《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

The game started. All Champions were summoned onto Summoner’s Rift and ran to their respective lanes. CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo met Orion’s Zed in the Mid lane before the first minion wave spawned. They danced around each other, poking and testing each other’s defenses. And then the first wave of minions arrived, announcing the start of the laning phase. Yasuo and Zed continued to poke at each other while getting the last hit on every minion. 

And then, 3 minutes after the start of the game, the Junglers on both teams decided to roam over to the mid lane for their first ganks. By the time they arrived, Yasuo and Zed were already at each other’s throats, deep in the middle of an intense clash! Zed’s health was dangerously low after taking slash after slash from Yasuo’s blade. But Zed’s Razor Shurikens gave Yasuo just as much damage back. When both Champions were on their last legs, Zed Flashed back towards his tower to avoid a Whirlwind from Yasuo’s blade headed right for him! 

CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo saw an opening. He Flashed forward and then seamlessly dashed through one of the Red Team’s minions with Sweeping Blade and arrived right in front of Zed with a graceful spin of his Steel Tempest. Before the attack ended, Yasuo also managed to Ignite the Zed. One last auto-attack was all that was needed to cleave this first life from Zed. 

《First Blood!》

But CN•HOOK2’s Yasuo did not come through the exchange unscathed. Zed’s Razor Shurikens and auto-attacks managed to reap the vast majority of Yasuo’s health. And in the seconds before he died, Zed managed to Ignite Yasuo. And the Ignite continued to burn away at the dregs of Yasuo’s health after the Zed’s death, until Yasuo also died. 

《An Ally Has Been Slain!》

The two Junglers who served as witnesses to this first battle both backed away into their respective jungles, clearly unsure about how the rest of this game would play out.

Despite the fact that this was only the first exchange of a game that only started three minutes ago, it was more than enough to thrill and shock the million viewers on Lightless’ steam. They were all laser-focused on the stream with goosebumps spreading across their bodies. Just this first taste had told them that this game would become the stuff of legend. 

The first real fight of the game in the Midlane, the first cross of swords between CN•HOOK2 and Orion, had ended in a complete draw. Yasuo and Zed were even in terms of kills, deaths, and minions killed so far. Both of them had even used up both of their available Summoner Spells. 

All of the viewers watching the stream were spellbound by the action. That included Lightless Heart, who said nothing for the duration of the fight. He just watched. And then when Yasuo and Zed both died, he jumped up out of his seat and exclaimed, “Hot damn! The pace of this game is even faster than the LPL! I’m calling it right now, folks! This game, this is going to be all about the Midlane. That’s it! On one side, we’ve got the mysterious CN•HOOK2! He’s charged all the way to Rank 6 on the Korean server in a single night and shows no signs of slowing down! On the other side, we’ve got Orion. A King and Midlaner for the OGN team Warrior! These two are going to slug it out, and whoever comes out on top is going to win this game! We don’t even know what’s happening on the other lanes right now, or the Jungle! But that doesn’t matter, because what’s going on in the Midlane is what the absolute peak of League gameplay looks like!”

The first fight was just as thrilling for An Xin, who watched the whole thing unfold from her seat beside Lin Feng inside the hotel room in Beijing. Her eyes sparkled with appreciation as she played it over in her mind. 

That was beautiful to see. Everything was timed so perfectly it could’ve been choreographed. Orion waited until his Jungler’s Gragas arrived, and then had his Zed use Living Shadow’s position switch to dash over to Lin Feng’s Yasuo. Then Zed engaged with Razor Shurikens. Just as that attack landed, Gragas rushed into the Midlane and Flashed forward to land a Body Slam on Yasuo. Again, perfect. The stun from Body Slam locked Lin Feng’s Yasuo down, creating an opening for Zed and Gragas to wail on him. 

The whole thing was planned and executed precisely. It would’ve worked too, if Blue Team’s Jungler Sejuani had also not arrived at the perfect moment to save Yasuo. She Flashed forward and started an Arctic Assault just as the Flash ended. The Arctic Assault sent her charging into Zed, knocking him up and ending the Zed-Gragas gank on Yasuo. 

Sejuani charging in managed to distract Gragas for the tiniest moment. That tiny bit of distraction was more than enough to change the timing of Gragas’ Barrel Roll. He still used the skill, but the stun on Yasuo ended before the barrel could hit. That was enough slack for Lin Feng to avoid the barrel by dashing to Orion’s Zed with Sweeping Blade. 

Orion wasn’t slow at all though. The second the knock up on his Zed from Sejuani’s Arctic Assault ended and he saw Yasuo dashing towards him, he reacted instantly with another Razor Shuriken. But Lin Feng blocked that with Yasuo’s Wind Wall. And then he followed up with a basic attack into Steel Tempest combo. That was the second Steel Tempest. Lin Feng used the skill again to send a Whirlwind rushing at Orion’s Zed to knock him up, which would’ve ended the fight if not for how quick Orion’s decision-making was. Orion decided to back away and create some distance by Flashing back towards his Outer Tower, which also let him avoid the Whirlwind from Yasuo’s blade. He would’ve survived, if there wasn’t a perfectly placed Minion between him and Yasuo. 

Yasuo went in again with the Sweeping Blade into Steel Tempest combo again, this time following up with an Ignite and an auto attack. That killed Zed. And then the last tick of Zed’s Ignite managed to kill Yasuo.

It all sounds so simple when I play it out in my head like that. But all of this happened over seconds! The reflexes and mechanics both Lin Feng and Orion just displayed though… Nothing about that was simple. Everything was done so precisely, and both of them managed everything from timing to distance to skill cooldowns perfectly! 

Orion! He really does live up to his reputation as a King. His Zed is absolutely flawless! More importantly, he managed to stay calm and make optimal decisions in the middle of such a chaotic and fast battle. Literally, the most optimal! He never gave up for a second and managed to keep everything perfectly even!

As for Lin Feng… 

An Xin stopped thinking about the fight and turned to face Lin Feng. She studied his face and then continued her train of thought. Lin Feng was just as brilliant! He’s been playing all day, and he’s still just as quick and focused as Orion is right now!

An Xin saw tiny droplets of sweat forming on Lin Feng’s forehead as he continued to play. She smiled. What a blockhead… he’s already going all-out and the game has just started. But I haven’t seen him like this in a long time. A very long time. But when he gets like this, he’s almost never lost a game. Except that one time against Rake during the Season 1 World Finals… Hm. That doesn’t matter though. Lin Feng isn’t up against Rake. He’s playing Orion. There isn’t going to be a second exception!

“Fucking nine hells! Spank me with Lux’s wand cause I gotta be dreaming! A Yasuo that isn’t playing recklessly and actually playing with strategy? I didn’t think that was even possible! Did it really happen? You say that right, Fatty? You saw Yasuo getting the turnaround?” Read XIII screamed into his headset as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The fees for calling internationally were too expensive, so Read XIII and Tian Tian switched to QQ and started watching the game together.

“Maple! That bastard! Just how much of his form has he recovered? He’s going even with fucking Orion! ORION! He played against high schoolers for a couple of weeks, and he’s already this close to being at his prime again!?” Read XIII screamed at Tian Tian. Then he took a deep breath to calm down and continued, “Listen, listen! We’ve played against Team Warriors in so many games. I don’t even remember how many times. And I’m the Captain of Assassins! I’ve played against Orion, I’ve studied him, I’ve tried to come up with strategies to beat him for a while now. I can tell you, FOR A FACT, that Orion deserves to be a member of the Seven Kings. His mechanics and skills really are the best in the world! I know EXACTLY how good Orion is!” 

Read XIII stopped again to gather his thoughts and some air. “Lemme tell you this, Fatty. The scary part of this game isn’t Orion. The scary part is that Lin Feng was evenly matched with Orion in that last fight. We both know how much of an advantage even a tiny fraction of skill makes at this level of play. LIN FENG WAS DEAD EVEN WITH ORION! NEITHER OF THEM HAD THE ADVANTAGE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS, FATTY? That rotten son-of-a-whore Maple is already at the level of a King! A KING! Is he going to be an Emperor again next week?”

From Read XIII’s point of view, if Maple had already recovered to the level of a King, it wouldn’t be long before he reached the level of an Emperor again!

“Fuck! How many years has it been since he left pro play? He comes back yesterday, plays in a few high school tournaments against kids who couldn’t hope to ever beat him, and suddenly he’s at the level of a King again? That’s nuts! I’ve literally got sweat running down my balls and making them stick to my thighs! Complete balls to the wall nuts! “ Read XIII muttered. “Fuck! He’s making all of us from the old days look bad! We’ve all been working our asses off for the past four years, and then the Amazing Fucking Maple pops up to make it look like we’ve all been standing still!”

Tian Tian ignored Read XIII’s rambling and continued focusing on the stream. A moment later, he shook his head and said, “I don’t know how much of his form he’s recovered, but I can tell that he’s still far from where he was at his prime. As for how strong he is now… that’s hard to say.”

That was the real question that everyone watching Lightless Heart’s stream pondered after that last fight.  Exactly how strong was the mysterious CN•HOOK2? It was beyond obvious that he was an expert and unusually skilled. Everyone understood that before this final game started. But the fight between CN•HOOK2 and Orion had completely shaken everyone’s perspective. CN•HOOK2 had gone toe-to-toe with a King and ended it in a draw. That was something that no one had expected. And no one knew what that even meant. The first three minutes of this game raised more questions than it answered. 

Lightless Heart fell back into his chair after his impassioned speech to his viewers. The implications of the fight didn’t hit him in the excitement. But once it did, his heart skipped a beat. There was one question screaming and echoing through his mind right now, drowning out every other thought. Does this mean that the LPL has another King? Another King Midlaner besides Daybreak Hermes?

Daybreak Hermes’ eyes flickered with mixed emotions as he considered the same question, and he hesitated coming to a conclusion. 

Shi Hang and Aurous looked at each other, at the shock and doubt in each other’s eyes, and asked each other the question at the same time.
“Just how strong is Lin Feng right now?”
“Just how strong is CN•HO—no. Just how strong is Maple right now?” 

Apart from An Xin who was sitting next to Lin Feng, there was only one other person that really knew the answer.

Los Angeles, California, United States.

On the top floor of a five-star hotel, a beautiful woman was sitting against the window. Her hair draped down her shoulders, exposing one half of her slender neck.

The woman was looking at her phone. Suddenly, she raised her head and looked at the young man standing next to her and smiled. “It looks like Lin Feng’s climbing the Korean ladder tonight. He’s playing his final game. It’s all they’re talking about on the forums. If he wins this one, he’ll complete that task you gave him!”

34 minutes.
34 minutes before the servers for League of Legends Korea shut down.
34 minutes before the Korean Challenger Ladder Rankings finalized for the season.
34 minutes before CN•HOOK2 epic challenge of the Korean gauntlet ended.

With over a million hopeful and tense eyes watching, CN•HOOK2 started his final game of the night. A game that he needed to finish in 34 minutes.

“We’ve seen a lot of miracles from CN•HOOK2 tonight, that’s for sure! But this one…  I don’t know, guys. He’s on that razor’s edge and there’s no telling how this could go. We don’t know much about the players on the other team… or the players on his team. But all 10 players in this game know that there’s only 34 minutes left. There’s a definitely chance that they could drag this game out just to stick it to CN•HOOK2. It’d be a bitch move and completely tarnish Korea’s reputation in the League scene, but you never know how these things will play out. All we do know is that CN•HOOK2 is right up against that wall…. ” Lightless said to his viewers. And then he frowned. I know HE pulled off some crazy shit back in the DOTA days. Things beyond miracles. But this… this might be beyond even him. There’s too many variables here, too many things that can go wrong. Lightless shook his head to snap himself out of his thoughts and addressed his stream again. “If this game ends up taking long… or if they stall him out… Even if he does win, CN•HOOK2 won’t hit Rank 5.” 

Lightless was absolutely right. All of the viewers on his stream understood that there was no way to tell how this game would go, and that uncertainty only added to the pressure. CN•HOOK2 needed to defeat Orion, a World-class Midlaner and named King, and also win the game before the Ranked Ladder reset. Nearly everyone watching the game understood that they would suffocate and crumble under that much pressure and weight. 

But there was something awe-inspiring about watching CN•HOOK2 stand tall against all that pressure. He was doing something that none of the viewers could ever accomplish. Or even dream of accomplishing. And considering that he was doing it after grinding out game after game for hours with almost no break time, that elevated CN•HOOK2 to even greater heights in their hearts. The insane number of games he’d played on this night would leave even the most hardcore professional players exhausted to the point of passing out. But CN•HOOK2 stood there, unwavering, against the most fearsome opponent he’d faced so far in the most important game of his climb!

“Shit. Herm? How many ways can you fuck a duck and still cook it?” Nightsong asked his old friend without moving his eyes from the stream. 

The question startled Hermes enough that he asked, “What? Just… what? Nightsong, you say some strange things and I usually know what you mean. But this… I genuinely have no idea what you’re asking.” 

Nightsong sighed before replying, “Your thoughts, Herm! On what’s going on with CN•HOOK2 and Orion! The shit that we’re watching! There’s so many ways this can play out and I’m wondering what his chances are! How is that not fiddle-fucking-obvious?” 

Hermes rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered what to say. Nightsong understood that in a game like the one about to be played, with two Midlaners of that caliber, the only person that could accurately judge which way it would go was another World-class Midlaner and fellow King like Daybreak Hermes. No one else, professional player or not, could play out the possibilities and predict what could happen in this game. 

Hermes closed his eyes and continued to think for another minute. Then he opened them and said, “CN•HOOK2’s got a 30% chance of winning? Maybe? If it were me, and I was going into this game after already having played 13 games straight, I’d maybe have a 30% chance of winning. That’s being optimistic about it. But that’s for me. If CN•HOOK2 is really him… then even I’m not sure what the probability is here. There’s no way to tell with that guy. But I know that there’s no way I’d be playing at my best in this game.”

Inside the Team Rapids’ gaming house, Shi Hang and Aurous were deep into the same exact conversation as Nightsong and Hermes. 

“It doesn’t matter if he’s playing at his best or not right now! Lin Feng is resilient, and almost always comes through when he’s in a pinch,” Shi Hang stated confidently. He had absolute faith in Lin Feng.

Aurous frowned. “It doesn’t matter how good he was! You said he wasn’t back to peak Maple yet! And there’s no way you can say for sure that he’s still going strong. No shot. He’s played 13 games before this one and he’s had no time to rest or reset mental. There’s literally no shot that he’s playing at peak energy. Even if he goes in strong and looks good in the first few minutes of the game, he’ll start falling off as he gets more and more tired. There’s no way you can say for sure that won’t happen, right? Let’s not forget that he’s playing against Orion right now, who is still fresh. I’d say that even Hermes in peak condition has a 50-50 chance against Orion!”

Shi Hang had nothing to say. He knew that Aurous was right. The argument here really wasn’t about Lin Feng’s mental or physical state. That mattered somewhat, but it paled in comparison to the biggest determinant factor for this game. Lin Feng’s opponent was Orion. A King and the 3rd best Midlaner in Korea. 

Shi Hang took a deep breath and tried to keep the worry he felt off his face. This really is going to be a tough game to win. The Lin Feng from four years ago, when he was Maple, he’d have no problem against Orion. But the Lin Feng of today? Has he gotten enough back to take on someone like Orion… ?

All 10 players in the game locked in on their champions and moved into the loading screen.  

Blue Team versus Red Team
Top: Lulu vs. Rumble
Jungle: Sejuani vs. Gragas
Mid: Yasuo vs. Zed
Support: Thresh vs. Janna
Ad-Carry: Tristana vs. Jinx

Lin Feng closed his eyes and took three deep breaths, exhaling slowly after each one as he prepared himself mentally for this final game. He could feel An Xin, still calmly sitting next to him and gazing at him warmly. His sole companion on this climb up the Korean Challenger Ladder. He could feel what she was thinking. This is the last game. Are you confident you can win? 

Lin Feng thought about the question on An Xin’s mind. Can I win? Am I confident that I can win? I honestly have no idea if I can win this game. But that doesn’t matter! I’m not going to sit here second-guessing myself over getting into this game. It doesn’t matter if I’m up against Orion, Moon, or anyone else! I’m going to keep my promise to One!

Orion… the only way I’m going to beat him in lane is if I go all out. No, no, no! I gotta pull out even more! All out plus! Orion’s known for being an aggressive Midlaner. He’s going to go in for the kill the second we’re in lane… and that’s the best kind of fight. No tricks, no fancy strategies and overthinking. We’ll be fighting each other with pure skill to decide who is better!

That’s what this game is going to be. A straight and fast slugfest! That’s a good thing too. With Orion setting the pace, there’s no way this game is going to drag out. This is going to be a 15 minute game! 

The two teams loaded into Summoner’s Rift as Lin Feng steeled his mental state, and when the Korean Announcer’s voice rang out to welcome them into Summoner’s Rift, he opened his eyes.  He took a deep breath and readied himself for battle. This was his moment and he was going to do whatever it took to keep his word to One! He was all fired up and the intensity of his spirit raged out through his eyes. What almost no one knew, from Lightless to all his viewers to the professional players watching, or expected was that this was when Lin Feng was at his best!

The number of people that understood where Lin Feng was at right now could be counted on a single hand. One of those people was currently inside KG’s Gaming House, nervously watching the Lightless steam of CN•HOOK2’s game. Tian Tian. 

Tian Tian sat there watching the Champions load into Summoner’s Rift, alternating between a small smile of joy at his friend’s triumphs and nervous shivering. Then his phone started ringing, which startled him and made him fall back in his chair. Tian Tian quickly got up and took his phone out of his pocket to answer it. 

“Yo? AYO! Say something! Hello? Hello? FATTY!? You there? It’s Read XIII! I hear you breathing loudly. Can’t you talk?” 

The caller was the star Jungler and Team Captain of Taiwan’s Assassins, Read XIII.   

Tian Tian tried to gather his breath and composure after the fall and answer. But before he could get a word in, Read XIII started asking another question. “Anyways. Listen. I’ve got something to ask you. Are you watching that Hook2 climbing on the Korean Server? He’s on Lightless Heart’s stream. It’s all over the forums too. Pretty much everywhere. All the other streamers are trying to figure out how to rebroadcast the Lightless’ stream. Anyways. That Hook2 guy, is that Maple?!”

Just as Tian Tian had gotten his breath back, the question knocked it out of him all over again. “Huh, u-uh. H-h-hm. Uh…”  The suddenness of the question caught him off guard. But he quickly gathered himself and said, “It is” with a nod. 

Read XIII’s voice grew even louder. “HOLY SHIT! IT REALLY IS HIM!? FUCK!  I thought it was One in the beginning, but then I realized—wait, that don’t sound right. He definitely couldn’t be assed to do something so annoying. Then I figured it out! Lightbulb! Lightning-on-the-brain! I thought about Maple! Who else would be this bananas? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This is nuts! That kid is even crazier than me!”

Read XIII’s mouth was firing off like a cannon, not pausing in the slightest. He was completely lost in his excitement.

“H-hey, calm down. Breathe!” Tian Tian muttered, still confused and bewildered.

Read XIII changed the subject again. “Hey, I wonder how far Maple’s gonna climb? Wait. Well, shit. He’s only got enough time for this one game. God damn! He’s even facing Orion!? This’ll be a tough match! Hey Fatty, do you think Maple can win?”

Tian Tian paused for a moment, then forcefully nodded. “He’ll win! “

“Huh? How are you so sure?” Read XIII asked, surprised.

Tian Tian’s eyes looked back at the stream, pride and joy shining through them. “Because moments like this one are when Lin Feng is at his strongest!”

It was a big moment for everyone following CN•HOOK2’s climb when he decided to queue up for his next game immediately instead of trying to wait out the Moon Emperor in an attempt to avoid a fight. All of the League fans across China erupted with excitement. The people who didn’t want to see CN•HOOK2 tarnish his climb felt vindicated, and even the people who thought it was the logical thing to do burned with excitement. Because, at the end of the day, who would willingly back down from a fight at a moment like this if they had a choice? There wasn’t a single person in China who would make that choice, if they were in CN•HOOK2’s shoes right now.

Deep in their hearts, they knew that waiting out the Moon Emperor was admitting defeat! There was no reason to throw their pride away only to get a number. Rank 5 was not worth losing honor and face. All of them knew that if they were CN•HOOK2 and succeeded in getting to the 5th rank by avoiding Moon, they’d be dissatisfied with the rank. The climb would always be tinged with regret.

But none of that happened! CN•HOOK2 queued up immediately and proved he wasn’t a coward! Everyone watching felt their hearts blaze with excitement and their spirits refreshed, with all the anxiety caused by the appearance of Moon washed away. 

「Hell, yeah! This the roflstomp we waiting for!」
「So what if it’s an emperor? Who cares if it’s Korea’s second best Midlaner? SHOW HIM WHAT U GOT!」
「Give em hell hook2! Never run away from a fight!」
「BRING IT OOOOOOOON!」
「LETTTTTSSSS GOOOOOO!」

The hype was real, so was the shit-talk. But it was really just a fragile band-aid over the pit of worry and anxiety that many of the viewers felt over the thought of their hero, CN•HOOK2, going up against the Moon Emperor. If it actually happened, it would sour one of the greatest nights of their lives. CN•HOOK2’s last game of the night would be a loss and the player that they thought was a God would be proven to be an ordinary mortal like them. If that happened, what would they do? Wait for another God to rise from their ranks? 

They watched as CN•HOOK2 entered into Champion Select for his next game. Over a million pairs of eyes on Lightless’ stream scanned over the Summoner Tags of the players on both teams. In a fortunate twist of fate, the fear that gnawed at the hearts of the viewers and whispered terrible predictions in the back of their minds was not realized. Moon wasn’t on the Blue Team! And he wasn’t on the Red Team! 

For a brief instant, the people in the stream erupted into cheers. And then that instant came to an abrupt end when they noticed the Summoner Tag of the player in fourth pick on the Red Team. That’s when all the cheering came to a screeching halt, and chat fell into a deathly silence.

Even Lightless had nothing to say as his eyelids twitched violently and a chill ran down his spine. But he did have a thought. Well… shit. This is bad!

✹

Back in HoG’s gaming house, Nightsong’s gaze flickered with mixed emotions as he looked at the player that everyone was looking at. He sucked in a breath of cold air. “Fiddle-fucking-frag! God dammit. It’s not that cocksucker Moon! But why’d this guy have to show up now? He’s got nothing better to do? Got tired of jerking himself off or learning KPOP dance moves? What a fucking whore monger!”

“Hm.. this isn’t the worst case scenario, Nightsong… but it’s far from ideal,” Hermes remarked with a grave expression. “I didn’t think he’d be queuing up for a game at this time either.”

✹

Over in Team Rapids’ gaming house, Aurous snapped out of his daze and cursed, “That bastard! He sniped Maple on purpose! I know he did! Shi hang, he did, didn’t he!?”

Shi Hang’s expression was equally twisted in rage. Just like everyone else, he was initially relieved when he didn’t see Moon on the opposing team. Then he felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach when he saw the player in fourth pick. Going up against Moon might have turned out badly for Lin Feng. But the player that did show up wasn’t any better. 

Orion. The star Midlaner for OGN team Warrior. He was a member of the Seven Kings and considered to be just below Rake and Moon. If Moon was the second best Midlaner after Rake, then Orion was third.

✹

On Lightless’ stream, all the viewers felt a chill in their hearts when they saw Orion’s name. They were left in stunned silence for a long time.

✹

Inside Fate’s gaming house somewhere in Seoul, Korea, Moon looked at the names of the players in his game and didn’t see CN•HOOK2. He shook his head, the disappointment clear on his face. A pity. I  got online tonight just to meet him too.

Moon then pulled up his browser and checked the Korean League forums. He slowly nodded.Well, that’s fine too. I’d like to see how he does against Orion.

✹

Orion was sitting at his computer in theWarriors’ gaming house when he saw that CN•HOOK2 on the opposing team. His lips curled into a faint smile. Sucks to suck, Moon! I got to him first! 

Orion’s expression remained calm, but he slowly sat up straight in his seat.  Slowly, the aura around him swelled out. It was as deep aaand as unfathomable as the ocean, forming a formless pressure. A 5-game win streak? Getting to Rank 5? Sorry bud, but I’ll c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker that all right now!

✹

The people following CN•HOOK2’s climb across China sat aghast at this truly rare coincidence. It was almost inconcievable that a person could get so lucky and unlucky at the same time. What other explanation could there be for missing the second best player in all of Korea while on the razor’s edge, only to bump into the third best player in Korea?

Be it Moon or Orion, an Emperor or a King,  both were frightening God-tier opponents who could easily make most players give up before the game even started. Every League fan across China struggled to comprehend how two Titans surfaced right at the end of CN•HOOK2’s epic climb. And then a single shared thought went through all of their minds. Is this the end for CN•HOOK2’s climb?  

The obvious answer, the only one that made sense, was that this was the end. Except no one wanted to accept that answer or even think about it. No one wanted this to be the end of CN•HOOK2’s run.

For Shi Hang, Aurous, Limitless, Nightsong, Hermes, and all the other pro players watching the livestream, the mental debate was even worse. As professional players, all of them understood exactly how good of a Midlaner Orion was and what a tremendous obstacle he was for CN•HOOK2’s run. Compared to the Moon Emperor, Orion was equally skilled when it came to laning and mechanics. What Orion lacked, if that was the right word, was a little bit of skill in things like teamfighting, map awareness, and overall macro play.

Those things that Orion was inferior to Moon in, those were all requirements for professional play. Because map awareness, teamfighting, and macro became much more important when two teams faced each other in a tournament and the bigger picture determined the outcome. When it came to solo queue, that was a different story entirely. Orion wasn’t playing with his team in the solo queue, and there weren’t grand strategies developed by professional coaches in the solo queue. 

When it came down to it, there was a good chance that Orion was even better than Moon when it came to the solo queue!

✹

Back in the hotel Team Shanghai was staying at, Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao were huddled over a laptop. Neither of them had gone to bed early. Instead, they were watching Lightless’ stream and following Lin Feng’s climb.

“D-damn, why’d he pull Orion?” Zhang Hao asked, his voice cracking. “Do you think Lin Feng is good enough to beat a King?”

Zeng Rui’s eyebrows scrunched together and canyons formed on his forehead as he considered the question. But he remained silent for a long time, unable to come up with an answer. He couldn’t answer because he was asking himself the same question and struggling with it. Can he win..?

In the room next door, Tang Bingyao had already gotten out of the shower  and was lying in bed in her pyjamas with her laptop. She was also watching Lightless’ stream. But unlike the other viewers who were worrying about CN•HOOK2, her eyes were sparkling with confidence. Mhm! If it’s Lin Feng, he can definitely beat Orion! That King or whatever is nothing compared to Lin Feng! 

At the same time, Lin Feng and An Xin were together in the other room.

An Xin glanced at Lin Feng and remarked, “Looks like this is going to be a tough game.”

Lin Feng laughed. “Oh? You think so? Hahaha! I know it’s going to be a tough game, but that’s what makes this fun!”

When it was time for the fourth pick on the Red Team to lock in their champion, Orion locked in Zed. The Master of Shadows.

Then, it was the turn of Blue Team’s fourth and fifth picks to select their champions. Lin Feng, who was in fourth pick, didn’t hesitate at all and locked in his champion. Yasuo, the Unforgiven! He took a deep breath as the fire in his eyes blazed to life. So what if I’m up against a King? I’ll crush him too!

After the results of CN•HOOK2’s 13th game came out, the players on the forums erupted into another wave of cheers. He’d managed to win five games in a row after hitting a bit of a rough patch! And he was single-digits away from becoming Rank 5 on the Korean Challenger Ladder! 

The best part of the night was that CN•HOOK2 still had a little over a half hour before the server shut down and the ranked ladder was reset. That was enough time for one more game. If CN•HOOK2 managed to play and win that game before the server slammed shut, he’d end his run firmly in the Top 5 Challengers on the Korean Server! 

The millions of League of Legends fans across China sat at the very edges of the seats with trembling thighs. The finish line was right in front of their eyes! The light at the end of the very dark tunnel that this gauntlet had become. CN•HOOK2 would smash through the kimchi ceiling for all of China! 

More importantly, everyone invested in CN•HOOK2’s climb felt an incredible weight lift up off their shoulders when CN•HOOK2 didn’t have to play against Moon in his last game. It was terrifying good luck. Because the Moon Emperor was a truly daunting opponent. Despite the fact that everyone in China wanted to be the wind at CN•HOOK2’s back and not the spit in his face, no one believed that he could stand a chance against the Moon Emperor. As long as CN•HOOK2 didn’t have to play Moon in his final game of the night, he’d break into the Top 5 and smash the Korean Gauntlet. 

But just as the League fans across China relaxed and celebrated, the lightning of misfortune struck and travelled leagues through copper wires damn near instantaneously. Just as CN•HOOK2’s last game finished, the Moon Emperor’s game also ended. 

Moon played Talon in the Mid lane. 20 minutes after the start of that game, he’d gotten 8 kills without being killed in return. Legendary. By the 28th minute, he’d carried his team to victory. And now he was back in the queue, looking for another game to play. At the same exact time that CN•HOOK2 was looking for his final game of the night. 

✹

Moon, or the Moon Emperor, was just as well known as Rake was among the Chinese League of Legends Community. He was Korea’s second Emperor, and had demolished more than enough LPL teams on the World Stage. Even Daybreak Hermes, who’d gone up against and beaten Moon before, had lost to him more often than he’d won. Moon was the lowest ranked Emperor, but that didn’t mean much at all. He was still one of the best Midlaners in the whole world and a truly strong player whose name struck fear in the hearts of many. 

Right now, CN•HOOK2 had achieved deity-status. Countless Chinese League players, streamers, and fans worshipped him and believed in the miracle that he was currently accomplishing. But despite that reverence and worship, even they didn’t believe that CN•HOOK2 could triumph against Moon. There were Gods above gods, after all. The best case scenario here, the one that they all hoped and prayed and wished would happen, was if CN•HOOK2 didn’t face the Moon Emperor at all. 

Just like any large internet-based community, people wasted no time at all typing out walls of text in forum threads stating their opinions and armchair analysis of the situation.

“Moon is about to start his next match. Hook2 should wait a bit, then start queuing up after Moon gets in a game.
“I concur, this would be the smartest move to ensure that he gets into the Top 5!”
“What if Moon Emperor ALSO WAITS?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!”
“Good idea! That way, he won’t have to face that monster! We should tell Lightless so he can send CN•HOOK2 a message and tell him to wait”
“+1 to that! It’s objectively the smartest choice.”
“If 1000 ppl like dis comment CN•HOOK2 won’t face the Moon Emperor!”
“^ this wannabe tryin to farm internet points at a time like this smh smh smhsmh”
“You guys think Moon knows who CN•HOOK2 is?????????????????”
“Is there a chance that CN•HOOK2 can win against Moon?”
“No shot.”
“NOPE!”
“NO SHOT!!!!”
“Not a chance in hell!”
“Not worth the risk!”
“Is there a chance your daddy wasn’t a retard?”
“Smh I feel bad for ur parents having such a stupid child. Should’ve gone to see the herbalist so they could have aborted you as a fetus!”

✹

In Dark Glory’s Gaming House, Lightles Hearts watched the conversation unfold both in his chat and on the forums. He silently contemplated the issue in his own mind. The Moon Emperor… Man, these guys have no idea what they’re talking about. If CN•HOOK2 queues up a little later just to avoid getting matched up against Moon, that’s such a bitch move! There’s no way THAT GUY would do that. Just waiting five minutes in these final few minutes is acknowledging the superiority of Moon as a player and CN•HOOK2 admitting that he’s the weaker player on his own. Without a fight! What a stupid, stupid, stupid thing to do! Even if CN•HOOK2 gets into the Top 5 that way, it’ll always be with an asterix…

Before Lightless could finish his thoughts and organize them so he could convey them to his viewers, a similar view started sparking its way through his chat. Apparently, his viewers had gotten there on their own, just as he did.

「What, fuck off! That’s the coward’s way out!」
「Yeah! This is why you losers will never get girls!」
「lol, so if Moon is online, does that mean Hook2 has to wait until Moon is in a game to start queuing up every time?」
「how’s that any different from admitting that you’re shit!」
「What if Moon wants to snipe him? Does that mean Hook2 just won’t play?」
「That’s way too humiliating!」
「You guys this my boi Hook2 scared of Moon? Or Rake?」
「Even if he loses to Moon, he’ll still walk away with his head held high!!!!!!!!」
「You wantto bring shame to this miracle like you brought shame to your family????」
「Do u stp wanking bcuz ur scared ur daddy might wake up to piss and see your catepiller dick???!!!」

However, this newly formed faction of viewers who believed in honorable play and the better sentiment immediately received fierce pushback from the viewers who believed that making decisions logically was better. 

「Are you all idiots? This is called being smart.」
「Get fucking real. Do you know who Moon is!? HES AN EMPEROR!」
「did anybody say anything abotu doing this every game. Hook2 is only one game away from hitting Rnank 5. If he bumps into Moon, he’s screwed!」
「If hook2 loses and fails to get into the top 5, that means all his hard work tongith went to waste!」
「would you guys be okay with that?」
「If he juswaits 2 mins, we’ll have Top 5! Moon can’t do anything!」
「Who knows when a chance like this will come around again? We gotta be smart about this and make it happen while the sun is out!」

The two factions warred endlessly in the chat, both sides picking up more and more steam as viewers swayed to one side of the fence or the other. Neither camp was willing to back down.

Until Lightless Heart spoke up.

“What’s the point of all of this? What do you guys think? Why do you think Hook2’s working so hard to climb tonight, playing right up until the server shuts down? You think it’s about a number? Top 5? Top 8? Top 10? This ain’t about reaching some arbitrary rank or number! It’s never been about that! All of that is completely meaningless! This is to prove that a Chinese player can also play with the best in the world! It’s to show everyone that our style of League of Legends is just as good! Now, you’re talking about Hook2 avoiding a fight with Moon? Just to reach Rank 5? You’ve got your priorities mixed up, and you don’t even understand why Hook2 is out there fighting to get you guys!” 

In an instant, the stream chat became quiet.

Lightless’ gaze flickered with a complicated expression as he looked at CN•HOOK2’s name on his screen. None of this matters anyway. He’s not looking at us or letting us weigh in on this decision. Nah, nah. The only thing that matters here is the choice he’s going to make…

CN•HOOK2 still showed up as ‘Online’ on Lightless’ friends list. For the time being, it didn’t show any signs of changing. And countless League fans across China watched that indicator along with Lightless, anxiously waiting to see what decision CN•HOOK2 would make. Would he cower or would he face the Moon Emperor head-on?

✹

Back at the hotel room in Beijing, An Xin checked the forums on her phone again and turned to Lin Feng, her eyes twinkling and a faint smile in the corner of her lips. “Moon just finished his game too. Looks like he’s about to queue up for another match. Do you want to wait?” 

She asked the question that everyone watching CN•HOOK2’s climb across China kept asking online and in their minds. It wasn’t really her question though. Truth be told, An Xin already knew the answer without even asking. 

“Wait? For what?” Lin Feng asked, puzzled. “We’re running out of time! There’s no point in wasting more just to get out of a game with Moon. I’ll play who I gotta play, and I’ll face them with everything I got. It doesn’t matter who they are anyway, I just need to win!” He appeared completely unconcerned as he moved his mouse and clicked resolutely to start queuing up for another game.

A few seconds later, Lin Feng found a match and entered Champion Select. This was the 14th game of the night, his final and most important one. The finale for CN•HOOK2’s climb on the Korean Server!

The summoner names of the ten players on the two teams appeared on the left and right sides of the screen, and Lin Feng scanned through them quickly. Moon’s name wasn’t on his team. Then he looked at the opposing team, and his eyes stopped when he read the name of the player in fourth pick.

“I didn’t think I’d see him tonight…”

Hermes sat behind the computer he shared with Nightsong in Hand of God’s gaming house. They were both inching towards the screen, eager to see if CN•HOOK2 had enough time left to play and win two games at the top of the Korean Challenger Ladder. But they also both realized how steep of a challenge it was. They’d played at the highest level for quite some time and often spent most of their days working on something League of Legends related. That was why they, better than anyone else, understood the physical and mental toll that came with playing consecutive games at this level, and the pressure that CN•HOOK2 was under.

Nightsong shook his head and frowned. He said, “It’s gonna be tougher than getting your Mum into bed, that’s for sure. Only someone like…”

Hermes chuckled and replied, “Losing some of that energy, huh? Stunned to silence?” He then pursed his lips and shook his head before continuing, “But you’re right. You’re right. I don’t get it. He just played 11 games in a row and needs another 2. And he’s gotta win both of them. How can anyone stand straight knowing that?”

“That’s just it…” Nightsong mumbled. He hit his fingers as he said, “Normal training, scrims, tournaments, streams, fan meetups… I can keep going! We do them all every day all day! We can because we trained for it! And because there is the mixup. We don’t train all day. We don’t scrim all day. We don’t play dicking tournaments all day! FUCK!”

Hermes sighed. He turned his head to look at Nightsong and said, “He’s played 11 games and won 8 of them. He’s grinding so hard and worst… or best. I don’t know anymore. Best of all, yeah. Best of all, he’s looking better than he did five games ago. He’s just getting better and better and better!” He briefly paused before adding softly, “I couldn’t do that.”

“NO ONE CAN!” Nightsong exclaimed. He grabbed Hermes by his shoulders and looked his friend deep in the eyes. “DON’T YOU SEE? THAT’S IT!” he shouted, spittle spewing from his lips. “HE’S A BOT! WE’VE GOT OUR VERY OWN ALPHA ZERO! THAT’S WHY HE’S BETTER THAN YOU AND ME! HE’S NO MAN! HE’S A MACHINE!” He turned back to look at the screen and grinned. He clenched his fists and laughed. “That’s it. That’s gotta be it. No one’s better at banging out straight wins than me, except if that someone is using some illegal support. Yep. that’s it. I’m telling you. That’s it.” 

✹

Aurous was still keeping Shi Hang company in Team Rapids gaming house. But while Shi Hang was sitting at the edge of his seat with a big grin on his face, he slumped back in his chair a bit. He glanced at his friend and said, “I don’t get it. How are you so excited? He’s played 11 games! 11! In a fucking row! AFTER PLAYING THE FUCKING FINALS OF THE COLLEGIATE CUP! BEFORE WHICH HE EVEN PLAYED MORE! HE’S BEEN PLAYING FOR SO LONG… FUCK!”

Shi Hang turned his head to look at his friend and shook his head a bit. He explained, “You weren’t there in Season 1. I guess it makes sense you don’t understand. Actually…” He briefly paused to look back at his screen and make sure Lin Feng hadn’t found a game yet. He then continued, “Let me give you an idea of what it was like for him back in Season 1. Maybe then you’ll understand that if anyone can do it, it’s gonna be him.”

“Okay, okay, talk!” Aurous replied, nodding.

“Here goes,” Shi Hang started, keeping one eye on his screen. “Back in Season 1, Lin Feng… Or Maple… You get it. Anyway, he qualified for Worlds with his team, right? Here in China, we were fucking proud of him. They were basically the wildcard team, the team no one outside of China had ever heard of. But they qualified for Worlds, so they flew to London and were excited to start playing against the other top teams in the world.

“When they got in London, they weren’t really welcomed. They were the wildcard team. You know how it’s at Worlds these years. Everyone makes fun of the wildcard teams. It wasn’t any different back then. You had the Europeans and Americans who thought they were the shit. And then you had those douches from Korea. Assholes those guys. They all thought they were better than some wildcard team. None of them respected Maple, much less his team.

“Lin Feng and his teammates. Oh! And An Xin, you’ve seen her play. But they started looking for scrim partners to prepare for Worlds against the best. Everyone ignored them. They didn’t even get a single message back. No ‘sorry, but we’re busy’ or anything like that. Just complete radio silence. But they still had to practice. They had to be in the best form of their lives for Worlds! So they contacted me and some of the other top players and asked us if we could be their scrim partners.

“Most of us had jobs or school. League of Legends wasn’t what it is now. There wasn’t big money in it yet. We couldn’t tell our teacher or boss that we had to take a sick day to help a friend get better at playing a game. They’d have laughed at us! Right in the face! So we had to do our normal stuff during the day and play with them at night, which wasn’t great for them. They had to adjust their entire sleeping schedule just so they could get more time to practice against us. They were pulling the most insane days, just to get those few extra hours of training in…

“And they never complained. They never asked us if we could take that sick day, or skip that class. They thanked us again and again. They persevered. They pressed on. Fuck! I remember the day of the semis. I played basically all night against Maple! We did full team scrims but also 1v1s. That was fucking awesome. And then, when most people would be too tired to think straight, he went up on stage to play against fucking Phoenix! You know what happened then.”

Aurous stared at Shi Hang with his eyes wide open. He nodded unconsciously and muttered, “He smashed him. Maple smashed him.”

Shi Hang grinned and said, “Exactly! So when you ask me why I’m confident that Maple… Lin Feng will win the next two games and make it into the Top 5, that’s why. I’ve seen him pull this off before. I know him. And I know that if there’s anyone who can do this, it’s him. Because fuck me he’s good.”

Aurous grinned and was about to agree to that when Shi Hang frowned and continued, “There’s one thing that’s got me a bit worried though. He hasn’t played Rake yet and I don’t see him online. But he also hasn’t played Moon yet and he did just log on. They’re both in queue. I believe Lin Feng can beat him. I really believe he’s that good. But that won’t be an easy game. That won’t be the 20 minute game he needs. It’ll be a 50 minute game and he won’t have time to hit that Top 5. And that would fucking suck.”

✹

Lightless had several big names on his friends list. One he was particularly proud of was Moon. The one million+ viewers on his stream saw it when Moon logged on, and they watched Moon enter the solo queue. Before Lightless could say anything—not that he had too—his viewers lost it. They smashed away at their keyboards as a massive wave of messages flooded the chat.

「NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT”S MOOOONN FUUUCKKMEEEEEE」
「NOT NOW!!! WHY NOW!?!??!?!??!?!?」
「FUCK! Whats next? Rake gonna come too??!?!??!?!?!」
「maybe he can beat moon?」
「QQQQQQQQ WHY THIS BAD LUCK!?!?!?!?!?!??!?」
「PLS NO MOON! PLS NO MOON! PLS NO MOON!」
「HOOK THE RIGHT FISH! MOONFISH ARE BAD FISH!」
「Press F to Pay Respect.」
「FFFFFFFFF」
「RIPPERINO FFFF」
「NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU」
「FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF」
「fffff」
「F」
「FFF」

✹

An Xin sat next to Lin Feng in the hotel room, scrolling through different online forums on her phone. When she read the news about Moon logging on and getting into the solo queue, she raised her eyebrows and said, “Hey, Lin Feng?” She briefly waited for his attention and then continued, “Looks like Moon’s trying to snipe you.”

Lin Feng paused for a moment. It felt like even his heart slowed to a stop. His mind went blank as the darkness of despair was tugging at his consciousness. But then he grinned. He relaxed his shoulders and sighed loudly. “Got it,” he replied. “Thanks.”

The queue popped a few seconds later. Every player had to click the ready button; it was a mechanism Riot Games had put in place to make sure everyone was still behind their computer. Lin Feng moved his mouse over the button and without pause clicked it. He glanced at An Xin and asked with a bit of excitement in his voice, “So? Is he in it?”

An Xin looked at her phone. It was playing Lightless’ stream which was currently zoomed in on Lightless’ friends list. CN•HOOK2 was in Champion Select and Moon was still in queue. “No,” she replied. “Looks like he’s still in queue.”

Lin Feng shrugged and said, “Okay, guess not then.” He then narrowed his eyes and stared at his screen. I need to win this one fast. I can’t beat Moon in 20 minutes. Maybe 30… He took a deep, long breath. If they’re sniping me now, they’ll snipe me next game as well. I need to buy myself as much time as possible. Fizz. The Champion wasn’t banned, though LeBlanc, Yasuo and Ahri were. Good. I’ll go with her. I’ll stomp them like I did earlier…

The game started a few minutes later. Lin Feng bought Doran’s Ring, which was the normal starter item for an ability power Champion. He then went to lane and played at a level of aggressiveness he hadn’t shown before that game yet. He pushed his opponent into making mistakes and by Level 2 he claimed first blood. He pushed the wave out and recalled back to base, where he bought a second Doran’s Ring to give himself that all important power boost. When he returned to lane, his opponent was there waiting for him. And he continued right where he left off. He pushed and put pressure and killed his opponent a minute later. He then roamed top where he caught the opponent’s Toplaner and Jungler. He killed them both. He had 4 kills before reaching Level 6. It was disastrous for his opponent. It was a deficit they couldn’t come back from.

Lin Feng’s Botlaners weren’t particularly great, nor was his Toplaner or Jungler. It didn’t feel to Lin Feng like they were particularly try-harding either. But he never stopped to care about that. He just kept doing what he did best. Getting kills and securing objectives. The mid lane was the first to fall, followed by the top lane. The opponent tried to force him into teamfights, but he simply ignored that, allowing his teammates to die just so he could split push to victory.

At 26 minutes, Lin Feng’s Fizz destroyed the second inhibitor of the game. His opponent was still trying to draw him into a teamfight, but he never took the bait. When his opponent finally realized they had to do something to stop, it was too late. He was in their base. He was taking down their Nexus towers. And he finally took down their Nexus. All the while, his teammates in their inability to do much of anything useful were doing a perfect job at distracting the opponent which gave Lin Feng all the time he needed to win the game.

The fifteenth game of the night was a victory for Lin Feng. He had a bit more than 30 minutes left before the ranks would rest and he was one victory shy from breaching the Top 5. He turned his head to look at An Xin and grinned. He said, “Five down. One to go. LET’S FUCKING GO!”

“My ears!” An Xin yelped, reaching for her ears. She then smiled and added, “Yeah. Let’s go!”

Lightless sat behind his computer in Dark Glory’s gaming room, streaming CN•HOOK2’s ascent of the Korean Challenger Ladder to over a million viewers. But the last few minutes had been tense. After two losses, CN•HOOK2 didn’t immediately jump into another game. There was a long pause during which Lightless didn’t breathe. Or say much. In which his viewers barely dared to type! Everyone was waiting to see what would happen next. And then, it did. CN•HOOK2’s name turned yellow again, and in small letters under his name it read ‘in queue’. Lightless smiled at the camera and said, “He had me worried there for a second, not gonna lie. Thought he might give up… But was I wrong! Look at that! He’s in queue again! I’m thinking he went to grab some water to clear his head, maybe throw some on his face, and he’s going right back at it! Let’s watch him win again!”

「WOWZERS! AGAIN! DUDES MY NEW HEROOOOO」
「11 games…. this is his 11th game… wtf. he a robot?」
「AT LEAST A CHINESE ROBOT! CHINESE RULEEZZZZZZZZ」
「Here’s to hoping his teammates ain’t dogshit this game.」
「no way! cant be that unlucky! NORMAL TEAMMATES PLEASEEEEEEE」
「i really hope he wins!!!」

Lightless laughed and said to his viewers, “You guys are the weirdest people ever. First you’re all screaming about how he got tilted and gave up. I think I even saw someone claiming they heard from sources…” He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “… that CN•HOOK2 threw his computer out of the window! So ridiculous! He just needed a little break. We all do after a few bad losses. Take a step back, breathe deeply, and get right back to it! And that’s what we’re seeing here!”

「lol knew that guy was full of shit! I told you guys he was a stupid troll saying he knows CN•HOOK2」
「but like CN•HOOK2 never said anything! how were we to know?????」
「He played 10 games already! This is his 11th! You see LPL pros do that shit? Of course you dont! Only crazies do!」
「TONIGHT IS A LONG AND BITTER BATTLE! MAY THE BEST CN•HOOK2 WIN!」
「maybe he should take a longer break… is five mins really enough?」
「yeah….. five mins is like nothing!!! TAKE A FEW MORE MINUTES BUD! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!」

“Yep,” Lightless said, frowning. “Five minutes is very short. Hardly enough for most people. But look at the clock. He’s got less than three hours to go to get all the way up to wherever he’s aiming for! If he starts now, he can play a few more games. That’d be enough to reach the Top 5! Honestly…?” He briefly paused and looked straight at the camera. “Honestly, I think that’s his aim here.”

「Top 5 his aim………」
「How is that even possible??? Hesonly got a few more games left at the TOP OF KOREAN CHALLENGER!!!!!」
「it’s not gonna happen. It can’t…. no one is that good….」
「TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT! BAN THE DOWNERS! HOOKS GOT THIS!!!!!」
「fuck me… I really wanted….. less than 3 hours just isn’t enough. Maybe if he started sooner…. next season…」
「SCREW THAT! HE CAN DO THIS! HE CAN FUCKING DO THIS! GOOOOOOOOO HOOK!!!」

Lightless read through the chat and smiled. He glanced at his monitor which showed that CN•HOOK2 was currently in Champion Select. If there’s anyone that can do this, it’s One. He smiled and said to his viewers, “It’s going to be really tough. But I’ve got a feeling here. This little twinkle in my chest. I think that he might have what it takes. I think… that he just might… PULL IT OFF!”

✹

Su Xue was back in Shanghai, inside her apartment, reading through the forums on one screen while watching Lightless’ stream on the other. She’d considered streaming herself. Lin Feng would’ve happily added her to his friends list. But her viewers didn’t know Lin Feng was CN•HOOK2 and she felt that rather than trying to explain it to hundreds of thousands of people, it would be less stressful to host Lightless and watch his stream instead.

Lightless had just explained how Lin Feng would have to win the next few games if he wanted to reach the Top 5. She knew that was Lin Feng’s goal. Thanks to Lightless she also knew that Lin Feng could still reach that goal. “But another win streak? That’s so unfair! If it wasn’t for those stupid teammates… He should get some kind of compensation for those teammates! Like some extra LP! Something to give him a buffer in his last few games before server reset! Stupid game!” she grumbled.

But Su Xue didn’t give up. She furiously typed away, downvoting the naysayers and cheering Lin Feng on with everything she had. Her heart was up in her throat, slamming, and she constantly had to remind herself to keep breathing. Then the game began. She stopped typing. Her eyes were drawn to Lightless’ stream. She clenched her fists and mumbled, “Come on, kid! You can do this! I know you can! Make momma proud!”

✹

Lin Feng sat in the hotelroom behind his laptop. An Xin sat next to him. He couldn’t see her, but he could feel her calming presence. It was a feeling he’d come to love during Season 1. She was always there, always by his side. Just knowing she was there for him, with him, helped him. The nerves and frustrations that were bothering him before had disappeared. An Xin was right. I did need a short break. And her massages are the best! He smiled and placed his hands on his keyboard and mouse.

The game announcer welcomed him to Summoner’s Rift in Korean. His Fizz spawned on the fountain and he opened the shop to buy his starting items, like he’d done so many times before. But something was different in this game compared to the previous one. This game felt like 4 years ago. There was only excitement and expectation, the strong desire to keep moving forward and push through everyone in his way! This was where he belonged! This was where he was the best version of himself! He grinned and nodded at his screen. “LET’S GO!” he exclaimed.

✹

Lightless jumped from his seat multiple times that game. His viewers were losing it in chat. CN•HOOK2 started with an early kill at Level 3 on the opponent Twisted Fate, after which he went straight down to the bot lane where he picked up a double kill. From there the game was played. CN•HOOK2 played at such a high level that it didn’t even matter what his teammates did. He carried them. He carried the top lane with a couple of kills. He carried the bot lane. And he drew the opponents Jungler towards the mid lane where he won multiple one versus two’s. The game lasted 25 minutes, but it was played in those first three minutes.

“Unbelievable,” Lightless said. He shook his head and continued, “Un. Be. Lie. Va. Ble.”

「THATS OUR BOY!!!! WOOOOOOOO」
「WHAT DID HE TAKE IN THAT BREAK? MY GOD WTFFFFFFFF」
「best goddamn player in the world. i dont see rake doing that」
「OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD」

Lightless nodded and said, “Yes. Oh my god. That was insane. It’s the 11th game of the night and somehow he’s playing better than in all of his previous games combined… Wow!”

✹

Lin Feng turned his head to look at An Xin and smiled. He said, “One down, five to go.”

An Xin smiled back at him and replied, “That wasn’t half bad.”

“Right!” Lin Feng exclaimed with his trademark grin. He then turned his head back towards his laptop. The grin disappeared from his face as he forced himself through a few cycles of deep, long breaths. “Five more to go. I need to play,” he mumbled while clicking on the ‘play again’ button.

Lin Feng picked LeBlanc in his 12th game of the night. His LeBlanc and Fizz were always very similar, which became clear to everyone watching as the game progressed. When he taught LeBlanc her third primary skill, he jumped on the opponent Ahri, predicted where she was flashing away too, locked her down with Ethereal Chains, and finished her off with a combination of auto attacks and Ignite. After which he went straight down the river towards the bot lane. His own Botlaners didn’t even see him coming. None of the 9 other players realized it, until he appeared in the bot lane by jumping on the Lucian and Zyra. They were both squishy targets who were dueling with Jinx and Janna. Lin Feng didn’t have to do much, but what he did, he did perfectly.

The game lasted 29 minutes, a few minutes longer than the previous game. Lin Feng had to carry a bit harder, but he did that all the same. The Nexus exploded and the victory emblem floated on his screen. He smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Two down, four to go,” he mumbled more to himself than to An Xin. He then squared his shoulders and clicked on the ‘play again’ button. “No time to lose!”

An Xin looked at Lin Feng but didn’t say anything. She just smiled and looked at the Korean Ladder. He’s Rank 7 already. He’s doing it. I’m watching him doing it! 

Lin Feng soon found himself in the next game. This time around he went with Annie. But unlike the previous two games, he didn’t get first blood within three minutes and he also didn’t get a double kill in the bot lane. He scrunched his eyebrows and mumbled, “Their Midlaner and ad-carry are good.”

“Of course they are,” An Xin replied. She winked at Lin Feng and continued, “That Zed is a semi-pro currently sitting in 9th on the ranked ladder and that ad-carry is on the main roster of an OGN team. What? You thought you were just going to walk all over everyone?”

“Of course not!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He glanced at An Xin and added, “This just makes it more fun!” He then focused back on his game, his finger tapping in a calm but fast rhythm. He forced his opponent to call in the help of their Jungler and then baited them into giving him a double kill. But that wasn’t enough to win this game. His Botlaners were struggling against the professional Kog’Maw.

The laning phase came to an end after Kog’Maw destroyed the bot lane’s outer tower. Lin Feng grimaced slightly and his touch on his mouse increased. Just for a moment. Then his mind cleared. He grinned and focused on the game. He accepted that his teammates were outclassed by the opponent, and he started playing with that in mind. When the first teamfight happened, he knew they would lose. So rather than fight for a win, he fought to minimize their losses. Kog’Maw still got four kills.

Lin Feng took a deep, long breath. His teammates died, but his Annie was the only one on a killing spree. She was the only one worth any real money. And she’d survived. They had to give up on the Dragon, but he kept an eye on Baron Nashor. I just need to find the right engage before my teammates do their thing… Get the Kog… Patience.

The second teamfight went down much like the first. Lin Feng’s teammates were trigger happy. Their Jinx especially decided to engage with her minigun rather than using her long range bazooka. Lin Feng’s team lost another big fight and were fortunate that they killed the opponent’s Jungler. It was the only thing keeping them from taking Baron Nashor.

But while the game looked bad, though everything looked to be going against him, Lin Feng remained calm. He knew the game was far from over. His Annie was fed from the laning phase and his teammates weren’t completely useless. With the right engage, they could win.

The minutes dragged on. The pressure on Lin Feng continued to grow. Every game had to be a fast win if he wanted to get the six he needed for that Top 5 spot. When the game reached the 35th minute, Lin Feng’s opponents forced a teamfight at the Baron pit. His teammates were walking straight into the bait, because if they didn’t, the opponent would take the Baron and win the game. Lin Feng didn’t run head first into the fight. He looked at the curves in the wall surrounding the Baron pit and estimated where their Kog’Maw was most likely positioned. When his teammates walked into the trap, he flashed across the Baron pit wall and arrived right behind Kog’Maw.

“TIBBERS, I SUMMON YOU!” Lin Feng hollered behind his laptop, causing An Xin to jump up from her chair in fright. “What the fuck!” she exclaimed, but Lin Feng wasn’t listening to her. He was just grinning, his fingers gliding across the keyboard activating skills.

Annie threw her teddy bear up into the sky. It grew rapidly in size, fueled by flames. What fell to the ground was a massive monster. It stunned Kog’Maw who was then incinerated by flames. Annie pushed forward and landed a second stun on Zed, who’d jumped to the backline after assassinating Jinx. He hadn’t noticed Annie. He arrived in front of her and gave Lin Feng the double. And from there, Lin Feng kept pushing. He got a quadra kill, his Jungler picking up the fifth, after which he turned his attention towards his opponent’s base.

It was a race. Death cooldown versus speed. Lin Feng’s team didn’t have their ad carry, but they did have a fast tower killer in Irelia. They took down the inhibitor tower in the mid lane with the help of a large minion wave and pushed for the inhibitor. His teammates started to back away, but Lin Feng kept pinging on the Nexus towers until they followed him. He pressed the tab key and counted the seconds. The first nexus tower fell and they just had a few more to go. The second fell and Kog’Maw respawned. Lin Feng pinged on the Nexus. His teammates attacked it, while he moved towards Kog’Maw and stunned him. Zed respawned next and dashed in. He killed Irelia and Janna was the next one to die. But Lin Feng lived. He used his skills while auto attacking the nexus. His minions helped him. And he won.

Lin Feng leaned back in his chair and breathed out loudly through his mouth. “PFOOH! What a game. That was a tough one,” he finally said. “Alright! Next one! No time to lose!”

An Xin sat next to Lin Feng, speechless. It took her all of the next game, which was a fast 20 minute victory, to recover from her shock. She tugged on his shirt and asked, “How did you know you had enough time to finish the Nexus?”

Lin Feng looked at An Xin confused and said, “What? They were all dead!”

“Not this game, you stupid! Last game!”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. They were all dead!” Lin Feng repeated. He then scratched the back of his head and added, “I guess it was a bit closer than I would’ve liked it…”

An Xin shook her head, incredulous, and mumbled, “No. No. It was good. Really good.”

Lin Feng patted his chest and replied, “I know! I’m really good! Four games down, two more to go! Oh, and look! I’m already Rank 6! So close! I should have enough time, right? RightRight?”

An Xin smiled and replied, “Yeah, you do. You’ve got an hour. Bit more actually. Four minutes to be precise. Find a game fast and you got this!”

“Uh-huh!” Lin Feng replied while smashing the ‘play again’ button for the fifteenth time that night.

✹

In Hand of God’s gaming house, Nightsong and Hermes were watching Lightless’ stream. Hermes moved his hand across his mouth and mumbled, “He’s amazing. He’s…” He shook his head, unable to find the words to say how he was feeling.

Nightsong moved his hand around, scratching an itch on his chest, digging at the edge of his nose and rubbing across his cheek. He chewed on his lips and stared at the screen, his heart slamming so hard against his ribcage that it felt like he would break a rib soon. He finally said, “He’s doing it. He’s actually doing it! Forget about DotA and everything he did there, he’s got the skill to play in the LPL! He… He…”

“He’s got a bigger dick than you, yeah,” Hermes finished the sentence.

Nightsong abruptly turned his head to look at Hermes and exclaimed, “HEY! Not funny!” He then looked back at his screen and chewed on his lips again. “He’s in queue again,” he mumbled. “He’s going for it again. He’s almost there. I can’t believe he’s doing this. FUCK! I want him in the LPL.”

Hermes nodded and said, “Me too, buddy. Me too.”

Lin Feng looked at An Xin through bleary eyes and said, “Thanks, BunBun.” When he heard what he said, he scrunched his eyebrows and mumbled, “BunBun? Huh?” He looked at An Xin again and then asked, “BunBun! When did you get here? Why aren’t you in bed? It’s late! You should get some sleep!”

An Xin giggled and replied, “I don’t see you sleeping either. Why should I sleep?”

Lin Feng laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. He explained, “We’ve been playing in the Collegiate Cup for months, and then we had to fly to Guangzhou and Beijing. We practiced all the time and also had to study for our exams… I kind of figured that after the hotpot earlier everyone was going to knock out early. Especially since, you know, we’ve gotta get up early in the morning for our flight back home.”

“So you’re saying I have to go to bed but you get to stay up?” An Xin asked.

Lin Feng shook his head and explained, “I want to go to bed! But I also need to keep my promise to One and the ranked ladder is about to reset soon! I have to play!”

An Xin pointed at Lin Feng’s screen that showed he’d lost his previous game and said, “You won’t reach the Top 5 if you’re losing…” She put her hands on Lin Feng’s shoulder and asked, “How many games have you played already?”

Lin Feng opened his match history page and scrolled down a bit before replying, “I think 10? Looks like 10, yeah.”

An Xin shook her head and said, “No wonder you look like a zombie. No one can play at their best for so many hours! And it’s even longer if you count the Finals and this morning!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lin Feng replied. “I know. I know! But I just don’t have enough time. The ladder is almost resetting! If I don’t get to the Top 5 before then, my promise to One… I… I—”

“You have to keep it,” An Xin finished the sentence. She looked at Lin Feng and smiled. “I know you have to keep it. And I wasn’t telling you to stop either.” Not that anyone could stop you at this point… Everyone in the world could line up and tell you one at a time, or together in one loud scream, tell you to take a break and you wouldn’t listen. That’s your stubbornness, or persistence… either one depending on your results, I guess. But that’s also how you fight to the top, and get to the top. So… She put her hands on Lin Feng’s shoulders and started giving him a massage. She whispered into his ears, “Just relax for a bit. Drink the water and let me give you this massage. You can continue afterwards, okay?”

Lin Feng chewed on his lips and mumbled, “B-but… There isn’t the time—”

“Shh, shh, shhhh!” An Xin whispered into his ears, tracing the back of her hand over his shoulder blades. “You’ve been playing nonstop for too long already. Everyone needs a break every now and then. Just a couple of minutes. It’ll do wonders. Trust me, Lin Feng. Trust me.”

Lin Feng wanted to argue, but she was putting just the right amount of pressure on his back and shoulders. It relaxed his body more than he’d expected it to and he started to realize that he had been putting a lot of tension on his body. He glanced over his shoulder at An Xin who was still smiling at him and smiled back at her again. “Okay,” he finally mumbled.

An Xin moved her hands up the sides of Lin Feng’s head and paused at his temples, putting a bit more pressure as she moved her fingers in small circles. She then continued up, moving across his brows before sending her index fingers down to his glabella. She increased the pressure again there as her fingers made small circular movements.

Lin Feng moaned and said, “BunBun, I forgot how good your massages are. They bring me back to Season 1…”

“Just relax and enjoy,” An Xin said, happy. I gave you a massage every day back then. Back when you had to give it your all every game and I did my best to give you some relief… That’s part of the reason we grew so close. That’s part of the reason I want to play together with you so badly. The memories that started playing before her eyes were vibrant and full of colour for a couple of seconds, but then they turned a dullish grey. She remembered the words her doctor told her. How she’d never again get full use from her hand. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts! She pursed her lips and then said, “I was reading some forum earlier and everyone was going crazy about you. There are thousands of posts and millions of comments talking about you! There are people streaming just to analyze your ranks! Everyone in China is talking about you!”

Lin Feng opened his eyes wide and asked, “Huh, really!?”

“Very really,” An Xin answered.

“Well, I am Maple!” Lin Feng said with a grin.

An Xin nodded and replied, “You are.” She then breathed in deeply and breathed out through her mouth. Her smile disappeared, though her hands kept moving in practiced motion. I’d offer to help you, you know that. But One wants you to do this alone. You can’t get any help. Those people talking about you online, they don’t know that. They just think you’re trying too hard. She gritted her teeth. I want to help you. I really do! You might not know, because I never told you, but I hit the Top 10 on the Korean Challenger Ladder early on in the season. But that was then… Now I’m down to the Top 30 and barely holding on. She let her head fall forward a bit, keeping it just shy from Lin Feng’s head, and looked at her right hand. That was before the… That was when I thought we could still go to Worlds together when you returned to the game. I knew you would and I was preparing for it! And then… then… She sucked in a breath of air to force back the tears appearing in her eyes. Then my stupid hand happened. Why? Why…?

“Hey, BunBun?” Lin Feng said.

An Xin raised her head and blinked away a tear. She asked, “Hmm? What’s up?”

Lin Feng stretched his back and took another sip from his water. He then turned his head to look at her and said with his usual cheerful expression, “I think I’m good again! I feel a lot better! Thanks to you.”

An Xin let go of Lin Feng’s shoulders and replied, “Okay. Keep your promise to One.”

“I will!” Lin Feng exclaimed, clenching his fist and pumping the air. He entered the queue and asked over his shoulder, “BunBun, time?”

An Xin looked over Lin Feng’s shoulder at the clock on his screen and said, “There, look. It says 11:10 P.M. which means it’s almost midnight here.”

“But it’s not midnight in Korea yet!” Lin Feng replied, grinning. “I’ve still got 3 hours left! That means I’ve got time for 6 more games if I’m fast enough!” He clicked on his profile while waiting for the queue and continued, “I’m at Rank 8 right now. The goal is Top 5. Given how many points I need to get there… Hmm… If I win five in a row and also win the sixth if I need to… Yeap! If I win everything, I will make it! It’s still doable!”

An Xin asked, “You need to do what other professional players have failed at, and you’ve only got like 6 games to do it in. Are you up for it? Are you ready to play more and win everything? Do you think you can do it?”

“Not one bit!” Lin Feng replied, laughing. He looked over his shoulder at An Xin and continued, “But I’m gonna try all the same! One gave me this task and I’m going to see it through to the end! Three more hours of League. No rest! AND IT’S STARTING NOW!” The queue had popped. He clicked on the ready button and was moved to Champion Select.

An Xin pulled up a seat and sat down next to Lin Feng. She winked at him and said, “And I’m going to stay and watch. Cheer you on and make sure you make it!” She forced a smile on her face. It hurt incredibly much to do so, but she wouldn’t show him how weak she felt. It wasn’t until he focused completely on his screen that she let her expression fall. She chewed on the inside of her lips and focused on taking deep, long breaths. I want to be there for you. No. I want to be here with you, playing. Shoulder to shoulder. As a team. Just you and me. But that won’t ever happen. I’ll be… I’ll be forever this. The girl who sits by your side and cheers you on. Maybe I should start the fanclub, because that’s all I’ll ever… She closed her eyes and mumbled barely audibly, “Stop this. Stop thinking like this! You’re better than this!” She then glanced up at Lin Feng to make sure he hadn’t heard her. When she saw his eyes were still on his screen, she sighed. Good. He can’t find out.

“Did you all see that? CN•HOOK2 anticipated that the Lee Sin would come back to mid for another kill and waited for it! Then he played it perfectly to get a turn around kill!” Lightless screamed into his microphone. He slapped his thigh and said, “What a beautiful outplay on Lee Sin!”

The hundreds of thousands of people in Lightless’ stream chat also erupted with excitement, flooding the chat with walls of text.

✹

In the gaming house of an NLB team in Korea, Clue’s eyelids twitched as he watched Zed dance through the gank and a 2v1 to kill the Lee Sin on his team. Goddammit! I don’t know who this CN•HOOK2 is or where he came from, but this guy is way more difficult to deal with than I thought he’d be. I can’t be reckless anymore or treat this as a casual game. I gotta give it all I’ve got or I’m going to turn into a doormat for him to walk all over! 

Can I still turn this around? I was careless at the start… careless enough to completely lose the early game. Now that Zed has two kills… can I still come back? Or have I lost the midlane completely? 

✹

15 minutes from the start of the game, Lin Feng’s Zed had a KDA of 4/1/1. 

Lin Feng’s forehead was unfurrowed, his breathing was slow and regular, and his expression was completely calm. He played with perfect precision and machine-like efficiency. His hands never stopped moving, and the sound of his mouse clicks and keyboard taps created an entrancing rhythm.

By the 20 minute-mark, his Zed was 6/1/2. And at 27 minutes, Lin Feng and the Blue Team secured the victory. 

✹

Everyone following CN•HOOK2’s climb on the forums cheered and celebrated when they refreshed the Korean Challenger ladder page to see the end result of the game. The people following on Lightless’ stream were also ecstatic! More importantly, the number of concurrent viewers on Lightless’ stream had climbed to more than 1 million viewers! His chat was impossible to keep up with as messages flooded in at a breakneck pace from so many people. 

At present, CN•HOOK2 had won four out of the five games that he played and League fans all over China were losing their minds.

✹

However, this ranked climb was still far from over for Lin Feng. He continued onto his 6th game of the night, and this time he was playing Jayce. A midlane Champion who was known as the Defender of Tomorrow. Jayce’s weapon was the Mercury Hammer, forged from Hextech. And it could switch between the Mercury Hammer form and the Mercury Cannon form. 

By the time his 6th game hit the 10 minute mark, Lin Feng had already solo-killed the opposing Orianna twice.

At 18 minutes, Lin Feng completely decimated the opponent’s ranks in a teamfight around the Dragon Pit. And when the game timer hit 32 minutes, Lin Feng had won another game! He was on another win streak with two consecutive victories!

In the hotel room, Lin Feng took another sip of his water and closed his eyes for 10 seconds. That brief respite was all he needed. After taking a deep breath, he dove right back into the battlegrounds of Summoner’s Rift for a 7th game. 

A 7th game where he was, once again, victorious! Lin Feng had reestablished his win streak with a hat trick!

✹

At this moment, let alone the casual League players watching CN•HOOK2’s climb, even the pro players watching Lightless’ stream were completely blown away by his incredible gameplay and perseverance! 

“PFOO!” Lightless exclaimed. He shook his head, incredulous, and laughed loudly. “See?” he asked towards the camera aimed at his face. “See? I knew it was going to be hard and it looked like CN•HOOK2 was gonna get sniped Korean style. But he’s way too good to let that happen!” He paused to read his stream’s chat before continuing, “That’s back to Rank 8 for our Chinese Secret Agent! He’s even closing in on 7th!”

「did you ever get this close???」
「you tried to climb to top 10 too right?!?」
「tell us how hard it is!!!!」
「do you think its hermes??」
「Do you know who it is?」
「What odds do you give him?」

Lightless looked at his chat and smiled. What odds would I give One? A solid 1. If anyone’s going to do it, it’s him. But that doesn’t make it any easier… He grimaced and closed his eyes, thinking back to a time where he tried to achieve the same goal. I failed. I was never good enough. But then again, I’m not one. He opened his eyes and said to his viewers, “We can’t celebrate too early. This is the time that the Korean professional players log on to play a game. If he gets matched up against someone like Rake… Well, rip I guess. But it might not even take professional players. Like some of you said, I tried to do the same a year ago. I got together with a friend of mine and we duo queued, which by the way is far easier than climbing solo. But when we got deep into the top 100, everyone started going against us. Literally everyone. The pressure combined with everyone being against you? That was too much for me. I went on a big ass losing streak. I just hope CN•HOOK2 won’t fall for the same trap.”

✹

CN•HOOK2 won his 8th game and reached Rank 7. He was doing what everyone else dared only dream. They spammed different forumboards and the various streams that were talking about Lin Feng’s games. But there was only one stream that was showing the live gameplay. That was Lightless’ stream. Everyone in China with access to the internet tuned in and many of them flooded his chat with their excitement.

「666666666666!」
「Omg, he actually won again!」
「Fucking hell! Nobody can stop hook2! Hahaha! 」
「Is he gonna climb all the way to rank!? It’s gonna happene!」
「God! It’s a new god of league」
「Hook2 is my idol!」

Lightless read through his chat, but he couldn’t share the same excitement with his viewers. All they’re seeing is another win. Three wins, a loss and then a four game win streak. That sounds impossible at this level. But it’s also 9 full games. That takes a lot out of you. This last game especially. It was like his teammates were playing against him too. The amount of mental resilience that asked of him… He can’t keep this up. It just isn’t possible. Maybe he should take a short break… Just then it’s going to be so much harder to hit the Top 5… If that’s even his goal. Probably is. Right. Streaming. He smiled at his camera and cheered, “Yeay for CN•HOOK2!”

✹

“Ah, come on!” Lin Feng yelled at his laptop screen, throwing his arms up in the air. “What the fuck was that!?” He groaned as he was forced to accept the loss. It only took my teammates 18 minutes to screw up so hard that… He breathed in, letting the air fill his lungs. No excuses. I could’ve played that better. I should’ve carried harder. He breathed out and tried to let every hint of irritation escape from his body with it.

Lin Feng gritted his teeth and shouted, “Fuck!” He shook his head and then said to his screen, “How did this Kha’Zix give their Lee Sin 3 kills in 7 minutes? How does that even work!? And this ad-carry? What is wrong with them!? How do you only have half the CS of your lane opponent? This is Challenger, not Challenged League!”

Lin Feng slammed his hand down on his desk in frustration. Frustration aimed at himself and not at his teammates. He knew solo queue was all about the individuals. And he knew there were going to be good games and bad games. And downright terrible games. There were always going to be games that he simply couldn’t win or games where he had to try so hard that the question became if it was worth the effort it would take to win. But those were the simple truths of solo queue. “I’m better than this,” he mumbled to himself, clicking through the menus and finding he’d dropped back to Rank 8. “I’m better than this, dammit! But I’ve only got a bit more to go and I still need so many points to get to Rank 5!”

✹

The people following Lin Feng’s ascent of the Korean Challenger were far more upset than Lin Feng was. New posts appeared on the different forumboards and Lightless’ stream was lighting up with the most obscene curses, all of which were directed at Lin Feng’s teammates. Lightless’ moderators were working overtime, trying to distinguish the good from the bad messages.

「fuck! Were hook2’s teammates brain dead or something?」
「I’ve never seen someone feed so badly in Challenger!」
「how did that kha’zix and kog’maw even get out of bronze! Can you even buy boosted accounts in Challenger!?!」
「I HOPE THEY DIE」
「dox them someone goo doxx tehm.」
「they had to be doing it on purpose! There’s no way! 」

Lightless raised his hands and said, “Guys, guys, cool it. Please.” He then focused on his screen again, because CN•HOOK2 was in queue again. Dammit, One! This isn’t like you! Everyone else is too busy with your teammates, but I’m here to watch you. Do you really not see how tired you are? You’re slipping up! This is a game you would’ve won three hours ago! But… I get it. The time crunch. You’ve only got two hours to go. He grimaced and said to his viewers, “Looks like he’s going into his next game. Let’s give him some positive vibes and energy!”

「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」
「つ CN•HOOK2 take my energy ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ」

The game lasted just short of 30 minutes. Lightless shook his head the entire time. He’s not tilted, or not playing like he is anyway. But he isn’t playing at the level we saw earlier tonight. He’s making silly mistakes and his plays are slower. And of course he is! He’s been playing these high intensity games all day! It’d be strange if he wasn’t exhausted! It’s just… Fuck! I want to see you win, man! Refind yourself, for all of us. Please!

「two losses in a row?????」
「DID HE LOSE IT!?!?!?!?! HE NOW ALSO SUCK!!!????」
「come on! Where are the win streaks from ebfore! Don’t tell me he’s tilted from that loss earlier?」
「crap, if he’s actually tilted, it’ll be hard to keep climbing!」
「nooooooo y u do tis to meeeee?!?!??!??!!??」
「I STAY UP LATE FOR YOU! YOU WIN GAMES FOR ME! OR YOU PAY ME! YOU CHOOSE!」
「:C I just wanna see him win….」
「Hes climbing the ladder like I do the stairs… I dont get up my stairs QQ」

✹

Lin Feng rubbed his eyes and repressed a yawn. I should’ve won that last game. It’s… He sighed and shook his head. I’m not even frustrated. I’m just… I’m tired. He blinked a couple of times, finding it progressively more difficult to open his eyes again. Maybe I should just take a nap… What time is i— “No nap! No nap!” he exclaimed, his eyes growing round and wide. “Shit! Where did the time go!? I’ve only got a bit longer to go! It’s almost over and I’m losing! ShitShitShit! Drink and play!” He reached for his glass of water and took a sip from it, then scrunched his eyebrows and looked at the glass. Oh… Empty.

“Here, drink this.”

The voice sounded like that of an angel to Lin Feng. It caused tingles in his neck as his exhaustion disappeared. He looked up at An Xin who was offering him a glass of water and smiling at him. He smiled weakly back at her.

An Xin shook her head and pushed the glass into Lin Feng’s hands. She said, “Working hard like usual, eh? Oh, wow wow! Don’t drink that all in one go! You’ll have to go to the toilet in the middle of your next game. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?” She smiled brighter and winked at him. “You got this, Lin Feng.”

Over on Lightless Heart’s stream, they were watching CN•HOOK2’s 5th game, where he was playing Zed in the Midlane. CN•HOOK2’s opponent was a Korean player named Clue, who was playing LeBlanc. The viewers on Lightless’ stream immediately recognized the name and chat went into an uproar over it. 

「It’s Clue!」
「I can’t believe it! Is Hook2 gonna be able to win this!?」
「Korea bringing out the bgi guns to stop hook2!!!!!!!!!」
「they doin our boi hook dirrtyyy!」
「crap, such bad timing too!」
「is there really a good time to get cockblocked????」
「Hook gonna cuck Clue」
「Yesyesyesyesyesy! Hook gonna give Clue a clue!」

Lightless was just as stunned as his viewers that Clue was playing against CN•HOOK2. “Yeah… this is  definitely going to be a tough game, guys! Or maybe not! Let’s see what CN•HOOK2 can pull out against Clue!”

Clue was currently ranked 15th on the Korea Challenger Ladder, which already made him a great player. But he was far more well-known for being the Midlaner on a professional NLB team. Not only was he a professional player, he was one of the top-rated Midlaners in the NLB and considered to be good enough to hold his own against some of the OGN Midlaners. 

Lightless Heart shook his head and slapped his cheeks to get himself back into a streamer mindset. “Yeah, that’s right guys. Clue is ranked 15th on the Korean Challenger Ladder. But he’s also a professional player on an NLB team. For those of you that have no idea how the Korean League scene works out, they’ve got two divisions. NLB stands for NiceGame League of Legends Battle, which is a tournament hosted by NicegameTV Company. It’s considered the 2nd division or minor league for the professional scene. 

“OGN, on the other hand, is the OnGameNet Champions League. This is another tournament hosted by OnGameNet, and it’s considered to be the 1st division or premier League for teams to play in. This is also the tournament where teams compete to win tickets for the League of Legends World Championships!”

“There’s two ways for teams to get into the OGN. The first is to qualify for the league during the two qualifier rounds. The second is to win in the NLB and automatically receive a ticket for the next OGN. It also gets a lot more complicated with sub-tournaments hosted within the NLB, but that’s not really important for now. What you guys need to know is that Clue is a professional player, and one that’s good enough to fight for one of Korea’s spots in the World Championships! This is going to be a true test of CN•HOOK2’s abilities!” 

✹

Back in Team Rapids’ gaming house, Aurous frowned. “Shit! Your boy Lin Feng pulled a bad straw this time. He’s up against Clue. This isn’t going to be an easy game for him to win.”

“Clue? Never heard of that dude. How do you know who he is?” Shi Hang asked while looking straight at Aurous.

Aurous nodded, his expression grave and tone serious. “I definitely know him. Light Dynasty played a few scrims against some of the NLB teams. Clue was one of the Midlaners we faced.”

“And? How’d it go? Or are you going to keep playing up the suspense for the imaginary audience in your head?” Shi Hang asked.

Aurous wryly smiled. “Alright, alright. Clue was pretty good. Our midlaner was getting pushed back more. During the laning phase at least.”

Shi Hang cocked an eyebrow. “He’s that good? On an NLB team? Light Dynasty’s Midlaner is somewhere at the bottom as far as LPL Midlane players go… but even then. He’s still an LPL player. Beating him in lane isn’t a small accomplishment. Neither is an NLB team pushing an LPL team around. What is happening over in Korea, Aurous?”

Aurous sighed. “The Korean competitive scene is intense. They’ve gotten stronger than ever. Honestly, it’s a little scary. The NLB is supposed to be their secondary league for amateurs and players looking to gain enough experience to break into the primary division, but their standards are insanely high. Underestimating a team from the NLB these days is a mistake. Some of the NLB teams regularly beat OGN teams…” His voice contained hints of helplessness and melancholy as he trailed off.

Shi Hang narrowed his eyes, focusing his attention back on the stream. He slowly opened his mouth and said, “He’s strong. But I doubt this Clue will be able to get any sort of advantage in this game.”

✹

Back in Team Shanghai’s hotel in Beijing, Lin Feng’s expression was still calm and his eyes were still shining brightly  as he heard the announcer’s voice ring through his headphones. 

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

That small audio clip and the words it contained flipped a switch. Lin Feng’s eyes blazed with intensity and fighting spirit! Tonight, nothing would get in the way of his climb.

✹

The game started. Lin Feng’s Zed was on the Blue Team, up against Clue’s LeBlanc on the Red Team. The laning phase started with a few pokes back and forth between LeBlanc and Zed as Lin Feng and Clue felt each other out. And then the pokes grew into progressively more intense fights as both Champions pushed for an early advantage. 

4 minutes after the start of the game, the Red Team’s Jungler, Lee Sin decided it was time to roam into the Midlane to gank Zed and secure an early roll for his teammate LeBlanc. By the time he arrived, Zed and LeBlanc were already deep into a heated tussle to claim first blood. 

Lin Feng’s Zed brought forth a Living Shadow, a clone formed entirely of shadows. The Living Shadow was in front of LeBlanc, and Zed was behind her. A perfect pincer! Then Zed used Razor Shuriken! Both Zed and the Living Shadow sent a shuriken out that sliced through LeBlanc and tore through her health. 

Then Lin Feng tapped the W key to recast Living Shadow, which allowed his Zed to switch places instantly with the Living Shadow! His Zed was now directly in front of the LeBlanc. Zed stabbed into LeBlanc with a quick auto attack, then slashed out in a wide circle with his metal claws—Shadow Slice!

Just as the attack animation for Shadow Slice ended, Lin Feng used Ignite on the LeBlanc. The fires from the Summoner Spell ticked away the last few drops of LeBlanc’s health!

《First Blood!》

✹

The viewers on Lightless’ stream held their breath as they watched the fight between Zed and LeBlanc unfold, and then they all cheered as CN•HOOK2 managed to secure first blood by killing LeBlanc. But their joy was very short-lived. 

In all the excitement, no one noticed Red Team’s Lee Sin creeping up into midlane and then pouncing on the dangerously low-health Zed just as LeBlanc died. CN•HOOK2 had no chance of survival, and his Zed was killed in short order by Lee Sin. 

“Alright guys, that was a 1 for 1 exchange between the two teams. Zed died to Lee Sin, but CN•HOOK2 still came out ahead despite the 1 for 1.” Lightless explained to his stream. “Zed got the kill and First Blood. LeBlanc only managed to get an assist because Lee Sin did the cleanup there. This means that Zed got more gold. It’s a small advantage, but CN•HOOK2 is still in danger. Both Zed and LeBlanc burned their Flash in that last exchange, which is a neutral change. But Zed is now more vulnerable to another gank, and the Lee Sin also got gold for that kill. Lee Sin is probably going to roam into mid again!” 

✹

Lightless was either a prophet or an extremely skilled analyst. 6 minutes had elapsed since the start of the game. Both Zed and LeBlanc had respawned at the fountain and gotten back to their lanes to dance the dance of death once again. Which is when Lee Sin decided it was time to scurry over to the midlane for another gank, just as Lightless predicted.

Now, this was probably not the smartest decision that Lee Sin had made. He’d just finished clearing out a few monster camps, and his health had taken a bit of a beating. But for some unknowable reason, Lee Sin had enough confidence in his ability to successfully gank Zed that he still roamed over to the midlane. He flew out of the top side river brush where he’d been hiding and dashed in with Safeguard. 

Lee Sin’s dash placed him right in front of Zed.  And then he sent a Sonic Wave flying out!

✹

Back in Beijing, Lin Feng watched Lee Sin fly out of the brush with middling health and smiled a small smile. Then he watched the Lee Sin dash over and throw out a Sonic Wave, and his smile widened. Just before the projectile of waves connected with his Zed, Lin Feng pushed down on the R key to activate Zed’s Ultimate—Death Mark!

Zed’s Ultimate, Death Mark, was an interesting ability. It rendered Zed untargetable for a brief instant and then caused Zed to dash over to the closest enemy champion. Right before the dash, four Living Shadows would converge on the enemy champion in question and place a Death Mark on them. Three seconds later, the mark would trigger and repeat a portion of the damage Zed had dealt to that enemy champion.

And since Zed was now untargetable, Lee Sin’s Sonic Wave missed entirely. And four blood-red Living Shadows converged onto Lee Sin to place a Death Mark on him from all four cardinal directions!

A bright red mark appeared over Lee Sin’s head just as Zed dashed up to his face. But Lin Feng’s situational awareness tingled. Instead of attacking Lee Sin, he pressed down on his R key again. His Zed dashed back to his original position, just barely avoiding the Ethereal Chains snaking towards him from Clue’s LeBlanc!

Now that the danger from LeBlanc was narrowly avoided, Zed threw a Living Shadow out that dashed over to Lee Sin. Then both the Living Shadow and Zed threw out Razor Shurikens that sliced the air as they whirled towards Lee sin! But before they could connect, LeBlanc jumped at Zed using Distortion. 

Lin Feng, now so focused that it appeared that the LeBlanc was moving in slow-motion, languidly tapped the W key to recast Living Shadow. The Razor Shurikens sliced through Lee Sin, and his Zed switched places with the Living Shadow. Zed had avoided the splash damage and pin-down by LeBlanc while also positioning himself in front of Lee Sin!

Zed stabbed Lee Sin with an auto attack, then slashed out in a circle with Shadow Slash. He continued the combo with a second auto attack, and then a third. All of this had taken place in the three seconds since the Death Mark was placed on Lee Sin. Now that three seconds had expired, the Death Mark triggered and repeated a portion of all of the damage Zed had done to Lee Sin. Which, coincidentally enough, just happened to be enough damage to whisk away the last of Lee Sin’s health. 

《You have slain an enemy!》

From the second Champions were summoned onto the Rift to when the Nexus shattered, each of Lin Feng’s ranking games on the Korean server took about 30 minutes. As far as games went on the Korean Challenger solo queue, this wasn’t fast or slow. But for all of the Chinese League fans and players who were paying attention to CN•HOOK2’s climb, these games stretched out to eternity and felt like they were taking ages to end.

An insanely large number of fans and players who decided to stay on the forums instead of watching the streams joined the F5 Gang, constantly refreshing the Korean Challenger Ladder page every minute to see if CN•HOOK2 had won the game he was currently playing.

For every single one of the Chinese League fans, each refresh was accompanied by a wave of anxiety that bordered on panic. They knew the single undeniable truth of League of Legends. Even if CN•HOOK2 was a God-tier player, it was impossible to end every game in 15-25 minutes. Not even the Four Emperors could manage something like that.

This was the solo queue at the Challenger ELO on the Korean server. There was no one in the world who could carry and win in every single game at this level of play. This was the undeniable truth of ranked games, especially at the Challenger rank. And this was also why so many of the Chinese players rooting for CN•HOOK2 were nervous and anxious. The waters of the Korean Challenger solo queue ran deep and dark, and there was no telling who would emerge to end CN•HOOK2’s climb. 

An announcement had come from Riot Korea stating that the ranked ladder would be reset at midnight Korean time. All previous rankings from Season 5 would be reset for the start of Season 6. Korea ran an hour ahead of China. Which meant that CN•HOOK2 had 5 hours left to keep climbing. 

And there was a single question that permeated through the entire Chinese League of Legends zeitgeist. How high can CN•HOOK2 climb in the time left? Everyone watching CN•HOOK2’s climb asked themselves and each other that question. But there was no way to know for sure what would happen as the seconds ticked down to the rank reset. The only thing that could be done was to wait until CN•HOOK2 played his last game.

✹

One win.

Two wins.

Three wins. 

Every game that CN•HOOK2 won sent waves of excitement and celebration throughout China! And now that he’d managed to win three games in a row, the tension was palpable in the air for every fan of League of Legends. 

The forums were getting stomped on just as hard as the Korean Challenger players that Lin Feng had just defeated. The thread tracking the Korean Challenger ladder and CN•HOOK2’s climb was receiving hundreds of new comments every second.

“He won!”
“First game win!”
“GUYS CNHOOK@ JUS WON!”
“We already know. He’s playing his second game now trash.”
“GG GET BETTER INTERNETS!”
“Can’t even refresh fast enough wants to talk about challenger smh.”
“Another win!”
“Second game stomped! CN•HOOK2 can’t be stopped!”
“CN•HOOK2 won his first game on krn server!”
“WE KNOW MORON HE’S WON HIS SECOND GAME TOO!”
“CN•HOOK2 won three games in a row! He’s rank 9 now!”
“CN•HOOK2 RANK 9!!!!!!”
“TOP 10 FOR CHINA!”
“Everyone that’s watching this, I hope you’re healthy and your lives are filled with joy and happiness!”
“STFU” “FKIN SPAMMER” “BAN”
“I just made RMB 4000 last week working for Baidu from the comfort of my own home! Follow <link removed> to find out how you can too!”
“SPAM” “SPM” “BAN” “BAN”

✹

Beyond the forums, there was another hub for people invested in CN•HOOK2’s climb, and that was Lightless Hearts’ stream. He had managed to reach 790,000 viewers, a stone’s throw away from 800,000, and people were still trickling in as they found out about what was going on in the League sphere and that Lightless Heart’s stream was the only place where they could spectate CN•HOOK2’s games.

Lightless Heart was a phenomenal Midlaner and a great streamer. There was no doubt about that. But even for him, this kind of viewership was absurd and a once-in-a-lifetime event. Lightless Heart was closing in on a million concurrent viewers, something almost unheard of in the streaming space. But considering the circumstances, it made sense. Lightless Heart was the only person in all of China who could spectate and stream CN•HOOK2’s games. Most of the viewers had only shown up when they found out that they could watch CN•HOOK2’s climb on the stream, and there was a large chunk who were watching a livestream for the very first time in their lives.

That’s how exciting this moment was for everyone in China who loved League and gaming. It was a pivotal moment in Chinese League history, and they wanted to be a part of it in some small way. That’s how important CN•HOOK2’s climb on the Korean server had become to China. 

「omggggggg 666666666666」
「this orianna is so godly!」
「first stream gang!」
「who is CN•HOOK2???」
「hook2 is freaking amazing!」
「No idea who he is but I wana marry him!」
「Get in line hoe! I’ll be his first concubine!」
「goddam, i cant believe he won that, even after how bad the early game!」
「i have his kids and make my own league team!!!!!!!!!」
「u want my kids instead?!?!? send pics!」
「i’m getting goosebumps all over! All his games are so exciting!」
「66666666666666」
「CHINA NUMBA 1!」

The stream’s chat was impossible to read. Messages flooded in faster than the servers could handle them, and the chat lagged. But that didn’t stop all the viewers from constantly throwing something up at the wall of text, even if reading them was impossible. Everyone wanted to leave a mark on this moment, carve their names to say that they were there. 

Lightless was equally as excited as his chat. His eyes sparkled as he watched CN•HOOK2. He’s playing even better than before! Three wins in a row already!

✹

“Old Maple’s in good form today,” Shi Hang said as he clicked his tongue.

“Good form?! That kid is on fire!” Aurous exclaimed. Then he looked at the stream, looked back at Shi Hang, and then back to the stream. He nodded silently with a complicated expression on his face as he tried to put something together in his mind. Finally, he looked at Shi Hang and asked, “Alright. Be straight with me here. Exactly how good is Maple right now? He beat you in the East China Regional Quarterfinals, right? 3-2? And that was before this… He’s had even more time to grow and get back to where he was in Season 1. Does that mean he’s even better than you right now? Fuck! Hermes is going to have to step aside the day that kid returns to pro play!”

Shi Hang shook his head. “It’s not that simple. My win against Hermes today doesn’t mean a damn thing. It was one game, I was in good form today and Hermes was a little careless. Beyond that, there were a lot of different variables that worked out in my favor. The way I figure, I think I’ve got maybe a 40% chance of beating Hermes if we go up against HoG again.” Shi Hang paused for a moment and looked straight into Aurous’ eyes before continuing. “If Maple were still at his prime, Hermes would be nothing. Maple would absolutely blow Hermes away. But right now? He’s not there yet. He’s still not good enough yet.” 

Aurous blinked slowly as the weight of that statement sunk in. 

Shi Hang’s eyes flickered with an obscure light. “Lin Feng is still shaking off the rust. He’s slowly getting back into form and becoming Maple. I don’t know how far along he is in that or how much of his old skill he’s gotten back… but I do know that he’s still far away from being back at the very top.”

✹

Back in Team Shanghai’s hotel room in Beijing, Lin Feng was completely unaware of all the excitement his climb was generating or all the attention he was getting. None of that mattered to him. There was only one thought in his mind. CLIMB! 

He was planning on starting his fourth game. He hit the button to start the queue, and then grabbed a cup of water on the table and drank all of it. Then he took a deep breath and focused back on the screen, waiting for the queue to pop.

And while he waited, he reflected on his own condition. I feel great right now. Better than I have in a long time. All those hours of practicing, the scrims, and the tournament games, that was exactly what I needed! I’m starting to feel more like myself than I have in a long time. I’m even better than I was when I played Shi Hang right now. But… it’s not enough. I’m not where I need to be yet. My mechanics are better and I’m faster. But not fast enough. Not yet. I need more to get to the next level!

All of the games that Lin Feng had played and the hours he’d put in had induced a quantitative change in his level of play, but not a qualitative one yet. He still had a long road to travel before he evolved into the player he used to be. 

Then a match was found and Lin Feng accepted. The game started and ended 36 minutes later. After three wins in a row, Lin Feng had finally lost one. His first loss of the evening. 

✹

Over a million Chinese League fans and players moaned in despair when CN•HOOK2 was defeated in his fourth game. That single loss was enough to knock CN•HOOK2 back down to 10th place on the ranked ladder.

On Lightless’ stream, the setback sent chat into spasms of agony and anger.

「Ripperoni」
「hook2 played so well that game too!」
「he even solokilled ziggs early with viktor! Garbo teammates!」
「yeah, they’re shit! If he had better teammates,this game would’ve been a win!」

✹

Lin Feng was still calm and composed after losing his first game of the night. He was unfazed by the defeat. You win some, you lose some. That’s how this works. Losing is completely normal. The game is built to make sure you can’t win every game unless you’re so good that you can solo-carry. And… where I’m at right now, I can’t carry a game at the top of Challenger alone. This is fine, I’m not done yet!

Lin Feng closed his eyes and rubbed the space between his eyebrows for a couple of seconds. Then he opened his eyes again, and they burned even more intensity with fighting spirit!

Nothing is going to stop me from keeping the promise I made to One!