The audience and commentators were buzzing with discussion about the team compositions, and on the player side, LNC’s members couldn’t hide their nerves either.
All five of them were native Japanese players, with no imports. Just like a “full-Chinese roster,” that identity naturally made them feel a sense of responsibility to bring honor to their country on the world stage.
Top laner Kutsuma Sho swallowed hard, wiped the sweat from his palms onto his pants, and muttered under his breath, “Don’t be nervous… I’m not nervous… just play normally…”
Marksman Tsushiro Kengo caught the murmuring through his headset and raised an eyebrow. “Whenever you’re nervous, you start repeating yourself like that, Sho. Calm down. We just need to play like usual.”
“Exactly. You should learn from me,” jungler Hasegawa Eita said smugly. “I’m not nervous at all.”
Hearing that, Kutsuma Sho glanced down at Eita’s legs under the desk and slowly questioned, “Really? Then why are your legs shaking? Is it because the venue is too cold at 24C?”
Hasegawa Eita: …
He slapped his thigh hard, flustered and embarrassed. “That’s just because I’m excited to play against Cloud!”
After saying that, he hurriedly turned to their mid laner Kurachi Yuto, trying to cover it up. “—Right, Yuto? You understand how I feel!”
Kurachi Yuto didn’t respond at all. He had his eyes closed, hands clasped together in front of him in a gesture that looked like forming a seal, lips moving silently as if chanting some kind of spell—
The next second, he suddenly opened his eyes, adjusted his keyboard position with great seriousness, and declared firmly, “Confirmed. This… is the optimal position to face Wind!”
Hasegawa Eita: …?
Sure, everyone in Japan likes anime, but isn’t this a bit too intense…
“Please don’t misunderstand, Eita,” Kurachi Yto explained when he noticed his teammate’s complicated expression. “I deeply admire Wind. He’s my idol. If I’m going to play against him, I have to give it everything I’ve got.”
Hearing that, Eita almost blurted out: does “everything you’ve got” include ninja techniques and Sharingan too??
Of course, even he knew that reference was too cringe, and that Naruto stuff wasn’t real, so he swallowed the words back down.
The coach, who had listened to everything: …
No idea how to comment. Let’s just leave it at that.
——
Kurachi Yuto’s extremely “chuunibyou” behavior was broadcast clearly to audiences all over the world.
“…”
Qing Ci was momentarily speechless.
“Uh… this is probably just Allen’s personal habit. Helps relieve stress.”
Chao Mi’s mouth twitched as he made up an excuse for him, then quickly changed the topic. “Just now, production sent us some data. LNC’s bot lane has been climbing the Japanese server this season with the Frost Archer + Storm Goddess combo, almost unbeatable in lane! And their top laner Shiro is also well-known for his mastery of Peerless Swordsman.”
Qing Ci immediately followed up, “Oh? Then it sounds like LNC’s strategy this game is to give players their comfort picks and first get used to the pace of the Worlds!”
No wonder their draft looked so unusual—it was all about laning!
“Very possible!” Chao Mi added, then teased, “But trying to lane head-on against PNG right from the start… that takes courage! …I’m actually looking forward to LNC’s performance!”
[6666]
[Did I hear that right? Is he really planning to use his signature pick to lane against—and smash through—PNG?]
[Unbelievable, this one’s even more of a heavyweight!]
“Also,” Chao Mi added with a grin, “our production team discovered something interesting—LNC’s mid laner Allen might actually be a huge fan of Wind!”
“His account IDs on the Japanese and international servers are LovePNGwind and Windgod. The meaning couldn’t be more obvious!”
The moment he said that, the livestream chat exploded.
[????]
[What kind of new “fan-player” concept is this?!]
[Chasing your idol all the way to the World Championship?!]
[People joked that fans were already grinding ranks just to match Wind, but this… this was on another level entirely.]
[This is insane. I knew being Feng-bao’s fan is competitive, but I didn’t expect it to be this intense…]
[Damn it, when I hit Gold, Wind is carrying Diamond fans. When I reach Diamond, he’s carrying Challenger fans. And when I finally get to Challenger, he’s already playing with fans who made it to Worlds… I—I’m not crazy!!]
[26 years old, Feng-bao’s fan—if I start going pro now, is it still possible? (joking)]
The barrage kept getting more and more outrageous. By the end, these ridiculously action-oriented fans actually started tentatively sending rsums to the official email inboxes of various HPL/HDL clubs.
So the staff responsible for sorting applications were completely dumbfounded:
Good grief—before, the self-recommended young players were at least 15 or 17 years old, and if not top 100 on the international server, they were at least well-known on the national ladder. But what on earth are these today?
They casually picked one up—26 years old, Gold rank??
Staff: …Dear applicant, if you really want to go pro, maybe try using magic to summon your 16-year-old self first~?
——
PNG on stage were also a bit confused.
Sui Ning could tell that LNC’s bot lane duo had decent laning strength—but that was about it.
The enemy composition as a whole looked loose and uncoordinated. Rather than something crafted for professional play, it felt more like a solo queue draft—just picking whatever each player was best at.
Sui Ning frowned and thought about it for quite a while, but still couldn’t figure out what hidden logic the composition might have.
“The comp isn’t great, but the champions are fine. What they picked… you could say they’re semi-signature picks.” Chen Chen spoke concisely from behind them. “Top, mid, and bot are all comfort picks. And that midlane Phantom Trickster? He learned it from you, Wind.”
Sui Ning: ???
He thought he’d misheard.
“Ohoho? There’s drama?” Wei Ye perked up instantly.
Lin Zhaoxu’s eyes lit up too. “What’s going on? Don’t tell me Wind secretly coached Allen?”
Ji Yunyu: “…You met another new player again?”
“I didn’t!” Sui Ning felt wronged. “I’ve never even run into him.”
Was his memory glitching?
“Huh?” Chen Chen let out a puzzled sound. “Didn’t I mention this before? Allen’s a fan of Wind.”
“He has an account on the Japanese server called LovePNGwind, plays mainly Stellar Sprite and Phantom Trickster. It’s pretty obvious who he’s a fan of.”
Sui Ning: …oh.
“But his Aeria isn’t very good. Against you, they can only ban it—otherwise they can’t play,” Chen Chen shrugged innocently, then glanced at Sui Ning. “Though I’ve heard his Phantom Trickster was learned from you. From the VODs, I can see a bit of your style.”
Chen Chen teased, “So? Fan match this game—what do you say, Wind?”
The teammates all turned to look at him.
“…”
Sui Ning lowered his gaze for two seconds, then slightly curled his lips and spoke leisurely: “Then I’ll take this game to evaluate his learning results.”
“If he’s really my fan, he should know I’m quite strict. Once you enter my ‘school,’ graduating isn’t that easy.” His eyes were smiling, his tone half-joking, half-serious.
“Damn, 6666—”
“So cocky! Feng-bao’s about to discipline his fan??”
“Does your fan know you’re going to treat him like this? I’m crying!”
“Being Feng-bao’s fan is dangerous!” Lin Zhaoxu grinned. “Good thing I’m his teammate—I won’t end up on the other side, hehe!”
Cheng Su: “Idiot.”
Lin Zhaoxu: ?
He turned to the referee behind him, eyes wide. “Ref, how much is the fine for insulting teammates? Please fine him heavily!”
Referee: …do you think I’m going to respond to you?
——
With the draft complete, the game officially began.
LNC clearly knew their composition was weak in early teamfights, so they played very cautiously at level one.
Fortunately, PNG had no intention of forcing a level-one fight either.
Support Matsubara Hayato observed briefly and decided to follow standard opening procedures. He cautiously moved toward the entrance between mid lane and the red-side jungle, planning to place some wards to scout PNG’s jungle path.
What he didn’t know was that during the few seconds he stepped forward, at least a dozen pings had already gone off in PNG’s red jungle.
Sui Ning and Wei Ye held their positions while constantly switching screens to assess the situation, ready to collapse at any moment.
“Fight?”
“No need!” Cheng Su replied quickly. “I can get into the brush and poke his health!”
He controlled Shadow Hawk to slip into the brush behind the red buff wall, setting up an ambush, with Lin Zhaoxu right behind him.
Cheng Su stared intently at Matsubara Hayato as he approached, brows tightly furrowed.
He couldn’t understand why Matsubara would appear alone in such a “full of openings” position. But out of caution, he didn’t immediately call for his top and mid to rotate.
Sui Ning and Wei Ye were currently guarding the upper jungle. If Matsubara was just bait for a diversion, things could go very wrong.
In that instant, countless conspiracy theories flashed through Cheng Su’s mind. The opponent’s unusual early movement made him raise his guard to the maximum.
Meanwhile, Matsubara Hayato was completely unaware of PNG’s tense anticipation.
“I’ll go ward their red jungle.”
“Okay, be careful.”
“I’ll keep an eye on you.”
His teammates responded, and Matsubara continued forward with confidence.
…only to get jumped by PNG’s bot duo bursting out of the brush, instantly dropping his HP below 70%.
Matsubara yelped, “Ow!”
“Ow!”
The commentator Tofu almost shouted at the exact same moment.
At first startled, his face quickly scrunched up in frustration as he said, “This support player Eve is being way too careless! How dare he walk into the jungle alone like that to place vision? PNG had already set up their wards—they were just waiting for him to walk in so they could chunk his health!”
[6666, loses 30% HP at level 1, bot lane already doomed]
[? Why does the opponent feel kinda clueless?]
[The Japanese team is bold… no support in the HPL would dare walk into PNG’s jungle alone at level 1…]
[Honestly, that fearless jungle walk looks just like me in ranked]
“The minions haven’t even spawned yet and Eve is already chunked! He has to recall immediately to recover, otherwise LNC’s bot lane won’t even be playable!”
Tofu couldn’t help but feel worried for Matsubara Hayato. “Teammates need to come cover him quickly—PNG will definitely keep harassing to interrupt his recall—”
Before he even finished speaking, Lin Zhaoxu chased forward and landed another auto attack, successfully canceling Matsubara’s recall.
A flicker of panic crossed Matsubara’s mind. He hadn’t expected PNG to anticipate his movement so early, nor did he expect them to play this aggressively and relentlessly.
Under pressure from Lin Zhaoxu and Cheng Su closing in step by step, he had no choice but to retreat even further.
Although LNC teammates nearby were already moving quickly to support him, those few extra steps back cost him even more recall time. By the time he returned to lane after healing, he would likely miss several minions’ worth of experience.
Fortunately, marksman Tsushiro Kengo arrived in time, instantly learning his W skill to force PNG’s bot duo back.
But the roughly ten-second delay was already irreversible.
As a bot lane player himself, Tofu immediately saw the problem and couldn’t help but sympathize with LNC’s bot lane for a second: “…Because their support arrived late, not only does he lose experience himself, it also means the Frost Archer can’t push the first wave!”
“If they were contesting level 2, Frost Archer actually has stronger early waveclear than Explorer and should hit level 2 faster—so in theory LNC’s bot lane could’ve taken the initiative at level 2… but now they have to play defensively!”
As he spoke, Tofu unconsciously showed a pained expression.
Putting himself in Kengo’s shoes, he could already feel the frustration—missing the best level 2 pressure window meant that once PNG’s bot lane both hit level 3, Frost Archer + Storm Goddess would struggle to win trades against Explorer + Shadow Hawk.
Meanwhile, their own support Eve might still only be level 2—or even level 1… That familiar nightmare scenario of level 3+3 versus 3+2 or even 3+1—any marksman who’s been crushed in ranked by stronger opponents would feel lingering dread just thinking about it.
“Eve recalling and missing minions basically hands lane priority to PNG’s bot lane!”
Chao Mi also commented, “PNG’s early game is very smooth. The timing of forcing Eve away was perfect, which means LNC’s ward had to be placed at the choke point—it only sees the small jungle camp area. The red buff and stone camps below are completely out of vision.”
Qing Ci nodded. “Not seeing the buff is a huge loss. Ever since the summer finals, our teams have been extremely careful with early vision—especially against PNG. When invading for wards, they always group up and push in together, placing wards directly on the buff to guarantee tracking Cloud’s jungle path! But LNC’s ward…”
Qing Ci paused, unsure how to phrase it, then said helplessly, “LNC’s ward has very limited strategic value. If Cloud clears red and ganks bot immediately—or avoids the ward entirely, goes to blue side, and then ganks top—LNC wouldn’t see any of it!”
“Not only that,” Chao Mi added, rubbing his forehead, “they paid the price of their support getting chunked and returning late to lane just for this low-value ward. Their bot lane is going to have a really rough early phase.”
“…Honestly, that warding decision from LNC’s support feels poorly thought out.”
After all, they weren’t facing some bottom-tier team. Lin Zhaoxu and Cheng Su might not be known domestically for crushing lanes, but against LNC’s bot lane, they were more than capable.
Against stronger domestic duos like Zou Jiayou + Bian Cheng from Navic, or You Guangji + Yu Ze from HTG, PNG’s bot lane might not always dominate—they trade wins depending on conditions.
But that’s under the premise that those teams show PNG full respect—from draft to early-game setup. At the very least, they’d never dare to lose minions or experience so carelessly.
Meanwhile, the Japanese broadcast commentators didn’t seem nearly as concerned. They let out a long sigh of relief, thankful that Matsubara hadn’t given up first blood.
Commentator: “That’s great—Eve managed to escape! Now he just needs to recall quickly and replenish!”
“Exactly. Even though he’ll return to lane a bit late, it’s far better than giving up first blood! We didn’t expect PNG to play this aggressively—truly a world-class team. The moment you show even a slight opening, it feels like you could be killed at any time!”
The Japanese commentator patted his chest dramatically as he spoke.
[Switching between JP and CN streams is honestly hilarious…]
[Japan side: very optimistic; China side: bot lane is doomed—I can’t tell which side is trolling anymore]
[I don’t even know what they’re celebrating. Ask top supports like Nv_Nox or HTG_Breathe what it means to be late to lane against PNG—you’ll get your answer instantly]
[I don’t know about Breathe, but Nox would probably tell the reporter to go play ranked themselves instead of asking dumb questions lol]
[I’ll answer seriously: at equal skill level, losing exp = free loss. Lane’s basically over, just wait for teammates]
——
With that early setup, PNG’s bot lane had a very smooth early game.
But Cheng Su still couldn’t relax. Because he still couldn’t figure out one thing—Why exactly had the enemy support Eve made that opening move?
Lin Zhaoxu ventured, “Is there a chance… he just made a mistake?”
“You’re joking, right? This is the worlds,” Cheng Su said, speechless. “And that was level one… did you forget how we practiced our level-one setups?”
Lin Zhaoxu shrank his neck and fell silent. It was true—level-one openings were a core training focus for every team. Even if mistakes happened on stage, they shouldn’t be that big.
So what exactly was going on? No one could figure it out.
Cheng Su sighed. “Forget it. With your IQ, just stop thinking about it and focus on last-hitting.”
Lin Zhaoxu: …?? Here we go again QAQ?
Meanwhile, from mid lane, Sui Ning surprisingly leaned toward Lin Zhaoxu’s side.
His gaze rested on the enemy mid laner’s Phantom Trickster, brows slightly furrowed. “Hmm…”
“What is it?” Ji Yunyu asked.
Sui Ning hesitated slightly before saying, “Maybe Mior is right.”
“? What’s this, my son finally showing promise?”
“Huh?”
Even Lin Zhaoxu was shocked. “Wait, I’m right??”
Sui Ning said, “The opponents… don’t seem to have much training experience.”
This conclusion came from his lane against Kurachi Yuto.
The reasoning wasn’t complicated—if anything, it was simple.
At Sui Ning’s level, every movement an opponent makes after stepping out of the fog of war—every step, every skill cast, every auto attack—reveals information. And gathering and exploiting that information is one of the core aspects of mid lane mind games.
But for some reason, compared to other world-class mid laners, Kurachi Yuto’s ability in this regard was like a blank sheet of paper.
Sui Ning sighed softly. With calm precision, he stepped forward and executed a sharp-angle QE combo with Soulreaper King, landing the poke cleanly onto the Phantom Trickster and lowering Kurachi’s HP again.
Kurachi Yuto hurriedly retreated, missing another ranged minion in the process.
“…Haa.” He let out a long breath, trying hard to suppress his nerves, and drank a health potion. “So this is what it feels like… the pressure in lane is so intense…”
So this is what it feels like to lane against a top-tier player going all out.
Kurachi licked his dry lips. It wasn’t like he had never faced pro mid laners on the international server—but ranked games and official matches were completely different.
Even the strongest players can falter in ranked, but in a match—with focus, mindset, and team coordination—mid laners often perform at 150% or even 200% of their usual level.
Just like now—Kurachi felt he was already playing carefully, yet Wind kept finding opportunities to chip away at his HP.
That suffocating pressure, like a tightening grip around his throat, leaving him unsure how to fight back—he had never experienced this before, not in international ranked, not in the Japanese league, not even in previous play-in stages.
So this was the opportunity he had always wanted—to learn through a direct clash with his idol. Kurachi’s heartbeat quickened, his mind filled with a mix of excitement and tension.
But Sui Ning had no idea of the storm raging inside his opponent. He simply continued laning as usual, though—
“If you keep playing this carelessly, you’ll die next wave,” Sui Ning said quietly.
Ji Yunyu raised an eyebrow. “Talking to Allen? It’s only been a few minutes, and you’re already trying to kill your fan?”
“I’ve figured Feng-bao out,” Wei Ye chimed in with a grin. “Other people meet fans and treat them like royalty—hugs, kisses, lifting them up. But him? He just kills them. First meeting: full combo, free recall!”
Sui Ning replied helplessly, “This is a match. I can’t exactly go easy on him, can I?”
In other words—if the opponent is practically handing him a kill, what’s he supposed to do besides take it?
Lin Zhaoxu shivered dramatically. “Ugh, how can someone be so heartless—”
Amid the teasing barrage, Sui Ning didn’t know how to respond, so he chose to speak with actions instead.
At 2 minutes 35 seconds, the second wave of minions arrived mid lane.
----------
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