Chapter 318 - Surrendering is not the same as Giving up!

“Janna, run to me! Top, teleport to the Blue Buff!” Shi Hang ordered over Zhejiang University’s voice chat. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the three Champions from Team Shanghai chasing into Red team’s bottom side Jungle. Didn’t think you’d defend that far up, or jump in without any vision, Maple! You have no clue where we are! What if we were waiting right there and just baiting!? He pursed his lips and locked his camera on Orianna while his Champion ran out of Red team’s base and into the Jungle. But Janna still has her skills and they’re split up! This is exactly the opportunity I needed! We can turn this around! He grinned and said over the team’s voice chat, “Yo, guys. We can win this. We can win this!”

Zhejiang’s Janna ran past the Blue Buff Camp! Lin Feng’s LeBlanc jumped on her from the side, but she ignored him just like she was ignoring Tang Bingyao’s Vayne chasing her from behind! A red pillar of light suddenly lit up next to them! Magical energies gathered and heralded the arrival of a new Champion!

Rollfire reached for his microphone and screamed, “IRELIA! IRELIA! She’s teleporting in!”

“THERE! A BLUE PILLAR!” Silent Reed cried out. She jabbed at the large LCD screen with a finger and continued, “Dr. Mundo is also coming! Team Shanghai’s Support dropped a ward down and now Mundo is also teleporting in!”

The burst damage from Lin Feng’s LeBlanc saw Janna’s health fall below 20%. Two more auto attacks from Vayne would kill her. So would another hit from LeBlanc’s skills. Yet Shi Hang hadn’t given the greenlight for her ultimate. Zhejiang’s Support gritted his teeth and then slammed down on the F key! A mottled flash of light blinked Janna out of existence and repositioned her a short distance away!

Tang Bingyao’s Vayne and Lin Feng’s LeBlanc chased right after Janna, but Zeng Rui paused. He tilted his head for a brief moment. Why did she not ult? This… His eyes went wide. “Shit! BACK!” he shouted over the team’s voice chat. THIS IS A BAIT!

“ORI IS COMING! ORI IS COMING!”

“AyDeeCee gonna set the Rift on fire!”

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Zhejiang 3-0!”

“EASY GAME, EASY LIFE!”

Shi Hang smiled. His Orianna ran through the winding path that led to the Blue Buff Camp. She passed by Janna and then commanded her Ball to attack! This is our comeback! I just need to find the right ultimate! One ultimate to rule them all! Orianna’s Ball flew through the air and slammed into Vayne, LeBlanc and Leona! And right in the middle of those three Champions was a pillar of blue light that was moments away from teleporting in Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo!

The friends and former teammates from Team Shanghai were hopping on the edge of their seats! They were staring at the large LCD screen and chewing on their nails! And then they saw Orianna’s Ball moving into exactly the right location for a perfect Command: Shockwave. They felt their hearts drop. Their shoulders slumped and they held their breaths.

“FUCK!” Ouyang exclaimed. He pulled on his hair and shouted, “ShitShitShit! We’re fucked! Totally screwed! It’s over! Noooooooo! Why? Whyyyyyyyy?”

Liu Yue started breathing faster and faster. He clenched his fists until his knuckles were white and screamed, “GET OUTTA THERE! ORIANNA IS GONNA ULT! GET OUTTA THERE!”

Back in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, everyone saw the Orianna Ball flying towards them. Zeng Rui continued to tell everyone to back, though he couldn’t do much himself. His Leona didn’t have Flash and she didn’t run faster than Orianna’s Ball moved. But his Leona was a defensive Champion with a big health pool. He could survive the ultimate. Lin Feng and Tang Tang need to get away! We lose if they get hit!

Zhang Hao was in the same situation as Zeng Rui. He too played a defensive Champion in Dr. Mundo who could survive the initial burst of damage from Orianna’s ultimate. LIN FENG AND TANG TANG! His eyes went wide in shock. He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “The Ori Ball! Ori ultie!”

Lin Feng grinned. Just like four years ago. Shi Hang knows just when to cast his ultimate! But this one is too obvious. It won’t even catch Tang Tang off guard! He placed his finger on the W key and put a bit of weight on it. He then waited.

Orianna’s Ball came to a stop between the Champions from Team Shanghai. Shi Hang’s Orianna then sent the command to her Ball. Shockwave! A sharp change of pressure exploded around the Ball! It swept out and over the four Champions from Team Shanghai, and then it came back to pull everyone within its range towards the Ball!

And… Distortion. Lin Feng’s finger pushed the rest of the way down on his W key. His LeBlanc cast the second half of Distortion. She jumped back to the other side of the Blue Buff Camp wall, far away from Orianna’s ultimate!

Tang Bingyao’s eyes were wide and her hands were shaking. She flicked her mouse to the side and slammed down on her keyboard! FLASH! FLASH! GET OUT THE WAY! A mottled flash of light wrapped around her Vayne just as the shockwave tried to carry her towards Orianna’s Ball. Vayne disappeared from Summoner’s Rift, traveling through time and space to arrive a short distance away from the Command: Shockwave attack!

“Holy shit…”

“Holy shit!”

“What a dodge! DAMN! What a crazy dodge!”

“MAD!”

Gasps and murmurs came together and climaxed into a thundering explosion of sound! The audience was on their feet, celebrating the teamfight victory for Team Shanghai! The friends and former teammates from Team Shanghai weren’t any different. Dodging an Orianna ultimate skill was almost synonymous with winning a team fight in League of Legends, they all knew that.

Ouyang jumped to his feet and punched his fist up into the air. He shouted, “NICE BRO! DAMN! NICE!”

Liu Yue nodded, grinning, and yelled, “WOOT WOOT! WE WIN! WE’RE RIGHT BACK IN IT!”

“YEAH! GO TEAM SHANGHAI!” Ren Rou cheered. She looked up at Ouyang and Liu Yue, who were now hugging each other, and smiled. Heck yeah! She wrapped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Win the fight now! Win the fight!”

In Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Tang Bingyao stared at her screen, dazed. I… I… She hadn’t moved her mouse far enough and had flashed towards Shi Hang’s Orianna. But because Zhejiang University’s team was so split up, there was no one else near them. They were in the middle of the Jungle with walls everywhere. Don’t run, kill! Mhm! She activated Condemn! Her Vayne pulled the large crossbow from her back and took aim. She then squeezed the trigger. A large, heavy bolt shot out and pierced Orianna! It lifted her off the ground and pinned her to the tree behind her!

Shi Hang’s pupils constricted and his stomach lurched. She stunned me! Oh shit! I’m stunned! SHIT!

“Nice job, Tang Tang!” Lin Feng exclaimed over the team’s voice chat. He then grinned and added, “I’ll be there in a sec!” LeBlanc’s ultimate skill allowed her to Mimic the last skill she’d used, which in this case was Distortion! Lin Feng’s LeBlanc ran along the wall of the Blue Buff Camp until she was in range to Distort onto Shi Hang’s Orianna.

Mimic: Distortion! Lin Feng’s fingers glided over his keyboard. His LeBlanc jumped towards Shi Hang’s Orianna! A violent storm is mana splashed out around her when she landed! It tore through Orianna’s health bar! LeBlanc followed up with Sigil of Malice and Ethereal Chains! The chains wrapped around Orianna, trigger the mark from Sigil of Malice! Orianna took another burst of damage, while the Ethereal Chains rooted her to the ground right when the stun from Condemn wore off! All the while, Tang Bingyao’s Vayne unloaded silver bolts on Orianna. Each hit caused a silver ring to appear beneath Orianna’s feet. And when the third one appeared, all three exploded for massive true damage!

《Rampage!》

Silent Reed grabbed the microphone and shot to her feet. She exclaimed, “THEY GOT AYDEECEE! THEY GOT AYDEECEE!”

“They did…” Rollfire mumbled, stunned. “They actually did…”

The strong difference in response between Silent Reed and Rollfire was reflected in the audience. Most people were up on their feet, screaming in support of Team Shanghai. Ouyang and Liu Yue were the loudest. They led the “Tang Tang is Great!” cheers. And then there were the esports club members from Zhejiang University. Their mouths were open and there was shock in their eyes. Zuo Cheng almost fell over the railing he was leaning on. His captain, the player he looked up to the most in the entire game, got outplayed by a team of high schoolers. He opened and closed his mouth and finally shook his head. W-what…?

When the initial burst of cheers died down and everyone started to focus back on the game, Ren Rou rose to her feet and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Who said our ad-carry was mediocre? Huh? HUH? She just outplayed your cheating ass pro player! Our Tang Tang is the best ad-carry in all of China!”

Some people in the crowd laughed. Some joined in and mocked the esports club members from Zhejiang University. But most focused back on the large LCD screen. The teamfight was still going on. After killing Orianna, Tang Bingyao’s Vayne got jumped on by Zhejiang’s Irelia. She’d activated her ultimate skill earlier to deal some more damage to Orianna, and it was still active. So she Tumbled away. Her Vayne disappeared into the shadows and she opened up some distance from Irelia. Then she took aim and fired a silver bolt!

Zhejiang University’s Toplaner narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He clicked down harder and harder on his mouse, frustration showing through in his actions. His Irelia chased after Tang Bingyao’s Vayne, but he couldn’t catch up to her. Silver rings appeared beneath Irelia’s feet. One, two… The third one appeared and caused an explosion of true damage! Fucking, stupid, bullshit, ridiculous, stupid, shitShitShit!

“BACK! BACK! What are you doing, dude? Back!” Shi Hang shouted over the team’s voice chat. He shook his head, incredulous. What the fuck got into them? Why don’t they— He closed his eyes and mumbled, “Shit, too late now.”

In their attempt to chase down Tang Bingyao’s Vayne, Zhejiang’s Irelia and Janna had moved in the same direction. They were now standing on top of each other. Zeng Rui’s Leona stood a couple steps away from them. She’d raised her sword to the sky and called down a Solar Flare! The brilliant blaze of sunlight slammed down on top of Irelia and Janna! They were both stunned!

Sun Ruinian’s Jinx was hiding behind his inner tower when the fight broke out. It took him time to walk along the Jungle wall and into the Jungle. All the while, he moved with extreme caution. The team didn’t have vision on Rengar and he vividly remembered what happened the previous time that they lost vision of Rengar. He bit on his lips and looked at his minimap. Come on, where are you you stupid cat? He took a deep breath. Irelia and Janna needed his help. He entered the Jungle. A pair of monstrous yellow eyes appeared above his head.

Silent Reed was leaning on the caster desk, inching closer towards the large LCD screen. She held the microphone close to her mouth and shouted, “RENGAR ULT! Rengar is on Jinx! How did he get there? I didn’t even know he was missing!”

“He didn’t join the fight but ran around the fight,” Rollfire said into his microphone, annoyed. He gritted his teeth and breathed out loudly. Stupid representatives of the stupid organization have to be stupid good! He closed his eyes and added, “She knew her team had the damage after they got the jump on Orianna, so she focused on what Rengar’s do best. This.”

A lion’s roar rang out across the Rift as a shadow appeared mid dash! Rengar jumped on Jinx and cut into her with his sharp blade for an empowered Savagery! He followed up by throwing a bola and then hacked into Jinx with another Savagery!

《You have slain an enemy!》

An Xin smiled and let the tension slip from her hand. I did it. We won this one. She moved her fingers and glanced at her hand. It’s working, for now. Good. I can help the team win like this. It just needs to stay like this, then everything is perfect!

Across the stage in Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth, Sun Ruinian threw his hands up in the air, frustrated. I couldn’t do anything! What the hell was that!? He shook his head and looked at his dull grey monitor. In the middle of the screen was a box that showed which Champion had killed him, which skills were used and how much damage those skills had dealt. He read through the data and chuckled. Ridiculous. Fucking stupid! 0.6 seconds? Really? I survived for a grand 0.6 seconds!? Stupid! Aaargghhh!

《Double kill!》

《Triple kill!》

“Fuck!” Sun Ruinian exclaimed. I came to help Irelia and Janna and now we’re all dead! I should’ve just… Shi Hang told us to back and I just had to go in! I should’ve listened and retreated. Maokai got out fine, because he listened. If I’d listened, Rengar wouldn’t have yet another kill! And this Vayne picking up a triple kill… Dammit! He sighed loudly and said over the team’s voice chat, “Sorry, Shi Hang. I should’ve listened.”

Shi Hang glanced at his mentee and replied, “It’s fine. Happens to the best of us.” He then looked back at his monitor and lightly shook his head. But it shouldn’t happen. He should’ve seen what was happening and backed away. I should’ve seen what was happening… Rip.

“Ok, guys, listen up,” Shi Hang suddenly said. He looked at his teammates and then pointed at his monitor. He continued, “They’re taking the mid outer. Then they’re moving on to the inner, the inhib tower and finally the inhibitor itself. We’ll have revived by then, teamed up and will have to defend our Nexus towers. They’ll back away then and make a quick stop at the Dragon pit on their way back to their base.” He took a deep breath, waiting a couple of seconds to let Team Shanghai prove his prediction.

Sun Ruinian looked at the five from Team Shanghai taking down the outer and then the inner tower. He finally turned his head to look at Shi Hang and asked, “Are we not going to defend? Or what are you trying to say…?”

“Yeah, I’m saying we’re not going to defend,” Shi Hang replied. He shook his head and explained, “We can’t beat them right now. We were already far behind. And right now, they’ve got everything. They’ve even breached our base. There is nothing for us to gain by continuing to play this game. Let’s accept this loss and move on to the next one. Let’s surrender.”

“But this is an official tournament. You fight until…” Sun Ruinian started to argue, but then he stopped. What’s the point of fighting on? We’ve lost this one. Shi Hang’s got a point there. We won’t gain anything from playing this out. We’ve lost. Accept it and move on. Focus on winning the next one. Sitting through the end of this will only make us annoyed when that stupid Rengar jumps out of fucking nowhere again! He grimaced and said, “Yeah.”

At 21 minutes, Zhejiang University’s Nexus warped and twisted with chaotic energy before exploding into a pile of rubble! The red energy shot up into the air and morphed into a large victory crest for the Blue team!

VICTORY!

“What? They surrendered? Why?”

“Already? The game is only 20 minutes in! What the fuck!”

“Are they mad? Why they hafto be mad? Is only game!

“I don’t get it… This game wasn’t over, was it?”

“They must be like the first team to surrender a game in the Collegiate Cup!”

“L. O. L! This shit is hilarious! Surrendering? Hahaha!”

Silent Reed glanced at Rollfire, confused. He just looks mad. Why does he always look mad? Maybe if he shaved his eyebrows off… She giggled and then turned her attention back to the game. She leaned towards the microphone in front of her and said, “Seems like Zhejiang University has given up on this game. They were far behind and I suppose they felt it was impossible to get back from that. I’m not sure about that, but you have to give some credit to their decision making… Yeah, they make a choice and stick to it! That deserves some applause…”

“Team Shanghai won. They won, right? Zhejiang surrendered…”

“It’s 1-2! Team Shanghai has a chance again!”

“Is this going to be a reverse sweep!?”

“Team Shanghai won! THEY WON!”

“HOLY SHIT! TEAM SHANGHAI BEAT THE PRO PLAYER TEAM!”

“WOOT WOOT! TEAM SHANGHAI IS THE BEST!”

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“TWO MORE WINS TO GO!”

“TEAM SHANGHAI KICKING THE PRO OUT!”

While the audience recovered from the initial shock and surprise and started cheering for Team Shanghai’s victory over Zhejiang University, a heavy silence fell over Zhejiang University’s soundproof booth. Shi Hang said in his gaming chair, staring at his screen. His four teammates were all looking at him. None of them said anything. They waited for a better explanation. But Shi Hang wasn’t giving one. He scratched the back of his head and glanced across the stage at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. What happened to them? They got so much better from one game to the next! If we played that game out, our morale would’ve taken an even bigger hit than it already has! Surrendering was the only option to keep us in the race! Now we need to move on and win the next one! Holy shit. If they continue to play like this… He shook his head and his eyes were wide open. Shocked, dazed and completely caught off guard. I’m actually seeing us lose this…