Chapter 4: The Shock Brought by Game Understanding That Led the Era

To the young man before them, everyone placed almost unconditional trust; besides Jiang Ming being their boss, a major reason was his superb game skill and understanding.

One could say Jiang Ming was the standard template of "the neighbor's good kid" in the minds of several internet-addicted youths: a freshman who became a streamer with over a hundred thousand followers, opened his own online store to make big money, and now even founded a game team to become the boss of this group; well, his main game ranked score was also a tier higher than theirs.

You say good grades can make money, which can't influence rebellious young kids, but if you add their identity as top-three grandmasters on the Chinese server's LOL ladder, their admiration is guaranteed to be rock-solid.

Regarding the emotions revealed in the eyes of his teammates, Jiang Ming was naturally clear, yet he felt no sense of self-satisfaction in his heart.

He had been reborn himself; using foreknowledge to do these things over a year and more, if placed in other channels, he would probably be categorized under "shame of the reborn."

His plan was to secure startup capital through the online store, then use his game understanding that led the entire current era to cultivate a qualified LPL team, enter the regional preliminary matches through the LOL server conquest tournament, and fight for the eight professional team slots in the LPL league Tencent established this year.

Finally, step into the Staples Center in New York, USA, and face-to-face meet Li Guapi, still in his "murderer" version.

(Li Guapi, the 2013 "not acting human" version)

"One last emphasis..." Jiang Ming pulled up his compiled "Hero Tier List."

Click!

Suddenly, the power cut out.

The basement plunged into darkness, with only the blue light of a phone screen glowing. Jiang Ming continued his explanation in the dim light, as if he had expected this all along—this was the old district's weekly recurring show held three times a week.

Just as Jiang Ming and his own teammates were preparing for the server conquest tournament, the tutorial video he uploaded for the Shadow Fiend Master also caused quite a stir online.

University City, Zhulang Internet Cafe.

The hum of the internet cafe's air conditioner mixed with the tapping of mechanical keyboards. "Still not updated!"

"Still nothing!"

Lin Xiao refreshed the page of a certain Ku author he followed for the 17th time.

"JM isn't going to ghost us, is he?" The fatty on the seat to his right held a bowl of instant noodles, slurping loudly, and without waiting to swallow the food in his mouth, mumbled, "It's already been three days."

"Correction: two days and one minute!"

"I feel you guys are too anxious; the new hero has only been out for two days, even grandmasters need some time to get familiar." The taller roommate in the corner said, "A-Ming's tutorial videos basically select matches above 2200 points, so it's normal to be a bit slow."

"Are you guys going to start or not? If not, I'll play a match first."

"Wait a bit more; yesterday on YY Live, A-Ming posted a preview himself, saying the new hero's tutorial video would update at dawn today. Damn, let me tell you, the plays A-Ming made controlling the new hero during his stream were simply too cool."

"I have a premonition: this new hero will definitely be my main!"

"Haha, fatty, this is already the fourth time you've said that; every time you complained the mechanics were too difficult and gave up."

"Wake up; the problem isn't the hero, it's the person. If the Shadow Fiend Master gets into your hands, he'll probably turn into the Child Master!"

Lin Xiao didn't join the discussion between his two roommates; his index finger knuckle continued tapping the F5 key. Kill announcements came one after another from the opposite side of the computer screen, while various scenes of the streamer controlling the new hero, the Shadow Fiend Master, flashed continuously in his mind, as seen yesterday in the YY live room.

"The invisible blade is the most deadly!"

"When you see this hero in the footage, you will understand what 'some people are still alive, yet they are already dead' means."

As a hardcore League of Legends player, Lin Xiao was immediately captivated by the unique charm of this newly released assassin hero from Riot.

The moment the refresh key depressed for the 18th time, a red notification box bloomed like a midnight epiphyllum.

"It's updated~!" Lin Xiao's trailing voice cracked.

The words had barely fallen when two heads squeezed over from the side; the fatty had thrown his instant noodles, which he had been slurping just a second ago, into the trash can early. The thin, tall guy in the corner instantly quit the game he had already joined, switched to a Baidu webpage, opened the video site, and his excited appearance made one think these three brothers were watching some particularly stimulating and exciting Japanese romance action films together in the internet cafe at dawn.

The video thumbnail featured Jiang Ming's signature blue-and-gold color scheme, and while the video titled "Shadow Fiend Master: Teaching You to Promote from Child Zed to Ninja Zed!" was still loading, the view count in the bottom right corner suddenly jumped to five digits.

"Damn, that's ridiculous; how many night owls are waiting for this update?"

The fatty muttered a complaint.

It wasn't just the three of them; a boy wearing noise-canceling headphones at a seat behind suddenly ripped off the equipment: "Damn! A-Ming's new hero tutorial is updated!" The wave of sound exploded in the internet cafe like dominoes; a dull thud of a chair falling over came from the back row. A jungler currently in a team fight flashed directly into a wall, and taking advantage of the moment the screen went gray, stretched his neck to look at the computer screen of the person beside him.

Don't think it's exaggerated; once the Chinese server launched, the LOL that exploded in major internet cafes had already become a phenomenon-level online game. Among young people who like games, if you possess superb game skills, let alone having a higher status in the dormitory, even the internet fees for an all-night session at the cafe plus the ham sausage in your instant noodles would be voluntarily arranged for you by others.

This is also why everyone's hero tutorial videos for high-ranked players are so popular; sometimes, recommendations aren't even needed, as players deeply obsessed with the League will search for hero guides themselves when looking for strategies.

"Damn, A-Ming finally updated; can this bunch of Child Zeds who instantly pick the new hero for ranked matches please hurry up and learn?"

"Ah, hasn't the new hero just come out? There's already a tutorial video?"

"Of course; this tutorial video blogger is also a grandmaster, and the update speed is rock-solid."

"Ah, isn't the new hero just a Bloodthirster build? I saw Teacher Xu say that in his new hero introduction video."

"Pfft, brother, that person you mentioned is just a comedy streamer; A-Ming is a grandmaster in the top five of the Chinese server ladder."

"Attack damage, cooldown reduction, armor penetration... skill-based assassins should prioritize Black Cleaver first; I see!"

"Damn, is Zed's burst damage this high... the real body plus W plus R actually equals three people fighting."

"The key is the four dashes; it messed up the opponent's show-off skills, giving me the illusion that a 2300-point match feels about the same as our 1000-plus point matches..."

"I feel this streamer named A-Ming is so strong; he crushes with both mechanics and game understanding; analyzing the jungle monster respawn times just by looking at where the jungler is..."

"The enemy simply can't catch this Zed; they can only watch helplessly as he pushes lanes."

"Sigh, this is too cool; I must rush to buy the 6300 one; if I don't have enough gold, I'll make up the difference with points."

"The 'Blade of the Shadow Fiend' skin for Shadow Fiend Master is also so cool; I want to buy it..."

"Buy what, brother? Let me recommend a software to you; do you know Duowan Box? You can change skins for free inside, and your ranked score can be converted into combat power."

"Father, is it really true?"

"It is truly true!"