Team Shanghai grabbed a small advantage in the mid lane. Lin Feng’s Lux put full pressure on Zhu Feng’s Syndra, while keeping his Blue minions where he wanted them. It was an expert bit of skill. But the rest of the game was still completely even. Hu Hui, Jungler for the East China University of Science and Technology, was looking to change that. He finished his initial Jungle path four minutes into the game. He then had his Kha’Zix move towards the bot lane while announcing over the team’s voice chat, “Coming bot for a gank!”

The Support Alistar replied, “I got this!” He waited for Hu Hui’s Kha’Zix to be relatively close to the bot lane and then flashed forward, right on top of Tang Bingyao’s Graves. Pulverize! Alistar smashed his two big fists down on the ground with all its power. The impact knocked Tang Bingyao’s Graves up into the air! He then charged past the Graves and turned around behind her. “Watch this!” he said, grinning.

Zeng Rui’s Thresh flashed towards Blue team’s outer tower while all of this was going on. He threw his lantern to Tang Bingyao, opening up the Dark Passage. All Tang Bingyao had to do was click on the lantern and her Graves would dash to safety. Zeng Rui informed her of that with a simple, “Click it.”

Tang Bingyao nodded and replied, “Mhm!” She then clicked on the lantern 300 times in the next second. Graves had to have both his feet on the ground to dash at Thresh. He was falling back to the ground. There was a miniscule opening between him landing on the ground and the Alistar Headbutting him towards Red team’s outer tower. Tang Bingyao needed to get the click in during that brief period of time to survive. All she had to do was click. Click! Click! CLICK! Her Graves landed on the ground and then lost his footing again as Thresh’s lantern pulled him away to safety.

“Ah damn,” the Kha’Zix player muttered over East China University of Science and Technology’s voice chat. “That could’ve been first blood. Probably should’ve been.”

Wang He didn’t say a word. He just stared at his screen, numb. She’s good. YesYes. The stupid thot knows how to play! But she should’ve been the only one! How did that Thresh play it like that? Did he just get lucky? But that was a good play! Shit! Their Support can’t be good! She was supposed to be the only good player on their team! This can’t be happening! It can’t! FUCK! He gritted his teeth. The more he played against Team Shanghai’s Botlaners, the more he realised that they were both better than he was. But that conclusion was quickly pushed away. He still saw himself as invincible. They just have the stronger duo! I need a better Support! That fucking thot is just getting carried! In fact… If I’d had a better Support, we would’ve gotten that kill! Yeah! I’d be up 1-0! All I need is a Support who knows how to play! Why am I stuck with this noob!?

《First blood!》

Wang He felt his hand twitch. He forcefully restrained himself from hitting the Enter key and typing a message, while also tightly pressing his lips down. NOT FUCKING AGAIN! I already lost to this fucking thot once! We can’t let this happen again! I need to win this! This is supposed to be my redemption game!

“What happened?” Zhu Feng asked over the team’s voice chat, cutting Wang He’s thoughts short.

The Toplaner, who was playing Fiora, replied, “Got baited. I just used all my skills on the Gragas and then the J4 shows up behind me. Didn’t have my flash anymore either, so she knocks me up and gives the kill to that Gragas. Just a stupid mistake from me. Won’t happen again. Sorry, guys.”

Zhu Feng glanced at his Toplaner and shook his head. Come on, guys! I warned you about this! We can’t go underestimating these kids! We’ll lose this series if we do that! He grimaced but understood that arguing wasn’t going to help his team. So he replied over the team’s voice chat, “It’s fine. Just don’t let it happen again.”

✹

There wasn’t much that happened in the next minute. Red team’s Kha’Zix had returned to his Jungle to clear some camps. But by the 6th minute of the game, he made his way through the river to the brush right above the mid lane. He waited for Zhu Feng’s Syndra to move up towards the middle of the lane where Lux was farming minions.

“Now!” Hu Hui shouted over the team’s voice chat. He pressed down on his E key, making his Kha’Zix Leap at the Lux.

There was a Blue ward in the brush Kha’Zix had been hiding in, showing Lin Feng exactly what his opponent’s Jungler was doing. Yeah! Come at me! Lin Feng grinned when the Kha’Zix made the Leap. That was a short moment in which Kha’Zix couldn’t dodge, locked in the jumping animation. Lin Feng’s Lux stepped to the side and aimed a Light Binding at where the Kha’Zix was about to land. The sphere of light flew in a straight line, wrapping around the Kha’Zix right as he landed and binding him.

Right then, An Xin’s Jarvan IV and Zeng Rui’s Thresh walked into the mid lane from the bot side river brush. They aimed their crowd control on Kha’Zix, completely ignoring Zhu Feng’s Syndra. Zeng Rui’s Thresh landed a Death Sentence on the Kha’Zix and An Xin’s Jarvan IV knocked him up with a flag toss combo!

Hu Hui saw his Kha’Zix’s health bar evaporate. He tried to flash away, but the crowd control skills from Team Shanghai were linked together flawlessly. And then there was the Lux. She was auto attacking him, dealing the least amount of damage. But her Lucent Singularity, an anomaly of twisted light, was underneath him. It was waiting to be detonated. Ready to shear away the last of his health. Fuck! I need help! He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “Guys! Zhu Feng! Help me! DON’T BACK AWAY! HELP ME!” He watched his health drop to almost zero. “We can still turn this around!” But Zhu Feng’s Syndra didn’t come to help. She hid underneath Red team’s outer tower.

Lin Feng waited until he was certain his Lucent Singularity would claim the Kha’Zix’s life. Then he pressed on the E key and activated the second half of the skill. The anomaly of twisted light detonated right underneath the Kha’Zix.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Sweet!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He then turned to An Xin and said over the team’s voice chat, “See? I told you! I’m really good at Lux too!”

An Xin glanced at Lin Feng and smiled dangerously. “Oh? That was all you? I see. Well I guess you don’t need our help then. You can fend for yourself for the rest of the game.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Zeng Rui chimed in.

“Uh, no no! You can keep ganking! Ganks are always good!” Lin Feng replied sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

Team Shanghai had picked up a kill in the bot lane, securing the advantage there. Then they moved their attention to the mid lane where they helped Lin Feng pull further ahead of Zhu Feng’s Syndra. And it all went with relative ease. The team members were laughing over the voice chat and there was a focused but relaxed atmosphere in their soundproof booth.

The same couldn’t be said for the East China University of Science and Technology’s soundproof booth. No one was talking there. They were staring at their screen, frustrated and angry. Just a few minutes ago, they’d been joking about Team Shanghai being a high school team. A team with two girls on its roster. It really sounded like a bad joke to them. Yet now they found themselves running after the facts only a couple of minutes into the game.

But from everyone on the team, Zhu Feng was struggling the hardest. Even worse than Wang He. His laning phase got off to a bad start, which had annoyed him. But Hu Hui’s gank was supposed to change that. He was supposed to be back in the game. Why did it go like this? Dammit! He gritted his teeth. His Syndra had survived, but that wasn’t worth anything. I’m the real loser here! STUPID! Lux gets her damn kill! Forces me to recall back to base AGAIN! And she’s just happily spending all her spare gold! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! And there’s not a damned thing I can do about it…

The audience was just like the East China University of Science and Technology having a difficult time accepting what they were seeing. The high school team consisting of three guys and two girls weren’t losing terribly. That alone was enough to shock many of the students watching the game. But not only was Team Shanghai not losing the game, they were starting to pull ahead, picking up two early kills and building up a massive advantage in the mid lane.

“They really threw me off at the start… It’s just not often that you see two girls on a team. And they’re both playing really well!”
“What the fuck is this! What are Zhu Feng and his boy doing? FUCKING START PLAYING!”
“This ain’t looking too hot for Zhu Feng and Wang He…”
“They getting rekt by GIRLS! HAHAHAHA!”
“Oh, come on! Hu Hui, what’s this? Fucking play! STOP FEEDING!”
“WOOOOOO! TEAM SHANGHAI! WOOOOOOOO!”
“Maybe they’re giving away the first game to make it more exciting? Has to be it, right?”
“YUP! No way Zhu Feng loses to a damn kid in the mid lane! I refuse to believe it.”

✹

Zhu Feng’s Syndra arrived back in lane half a minute later. The minion wave was frozen outside of the Blue outer tower. Goddammit! I can’t even go up there for some CS! What the fuck do I do? Zhu Feng chewed on his lips and looked at the minions that were dying off in the distance. They were out of his reach. He wasn’t even getting experience from them. I can’t keep doing this! I’m just going to become useless! STUPID! I need to at least get in range to get the experience. Just a little more forward. He had his Syndra walk forward, doing his best to dodge the skills from Lin Feng’s Lux that were already flying his way. This stupid Lux! How the fuck does she keep hitting me? I just need to dodge it!

The plan worked for the next 30 seconds. Zhu Feng’s Syndra was getting more brazen by the second as he started noticing a certain rhythm in the Lux’s attack patterns. Dodging the attacks became easier. Hehe, you’re still just a kid. You gotta learn more tricks if you wanna beat me! I know exactly where you’re attacking next! He stepped to the side and smiled. That’s another missed Lucent Singularity! SCRUB! He had his Syndra push past the middle of the lane to last hit a caster minion.

Zhu Feng clicked on another caster minion. His Syndra was just out of reach. She floated forward and then started her auto attack animation. UH? It all happened too quickly. Zhu Feng was paying attention to the minion, completely forgetting to keep his eyes on the Lux. He didn’t see the Light Binding coming until it flew straight through his Syndra. The light binded her in place. STUPID! STUPID! Zhu Feng frantically clicked away, smashing his D key to flash away, and hoped the Lux didn’t have enough damage to burst him down.

Lin Feng’s Lux moved forward and hit Zhu Feng’s Syndray with an auto attack. It preceded her passive skill, Illumination! The damage from Light Binding had charged the Syndra with energy and the auto attack ignited that energy for bonus damage! Then she followed up with Lucent Singularity! An anomaly of twisted light flew forward and spread out on the ground around the Syndra. Lin Feng’s Lux detonated it and followed up with another auto attack. The skill procced Illumination and the auto attack ignited the energy!

Zhu Feng’s Syndra was caught in the light binding for another second. Lin Feng grinned. Watch me blast you away with this Final Spark! He pushed down on the R key. His Lux threw her staff up in the air and let it spin in front of her. She jumped up in the air and arched her back backwards. Then she summoned all the light energy she could muster and threw it forward, screaming, “DEMAAAACIA!” A beam of pure light blasted across Summoners Rift. It slammed through Zhu Feng’s Syndra, shearing away at her health and almost killing her!

“He’s alive! He’s going to live! LOOK!”
“FLASH AWAY! FLASH TO THE TOP JUNGLE! NOOO!”
“DON’T GO THERE! DON’T!”
“GO TOP! TOP DUDE! TOP!”

Zhu Feng was sitting in a soundproof booth, completely focused on the screen in front of him. He didn’t see or hear the audience screaming for him to watch out. All he knew was that he’d survived the Lux’s burst damage and that he now had to get away! So he chose the fastest way home, straight towards his outer tower. And that was exactly where the Jarvan IV was waiting for him. Zhu Feng’s eyes went wide. He stared numbly at the new arrival, then shouted, “STUPID! SO FUCKING STUPID!”

An Xin’s Jarvan IV appeared from Red team’s bottom side Jungle. She ran into the mid lane and then dashed at Zhu Feng’s Syndra with the flag toss combo. It was aimed perfectly. The Syndra was flung up into the air! Lin Feng’s Lux caught up and landed a third auto attack, igniting the energy left behind on the Syndra from the Final Spark skill. Her health dropped to single digits. But An Xin wasn’t leaving anything to chance. She activated her ultimate skill–Cataclysm! Jarvan IV leaped up above the Syndra and then slammed down into the ground! He carried with him such force that the ground terraformed into an area! But he was the only one inside. Zhu Feng’s Syndra was already dead.

《An enemy has been slain!》

“WOOOOOOOOOW! WHAT WAS THAT!?”
“Are these high schoolers on steroids? HOLY DAMN!”
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ZHU FENG? THAT WAS SO OBVIOUS!”
“Get your asses into the game! You’re losing to HIGH SCHOOLERS!”
“Oh my god, I can’t watch this. It’s too painful. What a bunch of braindead idiots…”
“PLAY THE FUCKING GAME! STOP BEING SO COCKY! FUCK!”

✹

Wang He listened to Zhu Feng complain and knew exactly what was happening. It all felt far too familiar. This isn’t fucking possible! I refuse to believe this! NoNoNo! NOOOOO! They’re supposed to be shit! Just that girl was going to be half decent! Not as good as me but ok. JUST OK! The rest had to suck! He ground his teeth, fighting a losing battle against his own sanity. It was shown in his play. He clicked further left than he usually would, stepping out from behind the protection of a caster minion.

Zeng Rui spotted the mistake straight away. He lined up a Death Sentence and threw it out. The scythe connected with Wang He’s Jinx. He said over the team’s voice chat, “Tang Tang, on the Jinx!”

“Mhm! Okay!” Tang Bingyao replied. She kept her eyes locked on Red Team’s Alistar while activating Quickdraw. Her Graves dashed forward and hit Jinx with an auto attack. She didn’t activate a second skill. Her finger was lightly pressing down on the D key, waiting to activate Flash.

Red Team’s Alistar tried to protect his ad-carry. He targeted Tang Bingyao’s Graves with Headbut. It was Alistar’s go-to move. Headbut the opponent and then knock them up right away with Pulverise. But before he could try this combo, Tang Bingyao flashed past him. She then raised her triple barrel shotgun and took aim at the Jinx.

Wang He froze. His mouse-hand refused to move and his keyboard fingers refused to press down. Fuuuuuuck! How did she do that? How! HOW! HOW!? He was forced to watch as Graves fired a Buckshot at his Jinx. Three bullets slammed into his Jinx! LET ME GET OUT! FUCKING THOT! PISS OFF! But his fingers wouldn’t move. 

Tang Bingyao’s Graves lifted his triple barrel shotgun again. He activated his ultimate skill. Collateral Damage! An explosive shell blasted through the air and slammed into the Jinx. The resulting damage decimated her health bar!

Zeng Rui’s Thresh was still hooked to Wang He’s Jinx. He now activated the second part of Death Sentence. Thresh dashed at Wang He’s Jinx and then Flayed her back and Ignited her. An unquenchable flame burned on Jinx’s body and the Flay slowed her. This combination gave Tang Bingyao’s Graves all the help he needed to finish the job.

“DO SOMETHING!” Wang He screamed over the team’s voice chat. “ALISTAR!” But it was already too late. The game announcer’s voice sounded in his ears.

《You have been slain!》

Wang He watched his screen turn grey. This… This… It’s like that stupid game from the other day all over again! God fucking dammit! This stupid thot is fucking beating me again! And… He slammed his fist down on the desk in frustration. AND I CAN’T FUCKING QUIT THE GAME! It took him every last bit of constraint not to stand up and walk away. Or to start screaming.

✹

The game between Team Shanghai and the East China University of Science and Technology was only a little more than 6 minutes in, yet it looked like the game was already played. Lin Feng was enjoying a big lead in the mid lane, while Zeng Rui and Tang Bingyao were quickly pulling ahead of their lane opponents in the bot lane. This was everything the audience expected East China University of Science and Technology’s team to do.

“How are these high schoolers this much better…?”
“What in the world is happening? This shit ain’t making any sense!”
“Are there esports steroids? Those kids should be tested!”
“This is borderline insane… The way those kids are playing… Fuck! It’s impressive!”
“Holy sweet moly! That’s a 3,000 gold advantage right there!”
“I know right… Zhu Feng is gonna have a hard effin time!”

Shocked, surprised, and confused comments sounded out in the hall. The audience wasn’t really sure what was happening. They didn’t understand how the university team was losing to a high school team. All they’d been hearing about was how the university teams were going to be so incredibly much better than the high school teams that it wasn’t even going to be funny. Reality was anything but that.

It took highly skilled people to see just how vast the gap between Team Shanghai and the East China University of Science and Technology really was. There were several such individuals on the other teams competing here today. From the small things like positioning to the bigger moves like ganks, Team Shanghai exploited every asset of the game to pull ahead.

“They’re gonna win if it goes on like this…”
“No shit! This Team Shanghai is kicking Zhu Feng’s ass. This could be a sub 20 minute game…”
“Fuck, that’d be embarrassing!”

✹

Zeng Rui glanced at the game clock. It read 9 minutes. He looked at his minimap and said over the team’s voice chat, “Lin Feng, come roam bot.”

Lin Feng panned his camera, glanced at the state of the bot lane, and nodded. “Sure.” He then pushed out the minion wave in the mid lane and retreated to his own outer tower. It was a simple tactic to make the Syndra think he was recalling back to base to upgrade his items. Let’s get some kills in bot too!

Zeng Rui waited for Lin Feng to almost be in the bot lane before engaging Wang He’s Jinx. His Thresh flashed forward and then Flayed the Jinx backwards. Red team’s Alistar tried to protect his ad-carry by Headbutting Zeng Rui’s Thresh away, but by doing so played the exact move Zeng Rui was waiting for. He smiled and pressed down on the Q key–Death Sentence! Thresh threw his scythe at the Jinx and hooked her!

Lin Feng’s Lux walked into the bot lane right as the Death Sentence landed. He cast a Light Binding to root the Jinx and followed up with Lucent Singularity and Final Spark! An anomaly of twisted light flew towards the Jinx and glowed underneath her. Then the Lux threw her wand up into the air and made it spin in front of her. She jumped up herself, arched her back backwards and then pushed all the energy she could muster forward! A laser beam blasted across the map, enveloping the Jinx and evaporating her health bar!

Tang Bingyao’s Graves had followed behind Zeng Rui’s Thresh. She landed an auto attack on the rooted Jinx and then blasted the last of her health bar away with a Buckshot! All the while, An Xin’s Jarvan IV ran into red team’s bottom side Jungle and arrived in the bot lane behind enemy lines. There, she stormed towards the outer tower and knocked the Alistar up with a flag toss combo!

“Alistar! Alistar!” Zeng Rui shouted over the team’s voice chat, ignoring the game announcer telling them about Jinx’s death.

The Lux, Graves and Thresh charged towards Red team’s outer tower and helped An Xin’s Jarvan IV kill the Alistar. Tang Bingyao picked up the kill on her Graves, after which all four players from Team Shanghai made it out with their lives.

“Dragon! Go Dragon!” Zeng Rui ordered over the team’s voice chat. And the other three followed behind him. They ran up the river to the Dragon pit and killed the monster, getting gold and a buff that gave them extra attack and magic damage. All of this only further extended their advantage over the East China University of Science and Technology.

✹

Wang He was going crazy. I CAN’T DO THIS SHIT! SCREW BOT LANE! He’d been playing in the bot lane for 14 long minutes. That stupid thot is more fed than I am! And that Thresh is better than my Alistar! And if it wasn’t for that other thot and the stupid Lux constantly ganking me, I might even get some CS and win this lane! But I’m only falling further behind! I need to do something! He panned his camera across the map, searching for anything that might help him. Then he paused on the mid lane. Well, fuck it all! If I can’t get anything in the bot lane, I’ll just go and get some CS in the mid lane! That Lux can’t do anything to me. I just gotta dodge her Qs. Those stupid Light Bindings… Any noob can dodge those!

Wang He’s Jinx arrived in the mid lane and started attacking minions. He got a couple of last hits and pushed up further into the lane. This is more like it! I’m getting some gold and I’ll be right back int— His eyes went wide in shock. The Lux had appeared out of nowhere and flashed towards him, throwing a Light Binding at him from point blank range! There was no way he could have dodged it. FUCK! NOT AGAIN! NOT FUCKING AGAIN! He pressed on every button on his keyboard, trying to break the root faster!

An auto attack landed on Wang He’s Jinx, detonating the energy gathered on her from the Light Binding. Then the Lux attacked with Lucent Singularity and Final Spark. The two skills blasted away almost all the health his Jinx had. But it very importantly didn’t kill him. He grimaced. I’ll just have to recall back to base again. Fucking dammit! He slammed down on his F key, infuriated. The root broke and his Jinx Flashed away towards the safety of his outer tower. At least I’m still alive. Unlike that idiot Zhu Feng! Feeding this noob Lux!

And then, from over the Jungle wall below the mid lane, an explosive shell flew towards Wang He’s Jinx and exploded in her face. The damage was massive. Wang He watched his screen turn grey again. But more painfully was the game announcer’s message that followed. It echoed in his mind, a constant reminder of how the thot he hated so much was kicking his ass. How she was the better player.

《Rampage!》
《Rampage!》
《Rampage!》
《Rampage!》
《Rampage!》
《Rampage!》

It was time for the first match in Group 2! The audience at East China School of Medicine were sitting on the edge of their seats! This was the moment they’d all been waiting for! The high school team, representatives of the Shanghai Esports Association, were finally going to be put in their place!

“I just don’t get it… Why did the Shanghai Esports Association feel the need to add this, this group of kids to the Collegiate Cup? It just brings the level of the entire competition down.”
“Were they bribed or something? You never see girls play competitively…”
“I guess this ‘Team Shanghai’ came just for the lols… Doubt they’re going to take even a single game.”
“Doubt they’re even going to get a single kill!”
“It’s really just silly. No one’s going to be having any fun with this matchup.”
“Serves those cocky kids right for waltzing into this place like it’s theirs!”

The players from Team Shanghai heard the commotion that broke out when they got up and walked towards their soundproof booth. It was the same reaction they kept getting wherever they went. They found it exhausting. Tang Bingyao shook her head, An Xin mumbled a few quiet complaints, and even Lin Feng was clearly fed up with it. They’re talking about us! But we’re not bad… We’re going to crush this uni of science and techno! They’re going to look like idiots… He grinned and said to An Xin, “The audience is really good at being idiots too!”

An Xin looked up at Lin Feng, surprised. Then she giggled and replied, “Here, let me try something.” She puffed her chest forward and did her best imitation of someone in the audience, “For real? Two girls playing? They must be so bad!”

Zhang Hao laughed and joined in with his own imitation of an audience member. “I know, right! Can you believe it? Two girls playing!”

“A high school team at a university level competition? What is the Shanghai Esports Association thinking?” Zeng Rui said.

Lin Feng chuckled, quickly becoming more excited, and said, “Nice one, ZengZeng! OhOhOh! I’ve also got one—”

“Maybe the rumours are true. Their parents bought them a spot in this tournament. Spoiled brats,” Tang Bingyao interrupted, smiling.

The team arrived at the soundproof booth. Zeng Rui pushed open the door and then paused. He turned around to look at the rest of the team and said, “Alright, that’s enough fun. Complete focus when we step in here. Let’s show them how good we are.”

Team Shanghai disappeared in the soundproof booth, but the audience didn’t stop giving their opinions. They kept going on and on about how girls didn’t belong on a team that was trying to compete. And how high schoolers shouldn’t act like they could beat university students. This last bit riled up the other teams competing. They’d kept mostly quiet while Team Shanghai could still hear them, but they now found themselves speaking up louder and louder.

“When those kids get 2-0’d, they go home, right? We won’t have to look at their stupid faces again?”
“Who knows… Maybe their parents will also buy them into the next round…”
“They can’t do that! But boy will it be embarrassing for the Shanghai Esports Association when their team gets knocked out in the first game! Serves them right for pulling this shit! A high school team… Fucking embarrassing!”
“Money talks, my friend. If their parents just throw enough money at the tournament officials, I’m sure they can get a second chance at Regionals.”
“Maybe they’ll buy a spot at the main tournament from one of the teams that make it there.”
“Not gonna lie. I’m kinda looking forward to seeing them getting stomped. That’ll feelsgoodman!”
“Hahaha, yeah! I can’t wait to see that!”

✹

Team Shanghai were seated behind their computers. From left to right, it was Zhang Hao in the top lane, An Xin in the Jungle, Lin Feng in the mid lane, Tang Bingyao as the ad-carry and Zeng Rui as the Support. Their monitors showed the League of Legends client. They were currently waiting in a lobby for the game to move into Champion select.

An Xin looked over the edge of her screen at the audience. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she could guess. “Hey, Tang Tang,” she said, turning to look at Tang Bingyao. “Looks like it’s the same everywhere we go. It’s always the same, ‘girls can’t play League’ crap. I really want to make sure they don’t say that again for the rest of this tournament. That’d be nice, right?”

“Mhm!” Tang Bingyao nodded. She looked back at An Xin and replied, “We’ll prove them wrong.”

An Xin smiled at Tang Bingyao. That’s the spirit! Then she turned back to look at the audience. Her smile remained but the expression around it changed. Her eyes narrowed and she scrunched her nose a bit. It was her trademark murder-smile. “Good. I dare them to ever look down on us again! We’re going to make them see how good we are!”

The game moved to Champion Select. An Xin took the reins, telling the team which strategy they were going for and instructing the individual players on the team which Champions they were to play. She then explained her vision for the early game, to which Zeng Rui nodded. He was in charge of the game itself. And he knew exactly what she wanted to see. During their conversation about the game plan, the client opened up the loading screen. Everyone could see the lineup for Game 1 in the best of three series between Team Shanghai and East China University of Science and Technology.

Game 1
Team Shanghai (Blue) versus East China University of Science and Technology (Red)

Top lane: Gragas versus Fiora
Jungle: Jarvan IV versus Kha’Zix
Mid lane: Lux versus Syndra
AD-carry: Graves versus Jinx
Support: Thresh versus Alistar

✹

The players from East China University of Science and Technology sat in the soundproof booth that was right next to Team Shanghai’s. Zhu Feng was their team captain and Midlaner. He sat behind the middle computer, switching between looking at his monitor and glancing at his teammates. “We have a strange start to this game, guys,” he finally said. “They’re the representatives from the Shanghai Esports Association. And the rumours suggest they might be good. But… It’s really hard to believe that when you see their lineup.” He took a long, deep breath before continuing, “We can’t let that line of thought get to us! It doesn’t matter how bad we think they might be. They’re here because they have skill! That’s what we have to believe! So we have to focus on this game!”

Zhu Feng hit the right note. His teammates turned to him, all of them confused. The Jungler was the first to talk. He said, “You gotta be kidding me! Focus? They’re a bunch of high schoolers! How good can they possibly be?”

“Right! There’s no way we’re losing to them,” the Support chimed in. He then turned to his ad-carry and asked, “Yo, Wang He, whaddya think?”

But Wang He wasn’t listening to his teammates. His gaze was focused on the loading screen. I thought I recognized her, but I brushed it off… Shit! How is this even possible? He gritted his teeth in shock and disbelief. That’s her! It’s that girl! I played against her the other day on stream… Her Draven… How is this even possible? This can’t be a coincidence! It’s stupid!

“Wang He! Wang He! Yo, bud! Tell us. Whaddya think?” the Support asked again.

Wang He turned to look at his teammates and said, “Uh, oh, uh, we should focus bot lane. Camp it please. We just need to shut down their bot lane! Yeah! Shut down their bot lane! That’s how we’ll win this quickly! Camp bot lane!”

“Uuuuh, huh?” the Jungler replied, confused. Wang He never asks for help… He complains when he gets help… What’s wrong with him? He glanced at Wang He, searching for an answer. Why does he look so pale? Is he sick or something? What’s going… Eh, whatever. He shrugged and said, “Sure, I’ll come around bot for a gank or two.”

Wang He exhaled the breath he’d been holding. He chewed on the inside of his cheek and stared at his monitor, scenes from a few days ago playing in front of his eyes again. She got lucky then! Not again! I’ll fucking stomp on her stupid fucking Graves! He grinned and mumbled so quietly that only he could hear it, “Alright, little girl. Let’s see what you can do when I try a little.” He chuckled loud enough for his teammates to give him a couple of strange glances. But he ignored them. His eyes were on the Summoner ID below the Graves. You’re probably their starplayer too. The ad-carry. A strong girl. Sure, sure. Makes sense why the Shanghai Esports Association would build a team around you. Too bad I’m going to kick your ugly ass out of here!

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

The game started without much fanfare. Both teams went with a normal start to the laning phase and waited for the first minion waves at their outer towers. And even after the first real exchanges, things remained passive for the most part. Zhang Hao and his lane opponent were focused on last hitting minions, seemingly oblivious to each other’s existence. Over in the bot lane, Wang He was scared of Tang Bingyao’s Graves. He played the lane very defensively, giving up last hits just for some more safety, and waited for his Jungler Kha’Zix to come down to the bot lane for a gank.

The only lane with any kind of action was the mid lane. Lin Feng was playing Lux against Zhu Feng’s Syndra. If both players were roughly equal in terms of skill, this was a very fair matchup. But Lin Feng was the far better player. He had a way of positioning himself at just the right angles to land both poke damage on the Syndra while also keeping a perfect creep score.

Zhu Feng was getting more and more annoyed by the second. How is this Lux controlling the wave so perfectly? She’s pushing me away without even doing anything! I don’t get it! What in the world is happening!? He was forced to move his Syndra back again to dodge an anomaly of twisted light that was flying towards him. Her Lucent Singularity’s keep hitting me! And never the minions… How the hell is he freezing the minion wave here? Shitting shit! And I can’t afford to get hit by it either. That just proc’s her passive skill and makes her next auto attack against me deal more damage!

“Take this!” Zhu Feng suddenly exclaimed. He slammed down on his Q key. Syndra moved forward a bit and then conjured a Dark Sphere underneath the Lux. The dark magic exploded on creation and dealt splash magic damage. Zhu Feng’s expression dropped. He exclaimed, “How the fucking dammit did she dodge that!”

The Syndra’s attack had looked flawless. Lux was moving to last hit a minion, while Zhu Feng ignored a minion to land some poke damage with Dark Sphere. But not only did Lux get the killing blow on the minion, she also sidestepped the Dark Sphere and then fired an anomaly of twisted light at the Syndra! It exploded, slowing and damaging the Syndra.

Zhu Feng watched his Syndra drop below half health, incredulous. “How am I the one pushing the minion wave?” he mumbled. I can’t even get near the minions anymore! He’s frozen the wave right outside of his tower! If I move up there, they can just gank me… And if I sit back here, I’m missing out on gold and experience! Either way, I’m fucked! Screw it, I’m just going to go back to base and get some extra health potions. I just have to play it a bit more aggressively when I get back to force her to go back to base as well!

Zhu Feng retreated back to behind his outer tower and then pressed down on the B key. A blue light flared around his Syndra as she started channeling the recall skill. It took a couple of seconds, but then she appeared in the fountain at the heart of Red Team’s Base. Right then, An Xin’s Jarvan IV appeared in the mid lane and helped Lin Feng’s Lux to clear the minion wave and push it into the Red Team’s outer tower.

What the fuck? I just… I… Zhu Feng felt numb. I lost so many minions there… All that experience and gold… It’s gone. Gone! He shook his head in disbelief. Why didn’t I bring Teleport? Shit! I need to get back to lane and kill him! We need to get a kill on him, or I’m just going to fall behind. He chewed on his lips for a moment, then said over the team’s voice chat, “Hu Hui, if you see a chance, come and gank mid with your Kha’Zix.”

High school teams competing at a university tournament. The official reason was that these were some very talented players who deserved to get the experience. But it was never that simple. In this particular case, it was a pissing contest between the three big Esports Organizations in China. Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai were using their high school teams to show who’s next generation was the best. A couple of old men in their big offices were betting on who had the best kids.

The Shanghai Esports Association had given Team Shanghai two objectives to achieve during the Winter Collegiate Cup. The obvious goal was winning the entire tournament and showing that they were better than everyone else! But more importantly for the Shanghai Esports Association was that Team Shanghai beat the high school teams from Beijing and Guangzhou. And if they never got to face those two teams, then they had to at least rank higher in the tournament.

Chu Fang dropped the smile and pleasantries. He looked with a serious expression around the cybercafe’s private room. He said, “The high school teams from Beijing and Guangzhou are actually really strong. They’re far better than we initially expected.” He passed around a document, allowing the members of Team Shanghai to read through it, before continuing, “On there you can see the information I gathered on the Beijing team. They have seven members on their team. From what I could find, they’ve scrimmed against both Beijing U-Tech and China University of Political Science and Law. They won every game in both scrims.” He paused for a brief moment and then added, “Those two university teams were both quarter finalists last year.”

“So what?” Zhang Hao asked with a shrug. “We scrimmed against Shanghai University of Finance and kicked their asses! Sounds like we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Eh…” Chu Fang shook his head and said, “It’s not that simple. Don’t start underestimating them. The Beijing team didn’t even play with their main roster. Their strongest two players were sitting out in those games. And they crushed both teams. I’ve been told that they were really impressive.”

Zeng Rui closed his eyes and massaged his temples. It was hard to get any information on them, since we didn’t know much about them. I hoped that they were at most at the level of quarter finalists. But it sounds like I was wrong. He looked up at Chu Fang and said, “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“Uhm…” An Xin knew Chu Fang a little bit better than most others in the room. He likes to start with the good news… She observed Chu Fang’s expression briefly and then asked, “What about the Guangzhou team?”

Chu Fang smiled bitterly and replied, “Yeah… They’re better than the Beijing team. A lot better, supposedly.”

Long before esports there was the geek culture, which was little more than a group of Japanese animation, science fiction and video games enthusiasts. This culture grew faster in Guangzhou than anywhere else in China, quickly becoming a part of the city’s identity. Many people even called Guangzhou the first real cultural center of China! There were countless companies, like comic book publishers and streaming platforms, that had set up their base of operation in Guangzhou for this very reason. Yet Shanghai had overtaken Guangzhou in recent years to become the esports capital of the world. This was difficult to accept for the City of Nerds. And they were looking to bring esports back home!

All of this background information was important for Team Shanghai, because it explained how Guangzhou’s high school team had attracted some of the most talented high school players from Korea. They’d done this with their connections to big companies like Huya TV. Chu Fang took a deep breath and then asked, “Have you guys heard about a player called Goalie?”

“No? I’ve never heard about him before. Is he a strong player?” Lin Feng asked, puzzled.

The other members of Team Shanghai didn’t reply right away. They thought about it, because the name did sound familiar to them. It was eventually An Xin who made the connection. She raised her eyebrow and mumbled, “Him? They actually got him?”

Chu Fang nodded and explained, “Yeah. They got him. Offered him a nice fat contract it looks like. He flew over from Korea and started attending a high school in Guangzhou approximately two months ago. His rank on the China server isn’t all that high yet. But that’s just because he hasn’t spent much time on it. He mainly plays on the Korean server, where he has consistently been in the top 30 of the ranked ladder. His peak was rank 7. And…” He turned to look at Lin Feng. “…he’s a Midlaner.”

Zhang Hao’s eyes were wide. He stared dumbly at Chu Fang and mumbled, “7th place Challenger on the Korean server? What the fuck! That’s so impressive! He’s right up there with Rake! He’s played against Rake! How are we supposed to beat someone like that!?”

Zeng Rui hadn’t felt his eyelids twitch involentarily all day. But now they did. He finally remembered who Goalie was. Huya TV offered him a fat contract! That’s probably what Chu Fang is talking about. But I haven’t seen him stream the last few weeks. I was already wondering what happened… I guess this explains it. He’s been busy practicing with his team. Crap! I didn’t expect that he could be on Guangzhou’s high school team. All my predictions and expectations for the high school teams were wrong! I have to reconsider all of that! Why couldn’t they let us know about this sooner? This is really screwing with our schedule! He grimaced and scratched his head. It’s going to be so much harder to win now. Can we even win? Goalie is only a high schooler, but he has so much experience already! We’re basically screwed in the mid lane!

Lin Feng didn’t share any of the shock his teammates were feeling. He was a little bundle of joy! A true grin reaching from one ear to the other was somehow still growing wider on his face. His eyes were beaming in anticipation. He exclaimed, “Goalie is a mid main? Nice! That should be so much fun! You know, I’m really good at beating rank 7 Challengers too!”

An Xin giggled and said, “Right. Just leave him to Lin Feng. There’s nothing to worry about.” She then nodded at Lin Feng and added, “You might like to hear that Goalie is known for his LeBlanc and Fizz and all those hard-carry champions.”

“Sweet!” Lin Feng exclaimed. His grin was somehow reaching all around his head. “This’ll make it so much more fun to stomp him!”

Zeng Rui looked at Lin Feng in shock. Then a memory came back to him from the night before. It was his conversation with An Xin. She told me not to worry about it. Lin Feng was better than every other Midlaner at the Collegiate Cup. But that was before we knew about Goalie. He looked at An Xin, scrutinizing her every action. She… she doesn’t look worried? Is she? Is this all an act? Does she really believe Lin Feng can even beat Goalie?

Lin Feng suddenly turned to An Xin and asked, “Hey, how do you know so much about Goalie?”

“Huh?” An Xin mumbled. What’s gotten into him? It usually takes him weeks to make any kind of connection, if he does at all! Why is he so sharp now all out of a sudden? “Uhm…” She looked around for an answer and then explained, “I saw him stream on Huya TV a while back. He was playing really well, so I remembered him.” She giggled briefly before adding, “You know, not everyone is as short of memory as you. You couldn’t remember him if you saw him play this morning! You’re kinda like a goldfish.”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head, his grin faltering. He muttered, “My memory isn’t that bad.”

An Xin smirked and said, “Did you bring your house keys with you last night? Or were you stuck at the door and forced Su Xue to close her stream again?” She smiled knowingly before adding, “Told you. Goldfish memory.”

“That isn’t fair!” Lin Feng protested. “That’s something completely different! You see, the keys…” He stopped himself and glared at An Xin. “I don’t have a goldfish memory!”

“Yes you do,” An Xin quickly countered.

Tang Bingyao tilted her head, quietly watching the childish quarrel between An Xin and Lin Feng. She zoomed in on An Xin, blocking out Lin Feng’s attempt at a defense. She made him completely forget about Goalie and how she knew him… Did she do that on purpose? Am I seeing things? Hmm… It feels like she did that on purpose. Mhm.

✹

Chu Fang brought a lot of explosive news. Team Shanghai continued talking about it until long after he left. They went over all the information on Team Beijing first. It was impressive. Team Beijing looked like an incredibly strong team. But Zeng Rui and An Xin weren’t too worried. They only had to slightly adjust their preparations and expectations. There were some backup plans for a scenario like this, though. The real shock was the information on Team Guangzhou. The thought of having to go up against the brightest high school talent in Korea was daunting, suffocating and absolutely terrifying.

After going over Team Guangzhou’s information, they kept coming back to Goalie. He was their starplayer, the one Team Shanghai had to really prepare for. An Xin turned to look at Lin Feng and asked, “How confident are you in beating him? Please, I need a serious answer.” I know how good you were. But I also know you’re not there yet. It’s just… It’s really hard to see all the small things. How far along are you?

Lin Feng shrugged and said, “I won’t lose to him. Honestly, perfectly serious, more serious than I ever am…” He grinned and assured, “He’s just the right opponent. It’ll be a good challenge!”

An Xin watched Lin Feng. Really watched him. Every small move he made, she caught. She listened to the rhythm in his voice and searched for any kind of defensive mechanism at work in his mind. But she found none of that. He’s looking forward to it! It’s giving me goosebumps! It’s like four years ago all over again! Before every game, he was always so excited about beating a strong Midlaner! He’s getting to that point again, mentally anyway. Good. She faintly smiled and said, “Are you now? Well, that’s good. Do your best. I believe in you.”

Zeng Rui stared at Lin Feng in a daze. How can he be so confident? And why does BunBun just believe him? I just don’t get it… It doesn’t add up. He played professionally. That’s the only thing that makes any sense. Maybe he went by a different name. I just… I don’t get it. This is the only explanation I can think of. How else can he be so confident about beating Goalie? He only got to Challenger a while back! He sighed loudly and shook his head. Then he suddenly looked very serious and said, “Then let’s prepare. The tournament is starting soon. We need to be ready.”

Lin Feng started grinning again. He struck his trademark victory pose and shouted, “YEAH! Prepare and then conquer the Collegiate Cup! High School 13 is getting its second trophy! We’re going to fill the entire trophy cabinet!”

Tang Bingyao imitated Lin Feng’s victory pose and nodded. “Mhm! Let’s fill that trophy cabinet!”

✹

Team Shanghai spent the next few days practicing as much as they could, until Tuesday came around. It was the 8th of December. The Winter Collegiate Cup was officially starting. University teams from all around the country started in the first round of preliminaries, fighting against local opponents in an 8-team knock-out bracket. Only two teams from each bracket would advance to the next round. And then there were still far too many teams left. Just in the Shanghai League alone, there were five different local divisions.

Team Shanghai’s first round of preliminaries were at the East China Medical School. They agreed to meet up there at 5 P.M. sharp. Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao were a little early. They waited, impatient. Lin Feng, Tang Bingyao and An Xin were late. The two both had their phones in their hands, checking the time and looking if there were any messages. They were just about to call, when the thundering dumbass’ familiar voice rang out. “Hao Bro! ZengZeng! Look, look! I brought you guys egg crepes! Do you want one? You can’t get hungry while playing! Here, take one! I brought enough for everyone!”

Zeng Rui’s eyelid started trembling. He put his hand over it and looked past Lin Feng, where An Xin and Tang Bingyao were both nibbling on their own egg crepes. He then shook his head and said, “No thanks. We don’t have the time to laze around. Let’s go inside.”

There were signs on campus pointing Team Shanghai towards the playing hall. Lin Feng wanted to look around a bit, but Zeng Rui didn’t allow that. He pulled everyone along, constantly reminding them that they were already late and that they really had to hurry up. He kept this up until they entered the hall. That was when he turned to the others and said, “We’re in Group 2. It’s a single-elimination, best of three series, and only the top 2 teams in each group advances. So we have to win everything.”

Lin Feng grinned and replied, “So we just gotta win two best of threes, right? Okay, got it!”

Tang Bingyao looked at Zeng Rui and asked, “Who do we play first?”

“East China University of Science and Technology,” Zeng Rui replied.

✹

East China Medical School had pulled out all stops to create an impressive arena for the first preliminary round of the Winter Collegiate Cup. There were two soundproof booths for the players and a large stage that could easily hold 300 people. And it was packed. Completely jam-packed. Many students from East China Medical School had come to watch the preliminaries of the Collegiate Cup. They were chilling in their chairs and gossiping about the latest news. They were laughing and joking about the teams that were terrible in previous editions and would probably be terrible again. And they were complaining about having to sit through a high school versus university game.

One guy in the audience suddenly stood up. He gazed past the stage to where Team Shanghai just entered the hall. “Hey!” he shouted. “Hey! Hey! Guys! Look! Over there! There! You see those kids? I think they’re the high schoolers! Yeah! They’re the high schoolers! That’s the high school team!”

The noise in the hall came to a grinding halt. 300 pairs of eyes turned around to look at Team Shanghai, scrutinizing them. And then a commotion broke loose.

“You’re shitting me, right? That’s the high school team everyone has been talking about?”
“They look so young! Are they really good at the game?”
“Are those girls actually on the team…? Please tell me they’re just there for moral support. PLEASE!”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this… They look like shit.”
“What a strange team… Are those girls on the roster? Maybe their other two players are on the toilet?”
“Can’t wait to see them feed their asses off and make an embarrassment of themselves!”

✹

The first best of three series was between two teams from Group 1. The players from Team Shanghai sat down in the player seating area next to the stage and looked up at the large LCD screen that was suspiciously similar to the one at the Shanghai University of Finance.

Zeng Rui glanced at the two teams and then said to his teammates, “The first match is between the East China Medical School and some other tech school.”

“We just have to win Group 2. What do we care about Group 1?” Lin Feng asked.

Zhang Hao wasn’t listening to Zeng Rui or Lin Feng. He was glaring at a couple of other players who were sitting together a little distance away. He grumbled, “Those damn shits are talking shit about us! Why do they keep saying we got in through our connections? What connections? I don’t have any connections! This is so stupid! Just because we’re the only high school team in the East China region, we get all this attention. Why can’t they just shut up about us? I’m not rich!”

An Xin smiled, unconcerned, and said, “Don’t take it to heart. They’re just salty that we’ll knock them out of the tournament.”

Lin Feng laughed and chimed in, “Yep! We’re going to stomp them! I’m really good at stomping people too!”

✹

East China Medical School won their best of three series in two quick games. The crowd was cheering. Their team had made it to the next round! They didn’t even quiet down as the host stepped up on stage and announced the next game. “Next up, we have East China University of Science and Technology versus Team Shanghai!”

But when the words ‘Team Shanghai’ flowed from the host’s lips, everyone stopped talking. All eyes turned towards the players from Team Shanghai. Some were curious, others venomous. Tang Bingyao slumped back a little, while Zhang Hao wanted to stand up and fight all the angry glares! But Lin Feng didn’t seem to notice the reaction in the hall. He only paid attention to the host. It’s our turn to play! Finally! He jumped to his feet and pumped his fist into the air, shouting, “It’s finally our turn! Let’s stomp them!”

Team Shanghai started the day after their drinking party with two casual games, just to flex their muscle memory. The games didn’t take very long. Their opponents weren’t very good and the statistics at the end of the match reflected as much. An Xin smiled and said, “Well played! Seems like we’re still in decent form.”

The long days of practicing and sleepless nights of researching their opponents was showing its results. Team Shanghai had really come together as a team. They knew what to expect from each other and were able to play to each others’ strengths. It even started to look like winning the Winter Collegiate Cup wasn’t as crazy as it sounded just two weeks ago. The only real problem, the big limiting factor, was that most real teams didn’t play in ranked on the League of Legends client. They opted for practicing their tactics against a sister team or even a competitor, because that helped to increase the quality of their training. This was also the kind of training Team Shanghai needed to make larger strides in their training.

Zeng Rui shook his head in annoyance and said, “It’s not like I haven’t been trying to find us some scrim partners either. But Luo Yu and his team are refusing to play against us again, and most others hang up before I can even ask them… The few who do stay on the line, well, they complain that we’re high schoolers. Like that’s some kind of big issue.”

Tang Bingyao and Zhang Hao nodded in understanding, and An Xin had a few choice words for the situation as well. But Lin Feng didn’t get why everyone was so worked up about this. He shrugged and asked, “Why do we care? The regionals are starting in a few days. We’ll get plenty of practice against university teams!”

Zeng Rui grimaced. Somehow, the thundering dumbass is right again. I don’t like how this is going… He then nodded and said, “That’s true. I’ve seen the schedule. Our first game shouldn’t be too hard, and the rounds after that are relatively easy as well. We really need to use this opportunity to practice seriously.”

There were a lot of universities competing in the Winter Collegiate Cup. Far more than made sense in a normal tournament setting. So to dwindle the numbers before it got to that point, there were various levels of qualifiers. This meant for East China that the Regionals started with preliminary rounds in Shanghai, Zhejian and Fujian. The top teams from these qualifiers would then duke it out at the regional level. And from there, the top four advanced to nationals. That was the last step. The final showdown for the ultimate honour of Winter Collegiate Cup Champions!

An Xin wasn’t really listening to Zeng Rui talk about their matchups. She’d done the research as well and knew exactly who they were going to be up against. She checked the time and suddenly turned to look at Lin Feng. She said, “Hey, Lin Feng. Chu Fang should be here any minute now, right?”

✹

Chu Fang arrived at the cybercafe where Team Shanghai was practicing. He stepped out of the cab with a briefcase and a large stack of documents under his arms. I’m a little late. But it should be fine. What room did Lin Feng say again? Was it 3? I think… He turned his head and searched for a note within the pile of files. Yeah, 3. He walked into the cybercafe and then knocked on the door of private room 3.

Lin Feng opened the door and said, “Chu Fang! Hey! You’re late!”

Chu Fang laughed and replied, “Hey Lin Feng. Can I come in?”

Lin Feng stepped aside and let Chu Fang in, after which the rest of Team Shanghai stood up from behind their computers. They turned to look at Chu Fang and slightly bowed, greeting, “Welcome, Vice President Chu!”

Chu Fang nodded and said, “Hey, it’s good to finally meet all of you. How i—”

“You look like a truck ran over you!” Lin Feng interrupted. “Did you forget to sleep or something? You look terrible!”

Chu Fang shook his head and chuckled. “Can’t be helped, Lin Feng. The Collegiate Cup is starting soon and I’m in charge of most of it. I just rushed over from a meeting with a potential sponsor. Now I’m here for a bit and then it’s straight to the venue where the main event will be held and make sure everything is progressing as scheduled.”

Zhang Hao looked at Chu Fang, impressed, and said, “Wow. That sounds like a lot of work, Vice President Chu.”

An Xin smiled and chimed in, “Doesn’t sound all that different from normal, does it? You always work hard!”

Lin Feng finally processed what Chu Fang was telling him. He’s really busy! He doesn’t even have the time to sleep! He looked at Chu Fang and suggested, “Maybe you should go home and get a quick nap! You really didn’t need to come all the way here just to watch us play. Our practice is going great! We’re going to win the tournament no problem!”

Zeng Rui watched the exchange between Lin Feng and Chu Fang with both disapproval and confusion. He’s talking to a senior! He should show some respect! This thundering dumbass sounds like he’s talking to BunBun… Or anyone else… He always talks like… Ughh! He scrunched his nose and watched Chu Fang. But why is he going along with it? Why is he talking so casually with Lin Feng…? It’s like… Do they know each other? Is that even possible? Where would they’ve met? The Shanghai 16 School Tournament? But why would they’ve kept in touch? No, something is fishy here.

Chu Fang looked at Lin Feng and smiled. He’s just like he was back then. So full of confidence. He reminds me of a bigger version of Maple. He explained, “I know you’re good, Lin Feng. I’ve got complete confidence in you and the rest of the team. That’s not why I’m here. I’m here because you guys are representing the Shanghai Esports Association. It only makes sense that I come and check up on you guys every now and then. And then I can report that back to the boss.” He suddenly raised his finger and turned to look at the others. He asked, “You guys are in the middle of practice, right? Lin Feng mentioned something about that. How about I watch a game? Give me an impression of how good you guys already are!”

Lin Feng shouted in excitement, “You should watch me in the mid lane! I’ll go Legendary in the next game, I’m feeling it!”

Zeng Rui glanced at Lin Feng, annoyed. Of course he’s at it again. Can’t he show some proper etiquette? He then turned to look at Chu Fang and replied, “Of course. It’d be our honour. We won’t disappoint you, Vice President Chu.”

✹

Team Shanghai wanted to show off to Chu Fang. An Xin took on her role as coach, talking the team through their strategy and telling them which champions to pick and ban in Champion select. Then, when the five players loaded onto the Rift, Zeng Rui took over. He gave the calls, following along the game plan An Xin had just explained. He did this as well as he could, using the opportunity to show Chu Fang exactly how good Team Shanghai was. To prove to Chu Fang that it’d been the right choice to invite him.

The first 10 minutes of the game flew by. There was action in every lane, kill announcements following each other up in quick succession. It was a true stomp. Team Shanghai was slaughtering the opponents, leaving nothing of them untouched. The kills just kept coming. Lin Feng was the first to go legendary, claiming his 9th kill of the game in the 14th minute of the game. Tang Bingyao followed right behind him, claiming the legendary status three minutes later. The game lasted another three minutes. At 20 minutes, the surrender feature unlocked. The enemy team unanimously voted to surrender.

Chu Fang’s smile grew wider and wider as he watched the game conclude. They’re fantastic! Even better than I thought they’d be! That Toplaner is doing pretty well and the ad-carry really is a lot more talented than I expected! Seems like their practice is paying off! He’d had full faith in Team Shanghai before coming here today. That was why he hadn’t come sooner. Why he left them to their own devices. But to see them reach this level of skill was outside of his expectations. They might actually win this tournament! They’re going to shock a lot of people at the very least. That much is certain. None of those university teams knows what’s coming for them!

There were five pairs of eyes turned towards Chu Fang, pulling him away from his thoughts. He took a deep breath, then gave a thumbs up and said, “Fantastic, guys! That was great!”

Tang Bingyao nodded and said, “Mhm! Thanks!”

Zhang Hao stood up and bowed towards Chu Fang. “Thank you, Vice President Chu!”

Zeng Rui smiled and said, “This means a lot coming from you, Vice President Chu. Thank you!”

This was the first time for these three to interact with Chu Fang. They knew who he was. He was the man behind the scenes. A real professional and veteran in the world of esports. To receive a compliment from him meant incredibly much to them. So it wasn’t strange to see them beaming with joy.

And then there were Lin Feng and An Xin. They didn’t really care about the compliments from Chu Fang. It wasn’t anything new to them. They’d heard those same words back in Season 1. Back then it wasn’t just Chu Fang either. Other bigshots like Fang Hao were practically fighting over who could give the biggest compliments. So Lin Feng did what Lin Feng does best. He struck his victory pose and shouted, “Of course we did great! We’re going to win the Winter Collegiate Cup!”

Chu Fang smiled and said, “I’m glad to see you so confident. And I have to admit, after watching you guys play, I believe you actually stand a chance.” He suddenly paused. The smile vanished from his face. He looked seriously at Lin Feng and the others before continuing, “But it won’t be easy. There are many really strong teams. And I’m not just talking about the university teams.”

Tang Bingyao tilted her head and asked, “Not?”

An Xin raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you talking about the high school teams from Beijing and Guangzhou?”

“I am,” Chu Fang confirmed. He searched through the pile of documents he brought with him while saying, “I gathered some information on those two teams. From what I can tell, they’re going to be some of your toughest opponents in the entire tournament.”

Heartless’ real name was Wang He. He was a student at East China University of Science and Technology. Right now, he sat behind his desk letting his rage take full control of him. He Alt F4’d out of the game of League and gripped his mouse tightly, lifted it up, and then slammed it down on his desk. “FUCK!” he screamed, picking his mouse back up and slamming it down again. “FUCK!” Something cracked as his mouse hit the wood of his desk for a third time. “FUCK FUCK FUCK! FUCK ALL OF THEM! USELESS FUCKING TEAMMATES!”

The loss against the two female streamers cut at Wang He where it hurt the most. He truly believed that the only reason his stream wasn’t gaining viewers was because there were female streamers who hogged all the viewers by showing off their cleavage. And he’d just lost against exactly this kind of streamer. Those fucking thots can’t play for shit! Fucking bullcrap! Wang He wouldn’t be Heartless if he accepted the loss of the game and of his viewers. He ground his teeth and punched his keyboard. Fucking teammates! If they weren’t so goddamn useless I wouldn’t have lost this game! Fuck!

Wang He turned to his webcam and raged, “It’s those shitty-ass teammates! That stupid Leona! Why did she have to engage at Level 2? She got me killed! And  then that Jarvan… Don’t get me started on the Jarvan! That piece of shit just threw his life away in that gank! Didn’t he see we were stuck behind the minions? We couldn’t do anything! Yet he just went in there all by himself and gave the fucking Draven a kill!” He took a moment to catch his breath, then continued on full tilt, “And what were mid and top doing? Were they blind or something? Couldn’t they see Draven was getting fed? What did they think? Just ignore and pretend it’ll be fine? Idiots! They’re all idiots! If they’d been half decent players, they’d come to the bot lane and helped me turn this fight around! We would’ve gotten a kill or two on the Draven and shut that thot down!”

There were still well over 50 viewers watching Wang He’s stream, sticking around purely for the epic meltdown. And Wang He wasn’t finished yet. He started jabbing his screen and screaming at his camera, spit flying everywhere. “I SWEAR! You can’t fucking climb in ranked because of all the brainless fucktards! They handed that Draven four kills! What was I supposed to do? There’s nothing I could do! She was too fed! The game was over! There is no fucking reason to keep playing! I did the only sensible thing!”

「bro, you know you played like shit too, right?」
「who’s the dumbass who got hit by the nami Q first? Loooool」　　
「hahahahha this is epic dude. Keep raging please. Gimme more of this sweet salt XD」
「Hahahahhahah… man you suck」
「stop being a shit streamer. Fucking own up to your shit. Scrub」
「if you cant tell why that draven and nami get all the views, then you in for a harddddd time my very not friend」

“You’re all fucking blind!” Wang He shouted at his screen. He flicked his mouse and deleted every single message that had anything besides supportive words. Then he took it a step further, banning everyone whose messages he didn’t like. “I don’t need noobs telling me shit! NO NOOBS ALLOWED IN THIS STREAM! And if you can’t tell that those two thots were trash, you’re a noob!”

The people who were left in the stream after the ban purge were those who hadn’t bothered to type in chat. But they’d seen enough. Watching Wang He’s epic meltdown was enjoyable for a bit, but it was growing stale. They hit the unfollow button or simply left the steam. There was nothing here worth seeing. None of them were planning to come back.

Wang He saw the number of followers drop as did the number of viewers, until there was almost no one left. This only served to further infuriate him. In his mind, his stream was the best. They should be fucking happy to be here! It’s their good fortune to see me play! He shouted at the top of his lungs, “FINE! FUCKING LEAVE! YOU THINK I FUCKING CARE? I DON’T! GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE! GO JERK OFF TO YOUR TITTY STREAMS! LOSER—”

The door to Wang He’s dorm room suddenly swung open and a male student walked in. He had a big grin on his face and said, “Yo, Wang He! Hear you’re still streaming. How’s it going, mister big time streamer? You getting more popular yet?”

Wang He didn’t know half how fast he had to close his stream. He then turned around to look at the male student and laughed awkwardly. “Oh, uh, heh. Hey, Hu Hui. It’s going decent, I guess. Slowly growing every day. All I really need is to be featured once. I’ll make it big.”

“Not bad. Not bad at all, man! I could hear you all excited from down the hallway!” Hu Hui said, laughing. “Anyway, I came to let you know the team captain has called a meeting. Probably something to do with the Collegiate Cup. It’s starting in a few days already. I’m guessing he wants us to practice some more.”

Wang He turned off his computer with two fast clicks and then stood up. “No worries. I was just done with streaming anyway. Let’s go see what Zhu Feng wants from us.”

The two friends left the dormitory together, casually chatting. The esports club room was in another building, and with the Collegiate Cup starting in only a few days, that was naturally where their conversation drifted towards. Hu Hui nodded at a few people walking by and then said to Wang He, “Did you hear? There’s three high school teams competing in the Collegiate Cup. That’s not all. It gets even better. There’s a rumour going around that the high school team from Shanghai beat the Shanghai University of Finance 2-0 in a scrim last Saturday!”

“A high school team?” Wang He asked. He then snorted and said, “Just a bunch of high schoolers. What’s the big deal? I bet Luo Yu and those guys had some first years play for them?”

Hu Hui shook his head and explained, “That’s not what I heard. Apparently the high school team played against the main roster. They beat Luo Yu.”

Wang He stopped walking, surprised. They beat Luo Yu? That… That can’t be! Yeah, it can’t be. He sneered and said, “Then they were probably just sandbagging for the lols. Or their good members graduated? I don’t know what you heard, but you really believe a bunch of high schoolers can beat that team? Piss off. I don’t believe it. If they really did lose, then they don’t deserve to be the third ranked team in East China. We’ll kick them off their pedestal!”

✹

Tang Bingyao played several more games together with Su Xue. They won each one of them. Not that it was much of a challenge. Tang Bingyao was practically a Master rank ad-carry, while she was duo queuing with Su Xue who was only Platinum. That placed their shared rank somewhere in low Diamond. There wasn’t a single ad-carry at this rank who could beat Tang Bingyao. That combined with her highly aggressive style of play, and she won games before anything could even happen in the top or mid lane.

The viewers were loving every second of the stream. This more than made up for the sudden end to the stream from the night before. Tang Bingyao even started interacting with them a bit after the initial nerves wore down. She smiled and thanked them for their compliments. She even cracked a few jokes and pointed out why their opponents weren’t all that good.

Su Xue was also happy, but for another reason entirely. She was constantly looking for ways to increase the popularity of her stream. One of the tricks she’d been playing around with recently was the stream title. It could be used to trick unsuspecting people browsing HuyaTV to click on the stream. When they open the stream and see me, they’ll keep watching! I just need to get them in here! And these titles are working great for that! She smiled, glancing at the stream title.

~_^ Two Girls Duoing in Diamond and having fun! ~_^

This morning is really good! My viewer numbers are higher than ever before! For the first time, all by herself with only a little help from Tang Bingyao, Su Xue hit 10,000 viewers! She wanted to keep playing for hours and days and however long the number of viewers kept climbing. There were so many people here watching her and she hated to let them all down by going offline. But noon was fast approaching. Tang Bingyao and Lin Feng had to leave soon and she still had to make them lunch. So after yet another win, she turned to the webcam and said, “Sorry, guys. That was the last one. I need to make lunch, and these two are heading out soon.”

「TANG TANG, DON’T LEAVE UUUS!」
「PRO GAMERS DON’T NEED TO EAT!」
「Have xue xue go cook! Tang Tang can stay and play a few more games of solo queue! Oh, how about having her duo with lil bro!」
「tang tang should set up her own stream! I’m getting bored of watching xue xue anyway」

Su Xue narrowed her eyes and said, “You can kiss her ass all you want! I don’t care. But how dare you say you’re bored with my stream!? I’m right here! At least say it behind my back!”

「I would, but my car only has half a tank of gas!」

“You’re not funny. I’m not fat!” Su Xue yelled. Then she closed the stream, sending a few more messages in the chat. Her viewers loved to tease her. She would act mad. They would apologize. And the cycle repeated itself. She shook her head before getting up and going to the kitchen. She said to Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao, “You kids do something. I’m going to make lunch.”

Lin Feng completely ignored Su Xue. Something else entirely was on his mind. He looked at Tang Bingyao and said, “I think they’re right, Tang Tang! You should set up your own stream! That way, if we can’t find sponsors for our superteam 2.0, we can just earn some money with that stream! Oh! Oh! And we can have BunBun stream too! We’re going to make so much money!”

Su Xue paused at the door to her room. She turned back around to look at Lin Feng and said, “You’re planning on making two girls work hard and earn money just for them to give it all to you? I dare you to tell that idea to BunBun.”

✹

The players from Team Shanghai gathered at the cybercafe around 1 P.M. Zeng Rui had already prepared a chalkboard in their private room and An Xin was standing in front of it. She clapped her hands together and smiled. “Alright! Everyone’s here! Let’s get started with a warm-up game!”

Lin Feng put his hand up in the air and, without waiting for his turn, said, “BunBun! I came up with a great plan! Listen. How about you and Tang Tang start streaming? Both a different stream! And then you give the money you make to me and I’ll spend it on the superteam 2.0! Doesn’t that sound great?”

An Xin’s expression fell. She looked at Lin Feng for a long, hard second. Her lips started curving upwards. Murder appeared in her eyes. But then she shook her head and turned to Tang Bingyao. Can’t deal with that idiot right now. Her smile became kinder, the anger disappearing from her eyes. She asked, “How are you feeling? A headache? You did get pretty wasted last night…”

Tang Bingyao felt her face heat up. She looked down at her feet and shook her head. “I… I’m fine. Thanks. My head doesn’t really hurt. It won’t affect my gameplay.” She glanced at An Xin from the corners of her eyes before quickly looking away. I’m not telling anyone what happened last night! Nothing happened! Mhm! Nothing happened! She glanced at An Xin again. She can never know that I slept at Lin Feng’s place! She chewed on her lips, her heart racing and smashing into her ribs. Please don’t say what happened, Lin Feng. Please keep your mouth shut!

The first minion wave clashed in the bottom lane. Tang Bingyao activated Draven’s Spinning Axes. One axe started spinning, winding up for a powerful attack. Then Draven hurled it at a minion. The axe cleaved through the minion’s health bar before ricocheting backwards. Tang Bingyao had her Draven catch the axe. It was spinning again, winding up for another powerful hit. This time her target wasn’t a minion, but rather Red Team’s Support. The axe arced through the air before cutting into Leona. Then it bounced back and Tang Bingyao’s Draven caught it again. The axe spun in his hand, winding up.

Heartless was a decent enough player. He kept his Lucian out of reach from the Draven, afraid of the damage from the Spinning Axes. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t get any poke damage in. Lucian had a longer range and skills that reached even further. The main skill was Piercing Light! He aimed both his guns at a minion which stood exactly in line with Su Xue’s Nami, and then pulled the trigger. A bolt made of pure light shot forward at the speed of light, killing the minion and shaving away at Nami’s health!

The early exchanges in this matchup kept the lane even, though logic dictated differently. Lucian and Leona were a very strong early game combination. This was because Leona had the crowd control to lock Draven down and give her Lucian all the time he needed to get his damage in. But this Draven wasn’t just any Draven. This was Tang Bingyao’s Draven! She knew this Champion like no one else did. And she played this matchup perfectly, dodging Leona’s attempts to engage while constantly poking away at her health.

Unfortunately for Su Xue, her Nami was far squishier than Red Team’s Leona. Just a few Piercing Lights saw her health drop to below half and she was really feeling the pressure. It also wasn’t helping that Lin Feng was breathing down her neck, watching her and making comments about every little misplay she made.

After another Piercing Light caught Su Xue’s Nami, Lin Feng grinned. He leaned over Su Xue’s shoulder and said, “Xue Xue, you really need to practice on dodging Lucian Qs! We can work on that in our next training session! I’m really good at hitting you with Lucian Qs too!”

“Shut up!” Su Xue yelled through gritted teeth. I’m not a Support! I only practice playing Ad-carry! And I’m not even Diamond yet! This ad-carry is Diamond 4! What did you expect? Of course I’m going to have a difficult time! But I’m trying here! Can’t you see that I’m trying?

Blue letters popped up above all four Champions in the bottom lane. Level up! All four Botlaners received a second skill, opening up a whole new combination of possible engages. Red Team’s Leona was the first to make use of this. She projected an image of her sword at Su Xue’s Nami and pierced her–Zenith Blade! As the image faded, she dashed at the Nami!

Heartless winked at his camera, smiling sinisterly, and said, “Told you they suck! She’s dead! Watch this!” He theatrically lifted his finger high above his keyboard and then pressed down on the E key, activating Relentless Pursuit! His Lucian dashed forward and raised both guns at Nami for a double-shot!

Tang Bingyao was an expert Draven. Few in the world could match her. And in her countless games, she’d faced more than her fair share of Leona’s. This Level 2 engage was a staple Leona move. It was the famous Zenith Blade into Shield of Daybreak combo. Tang Bingyao wasn’t going to be fooled by it. She mumbled quietly, “Stand aside.” Her Draven raised his two axes above his shoulder and then threw them forward at an angle. They slashed through Leona, knocking her out of her dash!

“Nice! Thanks!” Su Xue exclaimed.

Tang Bingyao pinged on Lucian and said, “CC him!”

Su Xue nodded. Focus, focus, Su Xue! She had her Nami throw an Aqua Prison at Lucian. Her target was stuck in the animation of his doubleshot. He couldn’t move as the bubble of water arced through the air before wrapping around him and lifting him off the ground. The Lucian was immobilized!

Tang Bingyao pressed on her Q key for a second time. One axe had been spinning in Draven’s hand since the start of the game. The other axe now also started spinning. They went ‘round and ‘round, winding up for critical damage! Tang Bingyao’s Draven charged at the Lucian with the speed boost from Blood Rush and then hurled an axe at him! She followed right up with the second axe! Both cleaved into Lucian, shaving away at his health, before bouncing back.

Su Xue’s Nami used her Summoner Spell Exhaust on Lucian. A debilitating red aura fell over him. His damage became pitifully low as did his movement speed! He was caught out between two enemy champions and his Leona was too far away to help him. Heartless’ eyes went wide in shock. ShitShitShit! I needa run!

Tang Bingyao chased after the Lucian, easily keeping up. She cast Blood Rush to increase her movement speed every time she caught a Spinning Axe. And when he tried to escape with Flash, she smiled. Everything came together perfectly. Lucian flashed towards Leona and Leona flashed towards Lucian. All Tang Bingyao did was follow the Lucian with a flash of her own. She then threw one final Spinning Axe that cleaved away the last of Lucian’s health.

《First Blood!》

Heartless fell back in his gaming chair, watching his screen lose all its vibrant colours. It became a dull grey. The game announcer’s voice thundered in his head, reminding him of what had just happened. He’d given away first blood to the Draven. I just said I was going to kill the Nami… ThenI ended up getting killed! He gritted his teeth, furious! This can’t be real! THIS CAN’T BE! “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!” This was one of the worst things that could happen to him. He felt humiliated. He gritted his teeth and glanced at the stream. Those fucking trolls that came from the thot’s stream are making fun of me! Of fucking course! Stupid simps! FuckFuckFUCK!

Heartless suddenly turned to look straight into the camera. There was such hatred and venom in his gaze that it sent cold shivers down the spines of his viewers. He glared like this for a couple of seconds before saying, “That doesn’t count! My Leona trolled there! I’ll get back those kills! Watch me!!”

✹

Draven was a Champion that benefited more from early kills than almost any other champion. This was because of his passive skill that granted him bonus gold every time he got a kill. An early first blood was basically a death sentence for the opposing team. In this case, the Red Team. Heartless’ team. And they were quickly notified of this death sentence. It was only two minutes later that Tang Bingyao caught Lucian slightly out of position and punished him for it with an easy solo kill.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” Heartless shouted, slamming his flat hand on his keyboard. “This stupid Jungler can’t even come to gank! Fucking useless trash!” He shot forward in his chair, moved his mouse over the Jarvan IV, and started spam pinging him. “YES YOU! YOU WASTE OF LIFE! GO DIE OR SOMETHING!”

Red Team’s Jarvan IV cleared several more Jungle camps before indeed going down towards the bot lane. Heartless’ Lucian and the Leona didn’t even need to prepare for the gank because of how far forward Nami and Draven were playing. It looked like the perfect opportunity.

Jarvan IV appeared from the river entrance and engaged Tang Bingyao’s Draven right away. He threw down his standard behind her and struck it with his lance for a flag toss combo! But Tang Bingyao knocked him out of the dash with Stand Aside! More specifically, she hit him at just the right angle to push him into Nami’s Aqua Prison.

Lucian and his Leona Support wanted to come and help the Jarvan IV. But in front of them was a small army of Blue minions. They weren’t sure what to do, hesitating for a brief moment. That was all the time Tang Bingyao needed to hack away at Jarvan IV’s health until there was nothing left.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Lucian finally joined the fight. But lacking both levels and items, he was freely offering Tang Bingyao a double kill. Draven’s Spinning Axes cleaved away nearly a quarter of his health with each hit. His Flash was still on cooldown. I’m not dying to this again! I WON’T NO! NO! Good.

Red Team’s Leona hit Tang Bingyao’s Draven with Zenith Blade. She dashed at the Draven and then slammed her Shield of Daybreak against him. The stun that followed gave Heartless all the time he needed to get away from the fight and retreat back to his outer tower.

Tang Bingyao narrowed her eyes, forced to watch Lucian escape. But Leona was still right on top of her. I’ll get you instead. Mhm! The stun broke. Her Draven moved, empowered by Blood Rush. Spinning Axes slashed into Leona before ricocheting back into the air. Tang Bingyao’s Draven caught them and then hurled them straight back at the Leona. Her health disintegrated.

《Double kill!》

Tang Bingyao clenched her fist and smiled. “Mhm! Nice!”

“Great kills!” Su Xue replied, laughing.

「TANG TANG 6666666666!」
「GOD DRAVEN!」
「what a stomp!」
「TANG TANG, CARRY US!」

✹

The game in bot lane was over. Tang Bingyao’s Draven was fed. There was no amount of ganks that could turn this back around. But Tang Bingyao and Su Xue weren’t ready to take down Red Team’s outer tower yet. They both wanted to show off their skills by killing their lane opponents a few more times. So they continued farming minions, waiting for Red Team’s Botlaners to return to lane.

Su Xue glanced at her minimap, confused. She mumbled, “What is their Leona doing in top lane? And where is their Lucian?”

Tang Bingyao was completely focused on last hitting minions and catched Draven’s Spinning Axes. She asked, “Mhm?”

“Their Lucian,” Su Xue repeated. “I haven’t seen him since we killed him. It’s been over a minute! Where is he…?”

Lin Feng grinned and said, “Maybe he ragequit!”

Su Xue giggled and replied, “You might be right! Tang Tang is really not going easy on him!”

「lololololol, noob streamer rq」
「They should ban him if he actually did rage quit….」
「These kinda of people shouldnt be allowed to play League.」
「RIPPERINO IN PEPPERONI! EZZZZZZZGGGGG」

The people watching the stream continued to joke about how Heartless had rage quit. Su Xue and Lin Feng joked and laughed with them about it. But it was all just jokes. No one actually believed that Heartless had gotten so tilted that he quit playing. Until Tang Bingyao suddenly interrupted them by saying, “Mhm… I think he really did…” She pointed at the all chat on her monitor. 

[All] Jarvan IV:「gg, 4v5, open mid」
[All] Leona:「plz report Lucian, he rq」
[All] Darius:「fuuuuuuuuck, im in my diamond promos too! why does this always happen!?」
[All] Ahri:「rip, someone report his stream too pls thx x9」

Su Xue’s mouth fell open. She just stared at her screen for a couple of seconds before she muttered, “What? He actually ragequit?”

「Hahahaha! Tang Tang is a god!」
「she actually made the madlad ragequit! Looool」
「666666666666」
「Its not nice of you to make people rq, tangtang! …」

Tang Bingyao quietly watched Su Xue joking around with her viewers on stream. She spectated as Lin Feng complained about how life was unfair and that he should be the one practicing together with her, only to be shut down by Su Xue. They’re always like this. It’s just like… it’s just like on stream. This is always what they do when I watch them. And now I’m a part of it! She smiled and made a fist. I’m going to show Su Xue how good I am! Mhm! I’m going to play my best game! Maybe she’ll invite me again then!

And the viewers… Tang Bingyao glanced at the camera, briefly. Short enough that no one really noticed it. Then she quickly looked down at her hands again. She wasn’t feeling comfortable in front of the camera. There was something invasive about it that sent a creeping feeling up her spine. Thousands of people were watching her. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to look up. I can do this! I’m going to carry! Mm-hm! I won’t embarrass myself! I’ma win!

Lin Feng was just told off by Su Xue again, when he noticed Tang Bingyao hadn’t said anything in a bit. He looked at her, noticed the difficult expression on her face, and grinned. He moved over to her and said, “Hey, Tang Tang! Having a bit of a headache from last night? I totally understand! No worries, you can go nap a bit more in my bed! I’ll play a few games in your stead!”

Tang Bingyao didn’t get the chance to respond. Su Xue smacked Lin Feng on the top of his head and shouted, “Enough! I’m playing with Tang Tang! Go and get me some water! And add some lemon to it!”

“Mhm! I have no headache! I’m fine!” Tang Bingyao said, nodding. She then turned to look at Su Xue and continued, “Let’s play!”

Su Xue smiled victoriously and said, “That’s what I wanted to hear!” She clicked on the play button and the two girls went into the duo ranked queue.

It didn’t take long for the queue to pop. Su Xue and Tang Bingyao moved into Champion Select, where they called their roles and then locked in their Champions. As agreed upon before, Su Xue was playing Support. She wasn’t great at the role yet, though she’d dabbled a bit with it lately, but was confident that her Nami could impress Tang Bingyao. Another reason for her choice of Support was because Nami had great synergy with Draven, which was the Champion Tang Bingyao was playing, due to her strong crowd control and healing skills.

Lin Feng was forced to watch Su Xue and Tang Bingyao lock in their Champions. Why does Tang Tang look so serious…? And she’s playing Draven! That’s her best Champion by far… He scratched the back of his head and said, “Your opponents are going to be in for a rough time. Tang Tang’s Draven is really good! I almost feel bad for them!”

Su Xue glanced at Lin Feng and replied, “You don’t feel bad for them. That’d require you to have some level of EQ.” Then she turned back to look at her monitor which was showing League of Legends’ loading screen. “Let’s see, who are we up against… That looks like a Lucian ad-carry. Huh?” She moved her mouse over Lucian’s summoner name. “Douyu TV Heartless? That sounds like a streamer name. Anyone know them? Is it a streamer?”

「Wowaaa! I just looked him up! He is a streamer!」
「lawl, he looks like a nerd…. A dman ugly one! Hahahhahaha」
「CRUSH HIM XUE XUE! SHOW HIM WHO DA BEST STREAMER IS!!!!!!!」
「rough him up, hehe. This gunnnaa be fuuun!!!」

✹

Online streaming services had grown exponentially in the previous several years. New companies popped up every day, looking to grab a piece of the pie. Huya TV, the platform on which Su Xue streamed, was one of the more popular ones. Then there were a large number of smaller streaming services. Douyu TV was one of those. It only had a fraction of the viewers that Huya TV pulled in every day and only the top few streamers on these smaller platforms made any kind of revenue.

There were three tested methods to wade through the swamps of grassroots streamers and make it to prominence. The first of the three methods was through pure skill. It didn’t particularly matter which game the streamer excelled at, just that they were among the very best. This was far from easy. For a game like League of Legends, it meant that the streamer had to be at least at the Master rank, preferably even higher.

Another method was to be an entertainer. The streamer didn’t need to worry about their gameplay, because it wouldn’t carry them to more viewers anyway. They were looking for the people out there who wanted to have a laugh, joke around, and be entertained. It was an incredibly difficult feat to be entertaining and it required no small amount of talent and hard work. In this sense, the first and second option were similar.

There was a third option, though there were many people who looked down on this method. They would claim it wasn’t really “streaming”. Not for the websites these “streamers” were on, anyway. The streamers who made it big through this option did so purely based on their looks. They smudged their faces with half a dozen layers of makeup and flexed their muscles or showed off their impressive cleavages.

And Heartless hated everyone who used any of these options to get a following! He believed he was the most talented League of Legends player and that the jokes he made were absolutely hilarious! And that as such he was the best of the first and the second option! Yet the people weren’t coming to his stream to watch his gameplay or his entertainment. Horny idiots! He browsed through Douyu TV, which was the platform he streamed on. All the top streams are these stupid thots! With their makeup on and their fake ass boobs!

Heartless was a grassroots streamer. He’d been playing League of Legends for quite a while and reached Diamond 4, something he took great pride in. After doing some research, he decided to stream. And Douyu TV was the right platform for him. But it didn’t go quite as he expected. People didn’t flood his stream. He rarely ever had more than 30 viewers, with his record sitting at a measly 89. Horny kids watching thots because they can’t get a girl themselves!

It surprised absolutely no one that Heartless found it impossible to gain any kind of traction on Douyu TV, though he was blind to it himself. His skills at League of Legends were second rate, his entertainment value was sub zero, and he looked like a homeless person. The sole reason people stuck around in his stream was to make fun of him. They told him that he cut his hair himself with a mirror and scissors and that he could maybe get some more viewers if he hid himself behind three layers of filters. And his reaction to those messages was absolutely hilarious to the viewers. He’d blow his top, screaming at his viewers and banning them.

Heartless sat in his dorm room, hunched forward behind his computer. There was a camera pointed at his face at just the wrong angle, showing off every ugly feature of his already not very pleasing face. But he liked this angle of his face. He glanced at his second screen where he had the Douyu TV page open and grinned. Looking sharp again today! I’m feeling lucky! Today I’m going to hit 100 viewers! He suddenly frowned, annoyed. Fucking trash stealing all my viewers! If I had boobs, I didn’t need to work this hard! Douyu would put me on their frontpage in a heartbeat! They’d probably pay me for it too! It’s so unfair! But… He glanced at himself in the camera feed again. Looking sharp today!

Alright! Time to hype the viewers up a bit! Heartless smiled, showing off his crooked teeth, and announced, “This is it, guys! Today’s the day! I’m going to hit Diamond 3 and get 100 viewers!”

「Ha. Dream on..」
「kek」

Heartless frowned and complained, “You guys should really be a little more optimistic! I swear, if I was one of those ugly thots, you’d all be falling over me! All I’m asking for is some activity! Is that so much to ask?” It was his go-to move. Complain. Whine. Bitch. And it was also the reason why he lost the few viewers he gained every stream. After this latest outburst, just one of many, there were another five people who left his stream for good. That was nearly half of the people watching him.

“Really? Leaving because I say the truth? Go watch their fucking shit streams! Good riddance!” Heartless yelled, frustrated. They know I’m telling the truth! It just hurts their fragile egos! Fucking simps! He’d never stopped to think that maybe the problem wasn’t something or someone else. That maybe he was the problem. But he lacked the common sense to consider that.

Heartless was a coward at his core. He had no problem badmouthing absolutely everything and everyone on his stream. His favourite victims were popular streamers, especially those he considered thots or e-girls, and the Douyu TV administrators. None of these people would ever tune in on his stream anyway. But the moment he got the opportunity to talk with an admin, he fell at their feet and kissed their toes. It was even more ridiculous the few times he showed his face in a QQ group chat from one of the famous streamers. He was without a doubt the biggest asskisser out there. But I only do that to steal their viewers! And if I get an admin to like me, I might get a slot on the frontpage! That’d really see my stream get big. But those fucking thots just keep hogging up all the top spots!

Two months of hard work. Heartless tried everything he could think of. But when he looked at the number of viewers, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He wasn’t anywhere near as popular as he felt he should be. I swear! All I need is a feature on the frontpage and I’ll take off! My stream is really good. I just need people to see it— Huh? He looked at his streamchat. There were more people there than before. In fact, he couldn’t remember ever having seen his chat move so quickly! What’s going on?

「GONNA GET REKT< MAAAATE」
「goodluck bud, ya gonna need it!!!」
「streamer vs. streamer!!!! SO EXCITIINGGGG!!!!! <333333」
「you get to play against a famous streamer!!!! this is your chance to make it bigg!!!! PLS DONT BE YOURSELF!!!!!!」

Heartless looked at his main monitor. He was on the loading screen for a game of League of Legends. EveningSnowfall? That sounds like a girl’s name… Am I playing against one of those stupid thots? He opened a new tab on his browser and searched for EveningSnowfall. There, Huya TV. He clicked on the link and opened the stream. A wheel spun on his screen, loading, loading, and then he saw it. Two pretty girls. He glowered and said, “Fucking thots! Oh my god! Look at that! See? SEE? What do I keep telling you guys? 6,000 viewers! I’m telling you, they’re all there jerking off to those tiddies! FUCK ME! Those thots probably don’t even know how to cast a skill! This is so unfair!”

「y u mad bro??? gonna get ur ass kicked by some girls!!」
「HAHAHHAHAHA look at him getting mad XDDDDDD lil kid」
「he always so mad??? Dafuq is wrong with him?」
「Dude…. Those two aint “thots”… They’re great players…」
「wow… what a delusional toad」
「Lawl. Idiots gonna be idiots.」

Heartless read his streamchat and snorted. “What am I so upset about? Let me tell you what I’m so upset about!” He jabbed at his screen and continued, “You see those two girls there? Those thots? That’s what I’m upset about! They’ve got zero skill! They’re trashy female streamers relying on their fucking looks to get viewers! I bet you guys they bought their accounts and are like Bronze or something!” He shook his head in frustration and eventually added, “Wouldn’t surprise me if they’re sleeping with Huya admins for some extra views…”

The streamchat lit up. There were almost a hundred viewers and all of them had come from Su Xue’s stream. None of them were willing to let this small-time streamer talk about their Su Xue like this. Some started flaming Heartless and were quickly banned from the channel. Others just left out of disgust. But Heartless didn’t care about these viewers. Stupid white knights! I don’t want any of you guys anyway! This is a stream for good viewers! Go asskiss for your fucking thots! Then he turned his attention back towards the loading screen. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the Draven and Nami, and mumbled, “Blame your bad luck for getting matched up against me. I’ll reveal to the world exactly how you two get your viewers!”

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

Tang Bingyao was a bit nervous, while also fighting off the throbbing in her head. Breakfast had taken care of most of her hangover headache, but she still felt more than a little uncomfortable. Su Xue sat next to her, cheering her on. Su Xue is really nice and so cheerful. She smiled, glancing over at the stream chat. They’re really nice too. Mhm!

「GO TANG TANG!」
「Rek that other streamer!」
「lil bro says your draven is amazing… i really wanna seeee!!!!」
「draven is my favorite champion, but i can’t play him :(((((( pls teach me sometime」
「maybe you can help the maid finally win a few games… would be nice for a change!」
「Our xuexue isn’t the brightest bulb of the bunch. You might needa carry her… Well, not might. Definitely gonna have to if you wanna win this one…. Hehheeheh <333」

Su Xue’s viewers were excited to see Tang Bingyao play. But that didn’t mean they’d go easy on Su Xue. They always grabbed every opportunity they got with both hands to make a joke about Su Xue. And she glared back at them, unamused as always, and complained, “Oi! What’s this all about! I don’t need carrying! I’m really good! You guys should be grateful for once and cheer me on!”

「AS IF! AHHAHAHAHHA pls dont feed xuexue」
「dont be a deadweight maid xue」
「MASS UNFOLLOW IF SHE FEEDS!!!!!!」

“YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARDS!” Su Xue yelled. She took a short, frustrated breath, then continued, “I’ll show you all how good I am! I’m going to support Tang Tang so well that she carries even harder than she already would!” She then turned to Tang Bingyao and winked at her. “Right?”

Tang Bingyao nodded and said, “Mhm!”

Tang Bingyao woke up early the next morning. A ray of sun was shining in her face, something was smelling delicious, and she had a throbbing headache. “Uch…” she groaned as she pulled the blanket over her head. “Stupid sun. Too bright.” She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sledgehammer that was slamming against her head. The soft, warm bed almost made that happen. “Mm-hmm…” But then her stomach responded to the food she could smell. She opened her eyes and complained, “Too early…”

“Eh?” Tang Bingyao yelped. Her eyes snapped open completely and she pushed the blanket away. “Where am I?” She looked around the room, panicking. This isn’t my bed. Uhmm… Where am I? Where, where… “Ughh.” She rubbed her head painfully. Why does my head hurt so much? What happened? Did someone hit me? Did I get kidnapped!? “Ugh. It hurts so much.” She closed her eyes again and rested her head back on the pillow. “Ahh, so nice and soft.”

Tang Bingyao pulled on the blanket and curled up underneath. What happened last night? It was… Friday? Her eyes shot open again. It was my birthday! Birthday party. We went to the restaurant… Food… It was a blur in her mind. There wasn’t a cohesive story, only random tidbits of information. And every time that she tried to tie them all together, her headache got worse. She groaned and mumbled, “Never drinking again. Mhm.”

We had a few drinks after dinner. I think… Did the guys play a game? I sat… somewhere? Tang Bingyao was trying very hard to remember the events leading up to her waking up in a strange room. They all went home, I remember that. Except for… Her eyes suddenly went wide. Something very specific came back to her. I went home with him. He brought me home. And then I stopped him and I… I… She was breathing quickly, worried, nearly hyperventilating. I told him that I lo… lov…

It was that exact thought that jogged the last bit of Tang Bingyao’s memory. A realization that gave her a fresh wave of relaxation. I never said the full sentence. I passed out. I didn’t say it! I didn’t say it! She took the first deep, long breath of the morning. The headache suddenly didn’t feel all that bad anymore and she even managed a small smile. It’d have been way too embarrassing if I did tell him… But I held myself back. BunBun is the right one for him, and not me. My body shut itself down before I could do something stupid. Mhm, good.

Tang Bingyao needed a couple more minutes to convince herself that she really hadn’t said the words and that that was for the best. But the more she thought about it, the more she remembered about that particular part of the night. I passed out. And then I remember being in an apartment… A girl… Su Xue? Am I at his place? Is this… She pushed the covers off and looked around the room again. I’ve seen this room before. This is Su Xue’s room! I’ve seen it on the stream before! She smiled in relief. I wasn’t kidnapped.

The strong smell of food reached Tang Bingyao’s nose again, now grabbing her full attention. She glanced at the door and then down at her clothes. W-what am I wearing!? These aren’t mine! She pulled at the pink pyjamas she was wearing. They were exactly the type of pyjamas she never bought. It was pink with a large drawing on it. She twisted her head to get a better look at it. Jinx? Is this a Jinx pyjamas? She chewed on the inside of her cheek, looking around the room. I can’t go out looking like this. What if Lin Feng sees me in this? Uh-uh. Where are my clothes?

Tang Bingyao got up and searched around the room, but the only clothes she found were those in Su Xue’s closet. Can’t put those on without asking. That’d be rude. Hmm… She grimaced, considered, then slipped into a pair of slippers and carefully opened the door, peeking around the corner. No one here. What is smelling so good anyway? She sniffed and searched around the hallway. Is someone making breakfast? Does Lin Feng cook? 

Uch, my head. Tang Bingyao painfully rubbed her head, groans coming from both her mouth and stomach. She looked back into the room and then out into the hallway again. Do I…? Hmm… Maybe there’s an aspirin for my head. Mhm. I’ll go and see. She pushed the door open and walked down the hallway, following the smell of scrambled egg and bacon. It led her to the kitchen, where she found Su Xue toasting some bread.

Su Xue looked up when she heard a sound and noticed Tang Bingyao poking her head into the kitchen. “Oh, Tang Tang! You’re awake! Perfect timing!”

“Please, not so loud,” Tang Bingyao whispered. She briefly paused to rub her head and then added, “Morning.”

Su Xue grinned and pestered, “Drank a little much, eh? How are you feeling? Your head spinning right ‘round?”

“Just a little,” Tang Bingyao whispered, embarrassed. She meekly continued, “Sorry for the trouble.”

Su Xue shook her head, smiling brightly, and said, “It’s nothing. Happens to everyone at one point. But maybe don’t drink so much in the future. I’m not going to be around every time to help you puke in a bucket and make you some honey lemon tea…”

Tang Bingyao froze up. “P-puke?” she muttered. Her face flushed red. She chewed on her lips and stared at the floor. “S-sorry. I didn’t mean to. It just kind of… I won’t do it again. I’ll never drink again… Sorry for everything. I can help clean up…”

“It’s fine! Relax a little!” Su Xue said, giggling. She then pointed at the pyjamas Tang Bingyao was wearing and continued, “Those PJs fit you really well by the way. You look super cute!”

Cute? Tang Bingyao looked down at the pyjamas she felt so uncomfortable in. Does it really look cute? She chewed on the inside of her cheek and shook her head. Will Lin Feng also think it looks cute? Her face heated up again. She looked down at her feet, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Oh, right!” Su Xue suddenly exclaimed. “Before I forget, your grandma called! She’d gotten the number from Ren Rou? Anyway, I told her you were sleeping here and that everything was good. But I think it’s better if you go and give her a call. She sounded really worried.”

Tang Bingyao’s eyes went wide and her stomach dropped. Nana! I completely forgot… She nodded at Su Xue and said, “Thanks. I’ll call her and let her know I’m ok.”

“Do that. You should also go and wash up. The bathroom is right next to my bedroom. I already put a clean towel and new toothbrush for you there,” Su Xue responded. Then she lifted up her finger and added, “Oh, and your clothes are still hanging out to dry. That’ll be another few hours or so. Just wear my PJs for now. There’s no puke on them, right? Oh, oh, also go and wake up Lin Feng when you’re done with all of that. Breakfast should be ready by then and if you don’t wake him up, he’ll sleep till dinner.”

Tang Bingyao froze, her body trembling and shaking uncontrollably. She gritted her teeth and rubbed her head. I fell asleep! He doesn’t know what I wanted to say! Mhm! And these pyjamas look cute. Xue Xue said so. She tried to convince herself, though her stomach strongly disagreed. It felt like the inside of a washing machine, going ‘round and ‘round. Please be a blockhead. Please!

Su Xue raised her eyebrow and asked, “Worried you can’t wake him up? I know.” She shook her head before continuing, “He sleeps like a log. But there’s a few ways to get him out of bed. One of them, hold on…” She searched around the counter for a bit before picking up a large cleaver. “Just smack him with the dull side of this. Don’t know what it is about this thing, but it has him wide awake in seconds. It’s my go-to weapon these days.”

Tang Bingyao’s worries disintegrated and were replaced by shock and pure horror. She stared at Su Xue, speechless. That smile looks so much like An Xin’s when she gets mad at Lin Feng! I don’t… She shook her head and said, “No, no, it’s okay. I’ll wake him up without that, that thing.”

✹

Tang Bingyao spent far more time in the bathroom than she usually would. Not because it was difficult to work the shower or because anything else took longer than normal, but because she was trying to find the courage to go to Lin Feng’s bedroom. Su Xue had told her which door it was and she was now standing in front of it, her hand raised, ready to knock. She chewed on her lips. This is his bedroom. What if he figured it out? No, I would’ve woken up in his… No! Mh-mm! She shook her mind clear of that thought and knocked on the door. “Lin Feng?” she quietly asked.

There came no response from the other side of the door. Tang Bingyao knocked again, hoping that Lin Feng would wake up from this. But it looked like Su Xue was right. He slept like a log. After a third knock and still no response, she pushed the door open and poked her head inside. “Hey, Lin Feng,” she said. “It’s morning. Su Xue wants you to wake up.”

Lin Feng was fast asleep, dreaming about something that had him smiling. Tang Bingyao stepped into the room and called out to Lin Feng. He still won’t wake up? She took another step and called out again. There was still no response. She repeated this process all the way until she found herself standing next to his bed. What do I do now…? She chewed on her lips, considering her options. She finally started poking him, jabbing her finger in his face, and said, “Lin Feng. Lin Feng. Lin Feng. Wake up.”

There was finally a response from Lin Feng. But not the one Tang Bingyao was expecting. Lin Feng slapped Tang Bingyao’s hand away, as though she were a mosquito, and grumbled, “Go away, Su Xue. I wanna sleep. I’m really good at sleeping too.”

“Uh, it’s me,” Tang Bingyao said slowly.

Lin Feng opened his drowsy eyes and turned to look at who was calling out to him. Then his eyes shot open. Tang Bingyao was standing next to his bed, her face hovering only a little above his. “Tang Tang!” he yelped. “Yeesh! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” He took a few exaggerated breaths, then looked at her and asked, “Did you sleep well?”

Tang Bingyao nodded and replied, “Morning. Uh, mhm, yeah. Su Xue told me to wake you up, so I came…”

Lin Feng rubbed his eyes and pushed his blanket down. “Oh, okay. Yeah. I’ll get up.” He stretched out long and yawned. “Man, I drank way too much last night. Really shouldn’t hav—”

Tang Bingyao didn’t hear a word Lin Feng said anymore. Her eyes were about to pop out of her sockets. Of all the things she worried about happening, this hadn’t been one of them. Now it was. She always liked to wear pyjamas. Top and bottom. They were comfortable. She never even considered that not everyone wore pyjamas. But Lin Feng clearly wasn’t. He… He… THOSE ARE HIS BOXERS! “IIIIIIIIIIII!” She reached out and grabbed the closest thing she could find, an Oxford dictionary, and threw it at Lin Feng. “IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! YOU’RE NAKED!”

Time slowed down for Lin Feng. He saw the book flying his way. NOOOOOO! He tried to move his body, but it felt sluggish. And in the next moment, the dictionary fell on his balls. “GAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!”

✹

Su Xue was sitting at the breakfast table reading a magazine, when Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao walked in. She asked without looking up, “What was that scream all about, Tang Tang?” She looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. Lin Feng too? She continued, “Lin Feng? You’re up early. Haha! I guess Tang Tang should come over more often! You’ll never sleep in till dinner again!”

Tang Bingyao felt her face heat up again. She looked down at her feet and mumbled, “Uh-hmm…” She quietly sat down at the table and looked away from both Lin Feng and Su Xue.

Lin Feng had a completely opposite reaction. He was screaming bloody murder and shouted, “SHE THREW A BOOK AT ME! SHE THREW A BOOK!”

Su Xue burst out laughing. She looked at Tang Bingyao and said, “Good job! I hadn’t thought about that yet! Which book did you use?”

“THE DICTIONARY! SHE THREW A DICTIONARY AT ME!” Lin Feng yelled.

Su Xue frowned and asked, “A dictionary. Is that all? What are you screaming so loudly for then?” She then winked at Tang Bingyao.

Lin Feng rubbed his groin and complained, “It was a hardcover! SHE THREW IT AT MY BALLS!”

Su Xue started laughing again, unable to contain herself. Tears crept from her eyes and she couldn’t stop herself from saying, “So you do have something down there!”

Tang Bingyao glanced at Lin Feng and then quickly turned away again. She feebly asked, “Are you alright? Does it really hurt?”

“Does it really hurt? Yes it hurts!” Lin Feng shouted, massaging his balls. “I’m really good at feeling pain too!”

Tang Bingyao’s lips were trembling and she was forcing back tears. “I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to.”

Lin Feng sat down next to Tang Bingyao at the table and looked at her. A painful smile appeared on his face. “It’s fine. I’ll be ok, I think. But really, Tang Tang, please don’t throw books at my private parts again. It really hurts.”

Su Xue winked at Tang Bingyao and interjected, “It’s karma. He deserved it. Don’t feel bad about it. He totally had that one coming.”

Lin Feng wanted to retort, Tang Bingyao wanted to apologize, and Su Xue really wanted to bask in Lin Feng’s misery, but they were interrupted when Lin Feng’s phone started ringing. He grabbed it from his pocket and accepted the call. “Hello? Chu Fang?”

“Hey Lin Feng,” Chu Fang said. “Morning. Do you have some time today? Together with the rest of the team. I want to watch you guys play a bit and I’ve got some news I need to tell you guys about.”

Lin Feng nodded and replied, “Oh, sure, of course! I think we’re practicing anyway this afternoon. Is that good for you?”

“Yeah, that should be fine,” Chu Fang said. “Just send me the time and location and I’ll be there.”

Lin Feng rubbed his stomach, the smell of food distracting him from the call. “Ok, ok. I’ll let the others know. I’ll also send you the info. Uhm, anything else?”

Chu Fang laughed and said, “You’re busy?”

“Well, breakfast…” Lin Feng started to explain. But Chu Fang cut him off. “No worries! I’ve got plenty to do here anyway. Just remember to send me the time and place. I’ll see you there!”

“Ok, see you there!” Lin Feng replied before hanging up. He then grinned and said to Tang Bingyao, “You heard that, right Tang Tang? Guess he wants to see us practice! And something about some news…”

Su Xue had been listening in, but only heard half of what Chu Fang said. She looked at Lin Feng and asked, “Who was that? Something about the Collegiate Cup? When is that starting anyway?”

“In a few days,” Tang Bingyao said, which was quickly followed by Lin Feng adding, “December 8th. So on Tuesday, I think?”

Su Xue rubbed her chin and said, “Practice this afternoon, huh? Tang Tang’s clothes should be dry by then, so that won’t be an issue. But it’s still a couple of hours before lunch.” Her eyes suddenly lit up and she suggested, “Hey, I know! Tang Tang and I can play some duo queue on stream today! I’m sure the viewers will love to see a… continuation of last night. I kind of had to stop that rather abruptly. And you need all the practice you can get before the tournament anyway! This is perfect!”

“I’m also playing in the tournament! I should play too!” Lin Feng quickly mentioned. But Su Xue just laughed at him. She said, “I thought you were really good at League too? You don’t need any practice. But if you want to become really good at being a maid too, you should get some practice in for that.” She giggled before continuing, “It all adds up! Tang Tang gets some practice in with me and you get to practice your maid skills! This’ll be great!”

✹

Su Xue turned on her stream and informed her most loyal viewers on her QQ group chat about it. The turnup was massive. Everyone and their mothers tuned in to watch this episode in the life of Su Xue. It was a direct result from the night before, when Su Xue went offline after placing the ‘body’ down on her bed. All her viewers were now letting Su Xue know how they felt about that. If she was committing a crime, they wanted in on it!

「How could you leave us hanging like that! My feelings are hurt! HURT!」
「you think you can just close the stream whenever you want!? ANSWER MEE!!!!」
「How dare you let all your viewers down like that! You’re not worth our support! UNFOLLOWW」
「mass reports for false advertising, lezzz gooooooooo X9999999999999 (so many viewers.l….)」

The camera was still off. Su Xue played around with the stream settings, until she got it right. The camera turned on and showed Su Xue and Tang Bingyao sitting behind the computer. Everyone recognized the ‘body’ that had come back to life. She was a beautiful girl wearing cute pink Jinx pyjamas. Their inner simps awoke and they flooded the chat with messages aimed at Tang Bingyao.

「hey hey! Nice to meet you! I’m Water Wraith!」
「SUP SEXY! You one of xuexue’s friends? BFFs?」
「you play lol too? add me pls! we can duo queueue!!!!」
「I luuuvvvvvvv your ponytail! your pjs pretty sexy too!!」
「whats your name? I NEEDA KNOW FOR RESEARCH!!!!!」　
「can i tell my friends about you??? pretty preasseeeeee」

Su Xue coughed and said, “How about we stop this?” She then pointed at Tang Bingyao and continued, “This here is Tang Bingyao. She’s Lin Feng’s classmate. She’s still in high school. Now stop being creeps!”

「again!??!?!?!? How many classmates does he have? WTFFFFFF」
「NUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!! tangtang!!!!!! add me on league plsssssss」
「I didn’t realise. She looks very beautiful. Nice to make your acquaintance, m’lady! *tips fedora*」

Su Xue deleted the last message with a trained flick of her mouse and temporarily muted the user who sent it. Then she smiled at Tang Bingyao and said, “You should say hi to them. Just look in the camera up there.”

Tang Bingyao nodded, speechless. Not because of the chat messages, but because of the sheer number of viewers. She stared at that number going up and up. From hundreds to thousands of viewers! She finally said, “Hi, hi. Uhmm, I’m Tang Tang.”

Lin Feng butted into the frame and shouted, “Tang Tang is an amazing Ad-carry!”

Su Xue rolled her eyes and said, “No one asked you anything! Hurry up and go pour us some water!” She then looked back at the camera and continued, “You might remember Tang Tang from the Shanghai 16 School Tournament. She was the Ad-carry on Lin Feng’s team! She was so good! Oh, I know! How about she plays ad-carry for a couple of games and I support her?”

「WOOOOOO YEAHHHHHHHH TANG TANG GOOOOOO」
「66666666666666」
「pls teach xue xue how to play, tangtang!!!!!!」
「legendary incoming in 3, 2, 1…. NOOOWWWWWWW!!!!」
「dont carry xue xue too hard, or shes gonna lose a bunch of games again tonight…….」
「screw that! I’ll just not watch tonight! CARRY HARD TANG TANG!!!!!!」

Su Xue glared as she read through a few of the messages, but overall she was pretty happy. She winked at Tang Bingyao and said, “See? They’re all excited to watch you play. Let’s get into the queue. You Ad-carry and I Support. Sounds good, yeah?”

Tang Bingyao sat up straight in her chair. They’re all watching me. I can’t let Su Xue down! Mhm! She was going to play on stream for the first time. She’d never before played with so many people watching her. That made this moment so much more scary. She couldn’t let these viewers down. She had to show them something special! A truly good game! She grabbed her mouse and placed her fingers on the keyboard. Then she stared intently at her screen and said, “Mhm! I’ll do my best!”

Lin Feng looked into Tang Bingyao’s eyes, her face right in front of his. He felt a shiver run down his body, but blamed it on the cold weather. “But, but I’m not talking,” he argued, confused. What’s going on? Why is she right in my face? Do I have something on my face? Is there some food there…? He tried to move his hand, but Tang Bingyao pushed it back down, staring at him. “Tang Tang…”

“You’re still talking! I told you to shut up!” Tang Bingyao pouted, stamping her foot on the ground.

Lin Feng shook his head. What is this? She’s lost it! She’s completely lost it! The alcohol has made her go crazy! He hesitated to consider if he should just stop talking. But then his mouth got the better of him. He muttered in a barely discernible voice, “You really can’t hold your booze at all. I ain’t drinking with you again…”

Tang Bingyao lightly pinched Lin Feng’s cheeks and glared at him. “Did… did you say something? I told you to stop talking and listen to me!”

Lin Feng slowly nodded, his eyes wide in horror. What does she want? Why is she doing this? I didn’t do anything! I’m really good at running home too! Let me go, please!

“Mhm! That’s a good boy,” Tang Bingyao said, nodding in satisfaction. “Ok, ok. Listen. I need to tell you something. Ok?”

Lin Feng kept nodding, pursing his lips together. Just tell me already… I don’t like this! I’m really good at feeling uncomfortable too! And… You’re drunk!

Tang Bingyao chewed on her lips, looking at Lin Feng’s mouth. I can say it… I can! Mhm! Say it! She felt butterflies lifting her stomach up and her cheeks flaring scarlet. She said, “I…”

Lin Feng was still nodding. Yes, yes. You! You something! Move it along, please! It’s cold! I want to go home and curl up under my blanket! Did I mention that I’m really good at curling up under my blanket too?

“I… I-I…” Tang Bingyao muttered. Her entire body began trembling and shaking. “I… I-I…” A dizzy spell assaulted her, making her vision spin and her eyes suddenly felt incredibly heavy. “L-Ling Feng, I… I… I lov…” She trailed off before she could finish her sentence, her eyes closing and her face falling on Lin Feng’s shoulder.

Lin Feng moved his head a bit to the side to try and get a look at what Tang Bingyao was doing, keeping his lips tightly sealed the whole way through. But after a good several seconds of nothing happening, except for soft snoring sounds, his impatience got the better of him. He lightly pushed her away and asked, “What did you want to say? You lov what? What’s that even mea— Hey! Tang Tang! Wake up!” He shook her. At first gently, but then with a bit more force. “Wake up, Tang Tang! Wake up!” But Tang Bingyao was already fast asleep.

Lin Feng looked around at his surroundings. They were on their usual route. It was a little further until the intersection where they usually went their separate ways. “Tang Tang! Come on! Don’t do this to me! I don’t know where you live! Please! Wake up! Wake up!”

Tang Bingyao wrapped her arms around Lin Feng and buried her face into his neck, leaning on him with her full weight. She was smiling and mumbling incoherently. 

“Aaaah! Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!” Lin Feng shouted. But there was no response. Tang Bingyao was fast asleep. He grimaced and shook his head, mumbling quietly, “I’m never drinking with you again!” What do I do with her now? I don’t even know where she lives! Maybe I can call Ren Rou? But what if she’s in bed already? I don’t want to wake her up… Is there a home phone number I should know? No… Dammit. He glanced at Tang Bingyao again. I can’t leave her here either… Can I? There’s a bench over there… He shook his head in frustration and mumbled, “I can’t do that.”

Lin Feng chewed on his lips, considering his option. He was desperately wrecking his brains on finding a solution, but nothing was coming to mind. He finally sighed. Fine, I’ll take you to my place. You can sleep it off… He put his arm behind her knees and the other around her shoulders, and then lifted her up. “I’m never drinking with you again,” he grumbled as he started walking home.

✹

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK! KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

“STOP KNOCKING! I’M COMING!” Su Xue shouted. “Seriously! How many times are you going to forget your keys!? Your memory is the worst! Bring your damn keys with you! I’m going to sew them into your arms! You’ll never forget them again!” She stopped in front of the door and pulled it open with all her might before continuing, “Why can’t you just remember to bring your damned ke—”

Su Xue stopped talking. Her mouth fell open. She stared at Tang Bingyao leaning on Lin Feng’s shoulder, barely conscious. “W-what the… Are you… Did you… Is she…” Did he bring her over for sex? Why did he forget his keys? I don’t wanna know this… OR SEE IT! She abruptly turned around and stomped away, only to stop herself halfway back to her room. She looked back over her shoulder and scrunched her eyebrows. “Uh, Lin Feng?” She briefly waited to get his attention and then asked, “Isn’t it her birthday? How did she… How did the two of you end up like this? What happened?”

Lin Feng struggled to carry Tang Bingyao inside and had her sit down on a stool. He then turned to look at Su Xue and explained, “Yeah, it’s her birthday. We were celebrating with a few drinks, but she can’t handle her alcohol at all! And she didn’t warn us or anything! Well, then I had to walk her back home. But guess what? She passed out on me! Right there on the street! And she wouldn’t wake up either! I don’t even know where she lives and the others are probably in bed already!” He scratched the back of his head and continued, “And, uhh, well, now we’re here…”

Su Xue’s eyes went wide. She rushed to the kitchen and came back seconds later with a bucket. “IN HERE!” she shouted at Tang Bingyao, whose eyes were opening, as she shoved the bucket into Tang Bingyao’s arms.

Tang Bingyao looked down at the bucket in her hands and then up to see where it came from. “Oh, it’s Su Xue!” she exclaimed. “Hiiiiii!” And then the bile and vomit came up from her stomach. She retched and puked into the bucket. The sour, rotten egg, disgusting smell of alcohol quickly filled the apartment. Then, seconds after puking everything out, Tang Bingyao fell peacefully back asleep.

Su Xue shook her head and said, “She’s really drunk. Too drunk. Here, help me bring her to my room. She can sleep it off on my bed.” She stepped forward and hoisted Tang Bingyao up together with Lin Feng. They then brought the lightweight to Su Xue’s bedroom and put her down on the bed. All the while, Su Xue’s stream was running in the background.

「where’d xue xue disappear off to? Did she go out to buy milk?」
「we’ve been abandoned! FEELSBADMAN」
「BABEH COME BECK!!!! YOU CAN BLAME IT ALL ON MMEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!!!」
「did she go to get the door? did lil bro come back or sumthing?」　
「I bet that’s what happened. Lil Bro always forgets his keys when he leaves the house. Like seriously, remember to bring your keys with you, Lil Bro!」

The confusion, dismay, and all other negative messages disappeared suddenly when Su Xue entered the room. The chat shortly flooded with welcome back messages, until they spotted Lin Feng and a girl they’d never seen before. The new girl seemed non responsive, with Lin Feng and Su Xue putting the lifeless body down on the bed.

「am i seeing things!? Is that another person!?!?!?!?!?」
「uhhhhhhhhh……. She ok?」
「Looks passed out to me? ……」　
「what’s going? why would lilbro and xue xue bring body to the stream?????? this some sick cosplay???」
「SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE!!! WE”VE GOT OURSELVES A BODY!!!」
「oh shit, I’ve seen this kind of intro before! LEMME WHIP OUT MY MASSIVE ……」
「intro my fat shiny ass! THIS A MURDER SCENE! THEY HIDIN THE BODY!!!!!」

Su Xue helped Lin Feng put Tang Bingyao on her bed, until she saw her computer in the mirror. “Crap! I forgot to turn off the stream! Put her on the bed!” She let go of Tang Bingyao and rushed to the computer, where she clicked on a button to kill the stream. She then glanced at the chat, browsing through the earlier messages and complaints. Fucking idiots! It’s not a body! She shook her head and slammed down on the enter key

EveningSnowfall:「It’s not a body, idiots! She’s a friend who had too much to drink. We’re just letting her sleep it off! DON’T CALL THE POLICE!」

“There, done,” Lin Feng said, exhausted. He let himself fall down on the extra chair Su Xue had in her room and stared at Tang Bingyao for a minute. Then he got back up and said to Su Xue, “I’ll leave the rest to you. I’m heading off to bed too! I’m exhausted.”

“Hey! HEY! STAY HERE! GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE!” Su Xue yelled after Lin Feng as he left the room. But he wasn’t listening. She grumbled a few more complaints before turning around to look at Tang Bingyao. At least she’s sleeping… And it’s probably for the best that I take care of her. She’s far too drunk for anything with him… She scrunched her eyebrows and chuckled. He’s probably too stupid to even think about that. I’m guessing he’s annoyed that he had to carry her here more than anything. But yeesh. Why do I always have to be the adult? I want to be a child for once!

Su Xue helped Tang Bingyao take off her freezing cold clothes and change into something warmer and more comfortable. Then she put a thick blanket over Tang Bingyao and walked to the kitchen. Hmm… I’ll clean the puke up first, because there’s no way the little shit has done that. And then I need to get Tang Tang a new bucket, just in case. And I should also put a warm cloth on her forehead, that always did wonders for me. Maybe I can make her some honey lemon tea as well. She’ll like that if she wakes up during the night… 

It took Su Xue only a couple of minutes to cross everything off her to-do list. She then sat down on the edge of her bed, staring at Tang Bingyao. These kids are lucky to have me. I’m way too nice to them. But look at her. She’s so cute. I wonder what she’s dreaming about…

Tang Bingyao had rolled on her side and grabbed a pillow, which she was now tightly hugging. Every now and then, she’d mumble a few words. But they were mostly intelligible, with the exception of ‘Lin’ and ‘Feng’. But judging by the smile on Tang Bingyao’s face, Su Xue guessed it was a pretty good dream. She chuckled and shook her head. “How does that stupid kid keep bringing girls home for a sleepover…? First BunBun and now Tang Tang! Does he like both of them? Maybe neither?” She suddenly started giggling. “Maybe he’ll bring home a third girl! What was that other girl from his team called again? Rou Rou? Yeah, I think it was Rou Rou. I guess that’d be kind of funny…”

An Xin and Ren Rou walked out with Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao and watched them leave. Tang Bingyao was leaning on Lin Feng and stumbling every couple of steps. Until they disappeared into the night. Now the two girls were the last ones at the restaurant. An Xin turned away, almost rushed. She pulled her phone out and stared at the screen. The cab that would take her home was still a few minutes away. A faint drizzle fell from the sky. Cars sped by. And An Xin stood there in complete silence, waiting, even forgetting that Ren Rou was standing next to her.

Ren Rou glanced at An Xin from the corner of her eyes. At the new girl in class. The girl with the perfect figure, which was only further enhanced by the current setting. The soft, orange glow of the street lights fell on An Xin’s cheeks, highlighting her small chin and large eyes. A cool wind breezed through her hair, flowing. She’s so beautiful. It’s no wonder that every boy at school is trying to get her attention. Even a few of the girls too! Stupid boys… She shook her head, and the memory of a conversation with Tang Bingyao played in her mind. It was at the NetCow Cafe, a couple of weeks ago. Tang Bingyao had told her that An Xin was better for Lin Feng. I can see why Tang Tang would think that. BunBun is really, really pretty. And she has a great personality. The more I think about it, the more I think she’s perfect… But you’re perfect too Tang Tang! She looked down at her feet and sighed. But I can also understand why you think she’s perfect for Lin Feng…

Ren Rou pulled herself back to the present. She thought about how the night had gone and suddenly realised that she was giggling. I guess the alcohol did help to loosen Tang Tang up a bit. Maybe it even gave her some courage. She glanced at An Xin again. Why did you insist on letting Lin Feng bring her home? Don’t you mind them together? You do like Lin Feng, right? Do you? Ren Rou took a second look at An Xin. She looks happy, just a bit quiet, I think…? The questions mounted in Ren Rou’s mind, until she couldn’t keep them to herself any longer. She said, “BunBun?”

An Xin turned her head to look at Ren Rou and asked, “Yeah?”

Ren Rou chewed on her lips, considering how to best pose the question. But the words just weren’t coming to her. So she eventually went with the simplest version. “Do… Do you like Lin Feng?”

There was a brief moment, almost imperceptible, that An Xin’s expression faltered. But she quickly recovered. She forced a smile on her face and replied, “Rou Rou, I thought you weren’t going to get drunk! Did you lie to me? Did you have a few shots when I wasn’t looking?”

“Drunk?” Ren Rou muttered, caught off guard. She shook her head. “No. No. I’m not drunk.” She looked at An Xin, too surprised by the random question to notice how An Xin was trying to change the subject. It also didn’t help that this particular question had been floating through her mind for quite some time now. You two are childhood friends, sure. But there’s something more going on, right? The way you treat him… That’s more than just friends.

An Xin could physically feel Ren Rou’s stare. She shivered and asked, “What?”

“Oh.” Ren Rou shook her head lightly and looked back out at the street. “No. I’m serious. Do you like him?” She briefly waited for an answer, but somehow knew nothing was coming. So she turned to An Xin and said, “Please tell me the truth. Are the two of you really just childhood friends? You feel nothing for him? It’s… the way you are around him…”

An Xin’s smile broke. Her entire complexion fell apart. Just for a brief moment. An instant in time and space where everything ground to a halt. Then she forced that smile back onto her face. She shook her head and asked, “Did you also ask Tang Tang this?”

The question sounded so natural. Ren Rou was completely caught off guard by it, once more failing to recognize how An Xin was shifting the topic away from herself. Ren Rou stammered, “T-this… Uh… Well, you see…” She was trying to link the words together, but they were failing her.

An Xin didn’t pay attention to Ren Rou’s reaction. She turned her head to look out at the empty street. “I already know,” she said. She chuckled and shook her head. “I’ve known since the first day at school, when she glanced over her shoulder at me in the classroom. That look of confusion and worry in her eyes when I greeted Lin Feng. I knew it right then.” She briefly paused before adding in a soft, warm voice, “I know Tang Tang likes Lin Feng.”

Ren Rou stared at An Xin, dazed. She knew? This whole time, she knew? But then… what about her? Is she okay with it? She opened her mouth a couple of times, wanting to say several different things. But she kept closing her mouth right before the words came out. Then, just as it started to look like she wasn’t going to say anything at all, she asked, “Then what about you?”

An Xin didn’t reply immediately. She watched a car that was driving past them. Lin Feng and me, huh? I guess… She looked down at the ground and slowly shook her head. “Me?” She paused, hesitating, then continued, “It’s no big deal, I guess. There is nothing going on between him and me.” She tried very hard to sound nonchalant. To not give anything away. But she knew Ren Rou was looking at her. And she knew that the smile on her lips wasn’t a happy one. It was bitter, maybe even longing. She sighed. Crap.

✹

The cold breeze did Tang Bingyao a lot of good. She was still finding it hard to keep her balance, but that was more so because she was also playing her normal game of jumping over the cracks in the pavement. It all felt right to her. Everything about her birthday was right. Perfect, even. Mhm! This is the best night of my life!

“Careful! You’ll trip!” Lin Feng cautioned, watching Tang Bingyao almost crashing to the ground with every hop.

“I won’t!” Tang Bingyao shouted. Then after another hop, she looked over her shoulder at Lin Feng and pumped her fist in the air. “I’m invinciiii—” The sudden turn was too much for her. A dark swirl appeared before her eyes and she momentarily lost her balance. Her knees wobbled and in the next moment she found herself sitting on the pavement.

Lin Feng laughed at the comical sight, the alcohol flowing through his blood taking away all worry about Tang Bingyao having hurt herself. “See! You’re not invincible! I told you so!” He walked up to her, waiting for a reply from Tang Bingyao that didn’t come. He scrunched his eyebrows. Something felt off. “Hey,” he said to her. “You alright? You should be more careful!”

Tang Bingyao looked up at Lin Feng, rubbing her head painfully, and asked, “Did you grow taller? Why are you so tall?”

“You fell. You’re sitting on the ground,” Lin Feng replied, starting to realise something might be wrong. He went through his knees and reached out to her. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I fell?” Tang Bingyao asked. Her eyes suddenly went wide. She searched around and grabbed onto her bag. Then she dove in and took out the Jinx figurine. She looked at it, carefully inspecting every small detail. And only after confirming that it was still in mint condition did she breathe out in relief. “This is your gift! I love it! It’s the best!” she shouted, her drunken joy quickly returning to her. 

“Yeah! I’m really good at finding gifts too! Right?” Lin Feng said, laughing. He then reached out his hand and helped Tang Bingyao get back up.

Tang Bingyao smiled and let herself fall against Lin Feng, tightly holding the Jinx figurine. “I really love it. Thanks.”

Lin Feng grinned and was about to say something when he noticed the scratch on Tang Bingyao pants. He looked at her and said, “You should be more careful! I can buy you a new figurine! I can’t buy you a new ass!”

Tang Bingyao looked down at the Jinx figurine in her hand, then she vigorously shook her head. “No! It’s a gift… from you! I need to take care of it! Mhm!” She placed it to her chest and hugged it, swaying from side to side. “Oof, my butt hurts,” she suddenly mumbled, looking up at Lin Feng. “Why does my butt hu— Hey! Why are there two of you?”

“Because I’m double awesome, didn’t you know?” Lin Feng responded, laughing loudly. Then he held up three fingers and asked, “Here, how many fingers am I holding up?”

“ONE! TWO!” Tang Bingyao narrowed her eyes and reached out to Lin Feng’s hand, feeling, counting, and then shouting, “THREE! THREE FINGERS!”

“Yes! Maybe you’re not as drunk as I thought!” Lin Feng exclaimed, surprised.

Tang Bingyao pushed Lin Feng’s hand aside and stared at him. “I… can’t see you. Need to be a bit closer.” She leaned forward, closer. Closer. She took another step and moved her head until she was only inches away from his. “Mhm! I can see you!”

Lin Feng reeled his head back and shouted, “Hey! Tang Tang! What are you doing! Gah! You reek of alcohol!”

“Stay still!” Tang Bingyao pouted. She put her hand around Lin Feng’s neck and moved his head closer to hers. “Closer, just a little closer,” she mumbled to herself. When their noses almost touched, she added, “Mhm! Perfect!”

“H-hey! Tang Tang! Your hands are freezing! What are you doing!” Lin Feng said, lightly struggling.

“Shh!” Tang Bingyao pouted. She glared at him and added, “Don’t talk… don’t!”

“Ok, ok!” Lin Feng said. “Jeesh. If I’d known you were so bad with alcohol, I would’ve never let you drink so much. You’re way too drunk!”

Tang Bingyao ignored Lin Feng’s struggles, nor did she listen to a word he said. She just stared at him, smiling. Her touch on his neck became gentle as she said, “I… I have something to tell you!”

“H—”

“Shush!” Tang Bingyao interrupted Lin Feng. “I told you to shut up! Listen to me!”