This match ended rather quickly.
The opponents barely put up a fight—after losing a few early skirmishes, they basically gave up and started chatting instead. Nothing could drag them back into the game.
In the end, Ji Yunyu finished with a record of 7/0/2, earning the MVP title—but his expression was clearly far from happy.
By contrast, Sui Ning’s record as the “murderous fawn” was even more eye-catching: 6/0/7.
[I’m done—whoever said Feng-bao plays support gently, stand up right now! Since when does your “gentle” Luer dive towers to kill people nonstop??]
[Luer solo-killed Aeria?! That’s way over the line…]
[Didn’t that guy at the start ask when he’d get solo-killed? Feng-bao really just granted his fan’s wish on the spot… such a devoted idol (shaking).]
[This jungler–support duo is killing me! When Feng-bao was low HP, God Yun asked if he should recall and come get him, and Feng-bao just coldly said: “No, don’t bother, I’ll kill this guy first.” God Yun’s face was priceless hahaha]
[Yun: Where’s the sweet and caring Coldfront–Luer duo I was promised?!]
[Other people’s Luer: “Why are you running so fast? Let me shield you!” Feng-bao’s Luer: “Shield? What shield? The enemy misstepped—I’m going in to kill him.”]
[HAHA this line—“I’ll come get you”—could probably melt half the support players out there, and only Feng-bao could ruin it like that!!]
[I bet five cents that God Yun totally wanted to act as a mount so Feng-bao could stick to him like glue all game, but alas… Feng-bao saw a mistake and went for blood instead. Typical top-tier midlaner behavior! No complaints!]
[Boss, there’s something wrong with this fawn!!]
[How did such a soft fairy-like fawn end up in Feng-bao’s hands! (heartbroken)]
[My suggestion: Yun, don’t take this nonsense—next time you play Luer!!]
This absurdly one-sided match sent both their livestreams’ popularity soaring even higher.
Sui Ning looked slightly embarrassed. “Sorry… force of habit. Next time I’ll make sure to properly ride—uh, stay attached to you.”
Ji Yunyu looked wounded. “…You promise?”
“Mhm.”
“Next time you play Luer, don’t detach and flash in to kill someone just because the enemy used their skills.”
“…But—”
Ji Yunyu raised an eyebrow. “Hm?”
Sui Ning: “…Okay.”
——
No matter what the chat or the two of them thought, the red team—their opponents—were having a great time.
Sure, they lost a rank star, but they got matched with their idols! How could they not record the game and treasure it forever, replaying it daily like a family heirloom?
Even the blue team’s random players were thrilled. Free rank-up and front-row seats to two legends—what’s not to love?
Especially the player [He Acts On Instinct], who’d spoken rudely at the start. Now she had saved every screenshot and clip of Sui Ning and Ji Yunyu she could find.
She picked her favorite—the one where Sui Ning first walked out from the player tunnel, lifting his gaze slightly toward the audience. The arena lights glowed across his face. Nineteen years old—handsome, confident, yet not immature. His jet-black eyes gleamed with quiet determination. That moment, captured by a fan, was titled “When the Wind First Blew.”
Her boyfriend, who’d watched the whole match beside her, sighed. “Women really are creatures ruled by looks. A few edited photos and you’re sold? You don’t even complain about him playing Luer now? And changing your wallpaper? That’s supposed to be my photo space!”
He wiped away imaginary tears. “You don’t love me anymore, huh?”
At his words, the girl scrutinized his face, her gaze growing increasingly disdainful. “Can your Luer ever compare to Feng-bao’s? He massacred everyone with a fawn. You? Can you even compare to him?”
She tossed him a compact mirror. “Here, take a look.”
Curling her lips, she quickly joined several group chats under Cloud & Wind fan topics—many with names and bios that were… let’s just say, suggestive.
Anyone who knew, knew what kind of groups those were.
Her lips curled into a knowing, auntie-like smile. She thought back to how she’d—well, lightly scolded Feng-bao before the match, and how Cloud’s reaction had been so dramatic~ hehehe.
Her boyfriend: ?
——
In ranked games, hidden IDs meant you couldn’t queue together. But in normal queue—where IDs were visible—you constantly ran into fans. Ji Yunyu’s dream of creating the “Feng-bao depends entirely on me” inseparable duo was shattered again.
…It had to be because the rank was too low! Ji Yunyu clenched his jaw, determined to find someone to blame.
At around 60–70 stars, these random ranked games posed zero challenge to Feng-bao. Even as Luer, he didn’t need a “mount” to dominate the map!
And honestly, even an average top-tier player could easily reach 100 stars in national rank—let alone this monster who treated reaching the national leaderboard like eating breakfast. Ji Yunyu was genuinely afraid that if Sui Ning got too comfortable, he’d start building damage on Luer and solo-carry games.
“So the key is to raise the rank, huh…” he muttered under his breath.
Sui Ning didn’t catch it. “What?”
Ji Yunyu shook his head. “I said, let’s rank up faster!”
At least to 100 stars… no, at least to 120 stars—then they’d start matching against other pro players! By that time, with all the top talents gathered, if Feng-bao kept playing the Fawn, he’d have to rely on his mount. Ji Yunyu silently curved his lips into a knowing, scheming smile.
But he seemed to have forgotten—by the time they reached that tier, would there still be anyone who didn’t recognize the ID [Fenglan]? Even if there really was a mid-lane handover, no support would so easily pick the Fawn again.
Sui Ning cast a sidelong glance at Ji Yunyu’s strange smile, feeling a chill down his spine. What on earth was this guy plotting again?
Ji Yunyu didn’t explain. Cheerfully, he dragged the young man into his party and queued up once more.
Their matchmaking speed wasn’t bad. Once in-game, Ji Yunyu went with his usual pick—the Coldfront Lord. With strong stats and quick victories, his battle points were rising fast.
Their teammates were obedient this round; upon seeing his ID, they immediately gave up mid and jungle.
When it was Sui Ning’s turn to choose, he hesitated for a bit—he hadn’t yet decided which hero to push to national rank next.
The chat was spamming “Fan’en,” but he had already promised that annoying jungler beside him that they’d grind Fan’en and Fanlei’s national ranks together. He’d have to wait for the other to finish with Coldfront Lord first.
“The Phantom Trickster could work… or maybe the Puppeteer or Skywrath,” Sui Ning mused as he scrolled through his hero list. “Let’s see… which one has the highest national score right now?”
[Puppeteer, I think? The top one’s already past 17,500.]
[Phantom’s score is really high too, but anything under 15,000 doesn’t even crack the top 30.]
[ These heroes are super popular—once you climb high enough, the score gap gets tiny. The top players are all around the same.]
[This guy’s talking about hitting national rank on a hero with zero points. I’m in awe. What’s worse, he’s done it before—and actually pulled it off!]
[Just checked—top Puppeteer is 18,100, Phantom Trickster 18,070.]
Catching sight of that message, Ning raised a brow and locked in [Puppeteer - Xu].
[He’s back! Our king of arrogance has returned!]
[He heard the Puppeteer’s score was higher and instantly locked it, huh?!]
[Why did I even expect the guy who turned a cute Fawn into a murder machine to ever act soft and fluffy quq]
[ He has been cute before! Remember that post-match interview when he blushed? So precious! And when he danced—]
[We’ve hit ten million views! Time for a fan reward dance!!]
[Other streamers celebrate a million subs with fan gifts, and Feng-bao’s at 1.2M already. Where’s ours?!]
Sui Ning completely ignored the barrage begging for a dance.
His pick wasn’t to please the chat—it was because, to him, the Puppeteer and the Phantom Trickster were equally challenging to play. Both were lane-dominant assassins who could dart in and out of fights with ease. The difference lay in their mechanics: one controlled puppets to fight, while the other wielded a staff to cast spells. One dealt physical damage as an assassin; the other, pure magic as a traditional mid-lane mage.
But the Phantom Trickster was undeniably more popular.
Picking a physical assassin mid had one big downside: lack of magic damage. The enemy could just stack physical defense and perfectly counter both carries—saving half their gold in the process.
Because of that, physical assassins had fallen out of favor. Yet as the meta evolved, junglers and top laners were branching out—no longer limited to bruisers and tanks. With more magic-damage options for jungle and top, the return of physical assassins to mid was only a matter of time.
As for the Phantom Trickster—already a consistently strong mage—he’d reach national rank eventually too.
[So Feng-bao has a collection fetish now? (LMAO)]
Sui Ning’s lips curved into a soft smile. “Maybe I do.”
[??? I hereby name that smile—the Demon King’s Smile.]
[How does someone with such a baby face say something so terrifying??]
[God help us, he’s collecting national badges!]
[Will there come a day when he has every meta mid at national rank…? Xiaolian, perhaps?]
[ Xiaolian’s not even close to meta though.]
[How dare you—Xiaolian was there for Feng-bao through his noob (broke) phase! Why can’t he get a national badge?! Doesn’t have to be top one! Top ten’s just over 11,000 points right now!!]
——
Sui Ning and Ji Yunyu kept duo-queuing, stacking win after win, until night began to fall.
Lin Zhaoxu shuffled over in slippers, smacking the floor as he went, calling the two to dinner.
They had just finished a match and were on the results screen.
“I’m hungry, but not that hungry. Don’t really feel like eating,” Lin Zhaoxu muttered, flopping over Ji Yunyu’s chair back. “Yun, I want your wontons.”
Ji Yunyu rolled his eyes. “They’re in the fridge. Go boil them yourself.”
“Nooo, yours taste better! I don’t know how to do the soup base or seasoning!”
“Get lost.”
Ji Yunyu couldn’t be bothered. He’d taught Lin Zhaoxu how to cook them multiple times, but the guy never remembered, always too lazy to learn—so he’d just come whining every time.
Lin Zhaoxu’s eyes lit up with mischief. He turned and leaned on Sui Ning’s chair instead. “Feng-bao! You want wontons too, right?”
At that, Cheng Su, sitting not far away, froze mid-bite and stared in disbelief at his son. …What the hell? Since when did this kid learn to hit weak points like that?!
But soon, he realized he’d overthought it—Lin Zhaoxu was just trying to recruit an ally to help him talk Ji Yunyu into cooking.
Sui Ning glanced at Lin Zhaoxu’s expression and suddenly felt like teasing him. “I don’t really care what I eat.”
Lin Zhaoxu was shocked. “What?! You don’t want wontons?”
Sui Ning smiled gently. “Anything is fine.”
“Then you have to eat wontons.”
“Hmm… I didn’t say I have to~.”
Lin Zhaoxu almost fell to his knees, but Sui Ning remained unmoved.
Ji Yunyu, however, had been watching this scene the entire time.
After a moment, he nonchalantly asked Sui Ning, “Do you want some wontons?”
Sui Ning blinked. “…Huh?”
“If you want, I can cook some for you,” Ji Yunyu hesitated slightly, then added, “They taste pretty good.”
Lin Zhaoxu: ?
Wei Ye, eavesdropping: ??
Cheng Su in the audience: …
The livestream viewers: …???
It actually sounded… not bad…?
Sui Ning didn’t fuss. “Sure.”
He nodded once, and Ji Yunyu immediately stood up like he’d received a royal decree, heading straight to the first-floor kitchen.
Lin Zhaoxu froze.
“Whoa… whoa…” After a moment, he scrambled to follow behind Ji Yunyu. “What the hell? You flipped your expression at light speed?”
“…Scram.”
“Wait—don’t make me scram yet. First, tell me—do I get any?”
“Keep whining, and you don’t.”
Lin Zhaoxu zipped his mouth shut immediately.
He glanced at Ji Yunyu’s back in the kitchen, then at Sui Ning walking over, a massive question mark slowly forming above his head.
…What does this mean? Lin Zhaoxu’s eye twitched uncontrollably as he tried to communicate silently with his support.
Cheng Su nodded silently: exactly what you think.
Whoa! Lin Zhaoxu was dumbfounded, practically performing a dramatic gasp: Is this for real? Cloud actually treats Feng-bao like a father figure?!
Cheng Su: …Damn it.
Shouldn’t have bothered with this foolish son.
Meanwhile, on the other side, both livestreamers had temporarily stepped away, but the chat behaved unusually obediently.
[My goodness…]
[…I dare not say a word.]
[Does this count as the main characters forcing a CP tag?]
[I’m laughing, the mysterious topic tag has exploded. Fans who get it know what’s happening; tonight’s going to be wild!]
[They’re interacting, so I’m interacting too ^^]
[See but don’t say ^^]
——
That night, the team had a focused training session, so members gradually ended their livestreams.
Chen Chen briefly explained the upcoming schedule and training matchups. “PNG’s opponents in the league over the next week or two aren’t particularly strong. The only one to watch is FR in a few days—”
This was a solid top-five team from the spring season. Since the last training match, it was unclear how they’d strengthened, so they couldn’t be taken lightly.
“The top-10 teams are really hard to schedule these days,” Chen Chen shrugged helplessly. “Navic’s been proactive, but even they won’t have time until after we finish with FR.”
He gestured for the team to check their phones. “So, I scheduled a few Korean and North American teams for you; the list’s in the group chat. A few others are still negotiating—will let you know once confirmed. But the current lineup likely won’t change, so you can preview them.”
Sui Ning opened the group file and saw one North American team and three Korean teams, including Tio, whom they’d met in previous international matches.
After explaining the training matches schedule, Chen Chen informed Sui Ning and Ji Yunyu of an invitation from the Little Shark platform: they wanted them to appear on an online livestream show called Esports Face to Face.
Sui Ning frowned, hesitant. “Won’t this affect training?”
Chen Chen explained, “Little Shark said it only takes a few hours, and the date’s still far off—adjustable if needed. The club encourages you both to participate.”
He patted Sui Ning on the shoulder.
The implication was clear: although pro players speak with skill on the field, expanding influence through marketing, events, and endorsements benefits both the club and players—a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Since the coach confirmed it wouldn’t interfere, there was no reason to refuse.
Ning and Ji Yunyu exchanged a glance and both accepted the Esports Face to Face invitation.
——
In the following period, PNG’s performance aligned closely with analysts’ predictions.
Nearly two weeks into the season, PNG consecutively defeated mid-tier teams AQ, NIS, and POF, then beat four lower-ranked teams. With a seven-game win streak and a small stage record of 14-0, they prepared to face Furia.
This was the highest-ranked spring-season team they’d encountered so far and the first to finish in the top ten of spring standings.
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