Chapter 54

Unlike the commentary and the audience’s excitement, the girl on stage had the corners of her mouth gently lifted, hidden behind her mask. The man beside her smiled knowingly. The bullet comments in the live stream began to flood in.

【What the hell? Master Yi?? Is this a throwback to S3???】
【It’s my first time seeing someone pick Master Yi in a formal match 6666】
【Sleeping must have lost his mind to pick this!】
【But Sleeping does occasionally play Master Yi during his streams.】
【Trust me, the girl is definitely up to something.】
【But she usually plays Master Yi in casual games; the opponents here are AIM, okay?】
【This pick looks like a disaster; using such a weak jungler means she must be playing in low-tier games too much.】
【In this situation, she really shouldn’t have picked Master Yi, right? Why not just use Lee Sin? Isn’t her Lee Sin really strong?】
【Forget it, I’m used to it; the girl is always the coolest 23333】

Master Yi was certainly not the best option, especially against opponents like AIM. Shen Jianian raised an eyebrow. Although Su Heng had told him before going on stage that she wanted to play Master Yi in this match, the moment she locked in without any hesitation, he still found it strange. She seemed to never play by the rules.

Thinking about it, Shen Jianian turned to look at AIM’s side stage. How would you respond to this move? Meanwhile, Sun He was still selecting a hero when Wave exploded, “What’s wrong with you?! Picking Master Yi in a formal match?” Su Heng looked at Wave in confusion, blinking innocently. Why couldn’t Master Yi be used in a formal match?

Old Yu was slightly calmer than Wave and explained kindly, “Miss… there’s a reason why Master Yi isn’t used in formal matches. After all, Master Yi has a short range, no AOE ultimate, and is somewhat useless. Compared to other traditional junglers, he has no advantages.”

It was only then that Sun He chose Rumble and looked over at Old Yu, “You don’t need to worry; she’s wanted to play Master Yi for a long time.” Su Heng’s eyebrows curled up. Yes, it had indeed been a long time, long enough for her to almost forget the frustration of being suppressed by Jiang Yuan back then.

Although she had defeated Jiang Yuan with Master Yi, what she wanted to prove more was that she could excel in both damage output and control over the entire game.

The two commentators on stage still hadn’t recovered from their shock when the right to choose heroes returned to AIM. This time, AIM took a long time to consider, and even from across the stage, Shen Jianian could see the intense discussion happening on their side. He couldn’t help but smile; this pick from Su Heng might have caused some headaches for the opposing team.

Thirty seconds later, AIM finally made their choices, opting for Ekko and Vladimir. Thus, the team compositions were as follows:

**GI:** Rumble, Viktor, Master Yi, Caitlyn, and Zyra;
**AIM:** Ekko, Vladimir, Ramus, Jhin, and Thresh.

As both teams entered the buffering interface, the discussion about Master Yi’s selection continued among the commentators.

Little Hi: 【From the lineup, it seems that AIM has the advantage right now.】
Dai Mao: 【Not necessarily; I think GI’s side is also not bad, but they’ll have to wait until Master Yi gets some farm, which should be in the mid-to-late game.】
Little Hi nodded in agreement, 【Yes, if Master Yi doesn’t farm well, he’ll be useless, and AIM will definitely exploit that point.】
Dai Mao: 【Choosing heroes has to go through the coach’s approval, and since GI’s coach agreed, they must have their own plans. GI has been performing well in their recent matches, and you can see that Sleeping’s control over the rhythm has been improving. I’m really looking forward to this match.】

The game finally started, and both teams appeared simultaneously on the screen.
Little Hi: 【Alright, the match has started; both sides don’t seem to have any plans for lane swapping or level 1 team fights, and both junglers are likely starting with red buffs.】
Dai Mao nodded: 【Yes, a standard opening.】

Perhaps because it was the first match of the regular season, both GI and AIM seemed cautious at the beginning. In the first few minutes of the game, apart from some routine trades back and forth, there hadn’t been any major clashes.
Little Hi: 【So far, both sides are peacefully developing, but if it continues like this, Master Yi could become a tricky issue.】
Dai Mao: 【Yes, although Master Yi has little combat power in the early game, if he farms decently in the mid-game, with Sleeping’s skill, he could explode instantly.】

It was as if they had heard the commentators’ predictions. At the nine-minute mark, the first team fight broke out in the bottom lane. AIM’s strategy was quite simple—

The Blade Master must never be allowed to develop.

In the first few minutes of the game, Hecarim kept looking for an opportunity to ambush the Blade Master. However, every time he stepped into the opposing jungle, the players from GI seemed to sense it and immediately moved toward him.

In the end, not only did Hecarim fail to catch the Blade Master even once, but he also fell significantly behind in level and experience. The AIM coach was puzzled—no matter how well GI had set up their vision, it shouldn’t be possible for Hecarim’s movements to be detected every time.

He glanced toward GI’s side of the stage and caught sight of a smile lingering on Shen Jianian’s lips. A wave of unease washed over him.

Rather than crediting GI’s vision, it seemed more accurate to attribute this to Su Heng’s incredible insight. Every time Hecarim made a move, she sensed it almost instantly and accurately pinpointed his location—not through random guesses, but by analyzing scattered wards and her own ventures into the enemy jungle. Of course, she took the opportunity to steal some jungle camps along the way.

After running around in GI’s jungle for several minutes without success, Hecarim had no choice but to abandon his plan to target the Blade Master. To make up for his economic disadvantage, his only option now was to secure kills or assists.

This led to the upcoming team fight in the bottom lane. Determined, Hecarim signaled his teammates and rushed toward the bottom lane.

The AIM coach frowned, feeling even more unsettled, though he couldn’t pinpoint why. The timing for their gank was perfect, and they had a well-rehearsed plan. Still, something felt off.

Hecarim soon arrived in the bottom lane, and Thresh used his sweeper to confirm there were no enemy wards before settling comfortably in the bush. Jhin, meanwhile, casually traded blows with Caitlyn to conceal his teammates’ presence.

At the same time, the top lane wave was just cleared, and Ekko pretended to recall under Rumble’s watchful eyes. The moment Rumble lost sight of him, Ekko canceled his recall and began channeling his teleport.

Every action screamed that something big was about to happen, causing excitement among the commentators.

“Ekko’s teleporting! There’s no ward in GI’s bottom lane! This has a high chance of success!” exclaimed Xiao Hai, his eyes lighting up.

Dai Mao frowned as he glanced at the minimap, spotting the Blade Master moving in their direction. He relaxed a little.

“Something’s off. Sleeping is rotating toward the bottom lane—looks like GI knows what’s happening.”

Xiao Hai scoffed, “GI doesn’t even have wards here! Ekko recalled right in front of Rumble; there’s no way they could’ve known. What, do you think GI has divine insight or something?”

Just as he finished speaking, Sun He, who had completed his recall and bought new items, teleported to the bottom turret.

The crowd erupted in cheers.

GI had seen through the play!

Dai Mao grinned at Xiao Hai’s stiff expression. “So, how does it feel to eat your words?”

While the audience and commentators noticed GI’s movements, AIM remained clueless.

Meanwhile, Thresh crept closer to the minion wave, occasionally assisting Jhin with some extra damage.

Wave and Lao Yu were about to retreat when Su Heng softly said, “Don’t back off. Start the fight.”

Wave was momentarily stunned.

Why would she tell them to fight first when both she and Sun He were still on their way?

A crazy thought flickered through his mind, making his temples throb. Was she planning to sacrifice the ADC again?

Without thinking too much, Wave and Lao Yu instinctively followed Su Heng’s command, seemingly forgetting that Zhou Lingxing was technically still in charge of the game’s shot-calling.

Zhou Lingxing, momentarily sidelined, shot Su Heng a quick glance before withdrawing his gaze with a faint smile.

Fine. He wouldn’t spoil her fun.

The next second, Thresh landed a Q on Caitlyn, instantly closing the gap between her and Wave. Lao Yu responded quickly, using his EW combo to root Jhin.

“Think you’re the only one with crowd control?” Lao Yu sneered.

His grin barely lasted two seconds before Hecarim burst out of the bush, charging at them with his ultimate, slamming both Wave and Lao Yu backward.

Lao Yu cried out, “Brother Sun! Miss Su! How much longer? Their offense is too strong!”

Just as Wave shook off the initial stun, Hecarim hit him with another ultimate. Frowning, he immediately used EQ to dash away and deal some damage, but Jhin quickly caught him with another W root.

Wave cursed, “Damn, how do they have so much crowd control?”

Before he could finish, Jhin’s successive critical hits reduced his health to half.

Lao Yu glanced at Su Heng and Sun He’s positions, gritted his teeth, and launched his ultimate into the enemy cluster, knocking three of them into the air.

He had just begun to exhale in relief when Ekko’s Q hit Caitlyn dead-on, and Ekko dashed forward, diving straight into the fight.

Although Wave had been prepared and used Flash, he was still a second too late and got hit by Ekko, leaving his health nearly depleted.

At that critical moment, Rumble finally arrived at the battlefield. Sunhe pressed R, unleashing his ultimate into the crowd.
A road of flames appeared vertically in the middle of the chaotic fight, perfectly hitting four enemies.

Taking this chance, Wave quickly retreated.
However, Jhin was unwilling to let him escape. Seeing the distance increase, Jhin stepped back and activated his ultimate.

The moment the ult indicator appeared on the screen, Wave sneered.
“Do they really think they can keep controlling me without consequences?”

Jhin’s first bullet was fired, but Wave dashed to the right, dodging it effortlessly.
One shot missed, but Jhin remained composed, firing the second bullet without pause. This time, Wave failed to dodge and was left with only 50 HP.

Rumble and Zyra charged toward Jhin, hoping to rescue Wave.
Still, Jhin wasn’t ready to miss his opportunity. As the two closed in, he fired the third bullet before canceling his ult and retreating.

Without hesitation, Wave used Heal, keeping his health at a mere 10 HP.
A narrow escape!

Screams could already be heard from the audience.
With Caitlyn barely escaping death, the enemy shifted focus to the low-health Fizz.

Fizz skillfully dodged abilities while teaming up with Sunhe to pound Jhin, ignoring the other three enemies entirely.
With no other choice, Jhin used Flash to escape.

Almost simultaneously, Wave pressed R, locking his sights on Jhin.
The AIM players immediately adjusted their positioning, and in a flash, Ekko blocked Caitlyn’s ultimate.

Just as Jhin breathed a sigh of relief, a shadow flickered behind him.
Master Yi suddenly dashed out from the brush, tanking two turret shots as he used Q to land directly on Jhin.

A cold metallic voice rang out as the kill notification appeared on the screen.

From the commentator’s desk, one announcer slammed the table in excitement:
“Beautiful! At the ten-minute mark, Sleeping secures the first blood of the game!!”