Inside his college dorm room in Seoul, Korea, Coff had gone beyond mad. He’d transcended raging. Right now, he was pure unadulterated fury at the world. Bang! There were no words to express or vent this fury that he was feeling, so he resorted to smashing his mouse down on his desk. But it wasn’t enough. He let go of the mouse and balled his fists. BANG! BANG! BANG! Coff started pounding on his keyboard with both fists. The irony of the situation that was completely lost on Coff was that the action was similar to Alistar’s Pulverize. But he didn’t notice, and continued to smash down on his keyboard. Sadly, it was not enough to vent the fury that coursed through both his mind and body. 

“FUCK!” Coff screamed out loud. That… I never expected anything like that! This was the most infuriating game I’ve played in a long time. I literally cannot remember another one that made me rage this hard. How did an Alistar stomp all over my Yasuo?!

Coff took a beat to focus, and replayed the entire game in his head. All of the blood that rushed to his head and face drained, and his face turned pale as he understood. Coff clenched his jaw as the truth dawned on him. There’s no way around this. I hate to admit it… but that Alistar was really good. Way better than me…

“Dammit! I thought the Chinese server was supposed to be full of scrubs!” Coff screamed, cursing the universe and his own misfortune.

From a zoomed in perspective, it was easy to think that Coff had truly terrible luck and managed to run into Lin Feng on his first game. But that was far from what was happening in reality. If one zoomed out and looked at all the Korean players who had attempted to invade the Ionia Server to avenge their honor, Coff was not the only player who was experiencing fury and failure. It was truly unfortunate that none of the invaders were aware of a common saying in the Chinese League community. “On the Ionia Server, high Platinum and low Diamond are much more frightening than Master and Challenger.” 

It was an intrinsic truth of the ELO system on Ionia Server that all Chinese players had come to understand after playing for many years. A curious quirk of the region that was created by a combination of circumstances, and only known to the players of China. That truth was that on the Ionia Server, the waters of high Platinum and low Diamond ran much deeper than Master and Challenger. This situation was created by the fact that this particular rank division was simply too chaotic to accurately state the abilities of the players within it. 

High Platinum and low Diamond was full of both seasoned players, top professional players, and absolute noobs. When one walked into the solo queue on the Ionia Server and started a game created by the match-making system, there was no way to tell how the game would go if you were in this rank division. One could end up on a team with professional players who were smurfing a second account, or with a seasoned player who was attempting to raise an alternate account to Challenger, or with a complete novice who had paid to have their account boosted to Platinum or low Diamond to brag to their friends. Or a true noob to League of Legends who had paid to purchase an account in Platinum/low Diamond because they had no understanding of the game and their own abilities.

For the Chinese players who played at the Platinum/low Diamond division, it all came down to luck of the draw. If they managed to high roll, they got a smurf or two on their team and that was something worth celebrating. If they low rolled and ended up with a few boosted players who could not compete at that level of play, it meant helplessly accepting a loss at 15 minutes. They had long since become accustomed to the state of things, and it no longer affected their mental state. The rough approximation that most players understood was that about a third of the players in the high Platinum and low Diamond ELO didn’t actually belong there. They could be from a higher rank or from a lower rank, but one never knew what their teammates would be like. 

But this was something that the Korean players attempting to invade the Ionia server had no idea about. And the reality of the situation hit them like a sack of bricks and brought them untold misery. Their experiences during this doomed invasion gathered together made a tale of tragedy.

One of the most tragic tales involved a Diamond 4 Korean player. He was a Jungler, and he’d just gotten into a game where he managed to lock in on his main champion. Lee Sin. He was planning on roaring out of the gate strong and solo carrying the entire game. In his mind, he was salivating at the thought of stomping on all 5 of the Chinese players on the opposing team and giving them a taste of the true strength of the Korean server. He genuinely had no doubt in his mind that everything would go in his favor, and it did not matter how strong the opposing team was at all. He knew, for sure, that as long as he was playing Lee Sin, he could carry the game for his team!

The first 3 minutes of the game went fantastically for this Korean Lee Sin. Then things turned horribly wrong. Before Lee Sin even had a chance to clear his Red and Blue Buff camps, the announcer’s voice rang out. 

《First Blood!》

Lee Sin started to frantically scroll across the map to see what happened. That’s when he saw that in the Bot Lane, his team’s Ad-Carry had given away first blood. Then the announcer’s voice rang out again. 

《An ally has been slain!》

Lee Sin did not need to search for what happened this time. He’d watched it happen. The Support player on his team had also died. Both players on his team’s Bot Lane had been killed three minutes after the game started. 

How!? This quickly!? The Korean player was in disbelief, but he quickly composed himself. It’s fine. Bot is easy enough to gank. I’ll just go over and help them get the advantage back.

The Lee Sin player resigned himself to the fact that he’d have to try a little bit harder, and focused. He cleared out both of his buff camps a minute later, and was charting a path to the Bot Lane for his first gank. Right as he was about to ping his teammates to let them know he was on his way, and what his entry point was going to be, the announcer’s voice rang out again. 

《An ally has been slain!》

Lee Sin had to scroll again to see what happened. He was sure it wasn’t the Bot Lane, because he was watching what was happening there. This time, it was his team’s Toplaner who had been killed. The Lee Sin player clenched his teeth and decided he was going to first help Bot Lane, and then go up Top to set things right. With the plan set, he started to walk towards Bot Lane when the announcer’s voice rang out yet again. 

《An ally has been slain!》

This time, it was the Midlaner who had been routed. As it currently stood, only four minutes had elapsed since the start of the game and the only player on his team who had not been killed was the Lee Sin player. He understood, then, that there was no hope. In a matter of mere minutes, all three of the lanes on his team had completely collapsed. There was no way for Lee Sin to prop them all up at the same time.

The Diamond 4 Korean player was about to lose his mind. How am I supposed to play like this!? Why did all three lanes lose so badly? Why is there such an insane skill difference between the teams?

Unfortunately, Lee Sin couldn’t see what the opponent was typing in their team chat. 

「Looks like top lane got boosted to Diamond.」
「Mid too.」
「Damn, really!? Bot too! Both the Ad-Carry and Support are trash!」
「Hahaha! Lucky! It’s a freelo game!」

While the tragic tale of the Korean Lee Sin was terrible to the player who experienced the whole thing, it was more comical to those who heard about it. There were other Korean players who ended up in situations that could only be described as heart-rending. And genuinely unlucky. An example of this was what occurred to a Diamond 2 Korean player who had joined in on the invasion of the Ionia Server. 

This particular Korean player was a little bit more clever than the average bear. He’d heard what happened to other Koreans, and quickly understood that there were quite a few players in Platinum/low Diamond who were boosted. So he started checking to make sure that none of his teammates fell into the boosted category before starting the game. If he discovered any players who were boosted or that he had doubts about, he would immediately dodge out of the game. Then, finally, he found a game where he had determined that none of the players on his team were boosted. Relief washed over his heart, and he steadied himself to stomp all over the Chinese players. 

This particular Korean player was a Toplaner, and his main champion was Fiora. He’d played hundreds of games with Fiora, and knew her as intimately as one could know a MOBA champion. There were nights where this player had dreams in which he’d gotten to know Fiora far more intimately than that, but that isn’t relevant to this story. This particular Diamond 2 Korean player knew that as long as his teammates didn’t feed, he could crush his lane opponent with Fiora and carry his team to victory! 

Unfortunately for him, that was not how the game went at all. In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Korean Fiora had already died to the opposing Toplaner, a Riven, three times. After watching his screen turn black and white again, the Korean player rubbed his eyes in utter disbelief. I-I died again!? I’m a Diamond 2 player on the Korean server! What is even happening? How am I getting crushed this badly in Ionia?! And I’m getting stomped by someone who is only Platinum 1! How is this even possible? How is this Riven only ranked Platinum 1? What? Why? How? Why? Why? Why? Why? THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! 

In the gaming house of a certain LPL team, a young man leaned back in seat with a toothpick in his mouth. He rolled his eyes and said, “This Fiora. What. An. Idiot. He’s still trying to fight me when he’s behind. Doesn’t this guy know how scary a fed Riven is?” 

On another nearby computer, a teammate turned to look at the young man and smiled. “Ah! You winning, son?”

The youth looked up at his teammate. “Of course! You think I’d lose in a game like this?”

The teammate smirked, “Yeah yeah. Hows about you say stuff like that when you can actually get to Diamond, yeah?”

The young man grimaced, as if he’d had cold water dumped on his head. “God dammit! Why you always gotta hit me where it hurts!?”

In the Chinese competitive scene, there were top LSPL or even LPL players who were brilliant on the competitive stage. But for some reason or another, they would have the worst luck in solo queue and could never climb higher than high Platinum and low Diamond.

This young man was a prime example of that. In fact, he’d had such a hard time getting out of Platinum that he’d earned himself the nickname of China’s #1 Platinum Gatekeeper.

In other words, the unfortunate Diamond 2 Fiora main from Korea had collided with a steel wall!

The most common misfortune that the Korean invaders on the Ionia Server experienced was running into Chinese players who were all significantly better than their rank and profile history implied. All of them were unanimously at the level of Master or Challenger. And they all shared a unique quirk. Their Summoner Tags always had the same two Chinese characters followed by a series of random numbers. None of the Koreans knew what the names of these players meant, but they all started to understand that running into them as opponents meant that they were in for a truly terrible time. All sorts of theories ran through the Korean forums about these players. The prevailing one was that this was a guild of Chinese players who had come to defend the Ionia server from the Korean invasion.

This theory was, interestingly enough, not completely wrong. The Chinese players whose names started with two characters and then a series of random numbers did belong to a guild of sorts. But they were not there to defend the Ionia server. Nor did they particularly care about the Koreans attempting to invade. Their presence and names was something every Chinese player knew about and did not find even a little strange. The two Chinese characters that their names started with was the word for “Booster”, and the string of numbers that followed was the booster’s QQ number. They were advertising their services to any player who might be interested!

On the Ionia server, the boosters were unquestionably the most frightening players to come against. They were ungodly skilled and absolutely ruthless. Not because they wanted to ruin the fun of any other player, but because they were working to fulfill the demands of their clients, and that was paramount. Those unfortunate enough to run into a booster on the enemy team knew that they would be in for a terrible time. Their presence on the Ionia server was begrudgingly accepted, because everyone had to earn their bread somehow. And for a great many players, the boosters had become something of an aspirational job. They all secretly dreamed of the day they’d become good enough at League to become a booster, and earn money by playing the game they loved. 

For Lin Feng, the presence of the boosters was something he didn’t particularly mind. He enjoyed the challenge of having to play against someone with that much skill and experience. Besides, he understood that he was also somewhat of a booster himself for Su Xue. Every game he won boosted her rank. And he took some joy in joining up with the rest of the professional boosters to make life a nightmare for the Koreans who had shown up on the Ionia server. As a booster, Lin Feng had done a pretty good job. Since he started streaming in the morning and playing on Su Xue’s account, he’d won every game he played. By the afternoon, he’d boosted Su Xue’s account from Diamond 5 all the way to Diamond 3! 

After ending the stream for the time being, Lin Feng turned to Su Xue in the bed and yelled, “Su Xue, I’m hungry!” 

Su Xue got up from the bed and rubbed her eyes, nodding sleepily. ‘Oh, alright. I’ll start making food.”

Half an hour later, the table was lined up with steaming hot dishes. Lin Feng started digging in right away. Su Xue, on the other hand, was not eating. She picked at her food, but brought none of it to her mouth. She just continued to stare at Lin Feng in a daze. Not because she was sleepy. Not at all. Su Xue was fully awake. She was lost in her own mind because she started thinking about Lin Feng’s identity and past once again. Even after she’d thought about it for an entire sleepless night, she really did not know what to think about Lin Feng or how to face him at all. So much had changed since she figured out that he was not lying about everything he’d told her, and she could not get a handle on the emotions swirling through her heart. 

After a while, Su Xue opened her mouth and asked, “Lin Feng?”

“Yeah?” 

“So, you’re really that Maple? The one that was China’s number one Midlaner back in Season 1?”

“Yeup!” Lin Feng said, scarfing another heap of rice into his mouth.

Although Su Xue had already confirmed it yesterday, after hearing it again, the truth still sent shockwaves through her heart. She took a deep breath, calming herself down, then asked the next question. “So, does that mean you… well, did you actually go toe-to-toe with Rake? And you were just as good as he was back then?”

Coff’s face was a sight to behold as his screen faded into grey. The blood drained from his cheeks, turning them pale. But the muscles of his jaw popped in and out as he clenched his teeth in anger. And the humiliation burning in his heart, that was clear to see in his eyes. He mentally replayed everything that occurred. God dammit! I cannot believe I just did that! I was careless and didn’t notice that he was baiting me. And I fell for it like a noob! I knew I’d be walking into the Tower’s aggro to hit Alistar with Steel Tempest. But I thought my skills and reflexes were way better than his, that’s where everything went wrong. I was cocky and reckless. And I underestimated him completely. I didn’t stop for a second to think that his reflexes would be better than my own. I literally could not move fast enough when Alistar Flashed into me, and I didn’t even notice that I got knocked up with Pulverize until my Yasuo was up in the air. By that point, there was nothing I could even do anyway. There was no chance of escaping after that Headbutt into the Tower… Nope. The second he Flashed, it was all over. I cannot believe I just got outplayed that hard by some Diamond 5 Chinese player! You know what… ?

Coff genuinely could not believe that someone he considered so inferior to himself could’ve pulled something like that off. He knew exactly what happened, but he didn’t want to believe that Chinese players were skilled enough to pull off plays like that consistently. So he did the only thing he could do in this situation. Coff started typing in all-chat with the little Chinese that he had at his disposal. 

「Luck! Trash! Come again! YOU ***!」

“Oh, look at that, guys. I guess he’s mad now,” Lin Feng said to the stream with a smile. 

The people in the stream erupted with amusement.

「lmaaaao, he’s still so cocky after getting solo killed!」
「guess he still hasn’t leanre dhis lesson yet!」
「LILBRO hes a yasuo!!! Powerspike!」
「He needs you to kill him 9 more times so he can powerspike」
「lil bro, beat his ass one more time!」
「MIIIILKKK HIM!」

Lin Feng rubbed his chin. “Hmm, I think you guys are right. He wants to be killed more until his 10 death powerspike. He’s a true Yasuo player. Well, if he wants more, I’m more than happy to give him more!” 

6 minutes after the start of the game, Lin Feng pushed the minion wave all the way out to the Blue Team’s Outer Tower in the Mid lane. Yasuo was being much more cautious and playing defensively, hanging underneath the protection of his Tower. And then, something interesting happened. Yasuo was locked onto a minion and started dashing towards it with Sweeping Blade. But right after the skill was activated, the minion moved. By the time the Sweeping Blade ended, Yasuo was now outside the Tower’s defensive range. Lin Feng noticed this golden opening presented by fate, and wasted no time taking advantage of it. His Alistar immediately engaged the Yasuo with a Headbutt-Pulverize combo. Yasuo was knocked up and further away from his Tower with no chance to react or retreat. His health plummeted. 

While this was happening, the Red Team’s Jungler decided to sneak into the Mid lane. He was playing the champion Kha’zix. He crept in quietly from the right side of the lane, through the Blue Team’s jungle. And popped out just as Yasuo landed from Alistar’s Headbutt-Pulverize combo. Wasting no time at all, he pounced on Yasuo and shredded at the hapless champion with fangs and claws. Yasuo’s health dropped to critical levels. But Kha’zix’s attacks didn’t manage to kill him, and Yasuo found an opening to start running towards what he thought was safety. Unfortunately, he ran straight towards Lin Feng’s Alistar, who stood there waiting. Yasuo was trapped in a pincer manoeuvre! In the end, it was a final auto attack from Alistar that cleaved the life from Yasuo’s body. 

Coff stared at his screen with a blank expression in his eyes as he struggled to understand what just happened. He could not comprehend how he’d just been killed again, a mere two minutes after his first death. Slowly, his face flushed red with both rage and confusion. I-I died again!?

《You have slain an enemy!》

As the announcer’s voice rang out, the people in the stream chat erupted with joy. 

「hahaha get fked!」
「he asked for it again, and lil bro gave it to him!」
「that  was so satisfying to watch」
「I bet he’s raging his ass off!!」

As Lin Feng walked back to his tower, he muttered, “It’s always the same with these Yasuo players, sigh. First they want more, and then they get upset when you give them what you want. It’s such a strange request. Now he’s going to rage in all-chat instead of playing.”

One of the hallmarks of League of Legends was the raging. It didn’t matter what region one was playing the game. It was the same everywhere. In China, Korea, EU or NA, there were players who constantly raged in the chat. And the raging was so inextricably tied to playing League of Legends that it was elevated to the level of tradition. Playing with others who raged in team-chat and laughing at players who raged in all-chat added to the experience of playing League in a way that no other game could replicate.

Coff was yet another player who joined in on the time honored tradition of baby raging in all-chat after making mistakes that led to his death. He was upset after his first death, but retained some control over his anger. After the second death though, Coff was fuming and lost all sense of reason. He started cursing up a storm in all-chat, first in broken Chinese and then in English. Eventually he gave up the pretense and started attempting to curse in Korean. His rage had hit a point where he no longer cared if anyone could understand him or not, he simply needed to vent all of the ire in his heart. Unfortunately, his Chinese was horrendous and his English was not very good either. That made it difficult to understand what he was trying to say. Once he switched to Korean, the thoughts became slightly more coherent. But almost all of the words he was attempting to use were caught by the language filter. 

It was nigh impossible to understand what Coff wanted to say, but the sentiment was understood by everyone watching the stream. Coff the Korean was very, very mad. And that delighted the viewers to no end. Some attempted to piece together what he was saying in various languages to laugh further. Others just made jokes. There were even a few enterprising ones who took the initiative to try and add Coff as a friend, so they could poke and prod at him some more. Coff’s incoherent rage added an entirely new dimension of entertainment to the stream.

Lin Feng, unlike the chat, remained completely calm and relaxed. He was smiling not because he cared about Coff’s rage in the slightest, but because the viewers on the stream were enjoying themselves. As far as Lin Feng went, there was nothing worth thinking about with Coff’s raging. He’d been playing League of Legends for a long time, and he’d lost count of how many he’d run into who’d given into the baby rage that Coff was currently writhing around with. Besides, there was no point in paying attention to it. Lin Feng knew that with the two kills he’d gotten on Yasuo, his Alistar had pretty much won the Mid lane for his team. There was no way that Yasuo was coming back to present a serious challenge. And so, Lin Feng decided not to engage with Coff in all-chat, and instead peacefully farmed minions in the Mid lane. 

Once the game timer hit 8 minutes and the minion wave was pushed all the way out in the Mid lane, Lin Feng decided it was time to take his Alistar to help out his teammates. He looked at the minimap on the right-hand corner of his screen, and started to roam towards the Bot lane for a gank.

He circled round through the tri-brush and waited for an opening. The second that Blue Team’s Jinx walked out too far, Alistar charged into her with a Headbutt and Pulverize. Jinx was knocked up into the air with half her health gone. Then Alistar unleashed a barrage of auto attacks and an Ignite. By the end of the lethal combo, Jinx lay dead on the ground at Alistar’s feet. 

The Jinx’s Support in the Bot lane was a Thresh. One who tried to avenge her death with Death Sentence. Thresh hooked Lin Feng’s Alistar and tried to drag him under the Blue Team’s Tower. But Alistar’s Unbreakable Will made it impossible to cage him with any crowd control skills for long, and Lin Feng broke free easily. That’s when Lin Feng noticed his teammates furiously running over to help. Instead of running away from the Tower, he decided to have his Alistar tank the bolts and dived under the Tower’s range to continue attacking Thresh. Both the Ad-carry and Support on his team arrived, and the three of them attacked Thresh together.

《Double kill!》

The longer the game went on, the more terrifying Lin Feng’s Alistar became. He’d already scaled to the point where he did enough damage to insta-kill Jinx. It had only been 10 minutes since the start of the game, but the balance was heavily tilted towards the Red Team. Lin Feng’s team. And once the game moved into the teamfight phase, Alistar wrecked devastation and decimated the Blue Team’s champions. 

Red Team’s players finally noticed Lin Feng’s summoner name and started asking questions.

「ali, you’re a streamer!?」
「you’re freaking amazing!」
「wait, are you a chick!?」

Lin Feng happily replied, 「Yep! Yep! And Yep! Come over and watch!」

He was more than happy to help advertise Su Xue’s stream and bring her more viewers.

Eventually, around the 20-minute mark, the opposing team unanimously agreed to surrender.

Lin Feng exclaimed, “Didn’t I tell you guys? You see now? I’m really good with Alistar too!”

Things weren’t looking good for Lin Feng, his Alistar was being pushed back by Yasuo. But he remained completely confident. The viewers on the stream didn’t exactly see how it was possible for an Alistar who was behind in CS to kill a Yasuo. Especially considering that Alistar was down to half his health. But Lin Feng said that he’d be killing the Yasuo soon, and the viewers believed in Lin Feng!

「goooooooo lilll broooooooo! We believe in you! MILK HIM!」
「kick that plat scrub’s ass! Show us your top challenger skills!」
「hahaha! I bet winfeng will carry with soraka next game too!」
「Seriously, though, guys…. How’s he going to do it? His Alistar is behind on everything…」
「shut up dude! Just let lil bro work his magic!!! Real magicians never reveal their tricks!!!」

While the chat cheered him on, Lin Feng continued to grapple with the Yasuo in the lane, getting minion kills whenever he could. But, slowly and eventually, the minion wave was pushed all the way back to his Outer Tower. Yasuo was too nimble and aggressive, and his Alistar could not offer significant enough resistance to prevent the minion wave from being pushed back. Lin Feng narrowed his eyes and looked past the Yasuo, his thoughts centered on his real opponent. KR•COFF.

This Coff… he’s not half bad. Now that he’s Level 2, he’s using all of Yasuo’s increased mobility to push his advantage. Not only that… his CS is decent and he’s constantly looking for opportunities to get some poke in. None of this is reckless either. He’s playing with the exact amount of aggression that a Yasuo needs to have. You know what? Coff is a competent player! He’s decisive, methodical, and his playstyle keeps everything in balance. Now that I’ve seen this over and over, this is the difference between Chinese and Korean players. The Chinese players, especially the ones at Platinum and Diamond, they all have decent mechanics. More than enough to rival the Korean players. But their playstyle is so much more indecisive, and that leads to them making mistakes that can be exploited. 

After these thoughts crossed Lin Feng’s mind, he turned his attention back to the lane. You’re good, KR•COFF. But I’m really good, too! And now I’m going to show you how much better I am!

After what seemed like an agonizingly long wind-up, Lin Feng’s Alistar finally hit Level 2. Now he had the skills Headbutt and Pulverize at his disposal. More significant was that KR•COFF’s Yasuo no longer had a level advantage on him.

The viewers on the stream still weren’t convinced that it would be enough. The Yasuo that Lin Feng was up against did not appear to be a weak opponent. KR•COFF played aggressively when it came to offense, but that wasn’t at the expense of his own defense. He also displayed quick reflexes. All of this was on display when Lin Feng’s Alistar made his first offensive play. Alistar managed to worm his way around the minion wave and found an excellent angle to Headbutt Yasuo. The attack connected, and Yasuo was launched into the Outer Tower! But KR•COFF recovered quickly, and had his Yasuo dash out of the Tower’s range with Sweeping Blade. The Tower only managed to get one hit on Yasuo before he was out of defensive range. The bolt from the tower managed to do some damage to Yasuo, but not enough to be significant. 

But Lin Feng was only just getting started. Over the next minute and a half, Alistar became more and more aggressive. He charged at Yasuo and landed Headbutt after Headbutt on him. And whenever he got the chance, Alistar would slip an auto attack right before the Headbutt landed. The damage from each of the Headbutts and Headbutt combos individually was not significant, but over time they started to add up. The more important part of the play was that Yasuo had no way to retaliate, because each of the Headbutts would launch him away from Alistar! This meant that Yasuo needed to constantly reposition himself, and the seconds lost meant that he’d be missing out on last hitting minions.

Lin Feng also had an ace up his sleeve. He had yet to use the other skill that his Alistar currently had, Pulverize. When Alistar used Pulverize, he’d pound the ground to deal damage and knock up enemy champions. Lin Feng could have used it to further irritate Yasuo, but he was holding onto it as a deterrent. As long as Pulverize was available, Yasuo could not recklessly rush right upto Alistar and attack. Lin Feng’s decision to hold Pulverize forced the Yasuo to maintain some distance! 

Besides, it was more than clear that Headbutts alone were having the desired effect on KR•COFF. All of the viewers on the stream could clearly see him start to get irritated after being launched from place to place, and constantly being knocked back. And after three more Headbutts, it was clear that KR•COFF was angry. When Alistar’s third Headbutt connected and Yasuo was sent flying back, the strategy changed. Instead of recovering and repositioning himself, Yasuo dashed right back up to Alistar with Sweeping Blade and stabbed out with Steel Tempest. It was the first hit he’d managed to get on Alistar since Lin Feng started playing more aggressively, but it was enough to drop Alistar’s health even lower. 

What made every hit from Yasuo even more agonizing was Lin Feng’s decision to go with a Mage build on Alistar, rather than the usual Tank build. This made Lin Feng’s Alistar far more fragile than normal. Every hit that Alistar took from Yasuo did more damage. The build that Lin Feng was going for turned Alistar into a glass cannon. But he needed time and gold to get his Alistar to the point where the cannon part would come online. This forced Lin Feng to walk the razor’s edge between playing defensively while also not getting completely zoned out and falling behind.

4 minutes had gone by since the game started. Lin Feng had already used up all of his health potions and his Alistar only had one-third of his health left. Some of the viewers on the stream started to get worried.

「hey, shouldn’t you back…?」
「this is getting dangerous!」
「Yasuo has Ignite! If he gets a few more Qs off on you, you’re dead!」

On the other hand, Lin Feng had also slowly and steadily shaved off half of Yasuo’s health. There was another faction of viewers who noticed this, and spammed the chat in an attempt to push Lin Feng onto further aggression.

「lil bro! Don’t back off!」
「Yasuo is also low health!」
「get a good combo off him + ignite and he’s fucked for sure!」
「fuck hiiim uup!」

Lin Feng looked at both sides arguing in the chat and smiled. Unlike them, he was neither worried or excited. Lin Feng was completely calm and relax. He eventually glanced at the webcam and said, “You guys need to chill. Everything is fine. There’s no need to rush.” Then his gaze sharpened up and locked onto Yasuo. “He’s going to die very soon.”

Coff glared at the Alistar on his screen with a cold smile and murder in his eyes. He knew exactly how much damage his Yasuo could do right now, and how much health Alistar had left. He’d calculated the exact number of hits needed to kill Alistar, and come up with a strategy. One more Q, and I’ll have my tornado! Then I’ll dash in, knock you up, and Ignite! You’ll be dead before you even know what hit you! Two hits! 

In Coff’s mind, Alistar was already dead. All he was waiting for was the right moment to make it happen. One opening was all he needed, and as he watched his minion wave push into Alistar’s Outer Tower, he saw the opening play out in his mind. This particular wave was one with a Cannon Minion. A last hit on the Cannon Minion was worth a significant amount of gold. Coff was positive that Alistar would not want to miss out on last hitting the Cannon Minion, especially since the Alistar was behind on CS. That would be his opening. That’s right… walk out from under your Tower to get that last hit. You know you want it, come on. The second you walk out…  His lips curved into a cruel smile. I’m going to cut you down and get the kill!

Two seconds later, the Cannon Minion’s life hung by a thread as the Tower’s bolts hammered into it. Coff was practically salivating as he waited. And, completely according to the plan, Alistar started walking forward to get the last hit on the Cannon Minion. But Coff continued to wait until Alistar got right up to the Cannon Minion. Then, just as Alistar started to wind up to attack the Cannon Minion, Coff’s eyes blazed with bloodlust. Now! His Yasuo moved into position and stabbed out with Steel Tempest!

The attack connected! Coff grunted with joy. And this was the second Steel Tempest his Yasuo had landed, which meant that the winds had gathered around Yasuo’s katana. The next time Yasuo used Steel Tempest, it would unleash a whirlwind that could knock Alistar up. Everything was going exactly according to the plan, and playing out exactly as it had in Coff’s mind. Now all he needed to do was dash into Alistar with a Sweeping Blade and unleash another Steel Tempest that would knock Alistar up, and Ignite! His Yasuo would be in the Tower’s defensive range, but only for a brief instant. Coff was positive that he’d only have to take a single bolt from the Tower, at most. Not enough to kill him, and he’d get the kill on Alistar. 

With all the pieces set, Coff had his Yasuo dash at Alistar with Sweeping Blade. His finger hovered on the Q key, ready to unleash the third Steel Tempest the second his Yasuo landed. Yasuo flew towards Alistar and landed, then pulled his katana back to unleash a blindingly fast Steel Tempest. But right as Yasuo stabbed out with his katana, Coff noticed that Alistar was no longer there! 

You really thought I’d fall for something as silly as a Cannon Minion bait?  Lin Feng’s lips curved into a faint smile. I let you think that you were baiting me. But that Cannon Minion was my bait for you!

Lin Feng knew exactly what Yasuo was planning before the play even started. He had his Alistar walk out to the Cannon Minion to bait Yasuo closer and into the Tower’s defensive range. When Yasuo dashed at Alistar with Sweeping Blade, it brought him close enough to the Tower to trigger its defenses. And just as the Tower locked onto Yasuo and fired its first bolt, Lin Feng pushed down on his D key — Flash! His Alistar was wrapped by dazzling motes of light and vanished right as Yasuo unleashed a third Steel Tempest. This resulted in the moment where Yasuo’s blade only sliced the air, rather than Alistar’s flesh.

Coff’s eyes popped open wide. There was nothing he could do! Alistar had Flashed through his attack, his Yasuo’s whirlwind was now wasted, and he was now stuck in the Tower’s range. Yasuo was still locked in the recovery animation after Steel Tempest, which meant that he could not move. All Coff could do was watch helplessly as Alistar materialized right in front of his Yasuo, and smashed the ground with Pulverize! His Yasuo was knocked up into the air, where a second bolt from the Tower slammed into him.

Sadly, Coff’s pain had only just begun. Right before the second bolt from the Tower hit, Alistar managed to Ignite his Yasuo. Then Alistar positioned himself right behind where his Yasuo was going to land, and waited for Yasuo to plummet back down to the ground. The second Yasuo landed and got back up, Alistar Heatbutted him towards the Tower!

Coff’s eyelids twitched. He felt his heart sinking into his stomach as he frantically tapped on his E key in an attempt to dash out with Sweeping Blade. However, there was a brief one second stun after being hit by Headbutt. Coff’s mind already knew what his heart refused to accept. It was all over. There was no way his Yasuo could escape the Tower’s range in time!

By the time Yasuo managed to dash out of the Tower’s defensive range with a Sweeping Blade, a third bolt from the Tower was flying towards him. The bolt pierced through Yasuo’s back mid-dash, and combined with the damage from Ignite, it was more than enough to end his life.

《First Blood!》

As the announcer’s voice rang out, chat erupted with excitement and congratulations! 

「66666666666666666!」
「666!」
「666!」
「666!」
「666666666!」
「6666666!」
「WINFENG! 66666666666666」
「666!」
「GET REKT YASUO」
「666!」

Lin Feng walked back to his Tower and exclaimed. “You guys saw that, right? Just like I told you. The Yasuo is dead!”

The invasion of Korean players onto the Ionia server was technically Lin Feng’s fault. But the more accurate statement was CN•HOOK2’s fault. Because there were very few people who knew that Lin Feng was, in fact, CN•HOOK2. 

The reason for this invasion started two days ago, when Lin Feng used the CN•HOOK2 to climb up the Korean Challenger Ladder. He eventually managed to climb into the Top 5 after a final game victory over Orion, one of the top Korean pro players. As far as China was concerned, CN•HOOK2’s climb was a huge source of pride. But on the flip side, it was a mark of shame and humiliation for the Korean players. Many of whom could not let such an insult go unanswered, especially not when Chinese players proudly boasted about how things were finally turning around and that there was now someone who could break Korean domination in League of Legends.  

The Korean League of Legends players had a completely different perspective on CN•HOOK2’s climb. As they saw it, the entire climb was dishonest and CN•HOOK2 deserved none of the accolades he’d been receiving from the League community. From their point of view, CN•HOOK2 only managed to get into the Top 5 through a combination of luck and cheap tricks. It all boiled down to when the climb started, which was hours before the ranked ladder reset. By that time, the Season 5 ranked rewards had already been given out and most players on the Korean server were not paying attention to the rankings anymore. Most of the top Challengers didn’t even log on that night, because there was simply no point in doing so. And that meant that CN•HOOK2 never faced the true Challengers of the Korean server on his climb into the Top 5. 

There was also the matter of CN•HOOK2’s victory over Orion to consider. There was no doubt that Orion was a truly skilled player and one of the best currently active in the Korea region. But the fact that someone completely unknown came into the server from China and beat him in a game, that was something that many Korean players could not believe happened without some mitigating circumstances at play. And what they believed was that Orion was only beaten because he was careless and not taking the fight against CN•HOOK2 seriously. Orion’s lack of focus and a bit of luck managed to put CN•HOOK2 in a position where he won that game. Therefore, no one on the Korean server considered it to be a legitimate victory. Because, as far as they were concerned, it was completely based on luck! On any other day, they saw no possibility of CN•HOOK2 getting into the Top 5 on their server. Nor did they think he could win against Orion, a King, in a rematch. 

But all that justification and analysis could not change the fact that the Korean players had to see CN•HOOK2’s name on their Challenger leaderboard. Just sitting there in 4th place. It infuriated and incensed them just looking at it, and every time it got mentioned was further salt in the wound. Something had to be done, their anger needed an outlet. So they decided to band together and avenge this insult to their honor! 

The plan started out simple. Many of the top Korean players had accounts on the Chinese server, just like many of the top Chinese players had accounts on the Korean server. Initially, they wanted to go in and find CN•HOOK2, show him what it really meant to fight against Korean Challengers. So they jumped into the Ionia server, ready to hunt down CN•HOOK2. Unfortunately, very few of them had accounts on the Chinese server that were in Master or Challenger. They spent more time playing on their Korean accounts than their alt accounts on Ionia. That was where the plan started to go a little sideways. But more than enough of the Korean players who invaded the Ionia server had accounts that they’d gotten to Platinum and Diamond. So they decided they would vent their fury on any and all Chinese players they could find!

All of this led up to the moment where Lin Feng bumped into so many oddly named players who were significantly better than what their rank suggested while he was playing on Su Xue’s account today. There were more than a few viewers who started investigating the disturbance long before Lin Feng even brought it up, and they’d pieced together the chain of events from various sources. The chat collectively explained the situation to Lin Feng and he said, “Ooooh! So that’s what’s going on here?” Then he looked at his screen pensively for a couple of seconds before breaking out into a beaming smile. He exclaimed, “Well, this sounds like a lot of fun!” 

Lin Feng wasn’t just playing up the situation for the viewers on the stream. He genuinely did not care that it was happening at all, and he wasn’t even slightly bothered by it. Hah! I was playing and winning against Korean Challengers just the other night. I spent the whole night doing that. Now that I’m rested and ready to go… this is nothing! Actually… this is a pretty good surprise now that I think about it. I can get in more practice against Korean players while I’ve got a good ping! If fate is going to throw a bunch of Koreans right at me, then I’m going to make the most of it! Time to show them that I’m really good, too!

“Alright, let’s do this!” Lin Feng declared to the stream as he cracked his knuckles. Before long, he found a game and entered Champion Select. He was on the Red Team, and waiting to select his Champion. He glanced at the two teams and noticed the name of the player on the Blue Team who locked in on Yasuo. It was KR•COFF.  Before Lin Feng could say anything about this, the viewers flooded the chat with their own analysis. 

「Another Korean player!」
「No shit! Even an idiot can tell with the KR In his name!」
「he’s playing Yasuo! Hook2 used Yasuo against Orion the other day!」
「lil bro! Kick his ass! Teach him a lesson!」

Lin Feng’s eyes lit up as he read the chat, and the smile on his face grew wider. Now this is what I call luck! I can’t believe we bumped into one so fast. The viewers are right. I’m 90% sure that this… COFF picked Yasuo in an attempt to bait out CN•HOOK2. Or make a point about his Yasuo. Who knows? But I cannot believe I found the exact kind of player I was looking for in the first game! This is going to be so good…

Without any hesitation, Lin Feng locked in his Champion for the Mid Lane. Alistar, the Minotaur! 

The viewers in Su Xue’s chat were dumbstruck. 

「Alistar!?」
「Ali into yasuo!?! What!?」
「lil bro, are you trolling!?」

Lin Feng brushed the concerns off with a smile. “It’s fine! I’m really good at Alistar too!”　

In the dorms of an ordinary university in Seoul, Korea, a young man was shocked when he saw the opposing team’s Midlaner lock in Alistar. 

“What!? No way, Mid Alistar, really!?”Coff muttered. Then his lips curved into a mocking smile. “I heard China’s best players were all on the Ionia server, but I guess you can still find a few noobs here too, huh? Only an idiot would pick Alistar against Yasuo. Like what can you even do!?” 

Coff’s rank in the Korean server wasn’t high. He had ended Season 5 at Platinum 3. But on the Ionia server, things were very different. He’d already managed to climb as high as Platinum 1. And at the rate he was going, he didn’t think it would take him very long to get into Diamond. If he won this game, he’d be in the Promotion Series to go up to Diamond.  

“This guy has to be trolling. Welp, thanks for the free win!” Coff said as Champion Select ended, and the two teams entered the loading screen.

Coff had no idea what he was walking into, nor did he realize how painfully his eyes would be opened.

“Watch me stomp him!” Lin Feng declared in the loading screen. Then the game started. 

Despite Lin Feng’s unshakeable confidence, the first few minutes of the game did not appear to be going well for his Alistar. There were too many things acting against him. Alistar was a melee champion, but one who didn’t exert a lot of lane pressure in the Mid Lane. Compounding this issue was the fact that Alistar had no significant early game options to poke or duel against a highly mobile champion like Yasuo. The final impediment Lin Feng had to deal with was that Alistar had a very low attack speed during the early game. This made it very difficult to last hit minions and get gold from them.

The biggest obstacle that made all the viewers worry though, was that there was no way Alistar could outduel Yasuo at Level 1. Lin Feng had no option except to play cautiously and let Coff’s Yasuo zone him out of the lane. And that’s exactly what KR•COFF was doing with his Yasuo. He’d decided on an extremely aggressive and oppressive play style, constantly poking at Alistar with Steel Tempest every single chance he could get. 

Before long, the constant barrage of Steel Tempest managed to whittle away half of Alistar’s health. Lin Feng remained unfazed. He had his Alistar drink a health potion while he glanced at his CS. The second minion wave was about to enter the lane, and he’d only gotten 4 CS from the first wave of the game. 

Lin Feng grimaced and muttered, “Tch! Not enough CS…”

Right as Lin Feng looked back at the center of his screen, KR•COFF’s Yasuo hit Level 2 and learned Sweeping Blade. With that skill, Yasuo’s aggression increased exponentially. He used Sweeping Blade to dash through red minions to get in range of Alistar, and poked with Steel Tempest constantly. 

Coff’s lips curved into a smile. “What a shitter! Just a few more pokes, and he’ll be dead if he doesn’t recall back to base!”

At the same time, Lin Feng declared to the viewers on his stream. “It’s fine! That Yasuo will be dead soon. Just watch.”

Not a wink of sleep did Su Xue get last night, and she was miserable for it. Right before she gave up on sleep completely and got out of bed, she had some sort of vague idea in her mind about taking a mini-holiday for the day. She wasn’t in a fit state to stream, anyways. So right before she walked out of her room, she’d made the decision to be lazy today. Then she saw Lin Feng walking out of the bathroom, and a new plan started taking shape in her mind. 

I’m always the one getting up early to make Lin Feng breakfast or running out to buy him something to eat! It’s good that he decided to go get breakfast on his own, I cannot be bothered today. Let him handle everything for once in his life! You know what? I’m going to have him stream for me today too. It’s not like he’s never subbed in for me before, and today is all his fault. If it wasn’t for the bombshell he dropped last night, I would’ve slept like a baby and woken up dewy fresh this morning! I’m this tired and sleep-deprived because of him, so the least he can do to make up for it is to stream for me. Yup! All the tossing and turning I did last night, that’s all Lin Feng’s fault! 

While Su Xue ranted to herself in her thoughts, Lin Feng had stepped out to get breakfast and returned. He walked into Su Xue’s room to find her sitting on her bed. He handed her some of the food he picked up and walked over to her computer to set up for the stream. Lin Feng already finished his breakfast on the walk back to their apartment. 

Su Xue, still on her bed, started nibbling at her breakfast. She wasn’t exactly hungry, but she wasn’t not-hungry either. She was mostly just tired and angry at Lin Feng. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye and thought, I’m going to make him completely balance this debt! He’s the root cause of all my misery today! 

Maple… Lin Feng… Maple! That’s it! He used to be Maple, and we can’t just let something like that go without taking advantage of it, can we Su Xue? Nope! Now that I know, I’m going to use this to make my stream explode. Su Xue’s lips curved with a grin. I mean, come on, what other streamer on Huya can claim they have China’s best Midlaner helping them stream?

As for Lin Feng, he didn’t really mind helping Su Xue out today. He was off from school for the winter holidays, and there was nowhere else he needed to be today. And after the Collegiate Cup and the climb up the Korean Challenger ladder, he had nothing better to do for the time being. Besides, he’d earned some relaxation. Lin Feng could think of nothing more calming than streaming a few games in Diamond and chatting with the viewers on the stream. 

Once he finished adjusting the chair, Lin Feng sat down and turned on Su Xue’s computer. He checked to make sure everything on the stream was set up properly before turning it on. Then he opened up the Chinese League of Legends client and used Su Xue’s username and password to log on. Just as he loaded into the Ionia server, viewers started flooding into the stream. When they saw it was Lin Feng on the camera instead of Su Xue, some were happy and greeted Lin Feng. Others were surprised and wondered what happened to Su Xue. The chat struggled under the barrage of mixed messages from all the viewers.  

「What? Where’s xuexue?」
「LIL BRO!! WELCOME BACK!」
「BroFeng strem today gonna be good!!!!!!!!」
「Lil bro your not as cute as Su Xue!!!!」
「I NEED THE REAL EVENING SNOWFALL」
「Why is there always a guy when I click onto a cute girl’s stream?」　
「Is it just lil bro today?」
「wut happin to suxue???????」
「she quit streaminggggg?」
「Is Su Xue Okay Lin Feng?!Q?!?A」
「where’d the maaaaid gooooo?」
「lilbro don need no maid right?」
「Hihihihihihi LINFENG」
「LILBROLINGENG」

Lin Feng noticed all the questions about Su Xue as he skimmed through the chat. He scratched his head as he wondered how to respond. After 30 more seconds and hundreds of messages asking why Su Xue wasn’t on stream, he decided to reply. “Su Xue? Oh, she’s fine. Don’t worry guys! She said she was feeling lazy today, so she made me take her place.”

「What….?」
「She’s being lazy….?」
「Didn’t she get off at only 11 yesterday?」
「Yeah! Why’s she taking the whole day off!?」　

A few of the more eagle-eyed viewers, ones who happened to be watching the stream on large monitors instead of their phones, noticed that Su Xue could be seen in the background of the camera frame. She was sitting on her bed, still nibbling on her breakfast. Once they found her, the viewers considered it their solemn duty to inform the rest of the chat. 

「LOOK IN THE CORNER!!!! THERE SHE IS!!」
「SU XUE ON HER BED LOOOOK」
「The maid is sitting on her bed eating guys」
「theretherherherherhereraahs AAGH SU XUE!」
「omg! there she is pigging out on the bed!」
「looking at her goofing off and being lazy!」
「no shame at all! Having poor lil bro take her place!」
「waht was that about  being a professional streamer and taking things seriously now?」
「we can’t let her get away with this! BOIS! REPORT HER!」

Soon enough, waves of requests to report Su Xue roiled through the chat. The viewers had all gotten riled up with righteous fury! While this was happening, Su Xue decided to take a quick peek at the chat to see what was going on. When she noticed all of the anger and threats to report her to Huya, her face turned completely pale. She jammed the bun she was eating into her mouth and huddled underneath her blanket. She yelled, “I’m not here! I’m not here! You guys can’t see me!”

「in what world did you think that would work!」
「talk about being an ostrich!」
「we literally saw you eating just a moment ago!」

But before long, the people watching the stream chat turned their attention back to Lin Feng and gave up on tormenting Su Xue. A game had popped up and he was loading into the Champion Select screen.  

「bah, whatever! Lil bro is way more fun to watch anyway!」
「yeah, i was getting tired of watching xuexue feed all the time!」
「we’ll let you off this once!」
「you’re lucky lik bro is so nice!」
「come on, lil bro! Let’s see you stomping in diamond today!」
「I wanna see a yasuo game!」
「play a xerath game!」

Su Xue, still hidden under her blankets, continued to watch the chat. When she noticed that they’d given up on making her even more miserable and flooding the chat with what champion they wanted to see Lin Feng play, she breathed a grateful sigh of relief. Now that all of the viewers’ attention swerved completely away from her, she could finally get some sleep. Su Xue started to get comfortable and her eyes slowly closed.

Then, all of a sudden, her eyes popped open. Su Xue had just realised something. Waitaminute! That’s my channel and all of those stupid fickle morons are my viewers! They saw me and they decided to pile on instead of begging me to get up and play. None of them care about me at all. All of them jumped onto the Lin Feng bandwagon and completely forgot about me. They have no loyalty at all! It’s all about Lin Feng now. But… well, it’s not like I can blame them. Lin Feng is a living legend and I’m hardstuck in Diamond… I’d probably jump ship over to him too if I was a viewer. That’s just how it goes. But imagine if Lin Feng revealed his identity as Maple to the world… my stream viewership would jump up by a couple million!

Ahhh! It doesn’t matter! Su Xue shook her head. Sleep! Sleep! I need sleep!

Shortly after turning on the stream, just as he was about to start his first game, Lin Feng was surprised to discover that the number of viewers on the stream had spiked. By a significant number. What made this even more perplexing was that Lin Feng had started the stream in the morning. There really weren’t a lot of people who watched streams on Huya TV in the morning. Yet somehow, Su Xue’s stream already had 30,000 viewers!

The number wasn’t particularly high for the normal viewer count on Su Xue’s stream. But that was because she usually started her stream up in the afternoon or evening. If Lin Feng kept the stream up into the evening, there was no question that the viewer count would be somewhere north of 100,000. Su Xue had worked hard and built up a large following for her stream. And 30,000 viewers showing up for an off-peak stream in the morning was an indication of how popular she’d become as a streamer. 

Lin Feng glanced at the viewer count again. It was ticking past 35,000. Guess I’m not the only one who has been working hard these days. Su Xue’s really been taking it up a notch on her channel. She’s grown so much recently… Oh! Time to focus on the game. Okay. Diamond on the Ionia Server… this is going to be a piece of cake after all those Challenger games on the Korean server! 

In his first game, Lin Feng was playing Xerath in the Mid Lane. One of the viewers had suggested it, and he saw no reason not to play Xerath. So he picked the champion and started. 10 minutes after the game started, Lin Feng had 3 Kills/0 Deaths/1 Assist. At 20 minutes, his KDA was 7/1/2 with a CS of 240. His Xerath floated around the map, stomping any enemy champion who happened to be unlucky enough to cross his path. After 8 minutes of constant harassment and overwhelming defeat, the opposing team surrendered. Lin Feng had ended his first game in 28 minutes.  

With that game out of the way and the viewers on the stream absolutely enthralled, Lin Feng decided to continue onto the next game of the stream. And then a third game. Two and a half hours flew by like this, and Lin Feng had played five games. There was one game where his team lost because his teammates were unable to keep it together long enough for him to carry, but the other four were all easy victories. 

But something about the five games he’d just played nagged at Lin Feng. There’s something… off about all of these games. I’m not sure what it is… but… something doesn’t feel right at all. This is supposed to be Diamond on the Ionia server, but the players I was up against didn’t feel like Diamonds. They’re all much stronger than their rank… weird. And there were a few who were Diamond 4 or Diamond 5 but they moved like high Diamond players! Oh! Oh! There was even a player who was only Platinum 1 but played like he was at the top of Diamond! What is going on? 

Now that I’m thinking about this… hm. Some of those guys didn’t play like everyone else on Ionia either. Their mechanics were way cleaner and their decision-making was decisive… something is definitely going on. I mean, it’s possible that I ran into a group of players who just happened to be above the normal Ionia player… but there was something wrong with their summoner tags too. All of the players who stood out to me had odd names! Some of them were in English but they were different from the normal English summoner tags that people pick. And there were a few that were in Chinese characters… but they made no sense at all. Sorta like someone just randomly mashed Chinese characters on a keyboard to make a name… why would someone do that? 

“How strange…” Lin Feng muttered, rubbing his chin. 

The viewers on the stream knew exactly what Lin Feng was thinking without him explaining what he found strange. Chat exploded as all the viewers tried to explain the situation to Lin Feng.

「lil bro, those players were probably Korean!」
「yeah! A lot of em were Korean.」
「i don’t know why, but there’ve been a lot of Korean players in the Ionia server today.」
「 I bumped into a few when iw as ranking earlier.」
「check the forums, i think they’re here to get revenge?」
「revenge for what? Seriously, we’re not even allowed to get top 5 in their server?」

After reading the chat, Lin Feng understood. Ionia was being invaded by the Koreans, and it was all his fault!

Once he got inside his room, Lin Feng sat down on his bed. He was tired, but there was something he had to do before turning in for the night. Which is why he was sitting on his bed thinking instead of lying down and immediately knocking out. What time is it right now? Hm… that means that it’ll still be morning in Los Angeles… Lin Feng considered what he wanted to do for another few seconds, and then pulled out his phone. He scrolled through until he found the person he wanted to call, and pushed the call button.

The call connected after two rings, and a familiar, carefree voice rang out. “Hello?”

As soon as Lin Feng heard the greeting from the voice at the other end of the line, he stopped slouching and sat up straight. His expression turned respectful, and his tone reflected that same respect as he spoke. “One! I did what you asked me to do! I kept my promise!”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I heard. Good job, good job.” One said, laughing. 

The approval in One’s voice and his praise was more than enough for Lin Feng. His face lit up with joy and he pumped his other fist into the air while exclaiming, “Yeah!” That was all he could say out loud. What he really wanted to say was running through his mind. Everything I’ve gone through over the past couple of months… all of that was nothing. I’ve gone through this before. I worked myself to the bone over and over again during Season 1! I can take this much pressure and come out on top, I’m already more than used to it. I just needed to remind myself who I am, who I was. But this was all worth it… I’d do it all over again if it means One’ll acknowledge me. All the pain and pressure means nothing compared to One’s approval! And I didn’t let One down! That’s what matters most here. I proved to One… and myself that I’m still Maple! I’m capable of being better than anyone else in this current era. It doesn’t matter that the scene changed and that things are way more competitive than they were in Season 1. I’m still just as good as I was back then! 

Lin Feng took a deep breath to calm himself down. Then he continued talking to One, “You know what really sucks, One? The plan was to shoot for the Top 3. That’s where I was aiming. I just ran out of time…” As he trailed off, Lin Feng’s voice was tinged with regret. This wasn’t Lin Feng overestimating himself or making an excuse. He really was planning to get into the Top 3. And he knew that if he had time for a few more games, he could’ve continued riding the momentum from his victory against Orion into the Top 3.

One chuckled. “No big deal. It’s fine, really. Rank 4 ain’t bad. Besides, it’s not like it makes a huge difference if you climbed into the Top 5 or Top 3. There weren’t many other OGN pros apart from Orion playing last night. There’s nothing more you have to prove to yourself, and nothing more you could’ve proved by getting into the Top 3 last night.”

Lin Feng froze for a moment as he processed what One had just said. Then, he nodded and said, “That’s true… there really weren’t many players from the top of the OGN playing last night before the ladder reset. Now that I think about it, that’s probably why there wasn’t too much resistance on my climb. Orion was the hardest opponent I faced off against. If there were more professional players in the queue, I don’t think I could’ve gotten any of my win streaks.” 

The depths of the Korean Challenger pool were far deeper than they appeared to be during Lin Feng’s climb. There was a reason so many Chinese players had failed to get into the Top 10 or Top 5 for so long. And Lin Feng knew that luck contributed to his seemingly effortless climb. He was more than aware that there were several other players in the OGN who could’ve pushed him aside and ruined his climb. None of these players were weaker than Orion, and some of them were significantly stronger. Players like Fate’s Moon or SSK’s Rake.

“Enough about ranks and bragging rights for now! There’s something else I want to talk to you about. Your last game, that was the one you played against Orion, right?” One asked.

“Yeah.” Lin Feng replied.

One chuckled briefly before asking, “So? How’d it feel?”

Lin Feng took a few seconds to figure out what One was asking. Then he replied, “Orion… he was really strong. But he was cocky in the beginning, and that made him careless. That’s why I was able to snowball against him and win the game.”

The game last night sent shockwaves running through two regions, and thousands of players were making assumptions about the mysterious player who had beaten Orion. But Lin Feng didn’t let any of that talk, or his victory, go to his head. He knew that he only managed to triumph over Orion last night because of many factors that worked together to give him an advantage. The simple truth here was that all of the players talking about his match against Orion were wrong. The skill that a King possessed was something completely beyond the comprehension of ordinary players. Lin Feng was not an ordinary player, and he understood how and why things played out the way they did.

Lin Feng stayed quiet as he thought about the game for the first time. He was silent for so long that One decided to break it up by asking, “Well? You gonna keep thinking about it or tell me what happened in that game?”

“Right! Yup!” Lin Feng said as he shook himself out of his own thoughts. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Well, in any matchup where you have Yasuo and Zed, everyone knows that Yasuo is the slightly stronger champion. And there’s no way that Orion doesn’t know that. If he was playing more cautiously, he would’ve never gone in for a 1v1 at Level 6. That was his first big mistake. I think he figured that he could make up for the difference with pure skill. His plan was to go in and outplay me in that duel, and then use that to zone me out completely and win the game. But since he wasn’t careful enough to think about how I’d react, it didn’t go his way at all. My Yasuo ended up killing his Zed, and that’s where I got enough of an advantage to snowball into victory. Orion got a lot more careful after that first death, but that was too big of a mistake.

If Orion had been more cautious and played like he would against a professional opponent in a tournament game, it would not have been that easy to win against him at all. And there’s a definite chance that I would have lost that game to Orion.”

After hearing Lin Feng’s analysis, One smiled. “It’s good that you’re aware. I was a little worried that you’d get all big-headed after winning against a top OGN pro player. But you know what happened in that game, and that’s good. I’m not going to lie to you, kid. Your progress so far has been phenomenal and deserves praise. But you and I both know that it isn’t enough. You gotta keep working hard. The faster you can get yourself back to your old prime, the sooner we can start thinking about how to get you even better than that! Besides, the LPL badly needs some new blood right now. You need to shock them awake real quick. Plus, I want to keep bragging about my successor in front of your uncle. Keep pushing, Lin Feng!”

“My uncle…?” Lin Feng asked, stunned.

One laughed. “Yup. Your uncle, Lin Songshi. He called me up last night, sounded like he was conflicted about your return. I know the two of you have your issues, but deep down, he’s got a lot of hope pinned on you. Don’t let him down.”

Lin Feng didn’t know what to say, so he stayed silent. My Uncle called One… A few seconds later, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then he exhaled. When he finally opened his eyes, they were burning with determination and resolve. He’d finally figured out what to say back to One. “I understand.”

The next day, Lin Feng woke up early in the morning after getting a good night’s rest. He stretched his back, opened his eyes, and was back in his normal high spirits. He hopped out of bed and into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. 

Lin Feng finished his morning routine and walked out of the bathroom just in time to see Su Xue walking out of her room. “MORNING SU XUE! Wait… woah. Why are you up so early?”  

Su Xue looked at Lin Feng with blurry red eyes. Truthfully and technically speaking, Su Xue did not get up early this morning. She’d barely gotten any sleep at all last night. Since she didn’t go to sleep, she didn’t get up. She’d been up all night. And now she was looking at the reason for her lack of sleep. Su Xue rubbed her eyes with her palms and looked at Lin Feng again. She had two very large dark circles under her eyes. “Oh, yeah. It’s morning… I’m… up.”

Last night was not a good one at all for Su Xue. She could not stop thinking about what Lin Feng casually revealed to her over a chicken cutlet, that he was Maple. She could not comprehend how she was living with someone who used to be China’s best player. Or that he’d played against some of the best players in the world, including Phoenix and Rake. Lin Feng’s history swirled around in her head all night and left her completely unable to sleep. She tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable enough to stop her mind from racing. She’d even resorted to counting sheep for hours until her eyes were bloodshot, but sleep continued to elude her. 

As morning arrived, Su Xue finally had enough of trying to sleep and decided to get out of bed. She wanted to go to the bathroom and cover her face with a hot towel. Which is when she ran into Lin Feng as he walked out of the bathroom. 

When Su Xue saw Lin Feng again, her expression flickered with mixed emotions. Now that she finally knew who he was, his real identity, she didn’t know how to look at him anymore. He isn’t an ordinary kid who just happens to be really good at League of Legends. Nope! He’s a freaking legend who was even more amazing than Daybreak Hermes! And I’ve been living together with him the whole time! No one is going to believe this. I don’t even believe it! This is not something that happens to real people at all. I could probably go write a webnovel about this on the forums, that’s how unbelievable it is!

Su Xue’s mind was filled with all sorts of chaotic thoughts. She only snapped out of her daze when she noticed Lin Feng waving his hand in front of her face. “W-what, what are you doing?”

“Oh, I was planning to go out and buy some breakfast. Do you want me to get you something too?” Lin Feng asked.

Su Xue nodded slowly. “Oh, sure.” Then she suddenly thought of something and said. “Right. You’re not doing anything today, right? How about you come and help me stream for a bit?”

When Lin Feng had first shown up at her door and claimed to be a Challenger on the Ionia Server, Su Xue did not believe him. She could still recall that evening when Lin Feng joined her on her stream for the very first time. Of course I didn’t believe him back then! Why would I? Who would’ve believed a claim like that from some strange kid who appeared out of nowhere with the Landlady? I thought he was just trying to look cool in front of me! ‘I’m a Challenger on the Ionia Server, Su Xue!’ ‘I’m really good at League of Legends, Su Xue!’ It was too much of a stretch to be true! But since then… well, he was way better at League than I was at the time. I figured he was just good at the game, but I still didn’t believe everything he claimed about his past! But in the weeks and months that followed… Hm. I guess I always knew that there was something mysterious about Lin Feng.

As Su Xue spent more and more time with Lin Feng, she started to pick up on little details that just didn’t make sense, and she started to think there was more to Lin Feng than she knew. But Lin Feng never appeared to be more than the average high school kid most of the time, and Su Xue wasn’t the kind of person who stuck her nose into other people’s business when they didn’t want it. Besides, she was content with her relationship with Lin Feng and didn’t want to jeopardise that. He’d gone from an unwanted roommate to an unwanted nuisance to her little brother, and she cherished her time with him. Even if he did drive her crazy in one way or another every single day. 

On top of all of that, her streaming career was taking off and that took most of her time and energy. So even when she had noticed the small hints that there was something mysterious and strange about Lin Feng, she never bothered asking about it. 

And now, she was kicking herself mentally for being so passive. I can’t pretend there isn’t something strange going on with Lin Feng anymore, and I need to know the truth! It’s odd that he’s this good at League of Legends, there’s no getting around that. His skills are at an absurdly high level, way beyond any normal high school kid. Even his whole ‘I’m a Challenger on the Ionia Server’ thing doesn’t make sense. Now that I think about it, that’s not even that rare. There’s plenty of high schoolers across China who are at Diamond 1, Master, and Challenger rank. There’s thousands of them! But Lin Feng… he’s not just a regular Challenger player.

There’s no way that a normal high schooler who is normally good at League of Legends can play and win through the Finals of Collegiate Cup, and then go on to climb into the Top 5 on the Korean Challenger Ladder in the same day! And let’s not forget that Lin Feng did that by beating Orion, a top Korean professional player, in his last game of the night! That’s not something that a high school kid can do! Even in the LPL, there’s only a few professional players that can pull something like that off. So who exactly is Lin Feng?

Su Xue’s head started spinning as she tried to put together all the facts that she’d learned about Lin Feng during their time together into a picture that made complete sense. She’d completely forgotten about the game she was playing, and didn’t even notice that she was being zoned out of the lane completely. Pings from her teammates went completely ignored, and she was completely unaware of the discussion about forfeiting the game that was taking place in her team’s chat. 

Su Xue’s mind was focused on other parts of Lin Feng’s life right now. There’s also the fact that he knows so many people in the Chinese Esports scene. Even Chu Fang, the Vice President of the Shanghai Esports Association, knew who he was and they have a tight relationship. Oh! OH! He also knows the new Midlaner for Team Rapids! The one that just came back from retirement. AyDeeCee! How does an ordinary high school player get to know people like that? And Lin Feng doesn’t just know them, they’re close to him. All of them know Lin Feng, but not the Lin Feng I know. They have a history with him. 

This wasn’t the first time that Su Xue thought about Lin Feng’s past and wondered about his identity. There were days when she started to feel herself believing his loud claims that he was a former professional player. But then Lin Feng would act like Lin Feng, and she’d laugh at herself for being silly and dismiss the whole thing from her mind. No matter how many times Su Xue thought about it, there was just no way that it was possible. But she thought about it again right now. Maybe he really was a professional player…? Wait! NO! Lin Feng is in his third and final year of high school. If he really was a pro, when did he start playing? When he was in his first year? Or his second year? There’s no way that he’d be this unknown if he was a pro a couple of years ago. Forget me hearing about him, someone in my stream chat would’ve known who he was and the rest of the chat would’ve picked up on that and put it on blast! The only way he could’ve been a pro and be unknown today is if he started playing in middle school, and that’s just not possible. There’s no way. But… what else explains everything about Lin Feng? Was he really a professional player? Was this kid telling me the truth the whole time, and I refused to believe him…? 

As her team’s Nexus exploded, Su Xue was starting to doubt everything that she considered true about Lin Feng. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice the Defeat that splashed across her screen.

Su Xue decided the game she had just lost was going to be her last game of the night. It was starting to get late, and she wasn’t in the right headspace to continue playing anyway. Su Xue shared a few parting words with her viewers, bid them a good night and then ended her stream. It turned out to be perfect timing too, because the delivery guy arrived at her door right as she stopped streaming for the night. 

Su Xue got up from her computer and went to the door to grab the food. She took it over to the dining table, where Lin Feng was already waiting, and unpacked it. Then the two of them sat down for their late night snack. Lin Feng started wolfing down his chicken cutlet the instant it was within range of his mouth. 

Su Xue watched him tear apart the cutlet and smiled, but her thoughts remained in chaos. She slowly walked to her seat at the dining table, across from Lin Feng, and sat down. She started nibbling at her food, very slowly. She honestly had no interest in eating. But every few bits of food, she looked up from her plate to quickly glance at Lin Feng, and then looked back down. Lin Feng was too absorbed in his food to notice any of these glances or looks. He didn’t even notice that Su Xue wasn’t eating. Which is something that Su Xue did notice. She gave Lin Feng around 5 minutes to realise something was up and ask her about it, and gave up when it became clear that he wasn’t going to look up from his chicken cutlet long enough to see that she had something she wanted to say to him. Su Xue cleared her throat and asked, “Lin Feng?”

Lin Feng’s attention was still completely on his chicken cutlet, and he didn’t even look up as he replied, “Yeah?”

Su Xue took a few seconds to gather her thoughts and decided to plunge into what was bothering her, “The account you were playing with on the Korean Server, CN•HOOK2. You said someone gave that account to you, right?”

“Yeah,” Lin Feng answered, food in his mouth.

“So I’ve been wondering… well, what I mean is do you mind if I ask… who gave you the account?” Su Xue carefully asked.

“Oh!” Lin Feng finally looked up from his food and replied, “He’s someone I really respect and admire!”

Su Xue took a deep breath and fought the urge to facepalm. Of course he’s someone you really respect and admire! EVERYONE in China respects and admires him! You’re being stupid, Su Xue! What did you expect out of Lin Feng when you asked him such a vague question? You need to get to the point. This is Lin Feng, he’s not going to mind. You just need to ask him a straight question and he’ll answer like a normal person. She composed herself and gathered her courage before asking, “… and that someone. Well… is his name One?”

“Yeah!” Lin Feng replied right away, not hiding anything.

But that answer made Su Xue’s heart stop for a few beats, and she felt a weight settle on her chest. She literally did not know how to react after having all her suspicions confirmed. I knew it! I was right, it really is him! It really is THE One! Oh my god! Everything I read online was completely true. I don’t know what to say. Lin Feng knows One! He was playing on One’s account! Wait… Lin Feng was playing on One’s account… Why would One give Lin Feng his account? Why would he ask Lin Feng to do something so obviously impossible?

“Lin Feng… so, you and One… you two know each other…?” Su Xue asked.

“Of course!” Lin Feng looked at Su Xue, puzzled as to why she needed to ask such a dumb question.

Su Xue’s cheeks flushed red, but she gnashed her teeth and suppressed her nervousness and embarrassment. She finally asked the important question, “So, when you told me you used to be a pro, you weren’t lying?”

Lin Feng opened his mouth and took another big bite of his chicken cutlet, but the piece was still hot. So, he breathed out and replied, “No, I’m not lying. Didn’t I say that before? Just search up the name Maple. I was really popular back then!”

Lin Feng, as always, was completely oblivious to how shocking the information he’d casually thrown at Su Xue was considered. What he’d just said would have made the heads of every old League of Legends fan and player across China explode. It had been a long time since Maple and One held the limelight, and esports were not as popular back then as they were today. But the real gamers all knew the lore, and all of them would’ve killed to be sitting where Su Xue was sitting right now. But none of that factored into Lin Feng’s mind. To him, this was boring and obvious. Something of little consequence or value, like he was telling Su Xue how he’d gotten a C on a test. 

It was so nonchalant that Su Xue had no choice but to nod along and mutter, “Oh! Okay, alright. I’ll just go… and read up about Maple. Got it…”

Su Xue was still too stunned to think clearly. But a few seconds later, the gears in her mind started spinning again. Su Xue’s eyes popped wide open as she finally remembered. Maple… I’ve heard that name before. WAIT! MAPLE!? Su Xue rocked back and forth in her chair and covered her ears with her hands, like a bomb had just gone off in her mind. Her eyes started to roll and the room was spinning. She screamed out, “YOU’RE THE MAPLE!?”

Su Xue had only started playing League of Legends last season; right before Lin Feng showed up at her doorstep. At the time, she didn’t know much about the lore of League Esports. When Lin Feng had first mentioned that he used to be Maple, she didn’t know that name or what it meant. But when she started looking into the name CN•HOOK2, she found an article that also mentioned Maple.

The article was about the greatest players of all time in Chinese esports history. Obviously, One was extensively mentioned in the article, and that was where Su Xue found out that he also used to play on the alternate account CN•HOOK2 while abroad. The writer of the article concluded One’s section by stating that One was a player who defined an entire era in esports history.

Su Xue continued reading the article to learn about the other players who built the foundation of esports in China. That was where she found a section on Maple. The writer spoke about how Maple was the most likely player to lead the future generation of Chinese esports, and how he was One’s successor. Then he went on to list all of Maple’s achievements, none of which were insignificant. The article spoke about how Maple was the number one Midlaner in all of China and the team captain for the only Chinese team that qualified for the Season 1 World Championships. Then it went into detail about how Maple triumphed over many strong European and North American teams at Worlds. There was a paragraph about how Maple managed to utterly defeat Phoenix, who was undefeated until that match. And then the article went on and on about how Maple went toe-to-toe with Rake and took him all the way to Game 5 in the Grand Finals of the Season 1 World Championships. 

According to the writer, Maple was a rising prodigy in League of Legends and one of the best players in the world. It also said that Maple was clearly the only player who could present a clear challenge to Rake, and possibly topple him from his throne.

Su Xue’s mouth popped open and she let out a soundless scream as all of the information about Maple flooded back into her mind. The dining room really did start spinning and she struggled to catch her breath. MAPLE! HE’S THE MAPLE! I thought he was just a pro player… but Maple!? This is Lin Feng… but he’s also Maple! I’m sitting across a table eating chicken cutlet with the best player in China and one of the best players in the entire world! How can this be real? How is he so calm about this? How was I so stupid that I never realized who he was all these months? 

While Su Xue sat there completely stunned speechless by everything she’d just learned, Lin Feng finished the rest of his chicken cutlet. He didn’t even notice that there was something wrong with Su Xue’s mental state. He calmly wiped his mouth and stood up and stretched. Then he yawned and rubbed his face. He was busy rubbing his eyes when he said, “Su Xue, I’m still a little tired from yesterday. I’m gonna go back to bed now. Good night! Thanks for the chicken cutlet! I really needed that. You’re the best!”

Lin Feng turned around and headed upstairs back to his own room, still completely unaware of the effect that his revelation had on Su Xue. 

“H-huh? Bed, oh, uh… Alright.. Sleep tight,” Su Xue muttered. She was still dazed as Lin Feng walked out of the dining room. Su Xue stared at his back with a blank expression on her face. Her mind struggled to process everything she’d just learned about Lin Feng. She simply couldn’t believe that Lin Feng, the boy that she’d come to adore as a little brother, was Maple. Her heart was tearing itself with all the emotions pounding through her. 

After several very long minutes, Su Xue finally got up from the dining table and walked into her bedroom. She fell into her bed and tried to sleep, but she had too much on her mind. She tossed and turned the entire night, sleep completely eluding her.

After falling asleep on the sofa, Lin Feng didn’t stir for the rest of the day. Afternoon turned to evening and evening turned to night, but Lin Feng continued to sleep. Finally, he woke up late into the night from the sound of his stomach grumbling.

Lin Feng rubbed his face and opened his eyes. Before he could wonder why he’d been asleep on the sofa or why he was hugging a cushion, his stomach clenched and growled. Any and all thoughts swirling around in Lin Feng’s mind were completely obliterated by the pangs of hanger. He rubbed his stomach and frowned. I’m hungry. Yup. Definitely hungry. I remember… lunch. In Beijing! Well, it was sort of lunch. I was so tired that I don’t remember what I ate, but I didn’t eat much. Never thought the day would come around when I’d be too tired to eat, but here we are. Lin Feng glanced out the window at the darkness beyond. It was night in Shanghai. I guess I slept through dinner after we got home too…

Lin Feng sat up on the sofa and started to wake himself up fully. He rolled his shoulders, they were still tight and sore. All those games last night really did wear me out mentally and physically. I haven’t felt this drained in years! His stomach growled again, this time louder and with greater intensity. All those games drained my stomach too. I’m starving! I’m so hungry I could eat an entire horse. Not that there are any horses in Shanghai… I wonder if horses taste good? Lin Feng’s stomach rumbled again in protest. Right. Forget horses. You need food right now, Lin Feng. And you know what food would be best right now? Chicken cutlet!

Just the thought of his favorite chicken cutlets was enough to jolt Lin Feng completely awake and jumpstart his digestive system. Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Chicken cutlets… Lin Feng started drooling from the images of chicken cutlets floating through his mind. He jumped up from the sofa and stretched out, and walked towards Su Xue’s room. Once he got to her door, he could see the lights in her room streaming out from under the door. Lin Feng opened the door a little bit and poked his head in to see what she was doing. Su Xue was sitting at her computer. That was enough for Lin Feng to start yelling. “Su Xuuuueeeeeeeeee!”

Su Xue was at her computer, streaming. More specifically, she was in the middle of playing a ranked game and completely focused. When Lin Feng started screaming her name, it startled her enough to make her jump in her chair. But she quickly composed herself and turned around to glance at him. “Oh! You’re finally awake?”

Lin Feng pushed the door completely open while nodding. Then, he walked into the room and pulled up a chair next to Su Xue. That put him squarely inside the webcam’s frame and onto the screens of the viewers on the stream. And when the viewers on Su Xue’s stream saw Lin Feng, they erupted with excitement!

「its lil broooooooooo!」
「Lil’ Bro Feng! We missed you!」
「welcome baaaaaaaaaaack! You clap that Beijing booty>>>>?」

Lin Feng waved at all the viewers in the chat and gave them a wide smile. Then he turned to face Su Xue and said, “I’m so hungry, Su Xue… please… I need food.”

Su Xue rolled her eyes at him. “Oh? You’re hungry? What a surprise! No shit you’re hungry. What did you think was going to happen when you slept past dinner? I tried to wake you up too! I yelled and told you to come to dinner so many times and you refused to wake up! Now you’re sitting here telling me you’re hungry like it’s something completely unexpected. Obviously, you’re hungry. It’d be weird if you weren’t hungry. What is it that you want me to do about it?” Su Xue held Lin Feng’s eyes with annoyance written across her face. Lin Feng slowly started wilting, withering away to a pitiable state from the hunger that racked his body. Su Xue saw him suffering, and her expression softened along with her voice. “Alright, alright. You’re hungry, but there’s no food in the house right now. I’ll order some takeout for you, how about that?”

Lin Feng nodded slowly while clutching his stomach. Su Xue started to giggle, but quickly tamped it down before he could notice. She had just started a new game and was currently in Champion Select, waiting for the other players to pick their champions, so she had more than enough time. Su Xue grabbed her phone and started ordering food through a delivery app. While she did that, Lin Feng started talking to the viewers on the stream.

Lin Feng had not been seen on stream very frequently these days because of all the games involved in the Collegiate Cup, along with Team Shanghai’s practice sessions and his exams at school. They hadn’t seen him at all over the past few days when he was in Beijing for the Finals of the Collegiate Cup. Now that he was finally back and on stream again, the viewers were ecstatic to have their old friend back. 

「Li’l bro! You finally done with the collegiate cup now?」
「i caught the stream yesterday! You’re the champion! Congratulations!!!」
「6666666666!」
「aweeeeeeeesssssoooome!」
「hahaha! we always knew you were going to win!」
「Nobody can beat our lil bro!」
「u stomped on them so hard!」
「congratttttttssssssssss!」
「WIN FENG! WING FENG! WIN FENGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!」

Lin Feng scratched his head as he read through all the messages. What are these guys talking about? The Collegiate Cup? Oh! Right! That was yesterday! I completely forgot about playing in the Finals and winning! I was so caught up in trying to live up to the promise I made One that I completely forgot about the Collegiate Cup and winning. If I’m being honest here… compared to the games on the Korean server, the Collegiate Cup was a piece of cake. Mmmm… I could eat some cake right now. Cake would be so good!

Su Xue finished ordering the food and put her phone down just in time to see the conversation taking place in her chat. She smirked and smugly said, “Oh? All of you are getting worked up about the fact that Lin Feng won the Collegiate Cup? I guess that’s pretty cool, if you’re impressed by something that small. But you guys don’t know the half of it. If you had any idea what your little bro did after winning the Collegiate Cup, you’d lose your mi—” Su Xue stopped talking mid-sentence and looked at the chat to make sure no one heard what she was almost about to leak. Ohthankgod! They’re all so busy fawning over Lin Feng that none of them paid any attention to what I was about to say! Su Xue exhaled as pure relief washed over her. 

I definitely cannot let that slip again. If anyone found out that Lin Feng was CN•HOOK2… it would blow minds across China! My viewers would get lost in the avalanche of attention that would follow something like this leaking out! 

Since they were just waiting for the food to be delivered, Su Xue decided to continue the ranked game she was now playing. But the viewers on her stream had no interest in her gameplay at all. They were all focused on Lin Feng and talking to him about the Collegiate Cup and what was going on in the League scene. And before long, the conversation turned to CN•HOOK2 and his climb up the Korean Challenger Ladder last night. 

「maaaan, that hook2 is a god!」
「Did you see any his games on stream last night li’l bro?」
「LIN FENG! THERE’S HIGHLIGHTS ON THE FORUMS TOO!」
「I wonder where he came from??? 」
「I can’t believe someone came out of nowhere and went even with Orion!!」
「evenm my ass, he fucking whooped orion’s ass!」
「yeah, those yasuo mechanics were freaking next level!」
「lil bro tell us your thoughts!」
「yeah! whatchu think of him lil bro???」
「who is he lin feng///////?」
「spillll the deeeets!!」

Lin Feng smiled ear to ear as he read the chat. Then he started talking back, “Yeah, I heard! Hook2 is pretty amazing, isn’t he? Pulling win-streaks at the top of Korean Challenger… that’s really something. And yeah! His Yasuo was god-like in his last game against Orion. You guys think my Yasuo is just as good? But Hook2… that guy really is the best, isn’t he?” Lin Feng’s smile somehow managed to grow larger and beam more as he talked to the stream chat about CN•HOOK2. But he never gave anything away. For all intents and purposes, Lin Feng maintained a straight face through the entire conversation, except for a twinkle in his eyes that the webcam couldn’t capture.

Su Xue looked away from her game for a moment and at Lin Feng while he was attempting to pull off the performance of a lifetime for her viewers. She rolled her eyes. This… I don’t even know what to say. How much of a narcissist is this kid? Seriously, how thick is his skin? He’s sitting there complimenting himself without batting an eyelid or showing an ounce of shame! I have no words. None!

Su Xue jumped back into her game, but she continued to think about Lin Feng. I gotta admit that his last game of the night was amazing though. Especially when he went up against Orion alone and won! I got goosebumps when I was watching it alone last night. And when he finally won that last game and climbed into the Top 5… I had tears in my eyes. 

As she thought about everything she felt last night, Su Xue blushed a little from embarrassment. She stole another glance at Lin Feng. If I didn’t know this little shi— if I didn’t know Lin Feng was CN•HOOK2, I’d be right there with stream chat talking about how amazing Hook2 is and telling Lin Feng that I was one of Hook2’s die hard fans after last night…

Still… Mixed emotions ran through Su Xue’s eyes and mind. I know Lin Feng is CN•HOOK2, and I know a lot more about this situation than all of those people online. I talked to him about the CN•HOOK2 account, and he mentioned that it wasn’t his. He told me that someone gave it to him. That made me curious so I started looking into the name… I don’t even know what to think about what I found. Should I ask Lin Feng about it? 

The name CN•HOOK2 initially meant nothing to Su Xue. She knew almost nothing about the Chinese esports scene before she started playing League of Legends, and was still learning about the entire history. League of Legends was the first MOBA that Su Xue had ever played, so she knew next to nothing about the other games and the esports scene surrounding them. But when Lin Feng told her that someone gave him the account, she grew curious and started investigating through the internet. What she found rocked her mind and shattered everything she thought she knew about Lin Feng. Even someone as brand new to esports and competitive gaming as Su Xue had heard of the legendary player One and his accomplishments. It was impossible not to hear of that name in China, not after the unforgettable mark he’d left on the history of global esports. 

CN•HOOK2 belongs to One! And he gave his account to Lin Feng! What does that mean? How does Lin Feng know One? And if One is close enough to Lin Feng to give him an account… how close are they? Su Xue’s thoughts grew chaotic and her gameplay turned sloppy and unfocused. But she didn’t notice. She couldn’t think about the game because there was a single question screaming around in her mind. 

Who exactly is Lin Feng?

 Hey guys! So we’ve done something like this in bits and pieces in the past before with screenshots and text that’s copied over, but we’ve never actually shown you guys what a line-by-line production looks like for a chapter of Rise. There’s been a few reasons for that, but the biggest reason by far is because its actually super-irritatingly-annoyingly difficult to do. In order to make a line level comparison easy to read and distinguish, there’s a lot of sequence level things that have to be left completely intact. It also puts limits on how much we can expand and flesh out a scene, not to mention how we build the imagery. Doing all of that while still putting out a chapter at our quality standard was not even a little fun. But we thought it was important for you guys to actually see how this process works. 

Everything that you see in block quotes is the original translation of the novel. What follows after is what that line looks like after it’s been edited. Just for reference and record purposes, this is a relatively lower effort chapter. That’s half because of the content of the chapter, and half because I needed to edit this in a way that keeps it very constrained to the original. Oh, and because its needless effort for you guys to figure this out, the original translated chapter started at 1269 words and the edited and published version ended at 3074 words. 

This’ll let you guys see what a chapter starts out like and where it ends for an entire chapter of Rise, and give you an idea of what goes into our production process. Once you’re done glancing through it, head on over to the Translator Thoughts for why we did this whole thing. 

-Devshard

Almost as soon as Lin Feng finished playing the last game, he completely passed out.. He didn’t even remember how he ended up in bed, only a vague recollection of someone dragging his body from the chair to bed. They even helped him wash his face and tucked him in.

Afterwards, Lin Feng fell into a deep sleep.

CN•HOOK2’s electrifying climb was a constant drip of adrenaline into most players in China and Korea. But while they obsessed over all of the games and the mystery surrounding CN•HOOK2’s identity, the player behind the account was completely unaware of the waves he’d generated. Lin Feng had passed out as soon as his final game of the night ended. He didn’t even have time to check the Korean ranked ladder to find out where he ended. All he knew was that he’d completed the task that One set out for him, and that was all that mattered. Lin Feng didn’t even remember how he ended up in bed. All he had were foggy, distorted, non-linear memories of someone dragging him from the chair he was in to the bed. He remembered a wet cloth wiping his face, and the sensation of being tucked in. And then after that, he had nothing. He was out like a light, deep asleep, his mind and body completely worn out by the stress of the day.  

The next day, Lin Feng slept all the way until lunch, but he was still groggy at the dining table.

Lin Feng looked completely lifeless. His hands were sluggish as he picked up food with his chopsticks, and he was also chewing slowly too. It was almost as if his every action was in slow motion.

And he continued to sleep well into the next day. Lin Feng’s stupor was only broken at lunch time, when An Xin managed to get him awake enough to drag him to the table to eat. But he was barely there and functioning on autopilot. The Lin Feng from yesterday and the Lin Feng at the table today were two very different people. Today’s Lin Feng was completely lifeless and didn’t even notice the food he was eating. Or that he was eating. That in itself was the most usual thing, because there were very few things that Lin Feng loved more than food. His chopsticks moved in slow motion between the food in front of him and his mouth. And he was clumsy with them. Some of the food fell back into his bowl, but Lin Feng never even noticed. Whatever food did make it into his mouth, he slowly chewed and swallowed without any indication that he’d noticed how it tasted. 

Zhan Hao initially wanted to congratulate Lin Feng on his accomplishments. When he saw how tired Lin Feng was, he was completely dumbstruck. “Y-you doing okay, Lin Feng?”

Zhang Hao had been waiting in a state of constant, unrequited excitement for Lin Feng to finally wake up. He wanted to congratulate his friend and celebrate with him, especially since this was a once in a lifetime event. Zhang Hao had played on the team that had won the Collegiate Cup, and then his teammate had gone up against some of the best League players in Korea that very night and come out on top. The excitement pounding in his veins and the vague ideas of how to properly cherish this moment rendered him nearly incoherent. And he’d been waiting all morning for Lin Feng to wake up and turn all of those vague ideas into reality. But when Lin Feng finally did wake up and came down to lunch, reality turned out to be a splash of ice-cold water on Zhang Hao’s head. What happened to him last night? He doesn’t even look like he’s alive! I said good night to Lin Feng after the Collegiate Cup ended, and now I’m looking at Zombie Feng trying to eat like a human! What does a person have to go through in a single night to turn into… whatever this is?

Zhang Hao tried to get a grip on his shock as he noticed how tired and broken Lin Feng looked that afternoon. All plans of partying had been completely dashed. He didn’t even know what to say, rendered completely speechless by the turn of events and the clash between expectation and reality. When Zhang Has finally did manage to form words, all he could say was, “Lin Feng… Y-you alright there? Are you still alive? Please be alive!”

Zeng Rui glanced up at Lin Feng, then turned his attention back to his bowl as he remarked, “He overworked himself, and now he’s exhausted.”

It was no surprise. Lin Feng had spent the whole afternoon yesterday playing in the Collegiate Cup finals. Then he spent the rest of the day playing 16 ranked games in a row deep into the night. Any other person would’ve probably slept in until the next day.

There was enough concern and distress in Zhang Hao’s voice that it forced Zeng Rui to glance up at Lin Feng. He frowned and shook his head from side to side once before looking back down at his bowl. But before he resumed eating, Zeng Rui flatly stated, “He’s still alive. There’s nothing wrong with him. Lin Feng pushed and overworked himself to an extreme degree, and now he’s completely exhausted. He’ll be fine in a few days.” 

With those words out of the way, Zeng Rui started eating again. But he continued the conversation with himself in his mind. It really isn’t surprising that Lin Feng is exhausted. He spent yesterday playing in the Finals of the Collegiate Cup and then the rest of the night playing ranked game after ranked game against skilled opponents. No. Not just skilled opponents. He played game after game against opponents who constantly grew more cautious and wary of him with every single game. I don’t know why Zhang Hao is so shocked that Lin Feng is tired right now. After something like that, any other person would sleep for a day or two. 

What is surprising is how well he did in that state. I’ve always known that Lin Feng is a monster. But this much of a monster…?

Tang Bingyao looked at Lin Feng in concern. She carefully offered him her mango juice and said, “Do you want to try drinking this? It’s full of sugar. It should wake you right up.” 

Sadly, even after drinking the whole glass, it had little effect on Lin Feng. He still looked like he could barely keep his eyes open.

Tang Bingyao, on the other hand, continued to watch Lin Feng with concern. She decided to do something to help Lin Feng out, and offered him her mango juice. “Lin Feng… Lin Feng! You want to try some of this? It’s mango juice and it’s got a lot of sugar. It’ll give you energy and wake you right up! Mhm!”

Lin Feng stared at her with dead, unfocused eyes. Unwilling to give up, Tang Bingyao carefully held out her glass to him and moved the straw into his mouth. Lin Feng gulped the whole glass down, and continued to pull on the straw after it was all gone. Unfortunately, the mango juice was not very effective for Lin Feng’s current situation. His eyes continued to droop shut and completely shut as he continued to try to drink from the empty glass. 

An Xin shook her head. “It’s fine. Leave him. We’ll let him get some more rest when we get on the plane. This idiot… he really pushed himself too hard last night.”

An Xin laughed at what was going on in front of her and shook her head. “It’s fine. Let’s leave him alone for now. We’ll let him get some more rest once we’re on the plane. This idiot… he tried to exceed his own limitations or whatever last night. Ended up pushing himself too hard and now he can’t function anymore. He really just needs to sleep it off.” Then she helped Tang Bingyao pull her glass away from the still sleep-gulping Lin Feng. 

Chu Fag’s gaze fell on Lin Feng, his eyes brimming with admiration. “Still, all that hard work paid off!” He was one of the first people to learn that CN•HOOK2 had entered the top of Korean Challenger last night, ending at Rank 5.

This was a shocking achievement!

It wasn’t something that could be accomplished with hard work alone either. Chu Fang could hardly remember the last time since a Chinese player  had gotten into the top five of Korean Challenger!

The Collegiate Cup Championship, and top five in Korean Challenger. 

Everything had come to a perfect conclusion!

All that was left was to return home!

Over on the other side of the table, Chu Fag look at Lin Feng with complete admiration. He was one of the first few people who had learned that CN•HOOK2 climb through Korean Challenger ended at Rank 5. He reached over to pat Lin Feng on the back and said, “He really did manage to exceed his limitations. All that hard work… It was completely worth it! Did any of you ever imagine that you’d be sitting here with someone who managed to make it into the Top 5 on the Korean server? I don’t know how Lin Feng pulled it off, but he’s finally brought some hope to Chinese League of Legends!” 

Chu Fang continued to look at Lin Feng with a mixture of fondness, admiration, gratitude, astonishment and hope in his eyes. All that hard work… What Lin Feng did last night, that’s not something that could’ve been accomplished with hard work alone. I can’t even count how many players from China, from talented younglings to professional players, have attempted to break through Korea’s ceiling. I can’t recall the last time someone from China managed to do this either! This boy… he managed to win the Collegiate Cup Championship and got ranked 5th out of all the Challenger-level players on the Korean server in a single day! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect conclusion for all of this. Now we go home as champions!

✹

On the plane, Lin Feng was out like a light the moment he sat down in his seat.

After they finished lunch, everyone from Team Shanghai gathered their belongings and piled into cars to go to the airport. Lin Feng fell asleep the second he got into the taxi and slept all the way to the airport. Then he fell asleep again as they waited to board their plane. And once they had finally gotten onto the plane, Lin Feng fell into a deep sleep the second he was plopped down onto his seat. 

For the rest of Team Shanghai, this was the most stressful trip they’d taken thus far. Getting Lin Feng from the car all the way into the plane required coordination and planning from every member of Team Shanghai, with at least two of them constantly supporting and leading Lin Feng all the way to his seat. Every time Lin Feng fell asleep along the way, it was more and more difficult to wake him up for the next part. But somehow, they’d finally made it onto the plane with Lin Feng, and now they could relax. 

The flight from Beijing to Shanghai was about two and half hours long. When the plane descended on Pudong Airport, it took the efforts of several people to shake Lin Feng awake. Then, with An Xin and Tang Bingyao supporting him, they disembarked from the plane.

The flight from Beijing to Shanghai took two and half hours, and Lin Feng was asleep for all of it. When the plane finally landed at Pudong Airport, Team Shanghai’s brief respite ended. It took almost all of them to shake Lin Feng awake and pull him up from his seat. Then Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao cleared the way ahead while An Xin and Tang Bingyao supported and pulled Lin Feng down the aisle and off the plane. It took significantly longer than any of them had planned, and was accomplished with considerable difficulty. But they eventually did get Lin Feng off the plane and out of the airport.

Outside the airport, the members of the team bid each other farewell and took separate cabs home. Tang Bingyao and Lin Feng were going in the same direction. So, they were also taking the same cab. 

Once they were outside, the members of Team Shanghai decided to go their separate ways and take different cabs to their houses. Except for Tang Bingyao and Lin Feng, who were headed in the same direction and sharing a cab. And getting Lin Feng into a car was the first thing that had to be done before the rest of Team Shanghai could consider going home. 

Before the two  got into the car, An Xin didn’t look reassured as she gazed at the groggy Lin Feng. She turned to Tang Bingyao and said, “Tang Tang, you’ll probably need to drop this idiot off at his home first. If he tries walking home by himself, who knows what trouble he’ll get into.”

Tang Bingyao looked at Lin Feng, then nodded. “Mhm! Okay!”

Zeng Rui called a car and Zhang Hao helped support and shove Lin Feng into it. Before Tang Bingyao could climb in after Lin Feng, An Xin pulled her aside. She looked worried as she stared at the still groggy Lin Feng. Then she looked at Tang Bingyao and said, “Tang Tang, listen, you’re going to have to drop this comatose idiot off at his house first. If he tries to walk home from your place, we have no idea where he’ll end up or what kind of trouble he’ll stumble into.”  

Tang Bingyao looked at Lin Feng and then back at An Xin before nodding. “Mhm! Okay!”

Sure enough, Lin Feng also passed out the moment he got into the cab. Tang Bingyao sat by Lin Feng’s side. She glanced at his sleeping and exhausted face and felt her heart aching.  It appeared he had really pushed himself.

Tang Bingyao herself already felt completely exhausted after the finals of the Collegiate Cup. That’s why she immediately collapsed in her bed after taking a shower.  So, she couldn’t imagine how Lin Feng felt playing another 16 games in a row on top of that in Korean Challenger.

Tang Bingyao got into the car next to Lin Feng. In the brief time between him getting into the car and her conversation with An Xin, Lin Feng had completely fallen asleep again. As the car started moving, Tang Bingyao stared at Lin Feng’s face and saw the exhaustion carved into it. She felt a dull ache in her heart. 

“Lin Feng… You really did push yourself, didn’t you? I don’t know how you even did it all. I was completely exhausted after the Finals of the Collegiate Cup. I got back to the hotel, showered, and fell asleep the second my head hit the bed. But you… you stayed up and played game after game on the Korean server. And you won most of those games! How did you do that…?”

Tang Bingyao bit her lips, her eyes flickering with determination. I also need to get stronger… I need to become strong enough to stand by his side and share his burdens!

Lin Feng, still completely asleep, didn’t reply to anything she said. It was unclear if he’d even heard her words. But Tang Bingyao continued to watch him sleep and then bit her lips. Her eyes blazed with determination. I need to get stronger! Mhm! I need to get strong enough to stand next to Lin Feng and share his burdens! Mhm! I’m going to get strong enough that Lin Feng can lean on me when he needs help next time! Mhm!

✹

As the cab sped down  the poorly maintained roads of Shanghai, Lin Feng still remained fast asleep.

The cab bumped and bounced down the poorly maintained roads of Shanghai, and the cabin could not keep out the blaring horns and bustle of the city. But none of that was enough to disturb Lin Feng, who remained fast asleep. Tang Bingyao remained quiet and lost in her own thoughts. 

When the cab arrived at its destination, Tang Bingyao gently shook Lin Feng awake. “Lin Feng, wake up. We’re here. Wake up… wake up…”

Soon enough, the cab pulled up outside Lin Feng’s building. Tang Bingyao tried to gently nudge Lin Feng awake, but it didn’t work. Soon she started shaking him roughly and yelling, “Lin Feng! Wake up! Wake up! We’re here! You gotta wake up…” 

Lin Feng slowly forced his eyes open. He groggily looked at Tang Bingyao and said, “O=oh, we’re here…?” Then he clumsily tried to get out of the car. “Okay, then Tang Tang. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye bye.”

After a tense minute, Lin Feng finally opened his eyes. Slowly. He looked at Tang Bingyao with unfocused eyes and asked, “Wha—? Ooo-oh? We’re home?” Then he looked around and blurry recognition of his surroundings showed up on his face. He slowly nodded, and then tried to get out of the car. But he was clumsy and it took him several tries to open the door. Once he finally got it open, he slumped back in his seat and looked at Tang Bingyao. “Alright… I’ll see you tomorrow Tang Tang. Good night! Bye bye!”

Tang Bingyao looked at Lin Feng uneasily and said, “How about I walk you to the door?”

But after he said that, Lin Feng closed his eyes for 30 seconds and then tried to lurch out of the cab. Tang Bingyao watched him with evident concern on her face and said, “How about I walk you to the door?” 

Lin Feng shook his head. “Its, it’s fine… It’s just the stairs. I.. can do it!” As soon as he finished speaking, he almost stumbled and tripped on the sidewalk.

Lin Feng shook his head. “Its… it’s fine… there’s just the stairs. I’m… really… good… at… climbing… stairs!” And with those words, Lin Feng fell out of the cab at an awkward angle and tried to stand up. Which made him stumble and tumble onto the sidewalk. 

Tang Bingyao quickly got out of the car and helped support Lin Feng up. She looked at the almost passed out Lin Feng in distress. “I think it’s best If I walk you to the door anyway.” 

Tang Bingyao quickly got out of the car and helped  Lin Feng get up onto his feet. Then she supported him while looking at the sleep-walking Lin Feng with distress in her eyes. “Mhm! I believe that you’re really good at climbing stairs. But I think it’s best if I walk you to the door anyway!”

✹

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! 

Su Xue, who was still in her pyjamas, slipped on her fuzzy slippers and walked out of her room to  get  the door. “You punk! How many times do I have to tell you not to forget your keys!?” Then, she was shocked to see Tang Bingyao struggling to hold Lin Feng up. “Tang Tang? What’s wrong with Lin Feng?”

The doorbell chimed through the apartment that Su Xue and Lin Feng shared. Su Xue was still in her pyjamas and in her room at the time. She quickly slipped into her fuzzy slippers and walked out of her room to open the door. As she walked towards the door, she started yelling at it, “Lin Feng! How many times do I have to tell you not to forget your keys!? Every single time you leave! What are you going to do if I’m not home? Or if I’m not available to open the door! Next time, I swear! I’m not going to open the door and leave you outside! You hear me, Lin Feng! This is the last time!”

Then she opened the door, and her eyes popped open at the sight of Tang Bingyao struggling to hold Lin Feng up. Once he had gotten up the stairs, Lin Feng had decided the floor outside the apartment was close enough to fall asleep again. Su Xue covered her mouth with her hand in shock. Then she looked at Tang Bingyao and asked, “Tang Tang? What happened to Lin Feng?”

“Lin Feng is really exhausted. I was afraid he couldn’t climb the stairs, so I helped him up,” Tang Bingyao explained.

Tang Bingyao was clearly struggling to keep Lin Feng on his feet, but she tried to explain the situation to Su Xue anyway, “Lin.. Feng… He’s really exhausted! Didn’t… Didn’t think he could climb the stairs! Mhm! So I helped him get up here! Mhm!”

He can’t even climb the stairs himself? Su Xue’s expression darkened. That punk, isn’t he being a little overdramatic?

Storm clouds raced across Su Xue’s face as her expression darkened. Now this is over dramatic and extra. This little punk can’t climb the stairs on his own? Since when? But she still moved to Lin Feng’s side to help Tang Bingyao support him. 

Lin Feng finally stirred awake a little. He forced his eyes open and saw the familiar living room. ‘Oh, I’m home. I’m gonna go take a nap first…” Then, he took off his shoes and groggily stumbled into the house.

The two girls shoving and pulling him from side to side managed to rouse Lin Feng enough that he forced his eyes open. He saw his own living room and his sleepy brain processed that as him being home. He muttered, “Oh, I’m home. I’m going to take a little nap now…” Then he kicked off his shoes outside the apartment and stumbled into the house. It was unclear if he noticed that Su Xue and Tang Bingyao were there at all.

“Hey hey! Idiot! That’s the wrong way! You’re going into the kitchen! Seriously, he’s causing trouble the moment he comes back. Tang Tang, thanks for the trouble. You can go home now.”

Su Xue watched him stumble into the house and started yelling, “Hey! Hey! Idiot! You’re going the wrong way! That’s the kitchen! Not your room! You’re going into the kitchen, Lin Feng! This idiot… he hasn’t been home for ten seconds and he’s already causing trouble. What a hassle! Tang Tang, thank you so much for helping get him home! You can go home now, I’ll take care of him.”

After bidding Tang Bingyao farewell, Su Xue closed the door and turned around to see Lin Feng passed out on the living room sofa. He was hugging one of the cushions and muttering in his sleep.

“Seriously, are you really tha tired. Go back to your own room and sleep!” Su Xue said, mildly amused. 

Su Xue took another minute to properly thank Tang Bingyao and say goodbye. Once Tang Bingyao got back into the cab and left for her house, Su Xue closed the door and turned around to see Lin Feng. He had passed out on the sofa in the living room. As Su Xue watched, Lin Feng hugged one of the cushions and muttered in his sleep. She walked over to the sofa and stood over him. “Are you seriously that tired? Lin Feng! Go to your room and sleep!” Su Xue was yelling, but her tone was amused. 

Lin Feng buried his head deeper into the cushion and muttered, “N-no… too tired. It’s fine here. Just let me nap.”

Lin Feng buried his head deeper into the cushion and muttered, “N-no… too tired. It’s fine here. Very comfortable. Just let me small nap, I’ll move later.”

Su Xue sighed. “Why are you so exhausted? Did you not get a good night’s sleep?” 

Su Xue sighed. “Why are you so exhausted? Did you not sleep well last night?” 

“I didn’t. I played 16 games in a row. It was really exhausting,” LinFeng replied. 

“No… no sleep Feng. I played all last night. Game after game. Needed to keep my promise to One. I did it though. Just very exhausting.” Lin Feng replied. 

Su Xue’s eyes went wide. Oh right he did do that! He was playing on that Hook2 account all night! She couldn’t help but stare at Lin Feng fast asleep on the sofa, a little absentminded.  

The same person who had rocked the whole of China last night was now refusing to go back to his own room to sleep like a little kid. 

Su Xue’s eyes went wide. Oh! That’s right! I can’t believe I forgot about that! He was playing on the Hook2 account all night! Now that she remembered, Su Xue stared at Lin Feng fast asleep on the couch, lost in her thoughts. 

This is CN•HOOK2! The player who rocked everyone who is even slightly interested in esports and League of Legends in China! The person who caused waves through Korea! And right now, he’s asleep on the sofa and refusing to go back into his room to sleep like a small child.

Su Xue really couldn’t reconcile the two things together, but then she broke into a faint smile. For all the amazing things he’d done, Lin Feng was still just a kid at the end of the day. “Alright, alright, sleep on the sofa if you want. I’ll go get you a blanket. Don’t want you to catch a cold now.”

Su Xue had trouble reconciling those two separate mental images together. Then she broke into a smile. It really is so easy to forget because of all the amazing things Lin Feng has done and will do… but he’s really just a kid at the end of the day. She smiled again at Lin Feng, a warm nurturing smile. Then she said, “Alright, alright. You can sleep on the sofa if that’s what you want. I’ll go get you a blanket, we wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

CN•HOOK2’s electrifying climb was a constant drip of adrenaline into most players in China and Korea. But while they obsessed over all of the games and the mystery surrounding CN•HOOK2’s identity, the player behind the account was completely unaware of the waves he’d generated. Lin Feng had passed out as soon as his final game of the night ended. He didn’t even have time to check the Korean ranked ladder to find out where he ended. All he knew was that he’d completed the task that One set out for him, and that was all that mattered. Lin Feng didn’t even remember how he ended up in bed. All he had were foggy, distorted, non-linear memories of someone dragging him from the chair he was in to the bed. He remembered a wet cloth wiping his face, and the sensation of being tucked in. And then after that, he had nothing. He was out like a light, deep asleep, his mind and body completely worn out by the stress of the day.

And he continued to sleep well into the next day. Lin Feng’s stupor was only broken at lunch time, when An Xin managed to get him awake enough to drag him to the table to eat. But he was barely there and functioning on autopilot. The Lin Feng from yesterday and the Lin Feng at the table today were two very different people. Today’s Lin Feng was completely lifeless and didn’t even notice the food he was eating. Or that he was eating. That in itself was the most unusual thing, because there were very few things that Lin Feng loved more than food. His chopsticks moved in slow motion between the food in front of him and his mouth. And he was clumsy with them. Some of the food fell back into his bowl, but Lin Feng never even noticed. Whatever food did make it into his mouth, he slowly chewed and swallowed without any indication that he’d noticed how it tasted. 

Zhang Hao had been waiting in a state of constant, unrequited excitement for Lin Feng to finally wake up. He wanted to congratulate his friend and celebrate with him, especially since this was a once in a lifetime event. Zhang Hao had played on the team that had won the Collegiate Cup, and then his teammate had gone up against some of the best League players in Korea that very night and come out on top. The excitement pounding in his veins and the vague ideas of how to properly cherish this moment rendered him nearly incoherent. And he’d been waiting all morning for Lin Feng to wake up and turn all of those vague ideas into reality. But when Lin Feng finally did wake up and came down to lunch, reality turned out to be a splash of ice-cold water on Zhang Hao’s head. What happened to him last night? He doesn’t even look like he’s alive! I said good night to Lin Feng after the Collegiate Cup ended, and now I’m looking at Zombie Feng trying to eat like a human! What does a person have to go through in a single night to turn into… whatever this is?

Zhang Hao tried to get a grip on his shock as he noticed how tired and broken Lin Feng looked that afternoon. All plans of partying had been completely dashed. He didn’t even know what to say, rendered completely speechless by the turn of events and the clash between expectation and reality. When Zhang Hao finally did manage to form words, all he could say was, “Lin Feng… Y-you alright there? Are you still alive? Please be alive!”

There was enough concern and distress in Zhang Hao’s voice that it forced Zeng Rui to glance up at Lin Feng. He frowned and shook his head from side to side once before looking back down at his bowl. But before he resumed eating, Zeng Rui flatly stated, “He’s still alive. There’s nothing wrong with him. Lin Feng pushed and overworked himself to an extreme degree, and now he’s completely exhausted. He’ll be fine in a few days.” 

With those words out of the way, Zeng Rui started eating again. But he continued the conversation with himself in his mind. It really isn’t surprising that Lin Feng is exhausted. He spent yesterday playing in the Finals of the Collegiate Cup and then the rest of the night playing ranked game after ranked game against skilled opponents. No. Not just skilled opponents. He played game after game against opponents who constantly grew more cautious and wary of him with every single game. I don’t know why Zhang Hao is so shocked that Lin Feng is tired right now. After something like that, any other person would sleep for a day or two. 

What is surprising is how well he did in that state. I’ve always known that Lin Feng is a monster. But this much of a monster…?

Tang Bingyao, on the other hand, continued to watch Lin Feng with concern. She decided to do something to help Lin Feng out, and offered him her mango juice. “Lin Feng… Lin Feng! You want to try some of this? It’s mango juice and it’s got a lot of sugar. It’ll give you energy and wake you right up! Mhm!”

Lin Feng stared at her with dead, unfocused eyes. Unwilling to give up, Tang Bingyao carefully held out her glass to him and moved the straw into his mouth. Lin Feng gulped the whole glass down, and continued to pull on the straw after it was all gone. Unfortunately, the mango juice was not very effective for Lin Feng’s current situation. His eyes continued to droop shut and completely shut as he continued to try to drink from the empty glass. 

An Xin laughed at what was going on in front of her and shook her head. “It’s fine. Let’s leave him alone for now. We’ll let him get some more rest once we’re on the plane. This idiot… he tried to exceed his own limitations or whatever last night. Ended up pushing himself too hard and now he can’t function anymore. He really just needs to sleep it off.” Then she helped Tang Bingyao pull her glass away from the still sleep-gulping Lin Feng. 

Over on the other side of the table, Chu Fang look at Lin Feng with complete admiration. He was one of the first few people who had learned that CN•HOOK2 climb through Korean Challenger ended at Rank 5. He reached over to pat Lin Feng on the back and said, “He really did manage to exceed his limitations. All that hard work… It was completely worth it! Did any of you ever imagine that you’d be sitting here with someone who managed to make it into the Top 5 on the Korean server? I don’t know how Lin Feng pulled it off, but he’s finally brought some hope to Chinese League of Legends!” 

Chu Fang continued to look at Lin Feng with a mixture of fondness, admiration, gratitude, astonishment and hope in his eyes. All that hard work… What Lin Feng did last night, that’s not something that could’ve been accomplished with hard work alone. I can’t even count how many players from China, from talented younglings to professional players, have attempted to break through Korea’s ceiling. I can’t recall the last time someone from China managed to do this either! This boy… he managed to win the Collegiate Cup Championship and got ranked 5th out of all the Challenger-level players on the Korean server in a single day! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect conclusion for all of this. Now we go home as champions!

After they finished lunch, everyone from Team Shanghai gathered their belongings and piled into cars to go to the airport. Lin Feng fell asleep the second he got into the taxi and slept all the way to the airport. Then he fell asleep again as they waited to board their plane. And once they had finally gotten onto the plane, Lin Feng fell into a deep sleep the second he was plopped down onto his seat. 

For the rest of Team Shanghai, this was the most stressful trip they’d taken thus far. Getting Lin Feng from the car all the way into the plane required coordination and planning from every member of Team Shanghai, with at least two of them constantly supporting and leading Lin Feng all the way to his seat. Every time Lin Feng fell asleep along the way, it was more and more difficult to wake him up for the next part. But somehow, they’d finally made it onto the plane with Lin Feng, and now they could relax. 

The flight from Beijing to Shanghai took two and half hours, and Lin Feng was asleep for all of it. When the plane finally landed at Pudong Airport, Team Shanghai’s brief respite ended. It took almost all of them to shake Lin Feng awake and pull him up from his seat. Then Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao cleared the way ahead while An Xin and Tang Bingyao supported and pulled Lin Feng down the aisle and off the plane. It took significantly longer than any of them had planned, and was accomplished with considerable difficulty. But they eventually did get Lin Feng off the plane and out of the airport.

Once they were outside, the members of Team Shanghai decided to go their separate ways and take different cabs to their houses. Except for Tang Bingyao and Lin Feng, who were headed in the same direction and sharing a cab. And getting Lin Feng into a car was the first thing that had to be done before the rest of Team Shanghai could consider going home. 

Zeng Rui called a car and Zhang Hao helped support and shove Lin Feng into it. Before Tang Bingyao could climb in after Lin Feng, An Xin pulled her aside. She looked worried as she stared at the still groggy Lin Feng. Then she looked at Tang Bingyao and said, “Tang Tang, listen, you’re going to have to drop this comatose idiot off at his house first. If he tries to walk home from your place, we have no idea where he’ll end up or what kind of trouble he’ll stumble into.”  

Tang Bingyao looked at Lin Feng and then back at An Xin before nodding. “Mhm! Okay!”

Tang Bingyao got into the car next to Lin Feng. In the brief time between him getting into the car and her conversation with An Xin, Lin Feng had completely fallen asleep again. As the car started moving, Tang Bingyao stared at Lin Feng’s face and saw the exhaustion carved into it. She felt a dull ache in her heart. 

“Lin Feng… You really did push yourself, didn’t you? I don’t know how you even did it all. I was completely exhausted after the Finals of the Collegiate Cup. I got back to the hotel, showered, and fell asleep the second my head hit the bed. But you… you stayed up and played game after game on the Korean server. And you won most of those games! How did you do that…?”

Lin Feng, still completely asleep, didn’t reply to anything she said. It was unclear if he’d even heard her words. But Tang Bingyao continued to watch him sleep and then bit her lips. Her eyes blazed with determination. I need to get stronger! Mhm! I need to get strong enough to stand next to Lin Feng and share his burdens! Mhm! I’m going to get strong enough that Lin Feng can lean on me when he needs help next time! Mhm!

The cab bumped and bounced down the poorly maintained roads of Shanghai, and the cabin could not keep out the blaring horns and bustle of the city. But none of that was enough to disturb Lin Feng, who remained fast asleep. Tang Bingyao remained quiet and lost in her own thoughts. 

Soon enough, the cab pulled up outside Lin Feng’s building. Tang Bingyao tried to gently nudge Lin Feng awake, but it didn’t work. Soon she started shaking him roughly and yelling, “Lin Feng! Wake up! Wake up! We’re here! You gotta wake up…” 

After a tense minute, Lin Feng finally opened his eyes. Slowly. He looked at Tang Bingyao with unfocused eyes and asked, “Wha—? Ooo-oh? We’re home?” Then he looked around and blurry recognition of his surroundings showed up on his face. He slowly nodded, and then tried to get out of the car. But he was clumsy and it took him several tries to open the door. Once he finally got it open, he slumped back in his seat and looked at Tang Bingyao. “Alright… I’ll see you tomorrow Tang Tang. Good night! Bye bye!”

But after he said that, Lin Feng closed his eyes for 30 seconds and then tried to lurch out of the cab. Tang Bingyao watched him with evident concern on her face and said, “How about I walk you to the door?” 

Lin Feng shook his head. “Its… it’s fine… there’s just the stairs. I’m… really… good… at… climbing… stairs!” And with those words, Lin Feng fell out of the cab at an awkward angle and tried to stand up. Which made him stumble and tumble onto the sidewalk. 

Tang Bingyao quickly got out of the car and helped  Lin Feng get up onto his feet. Then she supported him while looking at the sleep-walking Lin Feng with distress in her eyes. “Mhm! I believe that you’re really good at climbing stairs. But I think it’s best if I walk you to the door anyway!”

The doorbell chimed through the apartment that Su Xue and Lin Feng shared. Su Xue was still in her pyjamas and in her room at the time. She quickly slipped into her fuzzy slippers and walked out of her room to open the door. As she walked towards the door, she started yelling at it, “Lin Feng! How many times do I have to tell you not to forget your keys!? Every single time you leave! What are you going to do if I’m not home? Or if I’m not available to open the door! Next time, I swear! I’m not going to open the door and leave you outside! You hear me, Lin Feng! This is the last time!”

Then she opened the door, and her eyes popped open at the sight of Tang Bingyao struggling to hold Lin Feng up. Once he had gotten up the stairs, Lin Feng had decided the floor outside the apartment was close enough to fall asleep again. Su Xue covered her mouth with her hand in shock. Then she looked at Tang Bingyao and asked, “Tang Tang? What happened to Lin Feng?”

Tang Bingyao was clearly struggling to keep Lin Feng on his feet, but she tried to explain the situation to Su Xue anyway, “Lin.. Feng… He’s really exhausted! Didn’t… Didn’t think he could climb the stairs! Mhm! So I helped him get up here! Mhm!”

Storm clouds raced across Su Xue’s face as her expression darkened. Now this is over dramatic and extra. This little punk can’t climb the stairs on his own? Since when? But she still moved to Lin Feng’s side to help Tang Bingyao support him. 

The two girls shoving and pulling him from side to side managed to rouse Lin Feng enough that he forced his eyes open. He saw his own living room and his sleepy brain processed that as him being home. He muttered, “Oh, I’m home. I’m going to take a little nap now…” Then he kicked off his shoes outside the apartment and stumbled into the house. It was unclear if he noticed that Su Xue and Tang Bingyao were there at all.

Su Xue watched him stumble into the house and started yelling, “Hey! Hey! Idiot! You’re going the wrong way! That’s the kitchen! Not your room! You’re going into the kitchen, Lin Feng! This idiot… he hasn’t been home for ten seconds and he’s already causing trouble. What a hassle! Tang Tang, thank you so much for helping get him home! You can go home now, I’ll take care of him.”

Su Xue took another minute to properly thank Tang Bingyao and say goodbye. Once Tang Bingyao got back into the cab and left for her house, Su Xue closed the door and turned around to see Lin Feng. He had passed out on the sofa in the living room. As Su Xue watched, Lin Feng hugged one of the cushions and muttered in his sleep. She walked over to the sofa and stood over him. “Are you seriously that tired? Lin Feng! Go to your room and sleep!” Su Xue was yelling, but her tone was amused. 

Lin Feng buried his head deeper into the cushion and muttered, “N-no… too tired. It’s fine here. Very comfortable. Just let me small nap, I’ll move later.”

Su Xue sighed. “Why are you so exhausted? Did you not sleep well last night?” 

“No… no sleep Feng. I played all last night. Game after game. Needed to keep my promise to One. I did it though. Just very exhausting.” Lin Feng replied. 

Su Xue’s eyes went wide. Oh! That’s right! I can’t believe I forgot about that! He was playing on the Hook2 account all night! Now that she remembered, Su Xue stared at Lin Feng fast asleep on the couch, lost in her thoughts. 

This is CN•HOOK2! The player who rocked everyone who is even slightly interested in esports and League of Legends in China! The person who caused waves through Korea! And right now, he’s asleep on the sofa and refusing to go back into his room to sleep like a small child.

Su Xue had trouble reconciling those two separate mental images together. Then she broke into a smile. It really is so easy to forget because of all the amazing things Lin Feng has done and will do… but he’s really just a kid at the end of the day. She smiled again at Lin Feng, a warm nurturing smile. Then she said, “Alright, alright. You can sleep on the sofa if that’s what you want. I’ll go get you a blanket, we wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”