The host of the Semifinals announced the individual yers of High School 13 and Shanghai International as they made their way up the stage. Lin Feng was enjoying the cheering crowd, waving to them andughing. The rest of his team was a little bit more nervous, focused on their rivals on the other side of the stage. Those rivals, the yers from Shanghai International, weren’t smiling orughing. They were calm, aloof. High School 13 wasn’t their opponent. There was no reason to get excited for this series. They would blitzkrieg their way to the Finals.


    High School 13 was a fairly average school. Their clubs never made it far in the big tournaments, regardless of the sport. The recent achievements by the esports club were an exception. That made it so much more remarkable. The students had been talking about it all week, and arge number of them hade to cheer their team on. They wanted to be that 6th member of the team and give their club that extra boost of motivation by cheering as loudly as they could.


    “High School 13! High School 13! It’s all skill! No luck! Skill!” “We’re going to the Finals! We’re going to the Finals!” “I love you, Lin Feng!” “Tang Bingyao is the best ad-carry! Liu Zhengjie is a noob!” “We’re the best! Rock on, Ouyang!” “Show those guys from Shanghai International who’s Boss!”


    The students from High School 13 kept cheering at the top of their lungs, uncaring of the looks and nces from the people in the crowd. They didn’t care what others thought about them. They were here to support their team, and supporting them was exactly what they would do! In stark contrast, the students from Shanghai International were much more reserved. They believed that their team was far superior to High School 13. There was no need to cheer, or show their support. Their team would win. They were just here to watch it happen. And in that frame of mind, the cheers from High School 13’s students were more than a little annoying.


    “What is wrong with those idiots? Can’t they shut up?” “I don’t know, man. Fucking country bumpkins.” “So excited over making it to the Semifinals. I’d almost feel bad for them…” “Haha. Can you imagine? Losing to them? What a joke!” “Right? You know, if they win, I’ll eat my shoe!” “Haha! How did these idiots even make it to the Semifinals? Did they get an easy draw or something?” “It’s all luck. They’ve got the easy opponent in every round. I’m thinking it might be rigged.” “None of that matters. Now we have an easy way to the Finals.”


    ?


    The yers from Shanghai High School found their seats in the special viewing area right below the stage. They sat down and watched High School 13 and Shanghai International get ready for the match. The ad-carry turned to his teammates sitting next to him and said, “Shanghai International is winning this one, right?”


    “Probably, yeah…” the Jungler said. Then he thought of something and added, “So that’s another repeat ofst year. It’s gonna be us versus them in the Finals again… Kinda boring to be honest.” He rxed back in his chair, putting his feet up on the railing in front of him.


    “Does it really matter?” the Toner asked. He shook his head and grinned, apathetic about the oue. “We’re going to win regardless of who we y against. Neither team has anything on us.”


    Zeng Rui listened to his teammates talk, but didn’t join in. It was a pointless discussion, in his opinion. He’d watched both teams y and analyzed them. Shanghai International was the better team. They would make it to the Finals and High School 13 would lose. He looked up at the stage and the yers on both teams. Shanghai International has the same team as always. As expected. High School 13 has… He blinked his eyes and took a second look. Who is she? He hadn’t even seen who the yers were before his eyes were drawn to the girl pacing back and forth behind the team. Did they get a coach?


    ?


    “On the Blue Team, we have High School 13! And on the Red Team, we have Shanghai International!”


    The host riled up the crowd one more time as the two teams entered Champion Select. It was the start of the game! First was the banning phase. Both teams could ban three Champions. There were no big surprises here. They banned six Champions who were very strong in the current meta, like Darius and Hecarim. Then High School 13 was the first to lock in a Champion. They chose Jarvan IV. He was a strong Jungler and a rtively safe choice. There were no Champions who couldpletely shut him down purely based on their kits. It woulde down to skill.


    Shanghai International picked the next two Champions. They went with the same tactic as High School 13 by picking two safe choices. Their Champions were Lee Sin, a great Jungler, and Leona who was a strong Support.


    The next two Champions would be selected by High School 13. There was a brief discussion going on, leaving the crowd waiting. Then, they locked in Annie and Draven. This pick provoked gasps from the crowd. Draven was an aggressive Champion. He was very strong once he got going, but until then, Shanghai International had every chance to shut him down, especially when he got picked so early in Champion Select. But that wasn’t how the lively crowd from High School 13 saw it. They knew about Tang Bingyao’s Draven. The video of her match against Senior ss 8 had been passed around the school all week. Her Draven was phenomenal! She was going to carry the team to a win!


    Yan Liang was Shanghai International’s Miner and team captain. He’d done his research and wasn’t the least bit surprised when he saw the Draven pick. But there was still a frown on his face. “Annie?” he muttered. That pick had caught him off guard. He’d done his research. He knew which yer favoured which Champions. But Annie wasn’t on that list. Where is she going? Annie could be yed almost everywhere. But in the current meta, she was mostly yed in Support and sometimes in the topne. That didn’t change the fact she was a mage who could go into midne or even jungle.


    “It’s going to be Support Annie for sure,” Liu Zhengjie said, distracting Yan Liang from his thoughts. He sneered, condescendingly, and said, “Annie and Draven, huh? That’s some big damage early game. I can see what they’re trying to go for. But it won’t work. Not against me.” He grinned, confident. It doesn’t matter what they try. I’m half a pro. They can’t beat me.


    Yan Liang nced over at Liu Zhengjie and nodded. “You’re right. That should be it. Sivir has a spellshield, pick her. Let’s make that Annie useless.”


    Shanghai International locked in Sivir and Twisted Fate. Sivir was an ad-carry with a Spell Shield. This was a barrier that blocked damage, but also crowd control. Annie was a Champion with powerful crowd control, so Sivir was the obvious pick. As for Twisted Fate. He was a mage with a lot of map pressure. That could only work in Shanghai International’s favour. His map-wide teleports could change the dynamic of any teamfight! Yan Liang had thought of all of this and then some more. If I team up with Lee, we can get a few early ganks in bot and make the Annie and Draven useless, hehe.


    However, all the ns that Shanghai International had made in thest couple of seconds were thrown right out the window again. It turned out that the Annie wasn’t a Support, not in this game at least. High School 13 locked in their fourth and fifth Champion. Braum and Malphite. Braum was a Support and Malphite was a Toner. That could only mean that Annie was going in the midne.


    Right below the stage, Shanghai High School was watching the Champion Select. Including Zeng Rui. The initial disinterest from his face disappeared without a trace, reced by a hint of surprise. He looked at the girl who was still pacing back and forth behind High School 13’s team. Did she n this? He tried to read the expression on her face. But she wasn’t looking in his direction, so he couldn’t tell. “That was clever,” he mumbled.


    “Shit,” Yan Liang cursed. They were wrong. Their whole n had copsed. And worst of all, Annie was really strong against Twisted Fate. Shit! How did we not see thising? He grinded his teeth, looking at the Champion icon of his Twisted Fate. No one ys her in mid anymore. Why… It made no sense to him. Annie was a powerful Support and she paired well together with Draven. She was supposed to go Support! “Shit!”


    In stark contrast to the frustrated Yan Liang, Lin Feng had that familiar wide grin on his face. It was abination of confidence and joy. This was the oue he’d been hoping for. It felt so good when Yan Liang locked in that Twisted Fate. It secured his win. He looked over his shoulder at An Xin and said, “This is fun!”


    An Xin smiled and replied, “Yep. They fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.” The strategy she’de up with was pretty simple and straightforward. She yed Shanghai International a fool in the Champion Select, forcing a favourable match-up for the Annie. Lin Feng would y her in mid. He was good, and a fed Annie was really strong. Together with Tang Bingyao’s Draven, they’d be a menace in the early game, while the other three Champions would shine in the mid game. This was because of their ultimates that had very strong crowd control effects. That would give Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao enough time to ace Shanghai International. As for thete game, well, as An Xin had put it, “We don’t need to worry about that.”


    Shanghai International hesitated with their fifth pick. Their whole teamposition didn’t make sense anymore, and they were trying toe up with an alternative method. But they had alreadymitted. It was toote to make any substantial changes. So they ended up going with Fiora, a strong topne Champion.


    An Xin was happy. Her n had worked. Now it was up to the team to win. She walked towards the steps leading down the stage, then paused. She turned around and looked at her team. “You can do it, guys. Crush them!” she said.


    “Yeah! No worries! We’ll win this, easy!” Lin Fengughed, confident.


    Tang Bingyao nodded, smiling, and said, “Mhm, leave bot to us.”


    ?


    《Wee to Summoner’s Rift!》


    Lin Feng took a deep, long breath. The grin disappeared from his face. It was reced by an expression that looked calm, yet determined. He ced his right hand on the mouse and his left on the keyboard. His eighth grader syndrome red. He mumbled in a voice only audible to him, “You wanna y too? It’ll be fun!” There was no more rut. No more frustrations at his own inabilities. No more struggling. An Xin had taken care of all of that with her arrival. He was free. Right now, there was only him and Annie. Everything else around him disappeared. The venue. The crowd and the noise they made. The teammates sitting next to him. He smiled and made his best Annie imitation, saying, “y time!”