When they returned backstage, Ji Yunyu’s aura grew noticeably restless. He kept sneaking glances at Sui Ning from the corner of his eyes, looking like he had something to say but couldn’t quite bring himself to.
Sui Ning: ?
“What’s wrong?” the young man asked, puzzled.
Ji Yunyu hesitated for a long time, too embarrassed to admit that he’d gotten so excited in the last game that he now wanted to drag his mid laner into a corner and get a little affectionate with him. They’d only just finished the first game—making that kind of request would make him seem way too indecent.
Sui Ning, however, seemed to realize something. His brows relaxed and he suddenly smiled, lightly tracing his fingertip across the back of Ji Yunyu’s hand twice.
Then he said slowly, “No.”
Ji Yunyu: …I didn’t even ask yet!! This is not the time to be that in sync!
Damn it—this guy was teasing him again!!!
Ji Yunyu felt like he’d been challenged. Unfortunately, before he could decide to resort to “force” and drag Sui Ning away, the little corner he had his eye on was already occupied.
Chen Chen had pulled Wei Ye over there and was quietly giving him some private coaching. No one knew what they were discussing. Meanwhile, the assistant coaches and analysts stayed with the rest of the players, helping them review mistakes.
The second game soon began. PNG once again chose to stabilize the top lane ecosystem and leave Furnace Ram Spirit open, but HTG no longer trusted that pick. In the previous game, they had invested huge resources into top lane, only to be sarcastically scolded by their coach afterward and realize they had been led around by PNG the whole time.
As the coach of the losing side, Tang Yu had also reflected on his own mistakes. In Game 2’s draft he corrected the previous errors, giving up the top-lane Ram Spirit and jungle Linafa that hadn’t brought them any advantage. Instead, he secured Broken King for Guesz, a hero extremely strong in both laning and split pushing. In exchange, PNG picked up White Bird + Shadow Hawk for the bot lane.
For the jungle position, Tang Yu chose the more aggressive Void Devourer for Qu Feiying. The rest of the lineup didn’t change much.
“Their macro is very strong, and their mid–jungle control the tempo tightly. Using a tempo jungler like Linafa makes it hard for us to get anything done,” Tang Yu explained. “We might as well just fight them head-on—no fancy tricks.”
Because of that, Tang Yu believed that although this Game 2 composition might not look “stronger than Game 1” on paper, it would actually perform better against PNG.
Sure enough, when the coaches stepped down to shake hands, Chen Chen’s smile had stiffened noticeably—and his grip was frighteningly strong.
Just as Tang Yu had expected, HTG’s star players finally showed their true strength this game.
“26 minutes—Myerii dies again… His Soul-Sealing Blade Demon is now 0/8, officially beyond godlike death,” the commentator sighed. “In top lane alone, he’s already nearly four thousand gold behind his counterpart. Guesz’s Broken King is basically a raid boss now—one swing for whoever he sees! Worse still, both top laners are split pushing at the same time, and Myerii simply cannot match Guesz. PNG is walking down the exact same path HTG did last game!”
“PNG really tried this game. Wind basically moved into top lane at five minutes, but even that couldn’t stop the lane disadvantage from snowballing further—”
Qing Ci chose a relatively tactful phrasing. “After all, Wind didn’t pick a pure roaming support-type hero like Stone Sentinel. He can’t literally play the lane for his teammate.”
“On the other hand, PNG should realize that Guesz’s carry ability on fighter hero is unquestionable. If they still want to play double side lanes, choosing a fighter like Blacde Demon to directly contest Guesz might not be the best idea…”
At 26:53, Guesz once again solo-killed Wei Ye, single-handedly smashing through the entire top lane and destroying the inhibitor turret. To protect the top inhibitor, PNG—who had been facing HTG in a full team standoff mid—had no choice but to retreat to defend. That opened the door for HTG to take Baron.
Less than twenty seconds later, Baron’s dying roar echoed through the Rift. The entire decision was clean and fluid, leaving the opponent no room to struggle.
Tang Yu clapped in satisfaction and muttered to himself, “That’s more like it. That’s what HTG should look like! Don’t give them chances—just close it out.”
It proved once again that a leading HTG was far more terrifying than an average strong team. With such a massive gold difference, even Sui Ning began to feel overwhelmed.
Finally, at 32 minutes, PNG’s nexus crystal exploded.
“PNG needs to adjust immediately and regain their form!”
Chao Mi worried the young players might be shaken by the loss and hurriedly encouraged them from the broadcast desk. “They can’t keep playing with the same approach as Game 1. In Game 2, HTG has truly shown their fangs! PNG must respond—right now they’re in a very dangerous position!”
Qing Ci added, “Exactly. But the more it comes down to moments like this, the more the players’ mentality must stay steady! Hopefully, the coaching staff can give them a good pep talk backstage!”
——
“Myerii, come here.”
The moment they got backstage, Chen Chen called Wei Ye away again. Several assistants came over with notebooks to hold a discussion with the other four players—but the moment they looked up, four pairs of eyes—some lively, some calm—stared straight at them, all conveying the exact same message: What are they talking about?!
What could possibly be something teammates aren’t allowed to hear?!
In PNG, the head coach’s authority was absolute. The assistants hesitated and exchanged glances, unsure whether they should explain. After lingering awkwardly for a while, the assistant coach Sun Wei—who had been with the team the longest—hinted that the coach was discussing hero selection with Wei Ye.
“What’s there that we can’t hear?” Lin Zhaoxu said, speechless. “Hero picks are just drafting, right? What team hides their draft discussion from their players?” Rolling his eyes, he stood up and was about to sneak over to eavesdrop.
Sun Wei hurriedly grabbed him. “No no no, there’s more than that. Uh… it’s also about team role positioning. Anyway, don’t interfere for now. The coach will handle it!”
As soon as those words were spoken, Sui Ning understood.
From the second half of the regular season until now, Chen Chen had been giving Wei Ye opportunities to play top-lane carries with stronger carry potential—but the overall results hadn’t been ideal. Back when the pressure wasn’t high, PNG had endless room for trial and error. Even if Wei Ye underperformed on a carry top, his teammates could still carry the game back. But now their opponents were getting stronger and stronger. Wei Ye had to find a role within the team that truly belonged to him.
Now that they had come this far, Sui Ning believed that Chen Chen’s ambition as a coach was no smaller than his own. Both of them were determined to secure a ticket to the World Championship, and even hoped to lay their hands on the supreme trophy of the War of Glory.
And the premise of that ambition was simple: they had to become the strongest team in the world. That meant every single person on the roster had to contribute to the team—rather than drag it down.
Thinking of this, Sui Ning glanced at Lin Zhaoxu, who had once gone through something similar. Sure enough, the other man had realized it as well and quietly sat back down.
They both knew that Wei Ye might lose the chance to choose carry heroes and instead take on the role of a pure frontline for the team.
This really wasn’t the kind of thing teammates should hear. For a professional top laner who had risen from the solo-queue king ranks, being told “from now on you’ll just play tanks” was incredibly humiliating.
Especially after facing a player like Guesz.
——
Chen Chen’s private talk with Wei Ye lasted for quite a while. Only in the final three minutes did he hurry back to help the team adjust their mentality and lighten the mood. Sui Ning quietly lifted his gaze and saw Wei Ye following behind the coach with a normal expression, showing no sign that anything was wrong.
He quickly returned to the group. Even Lin Zhaoxu, the one with the sharpest tongue, didn’t ask what had been discussed.
In Game 3, PNG’s draft changed dramatically.
They abandoned their strange fixation on top lane from the first two games. Out of respect, they simply banned Guesz’s signature heroes, then threw most of their remaining bans at jungler Qu Feiying. Finally, as expected, PNG locked in an old friend for the top lane: Verdant Treant · Mioen.
When the audience saw that old tree, even the live chat couldn’t help laughing.
[66666]
[? Little Mye what’s going on, this is your hidden ace?]
[Can’t win lane so he picks Treant—this is the classic recipe!!]
[Guesz is stunned hahaha, PNG is ruthless. Can’t win top lane? Then don’t win it. Just lie flat!!]
[??? What are they doing, abandoning top? Guesz chops trees in seconds, aren’t they just feeding HTG again?]
[ You don’t get it. Ye’s Treant Mioen is actually something. The strongest spear vs the strongest shield—hard to say who wins.]
PNG fans actually had quite a bit of faith in Wei Ye’s Verdant Treant.
Unexpectedly, however, Wei Ye neither won nor lost the lane. The top lane turned into stagnant water—by 15 minutes it was still 0/0/0. Even though Guesz had picked an extremely aggressive laning hero, it didn’t matter. Wei Ye followed a simple philosophy: if you can’t beat him, run; if you can’t run, stall; stall long enough and you’ll heal anyway. He practically annoyed Guesz to death.
Although Wei Ye spoke much less in voice comms, Sui Ning couldn’t help quietly letting out a sigh of relief.
…The difficulty of the game had suddenly dropped dramatically.
At 29 minutes, PNG secured the victory and took a 2–1 lead.
“Congratulations to PNG—they’ve reached match point!!”
“PNG has found their rhythm. Guesz kept looking for opportunities this game, but he simply couldn’t break through—he had almost no presence!”
Chao Mi laughed. “Although Myerii also disappeared from the camera for at least twenty minutes, Treant isn’t afraid of that. All he needs to do is stack tank stats, soak damage, and activate his key skills in team fights!”
“As long as Guesz is contained, PNG isn’t afraid of the other lanes. They fought several mid-game team fights extremely well! And in the final fight, Erllit’s ward placement made another huge contribution, spotting Style’s position! Honestly, compared to last year, Erllit is like a completely different player—his understanding of map vision is getting sharper and sharper!”
Cheng Su: Thanks for the mention. If you had a mid laner who constantly ordered you around about where to ward with full-map vision like a cheat code, you’d improve this fast too…
“Of course, Wind’s performance this game—” Chao M paused, then smiled helplessly. “As outstanding as always! I’ve praised him so much I’m running out of words!! Anyway… you know. Those who understand, understand!”
[????]
[Running out of words praising him?? Help, Chao Mi, you’re a top Chinese literature graduate—you need to pull yourself together!!]
[LMAO Chao Mi really tried. How many poems has he recited during these games already?]
[I approve of this man’s rainbow-praise level (sliding emoji)]
——
In the deciding game, Tang Yu hesitated for a long time. Even as the countdown was about to reach zero, he couldn’t bring himself to spend a precious ban on something like Verdant Treant. He could only trust the “mistake” Guesz claimed earlier and hope he would perform as expected this time. PNG got the hero they wanted.
Facing a PNG just one step away from victory, HTG showed the resilience worthy of their Spring Split runner-up title. Their early game didn’t go well—they lost their bot lane outer turret at 10 minutes, and by 18 minutes they were down 6,500 gold, standing on the edge of a cliff.
But cornered like that, HTG only fought harder.
At 23:19, Qu Feiying—who had been silent for three entire games—stole the crucial Baron from PNG, sounding the horn for their counterattack.
At 25 minutes, thanks to another god-tier play from Yu Ze, they won a perfect team fight 1-for-4. With the Baron buff, they pushed down PNG’s mid tier-two turret and marched straight toward the high ground.
By the 29th minute, the economic gap between them and PNG was only 1,500 gold.
At this point in the game, that difference was basically nothing.
The fans in the arena had fallen into despair, then regained hope again. The support rate displayed on the giant screen surged up and down like a violently beating heart—just like their roller-coaster emotions.
Almost in unison, they clasped their hands tightly in front of their chests, striking a prayerful pose.
Unfortunately, Lady Luck was not on HTG’s side.
Style, the absolute late-game team-fight core of the team, had played cautiously all game, forcing himself not to make a single mistake. But he forgot that he was only human—and humans inevitably make mistakes.
The vision totem provided by his teammates gave him a false sense of safety. In the moment Style’s nerves loosened just slightly, Sui Ning—who had been waiting for him the entire game—did not miss this precious opportunity to turn the tide.
[PNG_Wind (Winter Queen) has slain HTG_Style (White Bird)!]
[PNG_Wind (Winter Queen) is on a Killing Spree!]
“Sty—le!!!!”
The commentator shouted in collapse. “What happened?! Why was he in that position?!!”
“The ward in that brush made him think he was safe!! But Wind watched HTG place that ward, so he naturally knew exactly how much area it could reveal—he stayed in the vision blind spot the whole time waiting for him!!”
“He should never have forgotten that PNG’s mid laner is the Winter Queen, Yuna! In Wind’s hands this hero has ten thousand different ways to engage. Style absolutely should not have been standing that far away from his teammates—!” The commentator nearly ran out of breath mid-sentence.
But in reality, You Guangji had always been standing within reach of his teammates.
The problem was that a fully built archmage Yuna—who had abandoned the half-tank meta build and gone for a pure AP damage setup with six completed items—suddenly bursting out from a blind spot in vision to kill him happened far too quickly.
As one of the strongest AD carries in the country, You Guangji reacted the moment his support hesitated.
He immediately used Cleanse and Flash to create distance, then fired back with a Q–AA–W–AA–E combo so fast it looked like pure instinct. Yet Sui Ning still dodged the final, lethal E skill like a monster and killed You Guangji while barely alive.
When the system kill announcement sounded, Sui Ning finally let out a long breath.
The instant You Guangji cleansed his ultimate, Sui Ning felt—for the first time—a flash of shock that things might slip out of his control. He was certain that You Guangji had not seen him; every move had been pure reaction rather than prediction.
Even with training, the limit of human reaction time is around 0.15 seconds. You Guangji’s cleanse just now was likely close to—or even faster than—that. Sui Ning hadn’t even seen the drifting snowflake animation from his ultimate before it was removed.
…Good thing he still got the kill.
Sui Ning steadied his emotions. You Guangji’s desperate struggle had been fierce, leaving Sui Ning’s health bar dangerously low. In the upcoming team fight, there was only so much he could do.
Fortunately, his most important task had already been accomplished.
[HTG_B (Kaelos Blade) has slain PNG_Wind (Winter Queen)!]
[Shutdown!]
“B takes Wind’s head, but… it’s too late!! At the 35-minute team fight, HTG has to find a way to kill Mir immediately. Without their AD carry, there’s no way they can win this fight!!”
Lin Zhaoxu naturally had no intention of giving HTG that chance. He knew how much his teammates had sacrificed for him, and he instantly entered his ultimate serious mode, pushing every detail of his mechanics to the limit.
He had diligently farmed for more than thirty minutes, reaching nearly 400 minions. Wasn’t it all for this one team fight?
This tense match dragged on until 35:49, when PNG won the decisive fight and marched toward the enemy base with their minion wave.
All five HTG players had more than a minute left on their respawn timers. There was no longer any possibility of a comeback.
On the commentator's desk, Qing Ci sighed in deep regret. HTG’s resilience had moved him—he had hoped they might pull off a miraculous comeback. In the end, however, they still fell one step short.
Even at this moment, HTG’s support rate still stood at 45%. Qing Ci didn’t know how to comfort those fans, nor did he know how HTG could possibly win anymore—this was a situation where even a miracle wouldn’t be enough.
36:31. HTG’s nexus crystal finally shattered.
Bang! Bang!
Several celebratory cannons exploded. Brilliant lights instantly flooded the arena as countless ribbons symbolizing victory drifted down from above.
[HPL Summer Split – Semi-Final]
PNG 3 : 1 HTG
Tens of thousands of HTG fans in the arena burst into tears, unable to look up at the giant screen in the center of the stage. It felt as though the most despairing image in history was displayed there.
The scoreboard faded away. A line of dignified golden letters slowly appeared:
[WINNER — PNG]
“AAAAHHHH—!!”
“PNG—PNG—!! They’ve made history!!”
“We’re in the finals!! We’re going to the capital—AAAAHHHH!!”
The ecstatic PNG fans wiped tears from their faces. Their emotions had ridden the same roller coaster as the HTG fans for nearly an hour. Many female fans had cried their makeup off, yet no one minded—everyone hugged tightly, shouting in celebration.
“3–1! Congratulations to PNG!!! They are the winners of the semifinals—and the first guests of this year’s HPL Summer Finals venue!”
Chao Mi’s eyes were red as well, his voice choking with emotion. “After the regular season, PNG continued proving themselves through every BO5 in the playoffs. Now they’ve reached the mountainside—only one step away from the summit!! Let’s give them our loudest applause once again!”
“At the same time, HTG also showed us their fighting spirit today! Searching for a comeback in desperate circumstances, refusing to slack off, refusing to give up—even coming close to overturning PNG’s dominance!!”
“They showed us the most primitive charm of competition—the refusal to admit defeat!”
The commentator tried to steady his emotions. “Both teams were absolutely incredible today—truly incredible! They are both rightful rulers of the HPL and the pride of the Chinese region! And for HTG fans, don’t be too sad. Today’s loss is not the end. You and the team must gather yourselves quickly—because there’s still another hard battle ahead. September 4th—HTG will face Navic in the decisive match for the final spot in the championship series!”
“And as for PNG fans—”
Chao Mi paused for a moment. Then suddenly roared:
“ARE YOU READY?!”
“September 13th — see you in the capital!!”
“OHHHHHH—!!!”
“THE GRAND FINALS!!”
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