The game began.
"Both teams have a ton of crowd control. They'll need to be careful in lane and in teamfights!" Chao Mi remarked after glancing over the champion list.
Qing Ci nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Both compositions are excellent at finding opportunities! And every game so far has gone over forty minutes. At this point, the players' stamina and mental focus are bound to fluctuate. When there are this many crowd-control abilities flying around, one moment of carelessness can easily create an opening."
"That's right," Chao Mi continued. "After playing this long, it's completely normal for concentration to drop. That's why we always say that when a BO5 goes this deep, you're not just competing inside the game anymore. Outside the game, the players' physical endurance and focus are also facing a severe test."
Whoever could hold out longer and make fewer mistakes would win.
Silently cheering for PNG in their hearts, the commentators turned their attention back to the screen.
Under the observer view, the Rift gradually lit up as all ten champions spawned from their bases.
Howling Mooner's passive activated immediately. [Hunter's Mark] appeared on a small jungle monster on the right side of UG's blue-side jungle.
Chao Mi couldn't help groaning. "Oh, come on! What kind of joke is this? The first mark spawns in the enemy jungle?! That camp's right there—if Serpent starts blue, he'll kill it as he walks past!"
The complaints he'd made during champion select had still felt somewhat theoretical. But now that the game had started and he was staring at that miserable mark placement, he genuinely couldn't hold it together anymore.
"And everyone in the game can see the mark!" Qing Ci added, looking equally distressed on Ji Yunyu's behalf. "The enemy can literally camp it ahead of time. This mechanic feels kind of dumb!"
"Not necessarily," Da Ju countered. "For Serpent, this is still a mind game. Because once a marked target dies, a new mark appears on another enemy fifteen seconds later. The moment Serpent kills that camp, everyone knows exactly when that fifteen-second timer starts."
He emphasized the point. "Fifteen seconds isn't particularly long, but it isn't short either. If used properly, it can become extremely valuable information. And because it's generated by the system, it's completely reliable. The mark doesn't refresh unless the target dies. That means the information is always accurate."
One hundred percent accurate map information. The price was a fifteen-second delay.
Whether those fifteen seconds became stale information or a critical clue about the enemy's movements depended entirely on how the two elite junglers used it.
Regardless, there was one fundamental requirement for Howling Mooner to invade: Lane priority.
His teammates had to control their lanes and be able to collapse at any moment.
"I won't invade on the first rotation. That camp's too difficult to contest. Can we fake an invade instead?" Ji Yunyu asked, purchasing a Sweeper trinket immediately.
"Sure. We can try." Having already bought his own items, Sui Ning began planning ahead. "Bring extra Sweepers. Don't let them get too many wards into our jungle."
"I can do that," Lin Zhaoxu replied instantly.
Cheng Su added, "Slow down, slow down. Don't rush. What's our level-one plan?"
After a moment's thought, Ji Yunyu answered: "No need to overcomplicate it. Let's just watch their blue side. This mark actually spawned in a pretty good spot. They're basically forced to start blue."
The mark that had given the commentators a headache had somehow become a blessing in his eyes.
At the same moment, Ahn Seung-soo was also staring at the mark in silence.
...Blue side?
"Ah, damn it." He muttered a curse under his breath. "What terrible luck. Why did it have to spawn in my blue jungle?"
"So what do we do? Start with the small camp?"
One teammate suggested: "That's an option. Can we pull two camps at once?" Kim Seok-chan asked before immediately frowning. "Wait... can Shadow of Vengeance even double-camp there? The terrain around blue side doesn't seem great."
Ahn Seung-soo shook his head helplessly. "No. The small camp will reset aggro. Let's not rush it. I'll see how they set up their level one first."
"Okay. Then let's get vision in their red jungle. Come on, hurry up."
For Ahn Seung-soo, the ideal route for red-side Shadow of Vengeance was to Smite Red Buff and power-clear. By around 2:30, he could reach top lane for an early gank and create momentum.
Alternatively, he could clear downward through both quadrants, pressure bot lane, then rotate mid to secure lane priority for Choi Hyun-woo.
After a recall, he could path back toward the upper jungle just as the second camp rotation spawned. Not a single second wasted.
Especially in this game. Since he was playing Shadow of Vengeance as part of the Soulreaper King composition, he wanted to create opportunities for mid and top as early as possible.
Naturally, he preferred a red start. Starting blue meant more than simply losing Red Buff's burn effect and slowing his clear speed. It completely ruined his level-two top-lane gank route.
Unless, of course, he intended to ignore Howling Mooner's mark entirely.
And if he did that? Ji Yunyu would probably book a flight straight into UG's jungle overnight to farm those marked camps himself.
Sure enough.
While Ahn Seung-soo was still thinking, Cheng Su—the little troublemaker—had already dropped a ward directly over the wall onto UG's Blue Buff.
"That's a fantastic ward from Erllit!" Da Ju exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "Serpent's underwear has been stripped off again at level one!"
Now Ahn Seung-soo couldn't even pretend to start blue while secretly beginning at red and exploiting the fifteen-second refresh timing.
"PNG's level-one vision setup has gotten so much better."
"What a pain. What is this nonsense?" Ahn Seung-soo complained. Then he pinged top lane while rapidly reconsidering his options. "—Let me figure out how to deal with this mark. Top lane, wait for me."
Park Se-woo responded immediately. "Okay."
Ahn Seung-soo retreated back into the shadows outside PNG's vision and clicked around in place a few times, seeming somewhat hesitant.
Chao Mi's sharp eyes immediately caught the detail, and he happily commented: "Hey, why is Shadow of Vengeance already running circles in his own jungle? Does Serpent not have much experience playing against Howling Mooner? The mark spawned in his own jungle, but somehow he's the one hesitating!"
Qing Ci laughed as well. "You know, everyone understands Howling Mooner's abilities in theory, but when it comes to an actual match, every mark has to be evaluated differently. Without real matchup experience, it's honestly hard to know how to handle them!"
Backstage, Coach Yoonsoo gripped his notebook tightly and stared at the broadcast screen, repeatedly muttering Ahn Seung-soo's ID under his breath.
Fortunately, Ahn Seung-soo wasn't an ordinary jungler. After hesitating for less than three seconds, he made the optimal decision.
Start Red. Give up the first mark.
"I'm starting Red. Top lane, wait for me." Having figured it out, Ahn Seung-soo immediately turned and headed toward the red-side jungle.
As he ran, he continued issuing instructions to his teammates: "Remember to ward our blue side around 1:30! Watch Cloud's position. Be careful if he rotates toward bot!"
"OK!" Kim Seok-chan replied.
Seeing this, Yoonsoo finally rubbed his chest and let out the first relieved breath he'd taken all game.
Shadow of Vengeance left the blue jungle, crossed straight through mid lane, and headed directly for red. Chao Mi let out a surprised sound. "Huh? Serpent still decided to clear his top-side jungle first. So this game's another diagonal jungle start—both junglers are opening on Red!"
The commentators failed to understand Ahn Seung-soo's calculations, but Da Ju immediately saw what was happening. His brows furrowed. "Hiss—Serpent's being pretty clever here! By openly starting Red like this, he's putting a lot of pressure on PNG's top side!"
"The enemy started Red! Red start! Be careful!"
"Get wards down! Watch out for a top-lane gank!"
Almost simultaneously, warning pings exploded around the darkened bushes near top lane on the minimap. Teammates rapidly called out reminders through voice chat.
The moment Wei Ye heard them, he instantly understood.
This soundtrack was far too familiar. Every time he got sent to prison in top lane, this exact BGM played in the background. Ping ping ping ping ping. These guys really were dedicated accompaniment musicians.
Obediently, he moved closer to his tower and dropped a defensive ward over the wall toward the river.
Da Ju looked deeply gratified. "Good! That's exactly where the ward should go. PNG has probably realized what Serpent's planning. Stay alert!"
"The Blade Demon versus Broken King matchup is a classic skill matchup. Both sides have solo-kill opportunities if they outplay each other. But if both players play steadily and safely, neither can really stop the other from farming."
"PNG needs Blade Demon to step up during the mid game. As long as Myerii farms safely and maintains lane priority, he'll be doing his job."
Sui Ning withdrew his attention from the upper side of the map and refocused on lane.
Lowering his gaze slightly, he looked at several low-health caster minions. Between last-hitting, Stellar Sprite occasionally made playful faces at her opponent. With a casual wave of her hand, she cleanly secured the gold.
Choi Hyun-woo ignored the blue-haired girl's taunts. He had learned [W - Rise of the Dead] at level one and even bought a Long Sword to increase his attack damage. His sole goal was to shove the wave as quickly as possible.
"Another Long Sword!" Chao Mi clicked his tongue. "Ever since Wind developed the Long Sword start for mid lane, every ranged mid laner has been bringing one to fight for lane priority."
"It can't be helped," Qing Ci explained. "Stellar Sprite's Q has small splash damage. She naturally pushes faster than Soulreaper King. Without a Long Sword, Soulreaper King doesn't even have the right to contest the wave."
To conserve mana, Sui Ning didn't force unnecessary trades. Instead, he waited for the exact moments when the Soulreaper King King started his auto-attack animation and repeatedly landed guaranteed mid-range shooting stars. Before long, Choi Hyun-woo's HP had fallen to seventy percent.
He pressed his lips together. One eyebrow twitched involuntarily. For a mid laner, that health level was already becoming dangerous. The enemy Stellar Sprite's lane pressure was truly overwhelming.
He glanced at his inventory. His potion was already gone. It was probably time to look for a recall window.
"Wind's laning is just beautiful to watch." Chao Mi couldn't help praising him. "The details are incredible."
"Especially his Aeria. It honestly feels like he's playing a completely different champion from everyone else. Ever since Wind reinvented Aeria, he's the only player I've ever seen who can consistently gain lane priority at level one!"
"Why else would they call him the Stellar Sprite ‘human pillar of power’?" Qing Ci replied with a laugh.
"The truth is, Aeria's level one is actually pretty weak. Q has a long cooldown and gets blocked by minions. If you use it to hit minions, you can't hit the enemy. If you use it to poke, you can't farm. She can't simultaneously harass and last-hit, which naturally puts her below other AoE mages."
"Her lane strength doesn't really become respectable until level two, after she learns the EQ combo. And yet here we are. Someone is bullying people at level one with her."
"And not just anyone—he's bullying False's Soulreaper King. This version of Soulreaper King is a lane bully." Honestly, in the entire world, Wind might be the only person who dares play it like this."
[I can confirm this. Aeria's okay in level-one skirmishes, but her laning is complete garbage!]
[Who gets chased down by melee champions while playing level-one Aeria? — Oh right, me. Never mind.]
[Do you even understand the value of the title 'Aeria King'?? Whoever stole that ID should be ashamed of themselves!]
[This mid lane looks so smooth. Feng-bao’s Aeria is literally a different champion…]
[Remember Peak Rank #1 with 29,700 points. The highest all-time champion score in the country. He tilted every player ranked #2 through #10. Am I allowed to say that? (smirk)]
[ LMAO. Maybe go check what the national rankings look like right now?]
Hmm? Had something new happened on the leaderboard?
The moment that comment appeared, curious viewers hurriedly searched for Stellar Sprite's national rankings during a lull in the action.
Soon, the statistics page finished loading. Aeria sat playfully in the center of the screen. And at the very top of the rankings was still that familiar ID.
As expected, the number one spot still belonged to Fenglan. But since Sui Ning hadn't played on that account in a long time, its activity had dropped, causing automatic rank decay and a corresponding reduction in champion power score. It was now down to only 23,600 points.
Fans looked at it once, looked away, then looked back again, vaguely feeling that something was off.
The season was almost over, and the top-ten cutoff for most champions on the Chinese server was already above 25,000 points. For a hugely popular champion like Stellar Sprite—handsome, strong, mechanically flashy, and naturally high-traffic—how could first place be only twenty-three thousand?
Even Astromancer Prophet, who had already transitioned from mid lane to support, had a top-ten cutoff above 23,800.
What was going on?
Curious and confused, fans hurriedly scrolled down the rankings.
And the moment they saw the leaderboard, the entire fanbase collectively froze:
[Strongest Aeria on the Chinese Server]
1. Fenglan — 23600
2. Wind — 23599
3. God — 23598
4. Climb — 23597
5. Base — 23596
6. Champion — 23595
7. Must — 23521
8. Take — 23520
9. Down — 22521
10. [another coordinated name] — 22520
"...Holy shit..."
For many fans, it was the first time they'd ever seen anything like this. They stared blankly at the screen, repeatedly muttering: "...Holy shit..."
A lot of the names belonged to newer streamers. After checking their records, fans discovered that many of them had still been called things like LittleShark_xxStream in the morning, only to frantically rename themselves into single-character IDs by the afternoon so they could fit the pattern.
Comparing the timestamps with archived livestreams, the mystery was solved: This had happened right after Game 3 of the Finals.
When PNG locked in Aeria, it wasn't just ordinary viewers in the arena and livestream chats who went wild. These elite Chinese-server players had been celebrating too.
And they had chosen the most special possible way to show their support for Sui Ning.
Many of them were fully capable of reaching 24,000 or even 25,000 power score and easily taking first place. But none of them did.
Not only that—from rank #2 onward, they were deliberately controlling their scores so they would decay in sync with Sui Ning's inactive account.
[...]
[...HOLY SHIT, WIND!!]
[Damn damn damn! If this isn't aura, then what is??]
[Those 520 and 521 endings around rank 7—are they secretly confessing their love?! Oh my god!]
[Damn it. We're all Wind fans, so why can I only simp in livestream chat while other people get to confess with leaderboard scores? QAQ I hate not having the hands to reach national rankings!]
[ Relax. Remember there are fans who chased him all the way to the World Finals venue and still got beaten up by Wind in-game (sarcasm). Doesn't that make you feel better?]
[Imagine a player's signature champion becoming so dominant that every other player of that champion voluntarily acknowledges him…]
[Top Aeria players across the country voluntarily changing their names for you. Wind, how do you have this much aura? QAQ]
[ Not just renaming. They even controlled their scores. I've never seen anything like this in my life.]
[...Does this basically count as a public declaration that "the number one spot can only belong to you"? Help help help, my baby is too cool!!]
At the same time, the commentators on stage also received the message from production about the current state of the national rankings.
Qing Ci was visibly moved as he relayed it to the audience. "This is extremely rare in the entire history of Honor. A player taking a champion to such an extreme level that ordinary players voluntarily rally behind him..."
"I think if Wind could see this right now, he'd definitely be very happy—"
Halfway through the sentence, Qing Ci suddenly raised his voice and stared at a rapidly moving icon in the top side of the map. "Wait, wait, wait!! Something's wrong. Something's very wrong!!"
"What are you doing?! Serpent, what are you trying to do??"
The emotional atmosphere shattered instantly. As the casters shouted in alarm, the game timer hit 2:21. After clearing two camps in his red jungle, Ahn Seung-soo headed straight for the top river.
He pinged the map. "Is there a ward here?"
"Yes," Park Se-woo answered immediately.
"It's fine," Ahn Seung-soo gritted his teeth and committed anyway. "I'm applying pressure directly. They don't have anyone who can come over."
As he spoke, Shadow of Vengeance reached the top-side tri-brush. Every movement was visible to Wei Ye.
The problem was that Blade Demon still hadn't finished clearing the wave. This was the level-one-to-level-two wave.
And with his jungler nearby, Park Se-woo pushed even more aggressively, causing the lane to shove harder toward Wei Ye.
Seeing the enemy top-jungle duo striding around so openly, Wei Ye's face turned green.
"Blade Demon’s still level one—what the hell is Serpent doing?! Why is he ganking this early?! What is this nonsense?!"
Chao Mi was so anxious that he practically wanted to call the police and have Ahn Seung-soo arrested. He couldn't even be bothered to remain neutral anymore, directly shouting his questions across the arena!
Every jungler who ganks at Level 2 deserves to be sentenced!
“The top lane wave is terrible, absolutely terrible! If this wave gets pushed under the tower, Myerii could be in trouble! Cloud can't get here right now!”
[UG_False] indicated that the [Teleport] summoner spell was ready!
Choi Hyun-woo switched his camera to check the situation in top lane and immediately sent a signal: “I can TP!”
“Wait, don't rush!”
“OK, then I'll recall first!”
When Sui Ning saw Choi Hyun-woo abandon the lane and retreat, his heart tightened. He immediately warned his teammates: “Soulreaper King is recalling. He has TP!”
He desperately tried to interrupt Choi Hyun-woo's recall, but Choi Hyun-woo was smart enough to walk all the way underneath his Tier 2 tower!
The camera shifted to top lane. Ahn Seung-soo, lurking nearby, was putting enormous pressure on Wei Ye, and Choi Hyun-woo's disappearance was another dangerous warning sign!
Wei Ye was getting nervous too. He didn't dare recklessly use his abilities, so he first traded health for minions to reach Level 2, drank his healing potion, and retreated under his tower!
The commentators grew increasingly anxious. “But Leave has been stacking this wave to bounce it back! UG has way too many minions! Are they going to dive?!”
Da Ju, with his sharp eyes, noticed Choi Hyun-woo's movements and became extremely tense. “What does this mean? False recalled! What is he trying to do?! He has TP! UG isn't seriously going to do something this brutal, are they?? Soulreaper King can restore his health at base and TP to top lane whenever he wants! Hey, don't be this disgusting!!”
In his panic, Da Ju was practically losing his filter!
With Sui Ning's warning, Wei Ye also realized that this was a possibility, but he couldn't determine where UG had placed their wards!
Or perhaps Choi Hyun-woo was planning to teleport directly onto the minion wave—?
Several possibilities raced through Wei Ye's mind. The juicy minion wave represented experience and gold, but it was also the tolling bell of death.
Wei Ye gritted his teeth. Out of sight, out of mind. He simply turned around and ran toward the Tier 2 tower.
Fine! I don't want the wave anymore, okay?!
Ahn Seung-soo's answer was: No.
As the minion wave crashed into the tower, Park Se-woo's Broken King moved forward in tandem! Seeing Blade Demon trying to leave, Ahn Seung-soo brought Shadow of Vengeance around from the river!
Wei Ye: …
“Are they really being this shameless?!” Chao Mi cried miserably. “Blade Demon can at least soak some experience and just barely reach Level 2! Ah, but the problem is, Level 2 isn't enough! If he wants to fight back, he needs to be Level 3 at the very least!”
At Level 2, Blade Demon only had two abilities. He was still crippled! Just imagining himself in Blade Demon's position made Chao Mi feel sick. Who plays like this?!
Wei Ye continued retreating. Seeing this, Shadow of Vengeance stopped bothering to hide and simply walked straight down the open road, blocking Blade Demon's escape!
“Serpent is walking right into his face. What is he going to do—” The commentators watched the top lane nervously. Suddenly, Ahn Seung-soo raised his hand. A gigantic shadowy claw grabbed Blade Demon's powerful arms, while eerie purple-black light continuously flickered around them—
Chao Mi's heart sank. “Serpent wants to make a move! Starting with some CC! [W – Dread Phantasm] connects—oh no! The Red Buff is sticking to him!! He absolutely cannot get feared by the W! If he gets feared, he's dead!”
Wei Ye understood that too! He gritted his teeth and, despite being extremely reluctant to do so, used Flash just before Shadow of Vengeance's W finished channeling, barely flashing back underneath his tower!
Behind him, Park Se-woo happily farmed the experience and tower plates, while Ahn Seung-soo had forced out his Flash with nothing but a single W. The two of them swaggered around top lane as if they owned the place!
“That's so disgusting! So dirty!”
Chao Mi reluctantly praised them. “Blade Demon had to burn Flash to escape, giving up an entire wave and a half to the tower! The next wave is almost here too! Serpent timed his engage perfectly! Myerii is losing a massive amount here. He may have to TP back to lane after recalling. Otherwise, he'll lose another two and a half waves, and it'll be Level 2 versus Level 4! There's no way he can play the lane!”
Sure enough, to avoid falling too far behind in experience, Wei Ye had no choice but to Teleport back to lane.
Qing Ci gave a bitter smile. “It hasn't even been three minutes, and Blade Demon has already lost both summoner spells! After that first exchange, the good news is that top lane didn't die. The bad news is that, honestly, things might be even worse than if he had died!”
[Damn, that's way too miserable. I can't bear to watch this—]
[If I were playing top lane and ended up in this situation, I'd usually just tell my teammates to surrender.]
[A jungler walking right into your face at two and a half minutes and forcing your Flash—what are you supposed to do?! Brother Ye is going to be serving a life sentence in top lane again this game.]
[False's recall was annoying too. Hiding his vision in mid and applying pressure was so damn evil!]
[Our little broken team, waaaah. Hang in there!! Blade Demon absolutely cannot get forced out of the game. Mye, you have to hold on!!]
“Yes, Cloud found the mark in the bottom half of the jungle, and both mid and jungle have small advantages, but top lane is falling apart! It hasn't even been three minutes, and they're already laning at the Tier 2 tower! That's ridiculous!” Chao Mi said, deeply worried.
He was also afraid that Blade Demon would be “forced offline.” That was an even worse situation than being stuck under the Tier 2 tower—when the lane disadvantage became so overwhelming that the player could barely farm or develop for the rest of the game, effectively becoming as useless as if they had disconnected!
But Blade Demon was an important frontline champion for PNG's mid-game. Wei Ye had an incredibly difficult task ahead of him, and he absolutely couldn't afford to be crushed!
Chao Mi clutched his oxygen tank, secretly worried. He couldn't think of any good way to break the situation, so all he could do was sit there anxiously and watch!
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