#PNG 3:1 HTG#
#Wind Triple Kill#
#Replay: How Style Got Instantly Deleted#
#How to Spot Cheaters: Vision Hack Edition#
As expected, the moment the BO5 ended, the trending list on Weibo was once again completely dominated.
The topic square kept reposting short replay clips of various highlight plays, while the comment sections looked like a chaotic monkey convention—providing valuable research material for studying humanity’s evolutionary regression.
Comment: Holy shit holy shit my PNG!!! Charging straight into the finals!!
Comment: It’s the finals AHHH hehe hehe—
Comment: Hehehe my little broken team, you’re finally going to the capital QuQ
Comment: After this BO4, I’ve already been trained into Wind’s shape ^^
Comment: Is it possible I was already Feng-bao’s loyal puppy? ^^
Comment: Ah, Cloud… my Cloud…
Comment: Wait, does Gin also watch HPL??
[War of Glory Official V]: Congratulations to PNG for defeating HTG 3:1 in the semifinals and advancing to the Grand Finals! September 13, Capital Sports Arena, Beijing — see you there!
— [PNG vs HTG Replay]
— [Ticket Sales Link]
Comment: The ticket link won’t open~ I’m going to secretly assassinate the officials who didn’t start pre-sales earlier or buy more servers for the website ^^
Comment: If I can’t get a ticket, some of my beautiful personal virtues will disappear ^^
Comment: (twisting) (crawling endlessly) (hiring hackers to attack the server)
——
Inside the arena, the excited roaring and shouting lasted nearly half an hour. HTG fans had already left in silence, wiping tears and supporting each other as they walked out. Only PNG fans remained in the stands, eagerly waiting for the post-match interview.
This time it was a group interview, and even Chen Chen was dragged onto the stage. After the PNG members obediently lined up in a row, the host’s first question—unsurprisingly—was directed at Sui Ning: how he had located Feng Yi during that crucial triple kill in Game 1.
Sui Ning explained the reasoning as simply as possible, and a wave of astonished cries immediately erupted from the audience.
“Good lord, Feng-bao is that meticulous???”
“Bao, your level of detail is making me dizzy!”
“I didn’t understand a word, but I’m still going to say: what details!”
Sui Ning: …Thanks.
The host clearly had no intention of letting him off easily and asked with a mischievous smile: “For the second question—during the final team fight of Game 1, could you evaluate Breathe’s Flash-ult engage?”
At the time, Yu Ze’s beautiful R-Flash had caught three PNG players, and only Sui Ning and Ji Yunyu managed to dodge thanks to their quick reactions.
…Wasn’t this question just pure instigation?
Sui Ning felt helpless and didn’t really want to answer something so pointless. But beside him, Lin Zhaoxu casually started praising his mid and jungle “two dads” again. Normally, Wei Ye would chime in with him, but this time he was unusually quiet.
The smile at the corner of Sui Ning’s lips faded slightly.
Fortunately, Lin Zhaoxu’s comedic talent was too strong. Both the fans and the host burst out laughing. Afterward, the host asked a few questions to the teammates and the coach one by one before finally calling on Ji Yunyu.
Host: “The decision to catch Viy was both beautiful and risky. From the spectator’s view we could see PNG didn’t actually have vision of Viy. Cloud, what were you thinking at the time?”
Ji Yunyu thought for a moment. “Probably instinct. Wind and I both felt that HTG’s first move in the red jungle looked really strange. There had to be something going on.”
“So you decided to ambush Viy because of that? You looked very confident.”
Ji Yunyu shook his head. “No. Until Viy actually appeared near the blue buff area, I wasn’t confident at all.”
The host looked surprised. “Then what made you commit to that decision?”
Ji Yunyu subconsciously almost turned to look at Suning but forced himself to stop. He kept reminding himself: This is a semifinals post-match interview. The cameras are ultra-HD with zero blind spots. If you don’t want trouble, pretend you’re a piece of wood… Alright, he had to admit he simply couldn’t restrain himself. His mid-laner boyfriend was ridiculously cute, ridiculously amazing, and he desperately wanted to show him off, okay?!
Ji Yunyu took a deep breath and answered: “I was hesitating at the time. But Ning—…Wind said I was right.”
Host: “So Cloud was actually unsure at the time, but Wind’s words made you trust your decision?”
“Yeah.”
Fans: —???
“Holy shit?”
“When the actual people keep saying things like this every day, how are we supposed to stop shipping them QuQ?”
“I’m going to cry tears of joy for my OTP, double happiness!!”
Even the host couldn’t hold back an auntie-like smile. She turned toward Sui Ning, the microphone in her hand itching to ask another question.
“……”
Sui Ning: Don’t look at me. I’m wood. Wood doesn’t talk.
——
That night, Chen Chen excitedly led the players to the most famous late-night bar in the nearby shopping district—well, technically the barbecue restaurant next to it. With a grand wave of his hand, he declared heroically: “Order whatever you want. I’m paying.”
“Yay—!!!”
“The club already booked our plane tickets,” Chen Chen said while slurping a bowl of foil-baked vermicelli noodles, his voice a bit muffled from eating. “Afternoon of the 9th.”
The 9th—meaning after the match between HTG and Navic.
Sui Ning immediately realized what that meant. “Then the revival match… we…?”
“We definitely need to watch their match,” Chen Chen replied. “I’ll give you two days off then.”
“You can watch at the base or go to the venue. If everyone wants to go in person, we’ll buy tickets together.”
There were still more than ten days before the finals, so taking a day to scout their potential opponent made perfect sense.
“Can we even still get tickets now?” Lin Zhaoxu questioned. “Isn’t that match basically a rematch of the Spring Finals? Tickets should’ve sold out long ago!”
Chen Chen calmly pulled several VIP tickets out of his pocket. “If you don’t want to go, don’t go.”
“Holy shit?!”
“You already bought them—and they’re VIP seats! Then why even ask if we want to go?”
Chen Chen snorted. “If you guys didn’t want them, I could sell them. Ever heard of economic sense?!”
After arguing for a while, the coach—like an old father—still handed the tickets to each player one by one.
Then his tone shifted as he reminded them: “In the next few days, take some time to pack the things you’ll need for Beijing. Mainly clothes. Don’t forget your keyboards and mice, and bring backups too. If something breaks there, you might not be able to buy the ones you’re used to.”
Lin Zhaoxu couldn’t help complaining, “It’s just packing a backpack. Doesn’t even feel like we’re going on a trip.”
Chen Chen rolled his eyes. “That’s because you’re not delicate at all. Even the makeup artist before matches told you to take better care of yourself. Have you used the skincare products we bought you? If you keep ignoring that stuff, you’ll retire and turn into an ugly bastard who can’t find a partner!”
Lin Zhaoxu: …??
Is this really how coaches talk now?!
Furious, Lin Zhaoxu ordered three more portions of the most expensive barbecue.
——
By the time they finished messing around and returned to the base near midnight, the exhaustion from the match could no longer be suppressed. Even Sui ning—the team’s famously tireless workhorse—decided to give himself a rare break. Instead of heading to the training room, he followed Ji Yunyu straight back to the dorm.
The moment they entered the room, Sui Ning collapsed onto the soft bedding. Ji Yunyu unceremoniously climbed on top of him, bracing his arms to hold a bit of space between them.
“What were you thinking about earlier on the way back?”
He looked down at the person in his arms and asked, “I talked to you, but you seemed distracted.”
Sui Ning’s neck—sensitive—was brushed by Ji Yunyu’s hair, making him instinctively shrink back a little. “I was thinking…”
“Thinking about what?”
“Wei Ye,” Sui Ning answered honestly. “He was probably hit pretty hard today. His condition didn’t look great. He’s still in the training room.”
“I see… that does sound serious,” Ji Yunyu sighed deeply. Then he added, “But are you really going to talk about someone else while lying on my bed?”
“Ah.”
Sui Ning stared at him blankly for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. “…Pfft.”
“Pfft—HAHAHAHA—”
“What?!” The young man laughed so hard his beautiful dark eyes filled with misty tears, making Ji Yunyu’s heart itch. “What kind of line was that? It sounds like something straight out of a TV drama!”
“What? That was my honest feeling! Stop laughing!” Ji Yunyu snapped back, but he felt awkward himself now. He had sounded so confident earlier, yet after Sui Ning laughed like that his face burned red.
He didn’t even know why he’d said something like that. Maybe he’d read too many chapters of Strategies for Winning Back Your Lover lately…
But even if the wording was rough, the logic wasn’t wrong!! He had spent the whole match thinking about Sui Ning, yet Sui Ning kept worrying about someone else. Who could stand that?!
Ji Yunyu pinched the young man’s smooth cheek with mild dissatisfaction. Then he reconsidered: Wei Ye was also their teammate in battle—a brother, even family. Of course, Sui Ning would care about him.
“…,” he sighed silently, his attitude softening. After all, it was Sui Ning’s sincerity and kindness that had completely bewitched him. If Sui Ning didn’t care about his teammates, that wouldn’t even feel like him anymore.
Sui Ning also realized the issue. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and leaned close to whisper in his ear. “Don’t be unhappy.”
“You’re different from them. I care about you the most.”
His smiling voice was soft, each word teasing at Ji Yunyu’s heart.
Ji Yunyu immediately made a pathetic little “woo” sound and hugged Sui Ning tightly, rubbing against him like a small dog happily coaxed by its owner.
They stayed like that, clinging to each other for a long time. But after a while Ji Yunyu became slightly dissatisfied again. He wasn’t actually a dog—how could he be this easy to comfort?
He stared fixedly at Sui Ning.
Under that intense gaze, Sui Ning felt a little shy and looked up softly. “What’s wrong?”
Ji Yunyu pondered for a moment. “Do you remember what you said to me during the match today?”
“Which line?”
“In Game 1,” Ji Yunyu said, “when I was trying to find Viy.”
Sui Ning thought of the post-match interview and hesitated before asking, “…‘You were right?’”
“No, before that.” Ji Yunyu lowered his head further, rubbing against the young man’s neck. “You definitely remember.”
Sui Ning suddenly understood—how could he not remember?
He cupped Ji Yunyu’s face, gazed into those deep black eyes, and said word by word:
“Do what you want to do—mm!”
Ji Yunyu kissed him.
This wasn’t their first kiss. But unlike before, Ji Yunyu’s kiss this time was gentle and slow, filled with the cherishing and joy of someone holding a hard-won treasure. Their warm, damp lips brushed and pressed together, making Sui Ning feel as though he were surrounded by calm ocean waves, unconsciously following the other’s movements.
In a hazy moment, Suning seemed to hear Ji Yunyu’s hoarse voice murmuring softly: “…I heard it.”
“I’ve always listened to you the most, haven’t I?”
He stubbornly insisted on getting a satisfying answer, but Sui Ning had no spare breath to respond.
——
Over the next few days, PNG’s training schedule wasn’t very heavy. Sui Ning paid close attention and noticed that on the night of the semifinals, Wei Ye had stayed up all night playing ranked with Soul-Sealing Blade Demon. His match records were full of MVP scores like 10/0 and 12/3, completely different from the 0/9 he’d had in the match. But in the final game that day, he played Verdant Treant.
After that, aside from team practice, Wei Ye’s personal ranked history became filled with frontline tank heroes.
Sui Ning didn’t know how to react, but he could tell Wei Ye had already made a decision. Since the other man’s mental state seemed stable enough, there was no need for him to worry too much.
The revival match on September 4 was also held at the Shanghai Central Sport Arena. PNG arrived at the venue early that day, only to discover that the two competing teams truly lived up to their reputation as long-standing HPL giants with deep grudges. Their fans were extremely disciplined. After lining up to enter, they split neatly into two groups, sitting on the left and right sides with a clearly defined aisle in the middle. Throughout the entire process, they didn’t say a single word to each other—didn’t even glance at the opposite side. Compared to them, PNG wandering around empty-handed looking for seats seemed oddly suspicious.
Chen Chen: “…I bought VIP tickets, what’s suspicious about that? What kind of nonsense is that? Do you even understand the value of the VIP section?”
Sui Ning: …Please talk a little less.
Still, not holding anything did look a bit strange. Even though the lighting in the stadium was dim, plenty of people glanced curiously at them along the way. After thinking for a moment, Chen Chen told the analyst to grab a few light boards from other teams’ fan areas and handed them to the five players beside him.“Hold these. Remember to wave them later.”
The assistant coach immediately broke into a sweat. “If we cheer for the teams on stage and someone films it, won’t people stir up drama online??”
“What’s the big deal? Lots of teams come to scout!” Chen Chen said indifferently. “No matter who wins or loses, both of these teams still have a chance to get a seed for Worlds. Tons of teams are watching them. Where do you think my tickets came from? I grabbed them from another coach—…I mean, bought them.” He really didn’t think it mattered. They were paying customers watching a match—what problem could there be?
Besides, the analyst had cleverly grabbed cheering items from both teams’ fan groups. If they waved both sides’ gear, there wouldn’t be any stance issue at all—PNG’s stance was simple: whoever wins or loses, it’s fine.
After distributing everything, Lin Zhaoxu ended up with a sign reading: [Lime Go Go~ Jiayou Husband Is the Best] His face instantly turned green. “Holy crap, who gave me this?! No no no, I’m not holding a sign calling the guy who can destroy me in lane ‘husband’—”
“You just need to wave it, not shout along!” Wei Ye said smugly while lifting his own board reading: [Top Lane of the Rift Belongs to Guesz] “Your sign’s poor quality. Look at my baby Guesz’s—if you look from the left or right it changes colors!”
Lin Zhaoxu: ?
“‘Baby Guesz’? What kind of weird nickname is that…”
Had their top laner already gone insane?? The more Lin Zhaoxu thought about it, the more horrified he felt. He turned to ask for help, only to see Cheng Su calmly placing a light-blue headband on his head, the words on it glowing brightly: [Support God Breathe Opens Five at Once]
Lin Zhaoxu: “…Hello, 120? My teammates’ brains aren’t working. Send help.”
Right now he just wanted to switch seats with the mid-jungle duo.
Unfortunately, their situation wasn’t much better. The analyst let them pick which one they wanted. Without hesitation, Sui Ning chose the small hair clip that read [Meng Xiyue Cpyhc], silently apologizing to Feng Yi in his heart.
Then his gaze fell on the nearby sign: [Fiw Charge Forward!] Curious, Sui Ning asked, “Who’s starting mid for Navic today?”
Fans cheering simultaneously for two rotating players in the same position during a single match wasn’t common. One of them hadn’t even played in a long time—wouldn’t that affect the starting player’s mentality?
“The official roster lists Xiang Jin—Fiw,” the analyst replied. “But fans say they bring Meng Xiyue’s support items whether he plays or not. They carry them to every match, and the fan club leaders on Navic’s side probably allow it.”
Sui Ning nodded.
Ji Yunyu, on the other hand, struggled for a long time. Pei Xingyi and Qu Feiying were both his fierce rivals—he didn’t want to choose either of them.
But seeing Sui Ning “support” Navic, Ji Yunyu had no choice but to pinch the sign reading [Truik~ My Heart Beats for You] between two fingers while grumbling quietly about who had written such cringe wording. The look of pure disgust on his face made Sui Ning laugh despite himself.
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