Chapter 3: Volunteering to Serve, I Want to Go Onstage with the Coin Brother

Week 10 of the spring season.

This is the final week of the regular season, and QG still has two matches left.

One on Thursday, one on Sunday.

On Wednesday night, Xu Dongmen found manager Lin Ke and told him he wanted to go up and try.

As expected, there was no chance, although the team was on a losing streak and Swift's performance was also pretty bad, but he is the team's backbone, the so-called team leader.

They are all teams with mid/jungle substitutes; QG is similar to IG from last season, the jungler is the big brother, and the mid lane is just an extra.

Xu Dongmen wasn't panicking; agreement or disagreement is one thing, but he had to show this attitude.

Thursday, the match started on time.

QG vs M3!

M3, currently with a record of 3 wins and 11 losses, tied for last place in Group A with EPA.

A few weeks ago, no one would have thought this match had any suspense.

But after losing to EPA, everything became uncertain.

QG today sent out UZI, which could be considered playing their trump card.

For them, this point today is extremely crucial; if they lose this point as well, securing first place in the group will be difficult.

The match began, and Xu Dongmen watched from backstage.

Doinb also came over today, fearing that if he didn't come now, he would never get another chance.

"Both sides have double marksman compositions; they have Corki Lucian, we have Graves Miss Fortune—this composition is indeed solid, just a bit hard to get the rhythm going." Xu Dongmen commented.

"They actually gave Borisal Lulu; is he serious about playing Lulu?" Doinb's eyes locked onto mid lane.

This was a lane-swap game; from the start both sides were frantically swapping towers, at 10 minutes the tower count was 4-3, and QG's top lane high ground tower was gone.

They were behind by one turret, but economically QG was actually ahead by about a thousand, showing the difference in fundamentals between the two sides.

Compared to QG, this rebuilt M3 on the field had no star players, a pure civilian lineup.

Star players have their value, and civilian lineups have their own teamwork.

At 12 minutes into the game, V was caught in the top lane; M3 sent three people to kill him, and QG immediately retaliated with a tower dive in mid lane.

However, this tower dive was poorly coordinated; in a 3 vs 1 situation, Corki dodged all avoidable skills, and at the crucial moment UZI chased into the second turret wanting to trade, but was saved by a heal from Lucian who rushed over.

Even if Swift forcibly took down Corki, he himself would have to go down with it.

1 for 3!

Including V's kill, this was a 1 for 4 exchange; on QG's side, everyone except the mid laner died once.

"That Lulu play was a huge mistake—his ultimate and polymorph weren't chained properly; if they had been, Corki would have been instantly killed!" Doinb gave a frantic critique.

This guy's two signature champions since his debut are Lulu and Viktor, which fans jokingly call the two sides of a coin.

"This is tough to play; I feel this game is going to be a loss." Xu Dongmen crossed his arms and watched.

Losing the economic lead is secondary; the key is that after this wave the mid turret fell, and Sivir can't contest lane without a mid turret, which is a fatal blow to QG.

The situation was extremely passive!

"Damn, these fishy teams really get me—whenever we play them they suddenly become fierce, right?" Lin Ke was furious.

Whether it's EPA or M3, these teams have long lost any chance of making the playoffs.

When we first met them, it was all 2-0 stomps, the kind of one-sided crush where they had no ability to fight back.

After a few weeks, when we met them again, these fishy teams had all somehow leveled up, each one tougher than the last.

"Maybe this is just what the LPL is like." Xu Dongmen wasn't surprised at all.

The classic pattern: after committing mistakes early and losing playoff hopes, they start to awaken, each letting loose and playing without regrets, every game a no-regrets affair.

Compared to those fishy teams, QG's regular season can only be described in four characters.

Tiger head, snake tail!

From a 10-1 start they fell to 10-4, the decline clearly visible to the naked eye.

"Done for, could it really become 10-5? Holy shit!" Lin Ke spread his hands, unable to hide his disappointment.

At this point the kill score was 10-2, and M3 had also taken Baron.

Even if they held on this wave thanks to Miss Fortune's wave clear, QG's situation was already lost; unless the enemy made a huge mistake, a comeback was impossible.

"Borisal's Lulu really isn't working; we can't pick it again next game."

Speaking of Lulu, Lin Ke unconsciously glanced at Doinb, who was sitting next to Xu Dongmen.

Da B also noticed the manager's gaze; he was sitting low and composed, a rare moment of obedience.

Too bad they just glanced and had no intention of swapping him in.

Doinb wanted to speak but held back, knowing that whatever he said now wouldn't sway the coaching staff.

At the crucial moment, Xu Dongmen raised his hand: "Coach, I want to try playing in the next game."

"You? Dongmen?"

Including manager Lin Ke and head coach Pu Longyun, everyone wore an expression of disbelief.

After being on the team for so long, this was still Xu Dongmen's first time volunteering.

"Xiao Xu, being able to step up when the team is in danger—no matter what, I first have to give you a thumbs up." Lin Ke raised his thumb.

"But then?" Xu Dongmen knew the real point was coming.

"But right now you shouldn't come out and cause trouble for me; our most important thing is to win this match and stabilize the ranking!" Lin Ke was a little angry.

"If I didn't have confidence we could win, I wouldn't have brought this up."

Xu Dongmen showed no fear; after looking around, he slowed his speech: "I joined the team at the same time as Borisal; he already got a starting spot last week, but I've never played a game……All I want is not much—just a chance to prove myself."

"I know that, Xiao Xu—don't rush, we'll discuss this later." Lin Ke gave a perfunctory reply.

"No, we can't wait any longer!"

Xu Dongmen's attitude was firm: "The regular season is about to end; according to the rules, if you haven't played in the regular season, even if you're on the roster you can't play in the playoffs."

"Well..." Lin Ke turned his gaze toward the coaching staff.

QG's coaching staff has three members, with head coach Pu Longyun at the helm, a senior coach from the renowned SKT.

"Dongmen player, I understand your feelings, but now is not the time to be upset," Pu Longyun kindly advised.

As an SKT-affiliated coach, Pu Longyun is known as a kind-hearted person, emphasizing equal treatment of his players.

The simplest example is that, upon taking charge of QG this season, his first act was to establish a morning meeting system: every day at 9 a. m. they wake up, hold a meeting, then begin training.

Initially the system worked well, but as the team kept winning in the regular season, everyone felt the morning meetings were useless and voted to cancel them; when the team's performance later deteriorated and Pu Longyun wanted to reinstate them, it was already too late.

No one else said anything, but Doinb, who lives off-campus with his girlfriend, was the first to object, arriving late almost every day.

This also served as the spark that ignited the conflict between Da B and the coaching staff.

Doinb didn't attend the morning meetings, and Pu Longyun didn't let the other players attend either; in his view, all team members are equal, and for a team to have cohesion, everyone must be treated equally—no one can enjoy special privileges!

Even a substitute like Xu Dongmen has the right to speak.

"Coach, I just want you to answer me one question: if you don't let me play today, will you give me a chance in the next match?" Xu Dongmen spoke bluntly.

The next match is the final regular-season game.

The opponent is WE, ranked second in Group A, and also QG's biggest regular-season rival.

WE currently has a 10-5 record, with their win count tied with QG's.

Xu Dongmen's meaning is simple: either let him play today, or let him play in the next match against WE.

Pu Longyun fell silent for a moment, then said, "What if you go out and lose?"

Xu Dongmen straightened his chest: "If I lose, I'll never mention playing again from now on; I'll just be content as a substitute."

"Alright, since you've said all that, then let you go out and try in the next match."

Pu Longyun took a deep breath and called to his assistant: "Old Cui, go tell the referee we'll be making a substitution in the next match."

"Wait a minute, Coach Cui, please tell the referee we want to swap the mid/jungle positions together; I want to play alongside Ying Bi Ge."

"........"