An Xin glanced at her hand and smiled. This medicine is killer! It always works when I really need it to! She then turned her head slightly so she could look at Lin Feng. I’m playing with you. With the real you! Her smile brightened and goosebumps ran down her arms. This is everything I ever wanted. She took a deep, long breath and focused on her screen. The game was in its fifth minute and she was running towards the top lane on her favourite Champion. She scrunched her eyebrows and said over the team’s voice chat, “Looks like their Gragas forgot to ward. Bait him, Zhang Hao.”

Zhang Hao nodded and replied, “Let me screw up a bit here! I need 10 seconds tops! They think I suck anyway!”

An Xin giggled as she had her Lee Sin hide in the brush right below the top lane. She moved her camera up a bit and watched Zhang Hao move his Lissandra forward to last hit a minion, and by doing so drawing aggro from a few other minions. He then ran back quickly and kept running until the minions stopped attacking him. When he came back towards the minions, he had less health than Gragas and his minions were ill-positioned. An Xin shook her head and said, “That’s surprisingly convincing.”

“I’m pretty good at screwing up like this. I like to pretend it’s a gift,” Zhang Hao replied, laughing.

Team Beijing’s Gragas fell for the trap. He Body Slammed into Lissandra and followed up with Barrel Toss. But right then, An Xin’s Lee Sin appeared from the brush while Lissandra stunned Gragas with Ring of Frost! From there it was a pure 2 versus 1. Gragas never really had a chance. It was Zhang Hao in the end who picked up the kill.

《First Blood!》

Team Beijing’s Toplaner threw his arms up and cursed, “Goddammit! Goddammit!” He shook his hand and banged his fist on the desk. “Fuck! FUCK! How did I let myself fall for that? It was so obvious! Come on, idiot! Don’t be such a fucktard!”

“It’s okay, bud,” Team Beijing’s Jungler said. He forced a smile on his face and then turned his head to look at his Toplaner. “It’s fine. Just a small setback. But we’ve grown used to those, huh?” He laughed, awkward. He then continued, “I can’t really do much pre-6 either. Just, I don’t know, try to play it safe. Stay behind the tower and all that stuff. It’s not ideal, but…”

“But it’s all we can do,” Yu Ping finished through gritted teeth.

Team Beijing’s Jungler nodded and said, “What Yu Ping says.”

✹

Su Xue clenched her fists and cheered, “BunBun with the assist in top! Her Lee is sooooooo amazing! Did you guys all see that?” She looked at the camera and through it imagined the hundred thousand plus people sitting behind their computers watching her. She smiled and continued, “When she plays Lee, it’s game over! Team Beijing doesn’t stand a chance!”

「BunBUn 6666666!」
「ITS THE GODDESSLEEE」
「LIL BRO AND HIS HAREM GOING TO WIN THE WHOLE DAMN THING!!!!」
「bunbuns lee makes lee look so much better than he really is」
「TOO GOOD! TEAM SHANGHAI TOO GOOD!」

✹

The broadcasting director had a replay of the fight in the top lane play when the sound from the live version announced that a kill happened somewhere. He cut the replay and the camera moved in a frenzy across the screen, searching for the corpse. It stopped a few moments later on the mid lane. LeBlanc’s corpse lay on the ground.

FourEyesChan stared at his screen and muttered into his microphone, “What? How! They’re not even Level 6 yet! How the hell did he get a solo kill on LeBlanc!?”

“It shouldn’t be possible!” Cherry exclaimed.

“WHAT THE FUCK! SHOW US A REPLAY!”
“REPLAY!”
“REPLAY!”
“How in the world did he pick up that kill!?”
“REPLAY PLEASE!”
“REPLAY OR RIOT!”
“REPLAY OR RIOT!”
“REPLAY OR RIOT!”
“REPLAY OR RIOT!”

“I’ve got it from good sources,” FourEyesChan started. He briefly paused for the audience to quiet down a bit and then continued, “That we’re getting a replay in t-minus 3, 2… NOW!”

Everyone watching the Winter Collegiate Cup Finals turned their attention to the replay. It showed Yasuo and LeBlanc in the mid lane. They were both low on health, but Yasuo still had his health pot. He chugged it down and a green, rejuvenating aura appeared around him.

A new wave of minions arrived in the mid lane. Yasuo dashed through a minion to arrive in front of LeBlanc and stabbed forward with his katana! A storm started brewing on the tip of his blade. But his health was still relatively low. Low enough that LeBlanc thought she could kill him. She placed a Sigil of Malice on him and tried to trigger it with Distortion!

“OH MY GOD!”
“HOW THE HELL!?”

Yasuo dashed through another minion to put enough distance from LeBlanc that the splash damage from Distortion completely missed him. By doing so, he also stopped the Sigil of Malice from triggering. LeBlanc followed up with Ethereal Chains, hurled in the direction Yasuo was moving. But Yasuo swiped his blade up, commanding the winds to form a Wind Wall. The Ethereal Chains slammed into the Wind Wall and disintegrated, after which Yasuo burst through the Wind Wall, dashed through LeBlanc and hit her with the second cast from Steel Tempest! Winds danced around the length of his blade!

“HOLY SHIT!”
“DAAAAAMN!”

The damage triggered LeBlanc’s passive. A clone of her appeared on the map. It started running away, while the real one waited for an opportunity. Yasuo didn’t fall for the trick. He didn’t chase the clone and instead hit the real one with an auto attack. LeBlanc then panic Flashed, confirming that the one Yasuo was attacking was indeed the real one.

Yasuo Flashed after LeBlanc and arrived underneath Red Team’s Outer Tower. It targeted him and charged up an energy shot. He ignored it and stabbed out with a third Steel Tempest. The winds gathered along his blade flew out onto Rift as a gust! It carved a path through the grass and knocked LeBlanc up into the air! He then auto attacked her and Ignited her. An energy shot from the Tower hit him. Because of the health from the potion he popped earlier, he survived. Barely. The Tower charged up for another shot. He hit LeBlanc with one more auto attack and then dashed away through a minion.

The unquenchable flames burned LeBlanc, searing through the last few dregs of her health. The audience watching the game went silent. They knew the outcome of the fight, but they were still enthralled and on the edge of their seats as they watched what happened. It was the final tick from Ignite that killed LeBlanc. And back in lane, Yasuo cleared his minion wave before recalling back to base.

Qiu Yijie looked around the stands. Everywhere he looked, people were up on their feet and cheering. These Beijing locals who were so negative about Team Shanghai at the start of the series had forgotten about that completely. As far as they were concerned, Team Beijing didn’t even exist anymore. There was only Team Shanghai for them. He shook his head and then said to his teammates and the players from Zhejiang University, “That’s what I meant. 5D chess. The way that he plays here, it’s…” He shrugged. There were no words to describe what he wanted to say.

Sun Ruinian nodded and added, “Yep. Such a clean kill. What’s there to say? He’s better than everyone else combined at this tournament… He doesn’t belong at this level.”

Zou Cheng pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “WIN FENG IS GOING TO THE LPL! WIN FENG TO THE LPL!”

✹

Cherry grabbed her microphone and said, “Pfooh! We’ve had an exciting 2 minutes! But now we’ve had a bit to cool down from that. Let’s take stock of the game here. FourEyesChan, take it away!”

FourEyesChan smiled and analysed, “We’re 7 minutes into this game! Team Shanghai has taken an early lead this game. They got first blood up in top, a lane they’re winning right now, and a solo kill in mid. Which means they’re up 2 kills to zero. There’s also a bot lane in League of Legends, but the four players down there are on their own little island. I haven’t seen anything worth mentioning from them yet.”

Cherry giggled and added, “This is all about the Yasuo! And a little about the Jungle and top lane… But look at Yasuo! He’s up 10 CS already! That’s almost 2 full waves! We’re only 7 minutes in here! That’s a lot! And at this rate… LeBlanc is going to get killed again, I’m telling you!”

“Not so fast!” FourEyesChan replied. He adjusted his glasses and continued, “Look in the river. Rengar is Level 6 and coming in for a gank! Maybe he can turn the mid lane back in Team Beijing’s favour!”

Lin Feng’s Yasuo dashed through two minions to arrive in front of LeBlanc. He stabbed out at her with Steel Tempest, and the winds gathered along the length of his blade yet again. Right then, a red exclamation mark appeared above his head. A gank? Sweet! Lin Feng grinned and narrowed his eyes, breathing slowly. Calm. The game slowed before his eyes. He saw the start of the animation for Ethereal Chains and dodged it by dashing through a minion. Rengar is al— 

A primal roar cut through the air! Rengar appeared from the shadows and pounced on Yasuo! He threw an empowered Bola mid-jump! It was coated in a thick layer of magic that added a root effect! The bola spun around its axis, again and again.

Lin Feng flicked his mouse and pressed the W key. His Yasuo’s blade slashed out horizontally and created a Wind Wall! The Bola flew straight into it and was stopped by the power of the winds, falling down to the ground.

“OH MY GOD!” Cherry screeched. “HE BLOCKED IT!”

FourEyesChan adjusted his glasses and said, “That’s some next level play!—”

“IT’S NOT OVER YET!” Cherry screamed. She jumped up from her seat and pointed at the screen, continuing, “Look! LOOK! THERE! LEE SIN IS COMING FOR A COUNTERGANK! IT’S THE TURNTABLES!”

FourEyesChan leaned back in his chair and put the microphone stand on his chest. He said, “I don’t think anyone saw this coming. Barely an hour in and Team Shanghai is up 2-0 against Team Beijing.”

“You know what that means!” Cherry cheered, giggling.

FourEyesChan nodded and replied, “That means it’s Championship Point for Team Shanghai! One more game and they’re the new Collegiate Cup Champions!”

Cherry looked out over the stadium at the fans sitting in their seats waiting for the third game and asked, “You enjoy analysis and predictions for these games, right? What are you expecting to see in Game 3?”

“I do!” FourEyesChan replied. He adjusted his glasses and analysed, “Team Shanghai is on the Blue Team next game, so let’s start with them. We’ve seen in the previous two games that this team is centered completely around their Midlaner. Their Bot and Toplaners do try and make something happen, but there is such a big qualitative difference between them and their Midlaner that as the game progresses, they find themselves relying more and more on their Midlaner. The Jungler is clearly aware of this fact and helps her Midlaner pull ahead when really needed, like she did with Eve in Game 1.

“Usually, Team Beijing would have an advantage here. It’s clear what Team Shanghai’s strong point is and that gives you the idea that you know how to beat them, right?” FourEyesChan briefly paused, waiting for Cherry to nod in agreement, and then continued, “Right. But that isn’t the case here in my opinion. The reason for that is that Team Shanghai’s Midlaner is so much better than everyone on Team Beijing combined. Even if they try to stop him, this Lin Feng will just 1 versus 5 them. Which brings me to the conclusion of my analysis. Team Beijing is fucked. Team Shanghai, and mostly Lin Feng, is too good. They’re going to walk away with Game 3.”

Cherry smiled and said, “As insightful as ever! Thanks FourEyesChan! And it looks like you’ve talked right through the break! I can see both teams getting ready in the lobby. We’ll be getting into Champion Select in a couple of seconds!”

Down in the stands, Qiu Yijie shook his head. He finally looked at his friends from Zhejiang University and said, “Those shoutcasters are right for once. With Lin Feng…”

Zou Cheng laughed and shouted, “HE’S THE VERY BEST!”

✹

Lin Feng yawned loudly and said, “Boy, I could really use a nap!”

“We’re in Game 3, Lin Feng,” Zeng Rui replied with a frown.

Lin Feng waved Zeng Rui’s worries away and said, “Don’t worry! I’m on it! Carry time!” He then leaned back in his chair and watched his team enter Champion Select. We start with a couple of bans. Who did Zeng Rui want to ban again? Ah, doesn’t matter. Right! He was going after the Ahri! Something about it being a strong Champion from Yu Ping. And Fizz… Huh? Why are they banning Varus, Eve, Twisted Fate…? Like I don’t know how to play any other Champions! Idiots.

Team Shanghai got the first pick. They went with Lee Sin for An Xin. The next two picks were for Team Beijing. They went with Rengar the Jungle Cat and Janna the Floating Support. Team Shanghai was up again. They decided on Kalista and Leona for their second and third picks.

Lin Feng yawned again. He slapped himself in the face a few times and mumbled, “Wake up! Just one more game to win this whole thing.” He blinked a few times while Team Beijing chose their third and fourth Champions. The third one was Gragas, which didn’t get any response from Lin Feng. But when he saw the LeBlanc fourth pick, he sat up straight and squared his shoulder. That’s more like it! He’s come out to play! He grinned and clenched his fist and said, “Since he wants to play, let’s play!”

Zhang Hao and An Xin turned their heads left and Tang Bingyao and Zeng Rui turned their heads right. They all stared at Lin Feng, surprised. The previous two games were for the most part hard carries by Lin Feng. They were under the impression he was already trying. Zeng Rui opened his mouth and wanted to remind Lin Feng to stick to the strategy, but then closed it again. We don’t need strategy if he’s going to play even better…

“The time has come for me to stop holding back!” Lin Feng announced, pumping his fist up into the air. He looked around at his teammates and continued, “I shall no longer limit myself with weak early game Champions! I’ll give this man the face he deserves! I’m going to go all out on one of my favourite Champions!” He then focused on his screen and shouted with a big grin, “Yasuo the Unforgiven! I CHOOSE YOUUU!”

“Wowowow! That ain’t no weak laner! That’s Yasuo!”
“He’s just going to change his playstyle? Why? He was wrecking Team Beijing with his Varus and Twisted Fate. I get that they were banned, but couldn’t he have gone something like Viktor?”
“Were you watching the same games I was? Did you see his microplay? Did you not hear when everyone was calling him the god of microplay? Those are mechanics! HEAVENLY MECHANICS!”
“He does look heavenly…”
“And Yasuo is one of the more mechanic-heavy Champions. If he can show the level of play he did on Twisted Fate on Yasuo? Oh boy, this gonna be good!”
“LeBlanc is also all about mechanics! This is going to be the ultimate mechanics matchup!”
“THIS IS GONNA BE A FEAST FOR OUR EYES! A FEAST I TELL YOU!”
“MY EYES WILL BE FULL AFTER THIS GAME!”
“LIKE A GOOD MEAL! YUMMIE YUMMIE!”

In Team Beijing’s soundproof booth, Yu Ping grimaced. He shook his head and mumbled, “Of-fucking-course. Now he goes with his normal Champions! WELP! At least I get to play against him going all out one more time…”

“Don’t be so down!” Team Beijing’s Jungler said over the team’s voice chat. He looked at Yu Ping and continued, “Maybe we…”

Yu Ping looked at his Jungler and smiled. He shrugged and replied, “We both know what’s going to happen. Remember what he did with Twisted Fate? He just needs to do that again and we’re out. We’ve lost, pretty much. Let’s just accept that. But we’re not going out without a fight! He’s going to have to earn it!” He gripped his mouse tightly and looked at his screen. He took a deep, long breath and then let all his frustration and anger escape through his lips. “You know?” he asked. He then looked around at his teammates and continued, “It doesn’t really matter who he is. He’s better than all of us combined. The pressure is off for us. Let’s go in and show him hell!”

The other players from Team Beijing looked at their captain and hesitated. They understood just as well as he did that they needed more than a miracle to turn this series around and win it. So rather than worrying about complicated strategies and other such things, they focused on what they did have control over. To have fun. To play a game of League of Legends as best as they could and enjoy it. They clenched their fists and shouted, “SHOW HIM HELL!”

Yu Ping narrowed his eyes and focused on Yasuo’s portrait. Show me how good you really are.

✹

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

The players from Zhejiang University and Fudan University sat on the edge of their seats. Zou Cheng couldn’t tear his eyes from the large LCD screen above the stage as he asked, “How long do you think Yu Ping can hold Lin Feng off?”

Qiu Yijie glanced at Zou Cheng and replied, “7 minutes?”

“No way,” Sun Ruinian said. “5 minutes tops.”

Fudan University’s Jungler shook his head and asked, “How are you guys this sure? Yeah he won the first two games. But is he really that good that you don’t even think there’s a possibility of Yu Ping winning this lane?”

“Lol!” Zou Cheng replied, laughing. He still wouldn’t move his eyes from the large LCD screen as he explained, “You don’t get it. You haven’t played against him. It doesn’t look too impressive most of the time, though it did look hella impressive on the Twisted Fate. But really, it don’t look all that special most of the time. That is, until you play against him. Then you suddenly find yourself with your back against the wall and a gun in your mouth! There’s nothing you can do and everything you try to do just backfires! The way that he plays? Fuck me! I’ve never played against anyone else who could put out that much pressure!”

Qiu Yijie pointed at the large LCD screen and said, “There. Just watch.”

Lin Feng’s Yasuo had reached Level 3. He’d unlocked his three main abilities and used them to up the aggression. He dashed through a minion and then another to arrive in front of Yu Ping’s LeBlanc! Steel Tempest! He thrust his Katana and pierced LeBlanc!

LeBlanc retaliated by casting Distortion and jumping away from Yasuo! She followed up with Sigil of Malice and Ethereal Chains! The mark from Sigil of Malice appeared above Yasuo’s head. It needed another skill from LeBlanc to explode. The chains shot at Yasuo, looking to do just that. But Lin Feng was faster. He pressed the W key, and his Yasuo’s katana slashed out horizontally with such speed that it created a Wind Wall! The Ethereal Chains smashed into it and missed.

Qiu Yijie chuckled and said, “Saw that? How he came out ahead in that fight? Looked pretty standard, right? Trust me, that wasn’t standard. He’s thinking 10 moves ahead and playing 5D chess. This was just a preparation for what’s to come. Maybe forcing Yu Ping to drink a health pot is going to matter in a bit. We’ll see. I don’t get it myself yet, but you’ll see. And it’ll be crazy.”

It was the Grand Finals of the Winter Collegiate Cup. No matter how Team Beijing felt about it, they couldn’t just give up. “We won’t!” Team Beijing’s Jungle exclaimed! He looked at his teammates and continued, “So what if we lose this game? We aren’t losing to Team Shanghai! We’re losing to their Midlaner! So screw him! Who cares about him? I don’t!”

Zhang Hongyi turned his head to look at his Jungler and said, “What…?”

Team Beijing’s Jungler clenched his fist and said over the team’s voice chat, “I don’t care that their Midlaner is the best player! So what if he takes first? Good for him! Whatever! But we’re going to take second, ahead of Team Shanghai! Forget about him! Let’s focus on the others and get some kills!”

“Huh!” Team Beijing’s Toplaner replied. He looked at his teammates and continued, “He’s right! Let’s show everyone we’re better than Team Shanghai! Screw their Midlaner!”

Yu Ping gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. You guys can ignore him. But it won’t be that easy for me… He took a deep, long breath and asked, “Then what about me?”

Team Beijing’s Jungler grinned and suggested, “Just abandon mid! Screw that guy! Let’s go and win the other lanes!”

“I’m in!” Zhang Hongyi exclaimed. He looked at his teammates, grinning, and added, “Give me some help to kill Zeng Rui again!”

“Coming!” Team Beijing’s Jungler said. He then nodded at Yu Ping and asked, “You also coming?”

Yu Ping nodded slowly and mumbled, “Yeah. I guess.”

“That’s more like it!” Team Beijing’s Jungler exclaimed, forcing laughter into his voice.

✹

At 17 minutes, Team Beijing’s Toplaner, Midlaner and Jungler were missing. An Xin moved her camera around the map and asked over the team’s voice chat, “Where are they…? This doesn’t make any sense… Where did they go? Lin Feng is pushing mid and Zhang Hao is pushing top…”

“Maybe they’re scared of me!” Lin Feng suggested.

An Xin glanced at him and replied, “Haha. So funny.” She then turned to look at the others and continued, “I’m serious. Where are they?”

Zeng Rui’s eyes suddenly opened wide. He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “They’re here! Bot! No way Shitty Zhang plays like this when there isn’t a gank waiting!”

Lin Feng grinned and said, “It’s time to d-d—”

“LIN FENG!” An Xin screamed. She glared at him with her murder smile and asked, “Do I need to repeat myself? HMM?”

“Jeesh!” Lin Feng complained. “I was just going to say that I’ve got Teleport and HaoBro also has his TP up. ZengZeng should just bait them into tower diving to try and kill him and Tang Tang…”

Zeng Rui looked at the scoreboard and nodded. He replied, “I like that idea. See this ward?” He pinged on a ward in the second brush along the bottom side of the lane. “If both of you teleport there when they engage. BunBun? What if you come through the lane?”

An Xin smiled and said, “I do like the sound of that! On my way!” She had her Nocturne walk into the bot lane and stopped in the brush between the Inner and Outer Tower. With her ultimate, she could reach the fight from there. “In position!”

Zeng Rui glanced at Lin Feng and Zhang Hao and asked, “You two?” When he received the nod from Zhang Hao and the thumbs up from Lin Feng, he turned back to look at his screen and took a deep, long breath. “Okay,” he mumbled. He then clicked forward, allowing his Thresh to malposition.

In Team Beijing’s soundproof booth, Zhang Hongyi almost jumped up from his chair. He pointed at his screen and shouted, “He fell for it! I knew he was bad! I knew it! Hah! GoGoGo!” He then had his Janna use Zephyr. A skill that allowed Janna to summon an air elemental that she could send at an enemy champion to deal some damage and also slow them. The air elemental flew straight at Zeng Rui’s Thresh and slowed him!

Team Beijing’s Nidalee, Dr. Mundo and Ahri all ran into the lane! They met up with the Ezreal and Janna. Together, all five of them unleashed their skills on Zeng Rui’s Thresh! Different kinds of magic, bolts of energy, javelins and cleavers flew through the air! Everything combined tore apart Thresh’s health!

But no one in the stadium was cheering for Team Beijing. A few mumbled how unfair this game was for Team Beijing, but most remained silent. The shoutcasters sat quietly at their desk, shaking their heads. They could almost feel the pain Team Beijing was about to suffer.

Zeng Rui waited for the last possible moment and then Flashed away, forcing the five Champions from Team Beijing to follow him. It pulled them away from the safety of their Outer Tower and right into the middle of the bot lane. That was where Yu Ping’s Ahri dealt the killing blow.

《You have slain an enemy!》

There was the briefest moment of euphoria on Team Beijing’s side of the stage. And then darkness fell over Summoner’s Rift. It was a thick darkness that the players from Team Beijing could only see each other’s Champions as they huddled together in the middle of the lane. A shadow of terror lit up below Yu Ping’s Ahri. He was marked by Nocturne and Nocturne was flying at him! But the nightmare was only just beginning for Team Beijing. Completely unbeknownst to them, Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate and Zhang Hao’s Irelia were teleporting into the lane right below them. And in front of them, Tang Bingyao’s Sivir cast On the Hunt, boosting the movement speed of all nearby allies!

FourEyesChan shook his head and said into his microphone, “I mean…” He shrugged and turned his head to look at Cherry.

Cherry looked back at him and massaged her forehead. She then breathed out through her mouth and said, “That’s just… I don’t know what to say.”

《You have slain an enemy!》

《Double kill!》

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Two more to go and this nightmare is over,” FourEyesChan said. He then chuckled and added, “Nocturne is a nightmare, but it’s kind of funny how he’s also a nightmare in this game.”

Cherry smiled and replied, “I’m trying to enjoy this. I really am. It’s a beautiful play by Team Shanghai. But it’s just so…” She sighed loudly and continued, “It’s just so hard to watch this. I can feel the pain Team Beijing must be feeling. This is… Yeah, I feel bad for them.”

《Triple kill!》

FourEyesChan nodded and said into his microphone, “Same.”

《Double kill!》

《Aced!》

The teamfight ended with Team Shanghai picking up 5 kills versus one kill for Team Beijing. But it was never really a fight. It was a one-sided slaughter. Any notion Team Beijing still had about trying to play around Lin Feng disappeared. Between his ultimate skill and Teleport summoner spell, they couldn’t get anywhere where he couldn’t go. They didn’t surrender, that just wasn’t done at the competitive level, but they gave up resisting. They watched Team Shanghai take the Dragon and take their towers. They put up something of a defense when Team Shanghai besieged their base. But without the conviction, they lacked teeth, and they crumbled. Team Shanghai breached their base, destroyed their inhibitors and finally also their Nexus.

VICTORY!

✹

Lin Songshi walked into the skybox in the Chaoyang Sports Centre reserved for the highest ranked officials from the Chinese Esports Association. He was their boss, the president of the entire esports in China, a rank he’d started to work towards more than 10 years ago when the esports scene was still in its infancy. He walked past the only other person in the room and stopped in front of the window that gave a full view of the stadium. “How far are we?” he asked over his shoulder.

Zhou Wei was one of the three vice presidents from the Beijing Esports Association. He fixed his tie and bowed deeply before replying, “Sir, everything is ready. The trophy is backstage and I’ve taken the liberty to draft a… two speeches for you. Do you wish to take a look?”

Lin Songshi saw the score on the large LCD screen above the stage. 2-0 for Team Shanghai. One more game to win… Not much of a surprise. He turned around to look at Zhou Weihe and said, “No need. I probably won’t be using it anyway.”

Zhou Wei nodded and replied, “That’s just like you, President! You’re great at doing these kinds of things impromptu!”

“Enough asskissing,” Lin Songshi said. He then nodded behind him at the large LCD screen above the stage and asked, “Almost over, isn’t it?”

“Sorry, sir! Yes, sir!” Zhou Wei replied. “Team Shanghai is up 2-0. Looks like they might win this.”

Lin Songshi smiled and said more to himself than to Zhou Wei, “Fan Yuan was so convinced his team was going to win. I can already imagine the look on his face right about now.”

Zhou Wei chewed on his lips and considered how to reply for a bit before saying, “He was. But I think that had more to do with his rivalry with Chu Fang. You might know him as Shanghai Esports Association’s vice president. Fan Yuan told me before the series he was really looking forward to beating Chu Fang…” He scratched the back of his head and then continued, “I’m kind of surprised if I’m being honest here, sir. I thought Fan Yuan had a strong team. Their chances of winning were pretty high if you asked me. But Team Shanghai has come out swinging in these Finals.”

“Mm-hmm,” Lin Songshi mumbled. He turned back towards the window and leaned on the handrail. He then narrowed his eyes and looked at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. It was too far away for a good look, but he didn’t need a good look to recognize Lin Feng. It might’ve been a good chance for Fan Yuan if it wasn’t against that kid. Maybe I should’ve done something when I saw his name before the Quarterfinals… He breathed out through his mouth and mumbled inaudibly, “Easy win for him.”

FourEyesChan said into the microphone, “Well, ladies and gents, that’s one way to mentally murder your opponents. What Twisted Fate just did there?” He shook his head and then continued, “That was soul crushing to watch. And if anyone wants to know what a soul crushed opponent looks like, just look at Team Beijing’s Janna.”

Zhang Hongyi’s Janna stood still and watched Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate escape with about a hundred health remaining. She could’ve tried to chase him and might’ve even gotten the kill in the end, but Zhang Hongyi wasn’t in the space of mind for that anymore. He sat behind his computer in a completely silent soundproof booth and stared at his screen through hazy eyes, numb. His spirit was lost.

Cherry started counting all the instances of Lin Feng dodging a skillshot for a third time. She added the charms and Orb of Deception from Ahri, the Howling Gale from Janna and the various skillshots from Nidalee. She finally shook her head and said, “I don’t have enough fingers for this. I’ll need my toes if I want to count how many skillshots Twisted Fate dodged there.” She chewed on her lips for a bit and then added, “I think we’re all a bit stunned here. But… But what else can we be? The level of play Twisted Fate just showed us? That’s so far above and beyond everything else we’ve seen at the Collegiate Cup… I don’t even know what to say. Maybe, woooo? Yeah, let’s go with that. Woooo!”

The audience sat in their seats, stunned. They couldn’t believe what they’d seen, and hadn’t the faintest clue how to process it or react to it. It was only after Cherry woo’d for Team Shanghai that a couple of people found themselves blinking and turning their heads to look around the stands. They then squared their shoulders and started clapping. A few turned to many and from the initial low rumble erupted a cacophony of applause!

“WOOOOOOO!”
“HE’S BLESSED BY THE GODS!”
“Hah! There’s no best team this year, there’s only the best player! WIN FENG! WIN FEEENG!”
“That’s one way to eliminate the opposition… G-fucking-G!”
“PLEASE GIMME DANCE LESSONS, WIN FENG!”
“THOSE DODGES! WHAT THE FUCK!”
“NEVER CLUTCHED MY BUTT SO TIGHTLY!”
“IIIIIIII! HAVE MY BABY!”

✹

Su Xue grabbed a glass of sake and clinked it against her camera, shouting, “WOOOOOOOOO! TRIPLE KIIIIIIIILL! WIN FENG FOR THE WIIIIIIIIN!”

「66666」
「BEST TF IVE EVER SEEEEEENNNN!!!!!」
「WHEN WE GETTING LIL BRO SEMINAR ON STREAM!??!?!?!?」
「WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! LIL BRO BEST BROOO!!!!」
「im a master and he makes me feel like a complete noob…..」
「JESUS FUCKING >>>>>>> HOWS HE THIS GOOD? WTFFTFFF  AARGGHHHH」
「SSIIIICCKCKKKKKKK!!!!! INSANE PLAYZ BY THE LIL BROOOOO」
「omgomgomg how the fuck… IN FUCKING SAAAAANE!!!!」

✹

“You could’ve helped me get the kill on Mundo, you know,” An Xin said over the team’s voice chat. She glanced at Zhang Hao and giggled. I know. It’s hard to believe what Lin Feng sometimes does. She winked at him and asked, “You okay there?”

Zhang Hao’s mouth hung open as he stared at Lin Feng, incredulous. He finally asked, “How…? What… How did you get the triple there? It was a 4 man gank and Tang Tang and Zeng Rui died! You did that 1 versus 4! You… You… WHAT THE FUCK, DUDE! I know you’re Maple, but… WHAT THE FUCK!”

An Xin giggled and said, “It’s a little ridiculous, right? They should really nerf him a bit.”

“Oi!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He glared at An Xin and continued, “They can’t nerf me!”

An Xin was there when Lin Feng had his Season 1 Worlds run. She knew how good he was, and how special it was when he played at his level. But because she’d seen and experienced it before, it didn’t hit nearly as hard for her as it did to the rest of Team Shanghai, who were pressed with their noses against the facts. Lin Feng was so much better than them that there really was no comparison.

Tang Bingyao stared at her grey screen. More specifically, she was looking at the corpses of Ezreal, Ahri and Nidalee. Her teeth chattered. H-how…? I tried to play it like he would, but… But… She breathed in deeply, forcing back the tears that were trying to appear in her eyes. H-he can play aggressively, because he can do… that. That’s why Zeng Rui wanted me to retreat. Mhm. He knew I don’t have the skill to do what Lin Feng does… I… She sniffed and mumbled quietly, “Nice gank.”

Lin Feng put his thumbs up, grinning, and said, “Nice baiting them there! That was some great thinking!”

Tang Bingyao chewed on her lips and nodded. I was just trying to… I didn’t think… She breathed in and mumbled, “Thanks.”

Zeng Rui put his hand on his chest and felt his heart battering against his rib cage. He’d watched the fight and he’d been convinced a dozen times that Lin Feng was dead. Yet every time Lin Feng made the crucial sidestep. At every junction, Lin Feng made the correct call. Zeng Rui lowered his head and rubbed his forehead. So this is what it feels like to play with a world class player. The thundering dumbass… that’s me, isn’t it? I’m the idiot. I didn’t see just how good… How did he…? He sniffed and said, “That was… That was probably the best outplay I’ve seen.”

Lin Feng grinned and said, “Thanks, ZengZeng!”

✹

There was a heavy silence in Team Beijing’s soundproof booth. No one knew what to say or do. Zhang Hongyi was still staring in front of him at nothing in particular, the fast beating of his heart booming in his ears like explosions. Team Beijing’s Jungler, ad-carry and Toplaner weren’t much better. They were trying to find an explanation, a reason why everything happened.

“No way…”
“How did he just go 1 versus 3 us?”
“This can’t be happening…”

But their mumbles were ignored by the others. They were the ramblings of lost souls. Players who were trying to come to terms with what just happened, knowing perfectly well that there was nothing they could say, do or think that would dampen the impact. The fight ended with two kills for three deaths. That wasn’t disastrous; it happened all the time in teamfights. But it was the way in which it went down. The pure skill from Lin Feng that left them so completely helpless that they’d lost every bit of fight in them.

However, compared to Yu Ping, the rest of Team Beijing was relatively well off. Yu Ping sat behind his computer with slumped shoulders. His anger and rage were gone. He’d gone into the series believing he was the better Midlaner. When Lin Feng went with a strong late game Champion in Varus, he felt offended. And when Lin Feng did it again in the second game with Twisted Fate, he was truly upset. But that was all healthy in competition. It made him a stronger and more motivated player!

Yu Ping sighed and shook his head. I’m not the better player. I’m not even close to how good he is. I should’ve known. I should’ve known. Fan Yuan warned us. He told us to watch out for Team Shanghai. But how could anyone be as strong as us? How could there be another team with such a well-rounded lineup? Team Guangzhou looked interesting enough, but was ultimately boring. And Team Shanghai looked like the weaker team. Lin Feng… He closed his eyes, but the hint of anger that he associated with the name didn’t appear. His spirit was lost. Lin Feng never looked that good. He just… He just won. Even after the first game, I still felt like I could play against him and beat him. The difference felt so small! And then we got off to such a good start in this second game! We were beating him and he needed the Nocturne to get a kill! He needed—

He didn’t need Nocturne at any point. Yu Ping scratched under his eye and grimaced. He never needed any help. He just went into a 1 versus 4 and outplayed us so completely… What’s left to do or say? Just… What’s the point? He’s so much better than I am that there’s nothing I can do to stop him. He’s so much better that even with our entire team we can’t stop him! His teammates don’t matter. They never did! It’s all him! People can yap all they want about how League is a team game. That’s only the case when teams are evenly matched. There’s no evenly matched here. One team is a university level team and the other is a high school level team. And the third team is a single player who’s playing at the World Championship level.

Yu Ping sighed again and then asked over the team’s voice chat, “Where did he come from? Who is he?”

✹

Lin Feng grinned and declared, “I’m fed! I’ve got all the gold in the world and now I can spend it to buy whatever item I want!”

“Get Zhonya’s,” Zeng Rui suggested.

“Great idea!” Lin Feng exclaimed. He opened the shop and bought Zhonya’s Hourglass. It was an expensive item most players didn’t get until the 20 or even 25 minute mark. But Lin Feng bought it 15 minutes into the game. The active skill from this item granted him another method to dodge skillshots and evade crowd control. It made it that much harder for Team Beijing to do anything against him. He clenched his fist and said, “Time to close this baby out!”

Tang Bingyao pressed the Tab key and looked at the game score. Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate had the highest kills/deaths/assists ratio with his 5/1/0 score and he had the highest creep score. She chewed on her lips and snuck a glance at him. You’re so far ahead that you can solo carry this game now. That’s what I wanted to do. That’s why I played so aggressively! I didn’t bait them for you… I was trying to do what you do, without your skills. It just doesn’t work without your skills… She put her hand under the table and clenched it. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up! Mhm-mhm!

Team Beijing’s Jungler felt his heart slamming against his ribcage. His head hurt and the stage was spinning. He suddenly felt incredibly thirsty. Where are Yu Ping and Zhang Hongyi? Why aren’t they— FUCK! HOW… He gritted his teeth and tensed his stomach as he held his breath. He had his Nidalee run into the same brush that Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate had just disappeared into and got vision on him again. He then landed an auto attack. COME ON! He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “HELP!”

“TRYING! I’M TRYING!” Yu Ping shouted back. He ground his teeth in frustration and punched down on his keyboard, knowing perfectly well that his skills were all on cooldown. I need my Charm and I need to hit it. All I need are a few more second—

“Coming!” Zhang Hongyi said. He had his Janna float towards Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate and targeted him with an auto attack. He then added, “Howling Gale is coming off cooldown in a few more seconds!”

Team Beijing’s Jungler strained his eyes to keep them open and focused on Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate. He tried his best to spot every minute movement by Twisted Fate and adapt to it. I’m going to hit my next skill! I have to hit it! Pounce on him, swipe, amazonian form and heal, and finish it off with a Javelin Toss. YeahYeahYEAH! He smiled and glanced at his skill bar. Pounce had cooled down and was available again. He activated the skill. His Nidalee leaned back on her back paws and then pushed off, leaping towards Twisted Fate!

Hehe! Lin Feng stuck his tongue out a bit and bit down on it as his hands moved in practiced patterns. He’d counted Nidalee’s cooldowns and knew exactly when the Pounce was most likely to come. More precisely, he started dodging the skill before Nidalee even used it. He did this by pressing the S key and stopping all movements and then running back towards Nidalee, resulting in her jumping over him! The combo completely missed!

FourEyesChan shook his head and said into his microphone, “Wow! Wow! I don’t have the words. Just… Wow!”

“AGAIN! HE FUCKING DID IT AGAIN!”
“HE’S THE HERO WE NEED!”
“GOD OF MICROPLAY!”
“DAYUM!”

Cherry opened her eyes wide and counted the number of clutch dodges Lin Feng had made since the start of the fight on her fingers. She then said into her microphone, “I think that’s five. The Ahri Charm, Nidalee spears and now the Pounce… Five times! Oh my god! FIVE! If I was in Nidalee’s shoes, I’d hit F4 and uninstall the game!”

Team Beijing’s Jungler blinked a drop of sweat from his eyelids and flicked his mouse around. Curses ran through his mind and he felt more embarrassed than he’d ever felt in his life. But they were still in a 3 versus 1! He wasn’t going to give up just because he missed a few skillshots. He clicked on Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate and attacked with a Swipe of Nidalee’s claws! Yu Ping’s Ahri was right next to him and fired the Orb of Deception at Twisted Fate.

Lin Feng wasn’t just counting the cooldowns for Nidalee’s skills. He was keeping track of everyone’s cooldowns. As far as Lin Feng was concerned, there could be no surprise attack from any Champion on Team Beijing. He was moving to counter them before they even began. This time he did so by running towards Nidalee, eating the Swipe and seeing his health drop below 20 percent. But the Orb of Deception completely missed him. He then turned around and threw a volley of cards! The Wild Cards were aimed perfectly. They shredded Nidalee’s remaining health, then went on to hit Janna and Ahri!

《Double Kill!》

The audience burst into a fresh wave of cheers when the voice announcer boomed across the stadium. Fan Yuan who sat right below the stage gnashed his teeth in frustration. He banged his fists on his armrests and shouted, “HOW IS HE NOT DEAD? YOU FUCKING USELESS SHITS! YOU WERE HIRED TO WIN THIS TOURNAMENT!” He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down, reminding himself they were just high schoolers. Until he remembered how they’d underestimated Team Shanghai in the early stages of the tournament. I told them! I fucking told them! How many times did I warn them that Team Shanghai was the team to watch out for? Before they even made it to the East China Regionals, I told them to be careful! Team Shanghai is handpicked by the Shanghai Esports Association! They were never going to suck! GODDAMN USELESS SHITS! I WARNED THEM! I FUCKING WARNED THEM!

A short distance away from Fan Yuan was Chu Fang. He clapped his hands and cheered with the rest of the audience. But as much as he looked a part of the audience, he wasn’t. For he knew who Lin Feng really was. What he was watching wasn’t just a good League of Legends player making a beautiful outplay. He was watching the return of Maple. Just the thought of the games from four years ago gave him goosebumps. But to see the man himself playing again at a level that only a few players ever reached, that was something else entirely.

Chu Fang had long forgotten about the little competition between the three branches of the Chinese Esports Association. Before the series against Team Beijing began, he worried about that. But when he saw who came to play, when he saw Maple again, everything else seemed so insignificant. There were tears in his eyes and his throat felt dry. He wiped his mouth and mumbled, “Oh my god. Oh my god! This is him. This is Maple! He’s back!”

Chu Fang started smiling and then laughing. He clenched his fists and jumped around. He looked at the fans around him, listened to them cheering Lin Feng’s name, and laughed even harder. He shouted, “WELCOME BACK! LEAGUE OF LEGENDS HAS MISSED YOU!”

✹

“Please get him. PLEASE!” Team Beijing’s Jungler shouted over the team’s voice chat.

Yu Ping nodded slowly and replied, “Trying. Trying!” He stared at Lin Feng through bloodshot eyes. I’ve still got a bit more health remaining. It’s not much, but it’s enough! And he’s got what? 100 health left? Fuck that! We got this! We can do this! COME ON! COME FUCKING ON! CHARM GET OFF— “CHARM!” he screamed into his microphone while aiming with his mouse and activating the skill.

Lin Feng breathed calmly. His teammates were all staring at him. The two players in the top lane had even stopped playing to watch this fight. But Lin Feng noticed none of that. He was mumbling the cooldowns and when he knew Ahri’s Charm was coming, he started moving. His Twisted Fate had a bit more than a hundred health left. If the Charm hit, that’d be it. He stepped left right when Ahri blew her kiss. And he chose the right direction to dodge. The pink heart flew past him and missed him.

Cherry’s mouth fell open and she stared at her screen, incredulous. She said into her microphone, “Again. AGAIN! HE DID IT AGAIN! ANOTHER DODGE! OH MY GOD! HE DID IT AGAIN!”

FourEyesChan shook his head and mumbled, “Wow… How… Wow!”

“1 versus 4. EASY GAME!”
“HE JUST KEEPS DODGING!”
“HOW IS HE DOING THIS!?”
“THIS IS FUCKING UNREAL!”
“HOW DOES HE KNOW?”
“Is he aimbotting? How is this even possible…?”
“FUCK, HE’S GOOD!”

Yu Ping’s pupils shrunk. … How? Every bit of anger, hatred and pure fury escaped from his body. The last bits of hope sunk to the pit of his stomach and he just stared at his screen for a brief moment, numb. Then he remembered where he was. What he was playing for. He shook the daze off and asked over the team’s voice chat, “Howling Gale, when?”

“NOW!” Zhang Hongyi shouted triumphantly. His Janna arrived right in front of Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate and cast Howling Gale! The storm started brewing at her feet and quickly picked up size and pace. There was no time or space for Lin Feng to sidestep this. “We’ve got him! Finish him off!”

Lin Feng’s index finger had been resting on the D key for the entire fight, ready and waiting for that one skill he needed to dodge but couldn’t. That moment was now. He Flashed. A mottled flash of light sucked him away from Summoner’s Rift and spat him back out again a short distance away. The Howling Gale missed him completely.

Zhang Hongyi stared at his screen, numb. He watched Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate throw a Stacked Deck empowered playing card at Yu Ping’s Ahri. The voice announcer then boomed in his ears. “TRIPLE KILL!” His mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he managed to utter, “H-h-he still… He still had Flash!?”

“I-I thought he used it already…” Team Beijing’s Jungler mumbled.

Team Beijing’s ad-carry added, “Me too…”Yu Ping ground his teeth, staring at his grey screen, and then shouted, “WELL CLEARLY HE DID NOT! FUCK! FUCK!”

“Man. Man, oh, man!” Qiu Yijie said, amazed. He looked at the large LCD screen above the two soundproof booths and shook his head. “Man…”

Zou Cheng from Zhejiang University nodded vigorously and replied, “I know, right!? That positioning, holy smokes! It’s superb with a capital B!”

Qiu Yijie rubbed his chin and asked, “How does he do that? He makes it look so easy… But if I’d been the one playing? In the Finals of the biggest tournament at this level of competition? With tens of thousands… maybe even hundreds of thousands of people watching? I wouldn’t have even seen the Charm until it hit me.”

“No one would’ve,” Sun Ruinian chimed in. He shook his head and continued, “Because no one would’ve considered teleporting down there and taking the fight. That dude knew what was up from the start. Did you see how he waited before teleporting in? There was a short pause before he went. I’m thinking he did it to bait them underneath the tower.”

“ShitShit! Guys!” Zou Cheng exclaimed. He pointed at the screen and said, “It’s not over yet! Sivir is in trouble!”

Tang Bingyao’s Sivir had lost most of her health trying to help Zeng Rui survive. Team Beijing initially engaged Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate, but when they failed to burst him down, they turned their attention back to Tang Bingyao’s Sivir because her auto attacks could do a ton of damage in a prolonged fight.

Yu Ping used the second dash from Spirit Rush to get past Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate and arrive in front of Tang Bingyao’s Sivir. He followed up with Fox-Fires and Orb of Deception! Three magical flames manifested around Ahri and shot towards Sivir together with the orb! They finished what little health she had left.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Oooooh, shiiiiit!” FourEyesChang hollered into his microphone. He clutched it tightly in his fist and continued, “They’re turning around the turn around! It’s a turn-turnaround!”

Cherry giggled and screeched, “WOOOOOOOOO!”

Yu Ping narrowed his eyes and used the third and final cast from Spirit Rush to jump away from the outer tower. W-what!? That did no damage! Each Spirit Rush generated magical friction that manifested into a powerful magic attack. The previous one had helped him kill Sivir by dealing a significant amount of damage. But on his way out, that same attack dealt almost no damage to Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate. He smashed on the Tab key and paused. His entire body stopped for a brief moment, and then he shouted over the team’s voice chat, “CARE! HE HAS MAGIC RESIST!”

“Fuck!” Team Beijing’s Jungler cursed. His Nidalee and Yu Ping’s Ahri were both ability power Champions.  And their team’s sole attack damage Champion, Ezreal, was dead. It was worse even for Team Beijing, because Ezreal had the Red Buff when he died. Upon death, this buff got transferred to Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate.

Lin Feng looked down at his skill bar and grinned. Just a few more seconds. He ran after Yu Ping’s Ahri and threw a card at her. The damage it dealt was secondary. What Lin Feng cared about was applying the slow from the Red Buff, because since Ahri used her ultimate she didn’t have any other escapes left. He followed up with a second card, counting down the last second of Pick a Card’s cooldown. And he then activated the skill.

A Blue Card appeared above Twisted Fate’s head…

A Red Card appeared above Twisted Fate’s head…

The audience, the casters and the people at home, everyone knew what was going to happen. They sat on the edge of their seats, expectant. Some even forgot to breathe, mumbling a version of, “Come on, kill him!”

A Gold Card appeared above Twisted Fate’s head. Lin Feng selected it and threw it at Yu Ping’s Ahri! There was no running from it. Even Janna’s shield from Eye of the Storm did little more than negate some of the damage. Twisted Fate stunned Ahri! He followed up with a fourth auto attack, triggering Stacked Deck for bonus damage! He then threw a volley of cards with Wild Cards! Their sharp edges cut into Ahri and sheared away her health!

Yu Ping shouted through gritted teeth, “Kill him already!”

“I’m trying!” Team Beijing’s Jungler exclaimed. He threw his arm up and continued, “But what can I do? He keeps dodging every fucking spear I throw at him! It’s like he fucking knows where I’m throwing them before I even throw them! How the fuck is he doing this!?”

“Just… Just kill him!” Yu Ping shouted, frustrated.

✹

“Dodge it, dodge it, dodge it!” Su Xue chanted. She leaned over her desk, her nose almost pushing into her screen. When Lin Feng dodged another spear from Nidalee and then hit Ahri with an auto attack, she jumped in joy! Her screen almost fell over and she yelped from her nose hitting the monitor. But the shocked surprise only lasted for a moment, intense joy overwhelming all her other sensations. She smiled and cheered, “LIL FANCY FEET BRO! WOOOOOOOOO!”

「YOU CAN DO IT LIL BROO!!!! GET THE QUADRA!!!」

「sick dodge game!」

「hows he keep dodging all em skilzzzz?????」

「with his stanly ass manly skilllzzzz OBVIOUSLY!!!」

「FK ME HES GOOD」

「LIL BRO MASTERCLASS!!!!!!!!」

「we can dooo thizzzzzzz」

「omgomgomgomg kill ahri plzzzzzzzz」

✹

Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate was well clear from his outer tower. They were in the open, he and three Champions from Team Beijing. They seemed to realise this. More specifically, after missing another spear, Nidalee changed to her cougar form and pounced at him! But he just grinned. Don’t make this too easy, please. He looked around the bot lane and realised he was very close to the bottom ring, where there were three brushes. He ran towards the one nearest to him and briefly paused, waiting for Nidalee to cast a skill. When she did, he stepped inside the brush and killed vision, canceling Nidalee’s skill.

“Gotcha!” Lin Feng mumbled, grinning.

Zeng Rui said through gritted teeth, “Don’t joke. Focus!”

Lin Feng glanced at Zeng Rui and replied, “Don’t worry, ZengZeng! I’ve got this! Watch me!”

Between the first game and the start of the second game, Team Beijing looked like a terrible team. It started to seem like luck was the biggest factor that saw them make it to the Finals of the Winter Collegiate Cup. But nothing was less true than that. They had a team full of incredibly talented players, most of whom were better than their counterparts on Team Shanghai. This was most evident in the top lane and to a lesser extent in the bot lane. But even Team Beijing’s Jungler could give An Xin a run for her money in every aspect of the game except for map awareness. It was only Yu Ping in the mid lane who was vastly outclassed by Lin Feng.

Yu Ping started to realise that the biggest factor holding Team Beijing back in their series against Team Shanghai was him. He wanted to duel Lin Feng and beat him. But he couldn’t; he wasn’t good enough. He gritted his teeth and looked around the map. I need to accept that I can’t beat him. He’s on Twisted Fate, so he’s not even looking to beat me either. Fine. Yep. Focus. Top lane… I can’t do much there. Mundo is holding his own. They need to gank him and even that is kind of risky. He’ll hold his own. What about bot… Hmm… That girl is good, but we’re better. If we can get a few kills on her and then use that strength to get Mundo a kill or two, then it doesn’t matter how strong Twisted Fate is. He grimaced and closed his eyes briefly. We need to play around him. I need to put my ego aside for a moment and stop tunneling. The way to win this game is to play around Twisted Fate, so let’s do that!

Yu Ping opened his eyes and looked at the top right corner of the screen. 12 minutes in. They’re going to gank again soon. Worst case, we either countergank or find a gank in the other lane. Best case, they don’t gank. He nodded at himself and said over the team’s voice chat, “We’re making a play bot. Ping me the wards, Nidalee.”

Team Beijing’s Jungler pinged the red wards he’d spotted in the river and Zhang Hongyi pinged those around the bot lane and wrote their timers down in the game chat. Yu Ping pretended like he was recalling back to base, and then snuck away from the mid lane and started making his way to the bot lane. He found a part of himself he’d lost during the first game. A calmness and clarity of his mind. A rhythm that matched his style. His Ahri danced through the river and arrived in the bot lane without Team Shanghai noticing it until it was already far too late.

“TANG TANG!” Zeng Rui yelled over the team’s voice chat. He pinged the yellow retreat sign and continued, “AHRI!” He then Flashed away and tossed his lantern at Tang Bingyao’s Sivir.

Zhang Hongyi smiled when he saw the panicked reaction from Zeng Rui’s Thresh. His fingers were already gliding across his keyboard, activating skills. A mottled flash of light sucked his Janna from Summoner’s Rift and spit her back out on the far side of Tang Bingyao’s Sivir. Janna then surrounded herself in a magical storm and threw Sivir away from Thresh’s Lantern and towards Blue team’s outer tower!

This displacement from Monsoon left Tang Bingyao briefly incapable of activating skills. Yu Ping used this opportunity to dash at her with Spirit Rush and Charm her. All the while, Ezreal attacked her with his skills and auto attacks. The combination of damage brought Sivir’s health down to the last few percentages when the effects from Charm finally wore off. Tang Bingyao still tried to run, but Yu Ping’s Ahri dashed after her with Spirit Rush.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Cherry cheered into her microphone, “WOOOOOOO!”

FourEyesChan smiled and added, “That’s more like it! Let’s go Team Beijing!”

“Fucking finally! We’ve got a game on our hands!”

“WOOOOOO!”

“More of this please! Show them Shanghai Suckers who the best team is!”

“BEIJING RUUUUUULES!”

“WHOOP DEE DOODLE DOO!”

Zhang Hongyi watched Zeng Rui’s Thresh escaping towards the Red Team’s Outer Tower and clenched his fist, smiling. “Heck yeah!” he exclaimed. He looked around at his teammates in the soundproof booth and continued, “Heck yeah! We did it, boys! Fucking got the better of that piece of shit Zeng Rui! Let’s push this lane and destroy his shitty tower!”

“Don’t,” Yu Ping cut in. He breathed in and smiled, then nodded and said, “Good job. We got the kill. But we don’t need to take the tower so quickly. Just freeze the lane and I’ll gank again in a few minutes with Nidalee.”

Zhang Hongyi chuckled and replied, “Sure. That also works.” He looked at his screen, more specifically at Sivir’s corpse, and added, “We kill her one more time and this game is ours. Doesn’t matter what Twisted Fate and Nocturne do, when we get their bot and top down, we win.”

✹

Zeng Rui waited underneath the Red Team’s Outer Tower for Tang Bingyao to return to the lane. In that time, he was forced to watch Team Beijing freeze the minion waves just outside of Blue team’s outer tower. “That’s not great,” he mumbled over the team’s voice chat. “They’ve got the lead and we’re falling behind here.”

Tang Bingyao chewed on her lips, her heart slamming high up in her chest. I won’t fall behind! I won’t let that happen again! This Finals is going to be mine! Game 1 and now Game 2! Mhm! … But we need to break that freeze. The bitter taste of iron filled her mouth from biting on her lips too much and too hard, but she ignored it. Can’t we just break it…? We can try! She nodded and said, “Let’s break their freeze.”

Zeng Rui shook his head and replied, “We can’t. They’ll gank us the moment we pass the halfway point of the lane. Let’s stay back and take the Gromp Camp.” He panned his camera towards the top lane and breathed out through his mouth. “Their Mundo is staying even with Zhang Hao’s Irelia too…”

Zhang Hao grimaced and said, “Yeah, that’s my bad. Sorry, guys, I’m really trying here. It’s just… I can’t really push because I’m afraid of the Nidalee and when you don’t push against a Mundo, he can just heal himself back up with his ultimate… It’s really annoying!”

An Xin looked at Zhang Hao and smiled. She said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. Actually, you know what? The lane is going to push your way anyway. How about you let it push and then freeze it outside of your Outer Tower? When Mundo pushes, I’ll gank.”

Lin Feng ruffled his hair and mumbled, “Sounds like you guys have got it covered. Guess I’ll just keep farming in mid then.”

✹

At 14 minutes, Yu Ping had his Ahri recall to the fountain. He opened the shop and bought her her next item upgrade, then moved his camera across Summoner’s Rift while having his Ahri run towards the bot lane. Hmm, I think it’s about time… Top is okay and Twisted Fate is just farming in mid… Yeah. He pinged on the bot lane and said over the team’s voice chat, “Come, Nid. We’re ganking bot.”

Team Beijing’s Jungler nodded and replied, “On it!”

“Top, top!” Team Beijing’s Toplaner suddenly shouted. He pinged on the top lane and continued, “Nocturne is here! Gank bot now! She can’t get to bot that fast! Her ultimate can’t reach that far yet!”

Yu Ping scrunched his nose briefly and then laughed. He replied, “Well, that’s perfect! Now we don’t have to worry about her either! Get that gank going! I’m almost there!”

Zhang Hongyi chuckled and said, “The trash Thresh don’t have Flash!” He then had his Janna float towards Zeng Rui’s Thresh and cast Zephyr on him! Janna’s elemental hit Thresh and slowed him!

Tang Bingyao’s Sivir threw her Boomerang Blade at Janna in retaliation and prepared to follow up on that, but she was stopped by Zeng Rui who cried out, “TANG TANG! RUN! NIDALEE IS HERE!” She glanced at her minimap and her eyes grew round and wide. Mnh-mnh! I don’t wanna retreat! But… She chewed on her lips and then activated her ultimate skill. On the Run granted Sivir and nearby allies a massive movement speed boost. She then said over the team’s voice chat, “Come!”

“I’m trying,” Zeng Rui replied through gritted teeth. The slow from Zephyr had thrown him off just enough to confuse him. A Howling Gale was flying at him right now. He tried to sidestep it with the movement speed boost from Sivir, but he was too slow. The strong winds lifted his Thresh off his feet and knocked him up into the air! Fuck, no!

Zhang Hongyi smiled, enjoying every second of knocking Zeng Rui up. He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “He’s got no Flash! KILL HIM!”

Team Beijing’s Jungler arrived in the bot lane and cast Javelin Toss! She then changed to cougar form while the javelin flew towards Zeng Rui’s Thresh! Next to her, Team Beijing’s Ezreal fired auto attacks and skills at Thresh! And from behind Blue team’s outer tower, Yu Ping’s Ahri also arrived in the bot lane! They combined their damage, most of it focused on Zeng Rui’s Thresh and a small portion on Tang Bingyao’s Sivir.

Zeng Rui forgot to breathe. He pursed his lips in frustration and clicked with far too much power on his mouse. I’m dead! I’m already dead, Tang Tang! Stop trying to save me! He ordered, “Tang Tang, get out! Just back away! Get to safety! There’s no value in both of us dying here!”

“We can both get out alive,” Tang Bingyao mumbled, defiant. She looked at the fight and where the players from Team Beijing were. Ahri was still too far away and Nidalee would catch up soon. Ezreal was the only one who was really on top of them. We can still get out. Mhm! Both of us! 

“We can’t!” Zeng Rui argued. “GET OUT!” He then pressed on his R key to activate The Box! Five spectral walls rose up around Zeng Rui’s Thresh, the sounds of howling ghosts coming from them. Two walls broke down when Ezreal and Janna ran into them. It slowed them and gave Tang Bingyao the space she needed to escape. He shouted, “Please! Can’t you see I’m dead? RUN!”

Tang Bingyao shook her head and said, “We can both—”

《An ally has been slain.》

Ezreal’s ultimate skill was a powerful barrage of energy missiles called Trueshot Barrage. The missiles had shot through Zeng Rui’s Thresh and killed him. They then continued and smashed through Tang Bingyao’s Sivir! Sivir’s health dropped down to below half.

“Now they get you too,” Zeng Rui said with a loud sigh.

“No they won’t!” Lin Feng interjected. He grinned and theatrically lifted his left finger before pressing down on the R key. He continued, “I’m finally in range! I’m coming down! Destiny!” All-seeing eyes appeared above the heads of all five Champions from Team Beijing.

✹

Su Xue sat behind her computer, chewing on her nails and mumbling, “Come on, Tang Tang. You can do this. If anyone can, you can! Come on, girl! You’ve got this! I believe in you. We all be—” She jumped up from her gaming chair when Lin Feng activated his ultimate and screamed, “HE’S COMING! LIN FENG IS COMING IN WITH HIS TWISTED FATE! LET’S GOOOOOOOO!”

「GO LIL BRO!」

「tangtang’s at her outer tower! theyre gonna have to towerdive to kill her!!!」

「lil bro can get them both ez EAZYYYYYYY」

「KILL THEM BEFORE AHRIS THERE PLEASEEEEEE」

「IF ANYONE CAN, LIL BRO CANNNNNN!!!!!!」

「GIMME THE C! GIMME THE U— I MEAN O!!!!」

「we can dooo thizzzzzzz」

「omgomgomg CARE FOR AHRI! CARE FOR AHRI!」

✹

Tang Bingyao’s Sivir arrived underneath her outer tower. But because she’d allowed Team Beijing to keep chasing her, they didn’t give up. They kept pressing, even when Lin Feng activated his ultimate skill. Team Beijing’s Nidalee, with a shield from Janna, tanked the energy shots from Red team’s outer tower. Towers could only attack one Champion at a time, allowing Ezreal to get in range and keep dealing damage without taking any.

Lin Feng grinned and shouted, “ALMOST THERE!” He clicked next to the outer tower. A deck of cards spread on the ground and the magic of the cards channeled into a gate that opened above it. Twisted Fate stepped from it into the bot lane holding a Gold Card. “Now, let’s kill Ezreal first,” Lin Feng mumbled. He had Twisted Fate move towards Ezreal, then suddenly slammed on his S key and continued by stepping to the side.

FourEyesChan’s eyes grew round and wide. He muttered, “Wow!”

Cherry nodded slowly, speechless.

Yu Ping’s Ahri had dashed in with Spirit Rush and cast Charm at Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate! But before she’d even cast it, Lin Feng had already started dodging it, as if he knew it was coming and where it was coming. After dodging the Charm, he ran at Ezreal again and threw the Gold Card! It stunned Ezreal on top of dealing a ton of damage!

FourEyesChan adjusted his glasses and said into his microphone, “Wow! Just… Wow! He just… Wow!”

Lin Feng smiled when he saw Tang Bingyao throw boomerangs at Ezreal and then focused on his own Champion again. He pressed the Q key and cast Wild Cards! Twisted Fate threw a cone of cards that cut through Ezreal in the middle and Ahri and Janna on the sides! Only Nidalee from Team Beijing managed to dodge it by Flashing away. He then started throwing auto attacks at Ezreal. The first three attacks did minimal damage because he was an ability power Champion and his damage came from his skills. But the fourth card triggered Stacked Deck, a skill that added a magical damage property to his next card!

《You have slain an enemy!》

“NO TILTING!” Yu Ping shouted over the team’s voice chat. He looked to his left at Zhang Hongyi and the ad-carry, then turned his head to the other side and looked at his Jungler and Toplaner. They were all staring at their screens with scowls of frustration. He continued, “It’s just TF and Nocturne. Nothing to worry about. We’ve got 8 minutes to make them absolutely worthless!”

Zhang Hongyi replied through gritted teeth, “And worthless we will make them! Show that ass in mid how good you are!”

Yu Ping nodded and said, “I will. I will show him exactly how wrong he is in underestimating me!” He briefly paused to look around at his teammates before adding, “But I can’t do this alone. All of us need to shut them down.”

Team Beijing’s Jungler took a deep breath and agreed, “Yes. And we will. I’ll make sure the Nocturne is useless! Screw his nightmares!”

“And I’ll kick their Toplaner’s ass!” Team Beijing’s Toplaner chimed in. He clenched his fist and continued, “Let me show everyone how bad that guy really is!”

Yu Ping smiled and said, “We got this!”

“WE GOT THIS!” the other players from Team Beijing shouted.

✹

An Xin asked over the team’s voice chat, “Will you be alright in mid? You know they’re gonna camp you.”

Lin Feng grinned and replied, “Of course I’ll be fine! I’m me!” He scratched the back of his head briefly before adding, “But yeah, I know. Ahri again and this time I don’t have Cleanse…”

Twisted Fate was a Champion who was relatively weak during the early game phase. His strength came from his ultimate skill, which gave him vision of all opponents and allowed him to teleport anywhere in a large area around himself. The most obvious way to correct this weak early game from Twisted Fate was to play with a strong Jungler who would gank and put pressure on the mid lane. But Nocturne wasn’t a strong Jungler like that. Nocturne needed to hit Level 6 before he became a threat. This gave Team Beijing a window of 6 to 8 minutes to shut Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate down and keep him out of the game.

This information wasn’t some grand secret privy to only the most elite players. Everyone knew it, from the Bronze players in the stands to Yu Ping on Team Beijing’s side of the stage. The first 8 minutes of the game were going to decide who was most likely to win the game.

But the first few minutes of the game came and went without first blood happening. Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate sidestepped the Charms from Ahri and dodged the spears Nidalee hurled at him. He was practically playing a 1 versus 2 in the mid lane, and he still refused to fall behind. Lin Feng was so good at dodging the pokes, traps, and plays from Team Beijing that it felt like nothing was really happening at all.

Yu Ping’s jaw pulsed as he furiously clicked on his mouse. Twisted Fate was on the other side of the lane, hovering near his outer tower. At least you’re not on Varus. Your poke on Twisted Fate sucks in comparison! He smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He then glanced at the scoreboard. They were five minutes into the game already. His smile fell flat and he narrowed his eyes a bit more. Your poke sucks and I’m ahead by 7 CS! But that’s not nearly enough to shut you down! At this rate… “Nidalee,” he said over the team’s voice chat.

“Yeah, boss?” Team Beijing’s Jungler asked.

Yu Ping continued, “I’m going to hit Level 6 on the next wave. Come mid again. Actually, go around. Come from behind his tower.”

Team Beijing’s Jungler nodded and said, “On it.”

At 6 minutes, Yu Ping’s Ahri hit Level 6. He learned Ahri’s ultimate skill, Spirit Dash, and activated it. Ahri dashed at Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate and blew a kiss at him! The power of love manifested into the form of a heart and flew towards Twisted Fate. Ahri winked at him, teasing.

Lin Feng expected the Level 6 engage. He was more than ready for it. He Flashed away from the Charm, dodging it, and activated Pick a Card. A blue card appeared above Twisted Fate’s head, followed by a red card. Ahri followed up with a second dash from Spirit Rush and cast ignite on him. Right then, the gold card appeared above Twisted Fate’s head. Lin Feng pressed the W key again and hurled the Gold Card at Ahri. It hit her before she could cast her Orb of Deception or Fox-Fires and stunned her.

“NOW!” Yu Ping hollered over the team’s voice chat.

Team Beijing’s Nidalee had snuck into Team Shanghai’s bot side Jungle. She moved through the brushes until she appeared in the mid lane, between the inner and outer tower. She followed up with Javelin Toss! A large Javelin flew through the air, gaining in power the further it flew, and hit Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate at max range! Nearly half of Twisted Fate’s health disappeared! She then cast Aspect of the Cougar! The amazonian Champion transformed into a cougar and pounced at Twisted Fate!

FourEyesChan leaned over the caster desk and shouted, “SHE’S GOT IT! THEY GOT TF! TAKEDOWN! TAKEDOWN! NIDALEE HAS FATALLY WOUNDED TWISTED FATE! HE’S GOT TO DIE NOW!”

“Kill her!” Team Beijing’s Jungler shouted over the team’s voice chat.

Yu Ping grinned and replied, “Of course.” He cast Spirit Rush for the third time and dashed underneath Team Shanghai’s outer tower. He followed up with Orb of Deception and Fox-Fires! The powerful magic hit Twisted Fate and killed him.

《First Blood!》

“EAT THAT, SUCKER!” Yu Ping shouted over the team’s voice chat, cheering. He nodded at his Jungler and added, “HECK YEAH! We got him!”

Zhang Hongyi smiled and said, “Nice work! Keep it up!”

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Lin Feng groaned and complained, “How was I supposed to survive that? They dove me! If only I had Cleanse…” He shook his head for a bit, annoyed. He then turned his head to look at An Xin and asked, “How much longer? When are we online?”

An Xin smiled and replied, “Not much longer now. And stop yapping, you got through the first 6 minutes without giving away a kill. They’re screwed.”

“But they killed me…” Lin Feng started. He then took a deep, long breath and added, “Yeah, yeah.”

✹

Yu Ping pushed out the lane after killing Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate and then recalled back to base to spend his gold. When he came back to lane 7 minutes into the game, he continued where he left off by pushing the lane towards Red team’s outer tower. Because the more pressure he put on Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate, the more last hits he would miss and the smaller the impact of his ultimate skill was. I’ll just keep pushing a bit more. Nocturne can come soon, but I’ve got the area warded and I’ve got Charm and Flash. I can get out. I only need to worry about keeping Twisted Fate locke— Huh? Wait. Where? He narrowed his eyes and searched for the Nocturne, which was the only explanation he could come up with as to why Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate had activated Pick a Card.

Zhang Hongyi happened to notice the hesitation from Yu Ping and said over the team’s voice chat, “Just back.”

Yu Ping replied through gritted teeth, “What if it’s just a trick to get me to back?”

“THERE! THERE!” Team Beijing’s Jungler shouted, pinging on the minimap. “SHE’S THERE!”

An Xin’s Nocturne had reached Level 6 and learned the ultimate skill Paranoia. It was a skill that caused paranoia by turning day into night and reducing the vision of all enemy Champions to a small area around them. She then activated it. Darkness fell over Summoner’s Rift. But it was the second part of the skill that made the darkness so much more terrifying. An Xin’s Nocturne could fly at opponents within a large area around her. She smiled and focused on Yu Ping.

“Where is she?” Zhang Hongyi asked.

“Not top,” Team Beijing’s Toplaner replied.

“Mid. I know it,” Yu Ping said through gritted teeth. “Goddamn mid.” He had his Ahri run away, casting Orb of Deception for a small boost to her movement speed. It was enough to get away from Twisted Fate’s Gold Card. The shadow of Nocturne appeared on top of him. KNEW IT! She flew at him and struck at him with her shadow claws! He countered with Flash, travelling a short distance towards his outer tower! He then turned around, waited for An Xin to follow him with Flash, and cast Charm! Try and kill me now, bitch!

A pink heart flew at Nocturne. It was a physical apparition of love! An Xin’s fingers glided across her keyboard. She first cast Shroud of Darkness! A protective layer appeared around her and nullified the effect of Charm! You’re ugly! She continued with Unspeakable Horrors! Nocturne snuck its way into Ahri’s mind and uncovered her greatest fears! He then started playing them on repeat, forcing her to watch them until she was overcome with so much fear that she lost control over her body!

Lin Feng activated Twisted Fate’s ultimate skill. Destiny revealed where all the players from Team Beijing were, and Gate allowed him to teleport a large distance. He used the second part of his ultimate to teleport right behind the feared Ahri, a Gold Card still hovering above his head. When he stepped through the Gate, he grabbed the Gold Card and threw it at Ahri! The card hit her just as the fear from Unspeakable Horrors wore off and stunned her. He followed up with Wild Cards and an auto attack. A large number of playing cards flew through the air, their sharp edges cutting through Ahri and decimating her health bar!

《You have slain an enemy!》

FourEyesChan leaned over the caster desk and screamed, “WOOOOOOOO! THAT’S IT! RIGHT THERE! THAT’S IT!”

Cherry giggled and shouted, “It’s the Twisted-Turne combo! They’re online! Team Shanghai is online! GG!”

“Oh damn! What the…”

“I thought for sure Ahri would get out… She had Charm and Flash!”

“Nocturne was really fast with the spell shield there. That was kinda very impressive.”

“WOOOOO TEAM SHANGHAI!”

“The tilting man is probably tilting hard right now!”

“They really tried to stop TF in the first 5 minutes of the game. But like… That kill was the only thing that really happened…”

“They should’ve tried harder I think. Aside from that kill, TF was never in any real danger…”

Qiu Yijie from Fudan University recoiled in pain, grimacing. He watched the screen and listened to the conversations around him and shook his head. “I know this pain,” he muttered. He then looked at Zou Cheng and continued, “He’s tilted. We both know it. The pressure Lin Feng can put even when behind… And then that happens. All your hard work… Just gone. Gone.”

“That was so, so disgustingly AWESOME!” Zou Cheng replied. He grinned, shaking his head, and added, “Fuck he’s good! How did he do that? 6 minutes of pure defense! And then he just gets the kill…”

Sun Ruinian looked at the two Midlaners and analysed, “We didn’t focus on mid until just now, because there weren’t any fireworks. But we really should’ve been watching. Look at how even he is with Ahri. He was playing a 1 versus 2 lane! Yet he played it so perfectly that it looked boring. He made it look boring. 1 versus 2 with a weak early gamer versus strong early game Champions…”

Qiu Yijie nodded and replied, “Yeah. I’ve given up on trying to understand how he does that. It’s…” He breathed in deeply and then let it all out through his mouth before continuing, “It’s insane. What’s even crazier is that I’m comparing him to Hermes and I can’t help but think he’s better…”

“I know right!” Zou Cheng exclaimed, grinning.

The audience was cheering and the casters were similarly losing their voices. There was only one place in the stadium that was quiet, and that was Team Beijing’s soundproof booth. Yu Ping’s teammates were staring at their screens, trying very hard not to look at him. But they could still feel his anger and frustration. It was so thick in their soundproof booth that it turned tangible.

Yu Ping looked at his screen, at the different shades of black and white, and ground his teeth. Every notion of embarrassment morphed into anger, which cast a bigger and denser cloud in his mind. He squished his mouse between his fingers, ignoring the squeaking and groaning sounds coming from it. SHIT! FUCK FUCK, FUCK! I knew Nocturne was Level 6! I KNEW IT! I GODDAMN KNEW IT! Why did I think I could escape? How did I convince myself that I could escape? HOW STUPID AM I? I SHOULD’VE WAITED FOR MY ULTIMATE! Why? WHY? Why did I let this happen? Now we’re fucked! FUCKED! He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. In, out, in— “FUCK! FUCK FUCK, FUCK!” he screamed.

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Lin Feng patted himself on the back and said over the team’s voice chat, “Got ‘em first try! Easy like I said!” He had his Twisted Fate recall to base to spend his gold and get back on even ground with Ahri. When he walked back into the lane, he continued, “This is what I like to call the IReallySuck-strategy! I act like a weak puppy and look at them cutely and give them this false sense of security. And then… BAM! We win. Oh, BunBun, come gank mid again soon!”

“You absolute donkey!” An Xin replied. She glared at Lin Feng and continued, “Your IReallySuck-strategy is a flawed strategy! What strategy gets you killed to win!?”

“Mine!” Lin Feng replied, grinning. He then scratched the back of his head and added, “Yeah, shouldn’t have gotten killed earlier… That was a woopsie moment.”

✹

At 9 minutes, Team Beijing’s Nidalee snuck through the Jungle like a cougar. She bypassed Team Shanghai’s wards and appeared behind Zhang Hao’s Irelia who was pushing the lane. But Zhang Hao didn’t notice it. He was focused on landing poke on Dr. Mundo. Until a spear hit him and his health bar dropped by a large amount. He flicked his mouse and spotted Nidalee. His eyes grew round and wide and he muttered, “Fuck.”

《You have been slain!》

Zhang Hao looked at his grey screen and grimaced. He said over the team’s voice chat, “Sorry, guys. I didn’t see her. She just… I thought with the Mundo and… It shouldn’t have happened, my bad. Sorry.”

Zeng Rui replied, “You underestimated Nidalee and Mundo combined. Mundo’s got the slow and Nidalee, when she hits her spear, does a lot of damage. You need to be ready for that. Pay more attention to your wards and when you see her approach, just back. You don’t need to outplay them, you just need to play a steady game.”

“Understood! Thanks,” Zhang Hao replied, nodding.

Lin Feng grinned and interjected, “HaoBro! Why the long face? Cheer up and keep pushing top! BunBun and I will come top in a bit and help you get a kill!”

✹

At 10 minutes, Twisted Fate and Nocturne both had their cooldowns available. Zhang Hao was pushing the top lane with his Irelia and forcing Dr. Mundo to hide underneath his tower. He said over the team’s voice chat, “Ready!”

“Paranoia!” An Xin shouted.

“Destiny!” Lin Feng continued.

Darkness fell over Summoner’s Rift! Nocturne flew across the map at Dr. Mundo and struck him with his shadow blades! Following behind him was Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate, a Gold Card in his hand. Zhang Hao’s Irelia dashed in as well! The three of them unleashed every skill they had! They dealt so much damage that it didn’t matter that Dr. Mundo had a massive health pool, or that his ultimate helped him regain health, or that the outer tower was attacking them. They tore through his health bar within seconds and it was Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate who landed the killing blow.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Oops!” Lin Feng said over the team’s voice chat. He scratched the back of his head, grinning and apologised, “Sorry, didn’t mean to take the kill.”

“Of course you didn’t,” An Xin replied, her voice filled with sarcasm.

Zhang Hao laughed and said, “It’s okay! Don’t worry about it! Thanks for helping me!”

Across the stage in Team Beijing’s soundproof booth, the Toplaner smashed his fist on the desk and cursed, “What the fuck am I supposed to do there!? I was underneath my tower! They jumped on me anyway! That stupid Nocturne-TF combo is broken! Just like the Varus! Those assholes are just playing broken Champions!”

Yu Ping took a deep, long breath. He closed his eyes and repeated to himself to stay calm, to stay cool, to stay collected. He then opened his eyes and said, “It’s easy, guys. All we need to do is roam ourselves. If we keep talking and know what’s going on, the rest can respond by roaming and making plays. We can counter this Nocturne-TF ridiculousness!”

A game of League of Legends wasn’t over until one Nexus exploded. It was a simple fact that led to discussions that were still going strong five years after the game’s release. One side of the argument said that there was always a way back; no game was truly lost until the Nexus exploded. They continued to explain that the biggest reason why it often felt like a game was over before the Nexus exploded was because people gave up. But the ‘loss’ in someone’s mind wasn’t the same as the ‘loss’ on the board, and the one on the board wasn’t absolute until the Nexus exploded.

The other side of the argument explained that there was a point in the game where the game was still going on, but where there was no way in which the losing side could win unless the winning side made several large mistakes. These mistakes, this side argued, had to be of such magnitude and specificity that they only came to pass in less than 1 percent of all games in which the opportunities presented themselves. This percentage went down the higher the rank of the players on the board. So while the game wasn’t truly over, it was over in every other sense of the word.

This same argument broke out on the stands in the Chaoyang Sports Center. A group of people from Beijing refused to see that Team Beijing was losing. They pointed out possibilities they believed were there and argued that if Team Beijing exploited those opportunities, they could still win the game. Everyone else agreed there was a way for Team Beijing to win this first game of the Winter Collegiate Cup Finals against Team Shanghai, and that was by casting a curse on Team Shanghai that forced them to make a large number of mistakes.

Team Beijing hadn’t hired a witch and there was no cultivator who exited his closed door cultivation for them. They were forced to rely on their own ability. And their own ability simply wasn’t enough in this game. 

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Team Shanghai didn’t screw up. They played like they had all tournament. Calm and precise. They abused the long range from Varus to besiege the tower. When his arrows that never missed their mark culled the ranks from Team Beijing, Tang Bingyao’s Jinx moved in range of the tower and started firing with her minigun. She shredded through the protection of the tower and destroyed it in seconds.

FourEyesChan adjusted his glasses and said into his microphone, “My god. This is one of the most one sided games I’ve ever had to cast. Team Shanghai could send their Toplaner, Jungler and Support to the loo! Between Varus’ long ranged arrows that absolutely always smash their mark and Jinx just tearing through the towers… I don’t know what to say or how to cast this game. There’s really nothing to say, other than that congratulations are in order for Team Shanghai. They’ve dismantled Team Beijing. Well and truly dismantled them.”

“Mm-mhm!” Cherry mumbled, nodding. She looked at her microphone, trying to think of something to say but not coming up with anything. She finally leaned forward and said, “Let’s hope Team Beijing can put up a better fight next game. But for this one… We’ve got just a couple more seconds to go I think. They’ve already got two inhibitors.”

“And they just aren’t stopping!” FourEyesChan said. “They just keep going and going and with the blue buff Varus never has to stop and because Team Beijing isn’t getting any gold they can’t buy the items they need to stop him either. It’s hopeless. It’s over.”

“Good game to Team Shanghai…”

“Great game for a Team Shanghai fan. Not so great for quite literally everybody else…”

“GIVE THE NEUTRAL FAN A BETTER SHOW PLEASE!”

VICTORY! 

✹

Team Beijing’s Jungler turned to his teammates and said through gritted teeth, “I know you told us to stay calm, Yu Ping. I know this. And I wanted to… I was going to! But come on! You saw that game! We were all there, huddling behind our stupid ass towers! You know why it ended up like this? Let me tell you why. It’s because Riot didn’t fucking nerf Varus! Everyone knew he was op as all fucks! Why didn’t they nerf him? Just explain this to me. Why didn’t they nerf him?”

Yu Ping closed his eyes and replied, “Please…”

“I know, I know!” Team Beijing’s Jungler exclaimed. “You’re right. You are, Yu Ping. We could’ve banned Varus. We probably should’ve! It’s on us. I just feel frustrated about it, you know? It’s such an obvious overpowered Champion. And that's why they won the game.”

Zhang Hongyi ground his teeth and growled, “Zeng Rui got so fucking lucky. We had him in bot and then the stupid Varus and his stupid arrows…”

“Don’t. Stop this,” Yu Ping said. He looked around at his teammates and continued, “Listen, guys. Yeah we lost. Yeah Varus was strong and destroyed us. We failed to shut him down early and paid for it. But it wasn’t just the Varus. Stop tunneling on him. This was a team effort by Team Shanghai—”

“Yeah right,” Team Beijing’s ad-carry mumbled.

Yu Ping glared at his teammates and said in a louder, more commanding voice, “If it wasn’t for the Evelynn camping mid, Varus would’ve never gotten strong like he did. If it wasn’t for Braum, the Jinx would’ve never gotten as strong as she did. If it wasn’t for Braum and Rumble layering their ultimates perfectly, we would’ve never lost the fight at the Dragon pit that badly. If it wasn’t for the Jinx getting kills and being far better than the B+ grade people say she is, we would’ve never lost as badly as we did.” He briefly paused and looked at his teammates for a bit. He then continued, “See how it wasn’t just Varus? See how it was a team effort in which each individual player contributed a vital part to Team Shanghai’s victory in that game? Yes, you’re right. By the end of it, it was just Varus harassing us and Jinx shredding towers. But to get to that point, it took a full team effort. Stop tunneling on the outcome and start analysing how they got there. If we want to win this series, we need to get over this Varus and improve together. As a team.”

The players from Team Beijing stared at Yu Ping. The anger and frustration they felt towards Lin Feng’s Varus slowly dissipated. One by one, they started nodding. And when they were all nodding, faster and faster, Zhang Hongyi was the first to open his mouth and say what they were all thinking, “You’re right, Yu Ping. You always are. That’s why you’re the best. Yes. We’ll stop tunneling. It was a team effort. Even…” He took a deep, long breath and said through gritted teeth, “Even Zeng Rui contributed to that victory.”

“Good,” Yu Ping said. He then focused his attention on his screen and added, “Then let’s get ready for the next game.” And time to make that asshole on his Varus pay! How dare that jerk underestimate me—ME!—by picking some weak early game Champion!

✹

FourEyesChan grabbed the microphone from its stand on the caster desk and brought it to his mouth. He said, “Both teams have had a couple of minutes to unwind from the… the lack of action in game 1 if I’m being honest here. Let’s hope we get to see some more fireworks in game 2!”

“And we’re in Champion Select!” Cherry exclaimed. “Team Beijing is the Blue Team in this second game of the Finals, which means they’ve got the first ban… EVELYNN! THEY BANNED EVELYNN!”

FourEyesChan adjusted his glasses and analysed, “Smart ban. She helped Varus get through the early game. Which makes me wonder if Varus is going to be their next ban.”

“First up is Team Shanghai though! And they’re banning… Leona!” Cherry said into her microphone.

“AND VARUS! IT’S THE VARUS BAN!” FourEyesChan yelled into his microphone.

“They really did it! They banned Varus!”

“SCAREDY CATS! MEOW, MEOW!”

“CHICKENS! POCK, POCK, POCK!”

In Team Beijing’s soundproof booth, Yu Ping looked at his screen through narrowed eyes. They got the first choice of Champion and they went with Nidalee for their Jungler. Next up was Team Shanghai with two picks, then them again and then Team Shanghai again. It was in this round that Team Shanghai picked their Midlaner. Twisted Fate. He fucking did it again. This motherfucker. This little piece of shit! Yu Ping glanced across the stage at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. Are you really trying to say I’m so bad that you can’t even be arsed to take a decent early game Champion? You think I’m such a bad player that you can get by playing another weak early game Champion? Well. FUCK YOU! FUCK. YOU! He gritted his teeth in frustration and locked in Ahri. I’ll FUCKING SHOW YOU!

Zhang Hongyi glanced at Yu Ping and asked, “Wasn’t he supposed to play something more aggressive? Like Riven or Fizz?”

“He. Was,” Yu Ping replied, grinding his teeth.

Team Beijing’s Jungler interjected, “Huh? Nocturne? Their last pick is Nocturne?”

✹

Winter Collegiate Cup Finals, Game 2

Team Beijing (BLUE) vs. Team Shanghai (RED)

Dr. Mundo vs. Irelia

Nidalee vs. Nocturne

Ahri vs. Twisted Fate

Ezreal vs. Sivir

Janna vs. Thresh

“Here we have it! The lineup for the second game!” FourEyesChan said into his microphone.

Cherry nodded and added, “And this is the first time we’re seeing Nocturne I think! With Twisted Fate and Nocturne, Team Shanghai’s got two global ultimate skills! Just imagine what they can all do with that!”

FourEyesChan grimaced and replied, “A whole lotta things. None of which are promising of an enjoyable game for anyone but Team Shanghai. We can only hope that Yu Ping learned his lesson mid and shuts the Twisted Fate down early.”

“Yep!” Cherry agreed. “If Twisted Fate and Nocturne are allowed to get going… Well, that’d be game, wouldn’t it?”

“It would,” FourEyesChan mumbled.

Sun Ruinian from Zhejiang University sat in the stands, listening to the discussion between the casters. He shook his head and said, “Yu Ping didn’t learn his lesson. If he had, he wouldn’t have picked Ahri.”

Zou Cheng grinned and chimed in, “He looks like a tilting man!”

Qiu Yijie from Fudan University glanced at Zou Cheng and replied, “Can’t blame Yu Ping. It’s hard not to tilt against Lin Feng. The way he plays… We both know how it feels to feel so goddamn powerless. Like it doesn’t matter what you do, he’ll stomp you anyway. But yeah… Yu Ping looks like a tilting man.”

“A Piercing Arrow for you!” Lin Feng shouted over the team’s voice chat, laughing. He pressed on the Q key and held it, charging up the skill for increased range. When he let go, the arrow shot across a large distance and struck Team Beijing’s Lucian!

“And a Piercing Arrow for you!” Lin Feng continued after the skill came back off cooldown. He pressed the button again, held it to charge it up, and then let go. Another arrow shot through the air, this time piercing Team Beijing’s Gragas.

“And a Pier—”

“Yeah, yeah. We get it,” An Xin interrupted. She glanced at Lin Feng and continued, “You want to pierce everyone on Team Beijing with your love arrow. Right?”

Lin Feng nodded, grinning. “I just don’t get it,” he said. “Why would they try to fight us at Dragon? We’ve got Rumble and I just got the Blue Buff, so I’ve got unlimited fire power!”

“They don’t know you’ve got blue. Well, they didn’t anyway,” An Xin replied. She then looked at her screen which showed the Dragon Pit and paused for a brief moment. She then added, “They know they won’t beat us late game. This is their final act of desperation. Either they win this fight and get back into the game. Or they lose it and it’s game. From their perspective, it’s better to do it like that than to sit back and wait for minute 40 when they’ll eventually lose.”

Zeng Rui pinged on the Dragon Pit and interjected, “Let’s focus on the fight. BunBun is right. This is their do or die attempt. We’re going to make sure they die.”

“Not to worry!” Zhang Hao exclaimed. He looked next to him at his teammates and continued, “You’ve got my Rumble ult! I’m coming right away!”

Tang Bingyao looked at the items in her inventory. Her Jinx was starting to become a real threat. I can show them how good I am now! Mhm! She nodded and said, “I’m coming too!”

✹

Yu Ping ground his teeth in frustration. Every time an arrow came, it found a target. He lost a bit of the control he usually had over himself and ordered louder than usual, “Find those damn wards! They’ve got them somewhere! We need to kill his vision or he’s going to kill us!”

Zhang Hongyi threw his hands up in frustration and replied, “I am searching! But there are no wards here! He’s hitting those arrows blind! I’m telling you. NO WARDS HERE!”

Another Piercing Arrow whizzed out from the fog of war. Yu Ping flicked his mouse and had his Ahri sidestep the attack. But his ad-carry wasn’t as fast. The arrow struck Lucian and claimed a third of his health bar.

“FUCK!” Zhang Hongyi cursed. He pinged on his ad-carry and continued, “Jesus, what’s wrong with you today? You’re playing like shit! Start dodging those damn arrows! It’s not that hard! Click your stupid mouse and dodge!”

“I’m trying!” Team Beijing’s ad-carry replied through gritted teeth. His screen was flashing red. One more arrow would kill him. I’m trying to dodge! But there’s no time to react!  I can’t see him or where he’s shooting from! The arrows jump out of the fog of war! What do you want? Have me go all the way to the back and sit there waiting for Evelynn to flank us and kill me? I’m not doing that! 

“Guys, stop,” Yu Ping said. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Where is their Rumble…?”

Team Beijing’s Toplaner grimaced and replied, “I couldn’t stop him. He’s teaming up with the—”

“Why didn’t you fucking say so!?” Yu Ping cursed. “Shit, okay. So all five of them are presumably below us. We don’t have vision on any of them. They can run right around the corner at the bottom of the river and charge at us. We need to run…” He shook his head and corrected, “We need to fight. Get down here Darius.”

“Almost there!” Team Beijing’s Toplaner responded.

✹

The Dragon Pit was located in the bottom half of the river. It was an alcove carved into Blue Team’s Jungle, with the only entrance being in the river. All five Champions from Team Beijing stood there, indecisive. They couldn’t see Team Shanghai anywhere, even with the extended vision from their wards. They had a decent idea of where Team Shanghai was hiding, but they couldn’t see them.

A bit further down the river was an entrance into Blue team’s Jungle. It was a sharp corner, which created a good spot to hide behind. All five Champions from Team Shanghai were waiting there, closely packed together.

Lin Feng looked at the fog of war clouding the Dragon pit. Team Beijing had destroyed all wards from Team Shanghai. He glanced at Zeng Rui and said, “ZengZeng, what are you waiting for? Let’s go in!”

“I’m the shotcaller,” Zeng Rui replied. He briefly paused, his eyelid twitching, and then added, “Let’s go in!” He flashed across the wall and arrived right in front of Team Beijing. He followed up with Braum’s ultimate skill. Braum jumped up into the sky, raised his shield above his head, and then came down with the power of a thousand ice moons! A Glacial Fissure spread out in front of him, and a burst of cold air knocked Team Beijing’s Lucian and Leona up into the air!

“HaoBro, you next!” Lin Feng shouted over the team’s voice chat.

“HaoBro’s on the job!” Zhang Hao replied, laughing. Rumble’s ultimate skill was an area of effect skill, similar to Braum’s Glacial Fissure. The big difference was that where Braum’s skill went more in the direction of crowd control, Rumble’s skill also dealt a lot of damage. His Rumble cast The Equalizer! Six missiles fired from his contraption and exploded over the Glacial Fissure! A fire started burning!

Team Beijing’s Lucian was already at low health and was now also knocked up and receiving burn damage. His health bar was almost empty. He smashed on his D key repeatedly, trying to Flash away the moment his feet hit the ground again. But Varus’ Chains of Corruption rooted him before that could happen. Team Beijing’s ad-carry stared at his screen, despondant, as it turned to grey.

《You have been slain.》

Yu Ping fought two battles. One was versus Team Shanghai and the other against the frustration he felt towards his ad-carry. Idiot! How many times do we need to remind you to watch your damn positioning!? We’re fucked. Fucked! All I can do… He looked at Team Shanghai and narrowed his eyes. If I can dash in, kill Varus and dash back out… He said over the team’s voice chat, “We’re going in. Support me. Varus first!” He then dashed at Lin Feng’s Varus with Spirit Dash and threw all Ahri’s abilities at him!

“WOOOOO!” Cherry screamed into her microphone at the caster desk. “Yu Ping is gonna kill Varus!”

FourEyesChan chimed in, “Finally!”

The large pink heart kissed Lin Feng’s Varus. He became enamored with Ahri, even while the Orb of Deception and Fox-Fires tore through his health bar. In the distance, Team Beijing’s Leona raised her sword up to the sky and called down a Solar Flare on Varus. And through all of this, Lin Feng smiled. He remained calm, patiently baiting Team Beijing into using their most powerful crowd control skills. When the Solar Flare was about to hit him, he pressed F into D. A cleansing light helped him see Ahri for the devilish fox she really was and the veil of radiant light that followed carried him away from the Solar Flare!

Yu Ping ordered through gritted teeth, “Stick to him.” He then cast Spirit Rush for a second time, dashing after Lin Feng’s Varus.

Zeng Rui had stuck close to Tang Bingyao to protect her. But when Yu Ping dashed at Lin Feng for a second time, leaving his team far behind him, Zeng Rui saw the opening. He dashed at Lin Feng’s Varus with Stand Behind Me and followed up with Winter’s Bite! A chunk of freezing air slammed into Yu Ping’s Ahri and slowed her! He then cast Exhaust on Ahri! The red, debilitating energy wrapped around her and made her all but useless.

Yu Ping smiled. His Ahri had used her abilities. She wasn’t going to deal a lot of damage with or without Exhaust. He pinged on Tang Bingyao’s Jinx, who was left undefended, and ordered, “Take her out! FAST!”

“On it!” Team Beijing’s Jungler replied over the team’s voice chat. He Body Slammed towards Tang Bingyao’s Jinx and then tossed his Explosive Cask at her!

✹

Su Xue was streaming the Winter Collegiate Cup Finals from her apartment in Shanghai. When she and her hundred thousand viewers saw Team Beijing shift their focus towards Tang Bingyao, she screamed, “NoNoNONONONOOOOOO! TANG TANG!”

「TANG TANG NOOOOOO」

「how dare they slay our goddesss! LETS KILL EM ALL!!!! CRUSADDEE TANGTANGGANG!」

「why did braum run away? what a shit support….」

「plsplspslplss someone save tang tang!!!」

「i cant watch this. i just cant. someone tell me what happens」

「SHE HAS FLASH! SHE HAS FLASH! FLASH IT! FLLLAAAASSSSHHHHHHHHH」

✹

Tang Bingyao was laser focused on the fight. ZengZeng is gone and— The Explosive Cask flew through the air, about to burst. It was going to land behind and knock her into Team Beijing. The world ground to a halt. She finally got a glimpse into how Lin Feng played the game. Several different options played out before her eyes.

If I get hit, the force will knock me at the Darius and I’m dead. Can’t do that.

If I Flash forward, I Flash on top of Darius. Can’t do that either.

If I Flash sideways, I won’t clear the range because of the wall next to me. That won’t work.

But if I Flash back, I’m so far away from the fight that I can’t hel— Unless… What if I fire my Super Mega Death Rocket and kill Ahri? That would activate my passive skill and boost my movement speed. Then I can… Mhm! That’s it! That’s it! 

Time resumed for Tang Bingyao. She went against all her instincts and Flashed away from the fight. Her Jinx disappeared with a mottled flash of light and reappeared on the other side of the Explosive Cask. The pink liquid burst and sent her flying away! She pressed on the F3 button to center her camera over Lin Feng’s Varus. It didn’t matter where she landed; she just had to know where Ahri was. Still Exhausted. 2… 1! MHM! She pressed the R key and the SUPER MEGA DEATH ROCKET shot across the river straight at Ahri where it went up in a fiery explosion!

《You have slain an enemy!》

“Did she just…?” Cherry mumbled into her microphone at the caster desk.

FourEyesChan pushed his glasses up the rim of his nose and said, “Yeah, yeah… Yeah, she just did that.” He briefly paused and then added, “Wow! That’s the trademark of any LPL ad-carry! Stunned me right into silence! WOW!”

“Wow indeed! Crazy…”

“Those reflexes… How in the world…?”

“MOST BADASS BITCH IF YOU EVER SEEN ONE!”

“Jinx is a crazy bitch… Player matches Champion! WOOOOOOO!”

“SIIIIKE! BEST PLAY BY AN AD-CARRY 2016!”

Lin Feng turned his head to look at Tang Bingyao and grinned.

Tang Bingyao glanced at Lin Feng and mumbled, “Hmm?”

Lin Feng grinned brighter and said, “You know how nice that was, right? That was so nice! Reminds me of Silent! You channelled your inner Silent there! I knew you had it in you! I’m lovin’ it!”

Tang Bingyao forgot about her Jinx running towards Team Beijing. She turned her head to look at Lin Feng, suddenly feeling very warm. D-did… Uhm… I did good? Mhm! I did! Like Silent! He’s comparing me with the best ad-carry to have ever played! He’s… He is… She smiled and mumbled barely audibly, “Thanks.”

“He’s right, you know?” An Xin said. She winked at Tang Bingyao and added, “That was a great play. I was really confused when you Flashed away from the fight. That’s so not like you. But then you hit that rocket and… Lin Feng is right. That was reminiscent of Silent. That was a fantastic play and an even better sho—”

“WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A TEAMFIGHT! DAMMIT!” Zeng Rui screamed over the team’s voice chat. His eyes were bloodshot as he clicked on his mouse with increasing fury. “WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A TEAMFIGHT!”

“ZengZeng!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “My ears! Jeesh! We’ve already got two and look…” He charged up a Piercing Arrow and released it, piercing Gragas and Darius. “I’ve got them both! We’ll kill them!”

“Just focus,” Zeng Rui said, staring at his screen.

Team Shanghai stopped chatting and channelled their attention towards the teamfight. There were still three Champions from Team Beijing alive, but they’d used their strongest crowd control abilities and didn’t have the damage to kill anyone from Team Shanghai. Tang Bingyao’s Jinx fired at Gragas with her minigun while Lin Feng’s Varus fired arrows from his bow. An Xin lashed out with her sharp nails and Rumble activated his Flamespitter. All the while, Zeng Rui had his Braum running between Gragas and Darius and slowing them both.

Zhang Hongyi looked at the fight, the corner of his lips twitching. He focused his camera on Zeng Rui and narrowed his eyes. You. Little. Chickenshit! If my ad-carry wasn’t such a braintard this game, we would’ve won this fight! It’s all because of that stupid ass Varus and his longshots… FUCK! He clicked away from the fight. No one cared about his Leona. She was irrelevant in this game. He was irrelevant. “FUCK! WE LOST! FUCK!”

Zhang Hao’s Rumble got the last hit on Gragas and claimed the double kill, after which Team Shanghai turned their attention on Darius. They chased him down and killed him. Leona got away, but she wasn’t worth chasing. Not with a Dragon ready to be taken, anyway. Team Shanghai took the Dragon and then recalled back to base to spend all the gold they’d just earned.

FourEyesChan adjusted his glasses and said into the microphone, “That’s game. The Nexus is still standing, but Team Beijing has basically lost this game.”

Cherry nodded and added, “I don’t see them coming back from this one. It would take something truly special.”

Sun Ruinian looked up at the speakers from which the casters’ voices boomed and shook his head. He mumbled, “Something phenomenally terrible would have to happen. Like a meteor or an EMF wave. Or Team Shanghai suddenly getting sick…”