Chapter 31

This was almost a crushing game.

The score was unsurprisingly tied by VIT, making it 1-1, and the next match began soon after.

The League’s Regular Season rules do not restrict the use of the same champion, which creates a dilemma for some teams—a single-carry lineup may have their key champions constantly banned. As a result, pro players usually have a deep champion pool.

In the next game, RS showed noticeable hesitation.

Their strategy in the first game, targeting Xiao Yin in the BP phase, was completely wasted. They hadn’t anticipated that Rong Yi would be the one making the biggest impact on the team.

In the second game, Rong Yi banned Yin, but Xiao Yin still achieved the highest KDA on the team.

This was unprecedented in both the domestic and global League scenes—a team without a specific lineup system. How could they counter this?

In the third game, RS banned Li, Yin, and Little Key.

“They’re panicking. They’re definitely panicking.”

Even the commentators, who were usually the most supportive of RS, couldn’t find anything to say to smooth things over.

“They’re definitely panicking. It seems like they’re too afraid of Yin, Easy, and the enemy’s support, Grey Cat. By banning all three, there’s a high chance they won’t be able to restrict any of them.”

In the arena’s special close-up shots, the anxiety and restlessness on the faces of RS’s young players were palpable. They could only try to suppress it.

Their only coach, Zhou Shanyang, clearly didn’t know what was happening.

RS had faced strong teams before and had prepared for the possibility of a tough match or even losing to VIT. But he couldn’t understand why this group of young players’ mentality crumbled so quickly.

They were used to Easy’s presence, accustomed to him as the team’s shotcaller, who meticulously took care of everything and everyone. They had all gotten used to him being their support and the one who cleaned up after them.

Now, each of them realized that the reason Rong Yi’s blade had never felt cold or sharp was simply because he had always been on their side.

Now that he was on the enemy’s side, it cut deeper and hurt more.

Rong Yi saw Li being banned and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he casually picked the pulling-type champion, Silver Hook.

Silver Hook, a control-heavy support-type mid laner, has very low damage but a lot of crowd control. Every five seconds, he can shoot a Silver Hook spear that hits enemies within 200 units and pulls them back, causing sustained healing reduction and bleeding effects.

Due to the long cast time and low damage, Silver Hook is rarely seen as a mid laner in professional play and is generally used in the support role.

On the other hand, Grey Cat felt right at home—since the opposing team banned Little Key, he could naturally pick his most practiced champion, Earth Mother.

VIT’s BP mistake in this game highlighted just how panicked they had become.

Thanks to the diverse champion mechanics in the League and the lack of restrictions on champion usage in the Regular Season, the variety of situations that can occur in the arena is incredibly rich and engaging.

As soon as Rong Yi made his pick, the audience outside the game started laughing.

“Rewarding himself with a fun Silver Hook, huh?”

“This is hilarious! VIT’s mid laner, I can’t wait to see what tricks he pulls off. He was torturing them in the last game; won’t Silver Hook be even more torturous?”

“Easy is really, really strong. He and Yin as a double carry can even outshine Yin.”

In this Regular Season match that made history in terms of hype, the [Easy] tag unsurprisingly shot to the top, dominating the natural search rankings across all major esports platforms.

There were no so-called highlight moments or personal kill montages; he played with finesse. You could tell from every movement and every skill cast.

While other players made Li look clunky and mechanical, he made him look graceful; while others’ Meng Luoluo only provided clumsy support and cuteness, he played with ease, roaming around to influence the game’s tempo or deal just the right amount of crucial damage.

Especially his various maneuvers and skill shots in tight situations—his reactions were lightning-fast, and his performance was effortless, almost as if he were playing on a different level.

Compared to pure mechanics and positioning, his personal style was the more memorable one.

Looking cool while playing well is always the first impression that captures the audience’s attention.

The audience and buzz surrounding Rong Yi continued to grow. Casual players quickly forgot Xiao Yun’s former title of “League’s Best Support,” and were thrown into confusion by the veteran fans’ explanations today.

“League’s Best Support? Isn’t that the guy who had that incredible four-man engage while defending the base a few days ago?”

“No!”

“He was the world’s best support five years ago and still holds the record for the highest three-sided stats.”

Rong Yi’s veteran fans were as low-key as he was. Seeing their favorite player thrust into the spotlight for the first time in so many years, they were both nervous and excited, cautiously introducing him to the casual players.

Having been previously bombarded by RS fans, the veteran fans had learned to be careful with their words. They dared only to post highlight clips secretly and avoided excessive praise.

Ironically, this caution increased the public’s affection for Rong Yi even more.

Fans carefully shared Rong Yi’s World Championship records and even his stats from the last season with RS.

Who else but Rong Yi could boast the highest damage taken, initiation efficiency, and healing stats in the entire League?

His brilliance had been overshadowed for far too long.

“Wow, the League really has such an amazing player! I’ve been following for years and never heard of him! Following now!”

The tide in the arena had already turned. Even the commentators started leaning towards VIT, providing detailed breakdowns of Rong Yi’s precise plays. The broadcast director wisely began to feature more replays of his actions.

Due to the BP phase, VIT’s overall lineup leaned towards a late-game, pull-oriented strategy, with Rong Yi and Wu Daogu being the only ones capable of initiating.

With his Silver Hook, Rong Yi dragged opponents left and right, securing a double kill with his teammates and then continuing to dominate.

Once he got into his rhythm, he even sold his defensive equipment, opting for full offensive gear. One pull from his hook took away half of the enemy ADC’s health, the blade going in white and coming out red, dragging them across the ground—a truly brutal display.

“That’s too cruel!”

Netizens flooded the livestream chat, typing, “Watching him play, it hurts so much!”

The third game wasn’t as smooth. Due to a lack of coordination, VIT experienced a late-game disconnect, giving RS a desperate chance to capitalize.

However, this time, the situation was different from the first game.

This time, the player left to defend the base was Rong Yi.

On the RS side, four out of five players were still alive. Although they weren’t at full health, they were on the verge of breaking through the turret. Xiao Yin was busy pushing the minion wave and couldn’t get back in time.

A comeback seemed within reach.

Rong Yi remained calm and composed, his eyes steady as stars.

His gaze on the screen didn’t waver, but the five referees behind him couldn’t help but crowd around, all standing with hands behind their backs, eyes fixed on his monitor.

Rong Yi clicked the mouse lightly.

Silver Hook gleamed, and as he stepped back, he dodged Xiao Yun’s close-range control, hooking Xiao Yun out of the turret’s range!

RS’s ADC Yao Cao, eager to take down the Nexus, stepped forward, attempting to tank the turret shots and destroy the Nexus. Rong Yi turned around without hesitation, threw another precise hook predicting Yao Cao’s movement, then Flashed forward, dragging him directly into the fountain!

At this moment, the others realized something was wrong. Lang Bai’s voice came through the mic, “Retreat, retreat! Don’t get greedy!”

But it was too late.

They forgot that Silver Hook was the strongest pull-type champion, capable of both control and damage, able to drag enemies a significant distance. He wasn’t just a mage who could deal burst damage in one go.

After killing Yao Cao, Rong Yi’s next hook came without pause. Lang Bai, thinking he was the target, Flashed to dodge, only to see Rong Yi hook their top laner, Qing Yan, pulling him back.

Rong Yi had no intention of prolonging the fight; he only controlled Qing Yan to disrupt his escape. Then, he sold an item, bought Boots of Speed, and began chasing Lang Bai and Xiao Yun!

The four of them fell into perfect order, all hit by Rong Yi’s relentless pursuit.

With only half his health remaining, neither Lang Bai nor Xiao Yun dared to turn back.

They both saw clearly that Xiao Yin had already reached the Nexus base, bringing a wave of minions to push the base!

Even in the heat of the moment, Rong Yi’s attack sequence was calculated with terrifying calmness.

Lang Bai and Xiao Yun didn’t look back, but they also couldn’t catch up.

What they didn’t see was that Rong Yi, in his pursuit, had sold all his equipment, swapping everything for speed items, just to stall them for one last moment.

And he succeeded.

Just as Lang Bai reached a Flash distance away from Xiao Yin, Rong Yi dragged him back. Lang Bai’s basic attack hit Rong Yi, killing him instantly.

But Xiao Yin had already destroyed RS’s Nexus.

The victory screen appeared on VIT’s side, bringing the score to 1:2.

At this point, RS’s entire team mentality completely collapsed.

In the final game, their performance was even more bewildering than VIT’s in the first match. With VIT in good form, they ended the game effortlessly.

The final result was VIT winning the second round of the regular season against RS with a score of 3:1.

RS’s fans were dead silent.

Soon, someone dug up a screenshot from earlier.

It was from the celebration scene after VIT lost the first game, with RS fans rejoicing:

“Easy talking about scrims? Whose scrims are we talking about? Please make it clear before you speak.”

Now, everyone was laughing in unison, providing the answer: “It’s VIT’s scrims! How about that?”

It was a cathartic moment!

Rong Yi’s poke composition mid laner quickly gained popularity. Even before the match ended, the official real-time champion pick rate had changed.

Li’s pick rate shot to the top, and Silver Hook surged forward by six spots from the bottom.

The playstyle and champion choices were all the rage.

After the match, as per tradition, the players from both sides entered for a group photo.

Rong Yi, sticking to his habit, merely removed his headset and waved at them lightly, “I’ll wait for you backstage.”

As always, his expression was calm, casually flexing his slender, fair fingers.

Hydralisk, who had long been Rong Yi’s number one fan, raised his hand and said, “Captain, I’ll go with you.”

Xiao Yin interjected, “You’re not going. I’ll go with Easy.”

Hydralisk started to argue, “Why? You’re the team’s face; you should be out there for the group photo, handshake, and interview. Besides, you and the captain already eloped in the rain last time…”

Rong Yi: “?”

Xiao Yin remained unmoved. “You go out there and practice speaking to the media. You’re going to be VIT’s spokesperson in the future.”

“I don’t want to.”

Seeing that his protests were ineffective, Hydralisk played his final advantage of being shamelessly young: “I want to go with the Captain. I don’t want to be surrounded and have to say so many things, plus, I need to go to the bathroom.”

Xiao Yin: “.”

The other three: “………………”

Rong Yi looked at Xiao Yin with concern. Fortunately, Xiao Yin, known as the league’s number one cold-faced god, retained his last shred of reason. He abandoned this pointless argument and dragged Grey Cat and Wu Daogu out.

In front of the league’s live camera, everyone was eagerly waiting.

Only three people from VIT came out, leaving the crowd a bit disappointed and buzzing with discussions.

“I wonder when we’ll get to see Easy in person! I’m so curious!”

“Yes!!” Someone quickly recalled a previous post by CH’s support, “CH’s Silver Wing said Easy is the most handsome person in the world! Maybe Easy is actually really good-looking!”

“Judging by VIT’s average attractiveness, he won’t be bad.”

“Just from his voice, you can tell he’s not bad!”

Amid the chatter, the host, smiling, directed the conversation to the most nervous-looking Grey Cat: “First time appearing in a Group A regular season match, Grey Cat, do you have any special thoughts you’d like to share with everyone?”

Grey Cat thought for a moment.

He picked up the microphone and, after a brief pause, said, “Before the game, I was really nervous, but the Captain said something to me that calmed me down.”

“Oh? What did E-God say to you?”

This was an excellent interview topic. The host seized the opportunity to dig deeper, and the audience perked up their ears in unison.

Grey Cat looked a bit embarrassed. “I wasn’t playing Little Key very well, so the Captain told me about his own experience. He said his first game as a starter support was with Little Key too, and he ended up sending the whole team to their deaths.”

No sooner had Grey Cat finished speaking than Xiao Yin unexpectedly chuckled.

“He lied to you.”

Grey Cat and the others turned to look at Xiao Yin with curiosity.

The viewers watching the live stream online were also intrigued, eagerly awaiting more.

Under the lights of the media and the arena, Xiao Yin’s face was cold and flawless. Only when he mentioned Rong Yi did a slight softness seep through the otherwise unbreakable, ice-like perfection.

Xiao Yin’s tone was calm but very certain. “It’s true that he played Little Key in his first game as a starter support. But in that game, with him as support, they won fourteen to zero.”

“Even now, his win rate with Little Key is a hundred percent.”

“I remember it well. Everyone should go watch that game.”

Seeing the impeccably composed and stern man on the screen, the netizens went wild.

“Yin-Ge is a hardcore Easy fanboy!!”

“I’m going to watch it right now! I’m running towards Easy!”