Let Me Sleep a Little Longer [Esports] - Chapter 10

In the lane against LeBlanc, Zhou Lingxing took advantage of LeBlanc’s moment of distraction while typing to push the minion wave into the opponent’s tower. He used a W to approach her, triggering his passive with a basic attack, hitting LeBlanc with both himself and his clone’s Q. An E dealt damage, and he used Ignite. Just as he was left with one-sixth of his health after being hit by the tower, he used W to escape.

LeBlanc didn’t even have time to react before the screen faded to gray.

After a while, she shakily typed in the public chat again.
**”Are you five stacking?”**
Whether in matchmaking or ranked games, if five people are in a party, the opponents will generally also be five stacked.

Sleeping had always been a lone wolf, and with the series of operations from the enemy Zed just now, along with Teemo’s easy performance in the top lane and being constantly pressured in the bottom lane, every player was exceptionally strong. That’s why he asked this question.
If all of them were people Sleeping knew, why hadn’t he heard about them before?
Given how strong Sleeping’s teammates were, why had he been stuck in the Silver rank for so long?

LeBlanc looked at her corpse lying in front of her own tower on the screen and turned to see her roommate controlling the just-respawned Rumble heading toward the top lane, feeling that everything was a bit illogical.
She quickly concluded that this Sleeping was probably some god-level player on a smurf account, and these impressive teammates were the best proof of that.
Thinking this way, LeBlanc suddenly felt enlightened, as if all her doubts had been answered.
Sleeping’s gameplay didn’t seem like that of someone in the Silver rank; he never ganked or participated in team fights not because he couldn’t play, but clearly because he looked down on it.
He was playing on a smurf account in a casual match, and even if it was a five-stack, his teammates had picked heroes like Zed and Teemo.

With this thought, she relaxed her mindset. After all, winning while being a true Silver player against a bunch of experts would seem abnormal, right?
Her mind was racing with thoughts, and after waiting for her respawn time, she rushed to the mid lane to buy good equipment.
What an unprecedented opportunity to face off against such a god-level player; one must seize the moment and observe closely.

To be fair, LeBlanc’s speculation was mostly on point; however, what she was up against weren’t just game gods but a group of professional players who made a living from this game. The one playing on a smurf account wasn’t Sleeping, but these merciless professional gamers.
The series of operations by Zed that surprised her was merely Zhou Lingxing’s occasional fluke.
Zhou Lingxing had played Zed fewer than three times; that dive at level three was not just luck—he had hit both Qs because he had much healthier health compared to LeBlanc.

LeBlanc gradually realized that the previous strong kill was due to luck, as next, while dodging skills with trepidation and paying attention to positioning, she not only avoided being killed by Zed again but even secured two kills on Zed thanks to her jungle’s gank.

When the jungle’s third gank came to mid lane, LeBlanc, after two consecutive victories, felt her confidence boosted and took the initiative. She W’d forward, directly casting her clone to approach Zed from two directions.
In a flash, Zed actually ran straight towards the real body on the right, and LeBlanc immediately reacted by casting E to chain Zed.
Zed reacted extremely quickly, using W to dodge the chain and went straight for LeBlanc with his ultimate.

The jungle, seeing that things were going awry, immediately jumped out of the brush from the river to support his teammate. However, the moment he jumped out, he was hit by a sudden Sonic Wave from the bush; hiding in the brush for a long time, the blind monk immediately followed up with a second Q, flashed behind the jungle, and unleashed his ultimate to kick both the jungle and LeBlanc.

At this moment, Zed’s ultimate ended. Zhou Lingxing didn’t linger, directly using E followed by Ignite to escape the scene. The blind monk glanced at LeBlanc’s health, decided not to care about her anymore, and immediately went to place a ward while following the jungle, using Smite to slow him down. He then closed in with a basic attack, followed by E, finishing off the jungle with another basic attack. A few seconds later, LeBlanc was also burned to death by Zhou Lingxing’s Ignite before he left.

A beautiful counter-kill, 0 for 2.

Zhou Lingxing lifted the corners of his mouth slightly.
Not bad, he still left himself a kill.

Sun He was on the top lane, whistling while he lined up against his opponent: “You two coordinate well.”

Su Heng was unfazed, heading down to the river after securing the kill, ready to take the dragon.

The two on the bottom lane were fighting effortlessly, and Wave’s tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.

At this point, the previously improved mindset of the Ahri player crumbled again, and in the second half of the game, they played listlessly and gloomily, unable to make a comeback.

The game ended after just 22 minutes. Throughout the match, Su Heng surprisingly demonstrated exceptional control of the pace and smooth operations, completely making it hard to believe she was a novice.

Wave’s expression was dark, as if he was very dissatisfied with Su Heng’s synergy with them.

After a moment, Wave turned to Su Heng and said, “Don’t think that a match is the same as a casual game; what kind of opponents are these? You’re wasting my time.”

The thoughts of the young man weren’t difficult to guess; he was just too proud to admit his misjudgment.

Sun He didn’t help him explain, just smiled: “Alright, Wave is not wrong. There’s not much meaning in crushing casual games. Today is Su Heng’s first time meeting everyone, so I’ll treat to dinner.”

Before Old Fish could cheer, Sun He added, “After dinner, we’ll start practicing with Team Two. Each game must be controlled to within 30 minutes. If it exceeds 30 minutes, we’ll add 8 hours of streaming time each month.”

Wave opened his mouth but, feeling Sun He’s sharp gaze, he eventually shut it.

Old Fish’s eyelids drooped, and he looked completely deflated.

Zhou Lingxing’s expression remained unchanged, but his hand holding the mouse stiffened for a moment.

Su Heng was confused; her expression and gaze were filled with doubt.

Sun He glanced at her and said lightly, “During the regular season, our team’s requirement is 48 hours of streaming time each month. These guys never care about it at the beginning of the month, only to start rushing to make up the streaming time at the end. The only way to spur them on is to threaten them with the streaming time.”

Su Heng quickly asked, “Are you all that lazy? Can’t even finish 48 hours?”

Sun He pointed towards Zhou Lingxing: “This person has never finished it.”

He smiled at her: “You’ll understand when you start streaming; our time isn’t that abundant.”

Su Heng pouted, showing her disbelief in his words, and ultimately said nothing more.

Zhou Lingxing didn’t seem to want to continue the topic; he got up, put on his jacket, and walked outside.

Halfway there, he turned back to look at the dejected Wave and Old Fish.

His thin lips parted slightly: “Aren’t you leaving? Let’s go have a big meal first.”

Upon hearing this, Old Fish perked up again, pulling Wave up as he chanted, “Should we go to that new Korean BBQ place or the Japanese teppanyaki? Or maybe that conveyor belt sushi place we often go to?”

Wave slapped Old Fish hard on the head: “You’ve got a bit of ambition; you get excited every time food is mentioned.”

Sun He helplessly rubbed his forehead, wondering how he ended up with such a group of teammates.

And now there was an additional problem girl; how difficult would the future days be?

Zhou Lingxing clapped his hands, interrupting Sun He’s worries: “Let’s go to that new Korean BBQ place; it’s quite expensive.”

Wave and Old Fish stared at the man standing at the entrance, taken aback by his contemplative expression and serious tone.

Those unaware might think they were strategizing for a match.

Su Heng suddenly broke into a smile, her clear voice slowly chiming in: “I second that.”

This left even Sun He surprised.

What was going on with everyone today? Had he become the public enemy?

Zhou Lingxing was a bit surprised when he heard Su Heng’s words and turned to look at her.

Su Heng was still sitting in front of the computer; her simple T-shirt couldn’t hide her graceful waist. The slight upturn of her lips and the gentle curve of her eyebrows revealed her current delight.

She looked out of place in this room filled with machinery, clutter, and even a bit of dirt, yet they surprisingly complemented each other.

For some reason, Zhou Lingxing felt that this scene was somewhat… beautiful?

After a moment, the man was the first to look away.

He returned to his usual indifference and looked at Sun He: “Let’s go; the new teammate has spoken.”

Having said that, he turned and walked out the door. At the moment he turned his head, a faint smile appeared on his face.

Suddenly sharing the same thought as Sun He, the difference was that Zhou Lingxing was filled with anticipation.

What would the future hold?

*

The five of them fit perfectly into one car. Zhou Lingxing drove quickly, and in less than fifteen minutes, they arrived at the expensive barbecue restaurant they had mentioned.

Wave was somewhat skeptical when Zhou Lingxing mentioned how pricey the place was; he had eaten a lot of barbecue during his time in Korea playing in the LCK. But when he saw the prices on the menu, he couldn’t help but be astonished.

Is this really the price for barbecue?! Are they serving gold?!

In contrast, Zhou Lingxing and Su Heng appeared completely unfazed, while Old Fish eagerly looked at the pictures on the menu, wishing he could order one of everything.

In the end, Old Fish indeed ordered one of everything, from premium Australian Wagyu beef to fruit salad.

Sun He felt a pang in his wallet but resignedly added two servings of cod, realizing that words once spoken cannot be taken back.

The entire barbecue feast became a one-man show by Old Fish, as the two who had insisted it was expensive only ended up eating a couple of slices of meat.

The highlight of the meal occurred when Sun He went to the restroom and unexpectedly bumped into someone coming his way—Miya, the gaming streamer who had been defeated by Su Heng.

Miya clearly recognized Sun He and greeted him with a sweet smile, “Hey, He Shen! I didn’t expect to see you here! Out for a meal?”

Sun He had only encountered Miya once during a live streaming platform anniversary celebration. Seeing her approach to greet him now was somewhat surprising, but he politely nodded in response: “Yeah, just having dinner with my teammates.”

Miya immediately brightened up: “Teammates?? Is LING here too?”

Sun He helplessly nodded. Here it was again—one of Zhou Lingxing’s countless fans.

Miya pretended not to notice the reluctance on Sun He’s face: “If you don’t mind, can I go and say hi to everyone? It’s such a coincidence to run into you here; I have a special connection with GI~”

Sun He felt a chill from Miya’s final “oh~” and wanted to wave her off.

Miya seemed to sense Sun He’s desire to refuse, and immediately stepped forward, linking her arm with his and pulling him toward the private room.

As they walked, she playfully said, “Come on, come on, I’m your loyal fan! Just let me say hi to them!”

Just a minute after Sun He stepped out of the box, he was forcibly pushed back inside.

Apart from the old fish, who was enjoying his meal, everyone else turned to look at the two people who had entered.

Wave looked at Miya, who was next to Sun He, and smiled warmly, “Hello, what a coincidence, miss.”

Zhou Lingxing and Su Heng glanced at each other and continued what they were doing.

Miya waved at Wave, “Yeah, I just ran into He Shen outside. I heard you guys were having a gathering, so I came to say hello.”

While speaking, Miya’s gaze never left Zhou Lingxing.

Wave noticed that Miya’s intentions were not purely social, so he pouted and stopped talking.

The small private room suddenly fell silent for a few seconds. Sensing something was off, the old fish paused in his actions of picking up meat with chopsticks and finally looked around.

He saw a beautiful woman standing next to Sun He, looking at Zhou Lingxing with starry eyes; Sun He and Wave had somewhat unpleasant expressions, while Su Heng and Zhou Lingxing were preparing to serve more meat to the old fish using an iPad.

The old fish felt that the atmosphere was unusual and decided to be cautious in his words and actions.

Miya finally couldn’t hold back and walked over to Zhou Lingxing, “LING Shen, we meet again! I was the host at the last anniversary event; do you remember? We even played a game of LOL together.”

Zhou Lingxing didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids and snatched the iPad from Su Heng’s hands.

“Are you adding so little meat because you look down on the old fish or are you being stingy with Captain Sun?”

Su Heng looked at the quantity Zhou Lingxing had casually selected, and her temples throbbed: “He’s a person, not a bottomless pit.”

Zhou Lingxing scoffed, “A bottomless pit would love to have an appetite as big as the old fish’s.”

Miya, observing their interaction, finally noticed Su Heng’s presence.

Not receiving a response from Zhou Lingxing, her expression darkened slightly, and she stiffly turned to Sun He, “Who is this? He Shen, why didn’t you tell me there were others besides the team members?”

Sun He raised an eyebrow, “How do you know she isn’t a team member?”

Miya was taken aback. Does this mean this woman is a member of GI?

Female team member????

Female? Team? Member?

Sun He was satisfied to see the disbelief on Miya’s face: “She’s the new jungler for the team, Su Heng.”

Only Sun He knew the connection between Miya and Su Heng in this room, so he chose to reveal her name directly without mentioning her gaming ID.

Miya heard Sun He confirm that the girl was a new team member and felt like her worldview had collapsed.

Her first thought was, “Wow! Women can play professionally too?” The second thought was, “Oh my god, how dangerous would it be to have a woman who looks good hanging around LING every day?”

Thus, her hostility towards Su Heng came naturally, almost effortlessly, to the point where it scared her a little.

When Su Heng heard her name, she looked at Miya and nodded as a form of greeting.

Miya smiled at Su Heng, her face slightly stiff: “Hello, this is actually the first time I’ve heard of women playing professionally; it’s quite surprising.”

Su Heng, hearing this, looked at Miya seriously for a moment: “Isn’t there a professional women’s team in LOL?” What’s so surprising about that?

Although she didn’t say the second half of her sentence, the implication made Miya’s face flush with embarrassment.

Sun He couldn’t help but think that these two probably just didn’t get along, whether in games or in real life.

Seeing that things were off, the old fish tried to ease the tension: “Miss, are you also here to eat? Who are you with?”

Miya, not getting a response from Zhou Lingxing and feeling stifled by Su Heng, followed the lead and replied: “I’m with a few friends,” but her eyes kept drifting back to Zhou Lingxing. “By the way, those friends are all fans of GI. Should I call them over to say hello? They were also at the last anniversary celebration.”

Wave wore a playful smile on his face: “Fans of GI? They’re probably fans of Ling Ge’s looks, right?”

One sentence made Miya feel as if there was something stuck in her throat, leaving her speechless.

Sun He cleared his throat and finally spoke, “Let’s just call it a day; we have a practice match tonight, so we should probably head back. Maybe next time.”

Upon hearing this, Miya’s enthusiastic gaze dimmed, and she reluctantly looked at Zhou Lingxing, trying to strike up a conversation again.

“LING, I often play mid-lane when I’m streaming. Since we met today, how about we add each other on WeChat before we leave? I could consult you if I have questions later.”

Zhou Lingxing lazily lifted his gaze and finally looked at Miya directly, “Sorry, I don’t have WeChat.”

With that, he picked up his jacket and slowly stood up, “I’ll go get the car; you all hurry up and come out.”

As he passed by Miya, he nodded at her and strode away.

Su Heng watched Zhou Lingxing’s actions, feeling a bit annoyed.

Tsk.

Every move he made was full of charm, making one’s heart flutter.

*

On the way back to the base, apart from Old Yu, who was still complaining about the wasted meat they added at the end, the others were in good spirits.

Sun He was in a good mood because Zhou Lingxing had treated him at the end. Wave was satisfied after eating his fill, Zhou Lingxing was pleased due to Su Heng’s participation, and Su Heng was filled with anticipation for the upcoming practice match.

They returned to the club at around 6:30, and after a short rest, they started the game.

At 6:45, Shen Jianian pushed the door open and walked straight up to Su Heng, “Hello, I’m Shen Jianian, the coach of GI. You must be Su Heng.”

Su Heng looked up, “Hello.”

Shen Jianian didn’t want to say much; he just nodded and addressed everyone, “Sun He told me that starting tonight, we’ll have training matches with the second team at 7 PM every night. I hope you take it seriously and treat it as pre-match practice.”

Old Yu was the first to speak, “Don’t worry, Coach, we just played a match, and the lady coordinated super well with us.”

Wave scoffed, “It was just a normal game; you didn’t mention who the opponents were.”

Shen Jianian didn’t suspect anything, “Alright, I can’t judge the coordination since I’m not there; we’ll see how it goes later.”

At 7 PM sharp, the five of them entered the Ban & Pick interface on time.

Since they often practiced with the second team, both sides banned champions without hesitation.

Su Heng banned LeBlanc, Jarvan IV, and Thresh.

The second team banned Viktor, Rumble, and Caitlyn.

The silence was finally broken when it was Su Heng’s turn to pick a champion.

Zhou Lingxing was the first to lock in Yasuo, and at that moment, Wave lost all composure.

Yasuo? What the hell???

Even though their opponents weren’t from the LPL, they were still professional players—were they really going to treat this as a casual match??

Before Wave could explode, Su Heng interjected, “Troll Yasuo?”

Sun He was momentarily stunned; in just a few days, this woman had learned all the gaming jargon?

Zhou Lingxing raised an eyebrow dismissively, “Don’t speak too soon.”

A strange smile appeared at the corners of Su Heng’s mouth.

Although they won that match before dinner easily, she could vaguely sense Zhou Lingxing and Sun He’s good intentions.

In this match, she would choose her champion last, in the legendary counter position.

She initially planned to choose a champion based on the team’s composition, but with Zhou Lingxing picking Yasuo.

Was he deliberately making the game harder?

Looking at Zhou Lingxing’s determined expression, Su Heng smiled silently, ready to counter whatever he threw at her; she didn’t believe she couldn’t handle him.

The second team seemed caught off guard by Zhou Lingxing’s Yasuo pick.

Just barely, in the last two seconds of the champion selection time, they picked Jinx and Tahm Kench for their bot lane duo.

However, Wave couldn’t smile anymore; the Jinx and Tahm Kench combination was extremely strong in the current patch.

He gritted his teeth and discussed picking Lucian and Alistar with Old Yu.

This time, the second team picked quickly, locking in Kennen for top and Fizz for mid, both champions that counter Yasuo hard.

Sun He felt a headache coming on; Zhou Lingxing was truly…

It’s both lovable and hateable.

Speaking of which, it really resembles Su Heng’s approach.

As Sun He was still hesitating, Shen Jianian casually said, “Renekton.”

Upon hearing Shen Jianian’s suggestion, Sun He immediately locked in Renekton without any hesitation.

Su Heng looked at the lineup on her side, thought for a moment, and decided to go with Lee Sin.

Although this lineup wasn’t great and was almost entirely AD, the damage and ultimate of the Excavator were still too underwhelming.

It seemed that the second team’s members weren’t paying much attention to the jungler and directly locked in Graves to add some AD damage.

Sun He’s lineup: Renekton, Yasuo, Lee Sin, Lucian, Alistar.
Second team lineup: Kennen, Fizz, Graves, Jinx, Tahm Kench.

Just looking at the lineups, the second team’s configuration seemed significantly better.

The game quickly started.

Since Shen Jianian had let Sun He pick Renekton, she hadn’t spoken again, truly behaving like a spectator.

The first chaotic fight broke out in the bot lane.

Due to Su Heng’s unfamiliarity with the champion Kennen, her initially chosen gank route started from the top lane.

After waiting for a long time, she finally got an opportunity. After accurately kicking Kennen with the second Q, Kennen immediately activated his E to retreat back to the turret. This gank not only failed but also disrupted Su Heng’s carefully calculated gold amount, item build, and gank timing.

She had to spend more time recalculating and redeploying.

At the same time that Su Heng lost her advantage, the second team’s jungler saw Lee Sin fail to gank in the top lane and directly prepared to gank the bot lane.

The moment the jungler showed himself, Su Heng, who had just pushed Kennen back to the turret, calculated in her mind for a moment and said quickly, “Old Fish, place a ward. Sun He, teleport to the bot lane. You all keep their heads for Sun He, and I’ll handle this wave of minions in the top lane.”

Perhaps her voice was too calm; a few of them even thought the one issuing orders was Shen Jianian. They didn’t hesitate for a moment and acted according to her instructions.

As Sun He said, Su Heng really believed in her teammates. In a three-on-three situation, they had an 80% chance of winning. If she farmed this wave of minions and continued to jungle and roam, the two in the bot lane and Sun He would gain benefits, making this a profitable play.

The placement of Old Fish’s ward was quite clever. While Su Heng was managing the minion wave, she also kept a close eye on Kennen’s movements to cover Sun He’s teleport.

So much so that until Sun He teleported to the battlefield, the opponents were still unaware.

Sun He and his teammates, who had worked together for a long time, had great synergy. The moment Graves arrived with his E, they charged straight toward the nearby Jinx.

Seeing that there was suddenly an extra Renekton, Tahm Kench immediately swallowed Jinx and retreated rapidly.

However, at that moment, the situation suddenly changed.

Alistar directly used his QW combo to crash into Graves, sending him flying. Renekton followed up with his W, dealing two strikes before stunning him, while Lucian in the backline dealt massive damage and secured the kill.

A cold, mechanical female voice sounded: “First Blood—”

First blood was born.