Chapter 25

“Last-hitting, last-hitting—always remember, last-hitting is the rhythm of breathing in the Rift.”

“No matter if you like fighting or not, remember: only after you’ve last-hit minions and acquired some gear do you earn the right to kill your opponent.”

“Of course, if you’re capable of killing your opponent first, then last-hitting for double farm, that works too.”

“Hahaha, godlike double farm—this UP is really funny.”

A clear burst of laughter erupted in the internet cafe; Haiyang watched the UP’s demonstration of mocking the enemy under the tower, finally understanding why his economy always collapsed before teamfights.

When the opponent typed, “Kills are the reward for double farm,” he suddenly slapped his thigh—wasn’t this exactly the underlying logic of a mage kiting a warrior in Legend?

With this epiphany shaking him, the young man closed the webpage, restarted the client, and instantly locked in the Rogue Mage to start a new game.

Half an hour passed.

The young man stared, stunned, at the scoreboard: 6-2-5 KDA.

He was astonished to realize that he, once repeatedly punished by enemy turrets, truly belonged to playing mage heroes—especially that bald, scroll-carrying, lightning-wielding master.

Not only did he stop feeding his team in matchmaking, he also achieved his first positive record by game’s end.

“Keep going!”

As game after game progressed, the young man with the ID Haiyang grew increasingly cheerful on his seat—positive records, then taking the lead in rhythm, then going unstoppable!

Having unlocked a new perspective on mages, he grew ever more attuned to League of Legends’ rhythm.

Until, in one match, the enemy mid laner, deeply aggrieved, typed in all-chat: “Please, sir, go play ranked and make a name for yourself—what’s the point of bullying new players in matchmaking?”

Ranked?

The young man froze, staring at his 7-0-0 record; though flattered to be called a pro by opponents, he’d never truly understood ranked play—hadn’t there been an unlocked new mode on the page?

“Right—if JM’s UP has beginner tutorials, he must have ranked explanations too. Let me find them.”

By the way, since this JM UP has a beginner tutorial, he should also have rankings-related explanations—let’s find them.

Level 30!

Players must reach level 30 and own at least sixteen champions to unlock ranked mode.

Haiyang indeed found JM’s ranked mode tutorial in his videos—uploaded just this morning, still fresh.

“Ranked, champion bans, LP and tiers—Bronze, Silver… King, wow, this is just an MMO leaderboard.”

The young man scratched his head.

Of course—no matter the game type, human competition is inevitable.

Without this leaderboard, League of Legends would merely be a decent pastime; with it, it becomes a fully competitive MOBA.

Without this ranking system, League of Legends would be at most a decent pastime, but with the rankings, it becomes a fully competitive MOBA game.

“Not yet—JM’s promotion matches weren’t finished yesterday; he got carried by a troll. Whether he’ll reach King after today’s ten games is still up in the air.”

A nearby young player, who’d been watching Haiyang, spoke up: “You new?”

“Yeah, just started playing this game.”

“Whoa, you’ve got serious talent—I saw how well you played the Rogue Mage in matchmaking.”

“Just lucky—I ran into newbies!”

“When I was new, I wasn’t this good—I lost two games against bots and my bot win rate isn’t even 100%.”

“By the way, you mentioned JM might reach King after ten games—is ranked progression really that fast?” Haiyang asked curiously.

“No way—that’s because JM was already top three in the national ladder before. His base rank was reset to Diamond 2 at the start of this season. Do the math: after ten games, he’ll be King-level.”

“You’ve got serious luck, kid. Last year when I started playing LOL, JM hadn’t even started posting tutorials—finding guides was hell. You kids just copy answers from his videos and breeze through the beginner phase.”

“Bro, I want to play ranked—can you carry me? Or recommend some tutorial videos?” Haiyang seized the chance.

“Uh, carry you in ranked?” The young man hesitated. “Bro, I hit nearly 2000 LP last season—there’s a big gap between us, and it’s promotion matches. Why don’t you try solo queue first?”

“If you don’t get it, check JM’s tutorials—he’s got every advanced guide you need, especially for different champion playstyles.”

“I’ll tell you, we hit 1900+ LP thanks entirely to JM’s tutorials—he actually teaches real stuff.”

I’m telling you, we got up to nearly 1900 points entirely thanks to JM’s tutorial videos—he actually teaches real stuff.

“Heard of them—what about it?”

“WE’s jungler—the former #1 in the nation—got crushed by him too!”

“These days, JM’s streaming to climb to #1 nationally.”

As they talked, the internet cafe’s main screen switched to a YY live stream—on screen, JM was executing textbook-level minion control with the Rogue Mage; the chat flood instantly drowned the entire display.

As the two discussed, the internet cafe’s main screen suddenly switched to a YY live stream—on screen, JM was playing the Nomad Mage with textbook-level wave management, and a tidal wave of comments instantly flooded the entire display.

“Holy shit… he’s really that good?”

The young man stared at the screen, not daring to blink away from the blue-skinned demon.

“Obviously—strongest King, don’t you know what that means?”

“Dude, I forgot you haven’t even played ranked yet.”

“Suggestion: start with JM’s beginner tutorials. His current tier’s too high—you won’t grasp it all at once.”

Watching his peer return to ranked play, the eager young man quickly left the stream and began searching for the advanced tutorials he’d been told about.

“Play with your brain—climbing’s easy!”

“Hello everyone, this is JM of ‘One Thousand Ways to Cook a Champion’—Ah Ming’s Classroom!”

“Today’s cooking subject—the Rogue Mage!”

Today’s cooking star is—the Nomad Mage!

“Alright, now for the commercial break…”

All this was merely a microcosm of the flood of new players drawn in by JM’s overwhelming promotion.

One could say that Jiang Ming, leveraging his foresight, had already achieved a monopolistic scale in video tutorials.

While others hadn’t yet recognized this opportunity, he had already mass-produced a full suite of LOL tutorials—from beginner to advanced, from entry to burial—each lesson chained perfectly to guide every new summoner into the Rift.

Before others even noticed this business opportunity, he had already mass-produced a full suite of LoL tutorial videos, covering everything from beginner to advanced, from new player to seasoned veteran, with each video seamlessly linked to perfectly guide every new summoner entering Summoner’s Rift.

In continuously guiding new players, Jiang Ming gradually deepened his videos’ imprint in players’ minds.

Once players began seeking guides and automatically turned to his videos, he amassed countless potential fans.

These fans would support his livestreams and future club, and more immediately, become direct customers for his online shop.

He is both a boost to his livestreaming and future club development, and also the direct customer base for his current online store.

“Phew—just one more match!”

On the other side, after signing his contract with YY, Jiang Ming wasted no time—he returned to his room and instantly began his livestream climb.

Though he’d lost two waves of LP to Mingkai and already ranked high, no one had yet surpassed him in LP—but the grindmasters were burning the midnight oil, climbing relentlessly.

His pace was slow, yes—but if he didn’t play, he’d be overtaken.

He couldn’t let the title of #1 in Region 1 be snatched away right after signing his contract—that’d be hilarious.

If you just signed the contract with the platform and someone else snatches away the title of first king in Region One, that’ll be fun.