Chapter 14

Chapter 14

As expected, the result of the first tryout match was a complete annihilation of CNZ’s bot lane by Han Lingfeng and Su Yi. Midway through, the enemy jungler attempted to capitalize on Caitlyn being critically low, only to discover—much to his horror—that Su Yi’s Zyra Flashed directly in front of him to block the ultimate meant for Caitlyn.

In the end, the two of them turned the fight around and killed him together.

With no other lanes holding an advantage either, the first tryout concluded with SNM’s victory.

Seeing the bloody red word “DEFEAT” flash across his screen, CNZ’s mid-laner A Ye slammed the table in frustration. “Holy crap, is that Zyra a ghost or something? Lightning and I were having a perfectly fine rivalry mid, and just as my ult came off cooldown, this guy suddenly roamed from bot to gank me. Scared me into burning both summoner spells!”

The two trainees, likely nervous, had been making questionable plays all game. Startled by A Ye’s outburst, they visibly trembled.

Realizing he’d lost his composure, A Ye waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Not your fault this time. Just practice more.”

CNZ’s manager patted their shoulders from behind. “Don’t take it to heart. On to the next game.”

Soon, both teams entered the draft phase for the second tryout match.

CNZ’s manager walked over to Liang Qi, who had been silent since earlier, and nudged him with his elbow. Only then did Liang Qi realize the first match had ended—and that his team had lost quite badly.

CNZ Manager: “…What are you spacing out about?”

Liang Qi ruffled his hair, looking exasperated. “I keep feeling like I’ve seen that opposing ID somewhere before. Probably encountered them while playing on the Chinese server.”

“What ID?”

Liang Qi pointed at A Ye’s screen. “Their rookie support.”

CNZ’s manager glanced at the floor-five ID and frowned. “That Zyra player, huh? They really do have skill. Good prediction on abilities and excellent vision control. From the ten-minute mark onward, our entire jungle was warded. Their ward placements were incredibly tricky—they’ve clearly played a lot.”

Liang Qi shot his manager a cold stare. “…Which team’s manager are you again?”

Reading Liang Qi’s mood, the manager offered comfort. “Just stating facts. But don’t worry—League isn’t a one-man game.”

Liang Qi: “…………”

As it turned out, Captain Liang Qi couldn’t relax at all. He quietly stepped aside, borrowed the manager’s laptop, opened TGP, and clicked “Match History Lookup.”

Quickly confirming his suspicion, he found that he had indeed encountered “Email” before—playing mid lane. And he distinctly remembered that in that particular match, SNM’s Han Lingfeng had been on the same team.

Could it be that something happened between these two after that game?

Lost in thought, Liang Qi heard his coach say, “Last ban: Zyra.”

…

At the start of the second tryout, CNZ immediately banned Lightning’s best champion, Viktor. Next came Camille, a recently released top laner that Coffee had been practicing heavily. Clearly, CNZ had done their homework. Their final ban, however, was… Su Yi’s Zyra.

SNM Team: “…………”

Xu Ruiqi was so shocked by these three bans that he nearly dropped his water cup. Grabbing tissues to wipe the spill, he muttered, “Zyra, Viktor, Camille? Geez, these Virgo OCD freaks aren’t giving us any breathing room.”

“Hurry up and grab Kha’Zix for Riki.”

When it reached floor four, Han Lingfeng noticed something about the enemy composition and warned, “Their lineup… it’s all crowd control.”

Coffee slapped his thigh and wailed, “Wow! They deliberately left Jinx open for Wind God—a champion with no dashes—then drafted an all-CC comp. They’re clearly targeting bot lane!”

Han Lingfeng hovered on the champion select screen. Ten seconds remained on the timer.

After pausing on Jinx’s icon for a few seconds, he decisively switched to Sivir. Su Yi also adapted to the team composition, picking Tahm Kench.

The match began with both sides farming peacefully. The enemy jungler appeared quiet, showing no signs of aggression.

When both bot laners reached level four, Su Yi glanced at the minimap and spotted someone teleporting into the triangular brush behind their turret.

When had they placed a ward there?

Su Yi: “Wind God! Fall back—their top laner is teleporting in!”

Frantically pinging danger signals, Su Yi urged Han Lingfeng, who was last-hitting, to retreat. Hearing her callout over comms, Xu Ruiqi and Lightning also started moving bot, but the enemy’s response was far too swift.

CNZ’s top laner teleported down while their jungler lurked in the rear brush. Combined with Varus and Thresh in the bot lane, they brought four separate forms of crowd control. Even though Sivir had a spell shield and Tahm Kench could swallow allies for temporary protection, nothing could stop four enemies diving under the turret determined to kill them both.

“First Blood.”

“Double Kill!”

Su Yi: “…………”

Both kills went to the enemy ADC.

Up top, Coffee’s Teleport was still on cooldown as he pushed against the enemy tower. “Did CNZ swap players or something? That was brutal.”

Realizing he couldn’t arrive in time, Lightning returned mid to push his wave. “Looks like they’ve identified bot lane as our weak point.”

Su Yi pursed her lips. “I should’ve warded the rear brush. Didn’t expect them to play like this.”

Han Lingfeng said nothing, piloting his champion back to lane to resume farming. Taking the brief lull, Su Yi glanced at her ADC’s profile. He looked exceptionally serious.

Learning from her mistake, Su Yi placed wards in the rear brush and near the dragon pit. But shortly after, the enemy jungler returned bot with Red Buff.

Without summoner spells, Su Yi mispositioned slightly and got hooked by Thresh, followed by a relentless beating from the enemy jungler.

“Holy crap, ahhhh! Their jungler is insane!”

The enemy burned nearly every ability just to kill Su Yi, then turned their attention to Han Lingfeng’s Sivir. But he still had Flash. Using his spell shield to dodge key abilities, he Flashed backward, auto-attacked, and took down the enemy support who had been tanking minion aggro.

One-for-one trade—not a bad outcome.

Coffee clicked his tongue approvingly as he successfully destroyed the enemy top tower. “This rookie jungler has shades of Qi Shen’s OCD. No wonder he joined the Virgo team.”

The low-health enemy jungler and ADC retreated. With the wave sitting near his own turret, Han Lingfeng prepared to farm it before recalling.

Breaking his long silence, he finally spoke. “Don’t panic in situations like that. Trust your mechanics. Your positioning earlier was clearly rattled—you need to fix that.”

Recognizing her mental state had tilted, Su Yi accepted the criticism humbly. “Sorry, I’ll definitely hold it in—no wait, I’ll definitely remember what you said.”

Han Lingfeng continued farming. “…Hold what in?”

Su Yi stared at someone’s perspective on the map. “Wind God… you missed your cannon minion.”

No sooner had she spoken than the person in question watched helplessly as the turret claimed the cannon minion right before his eyes.

Han Lingfeng: “…………..”

SNM’s early-game tempo wasn’t great in this match, but the enemy had focused all their energy on “how to destroy bot lane,” completely failing to notice their towers slowly crumbling away.

By mid-game, leveraging gold leads from tower plates and several small skirmishes, SNM secured victory in the second tryout as well.

…

That afternoon, the two teams played four tryout matches total. SNM won three and lost one; in the final game, poor communication and suboptimal drafting allowed CNZ to seize the opportunity and thoroughly punish them.

After the tryouts ended, top laner Coffee collapsed onto the sofa, tugging at his buddy Lightning’s shirt. “It’s almost seven o’clock and I’m starving. I can’t wait for delivery anymore. Let’s go eat at that new BBQ place trending on Weibo—I heard their grilled chicken wings are absolutely incredible!”

When it came to food, Coffee couldn’t contain his eager foodie heart.

Lightning agreed. “Coffee and I are getting BBQ. What about you guys?”

“No objections here.” Xu Ruiqi stretched lazily and asked Su Yi, “Sis, you coming?”

Hearing the mention of food, Su Yi nodded immediately. “Yes yes! Extra crispy cartilage and potato slices, please!” Then, instinctively, she tugged on the hem of Han Lingfeng’s shirt—he’d been standing silently beside her this whole time.

Beaming brightly, she asked, “Wind God, do you want BBQ?”

Han Lingfeng’s gaze dropped to her hand resting on his shirt. He blinked. “Mm. Sure.”

“Coach, what about you?” Lightning called out.

Coach Yan and Analyst He were still compiling data from the tryouts. Manager Tai Yi also declined, citing prior commitments, but repeatedly warned them not to drink alcohol—not even beer! Anyone caught would be fined three thousand yuan!

Everyone acknowledged the warning, shut down their computers, and changed clothes to head out.

Xu Ruiqi, who had gone ahead to fetch the car, suddenly doubled back. “Wind God, toss me your keys. The academy team took the van.”

Upon hearing this, Han Lingfeng pulled a set of keys from his pocket and tossed them to Xu Ruiqi in a graceful arc.

Though the motion was quick, Su Yi still caught sight of it.

That keychain… it had an acrylic Jinx charm dangling from it. And that chibi artwork—it felt inexplicably familiar.

Then realization struck, and Su Yi discovered—

*Holy crap!* It wasn’t just familiar—that image looked exactly like one she had posted on her own Weibo!