After the group draw ceremony, everyone was satisfied with the excellent draw results and prepared to return to their rooms for a nap.
Xiao Rui, on the other hand, was set to meet with the management to decide on the flight schedule to San Francisco, USA—the S6 World Championship officially kicked off on September 30th, and it was already September 10th. With the invitation from Riot Games, the players' visas had been processed one after another. In theory, Xiao Rui hoped the team could go earlier to adjust to the time difference, food, and other aspects to avoid discomfort from the new environment… In any case, the players had no objections to heading to the U.S. ahead of time. Getting familiar with the surroundings, playing scrims with international teams, and even sightseeing sounded like a good deal.
After everyone expressed their willingness to leave early, they dispersed. Lu Sicheng, like a parasite, followed Tong Yao back to her room. As she made the bed, he stood behind her watching. When she yawned and climbed onto the bed, he immediately followed suit.
Tong Yao was already used to it.
Besides, she had woken up quite early today and didn’t have the energy to engage in a battle of wits with Lu Sicheng. So when the man got into bed, she crawled onto him, resting her head on his chest and nuzzling against him before letting out another yawn… Lu Sicheng steadied her head: "Stop moving, or neither of us will get any sleep."
"Didn’t you play Ranked Games until 4 a.m. last night? Still got energy for anything else?"
The fingers gently stroking her cheek paused briefly: "Enough for one round. Wanna test it?"
Test nothing—it’s broad daylight.
Tong Yao raised her hand and patted Lu Sicheng’s face, then grabbed her phone to browse the forum, checking out the discussions about the draw results. Soon, she began steering the conversation elsewhere: "The draw results were pretty surprising… We managed to avoid all three Korean teams—though facing them in the Group Stage for some early practice wouldn’t have been bad either, but I still feel relieved… Looking at the forum now, everyone seems to agree we got a great draw while CK got the short end of the stick. Do you think this counts as 'Korea-phobia'?"
"LPL has never truly shined in the S-series World Championships all these years, always labeled as the second-tier region, trembling under the shadow of Korea… When we won the MSI Mid-Season Tournament in S5, everyone said it was LPL’s most promising year—but what happened? Two teams got knocked out in the Group Stage, and the last one barely struggled to the quarterfinals before being eliminated… It’s only natural people aren’t optimistic now."
"If you guys had gone last year, maybe you wouldn’t have stopped at the quarterfinals."
"At this time last year, we weren’t as strong as we are now—execution, shot-calling, champion pool… Looking back, there was indeed a gap compared to the LCK region." Lu Sicheng didn’t seem too bothered. "And what’s the point of dwelling on the past?"
Tong Yao couldn’t help but wonder—last year, ZGDX had secured a spot for S5 but was held back due to Lu Yue and Ming Shen’s issues. Which team had gone in their place back then? At the time, Tong Yao hadn’t paid much attention to the Professional League, only catching glimpses occasionally. Now, she couldn’t recall it right away.
As she pondered, her eyelids grew heavier. Combined with the warmth of Lu Sicheng’s embrace, she soon succumbed to drowsiness and fell asleep while scrolling on her phone.
……
By the time she woke up again, it was already afternoon.When Tong Yao got out of bed, Lu Sicheng was already gone. After freshening up and going downstairs, she found him duo-queuing with Old K to rank up. Hearing movement from above, he glanced up at the person descending the stairs and asked, "Hungry?"
"Not really." Tong Yao sat down beside Lu Sicheng, peering over as he finished a ranked match before opening her own computer. Her account was Challenger tier and could only solo queue, so she played a few matches alone. When she looked up again, it was already 9 PM.
She had missed both lunch and dinner.
Now she was genuinely feeling hungry.
Tong Yao rubbed her stomach but before she could speak, Little Fatty loudly announced his own hunger—coupled with today's successful draw ceremony marking a partial mission accomplished, everyone felt half their worries lifted. Almost without hesitation, the group unanimously decided to head to Yangfang Hotpot.
As usual, Cheng Ge—being the wealthiest—would foot the bill.
The boisterous group piled into cars and noisily settled at their table, only to notice the neighboring table looked somewhat familiar. Across the aisle, the two tables eyed each other from a distance until Little Fatty slapped his forehead and greeted them: "Hey, what a coincidence!"
The neighboring table was none other than the "Great Qing Fell Five Hundred Years Ago" team, including substitutes and starters—seven players plus their coach, making eight in total. Their table was already nearly cleared of food, with plenty of alcohol consumed—learning from last year's lesson, Xiao Rui would have loved to put dog collars on every China Telecom Team member. The club had strictly banned alcohol until they flew to the U.S. for the tournament, so China Telecom meekly sipped watermelon juice, forming a stark contrast with the neighboring table's scattered liquor bottles and clearly intoxicated members.
The Great Qing Fell Five Hundred Years Ago team—
That was the squad once carried by Xu Tailun, the team notorious for being dominated by a Korean one-voice hall. Later, Xu Tailun was expelled due to misconduct, and by the mid-to-late Summer Split, the team became an All-Chinese Team... Tong Yao had been somewhat involved in this drama. Although the Great Qing Team had broken free from the Korean one-voice hall, their performance didn't seem particularly impressive.
Tugging at Xiao Rui's sleeve, Tong Yao whispered, "It's almost 10 PM. Don't their club have a curfew? Letting the coach and players out drinking at this hour."
Xiao Rui lowered his voice in response: "Duh, for the other nine teams not participating in the S6 World Championship, this year's matches are basically over... What curfew is there now?"
Tong Yao let out an "Oh."
At that moment, Lu Sicheng nudged Tong Yao and Xiao Rui, his voice deep and calm: "Shut up, they got relegated."
Tong Yao froze.
After winning the Summer Split, she hadn't paid much attention to the remaining LPL matches—let alone the relegation matches. Had the Great Qing Team failed their relegation match? Got demoted? Dropped to the LSPL? Would the Great Qing Team be absent from next season's twelve LPL teams?A string of question marks filled her mind. Just as Tong Yao was stunned, a tall, thin young man stood up from the Great Qing Team's table, holding a cup. Tong Yao recognized him—his in-game ID was "Spirit Cat," the support and captain of the Great Qing Team, a veteran player... At that moment, Spirit Cat filled his cup with alcohol and staggered over to the China Telecom Team's table. Gazing at Lu Sicheng and Little Fatty, he steadied himself and grinned, "Brothers, I saw your team's S6 group draw this morning. What a lucky pull!"
Lu Sicheng and Little Fatty stood up.
Xiao Rui also rose—though his reason was different. Once bitten, twice shy. After his recent alcohol allergy and aversion to drunk people, he was worried this guy might cause trouble... But unexpectedly, Spirit Cat just stood there quietly, unmoving. His words were slurred, his gaze unfocused, as he raised his cup, spilling some of the liquor.
Spirit Cat continued, "This year— hic —don’t mess up. Get that ticket and play well. Bring some glory to our LPL in front of the Koreans—"
He paused, chuckling to himself, looking somewhat lonely. "The brothers won’t be able to cover for you like last year."
At first, Tong Yao found his words a bit odd. But after thinking carefully, she remembered the question she hadn’t figured out earlier that day—when China Telecom unexpectedly missed the S5 World Championship, the team that naturally replaced them as the Gauntlet runner-up was none other than the Great Qing Team!
That year, the Great Qing Team was strong. Led by a veteran Chinese player who held significant authority and strict discipline, they had even won the S5 Spring Split championship. Because of such past glories, the Great Qing Team still had a sizable fanbase today, sometimes even larger than CK Team's... Later, during the S5 Summer Split, as the veteran contemplated retirement, the team's performance declined slightly, but they remained formidable... Then, in the Gauntlet, they suffered a reverse sweep by CK in the final match, narrowly missing the last ticket. That night, Weibo was flooded with mourning posts, Great Qing fans wailing in despair—a truly pitiful sight.
No one expected the dramatic twist of China Telecom withdrawing, ultimately fulfilling the dreams of Great Qing’s fans. But little did they know, this "dream" was, strictly speaking, more of a nightmare.
The Great Qing Team crashed out in the S5 Group Stage, returning in disgrace. Their veteran top laner and jungler retired together, replaced by newcomers. At the start of the S6 Spring Split, their performance plummeted. Only after recruiting the Korean aid Xu Tailun did they narrowly avoid relegation, showing slight improvement... But after Xu Tailun left, the team lost its core again. In the latter half of the Summer Split, they didn’t win a single match, directly relegating to the LSPL as the league’s bottom team.
One could only imagine how agonizing it was for the fans, watching their hopes slowly turn to despair, like a frog boiled in warm water.
Tong Yao: "..."Thinking about how difficult it must be for the numerous fans of the Great Qing Team right now, and how much harder it must be for Ming, who once led the team to win the LPL Spring Championship but now faced the prospect of relegation with them—Tong Yao suddenly felt a complex mix of emotions. She wasn’t sure anymore whether driving Xu Tailun away had truly been the right thing to do.
She set down her chopsticks. Though still hungry, she suddenly lost her appetite.
Meanwhile, Ming raised his glass and clinked it with Lu Sicheng and Little Fatty, who were drinking tea instead. Smiling, he spoke in a sober tone, completely different from before: "I truly love playing professionally—the feeling of fighting side by side with my teammates. Even with so many regrets, perhaps my path ends here today. But there will always be others who continue forward, and go even further… I hope you’ll be among the lucky ones."
Tilting his head back, Ming downed the wine in one gulp and set the glass down.
"Best wishes to you all."
With that, Ming turned and returned to his teammates.
...By now, the people at the neighboring table were mostly drunk, sprawled haphazardly across the table or slumped in their chairs. Ming went to settle the bill, then roused them one by one, dragging them to the door.
Xiao Rui called a cab for them and helped load the drunkards inside—Ming was the last to leave. Standing outside the car, hands in his pockets, he tilted his head and grinned at Xiao Rui. "I’m a local, so I won’t be heading back to the team headquarters."
He raised a hand and waved at his teammates inside the car, who might or might not have already passed out. "Wake up, don’t oversleep. Wash your faces when you get back before crashing. See you."
The car drove off, and the street fell quiet again.
A few minutes later, Xiao Rui returned. Facing the table of subdued and visibly downcast teammates, he sighed and uttered just three words: "The farewell dinner."
The silence grew heavier.
—Once a team falls into the secondary league, keeping the original roster intact for a comeback is nothing short of a pipe dream. The Professional League is a ruthless place—after relegation, the better players are quickly bought by other clubs during the transfer window, joining new LPL teams to serve new masters. The weaker players scatter to find new teams, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell in the lower league.
A miraculous five-man comeback from the LSPL to the LPL is the kind of fantasy even trashy web novels wouldn’t bother writing.
So for the Great Qing Team, the moment they failed to avoid relegation, the team was effectively disbanded. Whether they’d ever sit together again, playing matches, eating, joking, and chatting like before, depended entirely on fate.
Affected by the somber mood, the meal passed in a haze, and by the end, no one even remembered they’d originally gathered to celebrate ZGDX’s favorable S6 group draw… That night, as Tong Yao closed her eyes to sleep, all she could see was Ming’s alcohol-reddened eyes and the wine spilling over his hand as he raised his glass.
...
September 13, 2016.
The LPL region held a grand send-off ceremony for ZGDX, CK, and YQCB as they embarked on their journey to the S6 World Championship.At the ceremony, amidst flowers and applause, eighteen exclusive LPL-style "battle robes" for the substitute players descended from above. The team members personally took them off the circular clothing racks and draped them over their shoulders.
They accepted everyone's blessings.
September 15, 2016.
ZGDX, CK, and YQCB—three teams—set off simultaneously for Shanghai Pudong Airport, preparing to board the same flight to San Francisco, USA. Various streaming platforms, Weibo, and other media held lively farewell events for them, with fans lining the streets to cheer them on, their roars shaking the skies.
……
Meanwhile.
The headquarters of the Great Qing Team, which had fallen five hundred years ago, was eerily silent—a stark contrast. The usual sounds of clicking mice and keyboards, the shouts and laughter of the young players, were all gone. The base was empty.
After a long while, Mao alone walked out, pulling his suitcase behind him.
No one came to see him off.
Mao dragged his suitcase through the deserted training room of the base, reached the entrance, opened the door, and hauled the suitcase outside. Taking a few steps into the blazing sun, he pulled out his phone and logged into Weibo. Countless private messages flooded in—
[Wherever you go, we’ll go too. It’s not scary to drop to the LSPL. We’ll be with you.]
[God Mao, will we ever see you again—the you who smiled brightly while lifting the Spring Split championship trophy?]
[After this disappointment, I don’t even know what to do. I’ve never loved a team this much before. I might never watch LPL again… I just feel so tired. Why did I ever fall in love with esports?]
[Honestly, I keep telling myself—why not just cheer for the Korean meme team? Or the China Telecom Team? They always win. Being their fan must be so much happier. I’ve said it a million times, but I still end up running back to watch your matches. Losing feels hopeless, but then I foolishly convince myself you’ll win next time… How stupid is that? What can I do? I’m just as hopeless!]
[Fans are definitely hopeless, but I know you players must feel even worse… Watching yourselves sink deeper into the abyss, unable to break free, unable to escape.]
[We didn’t flock to you at your peak, and we won’t abandon you in your downfall.]
Mao chuckled.
He exited the private messages.
**[DQ, Mao: Hopeless? It’s like being handed a death sentence—slow, inevitable. How could we not despair? But now, at least, we can finally have a moment of peace. It’s time to rest properly.
—For us, and for all you wonderful fans.
Goodbye, Great Qing Team. You once held glory and honor.]**
He posted the Weibo and put away his phone.
At that moment, a plane roared overhead, leaving behind a fleeting white trail across the blue sky.
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