[yqcb, Aijia: Cheng Ge, let me tell you something, but don't get scared. I thought I saw a ghost just now in the yard of your base......It's scary, wearing a white skirt and a Sun Wukong mask on its face, just floating around......I almost choked to death just by looking at it-- --I heard this place has good feng shui, why is there still such terrible thing! ! ! !]
[yqcb, Aijia: I told Shusheng and the others, no one believes me! ! ! But I really saw it! ! ! I swear I saw it! ! ! That Sun Wukong mask even glows green!]
[yqcb, Aijia: ......Besides I keep hearing rushed footsteps over your place and sounds of something heavy being dragged around. Sounds like the ghost is moving, wuwuwu-- --]
[yqcb, Aijia: qaq Scary. Cheng Ge, do you guys want to have a feng shui master come over to check it out?]
Twenty minutes later,
[djwdb2333: ......]
[djwdb2333: Send you a link. You can see on Taobao glowing masks for children for all the characters in Journey to the West.]
[djwdb2333: Glowing masks.]
[djwdb2333: 7.80 RMB, shipping included, everywhere in the country.]
[djwdb2333: The one you're seeing isn't a ghost, it's the crazy Mid of our team.]
"Shorty." The man who was looking down to type suddenly raised his head and used his long leg to kick the person eating a mango next to him. "You're wandering around with your pajamas on, again?"
"I just showered. I was taking Dabing out to the yard for some fresh air and waiting for the delivery of fruit we ordered." With the Sun Wukong mask covering half of her face, the girl put down her fork, confused. "What's wrong?"
Lu Sicheng glanced at the oversized shirt over her pajamas, paused a bit, then lightly stated, "Nothing."
"......Oh, Cheng Ge, want some mango?"
"No."
"Then I'll eat it myself."
"Aren't you afraid that the uniform will make you look fat? And you're still eating?"
"......Little Fatty, want some mango? It's very sweet."
Lu Sicheng took a look at the girl, who had put down the fork and tried to move her chair to give Little Fatty some mango, and continued typing without any facial expression-- --
[djwdb2333: The running and dragging sounds you heard aren't from the ghost either. It's our two crazy Mids fighting over a chair.]
[yqcb, Aijia: ....................................That's Tong Yao? Why is she wearing the mask for? Where did she get that mask?]
Lu Sicheng: "......"
......He could feel across the screen that the guy next door was about to have a breakdown.
But he couldn't sympathize with Ai Jia. Ai Jia lived next door, he, on the other hand, shared the same roof with that lunatic.
[djwdb2333: Her fans gave it to her. As for why, it's probably because weirdos attract each other.]
[yqcb, Aijia: You just said that you have two mids, hum? When did your team have another mid!]
[djwdb2333: Lu Yue's back.]
[yqcb, Aijia: ..................................]
Facing the line of ellipses, Lu Sicheng pondered a bit then put away his cell phone......Tong Yao had already moved her chair back to its original position-- --It was time for her beauty sleep-- --She also seemed to be thinking about whether she should carry her chair upstairs and lock it
inside her room......
"I can still use your computer standing if you move your chair back." Lu Yue sneared. "I'm used to standing outside the classroom for the whole morning when I was in college. You can try me if you don't believe me."
"Don't be so shameless." Tong Yao stared at him.
"You shouldn't be so selfish." Lu Yue tried to talk some sense into her. "You can't use the computer while you're sleeping. Why hoard it......Is every woman unreasonable like you?"
"That's right. Every woman is like this. Aren't we cute?"
"......"
"You two, shut up." Lu Sicheng looked at Tong Yao. "You go sleep, leave the chair."
Then he turned to look at Lu Yue. "You, come play rank. I'll see how you are right now-- --If you have dropped too much, you leave tonight."
Tong Yao resentfully pulled down the mask to cover her whole face and made a face at Lu Sicheng behind the mask. She jumped down from the chair and reluctantly went upstairs......Lu Yue faked a smile at Lu Sicheng, seemingly unappreciative of the arrangement or the chair as when Tong Yao was present. He just turned around towards the refrigerator to get a bottle of yogurt drink and started drinking it-- --
Once the two mids were separated, the whole base regained its usual peace and quiet.
Xiao Rui came out of the bathroom, looking around. "Where's Wukong?"
Lu Sicheng replied without raising his head, "Wukong has gone up for her beauty sleep."
Xiao Rui walked behind Little Fatty who was happily eating mangos from the box. "Piggy, don't eat anymore."
Little Fatty: "After this box, I'll start dieting tomorrow."
Lu Yue sat down on Tong Yao's seat, logged on the game using Tong Yao's account, and prepared to start a ranked game......Lu Sicheng slanted his head. "You don't have your own account?"
"I haven't played on the Korean servers for a while." Lu Yue grinned carelessly.
"I haven't played any placement matches on my account yet." (*Every year after the season is over, every player's rank is reset to zero. At the beginning of the new season, every player has to play 10 placement matches to decide on their new starting rank based on their performance.)
Lu Sicheng responded while checking his friends' list, "Oh. Ah Tai is also in queue."
Just as he finished talking, Lu Yue entered a game. The name TAT, Tai appeared on screen at the same time-- --
Lu Sicheng quickly glanced over the list of Lu Yue's teammates. "He's your opponent."
Lu Yue casually smirked.
Right at this moment, the girl who had gone to bed ten minutes ago dashed downstairs. She stood behind Lu Yue, squinted to see the computer screen, then she shrieked, "I was wondering why I can't sleep! You're sitting on my chair and wrecking my account! You dog!"
Lu Sicheng briefly chuckled, as if he had foreseen it all.
"......She's cursing, why don't you say something?" Lu Yue rubbed his ears and looked at the girl who stood behind him with both of her hands on her waist.
"Didn't you go to sleep already? Why did you come down again?"
"There's always someone eyeing my chair! How can I sleep tight!' Tong Yao was tightly holding the sleeping cat in her arms, but didn't try to push Lu Yue away.
"Play well, I just got back to Master......"
Lu Yue: "I'm against Ah Tai."
Tong Yao: "......"
Tong Yao quieted down immediately. She cast a glance behind her and stuffed the cat into Xiao Rui's arms. Then she pulled up a stool to sit next to Lu Yue-- --The game was already in the banning phase. It was Lu Yue's turn to ban a champion. Tong Yao furrowed her brow, "Ban Leblanc."
Lu Yue lazily cast a look at Tong Yao. "What's the hurry."
Tong Yao was taken back: Normally, Lu Yue was acted like an annoying punk, but when he sat down in front of the computer, his demeanor was exactly like his brother......
Arrogant and overbearing.
Soon the banning phase was over-- --The opposing mid probably realized that Tong Yao was the opponent and picked Leblanc again. Tong Yao's stomach cramped, it felt like stomach acid was crawling up her throat. She felt as if she was going experience the same nightmare from the other day......
It was Lu Yue's turn to pick his champion.
Tong Yao was nervous. "Take Ekko, or Diana will do, too. Farm in the beginning and wait for team fights later on......"
Lu Yue: "I don't know how to play them."
Tong Yao: "Ahri?"
Lu Yue: "No."
Tong Yao: " Kassadin?"
Lu Yue: "......"
Tong Yao: "You don't know anything. Why are you playing professionally then? Go home and raise a pig! What goddamn champion do you know?"
Lu Yue locked in as Azir.
Tong Yao: "......"
Tong Yao: "Whether you win or lose this match, the image of me being an idiot will forever be ingrained in that Korean's mind."
"Sooner or later he'll lose." Lu Yue said lightly, "Why do you care what he thinks? You have nothing better to do."
The game began, Tong Yao kept her mouth shut so as not to distract him. Lu Yue was completely absorbed in the game-- --At least, it seemed, he played Azir much more smoothly than Tong Yao. In the early stage of the game, he concentrated on farming minions, keeping his distance from Ah Tai. At the three minutes mark, he hadn't missed a single minion.
It was a very difficult task to achieve with Azir facing a Leblanc in lane.
Tong Yao had missed one or two minions occasionally when she was playing Azir in a custom game and that was without any interference from enemy-- --And that was only after a bout of intensive training. Yet, Lu Yue wasn't intimidated by Ah Tai. In terms of basic training, he definitely was at the same level of international A-list players. The maturity he displayed when he was playing the game was a total contrast to his flamboyant character.
Lu Yue had made the full use of Azir's defensive abilities. Though his teammates at both top and bot had died several times in the hands of the enemy Jungler and his team's kill count was much lower than the enemy's, their mid turret had yet to fall-- --Close to the 30 minute mark,
their mid turret was still standing because of Lu Yue. The enemy couldn't push forward, couldn't gain control of jungle, couldn't kill dragon; the advantage that the enemy had earned from ganking in the early game was slowly slipping away......
At the 35 minute mark, the match had entered the late game. Leblanc was gradually getting weaker because he hadn't been farming......During team fights, the team with a strong Azir was in a better position to win. Winning several team fights helped Lu Yue's team go from an inferior
position to equal standing, then gaining the upper hand-- --
In the end, they turned the match around and won.
This was probably the textbook tactic when playing as Azir against a Leblanc: keep Azir alive and stubbornly defend the mid turret so the enemy's mid will be trapped at mid as well. Let the teammates at the other lanes farm as much as they can and then carry the team to victory
later during the team fights.
They watched the enemy Nexus crumble. Tong Yao kept her silence. Lu Yue remained quiet until the last second when the enemy Nexus exploded then he flatly said, "Azir is fine for beating Leblanc, it just doesn't suit you-- --Everybody has some champions that they're good
at and some that don't suit them. You used a defensive champion to try and race for the most kills, you're just falling for his trap."
Tong Yao stood up, thought for a moment, and flipped her hair. "You do know how to play game."
"I was the substitute for Ming god before." Lu Yue smiled with his eyes narrowed. "Whenever there's a need for a defense mid, they would put me on. That's the reason why we were doing so well last year-- --"
"What's the point."
Little Fatty, sitting nearby, abruptly interrupted Lu Yue.
Everyone was surprised and raised their heads to look at the chubby guy who was usually overly cheerful-- --What they saw on Little Fatty's face was certainly not cheerfulness. It was the first time that Tong Yao had seen him like this......
Little Fatty pushed his own keyboard away and stood up. He darted a glance at Lu Yue. "Did it matter that we played so well last year? Did it matter that we got invited to play in the world finals because our team was at the top of the rankings? How dare you mention Ming god; have
you forgotten who's the reason that he has to retire from injury this year-- --"
It was dead quiet in the room.
"I'm still standing firmly in my opinion." Little Fatty turned to talk to the team manager, "It's fine if he wants to be the substitute, that's up to the club to decide. But, I personally refuse to accept a teammate like that."
He turned to go back upstairs after he finished and slammed the door shut......hard enough that it sounded like the door was going to break into pieces. Lu Sicheng stood up, patted Lu Yue's shoulder, and dropped one line, "I'll go see what's going on." He followed Little Fatty upstairs......
Old Cat and Old K seemed embarrassed by Little Fatty's outburst. Old Cat murmured, "It was in the past a long time ago, why bring it up now......Even Ming god hasn't said anything."
Lu Yue hadn't spoke a word up till now. He raised his head to look at Old Cat after he heard him. "Don't say that. It was my fault."
Tong Yao: "? ? ? ? ?"
Tong Yao was completely lost. What was going on?
Tong Yao couldn't understand why Little Fatty was so angry; she couldn't figure out why he was more resistant to Lu Yue than she was; furthermore, why did he bring up last year's world finals-- --
ZGDX wasn't on the list for last year's world finals.
Tong Yao had assumed that ZGDX was absent simply because they hadn't been invited. But now, she suddenly remembered that Xiao Rui had mentioned before that "because of certain reason we didn't play the finals"......
So it wasn't because the team didn't get invited. The team was invited but they didn't make the trip because something had happened.
She seemed to remember that Little Fatty had said something about "he was driven away" "no one wants to be his teammates"......
Could it be that it was because of Lu Yue?
And it involved Ming god?
Tong Yao was so confused by it all that she was too afraid to ask since everyone seemed to be in an unhappy mood. She took the cat back from the arms of the team manager, then quietly went back to her own room......
Tong Yao couldn't sleep. Random thoughts rushed through her head as she laid in bed. Why didn't she follow the League of Legends competitions last year while she was abroad? She grabbed her cell phone and began to search for news about what had happened to ZGDX last year. She found out that last year, there were quite a few dramatic developments: Last summer, ZGDX won the summer season championship. According to the rules set by Riot Games, every region's summer season championship team would automatically qualify for the world finals that year.
Many people had great hopes that ZGDX would win the world finals at the time.
While everyone thought the team was training hard behind closed doors, nobody had expected the announcement from the official ZGDX official site: ZGDX will be withdrawing from the world finals.
No explanation was provided.
The whole country was shocked by the news. Aside from derogatory comments online, rumors began to fly around. Some said it was because China Telecom had cancelled the sponsorship and the team was going to disband; some said it was because there was internal conflict among the team members and they couldn't compete anymore; some said it was because the team simply couldn't take the pressure and backed out...... Everyone was speculating, yet no one knew what exactly happened.
Tong Yao searched for answers online, but it only made her even more confused.
Before falling asleep, she received a message from Little Fatty-- --
[Little Fatty: That guy won't be playing as a substitute here. I won't forgive him for what happened to Ming god. Let's wait and see.]
Tong Yao replied with several question marks, but received no reply. Tong Yao waited and waited and finally fell asleep clutching her cell phone in hand.
The next day, Tong Yao woke up to the ringing of her cell phone. She crawled out of the blanket and put the phone onto her ear, eyes still closed. After she answered the phone, she heard shouting from her best friend, Jinyang, "You're still sleeping! My god! Something big has happened to your team, my friend! ! ! !"
"What?" Tong Yao rubbed her eyes. "What, what?"
"Get on Tieba and see it yourself!"
Jinyang hang up without waiting for a reply.
Baffled, she went on a famous esports Tieba and saw the four letters ZGDX everywhere on the first page filled with comments. She refreshed the page and saw a post with almost 23 thousand comments-- --
[Subject] [The real reason ZGDX backed out of the world finals last year.]
The post was a video clip.
Tong Yao yawned, thinking it maybe just some publicity stunt, and absent-mindedly
clicked open the video-- --The video was quite dark, looked like it was shot by a surveillance camera. The location was a KTV. There was a group of young people sitting inside, wearing uniforms with letters JK on them......
Tong Yao seemed to recognize the name; it was the name of the B team of an esports club. That team had already been downgraded from the professional league to the minor league this year.
In the beginning of the video clip, people were drinking, chatting, and laughing, seemingly having a good time. A short while later, two men opened the door and walked in-- --
Tong Yao jumped up from the bed, holding the phone with her eyes open wide-- --
The two men that just walked in were Lu Yue and Ming god. Lu Yue was at the front holding a liquor bottle in hand. He walked in, without saying a word, and smashed the head of the man sitting closest to the door with the bottle......The other members of JK soon stood up and gathered around. It turned to a mess inside the room-- --
At first, Lu Yue was fighting against 7 or 8 people; in the end, those people were beating up Lu Yue.
Broken pieces of glass were scattered around on the floor. Even the coffee table was broken into two-- --It was like a scene from a Hong Kong gangster movie-- -- Tong Yao shuddered with fear and thought "what if someone trips and fall." Before she could finish her thought, a guy with bad luck did fall. It was Ming god who was trying to break up the fight.
Ming god didn't join the fight from the beginning. He was trying to hold Lu Yue back while he tried to hit others and drag Lu Yue away while the others were hitting Lu Yue. But the guy who had been struck on the head refused to let them leave-- -- While Ming god was trying to break up the fight, someone pushed him without even looking and he tripped and fell onto all the broken pieces of glasses!
He subconsciously tried to catch himself with his right hand and pushed against the ground on top of all the broken glass. The glass cut a long gash on his arm......
The video was still running on the cell phone.
In the next second, Ming god was lying in a pool of blood. Lu Yue, who was being attacked by the others, had a look of shock before jumping up to deliver a flying kick to the people around him. He grabbed Ming god to pull him up from the ground...... At this point, both of them were bathed in blood-- --Tong Yao trembled, the cell phone fell onto the bed...... She raised her head in disbelief, she never knew playing professional esports could get someone so injured.