It was the Grand Finals of the Winter Collegiate Cup. No matter how Team Beijing felt about it, they couldn’t just give up. “We won’t!” Team Beijing’s Jungle exclaimed! He looked at his teammates and continued, “So what if we lose this game? We aren’t losing to Team Shanghai! We’re losing to their Midlaner! So screw him! Who cares about him? I don’t!”

Zhang Hongyi turned his head to look at his Jungler and said, “What…?”

Team Beijing’s Jungler clenched his fist and said over the team’s voice chat, “I don’t care that their Midlaner is the best player! So what if he takes first? Good for him! Whatever! But we’re going to take second, ahead of Team Shanghai! Forget about him! Let’s focus on the others and get some kills!”

“Huh!” Team Beijing’s Toplaner replied. He looked at his teammates and continued, “He’s right! Let’s show everyone we’re better than Team Shanghai! Screw their Midlaner!”

Yu Ping gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. You guys can ignore him. But it won’t be that easy for me… He took a deep, long breath and asked, “Then what about me?”

Team Beijing’s Jungler grinned and suggested, “Just abandon mid! Screw that guy! Let’s go and win the other lanes!”

“I’m in!” Zhang Hongyi exclaimed. He looked at his teammates, grinning, and added, “Give me some help to kill Zeng Rui again!”

“Coming!” Team Beijing’s Jungler said. He then nodded at Yu Ping and asked, “You also coming?”

Yu Ping nodded slowly and mumbled, “Yeah. I guess.”

“That’s more like it!” Team Beijing’s Jungler exclaimed, forcing laughter into his voice.

✹

At 17 minutes, Team Beijing’s Toplaner, Midlaner and Jungler were missing. An Xin moved her camera around the map and asked over the team’s voice chat, “Where are they…? This doesn’t make any sense… Where did they go? Lin Feng is pushing mid and Zhang Hao is pushing top…”

“Maybe they’re scared of me!” Lin Feng suggested.

An Xin glanced at him and replied, “Haha. So funny.” She then turned to look at the others and continued, “I’m serious. Where are they?”

Zeng Rui’s eyes suddenly opened wide. He shouted over the team’s voice chat, “They’re here! Bot! No way Shitty Zhang plays like this when there isn’t a gank waiting!”

Lin Feng grinned and said, “It’s time to d-d—”

“LIN FENG!” An Xin screamed. She glared at him with her murder smile and asked, “Do I need to repeat myself? HMM?”

“Jeesh!” Lin Feng complained. “I was just going to say that I’ve got Teleport and HaoBro also has his TP up. ZengZeng should just bait them into tower diving to try and kill him and Tang Tang…”

Zeng Rui looked at the scoreboard and nodded. He replied, “I like that idea. See this ward?” He pinged on a ward in the second brush along the bottom side of the lane. “If both of you teleport there when they engage. BunBun? What if you come through the lane?”

An Xin smiled and said, “I do like the sound of that! On my way!” She had her Nocturne walk into the bot lane and stopped in the brush between the Inner and Outer Tower. With her ultimate, she could reach the fight from there. “In position!”

Zeng Rui glanced at Lin Feng and Zhang Hao and asked, “You two?” When he received the nod from Zhang Hao and the thumbs up from Lin Feng, he turned back to look at his screen and took a deep, long breath. “Okay,” he mumbled. He then clicked forward, allowing his Thresh to malposition.

In Team Beijing’s soundproof booth, Zhang Hongyi almost jumped up from his chair. He pointed at his screen and shouted, “He fell for it! I knew he was bad! I knew it! Hah! GoGoGo!” He then had his Janna use Zephyr. A skill that allowed Janna to summon an air elemental that she could send at an enemy champion to deal some damage and also slow them. The air elemental flew straight at Zeng Rui’s Thresh and slowed him!

Team Beijing’s Nidalee, Dr. Mundo and Ahri all ran into the lane! They met up with the Ezreal and Janna. Together, all five of them unleashed their skills on Zeng Rui’s Thresh! Different kinds of magic, bolts of energy, javelins and cleavers flew through the air! Everything combined tore apart Thresh’s health!

But no one in the stadium was cheering for Team Beijing. A few mumbled how unfair this game was for Team Beijing, but most remained silent. The shoutcasters sat quietly at their desk, shaking their heads. They could almost feel the pain Team Beijing was about to suffer.

Zeng Rui waited for the last possible moment and then Flashed away, forcing the five Champions from Team Beijing to follow him. It pulled them away from the safety of their Outer Tower and right into the middle of the bot lane. That was where Yu Ping’s Ahri dealt the killing blow.

《You have slain an enemy!》

There was the briefest moment of euphoria on Team Beijing’s side of the stage. And then darkness fell over Summoner’s Rift. It was a thick darkness that the players from Team Beijing could only see each other’s Champions as they huddled together in the middle of the lane. A shadow of terror lit up below Yu Ping’s Ahri. He was marked by Nocturne and Nocturne was flying at him! But the nightmare was only just beginning for Team Beijing. Completely unbeknownst to them, Lin Feng’s Twisted Fate and Zhang Hao’s Irelia were teleporting into the lane right below them. And in front of them, Tang Bingyao’s Sivir cast On the Hunt, boosting the movement speed of all nearby allies!

FourEyesChan shook his head and said into his microphone, “I mean…” He shrugged and turned his head to look at Cherry.

Cherry looked back at him and massaged her forehead. She then breathed out through her mouth and said, “That’s just… I don’t know what to say.”

《You have slain an enemy!》《Double kill!》《You have slain an enemy!》

“Two more to go and this nightmare is over,” FourEyesChan said. He then chuckled and added, “Nocturne is a nightmare, but it’s kind of funny how he’s also a nightmare in this game.”

Cherry smiled and replied, “I’m trying to enjoy this. I really am. It’s a beautiful play by Team Shanghai. But it’s just so…” She sighed loudly and continued, “It’s just so hard to watch this. I can feel the pain Team Beijing must be feeling. This is… Yeah, I feel bad for them.”

《Triple kill!》

FourEyesChan nodded and said into his microphone, “Same.”

《Double kill!》《Aced!》

The teamfight ended with Team Shanghai picking up 5 kills versus one kill for Team Beijing. But it was never really a fight. It was a one-sided slaughter. Any notion Team Beijing still had about trying to play around Lin Feng disappeared. Between his ultimate skill and Teleport summoner spell, they couldn’t get anywhere where he couldn’t go. They didn’t surrender, that just wasn’t done at the competitive level, but they gave up resisting. They watched Team Shanghai take the Dragon and take their towers. They put up something of a defense when Team Shanghai besieged their base. But without the conviction, they lacked teeth, and they crumbled. Team Shanghai breached their base, destroyed their inhibitors and finally also their Nexus.

VICTORY!

✹

Lin Songshi walked into the skybox in the Chaoyang Sports Centre reserved for the highest ranked officials from the Chinese Esports Association. He was their boss, the president of the entire esports in China, a rank he’d started to work towards more than 10 years ago when the esports scene was still in its infancy. He walked past the only other person in the room and stopped in front of the window that gave a full view of the stadium. “How far are we?” he asked over his shoulder.

Zhou Wei was one of the three vice presidents from the Beijing Esports Association. He fixed his tie and bowed deeply before replying, “Sir, everything is ready. The trophy is backstage and I’ve taken the liberty to draft a… two speeches for you. Do you wish to take a look?”

Lin Songshi saw the score on the large LCD screen above the stage. 2-0 for Team Shanghai. One more game to win… Not much of a surprise. He turned around to look at Zhou Weihe and said, “No need. I probably won’t be using it anyway.”

Zhou Wei nodded and replied, “That’s just like you, President! You’re great at doing these kinds of things impromptu!”

“Enough asskissing,” Lin Songshi said. He then nodded behind him at the large LCD screen above the stage and asked, “Almost over, isn’t it?”

“Sorry, sir! Yes, sir!” Zhou Wei replied. “Team Shanghai is up 2-0. Looks like they might win this.”

Lin Songshi smiled and said more to himself than to Zhou Wei, “Fan Yuan was so convinced his team was going to win. I can already imagine the look on his face right about now.”

Zhou Wei chewed on his lips and considered how to reply for a bit before saying, “He was. But I think that had more to do with his rivalry with Chu Fang. You might know him as Shanghai Esports Association’s vice president. Fan Yuan told me before the series he was really looking forward to beating Chu Fang...” He scratched the back of his head and then continued, “I’m kind of surprised if I’m being honest here, sir. I thought Fan Yuan had a strong team. Their chances of winning were pretty high if you asked me. But Team Shanghai has come out swinging in these Finals.”

“Mm-hmm,” Lin Songshi mumbled. He turned back towards the window and leaned on the handrail. He then narrowed his eyes and looked at Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth. It was too far away for a good look, but he didn’t need a good look to recognize Lin Feng. It might’ve been a good chance for Fan Yuan if it wasn’t against that kid. Maybe I should’ve done something when I saw his name before the Quarterfinals… He breathed out through his mouth and mumbled inaudibly, “Easy win for him.”