League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“What’s happening?” Zhang Aijing looked at them with a lot of question marks on her face.

He Jin restrained his urge to hit the wall and introduced Xiao Bei, “Aijing, this is Xiao Bei. He is the talented ADC player I told you before, which I found out inadvertently. He is the one who helped earn Cat Eye’s Challenger Title. He was also the players behind the scene in previous rounds.”

“So you are Xiao Bei. I had watched your previous play. You are no doubt very talented. If you don’t mind, you can join 71 Club and start with the reserve team. You will be promoted to the main team if you do well… Wait a minute…” After Zhang Aijing blurted out the words subconsciously, she noticed something was not right and glanced inside the room. She pointed and asked, “If you are the ghost, who is the one currently playing then?”

He Jin was embarrassed and answered, “That’s the captain of Team Wings—Fighting Hawk.”

“Fighting Hawk? That Fighting Hawk?” Zhang Aijing asked puzzlingly.

“Yes. The well-known DOTA world-class player. He had retired for close to a year now,” He Jin explained.

Zhang Aijing was baffled. She opened her mouth slightly out of surprise.

“He… He is Fighting Hawk??” Zhang Aijing had joined this field for two years now. Fighting Hawk was at his peak when she started her gaming career.

“What is so great about him. He is being crushed at the bottom lane. World-class player? Bullshit.” Liu Zhangming said spitefully.

“Brother Yu Luocheng just happened to have cold hands. He is very good. Definitely way better than I am,” Xiao Bei said faithfully.

“Humph. Three deaths and zero kills. He is really some professional player,” Liu Zhangming took a jab at Yu Luocheng.

“I say, Lin Dong, this is inappropriate. We know that Fighting Hawk is your previous team captain. He might be a legend in the E-Sports world but that’s in the past. Since he had left for more than a year, I think it’s better to let Xiao Bei take over from here. Other lanes are still holding fine so it still isn’t too late to switch…” Chubby He persuaded patiently and didn’t talked impulsively like Liu Zhangming.

“Manager He, do you believe in me?” Lin Dong asked.

“Of course I do. I won’t allow you to do this if I have no confidence in you. This is related to our club’s reputation…” He Jin said firmly.

“If you believe me, then you have to trust our ex-leader. I guess he is too used to low-rank games and couldn’t immediately grasp the tempo of such high-level play. Besides, he admitted that he seldom focuses on Vayne’s laning. He would be fine once the team fight starts to take place more frequently.” Lin Dong defended Yu Luocheng.

Xiao Bei nodded vigorously. His admiration for Yu Luocheng was absolute. No matter how bad Yu Luocheng plays, he would convince himself that his idol was just having a bad day.

He Jin didn’t know what to say. He could only concede since Lin Dong had said so.

But when He Jin thought about how unprofessional Yu Luocheng in treating this game, he visualized the twenty thousand yuan within grasp being splashed into the river.

“One more thing. This bro of mine made a pact. Do not let him know that this is a national stage semifinal. He promised not to participate in any official competition,” Lin Dong reminded.

Zhang Aijing opened her mouth again.

‘That explains why he approached this game so casually. He has no idea about the weight of this game at all.’

Zhang Aijing still didn’t understand why the once glorious Fighting Hawk had decided to withdraw from the pro scene during his peak.

“I still stand by my words. You gotta return the money you have received so far if we lose this game,” Liu Zhangming said without any expression.

“Let’s concentrate on the match.” Zhang Aijing had an eager smile on her face.

To be honest, Zhang Aijing was no stranger to the name of Fighting Hawk. She wished to see how Fighting Hawk, who had vowed not to join a professional competition, would fare in this high-rank national game.

Obviously, he had a rough game up to this point. This must be due to his lack of urgency.

The high-rank game has a different rhythm as compared to a pub game. The play level at this stage is close to those of the professionals. A player would be pinned down cruelly if he or she is not paying enough attention. This is because the enemies are all ferocious wolves ready to jump on you at any opportunity.

“The main reason for his poor play is the constant pressure by Team Liaoning. Our team depends greatly on Vayne to have a shot in this game. So four players from the opposing teams had taken turns to harass brother Yu Luocheng. Even I may not be played as well as he did up to this point,” Xiao Bei explained to them humbly and sincerely.

Xiao Bei did not leave. No matter how angry was his uncle’s howling, he wanted to watch this game through the end, because Yu Luocheng Yu is the person he idolized the most.

***

Five of them returned to the room with different expressions on their face.

Yu Luocheng turned back and looked at them. Just as he wanted to say something, Chubby He face froze and stopped him. “Pay attention to the game. We just wanted to watch.”

“It’s nothing. I am getting bored with CS over here. Lin Dong, get me a can of Coca Cola. I am a little thirsty,” Yu Luocheng said.

The outer tower had gone down. The SP player had moved to other lanes rescue after he placed a ward for Yu Luocheng. He went on to farm alone without worry at the bottom lane.

His teammates were highly dependable. They held on courageously even though they were being outnumbered 4 against 5 all this while. This provided enough window and space for Yu Luocheng to catch up in terms of item.

“Let me do it, let me do it. You just stick to the game,” Chubby He said hurriedly.

“Thanks! That’s a lot to ask,” Yu Luocheng was not used to trouble other people.

Chubby He almost cried. ‘Could you play with more urgency? Stick your eyes back to the screen now. This is killing me.’

The manager went in a flash to prevent Yu Luocheng from turning his head again.

***

After Chubby He left, Yu Luocheng continued his solo play and farmed without much pressure. “Xiao Bei, your friends are really pro.”

“Yes, they are quite good…” Xiao Bei answered sheepishly.

Liu Zhangming at the side snorted. It’s getting more and more difficult for him to hold back his expletives.

‘This is the best team out of several ten thousand cybercafés in the Liaoning province. For sure they are pro! You are a f*cking idiot to think that this is just a normal custom match. Son of a b*tch!’

Zhang Aijing stood at the other side of the computer with great interest. She did not utter a word and fixed her eyes on the screen quietly.

Unlike Liu Zhangming who only emphasized on the outcome, Zhang Aijing watched the game from an expert’s perspective. Yu Luocheng’s fundamental skills were excellent. His current form was due to his playful attitude during the early game, as well as the persistent ganking by Team Liaoning.

***

Vayne farmed happily at the bottom lane while the other four players from Team Shanghai were busy skirmishing from top to mid lane.

Yu Luocheng ignored what his teammates were doing and focusing solely on lane pressing. He went straight for the inner tower at the bottom lane and recalled decisively after dismantled two turrets. All four other members from Team Shanghai were killed at the same time while Team Liaoning still had two champions left. They also took down two turrets from top lane. Overall, Team Liaoning still held a major advantage.

“This Vayne is a fluke. He goes solo at the bottom lane for way too long. Even a newbie who never plays ranked game like me know he should be joining team fight by now,” Qiu Jingtai boasted.

Jiang Jiu also furrowed his brows.

He was in serious doubt. Judging by Cat Eye previous record, he was not supposed to troll his teammates this hard.

Solo farm at the bottom lane was rarely seen in a team-oriented game. ‘Is this still a professional LOL match?’

“Apparently, Team Sunlight from Shanghai was sacrificing the team financially in Vayne favors. The performance of Cat Eye today is indeed a little off. We shall see whether this champion could still carry late in the team fight. If he remains in current form…” Qi Qiao explained.

Qiu Jingtai questioned Qi Qiao’s words, “What does she mean? Why sacrifice the team in Vayne’s favor? This Vayne is so noob and has died numerous times in the early game. Moreover, he did not join any earlier team fight at all. Twenty minutes in and I still don’t see why he was known as a Challenger ADC.”

“I think this is a kind of strategy… Vayne was heavily harassed early in the game. This makes her item build simply too weak to have an impact on a team fight right now. Thus, he decided to ditch the team and focus on farming and pressing lane instead. The consequence of this is his team always fought in a 4 vs. 5 situations. Despite losing constantly, they managed to retain most of their turrets. If the game dragged on to thirty minutes and Vayne is allowed to develop into the full build, they could still win a late game 5 vs. 5 team fight. That could be Team Shanghai last straw to win the game,” Jiang Jiu said.

“Are you sure? I feel that this Vayne is below average. He had done nothing other than CS from the beginning. She died every time whenever someone ambushed her. See, she is being ganked again. Another death for sure,” Qiu Jingtai pointed on the screen and said.

Two hungry wolves were seen closing in fast to corner Vayne at the bottom lane bush. Jiang Jiu frowned again. ‘What a feeder. You should play safe by now. It’s unwise to farm without vision!’

***

“Vayne is daydreaming again. She has no route to escape while her teammates are too far to provide reinforcement. Sigh, Cat Eye seems a little overconfident today,” Qi Qiao sighed and said.