Though she had been nervous at first, the moment the five champions appeared with a "boom boom boom" at the fountain base on the Summoner's Rift map, Tong Yao instantly calmed down—
Audiences, opponents, backstage staff—all were instantly pushed to the back of her mind. The stomachache that felt like an elephant was doing disco inside her slightly eased. Tong Yao adjusted her headphones; now, the only thing in her eyes was her immediate opponent—
Xiao Hua, the Mid Laner of Team CK.
Xiao Hua had picked Ekko, the time-traveling assassin. This champion was a roaming assassin with crowd control, damage, and mobility—basically everything a champion could ask for. Strong in lane, with teamfight potential and area control, there weren’t many champions that could counter him. The Twisted Fate Tong Yao had picked wasn’t particularly strong against him in the early laning phase—
But for Tong Yao, it didn’t matter. Picking Twisted Fate basically meant playing semi-defensively against anyone. If the opponent dared to play aggressively, she’d naturally find an opportunity to counterattack… And precisely because she was hoping for such opportunities, Tong Yao had taken "Flash" and "Ignite" as her Summoner spells—
"Flash" allowed her to dash forward a short distance, usually used to engage in fights or escape danger, while "Ignite" dealt continuous true damage to enemies, with the damage scaling based on the champion’s current level.
These two spells were essentially Tong Yao’s key tools for securing kills.
...But focusing solely on Xiao Hua wouldn’t be enough.
Tong Yao cleared her throat. "Teammates, full disclosure—the enemy Jungler is my ex-boyfriend. We didn’t break up on good terms, so he’ll probably camp mid later… Old K, whether you want to come mid or not is up to you."
Old K chuckled. "Got it, got it. That’s the weirdest reason I’ve ever heard for requesting a gank."
Little Fatty: "I know about your esports version of Legend of the White Snake —HAHAHAHAHAHA that thread’s creativity had me hooked—"
Lu Sicheng: "What’s so funny?"
Little Fatty’s laughter died instantly.
Tong Yao: "You’re Xu Xian, the savior of lives."
At this moment, fans sitting in the front rows of the venue might have been surprised to see that, mid-game, after Lu Sicheng said something, the Top Laner, Jungler, and Support of ZGDX suddenly turned their heads toward their Mid Laner with horrified expressions—
Their Mid Laner remained expressionless.
The game officially began. Both team headquarters started sending Minions down the three lanes. Tong Yao carefully dodged the second part of the enemy’s Q skill while using her own Q to harass and last-hit. When both sides reached Level 3, the fear of being dominated by A Tai, the Mid Laner of Team TAT, resurfaced in Tong Yao’s mind. She shuddered and instinctively started pushing the wave back while retreating. Just as she returned to the safety of her own vision coverage, she caught a glimpse of Jian Yang’s figure flashing past—
Tong Yao felt like she had narrowly escaped death.
"The enemy Jungler went top!" Tong Yao warned Old Cat.
Old Cat acknowledged, and upon hearing Tong Yao’s report, Lu Sicheng also made a move in the bot lane—Originally, Jinx had an advantage over Twitch in the early laning phase, so Lu Sicheng naturally pressured Hu Die by about ten minions. At this point, he reached level three first, unlocking all three early-game abilities. He clicked the ground and signaled, muttering, "Little Fatty, step forward a bit and take two of his skills." When Little Fatty obediently went up and sacrificed half his health, Lu Sicheng told him to retreat toward him. As expected, the enemy tried to capitalize on their momentum—
Just then, Little Fatty turned around and cast Exhaust (*a Summoner spell that halves attack and movement speed). Lu Sicheng leaped out from the bushes, unleashing a full combo of abilities mixed with a few basic attacks. His lightning-fast mechanics easily brought Hu Die’s health down to critical levels!
Seeing the dire situation, Hu Die tried to turn and flee, but Lu Sicheng didn’t give him the chance. Using Jinx’s long-range advantage, he whittled away Hu Die’s last sliver of health, securely pocketing the 400 gold bounty for First Blood—
First Blood!
The system announcement rang out, and the team voice chat erupted with relieved praise—
But Lu Sicheng remained silent. For him, this was just the beginning.
Seeing their AD dead and Lu Sicheng still in decent health, the enemy support Lao Wang quickly assessed the situation and decisively tried to retreat. At that moment, Lu Sicheng’s E ability came off cooldown, and he tossed three timed bombs in front of Lao Wang. Meanwhile, Little Fatty’s Thresh also had his abilities ready—he hooked Lao Wang and yanked him back slightly. Lao Wang’s movement faltered, and he stepped on one of the bombs, triggering a 1.5-second stun—
1.5 seconds was more than enough for Lu Sicheng to close the distance and unleash a barrage of attacks, finishing off the still-fragile early-game support!
Double Kill!
In the live audience—unheard by the players—the crowd erupted, cheering and applauding the flawless coordination between Little Fatty and Lu Sicheng! Just five minutes into the game, the bot lane had already produced kills. With two kills under his belt, Lu Sicheng was now swimming in gold. Happily clearing the minion wave in front of him, he recalled to base to upgrade his items—
Two kills, plus the First Blood bonus, meant a total of 700 gold. This meant that when he returned to lane, he’d have a small item advantage over the enemy AD. With Twitch already suppressed this hard early on, the days ahead would be nothing short of miserable for him!
Meanwhile, with the bot lane snowballing, Tong Yao felt the pressure on her shoulders ease considerably. Strangely, the enemy Xiao Hua seemed to grow restless—likely because, just a minute after Lu Sicheng’s double kill, Jian Yang ganked mid again. As Tong Yao retreated toward her Turret, she smacked him in the face with her Q ability. At the same time, her W—Pick a Card—came off cooldown. She called out to Old K, and right under Xiao Hua and Jian Yang’s noses, a Nidalee howled as she pounced from the bushes.
Simultaneously, Tong Yao instantly locked in a yellow card, stunning Jian Yang in place. She followed up with a card throw, a basic attack, and Ignite, unleashing her full combo. Jian Yang’s health plummeted to critical levels, and by the time he tried to retreat, it was already too late. Tong Yao cleanly secured the team’s third kill!The jungler's gank failed and got counter-ambushed. Meanwhile, a huge wave of minions entered their own turret and were quickly cleared by its automatic attacks. Xiao Hua, who had barely escaped and recalled earlier, now couldn't gain any experience or gold, missing out on a massive wave. On top of that, Tong Yao secured the kill bounty, causing the previously balanced lane—where Xiao Hua even had a slight advantage—to suddenly tilt heavily in Tong Yao's favor!
Later, although Old Cat's Rumble got caught twice by Jian Yang due to lacking mobility, by then, ZGDX's mid and bot lanes had become insurmountable problems. Lu Sicheng, holding two kills, gave Hu Die no breathing room, relentlessly pressuring her and pinning her under her own turret—
Lu Sicheng was playing so aggressively that Hu Die, no fool, naturally called for Jian Yang to ambush. But no matter how many times Jian Yang came, he found ZGDX's jungler Old K already there!
Old K seemed to have taken up permanent residence in the mid and bot lanes, fiercely protecting the two winning lanes. Despite CK's desperate attempts to counterattack, the back-and-forth dragged on until both teams reached level six without any new kills—
At this point, the kill score was 3-2 in ZGDX's favor, with an approximate 1,000 gold lead—
With the kill difference minimal, this economic gap mainly came from the CS (creep score) disparity in the mid and bot lanes!
Once Tong Yao hit level six and unlocked her ultimate, chaos erupted on CK's side. Xiao Hua frantically pinged signals, yelling, "She's level six, good luck surviving!" Before Hu Die could even react, a yellow teleportation circle appeared on the ground a few steps behind her. She immediately tried to retreat, but Tong Yao had already used Twisted Fate's ultimate to blink behind her!
Landing with lightning-fast reflexes, Tong Yao instantly switched to a Red Card, slowing Hu Die and Lao Wang. Little Fatty screeched as he hooked in, triggering the second part of his ability, closing the gap to Hu Die, and unleashing his ultimate to trap both Hu Die and Lao Wang inside Thresh's prison—their health bars plummeted like floodgates opening. They tried to flee but were delayed by Little Fatty's E skill and another hook, buying enough time for ZGDX's AD and mid laner to pounce like tigers—
Tong Yao: "Give me a kill, give me a kill! I flew all the way down here—if you dare not give me a kill, I swear I'll never come bot again!"
Lu Sicheng: "...Fine, fine, stop yelling. Careful not to shit your pants."
Tong Yao: "...Can you just forget about that?!"
Lu Sicheng: "How?"
Tong Yao: "At least don't remind me!"
Lu Sicheng: "..."
...In the end, Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng each took a kill, snowballing their advantage as they demolished the enemy's bot lane turret. Meanwhile, Old K jumped into the dragon pit and safely secured the first Infernal Drake.
At the same time, Jian Yang and top laner Haoyun Lai claimed the jungle mini-boss Rift Herald in the top lane—
Old Cat: "You guys are having a blast in mid and bot—did you forget there's a place called top lane? Damn it, Haoyun Lai got the Rift Herald buff again! Are you even letting me play?! Where's Old K?! You stick to me like glue in ranked, but the moment it's a real match, you abandon me. Are you even human, you dog?!"
Tong Yao: "Next ult, I'm flying top. Next ult, I'm flying top!"Lu Sicheng: "Old K is coming too. Let's take down their top lane turret."
And so, amidst Old Cat's complaints, four minutes later, ZGDX's mid, top, and jungle trio performed a coordinated tower dive on CK's top lane. CK reacted immediately—Xiao Hua used Teleport to fly up, and Jian Yang arrived just in time—
But because Tong Yao and her team had timed their attack during Hao Yun's Gnar's vulnerable period right after reverting from Mega Gnar, even with the turret's support, CK still lost the team fight. Tong Yao gave away all three kills—one to Old Cat, who had been bullied to the brink of despair, and the other two to Old K, who had been grinding for over ten minutes without a single kill. She then returned to her lane to farm minions and catch up on gold...
By the 20-minute mark, under the pressure from mid and bot lanes, CK's minor early-game advantage in the top lane gradually disappeared.
At 25 minutes, during the fight for the third Elemental Dragon in the bot lane, CK's AD Carry, who had been struggling all game, had no room to contribute—the moment they entered the fight, Tong Yao and Little Fatty bombarded them with a chain of abilities, instantly deleting them. Losing their AD was like losing a leg, and with the rest of CK's members also underdeveloped, they quickly lost this crucial team fight.
By 28 minutes, ZGDX pushed into CK's high ground.
The gold gap had now widened to 15,000, and the kill score stood at 13-5.
Knowing that stalling would be futile, CK surrendered outright to prepare for the next game.
At that moment, Tong Yao and her team were about to start Baron. Mid-fight, the screen suddenly shifted as the enemy Nexus exploded on its own. She froze for a second before breaking into a grin, squinting her eyes. The moment she took off her headphones and stood up, she heard the crowd erupt—someone was shouting—
"Nice! Operator Team up up!"
"Smiling jiejie, marry me—ahhhhhhh!"
The audience was a sea of indistinguishable faces, so Tong Yao could only wave gracefully in the general direction of the voices calling her name before darting straight to the restroom—
"...Damn, I was about to burst."
Finally relieved, she squatted in the stall only to realize the urgency had suddenly vanished... Stuck with an awkward expression, she pulled out her phone and started scrolling through real-time reactions on forums, Weibo, and LoL communities—
[CK getting stomped so hard they surrendered—that's the funniest part!]
[At that point, why not just FF? Better than having your morale completely shattered.]
[ZGDX's bot lane used to feel like it had a sign saying 'Beware: One Rabid Dog'—now with Smiling, it's two.]
[...The whole game, I just watched Twisted Fate flying around, collecting kills and dictating the pace. Like, damn, ZGDX has two junglers or something? This TF is legit strong, from mechanics to macro!]
[Meanwhile, Yang Shen looked like he was sleepwalking.]
[What's up with CK lately? Their form's been shaky. Heard they lost scrims to some noobs recently, and this match was nowhere near their usual level.]
[………………Cheng Ge and Yao-mei were playing kinda rushed this game, like they couldn't be held back. What's the hurry?] ["Reply to the comment above, maybe they had a sudden urge to pee hahahahahahahahaha!"]
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao silently closed her phone, stood up from the toilet, and pulled up her pants.
After washing her hands and pushing the door open, she walked back to the break room and saw Lu Sicheng curled up in a corner, looking like he was already dead and waiting to be collected—completely different from the energetic headhunter on the battlefield.
At that moment, Little Fatty saw Tong Yao push the door open and walk in, smiling as he asked, "Done pooping?"
Tong Yao replied with a serious expression, "Constipated."
Little Fatty: "Someone said China Telecom now has two rabid dogs that can't be held back."
Tong Yao: "...Isn't that great? Esports is a young person's sport. Passion. Passion is important."
Lu Sicheng rolled over, coughing softly a couple of times. Tong Yao walked up to him, lifted the clothes covering his face, and reached out to touch his forehead—when the man impatiently opened his deep brown eyes, she fearlessly met his gaze: "Captain, you have a fever."
Lu Sicheng: "Oh."
As the break time neared its end, Xiao Rui herded them up like little chicks, shooing them back onto the stage—
The second match began, and Lu Sicheng was clearly not in the same condition as the first game. Early on, he was pressured hard by Hu Die, dragging things out until mid-game, where another fight for the Elemental Drake erupted!
This time, it was Old K who stepped up, smiting the dragon to send the enemy team to their collective demise. Securing the dragon while Tong Yao, playing Leblanc, chained Hu Die and burst her down disrupted the enemy team's formation, giving their team hope of winning the team fight. The early-game disadvantage was compensated by this one fight!
ZGDX seized the opportunity to snowball aggressively, instantly reversing the game's momentum. They didn't give CK any chance for a reverse sweep, pushing relentlessly to take towers, dragons, and resources, storming the High Ground—
At forty-two minutes, in another team fight on the High Ground, ZGDX emerged victorious and ended the game in one push!
ZGDX won their first match!
...
Watching the enemy Nexus explode, Tong Yao took off her headphones. The background BGM signaling the end of the match played in her ears, and cheers erupted from the audience. She stood up, turned around, and stared blankly at the blue wall behind her with "Win" written on it.
We won?
Three seconds later, her heart exploded with excitement—
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh we won omg we won ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Tong the Great!
Tong the Handsome!
Tong the Carry!
Outwardly, Tong Yao remained expressionless, but inwardly she was ecstatic, practically wanting to break into a celebratory dance on the spot. It was only when she saw Old K stand up and walk toward the CK team that she remembered the post-match handshake—the winning team's players had to go to the losing team's seats and shake hands with them one by one.
Tong Yao lined up behind Old K, feeling a little nervous about shaking hands for the first time. The CK team members looked grim but remained polite. Their top laner, Haoyun Lai, even smiled when shaking Tong Yao's hand: "You're really strong, sis. Looking forward to our next match."
This time, Tong Yao's usually expressionless face finally cracked, revealing an unstoppable, radiant smile.
But that smile probably only lasted three seconds.After Hao Yun Lai came Jian Yang. Tong Yao hesitated for a moment before extending her hand generously, gripping the hand before her for the first time in two years—his palm was slightly sweaty, and as their hands clasped, his fingers suddenly tightened around her wrist.
Tong Yao looked up and gave an awkward smile, silently trying to pull her hand away—
But her struggle only made him grip tighter.
The handshake between teammates was supposed to last no more than three seconds, but with Tong Yao and Jian Yang, it dragged on ten times longer. The smile on Tong Yao’s face was starting to falter, and she could sense the audience below beginning to glance curiously in their direction…
"You've gotten stronger," Jian Yang said softly, lowering his gaze.
"Yeah, so I’ll be coming over to shake your hand often from now on—right up until you retire," Tong Yao replied flatly. "Now let go of me."
Jian Yang: "..."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a light tap on the back of her head. "No manners."
A deep, raspy voice sounded just as a tall figure subtly stepped forward. Jian Yang paused, then reluctantly released Tong Yao’s hand. Lu Sicheng immediately seized his hand and gave it a firm shake.
Next came Mid Laner Xiao Hua, Attack Damage Carry Hu Die, and support Lao Wang—
Before anyone below could react, Lu Sicheng had somehow maneuvered himself in front of Tong Yao. By the time the handshake line concluded and the team returned to the front of the stage to bow in thanks to the audience, his tall frame remained firmly positioned between her and the crowd.
OpenNovel