League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“By the way, aren’t you two going down to watch the semi-final match?” Yu Luocheng pointed downwards and asked.

“That game is not as interesting as Xiao Bei’s,” Lin Dong turned his cap and said cheerfully.

Yu Luocheng looked at him and noticed the unusual smile on his face. ‘What nonsense is he up to this time?’

Xiao Bei turned back and gave them a genuine smile.

“Xiao Bei, are you playing a ranked game?” Yu Luocheng took a glance at Xiao Bei’s computer screen and asked.

“I am not. This is…”

Before he could finish, Lin Dong interjected and answered for him, “He’s playing an internal custom game with some pro players.”

“I see. Lin Dong told me that you were good with Vayne and you’re aiming to become the top Vayne player in the national server, isn’t that right?” Yu Luocheng asked.

The national top player of Vayne. This in itself was a tremendous honor. A player this skilled was basically strong enough to be recruited into a top-tier professional team. Xiao Bei was definitely just a pub player but his achievement was enough to put some professional players to shame.

“Hehe. This is owing to my relentless training night after night… Yu Luocheng, my game has just started, let’s talk later,” Xiao Bei answered Yu Luocheng in a panicked tone. Upon saying that, he turned back to the screen and controlled his champion, Vayne, with full concentration.

Yu Luocheng had nothing else to do so he stayed beside Xiao Bei and watched him play. He had done substantial practice using Vayne during the summer holidays too and majority of his 1900 League Points were gained through this champion.

Yu Luocheng regularly played at the bottom lane. Both SP and ADC were his favorite positions and among all the ADCs, Vayne required the most control and this was how Yu Luocheng preferred it to be.

Coincidentally, Xiao Bei had selected Vayne in this custom match as well.

Yu Luocheng wanted to watch to see just how good Xiao Bei was. Someone who was capable of pursuing the top spot would certainly have some quality and playstyle that he could learn from.

“This game seems like a rather high-end one,” Yu Luocheng expressed his opinion after he had watched for a while.

Whether a game is of high or low standards could be easily identified from the opening stage.

The execution of a level 1 team fight, attacking formation, defensive formation, as well as the placement of wards—all these little details would decide how effective the laning and champion rotations were going to be later in the game.

This custom match that Xiao Bei was currently playing was no doubt a game close to the level of professionals. Players from both sides were extremely careful and didn’t make the slightest mistake, lingering between attack and defense cautiously. The few wards being placed were impeccable too.

“Bro, are you playing this game as well?” Lin Dong drew closer and asked.

“Yeah, but I am just playing for fun.” Yu Luocheng nodded.

Lin Dong looked at him scornfully. “Don’t lie to me, if you’re playing, it means you are very good at it.”

“I can’t deny that I am very fond of Vayne too. My hands itched when I saw Xiao Bei selecting this champion,” Yu Luocheng did not refute Lin Dong and replied with a grin on his face.

As they were talking, a continuous ringing came abruptly from Xiao Bei’s pocket. Xiao Bei’s face froze and he hastily took out his mobile.

“Dog sh*t, where the hell are you this time?! Get your ass back and clean up the store!” The howling came through like a giant wave that sounded coarse and awful to listen to.

“Uncle, I promise I’ll be back, just give me two hours,” Xiao Bei pleaded in a low voice.

“What else do you know how to do other than slack off? Prepare to be punished if you do not come back immediately!” The voice bellowed.

“I… I will be back…”

The person’s raging roar still echoed loudly inside the room and Xiao Bei’s face turned grim as he looked at Lin Dong helplessly.

“Forget about that scum, just focus on the game,” Lin Dong ordered.

“Okay.” Xiao Bei nodded.

“Xiao Bei, I think you’d better go back now. Your uncle is like a mad dog and he is going to beat you really hard if you do not do as you’re told,” Yu Luocheng advised.

Yu Luocheng had met with Xiao Bei’s uncle before and he was really insane. Xiao Bei had been tortured by him almost every day ever since he was still a toddler.

Sometimes, he could not bear to see Xiao Bei suffer such a predicament. Xiao Bei had gotten used to the beatings and never knew how to retaliate.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind being beaten. This match is very important to me, I have to finish it first,” Xiao Bei said determinedly.

“It’s just a custom match. You can play another one at any time,” Yu Luocheng persuaded.

“You don’t understand, this match matters a lot…” Xiao Bei explained and purposefully glanced at Lin Dong.

“You guys… made a bet?” Yu Luocheng tried to guess.

“No, that’s not it…” Xiao Bei was not a good liar and he looked at Lin Dong nervously.

“It’s a custom match, it wouldn’t be nice if someone suddenly left the game,” Lin Dong came to Xiao Bei rescue.

Yu Luocheng stared at Lin Dong in disbelief and dragged him aside. “You know how terrible Xiao Bei’s uncle is, are you happy to see Xiao Bei sporting a swollen face?”

“But he can’t quit now. We have no choice,” Lin Dong tried to explain.

“What do you mean by he can’t quit? This is just a game,” Yu Luocheng said.

Xiao Bei’s uncle was indeed a lunatic. Yu Luocheng had even seen him beat up Xiao Bei once with an iron rod. He had been the one to send the heavily injured Xiao Bei to the hospital that day.

Xiao Bei was an honest kid and never did he once try to fight back against his uncle’s cruelty. Yu Luocheng sometimes felt sorry for him, being adopted by such a heartless relative.

“Just a game?” Lin Dong looked at Yu Luocheng accusingly and his tone changed drastically,startling Yu Luocheng.

“I remember someone who tortured the entire team from another country just because of those three words. It’s a game?” Lin Dong laughed sarcastically. “It’s a war. You said this to them then, right?”

Lin Dong’s sudden change of tone silenced Yu Luocheng.

‘Those are things in the past…’

Suddenly, the time in the room seemed to have stopped moving.

Lin Dong looked straight into Yu Luocheng’s eyes but the latter maintained his calm and usual steadiness. Xiao Bei was the only busy one in the room, sneakily peeking at the two old members of Team Wings, who had suddenly brought up a very depressing topic. These few moments of lost concentration cost him a few CS in the ongoing match.

“Xiao Bei, get up,” Finally, Lin Dong spoke again.

“What?” Xiao Bei looked at Lin Dong with a puzzled expression.

“Your uncle is mad. You’d better get back now. Let this big bro over here do the job for you,” Lin Dong turned his hat and grinned widely again.

“Yu Luocheng is gonna play on behalf of me?” Xiao Bei was confused at first, but gradually, his eyes beamed with enthusiasm and delight.

Xiao Bei idolized Yu Luocheng the most. He and Lin Dong had refused to believe that Yu Luocheng was just playing LoL for fun. He was overpowered in whichever video game he played, his talent in this field was simply sensational!

“Bail Xiao Bei out this time. You have to save him from being reported,” Lin Dong’s friendly smile quickly wiped away the dreadful conversation like it had never taken place.

Yu Luocheng took it as a sign to change the subject and agreed without thinking much, “Sure.”

He sat on Xiao Bei’s seat right after.

***

Xiao Bei walked to Lin Dong after he gave the seat to Yu Luocheng.

He was restless and whispered to Lin Dong, “Brother Dong, is this… really going to be okay?”

“I thought you were eager to find out whether he has really given up on E-Sports?” Lin Dong replied in a low voice.

“Luocheng would never give up! He is so talented and has so much passion for the game…” Xiao Bei answered confidently.

“We will find out after this game,” Lin Dong gave him a cunning grin.

Xiao Bei was stunned at first, but upon understanding Lin Dong’s true intention, he gave him a big thumbs up.

***

On the stage, Qi Qiao noticed something odd and she pointed it out to the audience. “What’s the matter? Vayne has remained immobile under the tower but Cat Eye’s gestures do not show any indications that his computer is having any issues.”

On the player’s seat, Cat Eye aka Qiu Shenping was perspiring profusely. He cursed silently, ‘What’s Lin Dong doing? He promised me that everything was going to work perfectly fine!’

“Oh, now she’s moving again.”

“I think he was trying to customize certain keys. Vayne is now back in position to CS…”

The audience was relieved. It would be a shame if the computer had broken down during such an important match.

***

Behind the scenes, He Jin furrowed his brows slightly. He walked down the backstage with a small sense of insecurity irking his mind. After exiting the hall, he went straight to the seventh floor. He prayed hard that nothing was going wrong, otherwise, not only would they would lose the game, but it would be game over for the CT Club’s reputation as well.