After the team members returned to the rest area, the commentators were still chatting enthusiastically on stage—
Commentator D: "Honestly, today's match has surprised me at this point—maybe it's not appropriate for an official commentator to say this, but I have to admit: I originally expected the situation to be the opposite of what we're seeing now."
Commentator F: "Oh, my friend, don’t blame yourself. If anything, blame the LCK region for always giving off that impression of being so… you know. TAT performed exceptionally well in their regional regular season too. Everyone calls the LCK regular season 'a battle of gods.'
Before this year's World Championship, someone even joked with me: 'Hey, buddy, are you going to commentate the LCK Autumn Split instead?'"
Commentator D: "That’s good, I mean, we always need some surprises in moments like these—thank you, LPL, thank you, ZGDX..."
Commentator F: "Hey! Hey! The match isn’t over yet. Why are you already giving a post-game speech...?"
Commentator D: "Oh, sorry, I just wanted to say it—LCK fans, don’t worry. As my friend here said, TAT only has one foot over the edge of the cliff. They still have every opportunity and the skill to pull off a miracle... Speaking of which, with both substitute Mid Laners in great form, I wonder which one ZGDX will field next game..."
...
While the commentators speculated on stage, ZGDX had already made their decision—Lu Yue would play next game. Since Lu Sicheng had carried hard in the previous match, they feared TAT would target him, so they swapped in Lu Yue to play a more supportive Mid Laner Champion and provide some cover.
Tong Yao had no objections—in fact, when the team was discussing this, she seemed completely zoned out, lost in thought... But just as Lu Yue was about to head on stage, Tong Yao suddenly stopped him and warned him sternly: "Be careful this game. Whatever you do, don’t let Leblanc through."
Lu Yue was baffled, not understanding why Tong Yao looked so worried despite having just won a match... Tong Yao: "Don’t ask. A woman’s intuition."
Lu Yue raised an eyebrow in surprise: "You’re a woman? Since when?"
Tong Yao wasn’t offended. She crossed her legs and tilted her chin up slightly. "You’ll find out when Li Mintai solo kills you."
Lu Yue rolled his eyes and flicked her forehead. Tong Yao hissed in annoyance and grabbed the notebook beside her, hurling it at the door just as it closed— thud . The impact was loud.
...
The third game began.
All the players took their positions on stage. As they settled into their seats and put on their headsets, the live comments on the domestic broadcast platform were flooded with hopeful "3:0" chants. Casual viewers were swept up in the hype, brainwashed by the age-old Jinx of "This might actually be LPL’s most promising year yet"—
For the third game, Lu Yue picked Ekko, banned Leblanc, and Li Mintai locked in Viktor.This match saw the opposing team pick a Twitch and Lee Sin combo, while ZGDX opted for Ashe and Elise. In terms of initiative, the enemy team seemed to have the upper hand—which aligned with Lu Sicheng's speculation during the break. After his reckless showboating in the previous game, he finally earned the enemy's respect by not treating him as an invisible AD carry.
...Though perhaps a bit too much respect.
At four minutes, with their Twitch falling behind in CS due to the Champion's early-game weakness, the enemy Lee Sin seized the opportunity when Lu Sicheng hit level four first and would inevitably initiate a fight. Lee Sin decisively headed bot to help Twitch survive—placing a ward in the river tri-brush, which revealed Elise hiding in the bush. Without hesitation, Lee Sin kicked Elise in the face, forcing her to retreat and regroup with the bot lane duo.
Old K: "Damn, this Lee Sin has a dog's nose! Motherfucker knew I was there even when I was holding my breath!"
Little Fatty: "Maybe you couldn’t hold it and let out a fart?"
Old K: "Gotta bounce, gotta bounce."
Meanwhile, Twitch stealthily approached and unleashed a combo. Lu Sicheng fought while retreating, pulling Little Fatty back with him—Little Fatty's Braum tanked 80% of the damage, and by the time they reached their turret, he had chugged two health potions, leaving his HP dangerously low. Lu Sicheng had no choice but to concede the wave and play safe under turret. He flicked his camera to mid and asked, "Where’s our Mid Laner? Not coming for a roam?"
Lu Yue: "Your Mid Laner is busy with his daily suffering under turret."
Lu Sicheng flicked the camera back, unwilling to witness such an eyesore. "You’re telling me you’re playing Ekko into Viktor and just farming under turret? I’d be less mad if you said you DC’d."
Lu Yue: "This A Tai is going hard this game, constantly poking. I’m scared."
Lu Sicheng: "A turret claiming it’s scared..."
No sooner had he spoken than disaster struck mid. Ekko stepped out of turret range to trade but fell just short of killing Viktor. As the enemy minion wave crashed in, Viktor—hanging on with a sliver of health—countered with a QAE combo, instantly proccing Thunderlord’s Decree. Ekko died under turret—Viktor’s shield absorbed the first turret shot, Lee Sin arrived to shield him, Viktor flashed out, and Lee Sin tanked the second turret shot. Flawless coordination!
First Blood!
Caster D: "Alright, alright! Never seen such bold turret-diving! Perfect teamwork between mid and jungle—we see the killer instinct of TAT’s Mid Laner!"
Caster F: "The game’s only five minutes in, and First Blood has already been drawn! TAT’s Mid Laner strikes first to open the game!"
To the average viewer, First Blood might just mean 400 gold, but for Ekko, it was the start of a snowballing disaster. With the lane lost, Ekko couldn’t roam to support other lanes, locked into a farm battle with Viktor. By mid-to-late game, this semi-support tank Ekko would be leagues behind Viktor in teamfight impact, leaving ZGDX struggling in mid-game skirmishes. It proved Lu Sicheng’s point: might as well say mid lane disconnected—it’d be less infuriating!The third match was set in motion by the First Blood at the five-minute mark. From then on, Viktor played freely, roaming across the map. By the eighth minute, he hit level six and solo-killed Ekko again. At twelve minutes, he teleported bot lane, securing a double kill for his team and establishing an advantage, taking down the First Tower and the first Elemental Dragon. By the twenty-minute mark, due to the disadvantage in mid and bot lanes, and Old Cat playing a tank top lane, ZGDX lacked enough damage for mid-game team fights. The gold difference between the two teams had reached four thousand!
[This Li Mintai is still strong… single-handedly carrying his team’s tempo.]
[Honestly, what’s the point of Lv picking Ekko just to play defensively? If you’re gonna play safe, why not pick a scaling champion—didn’t he learn Diana from Smiling? Why not pick her?]
[6666666 TAT finally woke up? More like Li Mintai woke up—that second roam bot was genius. Meanwhile, ZGDX looks like they’re asleep. Lu Sicheng’s Ashe is completely useless.]
[Another reverse sweep incoming? Not great.]
Countless live comments flooded the domestic streaming platforms as Tong Yao nervously rubbed her hands together. By the thirtieth minute, during the Baron fight, Ekko dashed into the enemy team trying to stun the jungler and steal the objective, but before he could even press R, he was hooked by Thresh’s Flay. Viktor followed up with Q-A-R-E and Ignite, instantly deleting him. Meanwhile, the Spider, originally planning to dive into the pit to contest Baron, was now left stranded without Ekko’s setup. The moment she Rappelled down, she was bursted down and killed.
TAT secured Baron and two kills, forcing ZGDX—already at a gold deficit—to retreat. TAT pushed straight through one lane’s High Ground.
[????????]
[Where’s Ekko’s R? Didn’t use it when he got solo-killed at eight minutes, and still didn’t use it now!]
[GG.]
[Just surrender, no point wasting time. How are you gonna reverse sweep from this?]
[????????]
[Probably couldn’t press it in time. This Li Mintai is just too strong.]
[I think Lu Yue’s mental was already crumbling after the second solo kill. If my wife isn’t dead next game, sub her in please.]
Amid the spectator masses’ collective frustration, the match ended at thirty-five minutes when TAT, after recalling to buy items, pushed through with a wave of super minions and took the High Ground. Thanks to Li Mintai’s two crucial solo kills and one genius roam, TAT pulled themselves back from the brink of defeat. By the end, forums and media outlets—both domestic and international—were littered with reactions.
The phrase "reverse sweep" was spammed across every global forum.
……………………Okay, maybe that was a bit alarmist.
Lu Yue, his face as dark as a burnt pot, stormed into the break room and immediately said to Tong Yao, "Jinx."
Tong Yao sat at the table, flipping through her notebook with one hand propping up her head. "I told you to be careful this game. Right after the second match, when I came down, I saw Li Mintai grinning at me like the King of Hell—I knew we were doomed..."Lu Yue slammed a chair down next to Tong Yao, squeezing her aside to snatch her notebook and read the written match review. As he read aloud—"'Four minutes thirty seconds, Lu Yue's Ekko gets solo killed under tower, enemy flashes out with a sliver of health after an insane outplay—I told you women's intuition is real, slap slap '..." Lu Yue pressed the notebook shut and glared at Tong Yao, " Slap slap my ass, is that applause or getting smacked?"
"………………The first slap is getting smacked, the second slap is still getting smacked. With the enemy at our gates, how could I possibly applaud them?" Tong Yao grabbed her notebook back, "Should I play next game?"
Lu Yue waved dismissively, "Go ahead, it's definitely because you one-tricked Leblanc and triggered them... I can't beat him, I admit it."
Tong Yao: "Oh."
...
Fourth game, Tong Yao entered the fray.
The gruesome details of what happened next shall be omitted. Simply put, upholding principles of good faith, ZGDX gave TAT Team a Leblanc pick—then proceeded to demonstrate with skill: Tong Yao's Leblanc could crush Li Mintai, and Li Mintai's Leblanc could also crush Tong Yao.
Forty-two minutes later, Tong Yao pushed open the player lounge door.
Meeting Lu Yue's deadpan stare as he sat arms-crossed behind a table, she flashed a toothy grin and awkwardly rubbed her nose, "I can't beat him either, what now?"
The moment she finished speaking, Lu Yue rolled his eyes so hard they might've fallen out.
Lu Sicheng gave Tong Yao a shove from behind, "We never should've given Li Mintai Leblanc. Next time I believe your 'my Fizz is good enough to counter Leblanc' nonsense, I'll hang myself with a mouse cord on stage."
Tong Yao: "..."
While Lu Sicheng complained with a darkened expression, the others couldn't hold back their laughter. So when Xiao Ruo opened the door, he was met with an entire lounge of people giggling like idiots. Bewildered, he asked, "Did I miswatch the last game? Wasn't TAT the winners? Why's everyone here laughing like you hit the jackpot—did the illegal gambling millions already clear? Can't even muster a single sad face?"
Tong Yao: "Mindset, mindset is important. Stay optimistic."
Xiao Rui: "I think you got beaten stupid???? Don't think I didn't see your 'I'm about to swear' face when Leblanc and Ashe teamed up to destroy you first round... Optimistic? Give me a break. Next time any of you trash talk and recklessly give away boss picks before matches, I'm docking your entire year's salary!"
Tong Yao: "..."
Current time is 11 PM in America. During the Season 6 World Championship semifinals, after ZGDX Team secured two initial victories, they unsealed the ancient demon king Li Mintai—only to get reverse swept twice. Fifteen minutes later, they would face the crucial deciding game.
Author's note: Slept until 7, missed LCK finals.
Wrote this chapter, missed the RNG vs EDG war.
Today I missed an entire world.
OpenNovel