? She read his expression. He’s been distracted ever since Lin Feng flashed in. And now he… She smiled. It all made sense. Looks like Lin Feng made you believe in him too… He’s good at that. You’re not the first. This is the same thing that happened four years ago. He has a way of charming people into playing his style. A kind of game that relies so much on pure trust rather than a carefully planned strategy and game plan. I know how difficult this is for you. I’ve seen you prepare for the Collegiate Cup.

“Push mid inhib,” Zeng Rui ordered over the team’s voice chat.

An Xin looked back at the game and had her Jarvan IV lead the charge. But she didn’t really need to focus or try all that hard. The game was played more than five minutes earlier. She had her Jarvan IV flag-toss combo onto the players from East China University of Science and Technology that were hiding underneath the inhibitor tower in the mid lane. She followed up with her ultimate skill. All the while, her mind wandered. I wasn’t really part of the team four years ago. They called me the coach, and I did help them, but I was more of a spectator. I watched Lin Feng build that team from nothing. And he built it all on trust. He found the players that fit his unique style of play. And I got to watch all of that happen. She smiled, reminiscing.

Lin Feng’s old teammates weren’t always happy with the way Lin Feng played. He had this weird habit of doing something completely random in the middle of a game, forcing everyone else to adapt on the spot. The game plan was gone and they suddenly found themselves struggling to keep up with him. Then, after the game was over, they’d give him a piece of their mind. They scolded him and made him promise never to do something like that again. But that was part of Lin Feng’s charm, the unique way in which he played, and so he did it again in the next game.

Tian Tian, Eleven, Autumn and Silent would complain again in the next game. They’d tell Lin Feng that he was a terrible team captain and that it was impossible to follow up on him when he kept changing their plans halfway through the game without informing anyone. But they followed up on him. They stuck by his side. And no one could put up any kind of resistance when they swept through the LPL. They were invincible. Lin Feng’s style of play paid off every time. Their complaints lost their vigor. The annoyance in their voices disappeared. They started to see the value in Lin Feng’s approach and learned to play like that too.

On their journey to the World Finals, Lin Feng’s teammates became true comrades. They had absolute trust in each other, which helped them grow to become some of the best players in their respective positions. In that process, a bond took shape between them, one where they didn’t need to talk to know what they needed from each other. It was a special situation where skill and trust came together to form an incredibly strong team.

An Xin sighed and shook her head. They got so close. But in the end, they were all following Lin Feng. He was so young. Maybe too young… He really took it hard in the World Finals. That wasn’t fun to watch. He wasn’t playing well and forgot the most important part on which his team was built. Trust. The trust his teammates had in him, but also the trust he should have in his teammates. He forgot about that. But now… She looked at Lin Feng who was grinning while picking up a triple kill inside East China University of Science and Technology’s base and smiled. But that’s all in the past. He’s back now. And he still has that special playstyle. He’s better. All he needs is to find a group of… A group of— An Xin’s expression froze.

Team Shanghai was cheering over the team’s voice chat. The Red Nexus had exploded and morphed into a victory emblem for Team Shanghai! She could hear them compliment each other, but it was more like background noise. She bit on her lips and glanced from Tang Bingyao to Zeng Rui. He’s already found two members for his new team. And then there’s also Fatty… It won’t be long now until he gets his team together. I just hope… She breathed in sharply to push back the tears that were wetting her eyes. I just hope it’s still possible for me to watch him get all the way to the World Finals again. One more time, that’s all I’m asking for. Just one more. That’d be great. She blinked away a tear. It rolled down her cheek and as it fell down she caught it in the palm of her hand. If only that were possible…

East China University of Science and Technology had come into the Winter Collegiate Cup thinking they could make it all the way to the main tournament. They were convinced that they finally had what it took to compete with the big teams. But that confidence disappeared and morale crashed after Wang He’s death in the mid lane. It was just the latest instance of how their game against Team Shanghai was going. Terribly. They weren’t just losing the game, they were getting schooled by a group of high schoolers!

East China University of Science and Technology’s soundproof booth was silent. The players looked at their screens in numb horror. They knew what was happening. Zhu Feng glanced at his teammates, chewing on the inside of his cheeks. We’re losing. We’re losing this. They’re so much… better. He took a deep breath and then said over the team’s voice chat, “Come on, guys! Next game will be ours. We just need to…” He couldn’t even get himself to finish his motivational speech. His words were all lies. He knew it and his teammates knew it too. It was so obvious how vast the chasm between them and Team Shanghai was that it wasn’t even funny.

The audience came to the same conclusion, as did the players from the other teams present. Team Shanghai was the better team and was more than likely going to win this series. There wasn’t much in terms of excitement, most people in the crowd remaining silent. They’d made fun of the high school team by telling jokes about how Team Shanghai was going to get eliminated in the first round. But no one was laughing now. Team Shanghai displayed incredibly high individual skill levels. And now that the game was moving into the mid game, they proved that their map control and macro ability were of an equally high level.

“They’re going to be a tough team to beat,” someone in the audience said. It was a notion that received a lot of agreement. Team Shanghai wasn’t here to sightsee, they were here to compete. To win this local division of the Winter Collegiate Cup and move on to the next round!

✹

“40 seconds until the next Dragon,” Zeng Rui said over Team Shanghai’s voice chat. “Get ready.” He was already on the move himself, clearing wards in the river around the Dragon pit and placing down wards of his own to gain vision. 

Zhang Hao nodded and said, “Just pushing out this wave and then I’m coming down.” There were only a few more Red minions in the top lane. He used his skills to kill them and then recalled back to base. Teleport is still on cooldown. I shouldn’t have used it… Ah, nevermind. He clicked towards the Dragon pit. There’s still plenty of time. Let’s go and help the team.

The calmness and focus in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth was completely missing in East China University of Science and Technology’s soundproof booth. Zhu Feng watched his team’s wards disappear in the bottom side jungle. We need to stop them! We can’t just sit here and do nothing! But… Dammit! STUPID! He sighed in annoyance. The Jungle was a combination of small, winding paths and monster camps. It was suicide to walk into there without proper vision. All Team Shanghai had to do was wait in one brush and then land their area-of-effect skills on the members of his team. Thresh’s Q… Lux’s Q and ult… J4’s EQ… They’ve got all the skills to fuck us up. He shook his head and gnashed his teeth. But he finally made the only call he could make. “We’re giving up on the Dragon. Let them take it.”

Zeng Rui was slightly surprised when he saw the opposing team giving up on the Dragon. They’re not even trying to steal it? Do they really think some CS in mid and top is worth more? Though it is probably the right call. We’re really far ahead. They made a fast call and followed it. That’s something to remember. He turned to look at An Xin and said over the team’s voice chat, “They’re decisive.”

An Xin smiled and replied, “Yep. Guessing they realised that it isn’t worth the risk to contest this Dragon.”

“Nooooooo! Why would they do this to me?” Lin Feng whined. He curled his lips and added, “And I just hit my power spike too!” His Lux had pulled so far ahead in experience and gold that she was an absolute monster. Her burst damage was so high that Red team’s Jinx and Syndra would instantly die to it, while even the tanky frontline Champions would find it difficult to survive. Team Shanghai didn’t even really need the rest of their team anymore. Just Lux alone could engage, deal the damage, and the cleanup!

“Good call to give up. That Lux is unkillable.”
“I think they should just surrender… This game is over. That Lux…”
“Look at her items! Oh my god! How did she get so strong this early?”
“I mean… she’s at almost 12 CS a minute. That’s just insane…”
“That must be some kind of record, right? 12! Holy shit!”
“It’s mental. Absolutely fucking mental! That Lux is just crazy strong right now!”

✹

The game was only 18 minutes in, but by the way Team Shanghai was pushing it felt more like the 35th minute. And the 12th minute for East China University of Science and Technology in terms of items. Zhu Feng gritted his teeth and glanced at his minimap. We’re all here defending our mid inner tower. All five of us. And those cocky high school kids are pushing with only two! Lux and Thresh! Their Toplaner is pushing the top lane and we can’t stop him, because we’ll lose mid if we do! And I don’t even know where their Graves and Jarvan IV are. Probably coming mid? Best to assume that. But the only one defending the Lux right now is Thresh. If we’re ever going to do anything to get back into this game… A jolt sparked in his stomach. He realised that this was probably their last chance at a comeback. He made the call and said over the team’s voice chat, “We have to act now! Kill the Lux!”

Zeng Rui was trying to keep up with Lin Feng’s Lux, who just kept pushing and pushing. “Lin Feng!” he shouted over the team’s voice chat. “Don’t push so deep! We need to wait for the others!”

An Xin followed up by saying, “Yeap! Wait for me and Tang Tang! We’re almost there!”

But Lin Feng didn’t worry. He ignored the yellow retreat pings on his minimap and the sound they made in his ears. ZengZeng has my back. We’ll win this. It’ll be easy. He had his Lux auto attack a minion and said confidently, “It’s fine! I’ve got really good items! There’s nothing to worry about!”

Zhu Feng flicked his mouse, moving around the mid lane to make sure everything was in place. Their Alistar was hiding in the Jungle, ready to Flash over the wall and catch the Lux off guard. The rest of the team was in position to follow up on that. He smiled. We’ll get him and then win the fight! Without the Lux, we can kill them! He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “GO!”

There was a small nook in the entrance to the top side Jungle from the mid lane. Team Shanghai didn’t have vision on it. But Lin Feng’s Lux still walked dangerously close to it. The Alistar waited, waited, and then flashed forward! He arrived right on top of the Lux with a mottled flash of light and activated Pulverize! He clenched his massive fists and raised them up high above his head. Then he slammed down on the ground with all the force in his body! The earth cracked and the two Champions from Team Shanghai caught in its radius were hurled up into the air! The Alistar used this brief period that the Lux was airborne to run behind her and then, as she landed back on the ground, he Headbutted her towards the inner tower!

“OH SNAP! That engage!”
“WOOT WOOOO! Let’s fucking goooooo!”
“NICE-LA! We turning this around! Beat ‘em high schoolers!”
“RIP the high schoolers! GOOOOOOOOOO ZHU FENG!”
“Is this the turn around?”
“They caught the Lux! She’s gonna die! AND THEN THE WHOLE TEAM WILL DIE!”
“TURNTABLES TIME! WOOOOOOOOO!”

The players from East China University of Science and Technology moved into action. Hu Hui’s Kha’Zix leaped onto the Lux and cleaved her with his claws, while Wang He activated Flame Chompers. His Jinx took out her bazooka and fired three grenades! They landed right underneath Lux, where they exploded! And rooted her!

“Nice!” Wang He exclaimed over the team’s voice chat. He had his Jinx take out her minigun and switched to automatic. Bullets flew through the air and pierced Lux, shearing away at her health!

Lin Feng didn’t panic. He stared at his screen, his fingers gliding over his keyboard. Jinx’s Flame Chompers rooted his Lux to the ground. But he could still cast his abilities. He waited for a brief moment as the Kha’Zix moved ever so slightly to line up with the Jinx. Then he cast Light Binding. A sphere of light flew through Kha’Zix and then Jinx, rooting them both! He followed up with Lucent Singularity and Final Spark, completing Lux’s full damage combo!

An anomaly of twisted light flew out from Lux’s wand and covered a circle wide enough to encapsulate both the Kha’Zix and the Jinx. Then Lux threw her wand up in the air and had it spin in front of her! She jumped up, arching her back backwards and gathering all the power she could muster! Then she unleashed it all! A massive laser beam blasted through the Jinx and Kha’Zix!

The Jinx and Kha’Zix survived the burst damage from Lin Feng’s Lux for one reason only. Wang He managed to get off a Heal between the detonation of Lucent Singularity and the damage from Final Spark. But they were both at critical health. One more auto attack was enough to kill the Jinx, and two for the Kha’Zix. But right then Zhu Feng’s Syndra flashed towards the Lux. She used Dark Sphere to set up for Scatter the Weak! I’ll stun you! See how you dodge this!

Lin Feng smirked. I’m really good at baiting too! He pressed down on the ‘2’ key, activating the active skill on his item ‘Zhonya’s Hourglass’. The golden grains of time flashed into existence. They wrapped around Lux and paused her very existence in time and space! She was untargetable and invulnerable for a brief period of time. For a valuable few seconds.

“HOLY SHIT! How? HOW!?”
“Did he plan this all along? Was he actually baiting them?”
“Fuck me, what a bait!”
“DAYUUUUM! Crazy plays by that Lux! Absolute madman!”
“I like him. Really fucking like him!”
“WOOOOOOO!”

✹

Time ground to a halt in the soundproof booth from East China University of Science and Technology. No one knew what to say. Their last ditch effort had failed, and all because they forgot to take the item ‘Zhonya’s Hourglass’ into consideration. Zhu Feng hit himself in the forehead in annoyance. I should’ve known. I should’ve fucking known! STUPID!

There was one player on the team who was dealing harder with this loss than Zhu Feng, harder than the rest of his team combined. Wang He was staring at his screen, metaphorical smoke rising up above his head. Just a few seconds ago, he’d been ecstatic. They’d caught Lux out of position and were going to finally turn this game around! It all began so perfectly. Alistar got the catch, he got the root, and then Syndra arrived for the stun. It was the perfect plan! It shouldn’t have failed! It… He gritted his teeth, a familiar anger appearing in his eyes. FUCKING BULLSHIT! ZHU FENG SHOULD’VE LINKED THAT BETTER! HE WAS TOO LATE!

The game had started terribly for Wang He. His Jinx was constantly forced to play on the backfoot, even after he’d told his teammates that they should give him some help! But he didn’t get the help he needed. And wherever he went, he died. If not in the bot lane, then in the mid lane. And then there was his creep score. He didn’t even want to look at it. The game was 18 minutes in, yet he’d only gotten 74 last hits. That wasn’t anywhere near enough. He needed at least double that number to be competitive! THIS IS FUCKING BULLCRAP! WHY DOES IT ALWAYS GO LIKE THIS? WHAT THE FUCK! I SHOULD’VE WON THIS! I’M BETTER THAN THAT STUPID THOT!

They’re only high schoolers. High Schoolers! They can’t be this good. They aren’t. I’m just seeing things. Zhu Feng is having a bad game, that’s why that Lux looks so good. That Lux… Wang He took a deep breath. He needed to find an excuse as to why the Lux was so far ahead of everyone else. Even after roaming around to the bot lane and helping pick up kills there, she still breached 200 CS at 18 minutes. IT’S FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE! Cheating! He must be cheating somehow. He has to be. You can’t get 202 CS this early! IT’S IMPOSSIBLE!

WE HAD HER! WE FUCKING HAD HER! WHY DID ZHU FENG FUCK UP!? Wang He was completely losing it. His head was turning red and purple and his hands were trembling. I HATE THAT FUCKING BITCH! STUPID SHIT LUX! WE FUCKING HAD HER! SHE GOT KNOCKED UP!

She should’ve tried to escape! Why did she engage? No one engages 1vs5. She should’ve ran away! That was the plan. Chase her down. Kill her. And then kill the rest of the team! Why did she turn on us? That was just suicidal! But she isn’t dead yet. She isn’t… Wang He stared at his screen, time slowly winding up again. He faintly heard Zhu Feng’s voice in the background, “BACK! NOW! BAAAACK!”

✹

Zeng Rui watched Lin Feng going in. Shit! Why doesn’t he back? I told him he has to… He gritted his teeth. No time. He made his decision and said over the team’s voice chat, “We’re fighting this!” He then flashed towards the still rooted Jinx and Kha’Zix and whipped his chain and sickle backwards, flaying them towards the approaching Jarvan IV and Graves.

An Xin’s Jarvan IV was the next to arrive at the fight. She engaged Jinx and Kha’Zix with her flag-toss combo, knocking them up right as the root wore off. This gave Tang Bingyao’s Graves enough time to get in range for her ultimate skill. She pressed down on the R key–Collateral Damage! Graves fired an explosive shell that smashed into the Jinx and blasted away the last of her health, while also splashing damage onto the Kha’Zix.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Zeng Rui’s Thresh had an easy target for his Death Sentence. The Kha’Zix was still airborne and couldn’t dodge. The scythe hooked the Kha’Zix and Zeng Rui’s Thresh dragged him backwards. An Xin followed up with Cataclysm! Jarvan IV leaped up above the Kha’Zix and then came back to the ground with such force that the earth terraformed into an arena! But there was no opponent inside this arena. Kha’Zix had died on impact.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Zhu Feng watched on in horror as his team’s perfect engage ended in them giving away two kills without getting anything in return. It’s over. It’s… It’s over. He said through gritted teeth, “Retreat. Get out if you can.” He then took the lead, running away and giving up on his teammates and the inner tower.

“WOOOOO! That’s game! THAT’S GAME!”
“G fucking G!”
“How did they win that fight? SNAPPERINO!”
“I know! Crazy, right? So much luck for that Lux!”
“Dunno about that, mate. Did you see the player cam? That dude did not look worried at all.”
“Shit. You’re right! Look at the replay! He’s grinning!”
“THE DUDE IS GRINNING! WHAT A CHAMP!”

The large screen above the two soundproof booths was showing the replay of the last fight. Right next to the minimap was the player feed. Everyone was staring at it, including the players from the other teams. The replay was shown a second time, and then a third. The players in the player seating area started discussing what they saw on the replay.

“Could it be… No way. Did he let himself get caught on purpose?”
“No way… Right? But that smile… He looks scary.”
“Guys, guys. Those are high schoolers! HIGH SCHOOLERS! What crap are you all talking?”
“Right. High schoolers who are stomping Zhu Feng’s team…”
“That Lux is fucking mental if he did that on purpose!”
“I’LL EAT A ROCK IF THAT WAS ON PURPOSE!”
“If that was on purpose, then he’d be some kind of LPL pro…”

✹

Lin Feng grinned and turned his head to look at Zeng Rui. He said over the team’s voice chat, “My bait worked! Everything went according to plan! See, ZengZeng? I told you I hit my power spike!”

Zeng Rui wasn’t amused. He replied, “Attack the inner tower.” He then took a couple deep, long breaths. No. I have to say something. He added, “You do realise we would’ve lost a big teamfight if we didn’t follow up on your engage, right?”

“What do you mean?” Lin Feng asked, confused. He laughed and said, “I knew you guys would follow up! That’s why I engaged!”

Zeng Rui felt his eyebrow twitching again. Thundering dumbass! I really want to strangle you! I’m going to go bald because of you! Dammit! I… He gritted his teeth and glared at Lin Feng. As long as I have to play with you, all I’ll be doing as a Support is running after you and wiping your ass!

An Xin giggled and said, “Seems like you still have that bad habit. Didn’t I tell you to do something about that?” She glanced at Zeng Rui and read the rage in his expression. Maybe I should say something… She hesitated for a brief moment before adding, “At least try to change a bit.”

“Huh? What’s there to be changed? It worked great back then and it’s clearly still working great right now! Didn’t you see that teamfight? We won it!” Lin Feng answered over the team’s voice chat, puzzled. He shrugged and continued, “You guys are my teammates. I can make these plays because I believe in all of you!”

There was a rare moment of complete silence in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. No one expected these words from Lin Feng. He said them as though it was the most normal thing ever. But it wasn’t normal. It was easy to tell someone that you trust them. It was another thing entirely to actually trust them. The players from Team Shanghai were doing this too. They told each other that they believed in each other, yet they didn’t play like it. There was reservation and uncertainty in every play they made. And then there was Lin Feng, who went in deep behind enemy lines utterly unconcerned. “I can make these plays because I believe in all of you!”

Zhang Hao found himself looking at Zeng Rui. I’m… Waiting for him to give an answer. Why do I always do this? He glanced at Lin Feng. He’s right. Lin Feng is right. I’ve always just done what Zeng Rui told me to do. I trusted him to make the right calls. But that isn’t what Lin Feng is talking about. With Shanghai High School, we all trusted Zeng Rui to lead us. It was a one way street that we were all happy with. But we never trusted each other, or got his trust.

What Lin Feng is saying is that he trusts me just like I trust him. It’s a back and forth. It’s… Zhang Hao smiled. This is how it should be. He nodded at Lin Feng and said over the team’s voice chat, “Well said! Don’t worry about making crazy plays like that! I’ve got your back!”

Zeng Rui stared at Zhang Hao. It was the second explosion that went off in his head. What Lin Feng suggested was an approach to the game he’d never considered. Each team needs a shotcaller. A leader to tell the rest what to do! What he’s saying… No… Or… Yes? I… He chewed on his lips. What if…