The first game was taken by PNG without any suspense.
Backstage, in the team lounge.
“Wuhu—47/47!”
“So strong, our Feng-bao! The king of collecting them all!”
“I heard fans shouting when I came offstage just now!” Lin Zhaoxu pinched his throat and mimicked them. “‘The mid lane of summer belongs to you, Wind—!’ Damn, that line is way too cool!”
Wei Ye immediately chimed in with a cheeky tease. “Jealous? Why don’t you dominate the bottom lane too? Start with those fans’ so-called strongest national-server marksmen—HTG’s Style, Navic’s Liome—just go on a straight-up massacre!”
Lin Zhaoxu chuckled and rolled his eyes hard at him.
“It’s such a joyous occasion, Feng-bao. Shouldn’t you give everyone a performance of that dance you’re best at?”
The teammates kept egging him on from behind.
“Cut it out.” Sui Ning couldn’t help laughing.
Completing the full set of kills, Sui Ning didn’t show much on his face, but inside he still felt a small flutter of excitement. He let out a breath and found a seat to sit down.
Ji Yunyu couldn’t hide his joy at all. He quickly followed and sat right next to Sui Ning, handing him a cup of warm water. “Have some water, my strongest mid laner—47/47. Happy?”
Before Sui Ning could answer, Ji Yunyu happily shoved a throat lozenge into his hand as well.
Although PNG’s comms sometimes sounded like a wet market haggling over prices, most of the time they still knew how to separate nonsense from useful information.
Sui Ning was the team’s shot-caller, and regardless of how intense the match was, Ji Yunyue had long been used to pouring him water and passing him candy during breaks.
…Got to protect the voice, after all. And besides, Ji Yunyu quite liked taking every opportunity he could to look after Sui Ning.
“Mm.” Sui Ning smiled, his eyes curving, rare emotion showing on his face. He took a small sip; the warm water eased the dryness in his throat.
Noticing Ji Yunyu’s gaze, Sui Ning glanced sideways at his expression and raised an eyebrow. “Why are you smiling so happily?”
Ji Yunyu looked at him with a soft smile. “I’m your mirror. If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”
Sui Ning froze.
—Clap, clap!
His scattered thoughts were interrupted, and the young man instinctively turned his head.
Chen Chen clapped his hands to get the players’ attention. “Stay focused. Remember your tasks at every timing. Don’t get sloppy! Next game, we take it straight!”
“Woohoo—!”
“Your Majesty’s command is received—leave it to me, guaranteed win!”
“…Are you an idiot or what.”
Sui Ning frowned, pressed down the strange association from just now, and echoed along with the others.
Ji Yunyu shot him a sidelong glance in silence, secretly lamenting the missed chance.
——
The fifteen-minute break between games passed quickly.
After downing a huge mug of goji berry and malva nut tea to soothe his throat, Tofu cleared his voice at the camera. “Welcome back, everyone! You’re now watching PNG vs EPG, Game Two of this BO3. PNG is currently leading 1–0. If they take this game as well, they’ll end the regular season with a glorious record of 47 straight wins!”
He paused, then added, “Of course, regardless of this game’s result, PNG will still finish first in the regular season this split. As for EPG… it’s a bit unfortunate. Their current ranking has already confirmed that they won’t be making playoffs.”
Chao Mi nodded. “At a time like this, fans of both teams should adjust their mindset—especially EPG fans. Just enjoy the match. Also, during the break, the backstage production team updated us with some news: AQ just defeated POF 2–1 and secured the final playoff spot.”
“That’s right. Now the only remaining suspense on the standings is over in the Navic vs TMX match. They’re currently tied 1–1, and whoever wins will rise to seventh place based on head-to-head results…”
The two commentators chatted for a bit, keeping the atmosphere relaxed.
In Game Two, EPG once again chose blue side. Their bans weren’t anything special—three mages, as per usual.
PNG, meanwhile, had absolutely no intention of showing respect to the opposing Executioner + Phantom Assassin two-trick combo. They completely ignored those two heroes and instead, no one knew from which corner, casually threw three unlucky souls onto the ban list.
After deliberating for a while, EPG still locked in the marksman Executioner as their first pick.
When it came time for PNG to choose, however, the portrait for the first hero stubbornly refused to appear.
The on-site director cut to the camera and found the PNG players deep in discussion.
Chao Mi raised his eyebrows high, letting out a long, puzzled hum. “Hmm—? What’s going on here? What are they trying to do? Is the very first pick really that hard to decide?”
[????]
[This isn’t a still image.]
[Breaking news: EPG scared the top of the standings to death with Executioner (lol)]
[Wait, what are they even talking about? Why do they look so happy? Director, what are you doing—hurry up and let us hear the comms too!!]
The director and referees who could actually hear the comms: …As if we’d dare play that. If we did, PNG fans would drop by 9999 overnight—all suffocated to death by altitude sickness from the sheer level of nonsense.
Even the referees were too embarrassed to tell the fans that PNG’s comms right now were livelier than a wet market. Too shameful.
“Three years! Three years, and then another three years!” Wei Ye grumbled loudly, full of resentment. “If this keeps up, I’ll be able to take the Spirit Fawn and play top lane—so why the hell can’t I play a fighter for once?!”
Lin Zhaoxu snickered. “Because you lost the draw.”
Wei Ye bristled. “Who came up with this stupid idea that the last game’s comp depends on drawing lots? Do you people have any competitive integrity? Any respect for the stage?! Are you all treating the match like a joke?!”
Chen Chen smiled behind him. “Then why did you put [four supports + Myerii as the only fighter] into the lottery box? And even specify the player?”
Wei Ye: hehe.
“You were faster than anyone to agree when you heard ‘drawing lots,’ and now you’re doing Sichuan opera face-changing because you didn’t get picked?” Lin Zhaoxu shook his head with a faux-solemn sigh. “This one? This one’s called reaping what you sow.”
“Damn it, the person I least want lecturing me in this lifetime is you!”
“Then why did you put in such an outrageous lot?”
Sui Ning: …
The corner of Sui Ning’s mouth twitched. “You don’t really have the qualifications to call Wei Ye outrageous either.”
Lin Zhaoxu: hehe.
——
In the final seconds of the countdown, PNG’s first pick locked in Shadow Hawk.
“I really don’t get it,” Tofu almost sprayed his water. “It’s just Shadow Hawk. Does that really require that much discussion? This hero works with literally any comp—an absolute T0 support. What is there to think about? Second pick, grab White Bird—”
Then PNG instantly locked in their second pick: Lord of Fate Star, another support who buffs allies’ attack power.
Tofu: ?
[????]
[??? What is going on? Misclick??]
[Huh????]
“Wait, let’s ask the director…”
Chao Mi pressed his earpiece, waiting for backstage confirmation. His expression gradually twisted. “The d-director says PNG didn’t pick wrong… they really meant to choose this.”
The live chat was instantly drowned in a sea of question marks.
EPG was also completely baffled by this combo. Jian Yang stared in shock. “What kind of setup is this?”
“I don’t get it… uh, so what do we pick?”
Coach Zhang Ming pondered for a moment. “They’re probably trying to play some flashy gimmick. Ignore them—we pick our own.”
“OK.”
EPG continued their draft accordingly. PNG, not to be outdone, followed up with Lightforged Titan + Little Traveler.
At this point, the four-support composition was complete.
Tofu—who had spent years on stream messing around with gimmick comps—finally understood. His mouth twitched uncontrollably— Damn it!! Isn’t this exactly the four-support-plus-a-dog comp he used to spam every day just for views?!
Then the fifth pick was obvious: a marksman who could stand there and slaughter five people. Void Ranger, Frost Archer, or Gunslinger Caitlyn—pick one.
[…? What is this, ultimate four-protect-one??]
[Uh, am I really watching an HPL match right now?? This isn’t some variety streamer’s channel, is it?]
[Honestly it’s not bad—Titan top, Lord of Fate Star mid, then a late-game marksman with stable, explosive damage… since when did Son Xuxu get this kind of treatment?]
[It’s over, Son Xuxu is staging a coup!!]
[ Show some respect—this game he’s become Dad Xu]
[LMAO, “xu is die” making a comeback, huh]
[Gotta say, pros really are pros—even their clown comps are a tier above streamers’.]
[Streamers doing 4-protect-1 love picking stuff like Holy Angel or Tidal Witch—completely useless. PNG’s comp has engage, dive, CC, and team buffs. It’s not even the same level.]
Chao Mi got it too, rubbing his forehead with a helpless laugh. “In that case, PNG doesn’t even need to hide their fifth pick. Just choose one of those late-game hyper-carry marksmen…Tofu, you’re a national-server marksman yourself—what do you think is best?”
Tofu repeated the same three choices he’d just mentioned, then added, “…All of those are fine. Night Stalker could barely work too. The rest are a bit off, but if Mior is really confident, it’s not impossible. Anyway, just don’t pick the sniper one—whatever you do, don’t pick [Night Watchman]!”
The audience burst out laughing at the sheer despair in his voice.
Night Watchman Wuming was the most unconventional of all marksmen. Unlike other marksmen who could rub their mouse till it sparked, pulling off 1-second-5-A-click limit mechanics and becoming the late-game backbone of the team, 70% of Wuming’s damage came from his W skill.
[W – Reaper’s Eye]: Wuming uses his beloved rifle [Whisper] to remain stationary and begin aiming, attempting a single snipe. Deals 255% physical damage to the target hit (doubles against targets below 45% HP) and reduces their movement speed by 90% for 0.75 seconds. This snipe cannot crit.
When [Whisper] scores a kill or assist, it immediately gains one bullet, storing up to three at once.
“Night Watchman really needs a specific comp to work,” Chao Mi said with a dismissive smile. “After all, he’s the only hero who turns a MOBA into an FPS…”
With PNG’s current lineup, pairing it with Night Watchman would be nothing short of hanging oneself on a birthday. This sniper had everything going for him except consistency—miss the shot and you’re basically feeding. And what PNG lacked most right now was reliable damage.
And yet, the very next second, PNG’s fifth pick dealt Chao Mi a fatal blow.
[Night Watchman · Wuming] >> Confirmed.
“...Huh???” Tofu craned his neck, almost popping his eyes out. “It’s locked in???”
“N–no, wait… this… this comp is playing Night Watchman?? Hold on, does Mior even know how to play this hero?!”
“Four-protect-one, protecting a sniper???”
Before he could finish being shocked, PNG swapped their heroes just before the composition confirmation countdown ended.
Top: Lightforged Titan
Jungle: Lord of Fate Star
Mid: Night Watchman
Marksman: Little Traveler
Support: Shadow Hawk
[……????]
[????]
The barrage was so stunned it didn’t even know what to say anymore.
[Uh… this…]
[So in teamfights, the only ones up front are Titan and Shadow Hawk, Night Watchman sniping from the back, with Lord of Fate Star and Little Traveler standing left and right like guardian statues!!]
[Nice, EPG’s won big—every fight is 5v2!! (lol)]
[Oh no, it really turned into Wind the god carrying four dogs!!]
[Help LMAO what kind of trash comp is this, even I wouldn’t pick this in Bronze—]
[I just got here, is this really the secret killer comp the regular-season #1 hid for an entire season???]
[Am I the only one whose focus is elsewhere? Son Xuxu still didn’t get to enjoy four-protect-one—his “team junior” status is officially confirmed!]
“The draft is locked in… let’s, uh… look forward to an exciting performance from both teams…” Chao Mi squeezed the words out through clenched teeth, slowly closing his eyes, unable to bear watching.
——
“Let me state this upfront.”
Sui Ning tried hard to keep his expression under control, his voice trembling slightly. “I’ve never played this before.”
“It’s fine, Feng-bao,” Lin Zhaoxu said breezily. “Coach Chen agreed to the lottery results—if this crashes and burns, it’s all on him!”
Backstage, Chen Chen: ?
Ji Yunyu also comforted him. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. That guy over there is a real inter even now and still has the nerve to act like nothing’s wrong, doesn’t he?”
Lin Zhaoxu immediately glared. “What the hell are you saying? My Little Traveler is cracked, okay? 51% win rate in solo queue, hard-carrying every game!”
Cheng Su sneered. “Heh, I’m begging you—don’t blind me later with your garbage mechanics.”
“LOL, just you wait—oh shit, don’t auto my minions!! Is this how you play support??”
“Are you stupid? You can’t last-hit that one! And besides, everyone’s a support right now—no one gets to talk!”
Doing his best to ignore the noisy bot-lane duo in the background, Sui Ning let out a long sigh to steady himself.
“Thanks,” he said softly. Then, a little hesitantly, he looked at Ji Yunyu. “You… can you beat jungle camps?”
Ji Yunyu: …
This was the most terrifying sentence he had heard since going pro.Not very damaging—but deeply insulting.
Still, Ji Yunyu looked at his perilously low HP bar, then at the red buff in front of him, which was furiously punching him one hit after another. He fell silent for a long while.
Finally, he spoke in humiliation: “…I can’t.”
Sui Ning: “…I’ll help you.”
——
The audience had expected this game to be absurd, but they hadn’t expected it to be this absurd—
In the first ten minutes of the match, Sui Ning’s sniper shots barely hit anyone.
[You can tell from that super-cautious aiming—Feng-bao really has never played Night Watchman]
[LMAO another miss!!]
[It’s over, Feng-bao’s reputation is in shambles hahaha]
[Baby, your mage skillshots are so accurate—shouldn’t Night Watchman be accurate too?? Aren’t they basically the same?!]
[Dead lmao, god among mages, ghost among marksmen]
[ Then how do you explain that Shadowmoon Gun last game? Expelled from the marksman class? (lol)]
[No choice, Night Watchman has a wall compared to other heroes… no, scratch that—he has a wall compared to the entire game]
Even the commentators had lost their minds, glaring hard at the red aiming line in front of Night Watchman on screen. “One shot—raises his gun—ahhh!! Fatal miss!!!”
Sui Ning’s scope locked onto Jian Yang, the trembling red line swaying around his target.
“Another shot—hey, this angle’s good, this one’s it—nice!! Solo kill on the air!!”
“Aim—aim again!”
“Hey hey hey, he’s about to walk out of range, aren’t you going to shoot—”
[Red team has slain a dragon!]
The commentators were stunned. “Wait—what? That shot stole the dragon?! So Wind was actually aiming at the dragon the whole time?!”
[666666]
[Oh no, he got to show off again!]
Sui Ning: …Actually, no.
He really did just miss.
“Ahh, that low HP—just one more hit!!!”
Tofu was so frustrated he could’ve beaten iron into steel, while Chao Mi was laughing so hard his stomach hurt. “Mior looks so anxious watching from the side—I swear he wants to grab Wind’s mouse himself! Or just go in and kill them, but he can’t. He’s on Little Traveker this game, he has to stay next to Wind and protect him!!”
[PNG_Wind (Night Watchman) has slain EPG_Farcry (Void Corruptor)!]
The screen went gray, and Jian Yang collapsed onto the desk laughing. “Holy shit hahahaha—Brother Feng!! With that aim, I’m almost moved to tears! He seriously can’t hit anyone, hahaha!!”
Tofu nearly jumped out of his commentator chair too, overwhelmed with joy. “Finally!!! He sniped someone!!!”
[OHHHHHH!!!]
[Holy crap, that shot—I almost cried! He finally hit a person!!]
After countless fatal misses, both the audience and the commentors could see it clearly—Feng-bao really didn’t know how to play Night Watchman!
Once that thought took hold, nothing else mattered anymore—not the game state, not objectives, not gold. Hundreds of millions of viewers had only one demand: Hurry up, we want to see Feng-bao missing snipes, getting frustrated and teary-eyed!! Camera, switch over now!!
But the very next second, Sui Ning suddenly aimed at a triangular brush with no vision—and fired straight into it.
[PNG_Wind (Night Watchman) has slain EPG_Wuhoo (Shadow of Vengeance)!]
Ruan Zhou: ?
Ruan Zhou slowly turned around like his brain had short-circuited and demanded of his teammates, “Didn’t you say he couldn’t hit??”
Jian Yang: …
“What was that supposed to be—???” Chao Mi was stunned too. “A blind snipe? Wait, how did Wind know someone was in the bush?? Prediction??”
[????]
[Holy shit, guys, hacks!!]
[I’m at the venue, I’m that guy—I can confirm it’s real! That’s wallhacks, I just bought it from Elite Force and gifted it to Feng-bao (lol)]
[LMAO at that moment, Feng-bao prayed to every past Worlds champion mid laner: please, let me land a shot! But only cheats answered him… none of the Worlds mids play Night Watchman anyway hahaha]
[So uh… does Feng-bao actually know how to play Night Watchman or not?]
[ I think he does—this shot alone proves his skill]
[+1]
Feng fans were deeply wounded: …? So where’s the promised teary meltdown?? It was right there, that big—and poof, gone!!
Even his teammates were stunned by that lightning-bolt snipe.
“Holy—Feng!”
“66666, insane, Feng-bao!!”
Sui Ning calmly tightened his grip on the mouse. “…Ahem. Slipped, my hand.”
Teammates: ?
Seeming to sense the question marks hovering over everyone’s heads, Sui Ning’s gaze drifted guiltily aside. He tried to change the subject. “We’re ahead in gold. Want to force a fight?”
“Let’s go!” Lin Zhaoxu answered first. This woke him right up. “Fight mid, I can Flash-engage!!”
Even though he’d just flashed into thin air three times in a row, that didn’t stop him from discovering the joy of playing Little Traveler!
“Ah—no, no, no!!”
“Don’t!”
“Don’t waste Flash—Flash has dignity too…”
——
“Uh, PNG looks like they want to force a mid fight, but with this comp, a straight-up teamfight might be a bit…”
Tofu swallowed the words brain-dead and rephrased, “difficult…? It’d be better to let Wind poke them down first, then have Cloud or Myerii clean up.”
Chao Mi stroked his chin. “Yeah, relying on Wind alone might be a bit much—he can’t snipe everyone. But Tofu, have you noticed that from mid game onward, Wind’s aim suddenly got way better?”
Tofu didn’t think much of it. “I think Wind definitely knows how to play Night Watchman. He was just rusty in his first official match—once his hands warm up, it’s fine!”
[Even warming up shouldn’t create that big a gap though… is it possible all those earlier misses were intentional??]
[ You think Feng-bao is as bored as you?]
[Then how do you explain fatal miss xN in the first 10 minutes, and god-tier accuracy starting at 13 minutes?]
[No idea, but Night Watchman really does depend on feel… Schrdinger’s sniper]
“EPG is moving in too—Mior goes in to start the fight!! Oh no, that’s way too rushed, you have to let Wind poke first! And besides, why is a Little Traveler engaging anyway?!” Tofu frowned deeply—then relaxed slightly the next second. “—Nice snipe!”
In PNG’s comms, Cheng Su started cursing. “Do you even know how to play support? I told you I would engage! I asked you to be a bodyguard and you can’t even do that?!”
Lin Zhaoxu shot back, “There was clearly an opening just now!”
“Bullshit opening—stop messing around already, even Little Vagabond wants to disown you…”
They started arguing again.
Sui Ning exchanged a look with Ji Yunyu and weakly shook his head. “Three of them are low HP. They can’t defend anymore. Just push—”
Ji Yunyu sighed helplessly. “My hero can’t even take towers. Or rather… the whole team only has you who can push.”
Sui Ning: ……
This was absolutely the most exhausting match he had played so far!!
——
In the end, PNG traded 4 for 5, and Sui Ning pulled off his signature move—TP to backdoor the base.
As he left the stage, he staggered, feeling utterly drained.
Victory!
“Congratulations to PNG—!!”
Chao Mi shouted excitedly. “Although the final game’s draft was pretty dramatic, PNG once again relied on their powerful macro and truly dominant strength to secure the win!!”
“With that, they officially conclude their Summer regular season—47 wins, 0 losses, the undisputed number one!!”
The live audience couldn’t help but rise to their feet, waving their support banners excitedly and cheering the home team’s name.
“PNG——!!!”
“PNG——! Number one!!”
Tofu clapped with emotion, the proud look on his face exactly the same as the fans’.
Chao Mi waited a moment, then picked up a sheet of paper from the corner of the desk. “Breaking news—just now, Navic also defeated TMX 2:1 in Sucheng… which means that as of now, all ten playoff spots have been fully decided!”
Hearing this, fans immediately pulled out their phones to refresh Weibo, and sure enough, the standings updated.
NO.1 – PNG 47/0 (94/2)
NO.2 – HTG 46/1 (93/4)
NO.3 – Star.L 40/7 (85/14)
There wasn’t much change among the top three compared to earlier predictions. Below them came TL (39/8), GEN (38/9), FR (35/12), Navic (31/16), TMX (31/16), ELG (30/17), and AQ (28/19).
“The HPL playoffs have always used a double-elimination format, dividing the top ten teams by points into Regions A and B—and this year is no exception!”
As Chao Mi explained, the playoff bracket appeared on the central screen.
[HPL Summer Playoffs – Knockout Stage]
[Round 1]
Region A: TMX (8) vs ELG (9) – Game 1
Region B: Navic (7) vs AQ (10) – Game 2
[Round 2]
Region A: Winner of G1 vs GEN (5) – Game 3
Region B: Winner of G2 vs FR (6) – Game 4
[Round 3]
Region A: Winner of G3 vs TL (4) – Game 5
Region B: Winner of G4 vs Star.L (3) – Game 6
[Round 4]
Region A: Winner of G5 vs PNG (1) – Game 7
Region B: Winner of G6 vs HTG (2) – Game 8
[Semifinal]
Winner of G7 vs Winner of G8 – Game 9
[Fourth-Place Match]
Loser of G7 vs Loser of G8 – Game 10
[Third-Place Match]
Loser of G9 vs Winner of G10 – Game 11
[Grand Final]
Winner of G9 vs Winner of G11 – Game 12
Tofu added, “Same as previous years: teams ranked 1/4/5/8/9 go to Group A, and 2/3/6/7/10 go to Group B. Starting from Round 4, the double-elimination rule kicks in—this is to ensure the top teams don’t get knocked out by an upset too early!”
“Exactly, that’s why we were keeping an eye on the Navic vs TMX match just now—it affected the groupings.”
Chao Mi smiled. “After all, finishing eighth means ending up in the same group as PNG! Judging by their recent form, I don’t think there’s any team that’d want to run into PNG that early!”
Tofu nodded. “That’s right! And for PNG fans here at the venue, this schedule is a huge relief. PNG’s matches have been extremely packed lately—starting from Round 4 in the playoffs gives the players more time to prepare and rest. Plus, with double elimination, it’s basically like having a revive item right from the start!”
Chao Mi suddenly laughed. “Speaking of which, something just occurred to me… even though the playoffs haven’t started yet, PNG seems to have broken their own best-ever team record again—Round 4!”
[Damn, as long as your team history is bad enough, anything you do later counts as a new record! (lol)]
[Is this PNG’s first-ever playoff appearance? That’s insane—absolute dark horse!!]
[Starting directly from Round 4 feels like it saves so much energy! Being first in the standings is OP!! No wonder everyone fights so hard for top spots in the regular season!]
[This summer, you guys are the GOATs!!]
[Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!!]
[PNG—in my heart, there’s only one possible winner of Game 12 this season. Guess who?]
[PNG chargeeeee!!! Take G12!!]
----------
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