League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“Chubby He, what the hell is happening?” Just before he could escape from the backstage, He Jin got held back by a lady who looked to be in her twenties.

“Aijing, what brings you here?” He Jin was startled to see the lady in high heels who stood out with her light yellow dyed hair.

Zhang Aijing was the head of both CT and 71 Clubs. Simultaneously, she also assumed the role of the strategy analyst for both clubs. Besides that, she also appeared frequently on a gaming channel known as E-Sports Storm as an invited adviser. Her name was rather well known in the gaming world which earned her the chance to work as a Tencent official commentator on several occasions.

Zhang Aijing was basically He Jin’s superior. Glancing meaningfully toward Cat Eye on the stage, she sneered, “Did you really think that I was unaware of Cat Eye’s sudden and unexplainable rise? What is going on?”

Team 71 was one of the top teams in the country whilst Team CT could only be considered, at best, as second tier.

Prior to this, Zhang Aijing had gone through all the matches held at the province stage and found out that Team CT’s ADC was unbelievably powerful. Based on her previous scouting, she knew that Cat Eye’s ADC skill had yet to reach the point where he was able to fully dominate the opponent with exceptional control and insight.

With that doubt in mind, Zhang Aijing had come to the match to see for herself whether Team CT was staging a ghost-gamer for the sake of the prize money, not expecting to see Qiu Shenping on the player seat. However, she was not convinced and hence, the confrontation with He Jin.

“Don’t you dare try to hide it. I can tell Cat Eye was not the one in the pilot seat during the last few matches,” Zhang Aijing crossed her arms, her voice cold and accusing.

“Erm…” He Jin smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to react.

“What’s the matter? Who is this ghost-gamer? You should know that all the well-known ADCs in the country have their own unique playstyle and habits. This match is broadcast live nationwide, not only on TV, but also on the internet and the Tencent official site. The viewer count could easily reach a few million. An ordinary player may not be able to tell, but the professionals and analysts from the other teams are as sharp as hawks. Do you really think you can hide the truth from them? They will instantly realize who the Vayne player actually is and if they decide to relay this to Tencent and rewind the playback from other matches, CT Club will be condemned by the entire gaming society and the blame for the club’s tainted reputation will be yours!” Zhang Aijing reprimanded him angrily.

Ghost-gaming was a norm in casual ranked games as it did little harm in non-official matches, however, it was strictly prohibited in an official match such as this. Doing so was no different to digging one’s own grave.

He Jin laughed nervously and pulled Zhang Aijing to a corner, trying to convince her in a low voice, “Don’t you worry, the one playing in Cat Eye’s place is not a professional, but a pub player. I don’t think anyone would recognize him.”

“Who is it?” Zhang Aijing asked.

After viewing the replays, Zhang Aijing had discovered that the real ADC behind Cat Eye was a well-developed LoL player. If he could coordinate better with the SP, Team CT would not lose to any tier 2 or even some of the tier 1 teams.

“I don’t think you’ve heard of him. His name is Xiao Bei… Let me bring you to him,” He Jin said.

Liu Zhangming had been there when they walked out of the hall and he followed them swiftly into the lift. The three of them hurried to the little office room on the seventh floor after exiting the lift.

There were three people in the room—Xiao Bei, Lin Dong, and Yu Luocheng.

When He Jin pushed open the door, his face was still full of smiles, trying to please Zhang Aijing. However, that smile vanished the instant he saw Xiao Bei, who was supposed to be playing, standing instead of sitting in front of the computer.

Both Xiao Bei and Lin Dong were standing behind the seat on both sides, watching the game with great focus. Most shockingly, it was the university student Yu Luochengthat was playing Vayne at that moment.

‘What the f*ck is going on!’

He Jin’s face darkened and Liu Zhangming who was behind him also looked dumbfounded. He looked from their ghost-gamer Xiao Bei to Yu Luocheng and back to Xiao Bei and a look of rage rapidly covered his face.

“What… What are you all doing?! Why is he in the player seat? Don’t you know how important this match is?!” Liu Zhangming pointed accusingly at Xiao Bei and said in a panic, “Quick, get back on it!”

“Calm down, calm down!” Xiao Bei tried to soothe Liu Zhangming’s anger.

“Calm your ass down! I was wondering why there were two unnecessary deaths within ten minutes. Don’t forget that you’ve been paid!” Liu Zhangming bellowed.

The bottom lane was heavily disfavored at the moment. Vayne’s CS had been suppressed by more than twenty and the ADC had already been killed twice, resulting in the Varus from the opposing team to be absurdly well-farmed now.

Xiao Bei’s performance today had greatly troubled Liu Zhangming. Usually, the ghost-gamer could still maintain a steady development even in the most disadvantageous circumstances. Now he knew why. This Vayne was not played by Xiao Bei but the guy who called himself the Fighting Hawk!

This fellow had long retired from the pro scene, and being good in DotA did not guarantee that he would be just as good in LoL. At the very least, Liu Zhangming did not think highly of this Fighting Hawk.

This was the semifinals of the Coca Cola Cup. Team Shanghai would be playing in the finals if they won this match. The finals were worth a solid 200,000 yuan prize money and Liu Zhangming, as the person in charge of Team Shanghai, could not allow any mishaps. God knows how much energy and money they had poured in to reach this stage!

You have been slain!

As Liu Zhangming objected irritably, Vayne was once again killed by the opponent’s Jungle player at the bottom lane, and the screen immediately turned black and white. Yu Luocheng frowned and tapped the mouse lightly with his finger while waiting for Vayne to respawn.

“Sh*t, the bottom lane has completely collapsed!”

Zero kills three deaths and zero assists. Fifteen minutes in and this performance could only be described with one word—Disaster!

“Lin Dong, I’m warning you, if we lose this match, you’d better vomit back everything you took before this…” Liu Zhangming said tersely, pointing his finger at Lin Dong’s nose.

“Cut the crap, just stand aside and watch,” Lin Dong cut Liu Zhangming’s non-stop babbling off impatiently.

“You…” Liu Zhangming was infuriated.

It was 200,000 yuan! For months, they had fought hard for it, and yet, Lin Dong had thrown in some John Doe in the middle of a live or die match.

‘He is obviously playing us!’

“Liu Zhangming, shut it,” He Jin took a hold of Liu Zhangming’s head to stop his ranting.

It took everything in Liu Zhangming to rein in his temper, but the hatred in his eyes was enough to portray his resentment, as if he was saying, ‘You’d better not lose this, or else…’

“Let’s talk outside.” He Jin gestured toward Lin Dong and Xiao Bei, and they nodded, following him out of the room.

Yu Luocheng turned back and looked at them. He mumbled, “Why the commotion? It’s just a custom match, why are they treating it like a life or death matter…?”

Speaking of which, the difficulty of this custom game was beyond Yu Luocheng’s imagination.

Regardless of the opponents or teammates, their prowess was undeniably high. It was him that had had a cold hand in the early game and had wound up feeding several times.

Nevertheless, Yu Luocheng was still in high spirits. For a champion like Vayne, having three or four deaths at the beginning of the match was not the end of the world. As long as he kept up his CS and got his items out at the appropriate timing, Vayne would still be untouchable in a team fight.

Ring… Ring…

Suddenly, a mobile phone on the table rang and vibrated.

Yu Luocheng glanced at it and picked up the phone while his other hand was busy controlling Vayne. “Hello. What’s up?”

“Ah… I am not going down. I’m playing a high-rank custom match here, you two carry on.”

“It’s an interesting match? What, the Vayne is a noob? Don’t judge so soon. Vayne is usually weaker during the early game, it’s totally normal. Tell you what, I’m also playing Vayne over here. I, too, was terrible early game…”

He Jin’s chubby face contorted as he saw Yu Luocheng talking on the phone leisurely while playing.

‘For god’s sake! Do you know the semifinals you are playing dictates our chance on the 200,000 yuan final prize? My lord, my dear lord, can you put down the d*mned phone and concentrate on the game first? The terrible Vayne your friend is talking about is none other than you ! ¹ Over a few million viewers from the entire country have been witnessing you feed Vayne to the opponent!’