Chapter 64

OK, then we won't switch lanes.

If our own top laner were some AJ-type, we could just switch lanes casually, but this is Theshy! Making Theshy go to jail really doesn't make sense.

I still need to see how Kai'Sa builds her items now.

The patch changes also left Uzi somewhat confused about Kai'Sa's current build; the removal of Lethal Tempo is still somewhat awkward for him.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside the TES team's training base has also changed,

369, Tian, Xiao Nai You, A Shui, and Tian Ye—five people sat silently in front of their computers, seemingly still not having emerged from the shadow of yesterday's match loss.

Behind them stood TES's as-yet-unannounced coach Mao Kai and TES club general manager Guo Hao; unfortunately, the young Guo Hao already had quite a few white hairs, making him look quite exhausted.

Today's practice match wasn't actually his idea; it was a small condition proposed by Mao Kai when they signed, letting the TES team go incognito to play a BO3 practice match against that group of old-timers from Huya.

As for why Mao Kai proposed such a condition, he himself isn't clear.

What has Su Xing been up to since retiring?

Guo Hao narrowed his eyes and asked: 'I have some impression of him; if it weren't for him in the S10 summer, we should have been able to go undefeated in the regular season.'

Was TES strong in the S10 summer split?

In that summer, right after winning the MSC championship and before designers started targeting them, the TES team, stacked with numerous top players, was undoubtedly the LPL's number one powerhouse.

Yet in that nearly invincible summer split, TES was swept 2-0 by a mid-tier team, whose mid laner was named Su Xing.

Looking back years later from Guo Hao's perspective, the reason Su Xing could become Rookie of the Year that year largely stemmed from that match, where he crushed his opposite number, Left Hand.

I don't know; the industry has no news about him.

Mao Kai said slowly: 'It seems Huya went to considerable trouble to find him for the Old Man Cup; according to him, he hasn't touched the game in years.'

Oh, I see.

Guo Hao rubbed his brow and said: 'Being able to maintain this level after not playing for several years is a bit outrageous.'

Yeah, his talent is pretty freakish.

Mao Kai's words were full of praise for Su Xing; he said slowly: 'The people from Huya told me he's been playing on the Korean server lately; I checked his record, and it's kinda terrifying.'

How terrifying is it?

Guo Hao gave a wry smile: 'Solo queue records aren't that meaningful for pros, especially since he once had teammates like Left Hand and JKL, who as youngsters would often climb to #1 on both servers.'

His account has been played from a week ago up to now, reaching over 1,000 points with a win rate above 95%.

Mao Kai calmly said: 'And he's not climbing with just one champion; he's playing the actively used pro-stage champions like Xiao Pao and Shahrazan, and his record is extremely impressive.'

That's still pretty impressive; I recall he should be fairly young, right?

Hearing that, Guo Hao became somewhat interested, his weary eyes seeming to gain a glint at that moment.

He has a household registration, is young, has an extremely deep champion pool, and also possesses shot-calling ability as a mid laner—damn, this isn't exactly the mid laner I've dreamed of signing? 'Well, actually, it's pretty similar to Left Hand.'

Mao Kai thought for a moment, then said: 'He's about in his prime.'

Well, I'd better take a good look then." Guo Hao seemed to have realized why Mao Kai proposed this practice match: nominally to observe TES's internal issues, but actually it was prepared for him as the general manager.

In Coach Mao Kai's eyes, Su Xing is a better fit for TES than the current TES mid laner Xiao Nai You; he wants to sign Su Xing! Meanwhile, both sides entered the game, and after buying their starting items, each headed to the river entrance to take position.

I want to go mid this game; bot lane, play safe?

Ning pondered a bit; since he's more familiar with Theshy, he'd definitely take the upper jungle; as for bot lane, Uzi frankly said, the enemy's champion combo demands lane pressure, and if he rashly went bot he'd get counter-ganked and blow up completely.

Fine, just let Su Xing do the shot-calling.

Uzi had no objection either, but out of caution he still reminded Ning to definitely follow Su Xing's commands, after all Su Xing's ability is evident here.

Others might have their own ideas, which could be right, but listening to Su Xing will definitely not be wrong—this is the lesson he's drawn from a week of practice matches! 'OK, OK, no problem, bro.'

Ning said confidently: 'It's just a few pro players; watch me handle them!'

Yet during this process, Su Xing remained unusually silent, not reminding teammates when to do what, because he clearly knew Theshy's and Ning's playstyles.

Geniuses often are people who possess both arrogance and confidence.

Teaming with such an extremely talented person, relying on words is useless; just like Ning now says he'll play top lane this game, but in reality he keeps wandering down to bot.

In this process, no matter what I say, they won't follow my commands.

The root cause is that, as geniuses, they're overly confident, believing their judgments are definitely correct, so in this situation they won't readily heed others' commands.

The only way to thoroughly resolve this situation is to make them yield by performing flashier plays and achieving more impressive records than they do.

The minion wave soon appeared,

Since neither side had a clear grasp of the other's strength, the early skirmishes were merely probing.

This guy is pretty strong.

Not long after, both mid laners reached level three, and Xiao Nai You, in a lifeless voice, said: 'He doesn't look at all like a pro who's been retired for years.'

Ah, there shouldn't be any pressure, right?

As Xiao Nai You spoke, the previously dull voice channel gradually became lively.

Should be.

Xiao Nai You wanted to say something, but the next moment he froze in place.

First Blood!

All ten players in this game paused at that moment, turning their eyes to the minimap's mid lane to figure out what had happened.

How did Xiao Nai You's Hui get solo-killed? 'No, what kind of damage is this?'

Xiao Nai You's face was full of question marks; who could tell him what just happened, where's my health bar?

Huh? That plane just used W to jump onto his face, then Q-E followed by a basic attack A, and his full-health self just vanished? 'Where did the true damage come from?'

Xiao Nai You glanced at the damage breakdown and saw part of it was true damage, leaving him dumbfounded; the plane he'd played a few days ago in matches had no true damage, so where did this come from? Today he was forced out on an errand, got heatstroke, feeling dazed, so he'll release just one chapter today and make up for it tomorrow.

(End of chapter)