Chapter 72: After Four Thousand Games, One Finally Knows the True Name of the Hidden Dragon

"EDG uses the double dragon buff to push down the base in one wave! They complete their 'revenge' with a resounding two-to-zero victory!" Seeing the Top Esports base collapse into a pile of rubble, Jide still maintained his excitement and shouted loudly.

"This is a result that quite a few viewers probably didn't expect before the match!"

"Two different ways of winning: one where EDG cracked their opponent's tactics, and one where EDG used their opponent's tactics. And in both games, they performed incomparably well!"

Guan Zeyuan followed up with a sharp critique: "Absolutely correct! And the key rhythmic changes in both games were initiated from the mid lane. I have to say, this young player from EDG can no longer be described as merely stunning!"

"The desperate, suicidal charges of Zoe, the roaming and forced defense-breaking of the Pyke research-style build, and the key to quickly killing the game in both matches without giving the opponent a chance to counterattack—all of this relied on the magical plays of player Ye!"

"Actually, just looking at those operations, I can fully imagine how much time this young player spent practicing in private. Perhaps this is the 'one minute on stage' of Summoner's Rift."

"EDG has truly found a treasure."

Before the base exploded with a sliver of health remaining.

The EDG team voice chat had already turned into an ocean of joy.

"Nice, brothers!!!" Jiejie excitedly thrust his fists into the air; anyone who didn't know better would have thought they’d won the championship. "Awesome! Master Ye is too cool!"

"Damn right, awesome!" Meiko, who understood Jiejie's mood perfectly, stood up along with him.

The two longest-serving members of the team had a 1-win, 5-loss record against TES since 2019; the rivalry between the two teams was practically like a "curse."

Therefore, today's big win undoubtedly held extra significance for them.

Flandre was all smiles and immediately sought out his roommate: "So satisfying, Bo~ Your Pyke was so fierce, it made me feel so comfortable!"

Because Top Esports had two major peel-heavy heroes in Galio and Tahm Kench, making single-target assassination much more difficult, Ye Bo had chosen to funnel economy in the mid-game to Kennen, who possessed great AoE capabilities.

And the final team fight proved that this approach was very wise.

Although Summoner's Rift isn't exactly a pure "jungle chess" game, there truly exist mutual counter-relationships between systems and heroes.

Just like a {heavy peel} lineup is very afraid of this kind of confrontation involving large AoE crowd control initiation plus maxed-out large AoE damage.

"Much stronger than the Pyke from the other side in the last game~" Viper smiled and chimed in while taking off his headset: "You even carried my Draven to a win, strong!"

When Ye Bo finally stood up, he let out a long sigh of relief and generously accepted his teammates' praise.

Because the system used in this match was indeed quite unconventional, and his own grasp of it only existed in simulations and trials.

Especially that "returning phantom" move in the top lane; the error rate was incredibly high, and it was purely a "flash of inspiration" play.

Such a move could never be practiced in advance; it relied on a proficient mastery of every one of the hero's skills, arranging and combining them in the lightning-fast moments of actual combat, and seizing that single fleeting opportunity.

That Ye Bo was able to successfully execute it was thanks to the massive amount of practice he had done recently.

Just like how he had practiced Yone's "crowd control cancellation" into an instinctive reflex.

This is hero proficiency—the "miraculous play" that can only be created in the hands of a master player, the true potential unearthed.

Only after four thousand games does one know the true name of the hidden dragon.

Only after a thousand hammerings does one recognize the brilliant light of true gold.

Perhaps similar scenes are hard to replicate, but even if all the effort only serves to illuminate the brightest side of a hero on the Rift for a single moment, it is enough.

Ye Bo really likes this feeling; he feels that by exploring heroes step by step, he is gaining a deeper understanding of Summoner's Rift, climbing the stairs of this canyon step by step.

All the members crossed the stage in high spirits, walking with joyful steps toward the opposite side.

However, there was little sign of dejection on the TES player bench.

After all, for TES, they had suffered plenty of absurd losses in the spring, and had even tripped over bottom-tier teams several times due to "TES-style operations."

Losing a match is definitely unpleasant, but by comparison, losing to EDG like this was nothing they couldn't accept.

JackeyLove even had the mood to take the initiative to talk to Ye Bo, and before the other party could start casting "xx, xxxxxx," he took a step and flashed to interrupt.

It left Ye Bo stunned, feeling like his internal energy circulation had failed, which was extremely uncomfortable!

So that's where he saved his Flash for!

"Impressive, impressive. Let's try to meet again in the playoffs; I'll definitely ban your Pyke then!" JackeyLove reached out half-jokingly, wanting to pat Ye Bo on the shoulder: "We'll definitely..."

But due to the obvious height difference between the two, this reach turned into a pat on Ye Bo's chest, looking as if he were reaching out to "hug" Ye Bo.

Ye Bo took the opportunity to follow up with an amazing embrace, leaning in close to his ear: "Alright! Let's try to meet again then, and I'll come down again!"

"By the way, Brother Shui, I am your..."

Hearing the voice in his ear, JackeyLove suddenly felt like he had been hooked by Pyke again, his whole body jolting.

However, Ye Bo wasn't actually being sarcastic; this was the truth.

As a viewer who had watched matches for several years, he had previously only watched these players compete and perform on stage from behind a screen.

Now, he was actually able to face them head-on with his own hands; this experience was truly wonderful.

Feeling satisfied, Ye Bo brushed past him.

He went to fist-bump Knight behind him.

Zhuo Ding had an autistic expression on his face, his timid gaze meeting Ye Bo's sharp, piercing one, as if his whole body were involuntarily shrinking back!

Even when fist-bumping, it felt like he was tucking his fist into his sleeve, as if he were lightly bumping into him with the corner of his clothing.

Actually, regarding the battle with Knight today, Ye Bo was a little bit "disappointed."

Because in his original expectations, what he would face today might be a more tense confrontation than when laning against Rookie.

He was both nervous and expectant.

But in the actual battle today, he only felt that the opponent was purely defending in both games; there really wasn't that feeling of "real blades and real guns," which fell short of his expectations.

Simply put, it wasn't a satisfying fight!

And this interesting scene was clearly captured by the camera, drawing a chorus of teasing.

[Why is Brother taking the initiative to hug Master Ye? He isn't begging for mercy, is he!]

[Wrong, with Brother's personality, he's definitely saying: "Just wait, we won't lose a single game in the future and will complete our revenge!"]

[Ye Wen leaned close to Brother's ear, his warm breath making his cheeks flush deep red, and that magnetic bass voice whispered: "You're even easier to fight than Tang Huanfeng~"]

[I'm dying of laughter, why is Coward Hand not even daring to look at him? Protecting his KDA off-stage, are we!]

[It's over~ Someone has been reverse-marked~]

Ye Bo naturally didn't know about the various things the onlookers were imagining; he fist-bumped the decadent-looking Karsa and Wayward in turn, then turned and walked with his waiting teammates toward the center of the stage to bow to the audience.

Compared to before, this time they were met with overwhelming cheers!

Especially among them, the number of viewers shouting Ye Bo's ID and nickname had an extremely obvious share!

For a moment, Ye Bo felt a sense of unreality at the rapid expansion of his popularity.

Thinking back to when he first appeared, it would instantly go quiet, then slowly become a few scattered voices, and then gradually gain momentum.

Today, it even seemed to be on the verge of overshadowing the people beside him!

Of course, this was mainly because his performance today was truly beyond reproach.

As the true key man in both games, he had completely conquered the vast majority of the EDG fan base.

Which fan wouldn't hope for someone like this on their home team, someone who could bring brilliant victories?

Not to mention that there were many casual viewers among them who were truly attracted by Ye Bo's wonderful performance, a pure and essential appreciation.

He returned to the player bench to pack up his peripherals.

Ye Bo pulled out the receiver, picked up his newly replaced G Pro Wireless and new keyboard, and prepared to leave.

Actually, today's match had one special point, because the keyboard equipment Ye Bo had newly replaced was a "capacitive" keyboard with a particularly short key travel.

This is actually very rare among professional League of Legends players.

The reason is that compared to mechanical keyboards, because the key travel of capacitive keyboards is extremely short and light, the probability of "accidental touches" is much higher. Ye Bo was actually a bit unaccustomed to it when he first changed, and he accidentally pressed Flash several times for no reason.

But the advantage is that this keyboard puts much less pressure on the fingers, and theoretically, the operation speed of the key positions will also be faster.

Of course, the main purpose for Ye Bo's final choice was the protection of his fingers.

This was also something he remembered the other party mentioning in the fragments of the old veteran's diary.

Wanting to have a long professional career, besides self-discipline, external conditions should naturally be reduced as much as possible; this was his thinking.

Even if he wasn't used to it, changing earlier was always easier than changing when he was truly near the end of his career.

Fortunately, with the help of the "Trial Grounds," through hundreds of games of adaptation, he had now completely gotten used to it and could basically avoid accidental touches through standard posture.

"Don't rush to pack up, Master Ye, it seems there's still an audience interaction segment today." Jiejie called out to Ye Bo, who was preparing to turn around.

"Hmm? Why wasn't there one the last few times?" Ye Bo asked curiously.

"Isn't it because the lockdown was stricter before, and we had to avoid more contact? It's been relaxed a bit this week. The official Weibo mentioned it yesterday; didn't you notice that there are more viewers in the venue today?"

"Oh~ I see. That's because I don't use Weibo."

Ye Bo put down the peripherals in his hand and waited on the spot at the player bench for the host to go through the process.

Flandre also leaned close to his shoulder and chatted: "Is yours easy to use? Didn't Jiejie try it and say it felt very easy to accidentally touch?"

"It's quite good to use! Recently, I've clearly felt that my palms aren't as sore. Flandre, you can try it too. Actually, once you get used to it, it's not that easy to accidentally touch." Ye Bo knew that the other party suffered from hand injuries and strongly recommended it.

"Alright, since you can show off like this today, it must really work. It shows it's Zhao Lijie's problem. I'll try it when I go back tonight."

"Hey, hey, hey, talking behind my back about me being bad, huh! Flandre, you've changed; you used to praise my plays!" Jiejie, who had sharp ears, argued unconvinced.

Meiko shook his head, smiled, and patted his shoulder to comfort him: "Just accept it, Jie. With an operation monster like little Ye Bo to set you off, you can only be placed in the 'I'm okay' stage~"

Everyone burst into laughter, which was captured by the camera's lingering gaze.

Soon, the on-site lottery process was finished.

Everyone returned to the stage to wait for the lucky audience members who were drawn to come up.

This post-match "audience interaction" segment actually wasn't new; all major regions had it, and it had become a fixed segment as early as after 2018, only occasionally suspended due to pandemic controls in the last two years.

There were five lucky audience members in total, two men and three women.

"Alright! Let's invite the first lucky audience member to come on stage and receive a gift from your favorite player!"

The first one to come on stage was a girl with yellow hair, but because she was wearing a mask, nothing could be seen.

And what was surprising was that the yellow-haired girl walked straight to receive Ye Bo's gift, and in the end, it seemed she even leaned in close and said something.

Ye Bo, however, had a strange expression on his face and turned to look at his teammates for help.

"What the hell is 'can we have a hug'?"

However, looking at the expressions of his teammates who were all watching the show, Ye Bo had no choice.

Fans must be respected, and besides, this wasn't exactly an unreasonable request.

It was just that when Ye Bo hugged, his two hands hung down unnaturally as if they were broken, with only his forearms slightly touching, highlighting a "third kind of contact."

And just as they were about to make contact, his head turned away in an instant!

Luo Xin was unfazed; after all, Ye Bo’s appearance, to say the least, was definitely considered good in the esports circle.

In the esports circle, as long as one’s looks can be considered "refined," it’s already enough to be competitive, and people always automatically update their standards.

Like Scout and Left Hand, they both have a massive number of female fans—the standard is self-evident!

By comparison, Ye Bo’s advantage is just too great.

The inherent advantage of youth, soft facial features that give a naturally approachable feeling, plus a sunny personality—he belongs to the type that is easy to like at first glance.

"Alright, then let’s invite the next audience member."

Luo Xin called people up to the stage one by one.

The following two female audience members received gifts from the bottom lane duo and also asked for a hug; the bottom lane duo performed the usual routine with ease, not as "stiffly" as Ye Bo.

The last ones to come on stage were two male audience members.

The first male audience member took the microphone and shouted loudly: "I am a fan of player Waiyi! You played so well today! Brother Auntie is awesome!!!"

As soon as Ye Bo heard this, he knew this was a true fan; they actually knew this ancient nickname that had already been forgotten in a corner.

Subsequently, at the other party's request, the two of them had an enthusiastic, head-on "bear hug."

And what was even more surprising was that the male audience member who came up after him also mentioned him: "Actually, I’m a team fan of EDG and a fan of Brother Flandre, but today I’ve been completely won over by Master Ye. Keep it up, Master Ye, you are definitely our best mid-laner!"

These words were actually just a fan’s praise.

But through the broadcast of the live stream, it immediately made Scout, who was already looking gloomy in the background, unable to hold it together.

Using an ultimate right in the face, huh?

Not treating me like a human, huh!

He almost wanted to cosplay on the spot, rush out, and shout at that fan: "Ah, am I not a human? Am I really not a human?"

After that male fan hugged Brother Flandre, he also sought out Ye Bo just like the guy before him.

And Ye Bo also gave this male fan an enthusiastic bear hug.

The interview segment ended, and everyone returned to the backstage area.

Today’s official post-match interview was originally meant for a choice between Ye Bo and Brother Flandre, but Factory Manager, considering Ye Bo’s previous wild maneuvers, ultimately let Brother Flandre, who had paralyzed five people with a thunderous strike at the Dragon Pit, go instead.

Ye Bo, of course, had no objections at all; he actually didn't like interviews much either.

After all, saying standard lines according to the rules was meaningless, but improvising easily led to trouble.

He was happy to be idle and prepared to go back to check out the "Hupu Rating Post" that had suddenly become popular recently.

According to surfing experts Brother Flandre and Jiejie, it was very entertaining.

On the way back, Ye Bo took the opportunity to claim his simple operation rewards.

[Congratulations! "Limit Operation" (Zoe) has been triggered!]

[Congratulations! "Limit Operation" (Pyke) has been triggered!]

[Congratulations! "Flash of Inspiration" (Pyke) has been triggered!]

That "wall-delayed E" from Zoe, while seemingly simple, had an extremely significant effect, creating a game-turning moment, and the difficulty of the operation itself was quite high, earning a base of 5k experience.

As for Pyke, the harvest was massive!

First was the cover-shaped ER long-distance flash at the final Dragon; that was actually the key to creating the world-destroying team fight.

After all, without instantly controlling five people, Kennen would never have had the chance to cross over and stun all five with his ultimate, not to mention the final Dragon steal—this alone earned a 15k operation reward!

But the real big prize was the fixed 50k experience reward for triggering "Flash of Inspiration" with the "Ghost Shadow Back-Slash"!

Ye Bo also discovered the more detailed criteria for this "Flash of Inspiration."

Although that sequence—whether it was {using R to pull E}, {R-flash changing the initiation position}, or the {angle R} details—were all techniques Ye Bo had already mastered.

But when these techniques were combined, they formed a completely unique and unexpected effect.

It could even be named a new combo: "Reverse ER-Flash"!

The general idea is perhaps that you recognize every Chinese character, but once they are spliced together into a string of mathematical terms, you can't understand them at all!

Since neither Ye Bo’s {Zoe} nor {Pyke} had reached max level, these rewards were automatically added to both heroes.

Zoe had reached the upper-middle stage of level six.

Pyke had surged directly to a level almost equal to Zoe!

In this way, Pyke had truly become a hidden killer in Ye Bo’s hands!

Ye Bo nodded with great satisfaction and hummed a little tune as he walked into the backstage area.

"You're back~~~ Not bad today, truly handsome!" Ming Kai revealed a bright, wrinkled smile and stepped forward to welcome him.

"I knew I didn't trust the wrong person! You really can do it!" Maokai felt incredibly wise for his decision to trust the other party to try using Pyke.

"It's alright, it's alright! And I feel like I found quite a few areas for improvement today, I'll work harder next time!"

Ye Bo replied with a smile, then suddenly seemed to notice someone was missing from the backstage: "Eh? Where is Brother Ruican?"

"Oh, Li Ruican went back, said he had something to do," Maokai replied flatly.

Just now, Scout had suddenly stood up and said he was going back early, not joining the victory banquet.

Everyone naturally knew roughly what the other party was feeling, but there was no helping such things; esports is all about strength, and teams need results more than anything.

At the end of the day, didn't you, Scout, only get your chance back then because Pawn’s form declined!

Besides, EDG didn't say they wouldn't let him play; look, they were planning to let him play against the bottom-ranked AL the day after tomorrow.

Ye Bo didn't think that much.

He unlocked his phone, preparing to find some entertainment while waiting for Brother Flandre to return.

But Jiejie’s phone seemed to boot up much faster, and he had already opened the forum: "Hehe, Master Ye, looks like the equipment hasn't finished updating yet; your internet speed seems a bit slow~"

"Nonsense! You're the one lagging! My Huawei doesn't lag!"

The two of them bantered with a slightly boring joke, but this was actually their daily interaction recently, and it was something they only did because they got along well.

And Jiejie soon discovered something fresh.

"Aiyo~ As expected of our big star, you can even blow up the Anti-Fan Forum just by shaking hands."

"That must be Brother Shui’s traffic," Ye Bo said, unconcerned.

Jiejie shook his head and turned his body to show the screen: "It’s really not, it’s yours; it’s from when you were shaking hands with the fans just now."

Ye Bo looked closely.

It turned out that because the contrast in how he treated male and female fans was too great, this tiny matter had sparked a heated discussion among netizens on the forum.

In fact, this also showed that Ye Bo’s current level of attention was quite significant, especially after the last match and this one, it was undergoing huge changes.

But Ye Bo just felt that men and women should keep their distance.

However, there were indeed many funny posts under the thread.

[Male fan: Master Ye, I love you! Ye: Mm-hmm, I love you too!]

[Female fan: Master Ye, I love you! Ye: Right, I love myself too.]

[Awkward hate, you can tell they are all cloud-players! Why did Master Ye turn his head to the side when hugging the girl? He was using movement to dodge petrification!]

[Teary-eyed, a man who practices kiting even off-stage, I only saw effort and sweat!]

[Uh, wait a second, I suddenly want to ask, where is Ye from? He wouldn't be from...]

[A huge black mark on Ye Wen appears! Putting on airs! Not friendly enough to female fans, not as good as other LPL players who directly have negative-distance communication with female fans, big bad review!]

But clearly, while the comments were funny, they were generally expressing high praise for this polite behavior.

It’s just that Ye Bo even saw a GIF below.

Some expert had actually photoshopped the female fan’s head into "Cassiopeia casting her ultimate."

Ye Bo turned his head at light speed!

Top comment—[Kennidi: "Brother, you there? Asking for the head sensitivity settings!"]

Jiejie laughed until he was clutching his stomach.

Ye Bo could only sigh: "Netizens are really fast at making images."

However, this also made him look forward to the fun Brother Flandre mentioned even more.

PS: Sorry, only the base 6k today, a bit on the low side, because it’s quite hard for me to write daily life.

But there will be more tomorrow!

Can give a teaser—tomorrow, the Scout matter will be completely and thoroughly resolved!

I’ve said before, we are the protagonist, it’s impossible to really do rotations, there will be plot arrangements.

I believe everyone should be able to understand, because I personally feel there’s no need to create unpleasant plots for the sake of so-called "realism"; novels and stories are, after all, meant to be enjoyed~

Of course, there are indeed very reasonable practical cases in reality, it won't be forced!

Thanks to the brothers for the monthly tickets!

Thanks to the brothers for the support!

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(End of chapter)