Amidst her nervous anticipation, Tong Yao finally welcomed her first match day. That morning, after showering and putting on her team jersey, she stood in front of the mirror for a long time, feeling as if she had traveled through time—everything seemed surreal.
Shouldering her peripheral bag with the keyboard and mouse inside, she glanced at her phone before leaving. It was flooded with "blessings" from friends and family:
["I’ve already arranged with my classmates to sit in the back row during class and secretly watch your match using mobile data. Don’t embarrass me, sis! Whether your little brother can brag for a whole year depends on you ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"]
This was from Tong Yao’s younger brother, who almost never called her "sis."
["On your way yet? I’ll be sitting in the front row this afternoon. See you then."]
This was from her good friend Jin Yang.
["Your brother taught me how to watch the livestream. I’ll see you this afternoon, though I won’t understand what’s happening. Your team jersey is short-sleeved, right? It’s quite chilly in Shanghai today, and it’s supposed to rain later. Remember to wear a jacket. Play well this afternoon—you’d better live up to that 800k annual salary they’re paying you."]
…This was from her mom.
There were also messages from gaming and non-gaming buddies alike. The gamers said things like, "I always knew you’d make it this far," while the non-gamers went with, "I won’t understand the match, but I’ll still watch you closely." So far, the tone on WeChat was still normal.
But the vibe on Weibo was a whole different story—
["Honestly, it feels like my wife is getting married."]
["The person above is wrong. It’s more like sending off my daughter."]
["………………Looking forward to my daughter shining in her new home and slapping those ‘Esports is a man’s world’ misogynists in the face… At the same time, I can’t help feeling, ‘Why does my amazing daughter have to be handed over to you lot to ruin?!’"]
["Yes yes yes, exactly like the person above said qaq ahhhhh my girl, just come back and stream! Don’t compete—those stinky men aren’t worthy of you!"]
["Good luck in this afternoon’s match!"]
["Baby, your hubby will be waiting for you at the venue. If you win, how about I propose to you?"]
Tong Yao: "…"
She stuffed her phone into her pocket, put on her jacket, slung her peripheral bag over her shoulder, and headed downstairs.
By then, almost everyone had gathered. Little Fatty was standing by the entrance putting on his shoes. When he saw Tong Yao coming down, he asked, "…What’s the temperature today? Why are you wearing a jacket?"
"My mom told me to," Tong Yao replied, setting down her peripheral bag to put on her shoes. "If she sees me in short sleeves during the livestream, she’ll bombard me with messages… Huh, where’s Cheng Ge?"
"Sleeping in the car." Little Fatty’s eyes rolled. "Before getting in, he dropped a bone-chilling line: ‘Finish this quickly today.’"
Tong Yao twitched her lips and boarded the bus, where she indeed saw the man with slightly reddened eyes and nose sitting in the back row, eyes closed—clearly, his claim from two days ago, "I’ll definitely be over this cold by match day," was now slapping him in the face…
"How the hell is he supposed to compete looking half-dead?" Tong Yao turned to ask Xiao Rui, who had just boarded behind her.
"Even if he’s a corpse, as long as he’s not cold yet, we’ll prop him up in front of the computer," Xiao Rui said flatly. "Serves him right for not taking his meds."
Lu Sicheng seemed to hear their chatter. He lazily lifted his eyelids and shot them a godly look of disdain before uttering two words: "Shut up."Xiao Rui said, "There's a media company's gala event to attend after tonight's match. It's back-to-back."
Lu Sicheng frowned and turned over, his entire face hidden in shadow: "Not going."
The answer seemed expected. Xiao Rui rolled his eyes in Lu Sicheng's direction: Fine, don't go. Who made you one of the bosses anyway? You call the shots.
As they spoke, the team members gradually boarded the bus and settled in. The vehicle started, heading toward the competition venue.
...
Upon arriving at the venue, they handed their keyboards and mice from the peripheral bags to the staff for inspection. Then the players went to the dressing room to rest and get makeup done—
"No makeup. It's uncomfortable."
This was the still-uncooperative team captain. But with his good skin and looks, it didn't matter whether he wore makeup or not. Moreover, today he spoke so little that no one dared to bother him, so everyone just let him be.
Tong Yao obediently sat in the chair for makeup. After finishing, there were still about ten minutes before the opening ceremony. Feeling a slight stomachache, she went to the restroom—only to find nothing happened. Wondering if she was so nervous she'd gotten constipated, she shared this suspicion with her best friend, only to be mercilessly mocked.
Meanwhile, Tong Yao played with her phone as she walked from the restroom back to ZGDX's lounge—
Since it was the opening ceremony, all LPL teams' players had gathered. Along the way, Tong Yao encountered many professional players she knew or didn't know. The looks directed at her ranged from curiosity and admiration... to the occasional strange, condescending gaze that made her feel like a side dish at a bar.
But Tong Yao didn't care.
After all, the real test was on the battlefield. No point arguing now—less talk, more smashing.
Shortly after Tong Yao returned to the lounge, the opening ceremony began. All teams lined up and entered one by one. The entrance corridor was carpeted, flanked by huge mirrors, with photographers crouched at the end snapping photos. As Tong Yao followed Jungler Old K out, she momentarily felt like she wasn't heading to a competition but to some Oscar awards ceremony—
She could only slightly tuck her chin, stand tall... and pray no one could hear the heartbeats threatening to burst from her chest!
ZGDX and CK Team were the last two teams to enter. After entering, they stood at opposite ends of the stage, with five computers each placed on the divided central platform. Tong Yao's team stood by the right-side computers... At this moment, no one knew ZGDX's Mid Laner was lowering her head expressionlessly while internally screaming—
"The cheers are so loud";
"Do we have more fans or does CK?";
"Is anyone shouting my name? Doesn't seem like it";
"Are there any cheering banners for me? Nope";
"I have no fans";
"Hey, that guy who proposed to me—if you're not cheering for me now, how can I possibly say yes later?";
"Why am I standing here";
"My stomach—oh god oh god it hurts more";
"Help, I need to poop";
...Tong Yao lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers absentmindedly. The host's rapid-fire commentary buzzed in her ears, but not a single word registered. Just as she was busy blatantly zoning out to soothe her nervous frenzy, Little Fatty beside her nudged her: "What are you spacing out for? Let's go!"
Tong Yao snapped back to reality and looked up, only to realize all the other teams had already left the stage. Only ZGDX and CK remained, preparing to take their positions for the opening match—Old Cat and Old K had already settled into their seats behind the computers. Across from them on CK's side, Jian Yang was half-perched on his seat, staring eagerly in their direction...
The opening ceremony had ended, and the opening match was about to begin.
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao: "Little Fatty, to be honest, I'm so nervous I might puke up my lunch."
Little Fatty: "You are nervous—we didn’t even have lunch today. Gonna puke thin air?"
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng stood behind Little Fatty, likely overhearing the idiotic exchange between his Mid Laner and Support. He glanced down at Tong Yao, lips curling into a mocking smirk—though with his nose and eyes still red, his usual sharpness was somewhat dulled.
Tong Yao shot him a glare before turning to take her seat. In the Professional League, players' seating arrangements were mostly fixed, ordered from right to left as Top Laner, Jungler, Mid Laner, Support, and ADC. Tong Yao had no idea what scientific principle dictated this setup—maybe it was to facilitate communication between roles that required close coordination...
She sat down between Little Fatty and Old K.
Players in position.
Hosts offstage.
Commentators ready.
Commentator A: ["Next up, we’re diving straight into the first match of the 2016 League of Legends Pro League LPL season! Hey, Commentator B, don’t you think everyone—not just the audience, but even us commentators—is super hyped for this bloodbath of an opener?"]
Commentator B: ["Absolutely! The main draw this Summer Split is the sheer drama between these two teams—can the Operator Team avenge their Spring Split finals loss right out the gate? Can CK Team continue their winning streak? And most exciting of all—the Operator Team’s new Mid Laner this year is a girl! Ever seen a girl go pro before?"]
Tong Yao: "..."
No, no one’s seen it.
Don’t bring me up, don’t bring me up.
Damn it, now that you’ve mentioned me, I feel like even more people are staring. Does anyone have a mirror? Is my makeup smudged? Are people in the live comments roasting my face for being huge? Is my hair greasy? Is my foundation cakey?
Sitting behind the computer, Tong Yao had only just calmed down a little since the audience below was blocked from view—but now the tension surged back. She took a deep breath and swiftly put on her noise-canceling headphones. The commentators' voices vanished, replaced by Lu Sicheng’s hoarse voice in her ears: "One more time—today, we end this fast."
Tong Yao: "..."
Somehow, that cold, raspy tone now sounded oddly comforting.
She leaned slightly to peek past Little Fatty at the man seated next to her. At this moment, he was reclining in his chair, a cup of coffee in hand, eyes fixed calmly on the screen...——Compared to Tong Yao, who was already jumping around like a monkey in her heart...
The veteran was indeed a veteran.
Tong Yao puffed her cheeks, forcing herself to calm down. With slightly cold fingertips, she logged into the tournament server and entered her game ID—
At the same moment she logged in, the background BGM started playing, and the opening match entered the first Ban & Pick phase!
...
Today, the person who came on stage to assist them with Ban & Pick was Ming Shen, which could be considered a comfort and reassurance to the fans who missed him... At this moment, Ming Shen walked behind Tong Yao with a notepad, and his voice came through the headphones: "Tong Yao, first ban Haoyun Lai's Maokai. That thing gives me a headache when it's in his hands."
Only then did Tong Yao realize it was her turn for the first ban. She let out an "Oh" and quickly found the champion "Twisted Treant," banning it.
After Tong Yao banned one champion, it was the opposing team's turn. Their first ban was Tong Yao's LeBlanc. From Yang Shen's headphones, Tong Yao faintly heard the audience erupt in an uproar, and the commentators rapidly saying something... But due to the noise-canceling headphones, she couldn't make out anything clearly.
Next came a series of discussions and analyses about team compositions. The China Telecom Team banned "Rogue Mage" and "War Goddess," while the CK Team banned "Enlightened One Karma" and "Crimson Reaper"—
Out of the six ban slots, both teams had already banned four mid-lane champions in excitement: "Rogue Mage," "Enlightened One," "Crimson Reaper," and "the Deceiver LeBlanc"!
Tong Yao twitched her lips: "What the hell, you’d better have a deep champion pool if you dare to play like this."
Ming Shen laughed behind her: "I’ll relay that to the guy watching the water dispenser backstage later."
Teammates teased each other in the voice channel, and the atmosphere relaxed slightly compared to before. Lu Sicheng had been mostly silent the whole time, seeming listless, only occasionally voicing his opinion during the pick phase... At this moment, the opposing team locked in "Fountain of Plague" for their ADC, Hu Die. This was an ADC champion modeled after a rat, weak in the early laning phase but terrifying in team fights once it scaled into the late game—
Given the current game meta, ADCs had little impact in the early game, so this pick was indeed a smart move!
Meanwhile, Old Cat muttered with a relaxed expression, "If you pick Twitch, don’t blame me for being ruthless," and whistled as he selected the top-lane champion Rumble. This champion could somewhat suppress Twitch's team fight potential and would give the opposing team a headache for their next picks...
People often say the game truly begins during the Ban & Pick phase.
By the time the CK Team's composition took shape, Tong Yao and her team could vaguely tell they were aiming for an early-game scaling, late-game team comp—Tong Yao had already locked in her Twisted Fate, leaving only Lu Sicheng with the final pick...
What would he choose?
Ashe? Big Mouth? Ezreal?
Tong Yao tilted her head slightly to glance at the man lost in thought, only to suddenly hear his lazy voice in the headphones: "Get me a Jinx."
Everyone: "..."Ming Shen: "This, with the lineup they've picked, Jinx might fall off a bit in the late game, don't you think?"
Rampage Loli Jinx—this Champion is theoretically more of an early to mid-game hero. With her long-range and high burst damage, she can make a big impact in early team fights. However, due to several major nerfs in game patches, her appearance in official matches has become increasingly rare.
Lu Sicheng: "What late game? I said we're ending this fast. There won't be a late game in this match."
The team fell into an awkward silence.
Tong Yao commented: "Tyrant Lu, long live Boss Lu."
Little Fatty, with a "you're the boss" expression, locked in Jinx for Lu Sicheng. Finally, the pick-ban phase ended, and the players entered the loading screen—
"They picked late-game scaling Champions, and we went all-in on early game. Ah, teammates, you guys are really getting cocky," Old Cat sighed.
"I have a headache," Lu Sicheng said. "Let's finish this quickly and go home to sleep."
Tong Yao: "Seconded."
Old Cat: "What's wrong with you, girl?"
Tong Yao: "Stomachache. Need to poop."
Everyone: "………………………………"
Little Fatty: "I think you just volunteered for the In-game quotes."
Tong Yao froze, then let out a horrified scream—Damn it, I forgot that was a thing!
Old Cat: "Hey, backstage crew, you hear that? Here’s your content, completely unexpected, less than thirty seconds into the Summer Split."
Tong Yao: "No no no, backstage bros, do me a solid—cut that part out, I’m begging you! Kneeling and wishing you an early New Year!!!!!"
Lu Sicheng adjusted his headset volume: "Stop yelling. You might poop your pants from the excitement."
Little Fatty: "One sick cat, one with urgent business—teammates, can we even play this opening match properly?"
Tong Yao: "………………I quit. Call Lu Yue over. I’m going home."
Lu Sicheng: "Too late. You’re already on the pirate ship."
Tong Yao: "……"
OpenNovel