October 17th.
ZGDX Team vs. TAT Team.
Another destined battle—
Some spectator masses couldn’t help but comment: Destined battle? How come ZGDX is always in a "destined battle"?
That day, the players' lounge before the match was unusually lively. The "ZGDX Lounge" might as well have been renamed the "LPL Lounge," because the members of the neighboring team, who had just suffered a crushing elimination, shamelessly stuck around instead of leaving that day—on the 16th, the night before, these guys had even optimistically sat down with ZGDX for a round of scrims... Of course, before the big test, all "review sessions" were just for fun, so that scrim had been utter chaos.
Afterward, Ai Jia even sat next to Tong Yao to share some essential insights on being the "third turret of Mid Lane"... Meanwhile, YQCB Team’s return flight was booked for April 18th. As Ai Jia put it, they planned to enjoy watching an international tournament packed with top-tier players without any burdens on their shoulders—so there was no harm in staying to cheer for ZGDX in their match on the 17th before leaving.
Tong Yao lifted her eyelids and glanced at Ai Jia, who was laughing and chatting between Little Fatty and Lu Yue not far away. "Why does that sound so weird to me?"
Jin Yang: "Yesterday, he secretly told me there were still plenty of seats left on the flight for the 18th. If you guys finish your match on the 17th, buying six more tickets would still be easy..."
Tong Yao: "..."
"Don’t mind him. Let him stew in his jealousy. LPL barely made it past the quarterfinals in previous years, and now suddenly we’re having an all-China finals? As if. Does he not understand the phrase ‘step by step’?" Jin Yang clearly wasn’t interested in this topic and waved it off. "I saw your interview after the match against OP Team. What was up with that Mid Laner from the Meme team? And that cameraman? Was that Mid Laner there specifically to see you? I swear, it really felt that way... You guys have a problem. Did Cheng Ge not—"
Before Jin Yang could finish, Tong Yao clapped a hand over her mouth.
Tong Yao stretched her neck like a meerkat, scanning the surroundings—luckily, Lu Sicheng was standing quite far away, talking to Pope. As if sensing her gaze, he paused mid-sentence and glanced up at her.
Tong Yao grinned at him.
The man shot her a warning look that clearly said, Behave. Don’t cause trouble.
Tong Yao withdrew her gaze and muttered under her breath, "Today’s starting lineup is Lu Yue... Probably to prevent us from making eyes at each other across the minion waves in Mid Lane—just kidding. It’s probably because the few times we’ve beaten the Meme team in scrims were when Lu Yue was playing."
"Honestly, I’d believe the first reason too. Your man is the undisputed king of Southeast Asian vinegar. I wouldn’t be surprised if he retires and starts a team called ‘World’s Best AD Is Me, Not Gao Xucheng’..." Jin Yang patted Tong Yao’s shoulder. "I envy you for having such a loving boyfriend."
Tong Yao snorted.
Just then, Xiao Rui poked his head through the door and announced that the starting players should get ready to head out. Lu Sicheng and the others stood up and left, leaving Tong Yao and the YQCB Team members staring after them longingly—before walking out, Lu Sicheng patted Tong Yao’s head. "Watch closely. Learn. You’re up next match."Before Lu Yue walked out, he patted Tong Yao's head: "Watch carefully, learn well, and sit tight by the water dispenser. You won't be playing next game either."
Tong Yao crumpled the empty cup in her hand and threw it at his head. Lu Yue put on a high-pitched voice, mimicking Tong Yao complaining to Lu Sicheng: "Lu Sicheng, your wife is bullying me! She hit me with a cup! She's unhappy about being stuck watching the water dispenser! She's got attitude problems—she doesn’t even want to win!"
Lu Sicheng backhanded him with a slap.
Old Cat casually slammed the door shut with a "thud," and the world fell silent.
Tong Yao turned around and nodded expressionlessly at the YQCB players behind her, saying solemnly, "Our substitute mid laner is an idiot. Sorry you had to see that."
...
Not long after Lu Sicheng and the others left, the pre-match trash talk VCR started playing. Watching it backstage alongside players from other teams made Tong Yao feel a bit awkward... When she realized the trash talk this time was even more intense than during the OP Team match, she regretted not making up an excuse to go to the bathroom and avoid this ordeal—[Top Lane Group]
TAT, SASALI: "In past scrims against ZGDX, we won more than we lost. You might think it’s because our mid laner, Mintai, was too strong and their mid couldn’t fight back, but I’ve always believed their top laner was the real weak link... All he can play is Rumble. What else does he know? Ban his Rumble, and he’s useless."
ZGDX, CAT (leaning forward, smiling): "He said that? That I only play Rumble? That I’m the weak link? Fine. Today, I’ll show him firsthand what a 'hero pool' really is, and what a 'weak link' truly means."
...
Ai Jia: "If they’d recorded this VCR face-to-face, they probably would’ve started throwing hands right then and there."
Tong Yao: "If we weren’t supposed to be civilized and polite... we’d probably just be hearing Old Cat’s profanities by now."
Jin Yang: "Note: This is the top lane group. Yet you, a mid laner, still caught a stray bullet."
Tong Yao: "..."
[Jungle Group]
TAT, YO: "LPL? More like FAKE LCK. They keep copying our strategies—maybe it works within the LPL, but they’ll never beat the LCK."
ZGDX, K: "Then how did we beat OP Team? With your... okay, no swearing... All I’ll say is their World Championship run will be as short-sighted as their vision."
...
Behind Tong Yao, Pope shifted uncomfortably in his seat the moment YO said "FAKE LCK." Liang Sheng, draped over his shoulder, laughed hysterically: "Bro, no need to panic."
Pope: "*&%#&《&》(omitting 300 words of Korean)..."
Tong Yao: "What’d he say?"
Liang Sheng: "He said not all Koreans are like that—most are actually very polite. He also doesn’t think LPL tactics are copying the LCK. The LPL has very distinct regional characteristics..."
Tong Yao: ".................. Look how scared he is."
Liang Sheng: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
[Mid Lane Group]
Tong Yao and Lu Yue sat shoulder-to-shoulder like elementary school students, lined up obediently.
ZGDX, Smiling: "As someone once said, even though I’ve lost before, I know this clearly—Li Mintai is a hurdle I must overcome. There’s no running from it, and I won’t try to."ZGDX, LV: Smiling just needs to keep an eye on her water dispenser, then leave the victory to me.
ZGDX, Smiling (turning her head to look at Lu Yue beside her): I told you to trash-talk the opponents, why are you aiming at me instead?
TAT, THEI (pulling down his cap): Make her cry again. She won’t get past this hurdle…
Having her solemn declaration broadcasted like this was really embarrassing—Tong Yao covered her flushed face with her hands, refusing to speak.
Jin Yang nudged her with her foot: “My legs feel a little weak.”
Tong Yao didn’t react, but Ai Jia responded quickly: “Why are your legs weak?”
Jin Yang: “The little wolf pup.”
Ai Jia: “I’m one too! Why don’t your legs go weak for me?”
Jin Yang glanced at him dismissively: “Three years ago, maybe.”
[AD Group]
ZGDX, Chessman (in Korean): When I was competing with Li Junhe for the starting position and benched him, Xiujun was still a trainee. After me came Li Junhe, then him. So no matter what, he has no right to achieve anything in front of me.
(Switching back to Chinese) Many people say ZGDX is too unlucky—after facing OP, we have to fight TAT. But honestly, we don’t care when we face TAT because our goal is the championship. To win it, sooner or later, we’ll have to crush the entire LCK region, even if it leaves us battered and bloody.
TAT, TYOUZZR: I’ll show Cheng Ge that I’m not the same person I was back then!
…
[SUP Group]
ZGDX, Little Fatty: Today, either the LPL or the LCK region will be completely wiped out. I’ve decided to give this precious opportunity to the LCK region—our vision will blanket their jungle like the Five-star Red Flag planted all over the moon, lighting the way home for them.
TAT, Superman: Hahahaha, really? He actually said that? Ahh, seriously, how does he come up with such savage trash talk… I can’t take it!
…
The break room erupted in laughter at Little Fatty’s line about “lighting the way home for them,” and the same laughter echoed from the audience outside the venue…
Ai Jia: “Your team’s fatty is truly the king of savage trash talk.”
Tong Yao: “He takes the trash-talk segment very seriously. When we’re on flights changing venues, he spends all his time working on it—”
Jin Yang: “What’s even the point of this segment that ruins team harmony? Feels like by the end, no one even bothers pretending anymore, just tearing into each other openly… At least the Olympics hypocritically chants ‘friendship first, competition second’!”
Tong Yao said airily: “The audience loves this stuff.”
Then she turned to glance at the satisfied YQCB members behind her: “See? Every one of them looks thrilled.”
Jin Yang turned and, sure enough, saw the same thing, giving them a disdainful look.
Meanwhile, on the big screen in front of them, the pre-match trash-talk segment ended, and the match officially entered the Ban & Pick Phase. TAT wasted no time banning Lu Yue’s Azir, Twisted Fate, and Sivir, while ZGDX banned A Tai’s Leblanc, the opposing top laner’s signature Gnar and Maokai—prompting TAT to first-pick Rumble.
The entire venue erupted in shock.["This pre-game tension has clearly carried over into the match," commentator D said. "Today, TAT seems determined to challenge CAT's champion pool—absolutely refusing to let him get his hands on Rumble! They might even force him to ban Gnar and Maokai too. Now, let's all eagerly anticipate how CAT will respond!"
The moment the commentators finished speaking, on the ZGDX side of the stage, the team saw the enemy pick Rumble and immediately countered with Riven—locking her in without hesitation!
The venue fell silent for a few seconds before erupting into unprecedented frenzy—Riven, the Exile, a champion immensely popular in low-tier and ranked games but rarely seen in professional play, had a ban/pick rate of 0% in this World Championship so far!
Commentator F: "I can't believe my eyes."
Commentator D: "CAT has pulled out Riven—either he's completely lost his temper, or he's unveiling some long-hidden secret weapon!"
...
And as the match began, commentator D's pre-game words proved prophetic. During the laning phase, mid lane held steady thanks to Lu Yue, who, though not gaining an early advantage, slipped away like an eel from the enemy jungler's ganks multiple times. Bot lane, Lu Sicheng and Little Fatty played aggressively, building a 20-CS lead, but with the enemy running the protective duo of Alistar and Kalista, they weren't looking for kills... until mid-game arrived.
In a skirmish over the Elemental Drake initiated by TAT, the enemy jungler Lee Sin and top laner Rumble aggressively chased down Old Cat. Both had their ultimates ready and were at healthy HP. Just as everyone assumed Old Cat was doomed, he showed the world a side of himself no one had seen before—using his E to reposition Lee Sin right next to Rumble, he instantly stunned both with W! Followed by an R on Rumble, auto-attack into Q combo on Lee Sin, using Q's splash damage to execute Rumble, then weaving in continuous autos, repositioning, another auto, kiting back, and just as Lee Sin placed a ward, he W'd back to stun again—completing a 1v2 outplay!
Godlike!
Not just the live audience, even the players watching from the backstage lounge were stunned speechless—
Commentator D: "OH—MY—GOD!!!!"
Commentator F: "I can't believe my eyes—it's like I'm watching a fake match! Now we're seeing the replay from the broadcast team... okay, I still can't figure out how he pulled that off!!! The broadcast team is kindly replaying it a third time—let's slow it down. Before Lee Sin placed his ward, CAT executed at least seven offensive actions in that first combo!"
Commentator D: "He understands Riven inside out. This can't be a tilt pick—he IS Riven! If—and I mean IF—ZGDX wins this championship, I demand CAT's championship skin be the Exile!"
Commentator F: "This play will undoubtedly rank among the top three highlights of this World Championship—let me say it again, I simply can't believe my eyes!"]In previous ZGDX matches, Old Cat had mostly played the role of a blue-collar top laner—low-key and tanky. Like TAT's top laner, many considered him ZGDX's only weak link, the exploitable gap. But today was different.
In a game where Lu Yue pressured the mid lane and Lu Sicheng wasn't as aggressive, Old Cat pulled out a hyper-carry Champion he almost never used in official matches but had secretly practiced in Ranked Games. With a stunning 1v2 in the Elemental Drake pit, securing two kills, he became an unstoppable demon king that the enemy team simply couldn’t handle, dictating the entire course of the match!
By the time the first game ended—
Both the casters and the live audience were still savoring Old Cat’s incredible play. The Forum exploded with analysis posts, as fans marveled that this wasn’t just about mastering the Champion in Ranked Games—Old Cat’s execution proved he had an intimate understanding of Riven’s damage at every level, cooldowns, and skill precision. His calm, flawless combo would’ve fallen apart with even the slightest misstep—one misplaced auto-attack reset, and it wouldn’t have worked.
[Thank you, World Championship, for showing us a different ZGDX! Before, we only had eyes for Cheng Ge and his wife. Now we’ve discovered we also have the God of Supports and the God of Top Lane!]
[Whoever said ZGDX without Lu Sicheng is a 10-0 stomp for TAT—come out and take this L!]
[Congrats to TAT and SASALI for first-picking Rumble and trash-talking pre-match, only to unleash ZGDX’s ultimate top lane demon king.]
[New fan here. Old Cat’s Riven play was so insane it shook the world.]
[Beneath that blue-collar exterior lies pure gold… To see such a wild strat in the semifinals—I won’t lie, ZGDX’s prep is next-level. They’ve got this in the bag!]
...
Amid the flood of praise, the MVP was announced—Old Cat, as expected. The arena erupted in cheers, the crowd chanting his in-game ID in unison: "CAT! CAT! CAT!"
Amid the roaring applause, Old Cat pushed open the door to the break room. Everyone inside, including staff, rose to their feet, clapping and grinning as if welcoming a triumphant hero—their long-dormant, now-unleashed "blue-collar" top laner.
Author's Note: Here we go, here we go, here we go~
(Disclaimer: I don’t play Riven. The mechanics referenced are based on a sick play by a top laner from a Relegation team. That’s all.)
OpenNovel