CH 3

The next BP phase did not purposely target anyone. Each team banned the heroes that were strong in the current meta but they could not play well.

While PS was banning heroes, they glanced in Yu Yue’s direction several times, seeming to be wary of her. They wanted to ban the heroes that she was good at, however, this was Yu Yue’s first time playing in a professional match and PS knew nothing about her, so they had to give up on that idea.

In the end, Yu Yue had gotten Sun Bin, a cute-looking support who allegedly was a boy — but that was not the point. The point was that when Yu Yue glanced at the team’s lineup, she was surprised, “Isn’t this BP similar to the match from two days ago?”

The match in question was the elimination match played by Lian, also using Sun Bin.

“There’s not much difference,” Lu Qi, who rarely opened his mouth, spoke out. “Both team combo uses Sun Bin.”

For this match, the support role was crucial.

The core of this combo was Sun Bin’s second skill: after the skill was over, it would return 40% damage taken during the period of this skill as health, coupled with a high movement speed bonus and 20% cooldown reduction. In the late game when everyone got their core items, this 40% damage reduction would be equivalent to two core defensive items!

“Hahaha, with great power comes great responsibility.” At the start of the game, Da Qing manipulated his hero toward the top lane, “Miss Eden, we’ll rely on you to carry this game!”

No matter how trashy PS was, they also knew that as the core, Sun Bin was weak in the early game. Hence, like JK in the previous game, they chose to invade JK’s jungle in this game.

As a level one Sun Bin, he did not have the capabilities to defend the jungle, and he did not plan to defend it either. As the jungler, Ling Chen did not even bother to look at his own jungle and led his teammates directly toward PS’s blue buff.

Both teams exchanged jungles and no fight broke out.

PS’s support had chosen a tank for their support. Compared to Sun Bin who had low health and a heavy reliance on his skills to support the team, PS’s tanky support had the upper hand in roaming.

Two minutes into the game, the tyrant was killed by PS. Hearing the system announcement, Yu Yue sighed, feeling guilty, “It’s my fault. I should have paid more attention to the vision there.”

Her teammates comforted her one after another. 

“It’s not your fault. Our team lineup is originally weak in the early game, we can’t do much right now.”

“Yep! It’s just the beginning, we’ll drag till the late game where we’ll be more powerful.”

Unfortunately, JK did not hold out till the late game.

Twelve minutes into the game, JK was forced into a team fight by PS. Yu Yue was frightened to death, signaling to retreat like crazy, “Retreat! Retreat!”

However, Lu Qi commanded, “We can fight! Attack!”

“No, our gold is too far behind……”

Falling behind by one core item and still fighting, are they crazy?

Da Qing had no hesitation in following Lu Qi’s command. Before Yu Yue could react, he had already rushed up to tank the damage. 

Yu Yue’s second skill was a step too late. Da Qing, who could originally survive till the end of the team fight, was killed by the enemy. Without the support of their tank, Lu Qi and Da Ming these two squishy carries were also killed by the enemy before they could do any damage.

After the carries were killed, Yu Yue, the support, followed suit.

PS regrouped and directly attacked the high ground with a wave of minions. By the time PS’s marksman was destroying their nexus, no one on JK’s side had respawned.

This scene was exactly like the one from two days ago.

“I’m sorry.”

When they returned to the lounge, Yu Yue looked apologetically at her teammates, “If I had gone up at that time, we wouldn’t have lost that last team fight.”

Lian, who was sitting in the corner for the whole afternoon, finally had an opening he could use to fight back. Humming coldly, he opened his mouth, “I’ve been watching this game seriously. Not looking at the tyrant’s pit in the early game, afraid of joining the team fight in the late game, what is a scaredy cat like you doing in the professional league? Why don’t you go back home and plant potatoes instead!”

Yu Yue lowered her head even further, her hands constantly rubbing against each other. Although she disliked Lian, he was not wrong. She was too cowardly and did not keep up with the team’s pace and fulfill her role as the support. A support that was the last to die, was simply a disgrace!

Lian swiped at his phone’s screen for a while before throwing it to Yu Yue, “Don’t you like to read Tieba? Well, read it then.”

Da Qing snatched the phone away, berating him, “Are you crazy? Is this time to be reading comments?!”

Lian let out a disdainful sneer.

Though Da Qing’s movement was fast, Yu Yue still saw the comments.

[Heh, females are indeed females. They only know how to hide behind others and protect their KDA. So long as their KDA is good, all is fine. So cowardly yet still playing in the professional league.]

[Doesn’t JK have any good support?]

[If Lian isn’t dead yet, please let him on stage to play. If both are noobs, I rather choose Lian.]

Yu Yue: “……”

Seeing the guilt on Yu Yue’s face getting deeper, Da Qing quickly took the blame, “It’s really not your fault. It’s mine for taking the initiative despite our gold being so far behind.”

“It’s not a big deal.” Lu Qi came in shaking the water off his hands, “It’s a fact that that last team fight could be fought. It’s also a fact that you weren’t there to support us causing a team wipeout. But essentially, the reason is very objective — we don’t have a good tacit understanding with each other.”

Da Ming opened his mouth, wanting to say something. Before he could speak, Lu Qi continued, “Considering that we didn’t train together often, it’s not entirely your fault that our tacit understanding is so bad. So, don’t feel so guilty.”

Da Qing and Da Ming breathed out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, their captain was still clear-headed and did not pour oil on the fire[1].

The team manager, Xiao Ruo, who did not dare join in the discussion earlier, let out a smile when he saw Yu Yue’s face looking a little better. Smelling a faint scent of cigarettes, he questioned Lu Qi, “Did you smoke?”

Lu Qi retracted the hand that was patting Yu Yue’s head and nonchalantly replied, “Nope, it was the support who did it.”

Yu Yue who was deeply touched a moment ago was speechless.

She felt that the captain’s benevolence was just a facade. In reality, he was just a dog.

Their break time was short and the third game commenced as scheduled. Before entering the arena, the dog captain patted Yu Yue’s head, “Play well and shut those people on Tieba up.”

Yu Yue nodded heavily. She had not become a part of the main lineup yet, so JK must not disband.

The BP phase had just started and the commentators were already making comments.

Commentator A: “It seems that Miss Eden did not have enough tacit understanding with the rest of her teammates. This won’t do, it’s already the tie-breaker match. One mistake from JK and they would be demoted to the sub-league.

Commentator B: “Last year’s spring season, JK had made it to the top 4. Now, they have fallen to the point of playing the relegation match, it’s really caused one to sigh in pity!”

Commentator C: “The comments on Tieba now aren’t exactly nice, they’re all calling for a switch of players. Based on Miss Eden’s performance in the previous round, I also think that she’s not as good as Lian. At least Lian wasn’t cowardly and dared to fight. As we all know, JK’s play style is aggressive, those who are afraid of fighting would not be unsuitable for this team.”

Commentator B: “Haha, the game hasn’t even started yet and you’re already speaking ill of Miss Eden. Be careful of getting face slapped by her.”

Commentator C shrugged his shoulders. With her cowardice, how could that be possible?

As they move on to other topics, the BP phase on the stage had already ended.

PS lineup: Mi Yue, Zhao Yun, Da Qiao, Gongsun Li, and Xiahou Dun.

JK lineup: Guan Yu, Pei Qinhu, Mai Shiranui, Lu Bu, and Gui Guzi.

After the final swap, Da Qing looked at the opposing lineup and was stunned, “Da Diao, Gongsun Li, and Mi Yue team combo? Mid laner is Da Qiao?”

While warming up his hands, Da Ming replied, “Though Da Qiao is a support, if you build her with damage items, the results are not bad. With the combination of Mi Yue and Gongsun Li, the opponents could always be at full health as long as they don’t die. They’ll be difficult to deal with.”

Ling Chen frowned, “Their main carry in this game could be Gongsun Li. All their gold should be given to her.”

“If all the gold is given, that’ll be a lot. How fed would she be…”

Yu Yue could not help but lament. When will she be this rich? As a support, her gold in the team was always the lowest. She was a little poor ghost.

Da Qiao’s ability to clear minion waves is stronger than mine”, Lu Qi suddenly spoke up. “Support come to mid lane to help me clear minion wave later. Jungler will be revolving around me in this game.”

Mid-Support teamwork!

“Okay!” The team members all gave him an ‘OK’ gesture.

Lu Qi’s Mai Shiranui was indeed slow at clearing the minion wave, but as a mage assassin, Mai Shiranui had high damage and was extremely flexible. Except for tanks, there was no hero that could withstand a full combo from Mai Shiranui, even if it was a well-fed Gongsun Li.

Commentator A: “Eden had chosen Gui Guzi for this game! This hero mainly relies on the second skill to pull enemies together. If used well, it can turn a match around.”

Commentator C: “He’s very dependent on coordination though. If his teammates can’t keep up after the enemies are pulled together, Gui Guzi would be the one who dies on the spot.”

It was known that the coordination between Eden and JK was dismal. 

The Tieba community also unanimously criticized:

[Why pick Gui Guzi? She’s so cowardly, will she even dare to go pull the enemies? A Gui Guzi who doesn’t pull the enemies has no soul.]

[Knowing that their coordination and tacit understanding is poor, how could they still dare to use Gui Guzi who relies heavily on teamwork? Eden was hired by PS to match-fix?]

[@KPLHonourofKingsProfessionalLeague: Reporting Eden for match-fixing!]

[JK is sure to lose this game! Everyone can scatter already!]

[Before, I wished that Lian would step down. Now, I wish that he will step up. As expected, a comparison is needed. Our Lian is better.]

[I’m starting a bet. A bet to see how many people Eden can pull in this game. I bet 1.]

[0]

[I bet on 0 too.]

As their criticizing came to an end, both the carries have already peacefully farmed to level four. At this moment, the number of people pulled by Yu Yue was zero.

But the fun had just started.

Two minutes and thirty seconds into the game, Yu Yue’s Gui Guzi activated her ult, using the passive to get the vision of PS’s jungler, Zhao Yun, who was attacking the tyrant with his team.

Two minutes and thirty-three seconds into the game, JK, under the movement speed buff from Gui Guzi’s ult and Running Wolf Totem[2], rushed to surround PS in the tyrant’s pit. Gui Guzi successfully pulled Gongsun Li who had just landed using the second skill and Lu Qi followed with damage and took the first blood.

For now, the number of people pulled by Yu Yue increased to 1.

Four minutes and eleven seconds into the game, Gui Guzi successfully pulled PS’s marksman and support in the jungle.

The number increased to 3.

Eight minutes and twenty-two seconds into the game, JK attacked the overlord. PS went to intercept them but was surrounded by JK. Da Qiao and Gongsun Li died.

The number increased to 5.

Ten minutes into the game, JK destroyed the mid-lane first turret. Gui Guzi led her teammates to chase after PS’s top laner, marksman, and support who attempted to escape.

The number increased to 8.

Fifteen minutes into the game, this number had increased to 16. Among them, Gongsun Li, who was expected to perform well by PS, contributed most of the kills. Gongsun Li was now too afraid to leave the high-ground turret because he did not know where Gui Guzi and Mai Shiranui would emerge from.

Shepherd: “JK now has the overlord. If we die now, the game might end in one wave. The best thing to do right now is to stay within the turret and clear the minions. Don’t anyhow run around.”

Mu Yan, who was playing Gongsun Li, nodded tiredly. Even if you let him go out now, he also wouldn’t dare to. That female support player from the enemy seemed as if she was stimulated and opened her conception vessel, playing Gui Guzi like a savage.

Suddenly, the mid-laner shouted to retreat.

At the same time, Yu Yue activated her invisibility and acceleration and was also shouting, “Go! We can do it! Can fight!”

Lu Qi: “We got it. Stop yelling so loud.”

Da Ming: “Da Qiao used her second skill (recall back to base), they’ll be teleported back in three seconds. We can’t fight like that.”

“Flank them and force them out!” At this point, Yu Yue’e behavior was nothing like a girl’s, “I finally got to play a match after so long, I can’t lose!”

Da Qing’s Guan Yu tanked the turret damage and pushed two people out from the range of Da Qiao’s second skill, but the rest had already been recalled back to base.

“We can’t end it in one wave. Their carries are still alive!” Ling Chen said.

Before he can finish what he was saying, their cowardly support used her first and second skills together with the Running Wolf Totem to charge into the enemy’s base all the while taking damage from their base.

“Come back! You can’t tank that damage!”

The attack from the base deal 10,000 points of damage with a hit, how long can a support last under it?

Seeing that Yu Yue would not be walking out from their base alive, the two carries of PS did not even dodge or avoid her, staying in place to taunt her. The intruding got attacked but was not killed.

“She activated golden body!” The commentator could not help but exclaim. “Moon Soul[3] and Wolf Totem both have unique active skills which conflict with one another. When did she sell Wolf Totem for Moon Soul?”

Moon Soul had a unique active skill that when activated, removes all debuff and the hero becomes immune to all damage but it cannot move or use any skills. When activated, the hero would also be covered by a golden light all over the body, hence the nickname ‘golden body.’

In that 1.5 seconds of invincibility, the second skill was used beforehand and the two carries were forcibly pulled to Gui Guzi’s side and stunned. JK quickly followed up to kill them and destroyed the nexus.

Yu Yue’s actions were too beautiful. When the nexus exploded, the commentators finally remembered to congratulate JK and JK’s fans began their own party: JK successfully passed the relegation match! Their favorite team won’t be disbanding! What could be more joyful than this?

Yu Yue took off her headphones, her eyes shining with excitement: “We won!” 

The stage was dark, yet her eyes seemed to hold countless stars. Lu Li glanced down and was stunned for a moment, then smiled slightly and responded with an ‘En’. 

Through those eyes, he seemed to see himself from the past.

References