Xiao Rui had been scrolling through the forum in the break room since the first match began.
Watching helplessly as the forum's front page was flooded with posts like: 【ZGDX, the world's biggest overhyped team】, 【What are China Telecom's top and jungle even doing?】, 【Smiling really can't handle a losing game, only good for adding flowers to brocade】, 【This match is painful to watch】, 【Let me tell you a joke: an LPL top-tier team getting stomped by a relegation team】... Meanwhile, an old post titled 【China Telecom is probably LPL's last fig leaf】 was dug up and bumped to the top, relentlessly mocked with replies of "?"...
He clicked into each post one by one.
Then exited each post one by one.
He didn't even need to look up at the large TV screen in the break room—it seemed he could already tell how the match was going just from the content of these posts: China Telecom was getting pummeled by a bunch of noobs, struggling desperately like a trapped beast...
Putting down his phone, Xiao Rui sighed and said to the staff member beside him, "Looks like we'll have to order them to delete the forum app again."
The staff member gave a bitter smile. At that moment, the second match's Ban & Pick phase began. After watching for a while, Xiao Rui noticed something unusual. He reached into Tong Yao's jacket and pulled out her notebook, flipping through it until he found the records from their scrims against Team OP back then—comparing the Ban & Pick notes in the notebook with what was being broadcast on TV, Xiao Rui's mouth fell open, feeling as if he'd somehow traveled through time.
Putting down Tong Yao's notebook, Xiao Rui picked up his phone to check the forum again, only to find the front page had now transformed into this:
【Is China Telecom giving up with this lineup?】
【What kind of crazy strategy is this?】
【With this Ban & Pick, is China Telecom planning to give their sister team a free win today?】
...
As the match began and progressed, the front page became:
【Tong Yao's roaming speed though】
【ZGDX's champion pool is truly unmatched, there's nothing they can't play】
【China Telecom is still strong, no doubt】
【Taliyah's ability to disrupt tempo is insane, never realized this champion was so good—honestly, does LPL only pick champions after Smiling or LCK uses them first?】
...
The most ridiculous part was that the old post 【China Telecom is probably LPL's last fig leaf】 got bumped up again. The people who had replied with "?" earlier to mock ZGDX's loss were now being replied to with "?" in return, turning the tables—
The forum was buzzing with excitement, completely different from the front page thirty minutes ago that had been trashing China Telecom and declaring LPL doomed. Xiao Rui was so impressed he almost wondered if he'd stumbled into a fake forum... When ZGDX destroyed YQCB's team headquarters in the second match, he finally couldn't resist making a post himself—
【Topic】【Praising when they win, trashing when they lose, switching faces thirty times in thirty minutes—don't you guys feel a little stupid?】
Main post:
YQCB's playstyle is completely different from the Spring Split, reborn and transformed. Can't you see these two teams are evenly matched now?
This is a good thing. Dominance by one team won't achieve anything—to win championships, the entire region needs to be strong.Honestly, you guys are so quick to jump on the bandwagon—praising when they win and bashing when they lose—it's like watching a bunch of idiots.
The post was up for five minutes, but by the time the players returned to the break room after finishing the second match, there were no replies—the thread sank instantly.
Xiao Rui: "..."
Seems no one thought they were acting like idiots.
...
The third match began.
Both teams were now locked in a battle of strategy.
For the first twenty minutes, not a single kill occurred!
The most intense moment was when bot lane exchanged skills, and Lu Sicheng was tower-dived by all four enemies, left with a sliver of health—just then, Little Fatty’s catfish swallowed Lu Sicheng whole while activating a shield, and Old Cat teleported behind the enemy faster than their top laner, Rong Rong!
But Pope’s instincts were sharper than a cat’s!
Almost the second Old Cat cleared the minion wave and pressed his teleport, YQCB immediately signaled retreat—even though waiting just half a second longer would’ve forced Little Fatty’s skill to expire, spitting Lu Sicheng back out, allowing them to secure the kill with just one more auto-attack. Yet they showed no hesitation or greed.
—YQCB advanced and retreated with military precision, their execution rivaling even the famously high-mobility "Storm" team.
—ZGDX reacted swiftly, their positioning impeccable, their rotations razor-sharp. Their disorganized play in the first match, which led to a loss, seemed to have taught them a lesson—this time, their eyes were glued to the minimap. The slightest movement—like Pope glancing at Lu Sicheng for just a second too long—and Old Cat’s teleport would light up bot lane. By the time Ai Jia realized what was happening, Tong Yao, who had just been trading blows with him mid, was already halfway to bot lane...
It was like a eunuch shouting, "Assassin! Protect His Majesty!"—and suddenly, imperial guards, secret police, and royal troops materialized from all directions, abandoning jungle camps, minion waves, and even their lane opponents mid-fight.
No hesitation.
Absolute decisiveness.
So in the first twenty minutes, bot lane saw three teamfights, the biggest one involving all ten players—but because both teams calculated skill damage flawlessly and played cautiously in this deciding game, not a single kill was secured despite multiple skirmishes.
Caster A: [I know the audience’s hearts must be pounding—mine sure is! I’m up here screaming—Chessman used Heal! Pope’s on low health! Liang Sheng triggered Thunderlord’s Decree! Smiling’s about to clean up—aaaaah!—I’m practically jumping on the desk—ugh, so frustrating! They just disengage like that, no kills, everyone ducks into the bushes and recalls.]Commentator B: [Hahahahahahaha, that team fight just now was so dazzling even I couldn’t keep up—not that my skills are lacking, I know you’re all about to flame me for that, but this time it’s really not the case. There was no time to react or observe—their speed was insane, like masters exchanging blows. You might think they just clashed mid-air with a loud bang, but no, they’d already exchanged hundreds of moves in that instant.]
Commentator A wipes his sweat with a handkerchief: [Exactly that feeling.]
Commentator B sighs: [For this match, I hope no matter which side wins, no one complains—we know both teams must still have higher-level strategies they haven’t revealed yet, but they’ve definitely given 100% in mechanics and spirit. We should be grateful to witness such a game in the Group Stage.]
Commentator A: [I’ll say something that might get me flamed—after a match like this, how can some haters claim the Korean region is leagues ahead of us? How?!]
And so,
The commentators maintained their excited, high-energy voices and hyped-up emotions for a full sixty-five minutes—
In a normal League of Legends Pro League match, a game lasting fifty-five minutes is already rare. By the end, things like kills, gold, and items no longer matter—everyone is fully equipped with six items, everything resets to the starting line, and the players, after prolonged intense focus, begin to feel exhaustion and numbness…
Out of the corner of her eye, Tong Yao noticed Lu Sicheng flicking his mouse after taking the Red Buff.
She frowned and glanced at his wrist—there was still the pain-relief patch she’d applied for him on the way to the venue. She’d originally suggested he wear a wrist brace, but the man stubbornly refused, saying it would feel unfamiliar and affect his performance.
“Cheng Ge, are you okay?” Tong Yao asked.
“Not really, my hand hurts,” the man’s deep voice replied. Before Tong Yao could feel sorry for him, he added, “What if I AFK for a bit? Can you guys win 4v5?”
Tong Yao: “…”
“How about I hang you from the team logo at the entrance of our headquarters?” Little Fatty retorted. “After all the effort we put into feeding you into a six-item ADC, waiting for you to carry, and now you’re telling me you wanna AFK?”
Tong Yao: “…”
Lu Sicheng chuckled, released his mouse and keyboard to stretch his wrist, then gripped them again. “It won’t last much longer. One final team fight in the next ten minutes will end it. Everyone, focus up. Old Cat, how long till your TP cooldown?”
Old Cat: “Five seconds. My ult’s up too—we can engage first.”
Old K: “They’re going for Baron.”
—65:30, YQCB starts Baron. Since it’s late-game, everyone’s damage is high, and Baron’s health drops rapidly.
—65:33, ZGDX arrives. Little Fatty wards the pit, Tong Yao’s Taliyah walls off YQCB inside the Baron pit, Old Cat TPs to the ward, and Rumble drops his ultimate, roasting YQCB.
—65:38, Old K, who dove the pit first to steal Baron, gets focused and dies—but not before taking down enemy ADC Pope and leaving the support at low health. YQCB’s jungler, X Bang, secures Baron with Smite.At sixty-six minutes and one second, both sides exchanged a round of skills, leaving only Old Cat, Tong Yao, and the enemy Top laner Maokai in the Baron pit. However, Maokai was incredibly tanky and flashed out of the pit. Tong Yao and Old Cat also flashed to chase, relentlessly pursuing him all the way from the Baron pit to YQCB’s High Ground before finally taking him down.
At this point, ZGDX had a massive wave of minions pushing forward. Everyone thought YQCB was about to be wiped out in one push, but no one noticed that Pope, the first to die in the team fight, was about to respawn.
Tong Yao stared intently at Pope’s respawn timer, her heart burning with urgency as she frantically attacked the second Inhibitor Turret in front of the Nexus, wishing she had eight hands.
“We should go, we can’t take it down,” Lu Sicheng’s voice rang in her ears.
Tong Yao wanted to retreat after destroying the first Turret, but Old Cat insisted on trying a bit longer. Hesitating for a second cost them dearly—just as they took down the Inhibitor Turret, Pope respawned.
Tong Yao immediately spammed retreat pings to her teammates.
But it was already too late. Pope charged out, fully restored, first eliminating Old Cat, then chasing all the way to the mid-lane river before flashing to finish off Tong Yao, who had no skills or health left.
As ZGDX’s players respawned one after another, they had died slightly later than YQCB’s, and the delay caused by Maokai’s stalling tactics sealed their fate. With Pope leading the charge, YQCB counter-pushed the High Ground. ZGDX, left with only three players, couldn’t hold the line. Amid the roaring cheers and chants from the audience, YQCB reversed the push and destroyed ZGDX’s Nexus!
With a resounding “boom,” the sound of ZGDX’s Nexus shattering echoed through their headphones, followed by the background music signaling the end of the match.
On YQCB’s side, their support tore off his headphones and leaped into their AD carry’s arms for a passionate embrace.
In the audience, regardless of team allegiance, thunderous applause and cheers erupted as fans reveled in the spectacle of such an exhilarating match.
When YQCB’s players walked over to ZGDX’s side for the post-game handshake, the ZGDX team stood up one by one, exchanging handshakes, hugs, and shoulder pats. As Lu Sicheng and Pope shook hands, their eyes locked in a silent duel, daggers flying between them—yet somehow, the moment carried a subtle sense of mutual respect between rivals.
Li Junhe spoke in awkward Chinese, “Next time, I’ll shake your hand again.”
Lu Sicheng smirked. “The Summer Split finals? Then you’d better pack up your mouse quickly. I’ll go grab the trophy, take a photo, and come back to shake your hand—don’t miss it.”
Li Junhe burst into laughter and hugged him.
Moving to the next person, Li Junhe stopped in front of ZGDX’s petite Mid Laner. As he extended his hand, he noticed her palm was slightly damp. Instinctively, he glanced back at Lu Sicheng and kicked him before turning back to politely compliment her, “You played very well. For a girl to reach this level is impressive.”
She pressed her lips together, too distracted to notice Pope’s little kick. There was no trace of joy at being praised by one of the league’s top players on her face. She simply nodded and replied softly, “Thank you.”
Once the handshakes were over, Tong Yao sat back down expressionlessly.
From her seat, she could see YQCB’s five players stepping into the spotlight at the front of the stage, turning their backs to bow and thank the audience—
The light formed halos around their figures.
So dazzling.
So blinding.Tong Yao narrowed her eyes slightly, vaguely recalling that this was the first time she had looked at her opponent from this angle—just like today, when the China Telecom Team suffered their first defeat since the start of the tournament.
OpenNovel