The decisive match was about to begin.
Generally, after winning two consecutive games and then having the opponent catch up with two of their own, the psychological pressure on ZGDX was much greater than that on TAT at this moment... As the captain, Lu Sicheng didn’t say a word.
Just before the match officially started, the man exchanged a few more words with TAT’s director, JROOM, who was also an old acquaintance of his—JROOM could be considered a talent scout. Back then, he had gone against all opposition to bring Lu Sicheng, a prodigy, from the LPL to the LCK, making Lu Sicheng the first and only foreign aid in LCK history... Historically, Korea had always been a powerhouse in esports, only exporting Korean Aids abroad. Bringing someone in was truly unprecedented—fortunately, Lu Sicheng later silenced those critics with his own skill.
Later, at the peak of his career, Lu Sicheng left TAT and returned to the LPL before even securing a championship in the LCK. This incident also subjected JROOM to endless criticism: people said JROOM was out of his mind, using Korea’s top-tier esports training system to nurture a world-class AD carry, only to let the tiger return to the mountains... As for the daily barrage of insults, JROOM was well aware but chose to play dumb. Under immense pressure, he led TAT to victory in Season 5, and even after losing Pope in Season 6, the team remained in excellent form, dominating the LCK all year long!
People called him the best professional League of Legends coach in the world, unlike Xiao Rui, who only knew how to order takeout for his team.
Now, on stage, JROOM and Lu Sicheng were chatting and laughing—JROOM teased, "You’re not going easy on us just because of your old team, are you?"
"Not at all," Lu Sicheng leaned against the entrance of the player tunnel. "On the contrary, because I know Director Park is very familiar with my playstyle, I’ve been extra careful to avoid the habits I developed back at TAT..."
"Kid, that really breaks my heart—you once represented the LCK too, didn’t you? I even sat behind you on a little stool, drilling you on last-hitting. And Korean... I still remember you repeating after me, learning phrase by phrase—now you speak it so fluently."
"Hyung, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"—Let our Mintai pick Leblanc again next game, hm? He was just yelling backstage about wanting to go head-to-head with Smiling. Smiling’s Leblanc is too exciting—I want to see her cry..."
"That’s my wife. Why should I indulge you in wanting to see her tears?" Lu Sicheng raised an eyebrow. "And don’t get excited over her so casually. What kind of talk is that?"
"Hyung is your benefactor, right? Shouldn’t you repay the favor? Hyung wants to win another world championship—then the club’s bonus will be enough to buy a villa in Seoul’s Gangnam District!" JROOM said earnestly.
Lu Sicheng scoffed at that, laughing for a while before replying, "No can do."JROOM probably also realized how ridiculous his words sounded and finally couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Ah, just as annoying as that Li Junhe kid! He wouldn't even tower dive when he saw me either! I even told our jungler that this guy would definitely tower dive before level four and he should camp there... After the match, the first thing our jungler did was confront me: 'Hyung, didn't you say Junhe-hyung would definitely tower dive? You're all liars QAQ!'"
Lu Sicheng played with the player badge in his hand, lowering his head with a soft chuckle... His slender fingers with thin calluses brushed over the red letters "-LPL" at the top of the badge, fingertips tracing the letters.
Then the man said calmly, "Yeah, at the World Championship, everyone fights for themselves. That Li Junhe kid is the same—this is a battle for the honor of our region."
Hearing this, JROOM paused... He looked up at his own team members who were just coming out of the player tunnel one after another and patted Lu Sicheng's shoulder with deep emotion: "Win or lose, I'll never regret inviting you to LCK back then."
Just then, Tong Yao also came out and walked over to Lu Sicheng.
The man straightened up, took her hand, and said to JROOM with a smile, "Same here. I'm glad to meet TAT at the World Championship."
—For a brief moment, he was certain he saw JROOM's eyes light up. Backlit by the stage lights, with the Ban & Pick Phase's signature BGM suddenly playing behind them... As opponents, they stood on opposite sides.
As former teammates and mentor, though JROOM didn't say it, the emotions on his face told Lu Sicheng he was also pleased to have this day—where both sides represented their own stances, meeting on the world stage where heroes competed.
......
Lu Sicheng returned to his seat, absentmindedly fiddling with his headphones... Tong Yao sat down beside him, tugging at his sleeve and leaning her head over: "What were you so happily chatting about with the enemy strategist for so long?"
"Nothing much. He said that for old times' sake, he wanted us to let Li Mintai have Leblanc one more time."
"......"
Tong Yao's grip on Lu Sicheng's sleeve tightened instantly: Li Mintai didn't want to see her Leblanc, but she really wanted to see his Leblanc too.
"I said no, because I just said in the break room that anyone who dares to let Leblanc through again will be strangled to death on stage with a mouse cord."
"......"
As they spoke, the players took their positions and officially entered the Ban & Pick Phase... Since it was the deciding match, no one dared to mess around anymore. The TAT team, who had been clamoring to let Leblanc through earlier, immediately banned Leblanc first—much to the commentators' amusement.
Commentator D: ["Oh ho! TAT's first ban is Leblanc—are they admitting Smiling's Leblanc is too strong?"]
Commentator F: ["We've seen two Leblanc games today—but the two players never got to face off directly, because both were brilliant! Different playstyles—Smiling's Leblanc leans more toward team play, with precise engages to take out the enemy carry, while THEI focuses more on lane mechanics..."]Commentator D: ["Promise me, no matter what, let's have a rematch at the All-Stars. Use LeBlanc in the solo competition to settle the score!"]
The ZGDX team's voice chat was lively as well.
Tong Yao: "They banned LeBlanc first! They're scared!"
Lu Sicheng: "Look how excited you are."
Tong Yao: "I'm the world's best LeBlanc!"
Little Fatty: "Sure, mental victory tactics."
Old Cat: "Very optimistic."
Old K: "I think she got knocked silly by the last match's Fizz. She barely escaped death several times… I’ve never been so in demand by Smiling in a single game. The moment I went to take Blue Buff, she was already yelling: 'Where’s the jungler? Where’s the jungler? Where the hell is the jungler?!'"
Everyone: "Heh heh heh."
At this point, the opposing team banned Kalista and Rumble. Tong Yao slapped her mouse: "Keep mocking me and I’ll feed… Sigh, Twisted Fate is open. Give me Twisted Fate, I’m about to take off."
Honestly, they didn’t even need to say it—everyone knew that if Twisted Fate was available, they’d pick him. Old Cat locked in Twisted Fate for Tong Yao, while the opposing team locked in Zilean and Tahm Kench. To prevent them from pulling out the Zilean + Tahm Kench + Kindred combo, Old K had to lock in Kindred for himself since Nidalee was still open… TAT Team countered with a top-lane Maokai, and Tong Yao locked in Gnar for Old Cat.
Finally, both teams’ compositions were set:
TAT Team Picks: Maokai, Nidalee, Zilean, Lucian, Tahm Kench.
ZGDX Team Picks: Gnar, Kindred, Twisted Fate, Twitch, Braum.
As the game loaded, both teams headed to their lanes at level one. Lu Sicheng’s Twitch, leveraging Braum’s early-game strength, chunked down the Lucian who had walked into the second bush botlane to two-thirds health, forcing him to chug two Health potions and flee… Commentator D: ["We can see that Chessman is still ruthless even on Twitch, proving just how determined he is to win this match—if the minion wave hadn’t arrived, I’d almost suspect a level-one skirmish would’ve broken out for First Blood!"]
Amid the commentator’s energetic shouting, Lu Sicheng glanced at the enemy’s CS. Because Lucian had been forced to flee beyond minion range, he missed two minions. Lu Sicheng pinged: "I’ll hit level three first. Old K, come gank bot."
Lu Sicheng said this with the calm certainty of a god, already confident he wouldn’t miss a single CS and would hit level three before the enemy. Old K acknowledged and focused on farming, but before hitting level three, he swung mid to gank for Tong Yao—of course, they didn’t kill Li Mintai, but they harassed him enough to force him under tower.
Seeing that Tong Yao wasn’t under as much pressure mid, Old K shifted his focus to frequent botlane ganks. The moment Lu Sicheng indeed hit level three first, Kindred jumped out of the bush and focused Tahm Kench before he could swallow Lucian—something TAT Team hadn’t anticipated!
Though they had immediately Exhausted Lu Sicheng, Tahm Kench even forgot to use his Health potion. After popping his shield, he was shredded in three hits and had to body-block for his AD, who burned both Summoner Spells and Flashed away!
Lu Sicheng secured First Blood!Before the crowd could even cheer, Tong Yao suddenly shouted, "Zilean isn't recalling—he's heading top!"
Old Cat: "Holy shit, that warning nearly gave me a heart attack!!"
Amid the frantic shouts from mid and top, TAT Team indeed launched an assault on ZGDX's top lane! Mirroring the earlier play, their mid and jungler converged on top, catching the small Gnar under turret and securing the kill for their jungler. As the minion wave pushed in... ZGDX's top turret now had three enemies, while TAT's bot turret only had Lu Sicheng and Old K defending. Though the bot wave arrived first, two people couldn't match the pushing speed of three. Little Fatty roared in frustration, "Dammit, I already recalled! Why this now?!"
Seeing this, Tong Yao immediately teleported bot before the wave arrived, landing just as the top wave crashed into the turret—joining the push to contest the First Tower!
Mid-push, Tong Yao briefly checked mid lane and saw her own wave pushing in. She yelled, "My minions!"
Old K: "Alright, alright, I'm backing off..."
Since Lu Sicheng had started attacking earlier, Tong Yao's arrival accelerated the push. A few seconds later, ZGDX secured the First Tower with a sliver of health left, narrowly beating TAT!
Old K retreated first, letting Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng split the First Tower gold to mitigate their losses—then, seeing TAT's members too far to interfere, he turned and sneakily took the first Elemental Dragon. Tong Yao quickly returned to mid lane to continue farming against Li Mintai. Both had missed a wave, but Tong Yao's half-share of First Tower gold gave her a slight edge over Li Mintai's earlier assist top. By the 6:30 mark, slightly later than usual, both hit level 6. Twisted Fate ulted bot, landing with a instant yellow card (W) to stun the support, followed by an AQ combo. Meanwhile, Lu Sicheng capitalized perfectly—Twitch activated skills and unleashed a barrage on the now-unprotected AD, while Little Fatty layered on Exhaust, securing the kill!
Bot lane dominance was instantly established.
A Twitch with both kill and farm leads was a top-tier, unstoppable menace!
From there, ZGDX's Double Carry left their lanes, roaming everywhere to execute a 3-1-1 split push. Twitch lurked in the jungle, ambushing enemies and pushing turrets, while Twisted Fate openly kited opponents like walking dogs... By the 20-minute mark, ZGDX had taken four outer turrets, led by three kills, and held a 3,000 gold advantage!
Caster D: ["Baron is up now, and we're eager to see ZGDX's choice... If the early game wasn't a landslide, then the real game is just beginning!"]
No sooner had Caster D spoken than TAT Team proved exactly what "the real game" meant!
During an Elemental Dragon fight, Maokai initiated, rooting Tong Yao who had stepped slightly too far forward. Lucian unleashed his ultimate, shredding the Carry Position. Forced to retreat invisibly, Lu Sicheng looked for an opening while the enlarged Gnar charged in, slamming Lucian into a wall!Zilean's ultimate came in clutch at the critical moment, reviving Lucian who then descended from the wall and went on a rampage with the time bomb over his head, swiftly taking out Twisted Fate and Braum before turning his fire onto Twitch—just as Kindred activated their invulnerability circle. The low-health Twitch activated their ultimate and charged forward, unleashing a barrage of attacks that finally whittled down the healthy Zilean and Lucian. The moment the invulnerability faded, Twitch finished off Lucian before falling themselves!
A team fight that lasted a full thirty seconds!
In the end, both sides traded blows at a four-to-six ratio. ZGDX was left with only a low-health Kindred and a shrunken Gnar, forced to retreat, while the enemy jungler and top laner smoothly secured the Infernal Drake.
—Looking back later, Tong Yao felt this was the toughest battle they'd fought since entering the World Championship.
Both teams had a myriad of survival skills at the ready, especially in the late game. Every carry had a Guardian Angel, turning everyone into a nine-lived cat demon... A single team fight could start at their own High Ground and chase all the way to the enemy's—Baron?
Too scared to risk it being stolen, no one dared to start it carelessly.
As the saying goes, Baron throws games.
No one could afford that mistake. Neither jungler wanted to shoulder the blame for losing Baron. For a solid ten minutes, both teams fought tooth and nail for vision control around Baron, yet neither side dared to even touch it... Old K: "Seriously, if they're not gonna take Baron, why keep hovering around it? Who the hell are they trying to scare?!"
Lu Sicheng: "Says the guy who was yelling three minutes ago, 'Don't take Baron, I don't have Smite, I won't take the blame!'"
Tong Yao glanced at the game timer—it had already reached sixty minutes. Both teams were fully equipped with six items. Baron or no Baron, Elder Dragon or no Elder Dragon, none of it mattered anymore... One final team fight.
Win, and they advance to the finals.
Lose, and they book their tickets home.
At sixty-eight minutes, the last team fight finally arrived—
The two teams clashed in the mid lane.
As she pressed her skill to cycle Twisted Fate's cards, Tong Yao could almost hear her own pounding heartbeat. Her entire soul felt sucked into the computer screen. When she saw her Red Card fly out, piercing through the enemy team and exploding on their AD, critting away a massive chunk of health; while Old Cat's Gnar transformed and leaped into the fray, landing a godly ultimate that pinned down both enemy carries and their jungler—her scalp tingled with exhilaration. Lu Sicheng's Twitch went invisible, slipped into the enemy backline, and with his ultimate active, three-shot the Lucian while Zilean was still stunned—Tong Yao: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Little Fatty: "OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!"
Old Cat: "AD's dead! AD's dead!"
Old K stayed silent, flashing into the fray and activating Kindred's invulnerability circle just as Lu Sicheng finished off the enemy AD but was about to die himself. Lu Sicheng used Heal to save himself, while Little Fattymoved forward with Braum's shield to cover his retreat—regrouping.
Then, they unleashed a final devastating assault on the AD-less TAT team—destroying the High Ground Nexus turret, then the Inhibitor Turrets!
As Tong Yao clicked away at TAT's base, she could feel her eyes growing sore and moist. Ironically, she could also hear what seemed like countless little angels flying around her head, blowing tiny trumpets!
The ultimate showdown of 2016 between LPL and LCK!The moment the blue crystal of TAT team exploded, Tong Yao tore off her headphones and flung them aside, leaping straight into Lu Sicheng's arms beside her; Little Fatty stood up and grabbed Old K, planting a firm kiss on his face in tribute to that perfect ultimate in the final teamfight; Old Cat and Old K were all smiles, with Old K twisting his head in Little Fatty's embrace to bump fists with Old Cat... In the audience, countless people waving LPL cheering banners rose to their feet in unison, cheering, jumping for joy, and applauding fervently to celebrate their team stepping into the spotlight—as the five players on stage steadied themselves, Lu Yue rushed up from backstage, and the six of them lined up in a row, bowing and waving to the crowd... Tonight, after three long years, the LPL would finally stand once more on the stage of the S-series World Championship—and this time... they would leave no regrets behind!
OpenNovel