Seeing those two IDs, Sui Ning felt a bad premonition.
He asked, with almost no hope: “Which lane do you two play?”
[Feng-bao’s bootlicker]: mid
[I’m Feng-bao’s Dog]: mid
Sui Ning: “……”
Are you kidding me!
[Fuck! Hahahahahaha]
[Why am I not surprised at all? Hahahahaha]
[Rational analysis: Feng-bao is mid, people who watch his streams and learn from him to climb to King rank are also mid, diehard fans are mid too—makes perfect sense!]
[I’ve been a top-laner for ten years, is it still too late to switch to mid?]
[War of Glory is six years, you ten years, are you some kind of time-warped warrior?]
[Laughed, so we’ve upgraded to the Fifth Central Committee of All-Mid, huh?]
“Can you turn on mic?” Sui Ning pressed his forehead with one hand, already having a headache.
Hearing their beloved streamer speak, Feng-bao’s Bootlicker was the first to turn on mic. The deep, pleasant bubble-voice hit everyone in the stream like a fatal blow: “I’m here, wife, I can turn on mic!”
[Xiao Yunduo: ??]
[？？？？？]
[Even bubble-voice gods are this wild now?!]
[Say that again?? I’ve got a huge Green Dragon Crescent Blade here, you know?!]
[Randomly calling people wife in the streets—is there no justice, no law anymore?!]
[I’m Feng-bao’s Dog] refused to be outdone: “Here I am, hubby!”
Just four words, but his voice first came out soft and sweet in a girlish tone, then shifted into a crisp and clear boyish voice, and finally landed on a husky, mature man’s voice—an actual live voice gradient.
[Xiao Yunduo: ???]
[……Did my ears just malfunction?]
[Voice actor? Fake voice master?]
[How expensive is that sound card, how does the voice even gradient like that??]
Ji Yunyu decided he couldn’t finish his dinner.
Sui Ning: “……?”
Sui Ning decided to show his merciless side.
With trembling hand, he muted both of his overly devoted fans.
The two immediately spammed “QAQ” faces in chat.
[Feng-bao’s Bootlicker]: Feng-bao, I’m your fan QAQ.
……No, absolutely not. Sui Ning felt like he’d heard that line somewhere before. Supposedly, there was once a jungler at Worlds who got chased down by the opposing jungler yelling “I’m your fan!” the whole way…
Now, whenever he saw similar words, it just felt like a death flag.
Forcing himself to ignore the two clowns, Sui Ning said: “Five mids, how do we split lanes this game?”
Aeria king wasn’t afraid of losing rank on her main account, and confidently said: “Five-Mage Heavenly Girls comp, of course. This account hasn’t played much ranked, plus I’ve got MMR drag, so the average rank should be under 20 stars. We’ll just stomp!”
In truth, with their skill level, they could easily climb by flexing into other roles as carry-supports. But for streaming, you need content. Fill roles? Sure, but unnecessary!
Currently, the highest-ranked in the team was Aeria king with 52 stars, the two newcomers were both around Supreme King 10 stars, Sui Ning’s account had just hit King 3 stars, and blond-haired youth had 45 stars.
“Looking at it this way, Feng-bao actually has the fewest stars here.” Blond-haired youth grinned. “Finally, I get to step on top of Feng-bao, hehe.”
Xiao Yunduo: ?
[Is it the damn Li guy??]
[Oh boy, it’s a gay guy, kick him out quick!!]
Sui Ning: “……Then I’ll give you mid.”
“Alright, I’m definitely going to perform a national server Oracle for my darling. I regretted not showing you last time, but today I’ll definitely play a hundred rounds for you!”
[Last time? Last time when exactly?]
[What the hell did Li guys do with you before!!]
[Male-mamas, hold up, don’t jump to conclusions. It’s normal for these pros to know each other privately, right?]
[So Fenglan went out with his new friends these past days? Why didn’t he dare to say just now? That’s not something worth hiding, is it? Or are his brothers covering for him?]
[What he does off-stream is none of your business, didn’t break the law—why are you minding so much??]
[Where are these rhythm-stirring trolls from? Don’t drag outside nonsense in here, thanks!]
Because of the A-Gao incident funneling traffic, Sui Ning’s stream once peaked at over four million viewers. Now, after a few days, the fun-seekers had all left, and the audience stabilized around half a million when he went live.
That number was far lower than other top streamers, but it didn’t stop a few malicious trolls from mixing into the chat.
Live streaming system: Moderator [Princess Yaoyao] has banned account 24**614
Live streaming system: Moderator [Princess Yaoyao] has banned account 98**125
[(Moderator) Princess Yaoyao: Paid trolls stirring up trouble, get out^^, you’re not welcome here.]
Noticing a familiar ID, Ji Yunyu almost sprayed out his mouthful of soup, and with the fastest speed of his life, sent a message to Sui Ning.
…His own cousin had already become a moderator?!
And he wasn’t even one yet!
[Xiao Yunduo]: Not fair——!
Maybe it was the tacit understanding they’d built up over the past few days, but Sui Ning instantly understood what Ji Yunyu really meant.
With a slightly helpless expression, the young man also made him a moderator.
[(Moderator) Xiao Yunduo: ^^.]
[Go With the Flow and Be at Peace]: Satisfied now?
[Xiao Yunduo]: Protecting the best Feng-bao in the whole world, cat-serious.jpg
[Go With the Flow and Be at Peace]: …Why are you also starting to call methat.
[Xiao Yunduo]: Innocent Catjpg
Finally seizing the initiative in the chat, Ji Yunyu, for once, swaggered a bit, spamming silly stickers.
——
Little Shark Streaming platform, Tofu’s live room.
Tofu’s original ID was [Clear Soup Mapo Tofu], and he was currently one of the top ten hottest streamers in the gaming section. Among entertainment streamers, he was the strongest when it came to playing marksmen. Several of his marksmen’s heroes had reached the national top ten. His skills were solid, but he loved playing up for the livestream, so every stream ended with more losses than wins.
Today was no exception.
“Brothers, send gifts, hop on the bus!” Tofu shouted while his hands were busy, immediately starting a five-man queue. “Same old rule: low-star King rank, merciless 4-protect-1. All you national server supports, hurry up, get online!”
[4 protect 1 (X) 4 gods dragging 1 dog ()]
[Honestly, Tofu’s 4-protect-1 is the most absurd I’ve ever seen.]
[Hurry and send this to HPL’s coaches! Do you guys even know what 4-protect-1 means?!]
[HPL’s coaches would call this true expertise.]
Ignoring the barrage’s doubts, Tofu lightning-fast dragged four viewers into the team and hit the match button.
While waiting in queue, he began assigning BP roles: “To secure the win, let me arrange things. Second pick, you take Spirit Fawn for my shield. Third pick, grab Holy Healer to heal me. Fourth pick, remember to choose Ying-yang Master for the attack buff. Fifth pick, same as usual, Tide Priestess to add attack effects!”
[‘Secure the win,’ meaning 3 wins out of 10]
[No one without a decade of brain clots could come up with this stuff, amazing—ten patches ahead with your 4-protect-1?]
[Other people’s ‘4’ means top, mid, jungle, and support. Yours is literally four supports. You’ve redefined War of Glory.]
[This comp: three soft supports with no CC plus a reactive priestess. So you expect your AD to face-check and engage?]
[Narrow-minded upstairs. Just watch our God Tofu flash forward and auto-attack to engage. Pure brute force!]
[Fun fact: you can actually flash backward]
“I’m cracking up. I’ve been around Little Shark for so long, anyone who knows me knows this ace lineup of mine is nearly unbreakable.” Tofu glanced at the barrage, grinning, deliberately talking back. “We’ll take this game easy!”
[Maybe think about why every national server support has you blacklisted?]
[LOL reminds me of that old joke—the entry question to the national support private chat group: ‘Least favorite food?’ Answer: Mapo tofu hahaha]
[LMAO, Mapo tofu’s reputation unjustly ruined again.]
[As someone from Sichuan, let me clarify: Mapo tofu is the best in the world! This is the biggest injustice ever to Sichuan cuisine!!]
The barrage kept roasting him while the game finally entered the drafting stage.
Tofu, on first pick, immediately sorted all heroes by name and banned the top three on the list: “Alright, ban our three biggest threats.”
[‘Threats,’ meaning those three unlucky guys whose English names start with ‘A’]
[HPL coach: Wolong’s game sense far surpasses mine!]
[If HTG had hired you as coach last year, they wouldn’t have finished only third in the world.]
[?? I was just enjoying some fun streaming, why the sudden knife twist?]
[…?? Half of me already died last year, and now you want me dead again?]
[Baiting the dog in just to kill it?]
As the current top team in the league, HTG’s humiliating loss at last year’s Worlds was enough to leave fans heartbroken until their next championship. The mere mention of certain keywords by paid trolls in the barrage was already unbearable for many fans.
Luckily, Tofu didn’t get matched against any normal folks either. Before he could even think about how to hype things up, the opponents helped him by banning three heroes starting with the letter B.
Without hesitation, Tofu locked in his signature [Frost Archer] as first pick on blue side. This hero’s feature was… well, having no special features. The skills were simple and straightforward—just stand and shoot.
The opponents weren’t to be outdone, grabbing [Oracle] and [Stellar Sprite] for a double mage comp.
“What’s this? Oracle support?” Tofu exclaimed, his thick black eyebrows knitted together, looking comical. “I don’t quite get it.”
Aeria was most likely the mid-lane assassin mage, which meant Oracle, as another squishy mage, could only go support. Tofu scratched his head, trying to analyze.
…But wait, that doesn’t add up either, right? Supports have low income, and Oracle is a mage core that needs farm. It’s naturally incompatible with the support role. The enemy comp was honestly bizarre.
Unable to figure out what the opponents were scheming, Tofu grew a little nervous. But with the arrow already nocked, he could only let his teammates continue picking soft supports.
However, the strangest part was yet to come.
In the second and third rotation, red side snatched [Three-Tailed Fox] and [Sakura Dance Princess], and then, with their precious last counterpick, they locked in the baffling [Celestial Songstress].
[????]
[Five squishy mages?? Hello?? What is this??]
[Good grief, ran into our peers.]
[How many times have I said this: don’t play War of Glory while drunk, why does no one listen (heartbroken)]
But when Tofu saw this lineup, his heart sank. His face darkened instantly, and his tone turned displeased: “No way, this comp… are they rank-manipulating?”
Because in different tiers, wins and losses affect hero rankings differently, some players deliberately maintain their rank within a certain range (for example, King rank 0–20 stars) to grind power for specific heroes. Once they exceed that range (21 stars), they immediately queue up with unused or weird heroes to deliberately lose games, dropping back down again. This behavior is commonly called rank manipulation.
For most players, even if a manipulator on the opposing team means a free win, it still feels disgusting—because it destroys both the competitiveness and the fun of the game, turning it into a pure waste of time.
For streamers like Tofu, whose livelihood depends on entertaining broadcasts, it was even worse. Viewers want spicy content: they want to see masterful plays, trash talk getting slapped back, clutch comebacks that get the adrenaline pumping—but they absolutely don’t want to watch someone farm kills on opponents who can’t even fight back, like beating up bots.
“Don’t, don’t be rank-manipulating.” With the countdown nearing its end, Tofu slumped in his chair and grumbled unhappily, “This is way too boring.”
But his dissatisfaction did nothing to change the enemy’s intentions.
Both lineups were confirmed.
The barrage exploded instantly, the screen filled with endless question marks and curses, scrolling like a tidal wave. People flamed rank manipulation, intentional losing, AFK, and every kind of negative gameplay.
[Rank-manipulating dog, may your whole family bss.]
[Wow, the classic: family portrait equals solo pic—rank-manipulating dogs deserve it.]
[Sigh, this is just the War of Glory’s environment now.]
[This match is so boring, hurry to the next one.]
The cursing went on for a good ten seconds before a few strange comments slipped in.
[To all the flamers, I suggest slowing down your typing speed—you might be kneeling the moment you see the enemy’s IDs.]
[Whispering quietly… the enemy might not be rank-manipulating, Tofu’s in trouble.]
[+1 upstairs. I just came back from the other side. It’s legit three national server players, RIP Tofu.]
[Keyword: 32566. Those who know, know! I’m rushing in first!!]
Originally, most viewers had their metaphorical forty-meter broadswords raised, ready to swing—but then they saw people spamming “32566” and “Fenglan” as keywords, and suddenly the stale old melons in their hands turned fresh and sweet again.
[??? What’s going on?]
[Check out room 32566. I saw their draft—it’s identical. Fenglan is on the enemy team, plus two other national server mages.]
[Damn it, stupid Little Shark. I clearly followed Feng-bao, why didn’t I get a live notification?!]
“The enemy team has national server players too? No way. You think national top players are cabbages? Wholesale now?”
Catching sight of the barrage, Tofu sneered, clearly disbelieving: “In a 20-star match? As if it’s that easy to meet them. It’s not like it’s 100 stars. This is most likely just a throw team. Anyone who needs the bathroom, go now—we’ll play the next—”
Before he could finish, the game’s loading screen appeared.
The enemy team’s IDs slammed across Tofu’s face like the Buddha’s mighty palm, leaving him speechless for a long while.
Red side players: [Fenglan], [Ecas], [Aeria King], plus two random dogs.
Tofu: …
His mouth slowly fell open in disbelief. Leaning closer to the screen, he seemed to be searching desperately for evidence that they were just high-quality imposters.
“Th-they… they look like the real ones…”
Tofu’s voice weakened. “They’re playing for real?”
[666666]
[Holy shit holy shit holy shit!! What kind of god-tier match is this?!]
Seeing the enemy IDs, even the most jaded viewers had to admit it was insane. Who would have thought—queueing with a ridiculous troll lineup, only to run into an even more insane one. At first thinking it’d be a free win, only to discover the other side was full of genuine national server pros, while their own side was a bunch of insignificant fellows. What a rollercoaster—turns out the real clown was us!
[Holy shit holy shit, it’s my Feng-bao!!]
[Feng-bao’s live and you’re still watching useless Tofu? Fake fans, get out!]
[Oh my god, it’s Ecas’s Oracle!! Finally, I can witness it up close! Why won’t he stream, ugh, I’ve been stuck on provincial rank with Oracle forever.]
[Why isn’t Feng-bao playing Aeria? My heart is broken.]
[Broken my ass, he’s a hero pool monster, he can play whatever he wants.]
Curious onlookers who had heard the news crowded into the livestream, filling the chat so fast that it was impossible to even see what people were saying.
Tofu immediately realized that this match might push his stream’s popularity to the next level, and he quickly changed to a more explosive title:
——[National Server Slaughter! 4 Supports + 1 Marksman vs. 5 Mages — Peak Showdown]
Tofu: “This is a battle for dignity, folks. Don’t just walk past—click that subscribe button now!”
[As expected of you—turning a tense, thrilling King-rank National Server match into something that sounds like Bronze rank players randomly picking heroes!]
[So the question is, who’s slaughtering who? (smirk)]
——
Another group of people were also here to watch the show.
The coaching staffs of HTG, Navic, and Tayloo—three of the league’s top teams—all happened to be watching this match. But what each of them wanted to see was very different.
Tayloo’s coach, Li En, was watching from Sui Ning’s first-person perspective.
After a moment’s thought, he tapped Ecas’s ID with his fountain pen. “This guy—rumor has it he’s been doing tryouts with PNG, AQ, and NIS.”
He twirled his wrist and tapped Fenglan’s name. “And this one—he played a match with Mior before.”
Li En was talking about the duo-queue game of Sui Ning and Lin Zhaoxu. Lin Zhaoxu’s self-proclaimed “xu_is_die” ID, which he considered unbeatable, had already long been cracked by coaches across major teams.
“So it seems Fenglan chose PNG,” TL’s mid-laner Amor, Cheng Wensheng, said with his trademark frozen smile, though his tone was flat.
Li En spread his hands. “So what do we do now? He went to your brother’s team. There aren’t many suitable candidates left.”
“……” Cheng Wensheng’s expression sank.
His relationship with his younger brother, Cheng Su, wasn’t very good. Now, the player he had set his eyes on was snatched away, leaving him with complicated feelings.
Because of Cheng Wensheng’s presence, TL had a classic “four protect one” mid-lane strategy—more aggressive and more unforgiving than protecting a marksman, since mage carries had less margin for error and their late-game carry potential was markedly different from a marksman’s.
But with patches changing, TL’s playstyle had grown increasingly outdated. Even staying in the top three now required everything they had.
Both Cheng Wensheng and Li En knew the team needed change. Bringing in and cultivating a mid like Sui Ning, someone with natural instinct, was one option—even Cheng Wensheng himself was willing to step aside for a rookie.
But change didn’t necessarily mean good things. A shift in playstyle might bring temporary pain—or it might drag TL straight into decline. Without solid evidence (like dropping to the bottom of the league standings), the club would never agree to let an outsider replace Cheng Wensheng.
Too many considerations piled up, and so, even after discovering Sui Ning’s budding talent, Cheng Wensheng’s first instinct was still: “Observe him for a while longer.”
He let out a long sigh. “……I was too hesitant. I should have reached out to him earlier.”
“You know it’s not about being early or late.” Li En patted his shoulder in comfort. “Don’t overthink it.”
——
Meanwhile, Navic was troubled by something similar.
The rest of Navic’s first team was training, but mid-laner Cpyhc, Meng Xiyue, sat on the sofa, wrapping bandages around his wrist over and over.
Coach He Yuan came over, pretending to look gloomy as he reported: “God C, Fenglan finally responded.”
Meng Xiyue immediately frowned in irritation. “Don’t call me God C. You’re my coach.”
He disliked He Yuan’s attitude. Not only was the man indecisive on stage, but even when discussing serious team matters, he acted timid, deferential, and still called him “God C.” He seemed more like a fan than a coach for a top-tier league team.
“The relationship between us should be exactly what it is.”
Coach is coach. Player is player.
He Yuan awkwardly scratched the back of his head and laughed twice.
Seeing that, Meng Xiyue sighed helplessly. “What did Fenglan say?”
His fingertips twitched slightly with pain as he spoke.
“He rejected the tryout invitation.”
“……How? Didn’t you tell him it was for the main team tryout?” Meng Xiyue was stunned, then furrowed his brows deeply. “You did send him the invitation letter we drafted, right?”
“Of course!” He Yuan cried in injustice.
His face showed helpless grievance. “Maybe he wasn’t satisfied with our terms.”
“Terms?”
The salary package went without saying. Just the promise that passing the tryoutl meant playing in the summer season as part of Navic’s main roster rotation was already enticing—even mid-laners in mid-tier league teams would find it hard to resist.
For a rookie just debuting, wasn’t this basically a one-step rise to the heavens? Meng Xiyue couldn’t understand.
After a long silence, he rubbed his temples in frustration. “That complicates things.”
Of all the young potential trialists, Sui Ning was his favorite. But now that the invitation was flatly refused, even if there were other options, it felt lacking.
He Yuan’s eyes rolled as he asked, “So what do we do next?”
“……You’re the coach. You don’t need to ask me about this. I only recommend players.” Meng Xiyue looked up at him with weary impatience. “I can only hold out through this spring at most.”
His hand injury was worse than two years ago. Earlier this year, fluid accumulation in his right wrist joint had worsened into severe tenosynovitis. Playing BO3s back-to-back sometimes even caused slight numbness through the entire right side of his body.
“Through spring” was already optimistic. If Navic won the spring championship and advanced to the mid-season international invitational, he would probably have to play on injections. The further Navic went, the more injections.
What happened afterward was no longer part of his considerations.
He Yuan seemed to realize that too. He glanced at Meng Xiyue’s hand, his face filled with pain. “Sigh, if those kids weren’t so disappointing, we wouldn’t be stuck in this mess now.”
“I don’t even know why I picked them back then.”
Navic’s first team did have a mid substitute, but the kid had just turned seventeen. He did fine in training, but the moment he stepped on stage, he panicked and made fatal mistakes.
Meng Xiyue frowned. “They’re young, it’s normal for their mentality to be unstable. You should—”
Arrange more psychological support, work with them, correct their mistakes when they arise—instead of complaining to him about why they picked these players.
But saying it outright sounded like he was lecturing the coach. His words faltered, and he went quiet.
All he could do was pray that someone capable of holding up Navic’s collapsing structure would arrive soon.
——
By contrast, the only team truly here just for entertainment was HTG.
In this match, Sui Ning was playing the Celestial Songstress as a jungler—pure fun. Coach Tang Yu watched for a while and quickly lost interest, then turned to his own mid-laner. “Well? A new guy’s coming. You confident?”
HTG didn’t really need another substitute, but that didn’t stop Tang Yu from admiring Sui Ning.
Feng Yi shot him a glance, expression cold. “That’s not a question you should be asking me.”
“Let’s wait until he makes it into the top ten first.”
Tang Yu chuckled. “Yo, as expected of our Brother Boring—our God B. When it comes to acting cool, you’ve got it down.”
The only reply was Feng Yi’s back as he logged on for training.
After laughing for a while, Tang Yu sobered. “Honestly, that kid’s playstyle is interesting. How’s your Stellar Sprite practice going?”
Feng Yi pursed his lips. “…Not worse than his.”
“Pfft—hahaha, still gotta save face in front of me, huh? Keep it up then. Your time’s running out!”
The coach teased him a little more.
----------
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