The higher-ranked the team, the more they pay attention to the situation of other teams in the league. Now, from all kinds of subtle clues, the “Big Three” teams have already deduced that PNG has an ambiguous relationship with Sui Ning, so naturally they’ve placed him on a higher-priority watch list as a rival.
Meanwhile, after playing all night with four diehard fans spamming a five-mage “Heavenly Girls” comp, Sui Ning felt like his scalp was numb and his whole body drained. When two of the fans finally said they were going to bed, it was like a royal pardon.
Ecas and Aeria King still wanted to play, but he flatly refused.
…It wasn’t that he couldn’t win, it was that it was pure torture.
By the end of the stream, Sui Ning looked a bit weak as he explained his upcoming plans to the viewers: “Entertainment session’s over. From here on, it’ll be all technical streams. This month’s pretty tight, so I’ll probably only have time to push three or four heroes to National Server rank.”
[Did you just say how many??]
[Crazy—uh, I mean, hearing this kind of talk in Feng-bao’s stream, I’m actually kinda used to it.]
[Ever since this grind demon got to #1 in the nation in five days, now when I hear him brag, my heart stays calm as still water…]
[But isn’t anyone curious which heroes?]
[Nominee: Xiaolian by the Daming Lake—Your Majesty, do you still remember her?]
“It’s not Xiaolian.” Sui Ning scrolled through his hero list, pointing casually to a few: “Winter Queen, Phantom Trickster, Puppeteer, Wave Rider, stuff like that.”
[Good lord, you think you’re picking vegetables at the market?]
[So jealous… When will I be able to look at heroes with zero proficiency and say, ‘I’ll get you to National Server rank within a week’?]
[Thought you were a one-trick. Now you’re going full hero ocean?]
[Baby, don’t brag like this… Mama needs a sip of water in case I have to spray at your haters later!]
Unlike his Stellar Sprite, the ones he just named were all long-established mid-lane staples, with fierce competition on the ladder and veteran pros sitting on the rankings. If he was only doing this for stream hype, it would be all pain for little gain.
[Honestly, nothing wrong with being a one-trick. Viewer count stays solid.]
[Those picks… if you don’t play them well, it’ll be a public execution. Not worth it.]
[Agreed. Totally different style and rhythm than Aeria. Feng Bao, don’t mess around.]
Sui Ning’s lips curved faintly: “You guys don’t believe me?”
[......]
[Wuuuu, how are we supposed to answer that…]
The young man stayed calm and dropped his killer move: “If I can’t get a new National Server hero, I’ll crossdress.”
[WHAT THE F—？？？？？？]
[You won’t make it, you hear me?!]
[No!! Absolutely not allowed to succeed!!]
[Thanks for the invite. Master’s already calculated: Feng-bao’s new National Server count this month is zero!]
[First time in my life I’ve ever wished so hard for a top-tier streamer to fail a climb… (:」)]
“Oh yeah? Then just wait and see.” His eyes arched in amusement, a rare mischievous smile flashing across his face.
——
PNG base.
“How come the other side doesn’t even have a single King rank? Guess I can just go ham—oh sh*t!”
In the middle of a ranked match, Lin Zhaoxu suddenly clutched his stomach and yelped, startling Cheng Su, who was still slurping noodles next to him. His chopsticks shook, snapping the long rice noodle into four pieces.
Cheng Su shot him an exasperated look: “What are you screaming for?”
“Gotta hit the bathroom.” Lin Zhaoxu shoved the mouse into his hand without hesitation. “Cover for me a bit.”
As he spoke, he yanked off his headset and rocketed out of his chair, moving so fast he left afterimages. In a few breaths, he was gone from the training room, leaving only his back to Cheng Su and the stream audience.
Viewers: …?
Cheng Su, holding the mouse in his left hand and chopsticks in his right: …
“Ah, unfilial son.” His face stayed blank as he muttered, “Won’t even let your old man eat in peace.”
[LOL he dashed off so fast he left afterimages.]
[What the heck is this—Erllit subbing in?!]
[Shocking! A pro team player openly asking for a substitute mid-stream!]
[Help I’m dying lmao.]
The chat was soon drowned in “hahahaha.”
The match had barely started. Lin Zhaoxu had picked White Bird, a marksman he’d been hot on lately.
Calmly, Cheng Su piloted White Bird to lane, calmly got shoved under tower, calmly tried to last-hit in the gaps, and calmly missed the most valuable cannon minion.
Cheng Su: “…Ah.”
[HAHAHAHA I’m gonna die—THE CANNON MINION!!]
[Ferrari—!! How could you just let it die like that!!]
[I can’t stop laughing. So this is a pro support’s last-hitting skill, huh?!]
The random-support player was clearly confused, too, by Cheng Su’s last-hitting technique while standing still and missing soldiers. They twitched in place a few times, danced, and even tapped on his avatar.
[Little Novice Monk] indicated that PNG_Mior had vanished without a trace.
[Little Novice Monk]: God Xu, is that really you? Or just a high-quality impersonator?
Cheng Su felt no guilt at all.
[PNG_Mior]: Um.
[PNG_Mior]: My hand slipped.
[Damn, I never thought I’d see the day when my son Xu’s reputation would be ruined.]
[First of all, with such a cold reply, a true fan can tell right away it’s not our boy hahahaha]
[So calm—definitely not our boy! If our boy missed a cannon, his wailing would be enough to stop babies from crying at night.]
[Upstairs, are you sure that was wailing and not some kind of human atavistic phenomenon?]
[Half of PNG’s desks have been smashed by son Xu when he missed a cannon—I’m a desk, I can testify]
[And the other half were smashed by Wei Ye after being tower-dived 1v3 and camped, hahahaha.]
——
Meanwhile, Lin Zhaoxu himself had no idea that “he” was being questioned about last-hitting skills.
He rushed anxiously to the public restroom on the first floor and was just about to enter when a familiar yet muffled voice came through the door.
“…Pfft, hahaha, no way. Are you serious?”
Lin Zhaoxu froze for a moment. Instinctively, he recognized the voice as He Yaohui’s.
It seemed like he was on the phone with someone.
He Yaohui’s voice was mocking: “You better think this through. Play it like this, and sooner or later you’ll ruin surname Meng.”
The other side responded with something indistinct. He Yaohui let out a derisive laugh: “Hah, you really are stupid and malicious. I warned you before—you have to rotate, think long-term, not keep fixating on a little short-term gain. Well, now look. If he stops playing, do you think those sponsors will let you off?”
From the other end came faint sobbing, like they were saying they hadn’t meant to.
He Yaohui was growing impatient: “It’s normal for younger players to get stage fright. I told you to rein in your temper, stop always tearing others down while flattering some—like you’re doing PUA or something… Forget it, I can’t be bothered to say more. Just watch yourself, don’t blow everything up.”
After a pause, the person on the line made a bold suggestion.
He Yaohui’s pupils contracted: “…Me…?”
He was so shocked he couldn’t speak for a long while.
Lin Zhaoxu, accidentally overhearing a few words at the door, didn’t fully understand what was going on. He only felt it would be awkward to go in now.
His expression shifted for quite a while before he finally circled back to his room to deal with it. Each dorm had its own bathroom anyway—people just usually couldn’t be bothered to go that far when the training room was closer.
——
In the days that followed, after rejecting Ecas and Aeria King’s almost-hourly “Hey, online? Wanna team up?” greetings, Sui Ning’s daily cycle was packed: watching matches, analyzing and summarizing, training, sleeping, then more match-watching.
[Ecas]: @Fenglan, Feng-bao, time for you to log in.
[Fenglan]: …I’m busy.
[Ecas]: You’ve changed. A man turning bad always starts with turning busy.
Sui Ning: …Figures it’s you.
He couldn’t be bothered with the clown, focusing instead on PNG’s games. Including those “self-recommended” ones Ji Yunyu had sent, he’d watched them several times over.
“In summary… they all play as individuals.” Sui Ning shook his head helplessly.
He hit pause—the screen happened to freeze just before a team fight.
It was one of PNG’s games against TL in last year’s Summer Split. At 23 minutes, they were nearly 4k gold behind. A 5v5 erupted around the dragon pit, both teams probing and posturing.
At 23:38, PNG’s top laner Wei Ye wrapped around from the left, while jungle, support, mid, and marksman positioned on the right, preparing to sandwich TL at the river by dragon’s entrance.
It was a high-risk, high-reward decision. Splitting formation could mean Wei Ye got instantly focused and killed the moment he appeared, but if the CC chain landed properly, it could create a stage for mid and marksman to dish out damage and potentially turn the game—a gamble worth taking for the disadvantaged side.
Sure enough, at 23:45 Wei Ye ulted into the fight. At 23:46.5, mid and support followed up with their CC.
Sui Ning pressed his lips together: “Damn, they’re about to get countered.”
Just as he expected, the overlapping CC didn’t achieve the best effect—instead, it gave TL breathing room.
Facing such a precarious fight, TL was clearly more experienced. They perfectly capitalized on PNG’s fatal mistake, turned the fight around, and wiped PNG in a 3-for-5 trade despite PNG having initiated.
“Obviously a communication problem.” Sui Ning dragged the timeline back and forth, combining it with other games he’d studied. Such “fractured-painting” teamfight scenes weren’t rare for PNG.
He frowned: “I didn’t notice before. When I played with them, I made a few calls and no one objected… So who’s their usual shotcaller? He Yaohui, the one I replaced?”
Probably not. The young man quickly dismissed the thought.
The team’s main shotcaller is its field commander—there’s no hard rule on who it must be; it depends entirely on the team’s style. But as the brain of the squad, essentially a second coach in-game, He Yaohui didn’t fit the role no matter how he looked at it.
Then… is it possible that PNG doesn’t have a fixed shotcaller at all?
That would be a problem.
“…No wonder—everyone’s individual skills aren’t bad, yet when they play together, it looks like a random internet caf team.” Sui Ning rubbed his temples and wrote three words in his notebook: [Command Authority].
——
After ending his stream, Sui Ning—as usual—gave himself extra training.
This time he was on red side, playing [Winter Queen · Yuna].
He had been grinding for three days, only a few more matches away from pushing Yuna to the national server ranking as well.
Yuna was a female ruler from the far northern lands. Unlike the endlessly chatty Aeria, Yuna was silent and proud. Her tall, elegant figure and perpetually straight posture radiated majesty.
Her delicate face was hidden beneath a massive blue crown forged of frost, her body clothed only in a sheer gown woven from ice crystals.
At this moment, the Northern Queen was moving along the riverbank toward bot lane.
The current kill score was Red 17: Blue 21. Slightly behind in kills, but gold was nearly even—less than a 400 difference.
By coincidence, the red side’s marksman this match was Tofu, for once not trolling, playing solo queue on his main account.
He was streaming to millions, while his Soul-Piercing Spear was being pressed under tower by the enemy White Bird + Shadow Hawk duo.
Their own support was Princess of Thorns, a weak enchanter nerfed heavily in recent patches. Paired with his early-game useless marksman, they were no match for the enemy’s powerful synergy.
“Damn it, jailed again,” Tofu groaned. “Bro, can you control them just once—yeah, now, now, CC them! …The hell, the Harrier’s already on my face and you still don’t CC!”
[6666, is this support AFK?]
[Why no CC? Why no CC?]
[CC for what? You think a 2v2 is winnable? Better to just poke like this instead of baiting the marksman into fighting.]
[Upstairs, I can’t even argue with that excuse. So it’s 4D chess now?]
[Classic: I’m not bad, you just don’t get it]
The enemy support Shadow Hawk was clearly hot-tempered, constantly stepping forward to find openings.
But such aggressive positioning also left him exposed. More than once, Tofu was ready—if Princess of Thorns initiated, he’d instantly Q–A–A–A–E to rip out spears and skewer the pests.
But Princess of Thorns only autoed the Shadow Hawk twice as poke, showing no intent to start a fight.
Tofu sighed mournfully: “Ah, you really are my nemesis, Princess darling. Is it because I didn’t pick you for my championship ‘protect-the-carry’ comp that you’re sulking now?”
Otherwise why keep twitching in place like you’ve got paralyze?
At level 5, he was already down nearly 20 CS. In one word—collapsing.
Catching a glimpse of chat calling him trash, Tofu hurried to clarify: “Let me just say, my national server rank was played by my second personality. Definitely not boosted, okay?”
[?????]
[You really pulled that one out.]
[So are you admitting to split personality, babe?]
The barrage began teasing him.
Though he could still joke around now, another few minutes and this lane would inevitably collapse, Tofu calculated glumly.
Fall behind further, and after the first recall, the enemy’s items would outpace his—one auto hitting as hard as his two. How could he play then? At that point, bot lane would be completely doomed.
He wailed in pain as he CSed: “Help, help… passing-by jungle gods, mid gods, look at your poor marksman son, I can’t survive like this!”
Ding!
[Fenglan] signaled he was on the way.
[Dad, Tofu’s in danger, hurry home!]
[Holy shit, he’s actually coming.]
[What’s this? Recognize-Dad technique??]
Almost the same second the signal appeared, the level 7 Winter Queen strode forth on her Frostpath.
Her dash wasn’t quite in range yet, so Yuna unhesitatingly flashed in. Raising her hand, she froze the enemy bot duo with W–Bone-Chilling Gale.
Pale frost spread beneath her feet, the marrow-piercing chill locking White Bird and Shadow Hawk in place.
Tofu shouted with joy: “Daddy! You’re here!”
Backup had finally arrived—he wasn’t missing out on a single kill or assist! He immediately flashed forward to follow up damage.
The enemy bot lane was completely unprepared for her arrival.
“Shit! Where’d this Yuna come from?” White Bird panicked, popping Heal first. “Does she have ult?”
Shadow Hawk: “Don’t chicken out—if she hasn’t used it yet, must be on cooldown. Look at my position, just counter-engage!”
White Birdtwitched: “Brother, have you never played Yuna before…? Her ult has CC. She’s obviously waiting until the first round of CC ends.”
Just as he guessed, Yuna used Q–Glacial Shard and autos to chip them down, then, as the freeze was about to end, she once more raised her chin high, right hand lifted to the sky.
An ice-blue light crystallized at her fingertips into a massive Sword of Damocles, which she brought crashing down on them.
[Fenglan (Winter Queen) has slain NoobADC (White Bird)!]
[ClearSoupMapoTofu (Soul-Piercing Spear) has slain AIIsStrongerThanMe (Shadow Hawk)!]
[ClearSoupMapoTofu]: Feng-bao I love you!!!!
[Fenglan]: .
Tofu showered Sui Ning’s avatar with exaggerated kisses.
The barrage couldn’t bear to watch him simping so hard, spamming sarcastic remarks:
[I get it now. The reason marksmen can’t climb is ‘cause they’re missing this trick—every time they’re pushed in, someone shows up to help? At the river, no less?]
[Could this be the legendary secret technique only national server marksmen can comprehend—Daddy’s here?]
[Daddy’s here!]
[Daddy’s here!]
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