Tong Yao: "Nine years of compulsory education forced me to learn English, probably just for this day when I can happily browse the internet and watch foreign players tilt... Seeing them tilt makes me so happy. Am I being really bad?"
"The expression on your face tells me you're quite happy being the villain," Lu Sicheng walked past Tong Yao, bending down to pour a cup of water. "But this G4 really has a gap compared to Korean teams. If YQCB had half a season more to synergize, they wouldn't lose to them."
Xiao Rui: "Defending your bro again."
Tong Yao: "He started during the match, I'm used to it. A green hat on his head, trembling while hugging the support from the neighboring team."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Because the first match was won smoothly, the atmosphere in the ZGDX break room was harmonious during the rest period. When they were notified to go on stage for the second match, everyone's expressions were relaxed... In contrast, G4's expressions didn't seem too heavy either, as if they didn't care much about the outside opinions. Well, if they cared, they wouldn't have surrendered directly.
—Jokes aside, Tong Yao guessed that the opponent's surrender at that moment was probably a last resort, fearing that continuing to be beaten like this would truly tilt them. It was better to surrender and move on to the next game.
And as it turned out, her guess was correct.
At the start of the second match, it was clear that the opponent's morale wasn't too affected—in fact, their form seemed even better than the last match. This could be inferred from the smooth and methodical Ban & Pick phase. ZGDX's draft this time wasn't even that optimal. When Ban & Pick ended, Lu Sicheng glanced at their lineup: Top laner Rumble, Jungler Nidalee, Mid Laner Corki, bot lane Sivir and Nami.
Lu Sicheng: "No frontline."
Tong Yao: "Time to test your positioning."
Lu Sicheng: "Come on, I'm just a fragile Sivir..."
As they spoke, all ten players loaded into the game, and the second match officially began!
...
As the saying goes, get back up where you fell. This time, the ZGDX team thought G4 wouldn't attempt another Level One Teamfight after the disaster in the last match, but the opponent was surprisingly persistent—and this time, they succeeded!
At the start of the match, Little Fatty was the first to move up. As Nami habitually went to ward the tri-bush, a hook suddenly shot out from the brush, snagging her. All that remained was a single fish scale, and Nami never appeared in sight again... Until the notification flashed in the middle of the screen: the enemy Lucian had secured First Blood, followed by a classic curse in ZGDX's voice chat.
Lu Sicheng, who had just arrived in lane with Sivir, was calm: "Bot lane's over again."
Lu Sicheng: "We're done."
Everyone: "..."The words of the ZGDX captain always carried a commanding presence—whatever script he said usually went unchallenged. Moreover, a bot lane duo capable of reaching the World Championship finals had to have some baseline skill, no matter how "bad" they were. So when Lucian, who had already secured First Blood, began dominating Sivir within the first five minutes, the bot lane situation turned grim. This forced Tong Yao in the mid lane to play cautiously, unable to act recklessly. Seizing their bot lane advantage, G4 began aggressively tower-diving the top lane, with their top laner, jungler, and support ganging up on Old Cat's Rumble. By the 15-minute mark, Rumble's stats had plummeted to a terrifying 0/4/0!
During the first team fight at the Elemental Drake pit, Old Cat teleported bot and unleashed Rumble's ultimate, barely scratching the enemy tank top laner. Unable to hold back, Old Cat cursed loudly: "This Rumble God's mental is shattered! And here I was thinking of getting a Rumble skin—maybe I should just go for Gnar instead! So pissed!"
ZGDX lost the fight 1-for-3, forfeiting the drake and their mid lane's first turret. The gold gap widened to 2,500, a devastating blow. Worse, their triple-melee composition, already struggling without an early lead, began exposing its lack of frontline. In team fights, Lu Sicheng had to waste precious time dodging skills while weaving through the chaos to deal damage. With fights typically lasting around 20 seconds, his positioning inevitably cost them valuable DPS.
Low damage output.
Lost team fights.
Caster G: ["We're approaching the 20-minute mark—Baron is about to spawn, and ZGDX is about to face their true test."]
Caster D: ["G4's lead this game is massive, just like ZGDX's in the last one… Though we know we can't expect another surrender—"]
Caster F: ["Speaking for the home region fans—please, just win one game!"]
The audience erupted in laughter.
Then, the age-old superstition of "caster jinxes are real" proved its greatness once more. At 21 minutes, Baron spawned. A small skirmish broke out between ZGDX's first and second bot lane turrets—simply put, G4's jungler, support, and AD ambushed Lu Sicheng and Little Fatty, who were isolated farming minions. The G4 AD, who had suffered 30 minutes of humiliation in the last game before initiating the surrender, instantly popped off.
Chasing Lu Sicheng and Little Fatty relentlessly, the G4 trio forced Little Fatty's Nami to turn and ult, knocking up all three. Lu Sicheng followed up with a Q that hit all three, then disengaged immediately, leading the enemy mid, jungle, and support toward their second turret. Observant viewers in the front rows could see Lu Sicheng's lips moving nonstop—he was calling shots.
Then, without warning, the broadcast cut to Baron pit—where ZGDX's mid, top, and jungle were already sneaking the Baron barely after its spawn!
The crowd gasped in shock!
Meanwhile, G4's top and mid laners, completely oblivious, were busy invading ZGDX's jungle to steal the Red buff, planning to kill Lu Sicheng and Little Fatty before taking Baron themselves!By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late. The Baron was left with a sliver of health, which Nidalee secured with a well-timed Smite. Meanwhile, Lu Sicheng, also at a sliver of health under the second-tier Turret, managed to turn the tables and trade kills with the enemy AD!
Commentator D: [I’m speechless.]
Commentator G: [The bot lane skirmish shouldn’t have dragged on for so long. Sivir still had her ultimate—how could they possibly catch up to her? This time, Team G4 got too reckless. In the World Championship, you’re always up against top-tier teams. Recklessness shouldn’t even be in your emotional vocabulary—it’s more terrifying than despair.]
Commentator F clutched his head, silently staring at the screen for a moment before muttering gloomily: [Now ZGDX has taken down both mid and top outer Turrets… G4’s gold lead has been erased. Alright, I don’t even want to talk about it. I have no f*cking words.]
—And with that, ZGDX sounded the horn for their counterattack!
A fierce push to secure objectives and Turrets rapidly closed the gold gap between the two teams. By the time ZGDX marched onto G4’s High Ground and another teamfight broke out, G4 once again felt the same dread of being dominated as in the previous game… At the 35-minute mark, the entire game had undergone a complete reversal!
……
When the second match ended, Tong Yao stood up, took off her headphones, and glanced at the opposing team—their expressions were far from optimistic after such a massive lead had been overturned. Especially their top laner, who had a strong early-game advantage, seemed on the verge of arguing with the bot lane—likely blaming them for overextending and causing the reverse sweep… Tong Yao kept looking back as she walked: “…Their top and bot lanes seem to be fighting.”
“Just go already,” Lu Sicheng nudged her. “Why are you so nosy?”
Tong Yao: “…”
Author’s Note: This bonus chapter is dedicated to all the lovely readers who’ve been so patient with me. Love you all, mwah!
OpenNovel