Rise

In the gaming house of a certain LPL team, Nightsong’s eyes narrowed as he watched the enemy Draven on his screen. A faint ember flickered in his eyes. The aura around him changed. He sat up a bit on his seat and straightened his lower back. Now, he was really taking the game seriously.

A bead of sweat dripped down from Nightsong’s brow. He was feeling the pressure from this Draven, a type of threat that could only come from a worthy opponent. Another pro…? His eyes flashed with a peculiar light. This Draven clearly wasn’t some ordinary Platinum player. They were at the very least at the top of Diamond 1, maybe even a Master or Challenger. He didn’t expect to match up against this kind of opponent while casually messing around on his smurf. His lips faintly curved upward. This game had suddenly become interesting.

Despite not knowing the true identity of the other side and the fact this was only a Platinum game, both Nightsong and Lin Feng decided to give it their all. They would hold nothing back!

At about 10 minutes into the game, a team fight broke out near the dragon pit. Lin Feng had his Draven enter the fight late when the enemy team’s focus was on his jungler. Spinning axes danced through the air as he continuously threw and caught them. He exploded with damage.

Moments later, a silhouette shrouded in darkness appeared from behind. Vayne snuck into the back line with Final Hour and targeted Draven with Condemn, catching him completely off guard. A thick, large bolt rocketed toward him!

The Glorious Executioner was sent crashing into the dragon pit wall, stunned.

Got him! Nightsong’s lips curved into a smile.

Draven lost one of his spinning axes, which was a huge blow to his damage output. But when Lin Feng broke free from the stun, he still continued to deal considerable damage.

In the end, both ad-carries picked up double kills. Be it in terms of teamfight contribution or level and items, they were equally matched.

✹

This stalemate between the Glorious Executioner and Night Hunter continued. One side was the epitome of domineering, wildly slaughtering anything in his path. The other was ghostly, dancing around the edge of the battlefield, and always striking at the most opportune moment.

“Hear that? Death's knocking!” Draven cackled sinisterly.

“Let us hunt those who have fallen to darkness,” Vayne proclaimed solemnly.

A heated clash between executioner and hunter!

Tang Bingyao earnestly observed Lin Feng playing, shock flickering in her eyes from time to time. The skills displayed by these two ad-carries were awe-inspiring!

Lin Feng’s eyes shone brighter and brighter, growing increasingly fervent the more he played! A strong opponent, one that stood at the apex! He originally believed the Vayne was a Master or Challenger-tier player. But now? Now he was certain their skills reached the level of a professional!

Honestly speaking, Lin Feng had to admit his skills as an ad-carry fell short to the opponent’s. It was just that a champion like Draven was crude but effective. As long as he continued catching axes and dealing damage, there really wasn’t much more skill required. This was why he could go toe-to-toe with the Vayne.

As the game continued, Lin Feng discovered multiple problems with his own play. After all, this was the first time in what felt like forever that he faced off against an opponent of this level. His lack of practice led to him making many small mistakes. For example, in the previous teamfight, he didn’t guard against Vayne sneaking up on him with her ultimate skill. He also forgot to buy vision wards[1] twice to counter her stealth.

“Agh, I could’ve played that better!” Lin Feng harshly criticized himself. But this didn’t dampen his blazing fighting spirit one bit. He’d been away for too long. It was exactly this kind of strong opponent that he needed to play against to hone his senses back to their peak. To force himself to pull out all the stops to win. And even if he couldn’t win, it was fine. The most important thing was the journey, the rare opportunity to go up against an opponent of this level!

Nightsong’s fighting spirit was also set ablaze. He finally had a rough gauge of the Draven’s skill level. Their reaction speed and mechanics were top-notch, but they were lacking a bit in awareness and game sense. They made minor mistakes in teamfights that seasoned veterans would never make. But none of these things affected the threat he felt from this opponent.

His opponent was playing a smart game. They knew they couldn’t beat his Vayne when he was playing seriously. So, they played to Draven’s strength, sweeping through his weaker teammates with a domineering style and killing their way to absolute victory.

What an amusing guy. Nightsong smiled, his heart racing with eagerness. No matter what, victory would belong to him!

As both teams were prepared for a long and bitter struggle, the game announcer’s voice rang out through Summoner’s Rift.

《A summoner has disconnected.》

Nighsong was dumbstruck. Lin Feng also went wide-eyed.

The mid-laner of the red team had disconnected, and judging from his short apology in all-chat, he wouldn’t be back any time soon.

「shit, sorry guys, girlfriend’s gone crazy. that time of the month again. imma get off to calm her down. I think my kitchen might be on fire too...」

Everyone was speechless.

「Wtf…?.」

「rip」

「ggez」

Nightsong nearly choked to death. T-t-his? R-really? I was just getting into it! 

Lin Feng was in a daze for a long time before snapping back to his senses, looking as if someone had run over his puppy. “Aw man… what luck.” He was happily playing, brimming with excitement from head to toe, only for this to happen.

The four players from the red team lost the will to fight. After all, the two players carrying on their team were the ad-carry and mid-laner. With one gone, the balance broke, giving way for a one-sided slaughter.

A 4v5 was still winnable in Silver and Gold. However, as you climbed higher up the ladder, it became increasingly difficult to pull this off. In a scenario where you lost an important carry, it was simply hopeless. So, the red team started a surrender vote, to which even Nightsong reluctantly agreed.

“Ah, what a shame,” Lin Feng sighed. But he quickly returned to his usual cheerful self. “It was still really fun! You don’t get to play against someone that strong that often. Man, that was exciting!” He then turned to Tang Bingyao with a delighted smile. “See, I told you I could win!”

Tang Bingyao wrinkled her brows. “You didn’t win against the Vayne though.”

True, winning the game and winning against the Vayne were two different things. Lin Feng awkwardly scratched his head. “Ah, yeah. Hahaha. That Vayne was too good. I can’t beat her either.” Even though he admitted he was worse, he was still all-smiles.

“So, you’re saying you just wanted to scratch and itch and didn’t actually plan on teaching me anything?”

“Eh? Guess I’m busted.” Lin Feng chuckled awkwardly. “It’s fine though! Right? I still helped you win the game! I also didn’t charge you a carry fee! Consider it even!”

1. They reveal invisible targets.