League of Legends: League of Unknowns

On one side of the players’ bench sat the members of Team Dawn. Unlike other teams, Team Dawn did not have a coach. The owner of Dawn Cafe settled down in one corner and watched the proceedings quietly.

Yang Ying was the leader and coach of this team as well as the president of his university’s E-sport club. He had been to big scenes such as this frequently, and were it not for the huge prize being offered, he would not have been interested in such a small scale tournament.

Yang Ying peeked over to the other side and saw Yang Qianqian standing by Team Scarlet. He muttered, “How heartless of you for not supporting your own brother. If I won, I was going to give you some pocket money so that you could get some nice clothes. What’s so good about that brat?”

“Yang Ying, I am counting on you. Other than the 30,000 yuan prize, Grand Linca is going to top up another 30,000 yuan sponsor fee. This means that each of you would be getting at least 10,000 yuan!” The owner of Dawn Cafe told Yang Ying.

Ten thousand yuan was a huge sum even by Yang Ying’s standard.

Although his family never had a lack of money, his father had placed a financial constraint on him. This, however, did not apply to Yang Qianqian, who was allowed to spend as much as she wanted.

‘What does a high school girl needs so much money for, anyway?’

Yang Ying had a lot of friends at his university, which meant tonnes of parties, which led to him needing money to entertain the ladies. If he managed to get his hands on the 10,000 yuan reward, he would be able to live luxuriously for the rest of the following semester.

“Don’t you worry, I had a solo battle with Team Scarlet’s AP a few days ago,” Yang Ying said.

“You did? How was the match? Did you win?” The other members of Team Dawn clamored around him eagerly.

Yang Ying had not been there when Team Scarlet had taken on Team Aviator, however, other members from Team Dawn had witnessed the match and unanimously agreed that the opponent’s AP was going to be their biggest obstacle in winning the competition.

Team Dawn relied heavily on Yang Ying’s skill as the AP and Wu, who took on the Jungler role. Their skills were way more superior in comparison to the other members by a considerable margin.

“The victory was mine, of course. He was solo killed by me as soon as I hit level 3,” Yang Ying proclaimed proudly.

“Are you sure?” Hua Laowu questioned him, “The AP from Team Scarlet is rather slick with the Card Master, Twisted Fate.”

“There’s no point even if we keep talking about it. You will see it during the game. Wu, take care of the other lanes more and leave the mid-lane to me,” Yang Ying answered stoutly.

Thanks to their ace’s extraordinary confidence, the morale of Team Dawn was greatly boosted.

***

Ten computers had been separated and arranged into two opposing rows. The two rows slanted toward a giant LCD screen that was hung in the middle of the hall and above the LCD screen were two other projectors set up for the viewing of those on the first floor.

Many people had gathered around the two projector screens. The viewing hall on the ground floor was even livelier as the number of audiences had reached its peak, and though the air conditioners were on at full blast, the atmosphere was undeniably feverish.

Unlike the previous match, the Grand Finals of the Lecheng Tournament was far more impressive. Even the corporate owner of the Grand Linca was invited to give a short speech on stage.

Right after, Huang Junjie was once again welcomed to the stage by the host.

He was as straightforward as usual, purposely emphasizing the reward yet again. “The winner of this final match will be directly awarded 30,000 yuan by Grand Linca!”

“Now, without further adieu, let’s put our hands together to welcome the two best LoL teams of Lecheng, Team Scarlet and Team Dawn!” The host bellowed.

A couple of scantily-clad promotional ladies led the way as they walked gracefully up to the arena, escorting the players from both teams to their places.

Cheers and applause soon engulfed the arena once the players were seated.

It was apparent that both Team Scarlet and Team Dawn had garnered their own respective fan bases after standing out from other teams throughout the tournament.

Playing LoL at a cafe was vastly different from playing LoL alone at home. A competitive game such as this required such a vibe to be more enthralling, thus, allowing the game to be more than just a game; It would showcase an individual’s passion, motivation, and ability to enrapture others.

More than half the audience present had used to play LoL in cyber cafes and the faces of the ten qualified players was not a foreign sight whenever they stepped into one. There was an urban legend that said you would perform better in a ranked battle if you were to look up upon them before the match.

Among all the players, Yu Luocheng’s Twisted Fate had left behind the most memorable performance to those who had watched the match that day. Thus, when the host introduced Yu Luocheng, the cheering from the audience escalated to a whole different level.

“Damn it. One day it will be my turn!” Looking at the popularity received by Yu Luocheng, Wang Qin muttered sulkily but with conviction that he too, would one day reach that same level of applause.

Meanwhile, Yang Qianqian observed Yu Luocheng quietly from the front seat. In all honesty, she found it strange how Yu Luocheng could maintain his cool in front of such thunderous applause…

He, like her, was just a student in high school. Yang Qianqian still remembered the first time she had faced a great audience such as this. It was during a piano performance and due to her nervousness, she had made a lot of mistakes.

In contrast, the calm and carefree expression exhibited on Yu Luocheng’s face showed how unaffected he was by the scale of the audience. ‘Was he born with an iron mentality or was he was already used to this type of big events in his past?’

“Say, Yang Qianqian, are you really not going to tell Yu Luocheng that the guy opposing him is your brother?” Fang Xiaomei approached Yang Qianqian and whispered to her.

Yang Qianqian hesitated.

She remembered how unwilling Yu Luocheng had been to participate in such a competition at first.

She was not stupid and after accompanying him to visit his father, she had immediately understood the main reason why Yu Luocheng was now sitting up there on the stage. She was convinced that Yu Luocheng was going after the prize to relieve his family’s financial tension.

If that was the case, she wished with all her heart that Yu Luocheng would win this final match no matter what.

Moreover, Yu Luocheng’s current opponent was her brother, Yang Ying. Her brother was never short of money and even if he did win it, he was just going to waste it meaninglessly. Yang Qianqian pondered over it and finally picked up the phone. ‘I am betraying my brother for a good deed.’

Yang Qianqian quickly dialed Yu Luocheng’s number. She could only contact him through the phone as the players were not allowed to leave the stage once they were seated.

Yu Luocheng’s phone was in silent mode and when he felt the vibration, he thought it was a call from the upset Rainie. He was about to ignore it, but guilt gnawed at him for not giving his sister a proper goodbye.

“Yu Luocheng…”

“Eh, what’s the matter?” Yu Luocheng was surprised. He was definitely not expecting Yang Qianqian’s call. ‘Why the sudden urgency? Why didn’t you tell me just now if you had something important to say?’

“The captain of Team Dawn, Yang Ying, is actually my elder brother.”

“Your brother?” Yu Luocheng was surprised.

“Yes. He is the president of the Shanghai University E-sport Club. He has participated in LoL University League before and his team was ranked as one of the top 10 in the competition. He had also taken part in several professional tournaments before. According to him, some of the professional players were not even worthy of being his match. His League Points is above 2000 as well, I believe… Oh, and before I forget, his favorite champions are Fizz, Ryze, Morgana, Annie, Ahri, and Zed,” Yang Qianqian blurted out everything in one go.

Yu Luocheng did not respond while Yang Qianqian fed him that large amount of shocking intel.

“Hey, are you listening?” Yang Qianqian asked nervously.

“Yes I am,” Yu Luocheng answered back.

“Then… Do you think you can beat him in mid-lane?” Yang Qianqian asked cautiously.

“I don’t know. AP is not my best position,” Yu Luocheng slowly explained.

Yang Qianqian was dumbfounded.

Yu Luocheng’s Twisted Fate play was top-notch during the match against Team Aviator…

‘And yet here he is telling me that AP is not his best position?!’