On the first day, both CK Team and ZGDX Team had matches. After the opening ceremony, YQCB didn’t leave and instead followed ZGDX’s group straight to the backstage lounge.
YQCB had nothing better to do and stayed to watch the opening match while showing some concern for their fellow regional team. ZGDX’s first match was against Bear Team, a Wild Card team from Russia—where was CK Team? CK Team was unlucky. Not only did they have to play the opening match, but their opponent was the Korean Operator Team, OP Team.
OP Team and CK Team were long-time rivals.
Last year, during S5, the Korean Operator Team crushed CK Team 3-1, knocking them out in the quarterfinals. This year, at the MSI Mid-Season Invitational, CK Team and a team from the Taiwan region teamed up in the first round of the Group Stage to thrash OP Team, nearly causing the infamous Korean Operator Team to be eliminated in the Group Stage and lose their First Seed Pool spot for this year’s S-Series World Championship (*MSI had six teams in total, with the top four earning their regions an additional First Seed Pool spot for that year’s S-Series Finals).
Rumor had it that the Korean forums exploded back then. The "Dead Twitch" faction was already prepared, and the backlash was so intense that even most of the Chinese haters—who usually just talked big or at most bought a crate of spicy sauce on Taobao to send to the team headquarters—were left in awe.
So, for this match, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that OP Team wouldn’t go easy on CK or leave them any face. Meanwhile, CK Team also saw OP Team as their biggest competitor in the group and would undoubtedly go all out… The match organizers really knew how to stir things up—
This was definitely an opening match worth looking forward to.
……
And at this very moment.
Tong Yao and the others sat down in the backstage lounge.
There was a large TV in the lounge where they could watch the ongoing match. By the time Tong Yao’s group settled in, CK Team and OP Team’s match had already entered the ban-pick phase… Tong Yao grabbed Lu Sicheng’s arm and pinched him: “I’m nervous. I’m more nervous than if I were playing myself—ugh, why did they ban Syndra? What’s wrong with them? Why ban a Mid Laner against OP Team?”
“Sit still.” Lu Sicheng swatted her hand away and pushed aside the head that had been hovering near his chin.
—OP Team’s Mid Laner, Jin Yuguang, was the very same god-tier player who played an insanely good Cassiopeia, the one who made Lu Sicheng criticize Tong Yao’s Champion pool. This man was the soul of OP Team and indisputably the best Mid Laner in the entire LCK region… In the eyes of many, there was no Mid Lane Champion Jin Yuguang couldn’t play. In fact, many Champions not originally meant for Mid Lane became popular in that role after he pioneered their playstyles.
For Jin Yuguang, League of Legends didn’t have so-called "meta Champions"—because, in a way, Jin Yuguang was the meta.
—And against someone like that, wasting a ban slot to target his Champion pool? What the hell was the point?
Right now, Tong Yao was fidgeting restlessly. If Lu Sicheng hadn’t been holding her down, she probably would’ve rushed over to grab CK Team’s coach by the collar and demand an explanation… Tong Yao: “What kind of ban-pick is this?!”Lu Sicheng: "Xiao Hua doesn't want to play Syndra. Syndra is strong in this meta, so we banned her."
Tong Yao: "But Jin Yuguang knows ten thousand other meta-strong Champions!"
Lu Sicheng: "Yeah, impressive, right?"
Behind them, the YQCB team members had already started snickering. In their experience, if someone nagged Lu Sicheng like Xianglin's wife, he would've long since shut them down with his coffin-face—yet here he was, humoring Tong Yao with patience, albeit while his eyes never left the screen.
Tong Yao: "Impressive my foot! Why are you boosting the enemy's morale like this? How can you face our comrades fighting on stage? Ahhh, what kind of ban-pick is CK Team even—"
Tong Yao couldn't finish because Lu Sicheng had already covered her mouth and lifted her onto his lap—one arm securing her waist, the other still muffling her protests... Tong Yao raised her brows and let out muffled protests, only to hear Lu Sicheng murmur calmly by her ear, "Mind your viewing etiquette."
Tong Yao: "..."
Amidst the laughter behind them, Tong Yao remained silenced by Lu Sicheng until the match began, at which point he finally released her... By then, she had cooled down a little. Finding the human seat beneath her quite comfortable, she made no move to get up, staying perched on Lu Sicheng's lap. Leaning slightly forward, she could now "politely" discuss the match in hushed tones with him—
At the start, OP Team's mid, top, and jungler trio invaded CK Team's F4 and caught Yang Shen, who had indeed started there! Yang Shen was forced to burn Flash under the three-man assault, left with critically low health. After desperately chugging two health potions, he barely managed to clear the Red Buff before recalling. Meanwhile, OP Team's jungler seized the chance to steal CK Team's Blue Buff and placed a ward in the nearby brush.
Unaware of his stolen Blue, Yang Shen walked past the empty pit after respawning, circling it once—not only had his Blue been taken, but his movements were now completely exposed to OP Team. His attempted gank on the bot lane failed, leaving him no choice but to try stealing OP Team's Blue instead... except OP's Blue wasn't so easy to take. It was as if they'd anticipated his arrival—their Mid Laner and support rotated early to secure their own Blue, leaving Yang Shen empty-handed once more.
This back-and-forth wasted thirty seconds. The first thirty seconds of the game are life for a jungler; wandering the jungle for half a minute with nothing to show for it would break most junglers' mental—but Yang Shen held on, barely keeping his composure.
Yet he knew full well that from the very start, his jungle tempo had been completely disrupted.
This chaos inevitably threatened the other lanes—
Seeing Yang Shen bot-side, OP Team's jungler immediately rushed top to ambush Haoyun Lai. Both sides were only level three at this point, and Haoyun Lai likely never expected OP to target his Gnar in the top lane. With his wave pushed too far forward, he was caught out and gave up First Blood.A collective sigh of "Aiyo" echoed through the lounge. Tong Yao overheard Pope speaking to his teammates in Chinese behind them: "CK Team, bad at playing from behind. OP Team, when ahead, unstoppable."
Tong Yao: "..."
His Chinese sure is coming along well—he even knows "unstoppable" now.
Tong Yao nudged Lu Sicheng with her elbow: "So how do they reverse sweep?"
Lu Sicheng: "With their heads."
She poked him again: "Speak properly."
She pressed further: "What would you do in their position?"
Lu Sicheng gave her a light smack on the rear, signaling her to shut up and behave, before turning to discuss with Pope in Korean. Then, with infuriating calm, he finally turned back and said: "No idea. Right now, all that talk about stalling or manipulating minion waves is nonsense. The only way seems to be stealing a Baron—boosting morale is crucial... And it's not just CK Team who struggles when behind. OP Team isn't much better in those situations either."
At four minutes and thirty seconds into the game, the relentless early-game strategies, coupled with the First Blood, had firmly placed the match in OP Team's control.
Hearing Lu Sicheng's words, Tong Yao had no choice but to quietly wait for a Baron steal.
The ensuing match unfolded exactly as Pope had predicted. CK Team, known for their aggressive playstyle, lacked the patience and precision needed for playing from behind. They kept conceding towers and Barons, hoping to drag things out until a decisive teamfight—unlike the LPL, where teams would brawl at the drop of a hat, the Korean league preferred calculated macro play.
By the time CK Team realized thirty minutes of surrendering objectives hadn't led to a single teamfight, they panicked. The game seemed headed for a slow, inevitable defeat—until they finally seized an opportunity when OP Team started Baron. Yang Shen's Lee Sin ward-hopped into the pit and Smite-stole the Baron!
The cameras clearly captured Jian Yang roaring in triumph. The rest of CK Team visibly perked up; the casters screamed themselves hoarse; fans in the stands leaped to their feet, waving CK Team's cheering banners high—meanwhile, the lounge erupted in admiration too.
Tong Yao: "Ah!"
Tong Yao: "Just like that! Other teams' junglers!"
Old K: "Watch your words. Trying to trigger a mid-jungle feud?"
At that moment, it wasn't just Tong Yao grabbing Lu Sicheng's collar in excitement—cheers and applause broke out both onstage and in the lounge. OP Team's jungler simply chuckled and shook his head helplessly. This small turning point, fueled by Yang Shen's stolen Baron Buff, allowed CK Team to win their first major teamfight, taking down OP Team's mid and top outer turrets plus the bottom lane's second tower, clawing back nearly 4k gold. By the time the Baron Buff expired... CK Team completely shifted gears. Realizing teamfights were their forte, they stopped waiting passively and aggressively chased OP Team down for another fight, securing a 4-for-2 victory.
Tong Yao: "Ghosts must be involved—CK Team can play from behind now?"Lu Sicheng: "OP Team is getting reckless too. If they avoided this team fight and kept stalling, manipulating the minion waves would've been enough to wear down CK Team. But no, they had to engage... They're gonna be kneeling on washboards when they get back."
Tong Yao: "Fighting's good. Team fights are LPL's specialty. Welcome to LPL's tempo."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
The match dragged on to the fifty-minute mark, with CK Team managing to equalize the gold deficit and lost turrets.
At fifty-five minutes, both teams contested the Elder Dragon. OP Team started it first, but mid-fight, Jian Yang's Lee Sin appeared like a ghost again—haunted by the memory of losing the last dragon by ignoring this jungler, OP Team had no choice but to focus Yang Shen first. They blew nearly all their skills, only for Bard to save Yang Shen at the last sliver of health with a golden stasis ultimate. The teammates hiding behind Yang Shen immediately swarmed in!
Having wasted their carries' skills trying to kill Yang Shen, OP Team lacked damage output. Gnar slammed three of them into a wall, and Ezreal freely unleashed his damage, securing a triple kill instantly—CK Team took over the Elder Dragon amidst roaring cheers. Gnar recalled and teleported straight to the enemy base, joining their decently healthy support and low-health jungler to destroy OP Team's mid inhibitor, then killing their freshly respawned jungler.
By the time the rest of OP Team arrived, CK Team surged forward unstoppably, ending the game in one decisive push!
With this, the LPL region secured its first victory...
………………………………They actually won!!!!
【LPL! LPL! LPL!】
【A repeat of MSI's legendary moment!】
【Unbelievable, absolutely no one could've predicted this. Ladies and gentlemen, the MVP of this match undoubtedly belongs to CK Team's jungler. That brilliant ward-hop smite in the dragon pit marked the first note of this match's turning point!】
Amid the live audience's cheers, everyone in the break room clapped. Tong Yao watched Jian Yang rip off his headphones and bounce around like a monkey who'd already won the S6 trophy. Finding it amusing, she laughed along.
She hadn't laughed twice before the leg she was sitting on jolted twice—"What's so funny?" Lu Sicheng's stern voice came. "Sitting on my lap while laughing at another man? What kind of behavior is this?"
Tong Yao: "I'm laughing because Yang Shen is so happy about winning one Group Stage match that he's acting like a monkey."
"Like a monkey" didn't sound like a compliment, so after some thought, Lu Sicheng nodded. "That's acceptable. Laugh away."
Tong Yao: "..."
At this point, LPL fans became overwhelmingly optimistic—the Forum once again saw its annual, perpetually disproven tradition resurface: 【Brothers, I'm not exaggerating—this might just be LPL's most promising year yet!】
Fans flooded Weibo and the Forum with celebratory posts, wishing CK Team continued success, then settled in to watch ZGDX's match against the Wild Card team that afternoon... Before the game, everyone thought: It's just Wild Card. Regardless of anything else, given how Wild Card teams exist mostly for entertainment and to save face for other regions' weakest squads, surely LPL's top seed can handle them, right? This one's a guaranteed win, right?
And indeed, it was a guaranteed win.Probably because the players were particularly excited on the opening day, ZGDX Team crushed the Russian "Grizzly Bears" into "Teddy Bears" within just twenty-five minutes of the match. They dominated mid-lane and surged forward triumphantly. Tong Yao, with a stellar score of 17 kills, 0 deaths, and 3 assists, demolished the enemy's team headquarters and secured the MVP title for the first game—gaining a massive wave of fans worldwide.
After the match, international media platforms were ablaze with searches about "the female player from LPL," overshadowing even "the Dragon Tamer Jian Yang." Everyone was discussing that petite girl from the LPL region—so tiny she might get trampled in a crowd. People said that deep in her soul resided a Godzilla capable of lifting the Pentagon, leaving nothing but carnage and devastation in her wake.
...
That day.
As ZGDX Team returned victorious from their triumphant start.
The manager of CK Team was overjoyed, waving a freshly filled schedule packed with scrims arrangements, practically ready to find a Guanyin temple in the U.S. to offer prayers.
Similarly, the overall mood across LPL media platforms was as jubilant as an early New Year celebration. Tong Yao and Jian Yang became the stars of the moment—marking the first time they were mentioned together in the same context since their breakup. Lu Sicheng was extremely displeased by this and grumbled that he should never have let Tong Yao secure so many kills, even if she screamed herself hoarse for them.
Absolutely not.
Never again.
...Well, now that they were in the U.S., the Riot Games staff handling backstage audio wouldn’t understand her anyway, so there was no fear of embarrassment.
"No one lets their teammate take kills only to end up painted green," Captain Lu declared. "There won’t be a next time. Ever."
OpenNovel