Team Shanghai grabbed a small advantage in the mid lane. Lin Fengâs Lux put full pressure on Zhu Fengâs Syndra, while keeping his Blue minions where he wanted them. It was an expert bit of skill. But the rest of the game was still completely even. Hu Hui, Jungler for the East China University of Science and Technology, was looking to change that. He finished his initial Jungle path four minutes into the game. He then had his KhaâZix move towards the bot lane while announcing over the teamâs voice chat, âComing bot for a gank!â
The Support Alistar replied, âI got this!â He waited for Hu Huiâs KhaâZix to be relatively close to the bot lane and then flashed forward, right on top of Tang Bingyaoâs Graves. Pulverize! Alistar smashed his two big fists down on the ground with all its power. The impact knocked Tang Bingyaoâs Graves up into the air! He then charged past the Graves and turned around behind her. âWatch this!â he said, grinning
Zeng Ruiâs Thresh flashed towards Blue teamâs outer tower while all of this was going on. He threw his lantern to Tang Bingyao, opening up the Dark Passage. All Tang Bingyao had to do was click on the lantern and her Graves would dash to safety. Zeng Rui informed her of that with a simple, âClick it.â
Tang Bingyao nodded and replied, âMhm!â She then clicked on the lantern 300 times in the next second. Graves had to have both his feet on the ground to dash at Thresh. He was falling back to the ground. There was a miniscule opening between him landing on the ground and the Alistar Headbutting him towards Red teamâs outer tower. Tang Bingyao needed to get the click in during that brief period of time to survive. All she had to do was click. Click! Click! CLICK! Her Graves landed on the ground and then lost his footing again as Threshâs lantern pulled him away to safety.
âAh damn,â the KhaâZix player muttered over East China University of Science and Technologyâs voice chat. âThat couldâve been first blood. Probably shouldâve been.â
Wang He didnât say a word. He just stared at his screen, numb. Sheâs good. YesYes. The stupid thot knows how to play! But she shouldâve been the only one! How did that Thresh play it like that? Did he just get lucky? But that was a good play! Shit! Their Support canât be good! She was supposed to be the only good player on their team! This canât be happening! It canât! FUCK! He gritted his teeth. The more he played against Team Shanghaiâs Botlaners, the more he realised that they were both better than he was. But that conclusion was quickly pushed away. He still saw himself as invincible. They just have the stronger duo! I need a better Support! That fucking thot is just getting carried! In fact⌠If Iâd had a better Support, we wouldâve gotten that kill! Yeah! Iâd be up 1-0! All I need is a Support who knows how to play! Why am I stuck with this noob!?
ăFirst blood!ă
Wang He felt his hand twitch. He forcefully restrained himself from hitting the Enter key and typing a message, while also tightly pressing his lips down. NOT FUCKING AGAIN! I already lost to this fucking thot once! We canât let this happen again! I need to win this! This is supposed to be my redemption game!
âWhat happened?â Zhu Feng asked over the teamâs voice chat, cutting Wang Heâs thoughts short.
The Toplaner, who was playing Fiora, replied, âGot baited. I just used all my skills on the Gragas and then the J4 shows up behind me. Didnât have my flash anymore either, so she knocks me up and gives the kill to that Gragas. Just a stupid mistake from me. Wonât happen again. Sorry, guys.â
Zhu Feng glanced at his Toplaner and shook his head. Come on, guys! I warned you about this! We canât go underestimating these kids! Weâll lose this series if we do that! He grimaced but understood that arguing wasnât going to help his team. So he replied over the teamâs voice chat, âItâs fine. Just donât let it happen again.â
âš
There wasnât much that happened in the next minute. Red teamâs KhaâZix had returned to his Jungle to clear some camps. But by the 6th minute of the game, he made his way through the river to the brush right above the mid lane. He waited for Zhu Fengâs Syndra to move up towards the middle of the lane where Lux was farming minions.
âNow!â Hu Hui shouted over the teamâs voice chat. He pressed down on his E key, making his KhaâZix Leap at the Lux.
There was a Blue ward in the brush KhaâZix had been hiding in, showing Lin Feng exactly what his opponentâs Jungler was doing. Yeah! Come at me! Lin Feng grinned when the KhaâZix made the Leap. That was a short moment in which KhaâZix couldnât dodge, locked in the jumping animation. Lin Fengâs Lux stepped to the side and aimed a Light Binding at where the KhaâZix was about to land. The sphere of light flew in a straight line, wrapping around the KhaâZix right as he landed and binding him.
Right then, An Xinâs Jarvan IV and Zeng Ruiâs Thresh walked into the mid lane from the bot side river brush. They aimed their crowd control on KhaâZix, completely ignoring Zhu Fengâs Syndra. Zeng Ruiâs Thresh landed a Death Sentence on the KhaâZix and An Xinâs Jarvan IV knocked him up with a flag toss combo!
Hu Hui saw his KhaâZixâs health bar evaporate. He tried to flash away, but the crowd control skills from Team Shanghai were linked together flawlessly. And then there was the Lux. She was auto attacking him, dealing the least amount of damage. But her Lucent Singularity, an anomaly of twisted light, was underneath him. It was waiting to be detonated. Ready to shear away the last of his health. Fuck! I need help! He shouted over the teamâs voice chat, âGuys! Zhu Feng! Help me! DONâT BACK AWAY! HELP ME!â He watched his health drop to almost zero. âWe can still turn this around!â But Zhu Fengâs Syndra didnât come to help. She hid underneath Red teamâs outer tower.
Lin Feng waited until he was certain his Lucent Singularity would claim the KhaâZixâs life. Then he pressed on the E key and activated the second half of the skill. The anomaly of twisted light detonated right underneath the KhaâZix.
ăYou have slain an enemy!ă
âSweet!â Lin Feng exclaimed. He then turned to An Xin and said over the teamâs voice chat, âSee? I told you! Iâm really good at Lux too!â
An Xin glanced at Lin Feng and smiled dangerously. âOh? That was all you? I see. Well I guess you donât need our help then. You can fend for yourself for the rest of the game.â
âSounds reasonable,â Zeng Rui chimed in.
âUh, no no! You can keep ganking! Ganks are always good!â Lin Feng replied sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.
Team Shanghai had picked up a kill in the bot lane, securing the advantage there. Then they moved their attention to the mid lane where they helped Lin Feng pull further ahead of Zhu Fengâs Syndra. And it all went with relative ease. The team members were laughing over the voice chat and there was a focused but relaxed atmosphere in their soundproof booth.
The same couldnât be said for the East China University of Science and Technologyâs soundproof booth. No one was talking there. They were staring at their screen, frustrated and angry. Just a few minutes ago, theyâd been joking about Team Shanghai being a high school team. A team with two girls on its roster. It really sounded like a bad joke to them. Yet now they found themselves running after the facts only a couple of minutes into the game.
But from everyone on the team, Zhu Feng was struggling the hardest. Even worse than Wang He. His laning phase got off to a bad start, which had annoyed him. But Hu Huiâs gank was supposed to change that. He was supposed to be back in the game. Why did it go like this? Dammit! He gritted his teeth. His Syndra had survived, but that wasnât worth anything. Iâm the real loser here! STUPID! Lux gets her damn kill! Forces me to recall back to base AGAIN! And sheâs just happily spending all her spare gold! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! And thereâs not a damned thing I can do about it...
The audience was just like the East China University of Science and Technology having a difficult time accepting what they were seeing. The high school team consisting of three guys and two girls werenât losing terribly. That alone was enough to shock many of the students watching the game. But not only was Team Shanghai not losing the game, they were starting to pull ahead, picking up two early kills and building up a massive advantage in the mid lane.
âThey really threw me off at the start⌠Itâs just not often that you see two girls on a team. And theyâre both playing really well!â
âWhat the fuck is this! What are Zhu Feng and his boy doing? FUCKING START PLAYING!â
âThis ainât looking too hot for Zhu Feng and Wang He...â
âThey getting beaten by GIRLS! HAHAHAHA!â
âOh, come on! Hu Hui, whatâs this? Fucking play! STOP FEEDING!â
âWOOOOOO! TEAM SHANGHAI! WOOOOOOOO!â
âMaybe theyâre giving away the first game to make it more exciting? Has to be it, right?â
âYUP! No way Zhu Feng loses to a damn kid in the mid lane! I refuse to believe it.â
âš
Zhu Fengâs Syndra arrived back in lane half a minute later. The minion wave was frozen outside of the Blue outer tower. Goddammit! I canât even go up there for some CS! What the fuck do I do? Zhu Feng chewed on his lips and looked at the minions that were dying off in the distance. They were out of his reach. He wasnât even getting experience from them. I canât keep doing this! Iâm just going to become useless! STUPID! I need to at least get in range to get the experience. Just a little more forward. He had his Syndra walk forward, doing his best to dodge the skills from Lin Fengâs Lux that were already flying his way. This stupid Lux! How the fuck does she keep hitting me? I just need to dodge it!
The plan worked for the next 30 seconds. Zhu Fengâs Syndra was getting more brazen by the second as he started noticing a certain rhythm in the Luxâs attack patterns. Dodging the attacks became easier. Hehe, youâre still just a kid. You gotta learn more tricks if you wanna beat me! I know exactly where youâre attacking next! He stepped to the side and smiled. Thatâs another missed Lucent Singularity! SCRUB! He had his Syndra push past the middle of the lane to last hit a caster minion.
Zhu Feng clicked on another caster minion. His Syndra was just out of reach. She floated forward and then started her auto attack animation. UH? It all happened too quickly. Zhu Feng was paying attention to the minion, completely forgetting to keep his eyes on the Lux. He didnât see the Light Binding coming until it flew straight through his Syndra. The light binded her in place. STUPID! STUPID! Zhu Feng frantically clicked away, smashing his D key to flash away, and hoped the Lux didnât have enough damage to burst him down.
Lin Fengâs Lux moved forward and hit Zhu Fengâs Syndray with an auto attack. It procced her passive skill, Illumination! The damage from Light Binding had charged the Syndra with energy and the auto attack ignited that energy for bonus damage! Then she followed up with Lucent Singularity! An anomaly of twisted light flew forward and spread out on the ground around the Syndra. Lin Fengâs Lux detonated it and followed up with another auto attack. The skill procced Illumination and the auto attack ignited the energy!
Zhu Fengâs Syndra was caught in the light binding for another second. Lin Feng grinned. Watch me blast you away with this Final Spark! He pushed down on the R key. His Lux threw her staff up in the air and let it spin in front of her. She jumped up in the air and arched her back backwards. Then she summoned all the light energy she could muster and threw it forward, screaming, âDEMAAAACIA!â A beam of pure light blasted across Summoners Rift. It slammed through Zhu Fengâs Syndra, shearing away at her health and almost killing her!
âHeâs alive! Heâs going to live! LOOK!â
â FLASH AWAY! FLASH TO THE TOP JUNGLE! NOOO!â
âDONâT GO THERE! DONâT!â
âGO TOP! TOP DUDE! TOP!â
Zhu Feng was sitting in a soundproof booth, completely focused on the screen in front of him. He didnât see or hear the audience screaming for him to watch out. All he knew was that heâd survived the Luxâs burst damage and that he now had to get away! So he chose for the fastest way home, straight towards his outer tower. And that was exactly where the Jarvan IV was waiting for him. Zhu Fengâs eyes went wide. He stared numbly at the new arrival, then shouted, âSTUPID! SO FUCKING STUPID!â
An Xinâs Jarvan IV appeared from Red teamâs bottom side Jungle. She ran into the mid lane and then dashed at Zhu Fengâs Syndra with the flag toss combo. It was aimed perfectly. The Syndra was flung up into the air! Lin Fengâs Lux caught up and landed a third auto attack, igniting the energy left behind on the Syndra from the Final Spark skill. Her health dropped to single digits. But An Xin wasnât leaving anything to chance. She activated her ultimate skillâCataclysm! Jarvan IV leaped up above the Syndra and then slammed down into the ground! He carried with him such force that the ground terraformed into an area! But he was the only one inside. Zhu Fengâs Syndra was already dead.
ăAn enemy has been slain!ă
âWOOOOOOOOOW! WHAT WAS THAT!?â
âAre these high schoolers on steroids? HOLY DAMN!â
âWHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ZHU FENG? THAT WAS SO OBVIOUS!â
âGet your asses into the game! Youâre losing to HIGH SCHOOLERS!â
âOh my god, I canât watch this. Itâs too painful. What a bunch of braindead idiots...â
âPLAY THE FUCKING GAME! STOP BEING SO COCKY! FUCK!â
âš
Wang He listened to Zhu Feng complain and knew exactly what was happening. It all felt far too familiar. This isnât fucking possible! I refuse to believe this! NoNoNo! NOOOOO! Theyâre supposed to be shit! Just that girl was going to be half decent! Not as good as me but ok. JUST OK! The rest had to suck! He ground his teeth, fighting a losing battle against his own sanity. It was showing in his play. He clicked further left than he usually would, stepping out from behind the protection of a caster minion.
Zeng Rui spotted the mistake straight away. He lined up a Death Sentence and threw it out. The scythe connected with Wang Heâs Jinx. He said over the teamâs voice chat, âTang Tang, on the Jinx!â
âMhm! Okay!â Tang Bingyao replied. She kept her eyes locked on Red Teamâs Alistar while activating Quickdraw. Her Graves dashed forward and hit Jinx with an auto attack. She didnât activate a second skill. Her finger was lightly pressing down on the D key, waiting to activate Flash.
Red Teamâs Alistar tried to protect his ad-carry. He targeted Tang Bingyaoâs Graves with Headbut. It was Alistarâs go-to move. Headbut the opponent and then knock them up right away with Pulverise. But before he could try this combo, Tang Bingyao flashed past him. She then raised her triple barrel shotgun and took aim at the Jinx.
Wang He froze. His mouse-hand refused to move and his keyboard fingers refused to press down. Fuuuuuuck! How did she do that? How! HOW! HOW!? He was forced to watch as Graves fired a Buckshot at his Jinx. Three bullets slammed into his Jinx! LET ME GET OUT! FUCKING THOT! PISS OFF! But his fingers wouldnât move.
Tang Bingyaoâs Graves lifted his triple barrel shotgun again. He activated his ultimate skill. Collateral Damage! An explosive shell blasted through the air and slammed into the Jinx. The resulting damage decimated her health bar!
Zeng Ruiâs Thresh was still hooked to Wang Heâs Jinx. He now activated the second part of Death Sentence. Thresh dashed at Wang Heâs Jinx and then Flayed her back and Ignited her. An unquenchable flame burned on Jinxâs body and the Flay slowed her. This combination gave Tang Bingyaoâs Graves all the help he needed to finish the job.
âDO SOMETHING!â Wang He screamed over the teamâs voice chat. âALISTAR!â But it was already too late. The game announcerâs voice sounded in his ears.
ăYou have been slain!ă
Wang He watched his screen turn grey. This⌠This⌠Itâs like that stupid game from the other day all over again! God fucking dammit! This stupid thot is fucking beating me again! And⌠He slammed his fist down on the desk in frustration. AND I CANâT FUCKING QUIT THE GAME! It took him every last bit of constraint not to stand up and walk away. Or to start screaming.
âš
The game between Team Shanghai and the East China University of Science and Technology was only a little more than 6 minutes in, yet it looked like the game was already played. Lin Feng was enjoying a big lead in the mid lane, while Zeng Rui and Tang Bingyao were quickly pulling ahead of their lane opponents in the bot lane. This was everything the audience expected East China University of Science and Technologyâs team to do.
âHow are these high schoolers this much betterâŚ?â
âWhat in the world is happening? This shit ainât making any sense!â
âAre there esports steroids? Those kids should be tested!â
âThis is borderline insane⌠The way those kids are playing⌠Fuck! Itâs impressive!â
âHoly sweet moly! Thatâs a 3,000 gold advantage right there!â
âI know right⌠Zhu Feng is gonna have a hard effin time!â
Shocked, surprised, and confused comments sounded out in the hall. The audience wasnât really sure what was happening. They didnât understand how the university team was losing to a high school team. All theyâd been hearing about was how the university teams were going to be so incredibly much better than the high school teams that it wasnât even going to be funny. Reality was anything but that.
It took highly skilled people to see just how vast the gap between Team Shanghai and the East China University of Science and Technology really was. There were several such individuals on the other teams competing here today. From the small things like positioning to the bigger moves like ganks, Team Shanghai exploited every asset of the game to pull ahead.
âTheyâre gonna win if it goes on like thisâŚâ
âNo shit! This Team Shanghai is kicking Zhu Fengâs ass. This could be a sub 20 minute gameâŚâ
âFuck, thatâd be embarrassing!â
âš
Zeng Rui glanced at the game clock. It read 9 minutes. He looked at his minimap and said over the teamâs voice chat, âLin Feng, come roam bot.â
Lin Feng panned his camera, glanced at the state of the bot lane, and nodded. âSure.â He then pushed out the minion wave in the mid lane and retreated to his own outer tower. It was a simple tactic to make the Syndra think he was recalling back to base to upgrade his items. Letâs get some kills in bot too!
Zeng Rui waited for Lin Feng to almost be in the bot lane before engaging on Wang Heâs Jinx. His Thresh flashed forward and then Flayed the Jinx backwards. Red teamâs Alistar tried to protect his ad-carry by Headbutting Zeng Ruiâs Thresh away, but by doing so played the exact move Zeng Rui was waiting for. He smiled and pressed down on the Q keyâDeath Sentence! Thresh threw his scythe at the Jinx and hooked her!
Lin Fengâs Lux walked into the bot lane right as the Death Sentence landed. He cast a Light Binding to root the Jinx and followed up with Lucent Singularity and Final Spark! An anomaly of twisted light flew towards the Jinx and glowed underneath her. Then the Lux threw her wand up into the air and made it spin in front of her. She jumped up herself, arched her back backwards and then pushed all the energy she could muster forward! A laser beam blasted across the map, enveloping the Jinx and evaporating her health bar!
Tang Bingyaoâs Graves had followed behind Zeng Ruiâs Thresh. She landed an auto attack on the rooted Jinx and then blasted the last of her health bar away with a Buckshot! All the while, An Xinâs Jarvan IV ran into red teamâs bottom side Jungle and arrived in the bot lane behind enemy lines. There, she stormed towards the outer tower and knocked the Alistar up with a flag toss combo!
âAlistar! Alistar!â Zeng Rui shouted over the teamâs voice chat, ignoring the game announcer telling them about Jinxâs death.
The Lux, Graves and Thresh charged towards Red teamâs outer tower and helped An Xinâs Jarvan IV kill the Alistar. Tang Bingyao picked up the kill on her Graves, after which all four players from Team Shanghai made it out with their lives.
âDragon! Go Dragon!â Zeng Rui ordered over the teamâs voice chat. And the other three followed behind him. They ran up the river to the Dragon pit and killed the monster, getting gold and a buff that gave them extra attack and magic damage. All of this only further extended their advantage over the East China University of Science and Technology.
âš
Wang He was going crazy. I CANâT DO THIS SHIT! SCREW BOT LANE! Heâd been playing in the bot lane for 14 long minutes. That stupid thot is more fed than I am! And that Thresh is better than my Alistar! And if it wasnât for that other thot and the stupid Lux constantly ganking me, I might even get some CS and win this lane! But Iâm only falling further behind! I need to do something! He panned his camera across the map, searching for anything that might help him. Then he paused on the mid lane. Well, fuck it all! If I canât get anything in the bot lane, Iâll just go and get some CS in the mid lane! That Lux canât do anything to me. I just gotta dodge her Qs. Those stupid Light Bindings⌠Any noob can dodge those!
Wang Heâs Jinx arrived in the mid lane and started attacking minions. He got a couple of last hits and pushed up further into the lane. This is more like it! Iâm getting some gold and Iâll be right back intâ His eyes went wide in shock. The Lux had appeared out of nowhere and flashed towards him, throwing a Light Binding at him from point blank range! There was no way he could have dodged it. FUCK! NOT AGAIN! NOT FUCKING AGAIN! He pressed on every button on his keyboard, trying to break the root faster!
An auto attack landed on Wang Heâs Jinx, detonating the energy gathered on her from the Light Binding. Then the Lux attacked with Lucent Singularity and Final Spark. The two skills blasted away almost all the health his Jinx had. But it very importantly didnât kill him. He grimaced. Iâll just have to recall back to base again. Fucking dammit! He slammed down on his F key, infuriated. The root broke and his Jinx flashed away towards the safety of his outer tower. At least Iâm still alive. Unlike that idiot Zhu Feng! Feeding this noob Lux!
And then, from over the Jungle wall below the mid lane, an explosive shell flew towards Wang Heâs Jinx and exploded in her face. The damage was massive. Wang He watched his screen turn grey again. But more painfully was the game announcerâs message that followed. It echoed in his mind, a constant reminder of how the thot he hated so much was kicking his ass. How she was the better player.