The announcement of Ming Shen's retirement was just a small interlude. The Spring Split finals weren't over yet, and now he had to pull himself together to fight the last battle of his professional career.
Before the second match began, the audience gradually returned to their seats... In the darkness, no one noticed what the short-haired girl was busy with as she hurried along with her head down, typing on her phone. Even if someone caught a glimpse of her Weibo interface, they'd assume she was just one of the countless fans currently flooding social media with emotional posts mourning Ming Shen's retirement—
Until the moment she returned to her seat, exhaled deeply, sent the edited Weibo post, and stuffed her phone back into her pocket.
A few seconds later, when she whispered "excuse me" to the person sitting in front of her, those who happened to be scrolling through Weibo to share the breaking news of "Ming Shen's retirement—I was there!" simultaneously discovered that the official ZGDX account had reposted this particular tweet—
【Salty Fish Girl Smiling: ZGDX, Smiling.】
Instantly, the spectator masses who recognized the ID "Smiling" exploded.
Ten minutes later, the slower spectators who didn't know the ID but frantically searched various media platforms to uncover the truth also erupted—
The crowd went wild!
【The Pig Woman Who Threw Away the Pig: Holy shit a girl playing professionally? For real?】
【A Han: I always said this Smiling was either boosted or actually a dude. See?】
【Riding a Bicycle to Conqueror: Is ZGDX fucking insane? Couldn't find anyone so they grabbed some no-name streamer to replace Ming Shen? And it's a girl? Bullshit! Bet "she" has a bigger dick than me!】
【Cute Cheng Ge: ……………………ZGDX, as long as you're happy, I guess.】
【Lu Sicheng's Wife: What? You're telling me some girl is gonna eat, live, play, and compete with my husband? Excuse me? Where's the team headquarters? I'm sending knives.】
【ZGDX Team is the Only One: …Don't even know what to say. You people always want to make headlines. Bombarding us like this won't let your fans sleep tonight.】
【Support God A Pang Pang: If I'd known girls could go pro, I would've tried harder at this damn game QAQ】
【AKB49: What's wrong with you guys? Girls in esports shocking? Didn't NA have a female support last year?】
Within ten minutes of posting, the comments surpassed five thousand, with three thousand reposts.
...
Meanwhile, the very person who had dropped this bombshell was busy digging tissues out of her bag to hand to the girl next to her—who was clutching a Yu Ming cheering banner and sobbing with swollen eyes—while comforting her: "Don't cry, don't cry. The match isn't over yet, see? It's about to start!"
The girl mumbled a "thank you" between sniffles as she took the tissue, then looked up at the big screen above the stage. Sure enough, the second game had begun, and they'd already entered the champion ban/pick phase again—At this moment, the players on stage had already put on their noise-canceling headphones, completely unaware of what was happening outside. Ming Shen had somewhat calmed down, though his eyes were still slightly red. He was now tilting his head to talk to the support player Little Fatty beside him. Whatever Little Fatty said made both of them laugh...
Seeing this, Tong Yao felt slightly relieved. She didn’t quite agree with the organizers’ decision to announce Ming Shen’s retirement in the middle of the match. She felt it would affect the players’ performance… but considering the organizers’ need for hype and profit, it was understandable. Right now, the buzz around the Spring Split Finals had truly peaked—
The hashtag “Ming Shen Announces Retirement at LPL Spring Split” was trending on Weibo.
Everyone on the homepage was howling in regret for not buying tickets to watch the match live.
Tong Yao browsed Weibo for a while when a girl sitting in front of her turned around and waved her phone at the girl next to her holding a cheering banner. “Hey, A Lu, check out ZGDX’s official Weibo! Holy crap, their new Mid Laner is a girl! The one the casters mentioned earlier—the Server’s best LeBlanc!”
“Who?”
“That Smiling.”
The girl was clearly stunned. She put down the cheering banner, pulled out her phone, and started frantically scrolling through Weibo…
Meanwhile, behind them, the two casters were endlessly discussing “Ming Shen’s retirement” and “ZGDX’s new Mid Laner being a girl.” The caster who had mused an hour ago, “Maybe one day we’ll see a female pro player on stage,” was practically losing it, muttering about how he should’ve impulsively predicted the next lottery numbers instead…
Not a single person in the venue was calmly analyzing the current match’s team compositions—
Tong Yao looked up and realized that ZGDX’s draft for the second game wasn’t great. They hadn’t secured many meta Champions, and their composition heavily relied on early-game lane dominance. If they didn’t secure a significant lead early, they’d likely struggle in team fights and lose control of jungle resources in the mid-to-late game…
“This draft isn’t good, right?”
A quiet voice spoke up beside her. Tong Yao turned in surprise to see A Lu, who had put away her phone and was now staring at the match screen. Sensing Tong Yao’s gaze, she smiled and said, “Let’s focus on Ming Shen’s final match first. We can talk about the rest later.”
Tong Yao nodded and handed her the remaining pack of tissues…
At the same time, the second game began.
“They didn’t pick Champions with strong engage. This game depends on the Jungler’s performance,” Tong Yao said to A Lu. “If the Jungler can’t establish lane pressure early, ZGDX will be passive the entire game…”
“—What do you know? ZGDX’s comp has both crowd control and damage. How can they lose? Stop spreading negativity before the match even starts if you don’t understand!”A male voice retorted from behind. Tong Yao turned her head and saw the two college students who had argued with her outside the venue now sitting right behind her, arms crossed and looking at her with displeasure—
Talk about persistent.
She shrugged and turned back, choosing not to engage. As she did, she overheard one of them whisper disdainfully to his companion, "Korean server king? With that attitude? Ha! By her logic, the game might as well end right after the pick-and-ban phase."
"Yeah, exactly," his friend chimed in.
Tong Yao rolled her eyes hard.
By the ten-minute mark, the game was fairly even, with ZGDX holding a slight economic lead—largely due to Lu Sicheng in the bot lane, who had farmed about twenty more minions than the opposing AD. The economic gap was practically all in Sicheng's hands.
At fifteen minutes, ZGDX's jungler, Old K, playing as Nidalee, roamed to the bot lane. Just as everyone assumed he was there to gank and solidify Sicheng's advantage, he suddenly veered toward the nearby jungle monster—the Elemental Drake—leaping over the wall with an ability and starting to take it down...
At that moment, CK had zero vision around the dragon pit.
A sneaky dragon steal!
The live audience buzzed with excitement. The Elemental Drake was an early-game mini-boss in League of Legends, spawning in five variants: Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, and Elder Dragon. Except for the Elder, the first four types appeared randomly, each granting the slaying team a different permanent buff. In the current meta, a Water Dragon increased the team's health and mana regeneration—a crucial advantage for ZGDX, who had drafted a composition heavily reliant on early-game lane dominance.
If they could secure this Water Dragon without any direct confrontation, it would be a massive win!
The ZGDX fans around Tong Yao erupted in cheers, while CK's supporters tensed up—
But then, as if guided by instinct, CK's support suddenly peeled away from their ADC and moved toward the dragon pit. When the drake's health dropped to half, the support placed a vision ward from the opposite side, illuminating the pit—
Exposing ZGDX's jungler in the act!
"They've been spotted! Ahhh!"
"What now? CK's top laner still has Teleport, but ours already used theirs. They have the numbers—are they gonna force a fight right here?"
"But their jungler isn't nearby!"
The two college students behind her were heatedly debating—
Tong Yao frowned slightly and spoke up again, "A Water Dragon isn't that useful for CK's late-game comp. The buff isn't as impactful as people think. They might not even initiate a fight."
"What? No way! CK clearly has the upper hand if they engage now!"The man shouted, but at the same moment, the screen delivered a slap to his face! Under everyone’s gaze, CK Team’s support really just glanced and turned away, not even bothering to harass them. Meanwhile, CK Team’s top laner remained peacefully farming in the top lane, undisturbed and unmoving...
There was absolutely no intention to teleport to the bot lane.
A misjudgment?
Poor communication?
The audience was left baffled, and the commentators were frantically exclaiming, “There’s no reason not to engage!” Meanwhile, ZGDX Team’s fans collectively sighed in relief...
“Thank goodness,” the guy exhaled deeply. “No matter what, avoiding this teamfight means a free dragon for us.”
“No, if Old K is spotted stealing the dragon now, ZGDX Team’s top lane turret, Rift Herald, and all their buffs will be completely lost,” Tong Yao frowned. “Look, CK Team’s jungler has already seen him in the bottom side and is moving toward ZGDX’s top side jungle...”
“Hey, whose side are you even on? You’ve been doomposting since the start—”
“If Old K realizes it now and rushes back to the top jungle after taking the dragon, it might still be salvageable. But if not—”
Before Tong Yao could finish, she saw ZGDX Team’s jungler, after securing the Elemental Drake, continue to lurk in the bot lane bushes—probably thinking the enemy would assume he’d recall immediately after being spotted, so he wanted to surprise them with an unexpected gank...
Meanwhile, at the 17-minute mark, CK Team’s jungler Jian Yang arrived top lane, coordinating with his top laner to kill ZGDX’s top laner, securing First Blood!
Lu Sicheng’s meager economic lead in the bot lane was instantly erased!
The two began working together to take down ZGDX’s top lane turret!
CK Team’s fans were jumping with excitement—
Tong Yao sighed deeply. “This game’s over.”
The two guys behind her fell silent, looking like they wanted to jump up and beat her up.
But they never got the chance, because the match unfolded exactly as Tong Yao had predicted—after seemingly gaining an advantage by securing the first Water Dragon, ZGDX Team’s jungler’s every move was read like an open book. Not only did he fail to secure any successful ganks, but he was also outplayed with feints and ambushes, losing both top and mid outer turrets!
And with the fall of the first mid lane turret, ZGDX Team’s bottom jungle was immediately invaded by CK Team’s support, who warded aggressively. Soon, their entire bottom-side jungle resources fell into enemy hands!
—ZGDX couldn’t secure anything, playing in suffocating frustration. Their economy stagnated, leaving the entire team pitifully poor.
By the 25-minute mark, ZGDX Team had lost four outer turrets across all three lanes, leaving only their bot and top lane’s second turrets standing. They were forced to retreat and compress their battle lines!At the twenty-seventh minute of the match—a time eerily overlapping with the previous game—Jian Yang of CK Team, now back in form, forcibly initiated a team fight near the bottom lane's second turret. Having failed to secure any crucial buffs or resources, ZGDX Team's equipment was significantly inferior. Even though Lu Sicheng managed to take down two opponents with his sharp positioning, ZGDX was ultimately wiped out by CK Team in an Ace.
By the thirty-second minute, the same tragedy repeated itself at the Inhibitor Turrets near the Nexus. This time, CK Team didn’t give ZGDX any breathing room. They launched a full-scale assault, destroying the Inhibitor Turrets and shattering ZGDX’s Nexus, leveling the score at 1-1!
As the match-ending music blared, the venue erupted. CK fans leaped to their feet, cheering like birds freed from their cages back into the wild! The CK players also broke into smiles, patting Jian Yang’s shoulders as if praising him for a job well done—
Meanwhile, on ZGDX’s side, Old K, the jungler who had likely realized that their loss stemmed from his own misjudgments, wore a grim expression. Ming Shen gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and murmured something, probably words of comfort… The players removed their headsets one by one, preparing to return to the break room. This time, Lu Sicheng didn’t even bother checking the stats—
After all, what was the point of reviewing damage output when their jungle had been completely dominated?
As the players filed off the stage, the audience buzzed with discussions about the match. Many seemed confused—how had ZGDX lost when the game had barely seen any major fights? It felt like they had just dragged on until defeat…
Tong Yao listened to their chatter for a while before pulling out her phone to check Weibo. She found that her announcement post about joining ZGDX had already racked up 20K reposts and 10K comments, with opinions ranging wildly. Her follower count had even surged by 30K to 40K…
Terrifying.
Tong Yao pursed her lips and was about to put her phone away when someone tapped her shoulder from behind. She turned to find the two guys who had looked ready to murder her in the first half of the match but had stayed silent for the latter half—
She raised a brow. “What?”
The previously haughty guy now wore an ingratiating smile, his demeanor completely flipped. “Damn, sis, how’d you call everything so accurately? You’re even more on point than the casters upstairs. What rank are you, seriously?”
“...”
“C’mon, enlighten us! We’ll even kowtow to you— thud thud thud !”
“...I already told you,” Tong Yao said. “Korean server king.”
“...”
“Having an extra appendage doesn’t make you better at pressing keys or clicking a mouse. Don’t let that superiority complex get out of hand, or you’ll get called out for toxic masculinity.”
“..................Noted. Noted.”
“Hmph.”
Tong Yao mockingly shook her clasped fists at them, then grinned in satisfaction.
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