July’s matches posed PNG’s biggest challenge in the constant changes of venue—the players had to travel back and forth between different cities to play away games.
Fortunately, the hotels arranged by the club all had training facilities. The coaching staff even rented luxury suites specifically to set up desks, chairs, and computers for the five players, and the team adapted fairly quickly.
Occasionally, though, they couldn’t book a dedicated esports hotel and had to stay in an ordinary one for a few days. In those cases, Chen Chen was put in charge of negotiating with housekeeping… to have some of the “extra items” in the room moved out.
The middle-aged cleaning lady twitched at the corner of her mouth and pointed at the king-size bed in the suite. “This… you don’t want this?”
Chen Chen nodded. “Right.”
She pointed at the smaller bed beside it. “This one too?”
“Don’t want it.”
“And the bed over there—you don’t want that either?”
“Right.”
“…So you only want one bed?” The auntie slowly scanned the players and coaches, silently counting—one, two, three… six people in total?!
She looked at Chen Chen and hesitated. “Young man, with just one bed, you guys… might not all fit!”
“Pfft—!”
“Help, ‘young man,’ hahahahaha…”
The top laner and the marksman, the two little troublemakers, were laughing the loudest from the back. Lin Zhaoxu, in particular, covered his mouth, his face flushed red, his whole body shaking like a sieve. Sui Ning glanced at Chen Chen’s awkward expression and couldn’t hold back his own laughter either.
Ji Yunyu leaned over and whispered in his ear, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen Brother Chen look this speechless.”
“Pff.” Chen Chen’s gaze swept over. Sui Ning immediately covered his mouth and, copying Ji Yunyu, whispered back, “Same.”
The warm breath of his words brushed against Ji Yunyu’s skin, making it tingle. Without drawing attention, Ji Yunyu reached up and rubbed the tip of his ear.
Under the cleaning lady’s peculiar stare, Chen Chen really was mortified. He was almost thirty already, and being called “young man” in front of these little brats—where was he supposed to put his authority as a coach?!
…On the floor, apparently.
There was nothing he could do; it wasn’t like he could argue with the cleaning lady. Chen Chen sighed, gave a brief explanation, and asked her to call a few helpers.
——
PNG’s hotel life went on for quite a while. In mid to late July, a few players occasionally squeezed in some livestreams, and viewers could see the changes in room dcor in the background of the camera—
[Good lord, they moved again.]
[Where is this? …Judging by the layout, I’m guessing that Hilton in downtown Sucheng.]
[ That’s not just blind guessing, that’s blind guessing gone wrong. PNG’s recent matches have all been at Hengyi Esports Arena—miles away from downtown… What, a 1 p.m. match so you get up at 7 a.m. to travel?]
[LMAO, as a seasoned commuter, please no. I can’t bear to let my babies squeeze into rush-hour subways (lol).]
“Not downtown.”
Sui Ning glanced at the barrage while streaming. “We’re pretty close to Hengyi right now. I won’t say exactly where.”
As he chatted with viewers, he secured another kill.
[Cloudzz (Stellar Sprite) has slain Sad Coffee (Wildfang)!]
[Cloudzz (Stellar Sprite) is Godlike!]
[Sad Coffee] (All): Is the guy on the other side really God Yun?
[Cloudzz] (All): It’s me.
[Sad Coffee] (All): ??? For real? Since when does God Yun play Aeria?? And this clean too?!
[Hehe] (All): Bro, how are you this naive.
[Hehe] (All): Editor checked on honorplayer—Cloudzz is King 116 stars, 77% win rate, all from jungle heroes. And today, magically, he suddenly knows how to play Aeria with 0 games, 0 wins? Wow, I’m curious too!
[She Doesn’t Look At Me] (All): LMAO. Yeah, the account is God Yun’s, but think about it—who can openly log into God Yun’s account, queue ranked, and go on a killing spree with Aeria?
[Howl Howl] (All): Hehehe, kswl^^
[Sad Coffee] (All): …Damn.
Sui Ning blinked innocently.
[Hahahaha, pretending to be the hubby failed.]
[Baby, I mean, this is way too obvious… If you’re gonna pretend, at least play jungle!! (lol)]
[Someone clearly doesn’t care about being recognized. Guess this is what it means to be favored and fearless, hehe.]
[So why are you suddenly playing on God Yun’s account?]
“His streaming hours weren’t enough. Last time he tried to pad hours by streaming a chair and got caught.” Thinking of how Ji Yunyu had been busted last time made Sui Ning want to laugh. He held it in as he explained to chat. “…Where’s Cloud? He went out shopping with Cheng Su. They should be back soon.”
“Why doesn’t the streamer duo with Mior?” Seeing that comment, Sui Ning’s expression turned complicated. “…Nah. I’m boosting Yunyu’s rank a bit—can’t win if I bring Mior along.”
The moment he finished speaking, Lin Zhaoxu not far away clutched his head and wailed, “Aiya—!! How did we even lose that? Seriously, no one’s dealing with the enemy Soulreaper? He’s poking my scalp numb, I can’t take it anymore… Holy crap, this support actually dares spam question marks at me, questioning my hero pick?! What’s wrong with me playing Oracle as marksman? I’m done. How do you even type that upside-down question mark again?!”
[???]
[If I remember correctly, Oracle’s role is supposed to be mid lane… a mage.]
[Totally normal. With Brother Su not around, Son Xu’s ranked games are always a disaster (lol).]
[Ah, memories—Shadow Dancer, 0/13/0!]
[ Deeply memorable. The kid even claimed he was top ten on the national server with Mavis… to be honest, before Feng-bao picked her against TL, I always thought national-server Mavis players were all at Son Xuxu’s level.]
[Holy crap hahaha, this is the worst slander the national server has ever suffered!!]
[That game cost him a ton of behavior score. The system even sent him an email telling him not to intentionally feed and to uphold competitive integrity—LMAO.]
“Feng-bao!” After howling for a while, Lin Zhaoxu turned back to call out to Sui Ning. “How do you type the upside-down question mark?! The one with the dot on top…”
“Alt + numpad 191.”
“Oh right, right, that one…” Lin Zhaoxu immediately started cursing as he typed. “Damn it, sending me question marks, huh? What country is the guy on the other side from anyway? So what if you’re King on the international server? If my ping wasn’t high I’d have slaughtered you already…”
Before he even finished ranting, Wei Ye started wailing at the same time.
“Ugh—!!” Wei Ye bared his teeth at the screen. “I already engaged—why didn’t you follow up? Why, why?!”
Lin Zhaoxu: “Bro, you losing too?”
“Scram, don’t bring your bad luck over here. I still have a chance this game… hey, hey, hey, don’t surrender!!”
Sui Ning: ……
Sui Ning calmly withdrew his gaze, glanced at the “Victory” on his own screen, and said to chat, “See? I told you I can’t queue with those two. I wanted to relax and play some casual games today, no weighted training for now…”
[‘Casual games’: meaning 100+ star top-tier ranked; ‘weighted training’: meaning queueing with fellow pros. Holy crap, I’m dying laughing.]
[This wave, this wave is solo queue > pros!]
[Someone asked why he doesn’t duo with Son Xuxu—Feng-bao’s expression alone has me laughing to death.]
[Feng-bao: Don’t come any closer!! (lol)]
[In this team, only God Yun can drag Feng-bao into duo queue. Everyone else gets insta-rejected.]
[#PNGPlasticTeam# LMAO. Playing matches: together through thick and thin. Playing ranked: get lost, I’m soloing!]
“It’s not that bad—I don’t always solo,” Sui Ning said as he queued up another game. “But those two aren’t kids anymore. They need to be independent. They can’t come running to me every time they lose…”
“Come to you for what?”
Ji Yunyu asked between breaths as he walked up beside Sui Ning, carrying a big plastic bag. The daytime heat in Sucheng was intense; he’d just come back from outside, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
“To get boosted,” Sui Ning said. Seeing that the boy’s hair and neck were damp with sweat, he pulled out a few tissues and handed them over.
Ji Yunyu stepped in front of Su Nng and slightly lowered his head, his gaze fixed on Sui Ning’s face, the implication obvious.
“…Don’t you have hands of your own?” Sui Ning scolded him lightly. The next second, though, he was undone by Ji Yunyu’s watery puppy eyes and could only wipe the sweat for him.
Ji Yunyu grinned. “No hands—holding stuff.”
After enjoying his mid laner’s service, Ji Yunyu finally set the bag down on the desk. Sui Ning picked up a stack of A4 paper and fanned him. “Don’t take your jacket off—be careful you don’t catch a cold from the AC.”
The boy’s hand had just reached his collar when he was scolded. He could only drag out his words pitifully, acting cute. “But it’s really hot—”
Sui Ning sighed. “Bear with it. I’ll fan you.”
“Okay.” Ji Yunyu obediently sat beside him, took out an ice cream from the bag, unwrapped it, and glanced at the screen. “You’re really playing for me… what are you picking this game?”
“Draft hasn’t started yet. Want to play yourself?”
The boy shook his head. “I’ll watch you play. Open up.”
“Huh?” Sui Ning froze.
Seizing the chance, Ji Yunyu slipped a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. “Is it good?”
The cool, smooth, rich sweetness melted instantly on his tongue. Sui Ning thought for a moment—it tasted a bit like chilled cheesecake. “Pretty good.”
Ji Yunyu scooped another spoonful. Sui Ning hesitated. “Aren’t you eating?”
“Not yet,” Ji Yunyu said. “There’s only one spoon.”
Sui Ning instantly got it. “You eat.”
Ji Yunyu gave the spoon a meaningful little shake. “Really? You don’t mind?”
“…Shouldn’t I be the one worried you’d mind? It’s fine, I don’t.”
The words were like heavenly music. Ji Yunyu forced himself not to show how delighted he was; his hand moved like lightning, and he tasted the ice cream too—really sweet.
A trace of sympathy surfaced in Sui Ning’s eyes. Look how overheated the kid was.
……
Before long, Ji Yunyu tried to feed Su Nng ice cream again—only to be dodged.
Ji Yunyu: ?
Ji Yunyu: “Didn’t you say you didn’t mind?”
Sui Ning nodded. “Yeah, I don’t. I mean, it’s for you anyway…”
“…So you thought I just wanted to eat it all myself?”
Sui Ning smiled, a little puzzled. “Isn’t that what you meant?”
Ji Yunyun: ……
Go on, just piss me off already!! Ji Yunyu glared fiercely at Sui Ning, staring so hard that Sui Ning was completely confused, then dug out a huge spoonful of ice cream and stuffed it into his mouth to cool his temper.
[……Uh.]
[Heehee sob sob, damn it—how does this CP manage to make me laugh and cry at the same time?!]
[Watching the start: what kind of shameless couple is this, flaunting their love? Watching the middle: ahhh kswl! Watching the end: …Wind, I hate you for being so dense. Tragic. God Yun, tragic!]
[Help, why does this suddenly feel kind of angsty while I’m shipping them? Aren’t they already, you know, legal now? He clearly likes him—why won’t he just say it?!]
[ This has already been analyzed to death in the CP tag. Here’s the video > dv148990.]
Having been stabbed by their own overanalysis, CP fans tearfully swallowed this sugar-with-knives and, full of confusion, went to look up the explanatory video mentioned in the comments. Its title was The Bible.
The video’s description was bizarre:
[Old description: With comments like this, God Yun is destined to be single for life. The old title was “Look at Straight Guy Cloud.” It’s been changed now!]
[New description: Cloud Follows the Wind Bible. It’s real. I’m crying.]
Clicking it open, Sui Ning and Ji Yunyu appeared in the center of the screen, with Xiao Luo standing to the side.
It was clearly a post-match interview, probably from mid to early June.
…Wasn’t the hottest “Bible” back then the one about “Any team that lets PNG pick Aeria needs to be investigated for betting”? CP fans clicked play suspiciously.
[Xiao Luo: Recently a lot of fans online have been calling you “husband” (laughs). Wind, what do you think about that?
Wind: Uh… it’s okay.
Xiao Luo: Hahaha, what do you mean by “okay”? You’re making my job hard!
Wind: It’s just… nothing special.
Xiao Luo: Actually, this question also reflects how much everyone cares about whether Wind has considered romance-related things. Or maybe you could tell us what your ideal type is like, so we can all try our luck? (laughs)
Wind: I don’t have an ideal type. Right now, I don’t think about anything besides competition.
(Fans wail.)
Xiao Luo: Aww, look how disappointed everyone is—but I do believe Wind is a very pure player, and focusing on training makes sense. What about you, Cloud? Care to share a bit?
Cloud: …Mm.
Cloud: For now, I guess I also won’t think about anything besides competition.
Xiao Luo: Oh? “For now”?
Cloud: My current goal is to, together with him—(points at Sui Ning)… make it to the playoffs, and then keep playing.
Xiao Luo: Wow, you two “good brothers” are really locked in! Cloud, you’re speaking with such certainty—what if you meet someone you like later on?
Cloud: (Silent for a long time.) I think if you truly like or love someone, before getting a response, you’ll first learn restraint—support them, take care of them, and move forward in the same direction together. You’re lovers, but also comrades… If the other person likes me, they should be able to understand my single-minded pursuit of esports, and accompany me.
Xiao Luo: (hurriedly interrupting) Ah, so God Yun prefers the slow-burn kind of feelings? But wouldn’t that be a bit unfair to the other person?
Cloud: I don’t know. But when I like someone… this is how I am.
Cloud: I don’t know whether others think it’s fair. I just know that if the person I like finds out someday… I want to tell them that this is all my own choice. Bec— (doesn’t continue).]
Comment: The unfinished sentence was “Because I like you.” (100k+ likes)
Comment: The first time I watched this a month ago, I almost thought the ship had sunk. At first glance, God Yun’s words about understanding and supporting pursuits sounded really patriarchal! But rewatching it now, I strongly suspect he was actually trying to guess someone’s feelings…
Comment: So humble. Because xx wanted to focus on… and didn’t want to think about anything else, even if Yun liked him a lot, he could only hold it back—just staying by his side is enough, right? I’m crying.
Comment: Help, why are you censoring the name with “xx”? Has it become a sensitive word now?
Comment: Don’t use real names before there’s solid proof. Though honestly, I think God Yun wants to swing Mjolnir over my head every day…
…Help.
CP fans scrolled through the comments and all the long-winded analyses with tears in their eyes, only feeling that this candy was even sharper than before.
——
The next day, PNG faced Navic. Meng Xiyue did not play, and the match was cleanly taken by PNG with a 2–0.
Navic had a rough start to the season and struggled throughout June, but after July, substitute mid laner Fiw seemed to find a style that suited him, syncing better and better with the team and even pushing Navic back toward the top of the standings. Unfortunately, they still fell to the red-hot PNG.
The online “Four Major Elite Teams” chart changed once again.
However, many Navic fans were unconvinced, arguing that this wasn’t a full-strength Navic and that they couldn’t be considered fully expelled from the elite teams yet. After two days of Weibo wars, the “Top Four” gained a “pending” slot for the first time.
Navic (pending), HTG, ( ), ( ).
In mid-July, PNG, ranked second overall by total points, faced the fifth-place Star.L in Sucheng.
Star.L had been outstanding in the Spring Split and had previously represented Huaguo twice at the World Championship. Their strength was undeniable, and they were widely regarded by netizens as a strong contender for the new “Top Four.”
But PNG’s performance had always been describable only as “overwhelmingly dominant.” Even against the experienced Star.L, they showed no sign of timidity, cutting them down 2–1.
This was also the first time PNG dropped a map.
Navic (pending), HTG, Star.L (pending), ( ).
SL fans: …No big deal, at least we got 1 point!
PNG fans: Don’t get ahead of yourselves—we’re just a bottom-feeder that can’t take a hit! What strong team, what elite team, what quality inspector? Never heard of it, doesn’t count, okay!
On July 25, PNG returned to the Longhu Esports Arena in Shanghai, hosting the HPL’s uncrowned king and the then–points leader, Heretics Gaming (HTG).
During Navic’s most glorious seasons, HTG had always been the runner-up, kept firmly in second place. This season, they finally saw a glimmer of hope to break through—
Before the match, analysts everywhere placed their biggest bets on mid laner Boring, Feng Yi, hyping him to the skies and beyond. Defending the glory of the four mythical gods—A, B, C, and D—would all depend on him today…
Unfortunately, fate was unkind. Feng Yi went on stage with a persistent high fever, playing through illness. After HTG took a 1–0 lead, they were chased down and lost the next two games.
In the third and deciding match, HTG had a dream start. Marksman Style hit level two first and secured a double kill, while jungler Viy focused heavily on the bottom side, leaving Lin Zhaoxu and Cheng Su in utter misery.
Before the 13-minute mark, the bottom lane alone had given up five kills, plus a drake and an outer turret.
Sui Ning repeatedly used Teleport to support, coordinating with Ji Yunyu to pick off reinforcements and stabilize the mid game. They barely held things together, locking the gold at 44.1k to 37.9k—still trailing by 6,000.
At 27:19, during the Baron fight, PNG traded 4 for 2 but lost both mid and bot inhibitors, with the gold gap widening to 9,000. However, due to HTG’s own mistakes, they failed to end the game in one push.
At 34:56, HTG forced another Baron fight. PNG responded with sharp game sense, exploiting the mid–top TP advantage and HTG’s unfavorable bot-lane wave. While the remaining members stalled the frontal fight, they successfully backdoored the base and won.
With that, PNG achieved an astonishing 34-game winning streak.
HTG fans were nearly driven mad: “I’m speechless—this was a massively winning game! We could’ve just steamrolled and won!! Does PNG only know how to backdoor? Afraid to teamfight and only knows how to sneak the base?!”
PNG fans had just gotten off the roller coaster and were still shaken, instinctively firing back: “So what, is backdooring illegal? Glory is a tower-pushing game, not a kill-and-farm game—please be informed! As long as you push towers, that’s skill!”
“Bottom-feeder team that only backdoors—”
“Sorry, the bottom-feeder won. The bottom-feeder is now first in points. You go on being eternal second place ^^!”
PNG fans happily saved a screenshot of the standings.
HPL Summer Regular Season Standings
No.1 – PNG 34/0 (68/2)
No.2 – HTG 33/1 (67/1)
No.3 – TL 31/3 (64/6)
……
“Hey, another elite team is about to get kicked out~~!”
“This is unfair!!” HTG fans raged. “Brother Boring was sick, that’s why it turned out like this. Otherwise we’d have wiped you out already!! What Wind, what ‘God Feng’? So trash it’s painful to watch—overhyped mid who only buys water armies! You struggled this much against a sick player; next time it’ll definitely be Boring who wins!!”
Feng’s fans smiled faintly. “Oh? And then what? Feng-bao just solo-killed your Brother B again. 34 out of 34. Sorry about that.”
Some extreme HTG solo-fans still refused to accept it and argued online for days.
Most fans, however, understood the rule that the winner is king. PNG’s comeback from the brink was an undeniable fact, but HTG fans also didn’t think PNG was all that strong—after all, their own ace had played through illness and still built nearly a 10k gold lead.
So they turned their attention to the playoffs. By now, no one questioned whether PNG “could make the playoffs.” The only question left was what kind of record they would enter with.
As for HTG, failing to make the playoffs would be the real headline. Sooner or later, the two teams were bound to meet again.
…But could this “Top Four” thing stop being so nauseating already?!
Fans were about to throw up.
Navic (pending), HTG (pending), Star.L (pending), (vacant—waiting for your challenge!).
Damn it—there are only three teams total, and all three are “pending.” Even a draft wouldn’t be played like this!!
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