CHAPTER 24
During the skirmish with the Huawei team in the afternoon, Tong Yao,
just as Lu Sicheng had instructed, released all her frustration on their Mid.
Tong Yao, playing as Brand this game, zoned[1] the enemy for 3 minutes.
In the end, she used the level advantage to kill the enemy's Mid, snatching
first blood!
The enemy's Mid typed on the public chat: [qaq Little sister is so fierce,
I'm so scared.]
Her own team's Support typed on the public chat: [Don't be scared. It's
not too late to kneel down now.]
Ming god slapped Little Fatty's head with a notebook, "You still have time
to type? If you're so bored, why don't you go post on Weibo as well?"
The 38th minute.
After ZGDX had solidified their advantage, their restless teammates started
to look for ways to mess around. AD, Support, and Jungler wanted to steal
Baron, but were discovered by the enemy before they finished it off. They
were beaten up by the entire enemy team-- --Lu Sicheng was the first to die,
taking the enemy's AD with him before he died. Little Fatty was the next to
go…...Old K muttered while retreating, "I said don't steal Baron, Little Fatty
insisted on doing it. It's all your fault if we lose!"
Little Fatty, facing the gray screen and waiting to revive, patted his tummy, "
Be optimistic."
The four remaining players of the Huawei team were all low on health by now.
They began to finish Baron from where ZGDX had left off, with only a third of
health left to go. They thought they were going to have the chance for a
comeback after getting the Baron buff[2] -- --But just at that moment, they saw
red flashes in front of their eyes. Flaming columns shot up from the ground
and flashing fireballs descended from the sky. The remaining members of the
Huawei team, who had just taken down Baron, suddenly saw grey screens!
The upper right hand corner of the computer screen showed the image of
Brand. On the side, the images of the champions being killed jumped out one
by one. On the center of the screen, a series text flashed one after the other-- --
Double Kill!
Triple Kill!
Quadra Kill!
Accompanied by the images of all five Huawei players turning grey. Their last
chance to turn the game around had shattered...
"Awesome! Awesome!"
"This Brand is something else!"
"They're too young to be afraid, waltzing into Baron's arena like that..."
At the base, Little Fatty clapped, Old K didn't quite get what had happened,
and Ming god stood behind Tong Yao's chair, stunned. He thought that Tong
Yao had quite a large Champion pool which she could handle all with skill...
Then Tong Yao stole the enemy's blue buff while hearing Lu Sicheng speak
next to her ear, "Too rash."
"I knew I could kill them." Tong Yao said, "They used up most of their abilities
while killing you guys and were relaxing after they took down the Baron. They
were just like meat on the chopping board..."
"It was too risky."
"Because I'm young." Tong Yao glanced at Lu Sicheng.
Xiao Rui cut in from behind, "Don't be like this, Cheng Ge. It's a good thing to
be confident. Being too cautious is something to be worried about. I think Tong
Yao is doing good, fight without much fuss!"
Lu Sicheng changed his sitting position and stopped talking after saying, "You
all are pampering her."...The rest were encouraged by Tong Yao's actions,
after they revived, pushed Huawei's Nexus, speedily killing the enemy, and won
the match-- --
They won again!
Tong Yao released the mouse and rotated her wrist. Her bad mood from those
rumors this morning had disappeared... the Huawei team was a middling team.
They had qualified for the second round after the season competition during the
Spring tournament. It wasn't too easy to win against them.
She had helped take two wins in a short period time with brilliant maneuvering.
This should stop the talk about her parachuting into the professional world-- --Tong
Yao knew that a lot of people had some quibbles when the news of her playing
professionally first came out. Some people even said that ZGDX was doing it just
as a publicity stunt...
Since the gossip came out today, some people further confirmed their opinion-- --
[Professional gaming isn't for girls.]
[Shouldn't she just join the female team to be a showpiece?]
[This is a man's game, girls should stay away. Some fangirls have already messed
up this circle. Now a girl's playing professionally, won't it corrupt the foundation of
this circle?]
[Don't affect ZGDX's effort at reaching S6.]
There were all sorts of insulting comments.
There were people trying to reason with them or fighting with them…...But Tong
Yao knew that it was very difficult to change their point of view. The only way to
change their prejudice was to perform so well, that it'd be a slap to their collectives
faces.
[1]: Zoning is when you push the enemy so far away from minions that they do not earn experience.
If you do it long enough, then the enemy will be lower leveled than you.
[2]: Baron is sort of like a boss monster that appears on the map at the 20 minute mark. Whichever
team deals the finishing blow to Baron will get the Hand of Baron buff that is team wide (that is still
alive) and basically increases the damage of champions and nearby friendly minions.
Tong Yao moved around her fingers which were slightly sore from
being so focused while playing. She turned her head and saw Lu
Sicheng and Ming god analysing the post-game statistics…...Lu
Sicheng probably felt her gaze, stopped talking with Ming god, and
slowly turned to glance at her...
He paused for a second.
"Good play."
"Oh, hey hey hey."
A bright smile appeared on her face, her eyes turning into two crescents.
That night, just as Tong Yao had guessed-- --Somehow the skirmish with
the Huawei team that day was posted online, though they didn't know who
did it. The match was exaggeratedly described as "Smiling single handedly
turned the match around. As the team was going to lose its advantage from
a bad decision, she helped lay the foundation for victory"...
She was the topic of both waves of gossips during the day and the night.
When Tong Yao got on stream that night, the number of viewers had reached
a new height-- --
Half of the viewers were asking what was going on with Tong Yao and Jian
Yang and Lu Sicheng; the other half asked whether it was true that she had
carried the team to victory during the skirmish that day.
Tong Yao: "Jian Yang was my boyfriend when I was still in highschool. We
later broke up-- --Why? It's quite normal for young people to break up when
they don't get along. There's no why…...Where's Jian Yang now? In China,
in Shanghai, at the CK base, on my blacklist?"
Tong Yao was very used to streaming now after she had done it for several
days in a row. Now she could look at the bullet comments and still talk while
playing the game…...When she said that Jian Yang was on her blacklist, she
could see Lu Sicheng cast a glance at her and his lips moved silently: Childish.
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao: "As for the skirmish this afternoon, in the beginning we had an
advantage over them. I went back to base to change items right in front of
their Mid. Cheng Ge, Little Fatty, and Old K were pushing the turret at Top.
Afterwards, Cheng Ge was struck by a great idea and asked: why don't we
go steal a baron."
Lu Sicheng: "? ? ? ?"
Tong Yao: "Then they tried to steal it-- --It has been proved that it's better
not to do such a thing. The Huawei team used a ward to find them-- --The
next second, the five of them rolled up and started wailing on them as Baron
kept attacking them, it was hard not to die…...I didn't carry, really I didn't.
Perhaps the enemy's desire to kill those three was too strong, they used up
all their abilities. I was just cleaning up."
It was then that everyone who was watching the stream could see in her
facecam screen, a big hand stretch over to drag off her earphones-- --
"Who wanted to steal the baron? Say it again if you dare."
A wave of bullet comments flew across the screen-- --
"666666666" "Team tyrant angry!" "The domineering Cheng Ge will love
me" "What exactly is between you two" "Why don't you two keep your
distance from each other" "Just do the stream, no need to be so lovey-
dovey"...
Tong Yao grabbed her own earphones back and put them back on her head.
Then she used a relaxed tone to continue, "There's no need to keep a
distance, what for. There's nothing to begin with-- --You don't have to think
too much of it. We didn't go shopping hand in hand. The only time Cheng Ge
and I appeared together on the street was when I just got here and Cheng Ge
was assigned to take me to buy slippers."
Lu Sicheng: "Besides, I'm not a pedophile."
Tong Yao: "That's right, besides he's not a ped-- --What did you say?"
Lu Sicheng put on his earphones without any facial expression and turned
the volume of his computer to the max.
Tong Yao turned her head back to look at the bullet comments, speaking
after a short pause, "So we aren't together. I just got here. If we're really
getting together, I'll let you know-- --Right, right, right, I'll buy you all candies…...
What do you mean by shameless, Bursting Nexus, you better talk nicely-- --
Moderator? Moderator, time to shut him up. What are you waiting for!"
Lu Sicheng: "But it won't be a day like that."
Tong Yao: "...Didn't you have your earphones on?"
Lu Sicheng pulled the wire on the earphones and showed Tong Yao with
a stone face that it wasn't plugged in...
Tong Yao: "................Who are you acting for?"
Lu Sicheng: "My ears are cold, it's warmer with them on."
Tong Yao: "..."
Now all the bullet comments that had been asking about the gossip about
Jian Yang and Lu Sicheng had been replaced by "Hahahahahahahahahaha"
"66666, little sister, go" "Wait till the Summer season competition, it must
be brilliant"...
-- --Lu Sicheng was right, compared to gossip of the professional players,
people were more interested in things related to the game itself. Overnight,
all the headlines on the esports media were like, "1p1 the strongest female
mid" "Who said girls can't play good games"
"I look forward to ZGDX in the Summer competition" "It'll be awesome if a
girl, in the end, leads the team to win the final championship which we've
waited for six years"...
At this point, the esports Tale of the White Snake had come to an end.
After a few days, the Mid-season Invitationals was coming to an end.
CK lost to the Korean Communication Team at the finals-- --It was a pity,
but most people could accept it as everyone had predicted the Chinese
team would be crushed right at the doorstep.
After the Invitational started, people were surprised to find that China
wasn't the only weak team-- --It was weak team against weak team
among the 6 regions…...Everyone hoped they'd still have some chance
at this year's World Finals.
It was already mid May when the Invitational held its closing ceremony.
The weather in Shanghai was getting hotter and it was time to get ready
for the League of Legends Summer Competition in the China Region,
which would start at the end of May-- --
The vacation was finally over. All the players returned to base. Every team
was preparing the their lineup and backups for this season…...There were
more invites for skirmishes as well.
Since ZGDX was regarded as one of the stronger teams, there were
numerous invitations from different teams to skirmish every day. Xiao Rui
picked a few for them to practice with. Some teams were strong, some weak.
The most Tong Yao played was three matches in one day-- --
They won all of them.
Though the results of skirmishes were usually kept secret, eventually their
winning streak was leaked. The whole esports circle all knew one thing:
ZGDX was in its best condition since they had a new Mid, undefeated in all
their skirmishes.
Fans were all excitedly waiting for the appearance of the new ZGDX in the
Summer season…...However, Tong Yao's team had some minor issues
internally during this time-- --
The problem stemmed from the issue of a skirmish.
That day, Tong Yao and her team had just finished their skirmish with YQCB.
They gathered in a circle to discuss the shortcomings of their new tactics
during the earlier skirmish. Ming god was turning page after page of the notebook
in his hand of their post-game statistics. The team manager, Xiao Rui, passed
by behind them and lightly dropped a line, "Cheng Ge, your old team has come
to invite us for a skirmish. I already said yes."
The man, who was looking at the small blackboard behind him, paused slightly,
then turned around with furrowed brows. "What did you say?"
Without any exaggeration, Tong Yao instantly could feel the change of the
atmosphere.
Little Fatty, who was discussing the tactics that YQCB had used earlier, abruptly
stopped. Old K was also silent; Old Cat, who was analyzing what top champions
he was good at and can use, raised his head, Ming god also stopped flipping
through his little notebook-- --
Sitting among them, Tong Yao look around in confusion.
"We've played against Chinese teams for so many days now, isn't it time to have
a skirmish with a strong Korean team?" Xiao Rui rubbed the tip of his nose. "So I
accepted the invitation from that team."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
By convention, team members had no right to object to any skirmish arranged by
the team manager. But ZGDX was an exception. Their team member and captain,
Mr. Lu Sicheng, was also one of the shareholders of the club…...Therefore, he
sometimes could make some decisions over the manager and challenge the decisions
of management-- --
It was exactly what had happened that day.
His usual relaxed demeanor disappeared. With eyebrows knitted, he truly looked
as if he was mildly annoyed. "I remember that I said that it's not the time to play
against TAT yet."
Xiao Rui tried to correct him, "You said that a month ago."
Lu Sicheng: "Did I say anything about the situation having changed lately? Or do I
need to repeat it everyday?"
"We've played skirmishes for a month now." Xiao Rui furrowed his eyebrows. "Tong
Yao should already be used to it-- --"
"You want to play against a Korean team, why don't you invite their communication
team? Why do you have to arrange it with TAT..."
"They came to us themselves!"
"Why did they come to us all by themselves? It's all because they have heard the
whole world boasting how invicible our new Mid is…...Where's your brain? Why
didn't you discuss it with me?"
"You were playing a skirmish with YQCB at the time. Besides, it's only a skirmish,
no big deal if we lose…...I'm thinking it's not a bad idea to have the two strongest
teams in the regions meet before the new season begins. What's the big deal?" Xiao
Rui was unyielding. "We'll meet them sooner or later..."
"I've said it, it's not time yet." Lu Sicheng's tone was turning icy. "Do you
have a problem understanding the human language?"
"Then when is the time?"
"I don't know."
"I say now is the time."
"...It's up to you." Lu Sicheng sneered, stretching out his two long legs.
"If anything happens then, don't come to me to save your butt."
Xiao Rui turned around and walked away without saying anything…...The
atmosphere was awkward and depressed, but no one was brave enough
to speak. Tong Yao was simply too confused to understand what was going
on between the two men.
She somehow felt that the reason why Lu Sicheng didn't want to do a
skirmish with TAT was her. She thought she should say something-- --But,
when she looked up the the icy face of the captain, she swallowed back
what she was going to say. She picked up Dabing, which was moving around
the chairs, and began stroking it to calm her nerves.
-- --The entire base was quiet as a tomb until that night because of the
unexpected episode.
The loudest voice came from the delivery guy within that 7 hours.
Everyone sat in front of their own computer to play ranked games. When
Tong Yao went past Old Cat and Old K when she was getting a glass of milk
for herself, she found out that they were playing duos. The most silly thing was
that they were communicating entirely by typing in the game when they were
sitting so close to each other in reality that they could rub elbows..
Ming god sat on the sofa watching the latest game video of TAT, taking down a
lot of notes on the little book in his hand.
Tong Yao returned to her seat and turned on the computer. She saw message
notification from Little Fatty. After clicking on it, she saw Little Fatty, who was two
chairs away from her, carefully ask: [Where's our Cheng Ge?]
Tong Yao replied: [I heard sounds outside when I passed by the window just
now. He's probably smoking out there…...Why did you send me a message?
Are you mute?]
Little Fatty: [I'm scared.]
Tong Yao: [...]
Little Fatty: [Really, I haven't seen him like this for some time now. The past year,
he's like a peaceful retiree, raising fish and drinking tea.]
Little Fatty: [Oh no. Xiao Rui also just went out. Do you think they'll get into a
fight? Killing each other before the season, it's a serious crime. We'll be doomed
if we get disqualified.]
Tong Yao: [? ? ? ?]
Tong Yao was afraid that Xiao Rui really got beaten up. She hurriedly picked up
Dabing, which was snoring on Lu Sicheng's seat, to boost her own courage, and
sneaked near the window in the living room to eavesdrop...
She had just put her face on the window before she had steadied herself and
could already faintly hear Xiao Rui's rushed voice-- --
"...You're overly protective of her. Let's forget the other things. But now, it's
getting ridiculous that you won't even play a skirmish. You know very well that
to play a strong Korean team before the season is much more valuable than
playing with those Chinese teams which are weaker than us-- --What's there to
lose? It can't be to the point that her confidence will collapse? Anyway, I just don't
understand, Lu Sicheng, you aren't really falling for her? How come I wasn't told
earlier that you're a damn pedophile?"
"..."
Tong Yao's hand trembled.
She almost threw out the cat from her arms-- --
What was going on?
So Lu Sicheng refused to play skirmish with TAT was because of her?
…...Tong Yao didn't understand it herself, not to mention Xiao Rui: What the
hell was he up to?!