OG’s team was called by staff to record pre-match interviews, while Yu Nuo followed a female assistant to the front audience area.
The venue was filled with WR fans’ banners and support signs, turning into an ocean of lights.
Before the match began, two camera jibs swept across the venue. When the camera focused on the commentator’s desk, several girls around started buzzing, instantly erupting into screams.
The whole venue erupted, the atmosphere immediately became electric: “AHHHHHH!!”
The commentators’ voices were almost drowned out.
Yu Nuo felt her eardrums would burst. She had no idea what was happening and asked the assistant beside her curiously: “Why are they all so excited?”
“Ah…” the assistant asked, “Do you know the ID WR.Wan?”
Yu Nuo: “Sounds familiar.”
The assistant explained: “He was WR’s most famous player before, his popularity in LPL was unmatched. Even after retirement, no one could compare. Today the organizers invited him as a guest, probably half the audience came just for him.”
Yu Nuo nodded.
No wonder it was so lively.
After most of the audience finally calmed down, the commentator smiled and introduced himself: “Hello everyone, I’m today’s commentator Jia Wei.”
“Hello everyone, I’m today’s commentator Cha Cha.”
After they introduced themselves, it was the last person’s turn. Before he could speak, the venue started buzzing again.
Jia Wei joked: “I guess our next guest doesn’t need an introduction.”
The audience below shouted in unison: “Yes he does!”
The director tactfully began panning the camera.
In the center of attention, the man at the commentator’s desk adjusted his headset, his voice low and calm, “Hello everyone, I’m Zhou Dang.”
Just this simple sentence made the entire stadium fall into an unusual silence.
The assistant whispered, “Damn… I got goosebumps.”
After seconds of silence came the deafening roar.
He only said one sentence, yet it nearly made the whole venue lose control.
This man who once stood at the peak of the world had brought countless glory to the LPL region.
Even in retirement, just his presence…
Still shone brilliantly, driving people crazy like a faith.
… …
Today’s match was BO5 (best of five). Because of Zhou Dang’s arrival, the atmosphere had already reached its peak before it began.
In the first game, both TG and WR chose standard compositions. After the BP (ban/pick) phase ended, the screen showed the player lineup:
TG Team: Top: Thomas; Mid: Killer; Jungle: Van; AD: Conquer; Support: Ultraman
WR Team: Top: JIANG; Mid: Moon; Jungle: Dadi; AD: Zhixiang; Support: DI
As usual, it came to the fan cheer segment. The venue erupted with eager cheers and applause for WR.
Three cheers, each louder than the last.
Then, it was TG’s turn.
It was as if someone suddenly hit pause. The whole venue fell silent for several seconds, like being in outer space.
The commentators clearly noticed the awkward situation and tried to smooth it over: “Everyone could actually give some encouragement to our new team. They could be considered this year’s dark horse, and it wasn’t easy for them to make it this far.”
After that, there were finally a few negligible shouts from below.
Yu Nuo was among them. Though it had nothing to do with her, she inexplicably lost focus for a moment, remembering what Fu Yidong had told her before:
“Because the team just started, TG doesn’t even have an auntie to cook for them. They can only order takeout. The five of them don’t even have substitutes, they practice until late every night. If they have time they eat a few bites, if not they just skip it. Sometimes when they finish practice and eat, the takeout is already cold. Everyone is trying so hard to win.”
Yu Nuo felt a bit uncomfortable.
A strange impulse surged up.
It was too quiet around her. Fighting her shyness, she moved her lips and joined in cheering for TG.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but the people nearby heard clearly. The assistant turned in surprise: “Nuo Nuo, you like them?”
“I…” Yu Nuo didn’t know how to explain, her expression conflicted, “Their previous matches were… quite good to watch.”
The assistant laughed.
Finally entering the game screen, the match officially began.
Whether it was because the one-sided cheering affected the players’ mindset, or because Zhou Dang’s presence greatly encouraged WR’s players…
In the first game, WR won against TG with an almost crushing advantage.
Then in the second game, WR maintained their momentum while TG clearly struggled, the whole team’s condition seeming somewhat low.
At this point, the fact that no one was cheering for TG even made it to Weibo’s trending topics. Uninformed onlookers all felt sorry for this unknown small team—
[Question from someone who doesn’t understand: Is this WR’s home venue? The contrast is too ridiculous.]
[Ah, this is too pitiful, I thought there was no sound recording, but there’s really not a single person cheering for them… It’s literally like a library.]
[Wuwuwu, I’m starting to feel sorry for these nobodies, nobodies have no rights…]
[Honestly, they’re both LPL teams, it’s not an international match, there’s no need for such discrimination… Even if they’re not your main team, couldn’t you show some respect, even just a clap…]
On stage, commentator Jun Hao: “Maybe the newcomers don’t have experience with BO5s, they seem generally quite nervous, haven’t loosened up yet.”
In the second game, both WR and TG’s top and mid lanes were even, both sides farming steadily. Around six or seven minutes in, TG’s jungler got caught in the enemy jungle.
As the director’s camera cut away, the bottom lane was already fighting. Conquer and his support pressed to the enemy tower, trading blows with the enemy bot lane duo, forcing a hard trade.
Jun Hao exclaimed: “Wow, TG’s bot lane is playing so aggressively.”
Female commentator Xiao Li continued: “TG has always centered their rhythm around bot lane. I watched their previous matches, this player Conquer seems to prefer these aggressive champions to gain lane advantages. Though I remember, WR and TG are teams with similar styles, both focusing on jungle and bot lane synergy.”
Just as she finished speaking, the screen showed:
“TG Conquer has slain WR Zhixiang”
Xiao Li called out, “Did Conquer just get a solo kill?”
Jun Hao suddenly raised his voice: “Oh oh, WR’s TP is lighting up, are they trying to force this? The jungler and mid laner are already on their way, Conquer still has Flash, isn’t he using it?!!! WR has three people rushing bot lane, if TG’s bot lane gets caught here it would be really bad!”
WR’s mid, jungle and support gathered quickly, about to form a reverse encirclement. But unexpectedly, Conquer dodged WR’s abilities with nimble movements while his support blocked an ultimate. He ran all the way back to his tower, escaping WR’s pursuit with a sliver of health.
The fans in the venue sighed in disappointment, murmurs filling the air.
Jun Hao sighed: “Conquer’s movements were beautiful there, WR was just a bit short, just missing an Ignite, what a shame.”
However at this moment, beyond everyone’s expectations, Conquer didn’t leave. He circled at the corner of his tower, his support giving him a shield.
Just then!
—Ashe suddenly Flashed to the left, catching them off guard with a sudden reversal, using the tower advantage to walk up to the enemy mid laner’s face with a chain of abilities.
Moon was instantly deleted!
The three-man squad got thoroughly outplayed.
Then Van arrived, securing a drake in the jungle. Within minutes, the game state was instantly reversed, almost all the early disadvantage had been recovered.
The people below were angrily shouting—
“Fuck, either I’m not awake or Moon isn’t awake. Couldn’t land a single Q (i.e., attack) while chasing, what the hell was he doing??!!”
“Mid and support should just uninstall, completely useless, got baited so hard, got their heads played off damn it.”
The big screen started replaying Conquer’s brilliant Ashe counter-kill just now.
Xiao Li laughed at this roller coaster of bizarre events: “What is this? What was Conquer trying to do? Really exaggerating, I was stunned when I first saw his Flash, these young people nowadays are too disrespectful.”
Jun Hao: “To be honest, Conquer’s playing completely outplayed you. Those three got too eager chasing him just now, didn’t watch their positioning, just straight up gave it away.”
Xiao Li: “Moon probably didn’t expect to walk right into the tiger’s mouth.”
WR was a bit tilted after this play, their momentum broken, and TG caught several more opportunities in the remaining time. TG turned defense into offense, quickly opening up the game, taking back the second game.
The score was tied.
Perhaps because they got their fighting spirit going in the second game, plus TG’s perfect start in the third game, they crushed WR like a landslide. Within just twenty minutes the rhythm completely collapsed, and TG cleanly ended the fight.
The venue was filled with sighs.
During the mid-game break which lasted about ten minutes, the two commentators kept discussing TG’s record-breaking achievements. After analyzing the game situation, noticing the low atmosphere, they began comforting the fans, “WR actually played well today, but they might be unfamiliar facing a new team, their tactical research wasn’t thorough enough, they still need to find their groove.”
After the brief rest, both WR and TG teams returned to the stage.
Before the match, the camera focused on last game’s MVP. Chen Yuzheng adjusted his headset, eyes lowered, picking up his water bottle to drink.
Not sure what his teammate said beside him, but he heard it and had a slight smile.
Voices of two girls chatting came from behind:
“Damn, TG’s AD is amazing… he’s literally the most handsome pro player I’ve ever seen, why isn’t he a celebrity instead of playing esports??”
The other girl gnashed her teeth: “Where are you putting my Zhou Dang? Where are you putting OG’s Fish God? If we’re talking about looks, can this Conquer be more handsome than Wan??”
“Zhou Dang is already yesterday’s tears, LPL has a new king of looks.”
In a blink, the two started arguing: “You fangirl, haven’t you forgotten your main team is WR??? You’re looking at faces in esports, why don’t you just go chase celebrities??”
The other girl argued back: “What are you pretending for? Didn’t you fan Zhou Dang because of his face?”
“How many championships has Zhou Dang won? How many has this nobody won? Today’s match isn’t even guaranteed a win, yet you’re comparing him to Zhou Dang, it’s like trying to reach the moon. I can’t even be bothered with you.”
The girl was silenced for a moment, weakly complaining: “Why are you so worked up? I just casually complimented him.”
“No one can be compared to Wan, do you know how perfect he is?? He’s not just handsome, his skills are amazing, and he has great character! And he’s loyal!”
“How do you know Conquer isn’t loyal…”
“Hmph.” The girl behind snorted coldly, “He just looks like a player.”
Yu Nuo wanted to laugh.
But she didn’t dare show it, could only laugh secretly in her heart for a while.
The commentator joked: “Conquer has relaxed now, this rookie seems to have quite a strong mentality.”
Xiao Cha deliberately cued Zhou Dang for audience effect, “I’ve heard people say this player is a bit like you in the past, what do you think?”
Zhou Dang evaluated simply: “He has a very high ceiling.”
The truth proved that Zhou Dang really shouldn’t speak – whenever he did, regardless of what he said, the venue’s cheers couldn’t be contained.
The commentators noticed this too. They quickly changed topics, “Alright, let our excited fans calm down a bit, the fourth game is about to begin.”
After the mid-game break ended, the camera returned to the commentary desk. Coming to match point, if WR lost one more game, they would miss the finals.
The WR fans in the venue had their hearts in their throats.
WR picked an early game advantage composition with low margin for error. Playing methodically through the first fifteen minutes into mid-game, though the snowball didn’t roll as expected, TG’s disadvantage was starting to show. The match entered its white-hot stage.
This game Conquer was clearly targeted, dying several times in succession.
23 minutes in.
The match reached the point where WR was about to take Baron. Mid lane started fighting again, Killer’s Hecarim dodged abilities with left and right movements, Flash stunned in, instantly killing WR’s support.
The enemy AD retreated.
An opening was torn from here.
The situation on field was tense, changing in an instant. Jun Hao’s speaking speed also started accelerating: “That wave from Killer was so crucial, DI was almost instantly melted!”
“Oh my god, this is a good chance, is TG about to sound the counterattack horn? The rest of WR have also reacted, starting to ping signals, converging here. This teamfight is do-or-die for WR, whoever wins gets dragon. For a late-game scaling composition like TG’s, if they get dragon at this timing and push high ground, WR will be in trouble. Got to be careful, this is match point, one mistake could be it.”
The venue had started getting restless.
Yu Nuo’s heart was lifted, her hands on her knees unconsciously clenched tight.
The two teams started taking positions at the river. During mutual probing, WR’s mid laner first stole some damage, taking TG’s jungler to half health.
At the same time, WR’s top laner had started flanking, hiding in the vision blind spot.
The venue couldn’t help but get noisy, cheers for WR rising again.
Sound waves one after another, atmosphere hyped to the max.
Yu Nuo unconsciously leaned forward, eyes unblinking, staring intently at the big screen.
At the Elder Dragon pit, the two teams started their teamfight dance. Conquer landed another bullet on the enemy top laner, wielding a charging sniper rifle and walking straight up to fight.
“Eh eh!! Jiang needs to be careful, DL has already been taken down on the front line.”
Jun Hao couldn’t help shouting: “Eh eh eh? Conquer! Watch Conquer’s position!! He’s going in!!! Zhixiang was impulsive this wave, something might happen! Oh no, he made a dash and got stunned, he’s down!”
With two enemies down, trying to retreat was already too late as they were slaughtered by TG’s remaining members. Conquer performed a flowing series of operations, starting to frantically harvest, getting a quadra kill with a burst of AOE damage.
WR was team wiped, TG’s members secured Baron, TPing back to base to organize equipment.
The game was decided.
In team voice chat, Ultraman was ecstatic, repeatedly exclaiming, “Holy shit, I felt it, Conquer, I really felt it.”
Chen Yuzheng clicked his mouse: “What?”
“Today, you really wanted to win.”
Chen Yuzheng: “?”
Killer also relaxed, directly joking: “Alright, I see that girl’s friend request wasn’t added for nothing, our Brother Zheng straight up turned into a war god.”
… …
In the end, TG advanced unstoppably, taking the final match point.
On stage the lights shone, the screen enlarged, cutting to the players. Killer was beaming, unable to hide his excitement, hugging Van and shouting. The camera swept past, Chen Yuzheng still calm as ever, removing his headphones and standing up from his chair.
Jun Hao passionately delivered the final closing words: “This is League of Legends, this is LPL, here, anything can happen. This remarkable young team, from Spring Split start, all the way from group stage to playoffs, and now from semifinals into finals.”
“At this moment, they are announcing to all LPL viewers, their name is—Thorn Game!!!!”
Having watched the match so intently, hearing these words, Yu Nuo actually felt a sense of pride as if it were her own achievement. For a moment, her heart raced, wanting to jump up from her seat to cheer for them.
TG won thrillingly, defeating WR 3:1.
Yu Nuo let out a light sigh, collapsing back in her seat.
The assistant laughed: “If your brother saw you like this now, he’d be heartbroken.”
Yu Nuo turned her head.
The assistant: “Why are you so excited? Without knowing, one might think Fish God was playing.”
“It’s not that.”
Yu Nuo also realized she had lost her composure just now, futilely explaining: “I have friends who know them, and they’re their fans. I heard a bit about them and thought TG had it quite tough.”
“Ah…” The assistant thought for a moment, agreeing: “They do have it tough, and fortunately they won today.”
Yu Nuo froze: “Ah? Why?”
“TG is a new team, right? No achievements, no following, they can’t pull in any sponsors in the LPL region. And running a team like this burns money, ordinary rich people can’t afford it. If they don’t show results this year, they’ll probably face disbandment.”
Yu Nuo’s lips moved, wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
The venue’s atmosphere was heavy, with small groups of girls passing by wearing WR support headbands.
Yu Nuo sat in her seat, looking around.
The two girls who were arguing earlier hadn’t left, one was consoling the other.
The girl wiped her tears, shoulders shaking, sobbing quietly.
WR lost, some were disappointed, some were angry, cursing as they left.
Everyone hung their heads in dejection.
… …
The post-match interview needed some preparation time. The camera cut to the commentary desk, and Xiao Cha smiled: “Congratulations to TG for making it to finals, they’re truly the first miracle team to reach finals in their first LPL split. But esports can indeed be this cruel sometimes. I hope WR’s players won’t be discouraged, and fans shouldn’t be too sad, there’s still a long road ahead.”
WR was the only team Zhou Dang had ever served, countless times fighting in World Championships and winning the title. But since their hero’s twilight years and veteran retirement, the team had no succession between old and new, no one to inherit their former glory.
The former world champions now fell at the feet of an unknown new team. Even outsiders felt bad for them.
Xiao Cha asked the man beside her: “Wan God’s feelings must be quite complicated now? WR was really unfortunate today.”
Zhou Dang was always a man of few words, only speaking when asked: “They were outskilled, nothing unfortunate about it.”
Jia Wei continued: “Then as a former pro player, and once our region’s most glorious popular king, what would you like to say to them? Or to every professional player still here?”
Zhou Dang’s face characteristically showed no excess emotion.
He seemed to think for a moment, then facing the broadcast camera, very rarely, gave a long speech:
“On this stage, some leave, some persist. Wanting to enter LPL’s elite pyramid peak is an extremely long, lonely, difficult journey. What follows might be endless abuse and mockery. And it’s precisely these sighs, these destructive public opinions, that will accompany you through one boring, unbearable deep night after another. Every match loss, every disappointment and even despair, climbing up from the abyss again and again.”
“Until one day, when you finally can stand on that stage in the spotlight, then…”
Zhou Dang paused for a moment, delivering tonight’s final closing words:
“—In that moment under the spotlight, you will be remembered by everyone.”
The whole venue erupted.
Later, this speech shot up Weibo’s trending topics, moving countless League of Legends veteran players to tears.
This is the charm of esports competitions.
Though cruel and real. Making countless people disappointed, yet countless others still pursue it, fight for it.
—Where the heart leads, though dying nine times, there are no regrets.
… …
During the post-match interview, the audience seats were already scattered, barely any figures visible.
The host still professionally asked questions.
People kept getting up from their chairs and walking towards the exit, clearly showing no interest in TG’s members on stage.
These hot-blooded young men, one after another staying up all night for practice matches, fighting desperately to prove themselves in competitions.
Their team uniforms were clean, almost without a single sponsor logo. Beyond sponsors, they had no fans, not even a formal coach.
They won match after match, fighting their way into finals.
Yet when they won, what greeted them wasn’t applause, wasn’t cheers.
Everyone, almost everyone, was feeling sorry for the opponents they had defeated.
The host interviewed Chen Yuzheng, “Your victory over WR today also means you’ll face OG in finals, do you have anything to say?”
Someone passed him the microphone.
The audience continued leaving gradually, no one willing to stay even a second for them.
The venue grew increasingly empty.
The huge stadium was silent, no one speaking.
Chen Yuzheng remained unmoved. The intense lights made his features appear faint, his expression similarly hidden.
He calmly looked down at the audience, silently surveying the whole venue.
As if wanting to remember this moment forever.
People kept passing by, Yu Nuo sat in the corner, separated by some distance, gazing from afar at that person standing center stage.
The host realized the awkward silence had gone on too long, picking up the microphone to ask again.
Chen Yuzheng finally spoke, “If here, only champions can be remembered.”
Yu Nuo froze.
As usual, his tone was casual, his voice clearly amplified to every corner of the stadium:
“—I will defeat everyone.”
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