The quarterfinals of the S Series World Championship adopt a Best of Five format, meaning the first to win three games advances. The quarterfinals will officially commence four days after the Group Stage, on October 17th, with the matches held in Chicago.
Among the eight qualifying teams, three are from the LPL region, three from the LCK region, along with Team C from Taiwan's LMS region and the lone European LCS representative, G4. Overall, this lineup left European and North American fans utterly despondent—firstly, European fans didn’t believe G4 stood a chance against Team CK; meanwhile, North American fans, after their teams were eliminated in the Group Stage, simply disbanded their support and scrambled to pick favorites from other regions to cheer for, just to console themselves through the remaining weeks of the S Series… What else could they do? They were just as hopeless.
October 13th, evening.
After their match, Tong Yao and her team rushed straight to the airport with their luggage, which the staff had already packed for them—the tournament organizers had long prepared training facilities and hotels in Chicago for the quarterfinalists. At the airport, they even ran into their counterparts from Team CK and YQCB Team. Once past security, Tong Yao looked up and spotted A Tai, the Mid Laner of TAT Team, standing not far from the checkpoint with his usual stoic expression, alongside his teammates. Jin Yuguang, the Mid Laner of OP Team, was beside him, chatting with a smile… Sensing the gaze on them, both looked up and saw Lu Sicheng, nodding politely from a distance—A Tai even gave a slight bow, as Lu Sicheng had been his senior during his time as Chessman in TAT.
After clearing security, Tong Yao walked over and immediately spotted the two biggest banes of her S Series run casually exchanging pleasantries with her captain. She tugged at the sleeve of the man behind her and asked, "Why are they here too?"
Lu Sicheng tilted his head slightly. "Dumb question. You expect them to swim from San Francisco to Chicago?"
Tong Yao let out an "Oh" and feigned composure. "I just saw you fraternizing with the enemy right after security and wanted to issue a subtle warning disguised as a question."
Even with his toes, Lu Sicheng could tell Tong Yao was nervous about these two Mid Laners. The corner of his lips curled as he teased deliberately, "Whether I fraternize or not, you’re still no match for them, so don’t overthink it… Ow, why are you hitting me?"
"I’d rather kill you," Tong Yao retorted, pinching him where she’d just smacked his back. "We’re facing Jin Yuguang in the quarterfinals. Don’t boost their morale—what if I really can’t beat him…"
"If you really can’t, I’ll carry you," Lu Sicheng said with a laugh, draping an arm over her shoulders while lazily waving at the two elite Korean Mid Laners in the distance. "You’ve carried this old man enough times. It’s about time I show you what ‘an old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand miles’ means…"
Half-enveloped in Lu Sicheng’s embrace, Tong Yao breathed in the scent of his cologne mingled with a faint trace of sweat… She had to admit, his arms were solid and warm, giving her an inexplicable sense of security.
Even if he’d managed to infuse the solemn phrase "an old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand miles" with an indescribable hint of… something indecent....This was probably the specialty of a rogue.
Tong Yao maintained a deadpan expression in her heart while wrapping her arms around the man's waist, trying to savor this last moment of peace—Little Fatty, Lu Yue, Old K, and Old Cat were gathered around Ming Shen, analyzing replays of other group stage matches from the past few days... The atmosphere in the team was serious and tense. At least during the group stage abroad, Little Fatty had still been playing mobile games on his phone before boarding the plane.
For ZGDX Team, the quarterfinals would mark the true beginning of their World Championship journey. They had to muster every ounce of focus to face the Korean Operator Team—just as players from both regions had sighed when the draw results were announced: calling the clash between the two Operator Teams a preview of the finals wouldn’t be an exaggeration. This was a true battle between masters.
...
Four days later.
On October 17th.
The quarterfinals kicked off. On the first day of matches, only CK Team from the LPL was scheduled to face G4 Team—though no one had high expectations for G4 before the match, compared to CK, G4 at least had a slight home advantage... After all, whether it was the European LCS or the North American LCS, they were both called LCS, right? So the usually divided regions, where everyone looked down on each other, suddenly united in solidarity. On match day, the cheers for G4—the lone representative of both LCS regions—shook the arena!
Tong Yao and the others took their seats in the venue as arranged by the organizers. The atmosphere was electric. After a wave of foreign cheers for G4, the unexpected roar of Chinese voices cheering for CK was surprisingly loud, almost matching the foreigners in intensity... Honestly, wherever you go, there are bound to be Chinese people.
And at critical moments, they were always united against outsiders—
In places where cheering and volume mattered, things never got dull.
The two casters on-site seemed a bit surprised by the Chinese cheers. After a brief, awkward silence, one of them couldn’t hold back a chuckle. Caster T: ["Oh ho, ahem, don’t assume you’re the home crowd only to awkwardly realize the Chinese fans aren’t backing down either."]
Caster G: ["Next time, let’s cheer a bit louder. After all, the ticketing system doesn’t check passports. Losing the vocal battle on home turf just won’t do."]
A big brother in the crowd, spurred by the casters’ words, roared even louder, "Go CK! Long live the LPL!" The players entered the stage amidst the audience’s laughter—Caster T: ["You know what’s most frustrating? The most frustrating thing is that they understand everything we’re saying, but we can’t make out a single word of what they’re saying!"]
Caster G: ["Hahahaha!"]
As the two casters bantered, the first match entered the Ban & Pick phase. Not just CK Team on stage, but even Tong Yao and the others sitting in the audience were infected by the tense atmosphere... Previously, no one had taken G4 seriously. Today, CK—who had crushed Operator Teams—shouldn’t have any trouble with them, right?
That’s what Tong Yao thought.
Then the match began.
And she realized reality wasn’t quite what she’d imagined—The competitive systems of the European and North American leagues have always differed from those of China and Korea. Rather than strictly following the meta, they often pull out unconventional and bizarre team compositions—champions like Amumu, Ziggs, Anivia, Aurelion Sol, Katarina, and Yasuo, which are rarely seen in LPL and LCK official matches, get picked by these foreigners without hesitation. They play without psychological burdens anyway.
Facing CK, who had already secured two wins against Korean teams, G4—originally from the second seed pool—was unanimously written off by domestic and international media before the match. If they lost, so be it. There might be some regret, but nothing more.
In the first game, G4 drafted a double-poke, fast-push composition with Varus and Jayce. Though they had no early-game lane advantage, their split-pushing speed was insane. They slithered through the jungle like eels, refusing to fight and just stealing resources and scaling… CK gradually fell into passivity by mid-game, their gold lead slowly erased—then they mindlessly gave up two outer turrets and two Elemental Drakes.
At the 25-minute teamfight, they got wiped three-for-one.
After that, G4 surged forward amidst the casters’ excited shouts and the live audience’s roaring cheers, pushing all the way to CK’s High Ground by the 37-minute mark. Varus’ three arrows deleted CK’s AD, forcing the team to retreat. During the retreat, their Mid Laner Xiao Hua got picked off too. With their Double Carry gone, they could only watch helplessly as their Nexus exploded.
When the first game ended, the triumphant G4 players were all smiles, while CK’s members wore blank expressions as they picked up their water bottles to drink… Tong Yao suddenly gripped Lu Sicheng’s hand beside her, a bad premonition rising in her chest.
Perhaps sensing the warmth of her palm, Lu Sicheng flipped his hand over to press hers down, giving it a light pat. “Don’t panic. It’s fine.”
Author’s Note: New modern romance novel "Moonlight Sonata" is up! A sweet story about a god-tier author and a little editor who turns from a lamb into a big-tailed wolf!
OpenNovel