Team Shanghai showcased by far their strongest performance in the Round of 16 series versus Fuzhou Tech. But they were still a new team with clear weak spots. Their teamwork left a lot to be desired and the individual yers weren’t necessarily the best in their role either. Zhang Hao in the topne was quite clearly one of the weakest Toners in the entire Winter Collegiate Cup, and though Tang Bingyao had a lot of untapped potential, she was only average right now. That left Zeng Rui, An Xin and Lin Feng. Zeng Rui was an uncontested A- Support. Everyone recognized that. But An Xin and Lin Feng were new to the Shanghai scene. No one knew them beyond the few games they’d seen. And in those games, An Xin had yed a strange method that lookedcking, while Lin Feng had a habit to be better than hisne opponent without actually looking all that much better.


    Fuzhou Tech was the strongest opponent Team Shanghai had faced in the Winter Collegiate Cup. But just like in the previous rounds, they yed at a level right above their opponents and beat them. There were no shy ys, except from Lin Feng at the end of the second game, and nothing that stood out in particr. So it wasn’t all too surprising that Team Beijing didn’t think too much about Team Shanghai.


    Team Beijing was a team of monstrous talents handpicked by the Beijing Esports Association. They were the best yers from their region specifically recruited to beat the teams from the Shanghai and Guangzhou Esports Associations. And Goalie belonged to Team Guangzhou. The Beijing Esports Organization learned about Goalie early on, and so they knew they needed a lot more than just a university level team.


    Zhejiang University was a solid B team. It could be argued that Sun Ruinian lifted them up to a B+ grade, though not everyone agreed with that notion. But Team Beijing was indisputably B+ grade. In most years, this was enough topete for the title. And odds were that it was enough this time around as well. But Fan Yuan, the vice president of the Beijing Esports Association, wasn’t satisfied with his team. He looked at the individual members in the office room, one at a time, before lecturing them. “Stop underestimating your opponent,” he said before turning his back to them and looking at the projection of the reys on the wall. He then pped his ruler against it and continued, “These five yers are handpicked by the Shanghai Esports Association! They have beaten every opponent they’ve faced so far! And odds are that we have to y against them in the main tournament.”


    Fan Yuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Our main roster consists of a B grade yer, two B+s and two A-s. We have no Goalie in the midne, but we’ve got a strong team. Probably stronger than Team Shanghai. But not when we can’t even be bothered to take our opponents seriously. Team Shanghai has strong yers. We need to… How do I get through their egos? He turned to look back at the seven yers from Team Beijing and said, “Nothing good wille from looking down on them. All I’m asking is to consider their strengths and be ready to y against them, and beat them.”


    A chuckle sounded in the quiet room. One of Team Beijing’s members shook his head and said, “You really think they’re going to make it to the main tournament? With that team? They’re ying Zhejiang University next, right? The way I’m seeing it, Zhejiang University has the better team. We just watched both games. Zhejiang University looked far more convincing.”


    “I’d put my money on Zhejiang University. We should focus on them,” another team member chimed in.


    The other yers from Team Beijing all agreed. They started talking about the Zhejiang University versus Stepping Stone University game,mented on how Sun Ruinian had truly reached A- grade in the ad-carry role, and argued that with the line-up Zhejiang was sporting they really couldn’t be disregarded. Gradually, the arrogant and derisive undertone disappeared from their conversation and was reced with respect. Zhejiang University was a strong team and deserved their full attention.


    “True, true. Zhejiang University is indeed a strong team,” Fan Yuan agreed, nodding. I finally have their attention now. Good. We’ll focus on Zhejiang University first. He continued, “Zhejiang University won the first Collegiate Cup four years ago. Their founder became one of the best professional yers in League of Legends, though he quit years ago. Ourtest intel on him says he’s focusing on his studies.” He briefly paused before adding, “But that also means he’s still at Zhejiang University. Which means he is eligible to y. You might’ve heard his name before. AyDeeCee.”


    Fan Yuan had joined the Chinese esports scene midway Season 2. He was a young man eager to show his worth and climb the ranks of the Chinese Esports Association. To that end, he’d spent every waking minute of his life learning everything there was to learn about China’spetitive League of Legends scene. We were all still learning back then. There was just so much to do and not enough time to do it in. He had briefly nced at the data from before Season 2, but quickly cast that aside. He’d reasoned that yers from the past weren’t going to help China win, only active yers could do that. And the most famous active yer in Season 2 was AyDeeCee. He was a phenomenon! It was actually exciting to go and watch games back then just because he was ying! I still remember how high we graded him. 81%! All this talk about B grade yers and A grade yers… At 80%, you transcend that rating system and truly step into the realm of a professional yer! AyDeeCee took that step years ago! He was in a realm of his own! If he really starts ying again… He shook his head and turned to look at Yu Ping. I wonder if Yu Ping can beat him. Doubt it. Even after all this time, I doubt Yu Ping can beat AyDeeCee. He sighed and said, “Yu Ping, prepare to y against AyDeeCee, just in case.”


    Yu Ping raised an eyebrow. Why would I need to prepare for him? He hasn’t yed in years... He grinned and said, “Don’t worry about him. I’d love to show my skills off against him.” He paused for a moment, then shrugged and added, “He’s an old man from Season 2. It’s Season 5. Almost 6. This is our season.”


    ?


    Team Guangzhou had moved to a luxurious apartment building that the Guangzhou Esports Association had rented just for them. It was their little, veryrge gaming house. They were gathered in the main training room together with their coaches and were reviewing the games yed in the East China Regionals. More specifically, they were talking about Zhejiang University and discussing the possibility of AyDeeCee stepping in to lead Zhejiang University to the main tournament.


    Goalie listened to what his interpreter told him and then turned to look at his coach with a nk expression. He slowly enunciated, “Ay. Dee. Cee?” Then he grinned and shrugged, before leaning over to his interpreter and whispering a message in Korean.


    The interpreter turned to look at the coaches and tranted, “Goalie says he remembers that someone with that name yed all the way back in Season 2, maybe even Season 1? He calls them a ‘relic of the past’. We’re now in a ‘new’ period of League of Legends that doesn’t care about ‘old fame’. Goalie also says that…” He briefly paused and turned to look at Goalie, who nodded at him. He bit on his lips before saying, “Goalie also says that if AyDeeCee reallyes back, that he’ll ‘beat him back into the coffin he came crawling out from’.”


    The two coaches both looked at Goalie who was still smiling. His pale, starved face created a terrifying expression. They almost recoiled back, but eventually just shook their heads. They were epting of the confidence bordering arrogance, mostly because Goalie was one of the most talented yers in all of League of Legends. His teammates, on the other hand, didn’t care one bit for Goalie’s antics. They were used to the strange things he said and of the fact he spent so much time behind hisputer that he skipped more than a few meals. If anything, it motivated them to train harder too, just to be worthy to y together with him.


    “That’s right! We’ve got Goalie! What’s some old bloke gonna do?” “Lawl! Is Zhejiang University going to cast Dead Rite to bring AyDeeCee back to life?”“Did that guy even y in thest three years? How good can he really be?”“What Goalie said! A relic of the past! He shouldn’te back. He’ll just stain his legacy!”“I hope that old fart stays in his retirement home! The young rule now!”


    ?


    A loud sneezing sound boomed through a dorm room in Zhejiang University. Shi Hang, a 25 year old man, rubbed his nose clean on his sleeve andined, “What the hell is going on? I’ve been sneezing all day! Is someone talking about me, or am I just getting sick?” He looked out of the window over an almost empty square down below. The coldness that winter brought carried people inside and made them turn on their heater. Shi Hang wasn’t any different. The temperature in his room was so high that he wasn’t even wearing a sweater, just a clean white t-shirt.


    Shi Hang walked to his fridge and took two bottles of beer out. He looked over his shoulder and asked, “Want one?”


    The other person in the room, sitting on the edge of a seat fiddling with his fingers, was Sun Ruinian. The ad-carry from Zhejiang University’s esports team chewed on his lips and shook his head. “No thanks.”


    Shi Hang shrugged and put one beer back. Then he grabbed a knife and took the cap off his beer. He took arge swig and walked back to the small couch in his living room. There, he let himself fall down and put his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. “So, what led you here?” he asked. “Looking to mooch food off of me again?”


    “No, no,” Sun Ruinian replied, shaking his head. “I’m not here for that…” He pursed his lips and looked at the man sitting across from him. Would people stille to our esports club if they saw you like this? You know you’re the most popr guy at our university, right? Everyone wants to join our esports team because of you! They don’t even care about Rake or Hermes, they only talk about you! They’re proud of being part of the esports club you founded!


    Shi Hang took a second sip from his beer, a special brew that had a salty bitterness to it. He let out a satisfied burp and leaned further back in his chair. Sun Ruinian, Sun Ruinian. He grinned a bit and nodded to himself. I did well recruiting him. He’s a great yer and when I couldn’t be bothered with the club anymore, he happily picked everything up for me. I don’t have to do anything anymore. And he’s doing really well. We’ve got more than 500 members and are the university’s biggest club! Sure, many join because of me, but Sun Ruinian is making the right s for that!


    The smile suddenly disappeared from Shi Hang’s face. He moved his lips around and observed Sun Ruinian, disgruntled. But the number of members and how it’s going at the university is one thing, beingpetitive is something else. We used topete. Reallypete. But since I left the team, we’ve been falling behind. We haven’t won the Collegiate Cup even once since I won it. We didn’t even make the Finalsst year! That was a damn disgrace! How could they get knocked out in the semis? It’s below us. He took another swig from his beer and shook his head. What’s next? We don’t even make it to semis? Are we going to drop out in Regionals? Fuck that! Sun Ruinian has a lot of talent, and he’s got the right attitude. But something is clearly missing. What did we have when we won? We had me. I was A grade back then, closing in on A+. I was better than Sun Ruinian is now. Far better. He’s talented and all, but he’s just not good enough. We need more!


    “I’m really not here to mooch food off of you!” Sun Ruinian repeated, a cold shiver spiking down his spine. Why is he looking so mad? Did I do something wrong? What did I do wrong? He chewed on the inside of his cheeks and yed with his fingers, nervous. He’s the founder of our esports club and I’m screwing up. But when I do something wrong, he’s always really blunt about it. If I screwed up, he would’ve told me already, right? What am I supposed to… I should talk. Maybe I can convince him to join our team... He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. Then he opened his eyes to look at Shi Hang and said, “We won the Round of 16 yesterday. The quarter finals are up next. We can qualify for the main tournament again.”


    Shi Hang took arge sip from his beer and looked at Sun Ruinian, uninterested. “Quarterfinals? Still the East China Regionals, right? That’s hardly worth mentioning. The only thing I care about is that you win that tournament. Come back to me when you have.”


    Sun Ruinian smiled bitterly andined, “You make it sound so easy, but it’s not. It really isn’t.”


    Shi Hang raised an eyebrow and snorted. He said, “I won it four years ago, didn’t I? So let’s just assume I have a pretty decent idea about the skill required. And you guys? You aren’t that much worse than we were back then. So what’s the deal? Why aren’t you winning?”


    “Because I’m not you!” Sun Ruinian eximed. He bit on his lips and looked down at his shoes. I’m trying, I really am! But I’m not you! You’re better. Even back then you were already far better than I’m now. Not just as an ad-carry but also as a shotcaller and team captain. He took a deep, long breath before saying, “You know, if you help—”


    “Enough,” Shi Hang cut Sun Ruinian off. He shook his head and added, “Stop this. You keep trying it and I keep saying no. It’s starting to annoy me. I yed in the LPL, you know that right?” He briefly paused to let his words settle in, then shook his head and continued, “How can I possibly lower myself to y in this kiddy league? Everyone will make fun of me. And they would have every right to! I’m too good to y in that tournament. That’s the end of it.”


    I know, I know! That’s what you keep saying! Sun Ruinian rubbed his eyes and sighed, tired. He argued, “Yes, but have you seen the teamspeting this time? They’re far better than befo—”


    “So what?” Shi Hang asked, curling his lips into a frown. “They brought in kids, yeah? From high school? And you’re telling me they’re better than you are? What? You want me toe and show those kiddies the skills of an actual professional yer? Do you really not hear how ridiculous that sounds?”


    Shi Hang looked at Sun Ruinian and kept shaking his head. He continued, “Don’t think I haven’t paid any attention. I know about the three high school teams. Team Beijing looks decent. B+ maybe? You can beat them. I don’t see an issue there. And then there’s the Guangzhou team as well. I read something about a Korean import. What was his name again? Goalie or something, right? He’s the best yer in the tournament? A+?” Shi Hang was still shaking his head and started grinning. “You do realise that my ‘grade’ is far above A+, right? This whole grading system, it’s for amateur yers. It’s for university students, and not for real professional yers. Do you really not see how weird it would look if I stepped in? Sure, nothing is stopping me. But nothing is stopping God Roundy from ying either, is it? But is he ying? No, of course he isn’t! He’s a professional yer! This is an amateur tournament! Can I beat Goalie? Of course I can! Jesus! But I’m not going to lower myself to that level. I’m just not. And that’s the end of that.”


    Sun Ruinian nodded in understanding. I know all of that! I know! It doesn’t make sense for you toe back and help us! But we both know how good our… how good my team is. We’re not good enough to win this tournament. We’re just not! And yes, I get why you don’t want to y. But with you, we’d win! That’s why I’m here again to try! I have to! He bit on his lips and wanted to argue, but held himself back.


    “Right,” Shi Hang finally said. He took a quick sip from his beer and wiped the foam from his lips before asking, “Who are you guys ying in the next round anyway?”


    Sun Ruinian grinned. Here ites. He’llugh at me. He’ll call me useless. He shook his head and said, “The high school team from the Shanghai Esports Association. Team Shanghai.”


    “Hoh? And they’re the team you want help with?” Shi Hang asked, worried. He sat up straight in his chair and even took his feet off the coffee table. He continued, “You mean you have to y against the team handpicked by the Shanghai Esports Association. Shit, they made it all the way to the quarter finals? They must be really good! You better not underestimate them. I want you guys to beat them—” He couldn’t keep the facade up and startedughing. He leaned back again and said, “That was a joke, if you didn’t catch on. I don’t know how good they are, but since I haven’t really heard anything about them, I’m sure you guys are better. Easy qualification for the main tournament, right?”


    Yep, there it was. He made fun of the team I think we might lose to. What do I do now? Sun Ruinian smiled bitterly and replied, “We’ll do our best. I’m not going to underestimate them, because if we don’t give it our all, I’m not sure we can even beat them. I actually don’t know how we’re going to beat them.”


    Shi Hang frowned in honest surprise and asked, “What? Are they actually good?”


    Sun Ruinian nodded and exined, “Yeah, they’re surprisingly good. Their ad-carry and Toner are easy enough, but the other three members…” He briefly paused to take a deep breath and then continued, “Their Support is Zeng Rui. He’s an A- Support. He’s good, but not unbeatable. Then there is their Jungler. An Xin. I’m not sure what to think of her. Her gank timings and pathing gave me the chill—”


    “WaitWaitWait!” Shi Hang interrupted. An Xin? He sat up straight for real this time and looked Sun Ruinian in the eyes. “An Xin? The yer in their Jungle is called An Xin?”


    “Yeah, that’s her name. I can show you,” Sun Ruinian replied, confused. He looked at Shi Hang doubtfully and asked, “Is something wrong? Do you know her or something?”


    Shi Hang waved his hand and said, “Ah, it’s fine. I’m fine. Go on. Where were you? Just their Miner, right? What’s so bad about their Miner?” He raised his beer bottle and let the light fall on the ss. Just a bit left. He put it to his lips and emptied its contents into his mouth.


    Sun Ruinian nodded slowly and said, “Yes. Their Miner. That’s the real problem. The others are good, but I can see how good they are for the most part and I cane up with a way to beat them. Then there is their Miner… I don’t know. The way he was ying, there just was something about it…” He shook his head and raised his shoulder before continuing, “I just don’t get it. I’m afraid he’s far better than Zuo Chong. I really don’t know what to do about this Lin Feng—”


    The bottle of beer slipped from Shi Hang’s hand and fell on the ground, while the beer in his mouth went down the wrong pipe. He coughed violently and spit out the beer across his table, spraying Sun Ruinian. Tears sprung in his eyes from the pain, but he didn’t notice it. The shock was too great. LIN FENG? He coughed, choked, and couldn’t see much through the ck spots clouding his vision. But he still jumped up and over the coffee table. He then grabbed Sun Ruinian by the shoulders and shouted into his face, “WHAT? LIN FENG!?”