Rest is over, and the players are back on the competition stage. Despite the emergency measures taken, the audience in the live stream room could still see Xia Zeyu’s eyes reddened.
[“Really? Did you really cry???”]
[“Brother, do you remember that you are sitting on the world stage right now? Don’t disgrace our country.”]
[“Look at Park Eun-kyung, he’s almost laughing like crazy, being ridiculed in front of others. It’s so embarrassing.”]
Xia Zeyu should be grateful that he couldn’t see the barrage in the live stream room at this moment. In his mind, Jiang Mo’s words kept echoing—
“If you can’t win a single game, come back and wait for me to give you extra training.”
He didn’t want extra training!
After entering the game again, Xia Zeyu’s restlessness miraculously disappeared.
Once bitten by a snake, one is scared all one’s life. If he keeps this mindset, it’s really as Xie Ning said, he might as well go home and raise pigs.
His current opponent is not Jiang Mo, but Park Eun-kyung. Park Eun-kyung’s playstyle is completely different from Jiang Mo’s. In comparison, isn’t Jiang Mo scarier?
He didn’t need to worry about being ambushed in the jungle, suddenly having an enemy hero jump out from the fog of war. Yes, he didn’t need to be so afraid; the enemy hadn’t done anything, yet he was already a nervous wreck.
Jiang Mo defeated Park Eun-kyung and reached the top of the Korean server. Jiang Mo was his master. How could he show fear in front of his opponent?
The lineup for the third match was similar to the first.
Xia Zeyu was still playing Lee Sin
Before the match, Coach A’kang specially provided them with a tactical analysis. Park Eun-kyung liked to start in the top jungle, whether on the red or blue side. The first gank, he always liked to go to the top lane.
SVP was on the red side, so Xia Zeyu chose to invade the top jungle early after reaching level three.
“Park Eun-kyung likes to gank the top lane after reaching level three with Monkey in the jungle,” Jiang Mo had told him.
“It’s this strategy again,” Xie Ning sneered.
In this match, he picked Gwen
This time, Xie Ning was still controlling the hero, chasing the low-health Gangplank. In the live stream room, the audience watching from a god’s-eye view couldn’t help but shout in frustration—
[“Why is Xie Ning making a silly mistake? He never used the same tactic twice in a match. This Gangplank is an obvious bait!”]
[“Did Xia Zeyu’s habits rub off on him?”]
[“I don’t want to watch, another first blood coming!”]
[“Why is everyone suddenly making mistakes?!”]
Park Eun-kyung’s Monkey hid in the bush, patiently waiting for Gwen to pass by before using a skill to pounce on her.
Xie Ning had been waiting here for a while. The moment Park Eun-kyung appeared, he released the W skill beneath him. Gwen’s W skill could make her untargetable by the enemy, and no skill could hit her. Monkey’s E skill hit Gwen, dealing damage, but the following skills couldn’t hit the low-health Gwen. Lee Sin, who had been lurking in the bush, jumped out. He bypassed the Monkey, using his W control skill to stun the low-health Gangplank beside him, then used Q and basic attacks to secure the kill on Gangplank.
——First Blood
Gwen’s W skill lasted for five seconds. While Lee Sin moved to the backline to finish off the Gangplank, Gwen activated her dash skill to hide in the bush.
Monkey lost sight of Gwen and activated W to enter the bush. However, Gwen, who had just entered, was not in this bush.
Park Eun-kyung hesitated for a moment, then quickly realized that Gwen had flashed into another bush.
Xia Zeyu eliminated the enemy top laner and quickly came to support Xie Ning.
Gwen’s W skill had a fairly long duration. Gwen had a displacement skill and Flash, so she ran towards her own territory and safely evaded Monkey’s attacks.
However, Xie Ning’s immediate thought was tit for tat. So fond of baiting, eh? Let me show you how it’s done.
Seeing the low-health Gwen, he didn’t believe Park Eun-kyung wouldn’t be tempted.
Xia Zeyu didn’t hesitate and followed Xie Ning.
Monkey had used his invisibility skill and was being closely controlled by Lee Sin. Gwen, who had dashed into another bush after escaping Monkey’s attacks, was at a distance, swiftly using her big scissors at the edge of the bush.
This kill went to Xie Ning, and he also secured the blue buff from Monkey.
“Nice!”
Xiao Xi was startled by the sudden sound from Jiang Mo. He patted his chest and echoed, “Their coordination was great.”
“It was.” Jiang Mo lightly applauded the two on the screen. “If Xie Ning hadn’t tried to bait, Park Eun-kyung would have chosen to retreat.”
“Huh?” Xiao Xi didn’t think as much as Jiang Mo did. Why should they retreat? Gwen was low on health, and Monkey had so many diving skills. Even if he took damage from the turret, he could still kill Gwen. If it were him, he would go for the kill, and he might even survive.
Jiang Mo knew Park Eun-kyung very well. Park Eun-kyung was a very cautious person. Gwen’s W effect had over 2 seconds remaining, and Gwen still had her E skill to escape. When he suddenly emerged from the bush earlier, he didn’t startle Gwen into using Flash. With the opponent having two displacement skills, even if Gwen had just over 90 health, diving under the turret recklessly was not worth it. Moreover, getting hit by the enemy turret in the early game was very painful.
Park Eun-kyung couldn’t avoid the risk of having his kill stolen by Xia Zeyu. Even if Xia Zeyu got an assist, it would be a loss for them.
Trading two kills for one was not as good as choosing to sacrifice one.
In this situation, as long as Xie Ning ran towards the turret, Park Eun-kyung would retreat. However, Xie Ning ran into the bush instead. He was tempting Park Eun-kyung, attempting to get Gwen’s kill and tempt Park Eun-kyung outside the turret. If Park Eun-kyung killed Xie Ning outside the turret, he could still escape from Lee Sin…
As it turned out, Park Eun-kyung was tempted, and Xie Ning’s gamble paid off.
“So complicated…” Xiao Xi looked bewildered.
It was just a game, right?
Why did Jiang Mo’s understanding seem so different from theirs?
How did he comprehend so much in less than ten seconds of a kill?
Moreover, Jiang Mo seemed to understand Park Eun-kyung very well?!
Jiang Mo realized he had said too much and blushed, saying, “I-I wasn’t accurate. Just speaking off the cuff.”
“No,” Xiao Xi’s face also inexplicably reddened. Whatever Jiang Mo said, he believed, “Senior’s explanation was very good, and I benefited a lot.”
Jiang Mo: “…But your expression tells me you don’t understand. You’re just pretending to agree with me.”
Xie Ning obtained the blue buff, his mana was sufficient, and facing the opposing Gangplank with one kill and one assist became challenging.
Xia Zeyu appeared calm, but his heart beneath his chest was about to jump out. He had succeeded.
Take it slow, no rush, keep steady.He reassured himself repeatedly.
The camera gave him a close-up, showcasing his naturally curly hair. At this moment, a small lock of hair, pressed by the headphones, defied its curly comrades and stood tall. The audience in the livestream room found this amusing.
The audience’s laughter didn’t last long as they saw Xia Zeyu upgrade his equipment and head straight for the river in the top lane after leaving the base.
Both junglers started their jungle routes in the top jungle. The resources in the bottom jungle hadn’t been touched yet, so why did Xia Zeyu choose to clear the top jungle at this time?
Soon, they got their answer.
Because they saw that after Park Eun-kyung respawned, just like Xia Zeyu, he headed straight for the river in the top lane.
The river crab in the top river hadn’t been taken down yet. Both sides erupted in a fight for this small crab. Xia Zeyu informed the midlaner, Tao Zi, through his headset. Even if Monkey didn’t have Flash, he could use W to go invisible and escape. Tao Zi’s Galio
Xia Zeyu secured the kill.
Commentator A: “I really didn’t expect this move. Are you all ignoring the resources in the bottom jungle?”
Commentator B: “Haha, the river crab is saying, ‘My life is quite valuable.'”
[“What’s going on? Did Xia Zeyu get an adrenaline rush? Why the sudden change? Seriously, is this the Xia Zeyu I know?”]
[“Wasn’t it you all demanding that he pull himself together? He’s pulled himself together now, so why keep complaining?”]
[“It’s just that seeing him perform so well is a bit unusual. He caught Park Eun-kyung twice.”]
[“Xiao Yu has caught many others too. Stop mythologizing Park Eun-kyung, alright? He’s not invincible. Many ordinary players have beaten him. Why keep boasting? I hate all this baseless bragging.”]
Xiao Xi: “I… I didn’t understand.”
He was in the mid lane and didn’t play jungle much, so he genuinely didn’t understand Xia Zeyu’s decision earlier.
Jiang Mo explained slowly, “If I were Xiao Yu’s opponent in the jungle, I’d think like this. Both junglers went straight to the top lane after reaching level three. This means the resources in the bottom jungle are still untouched. After Xiao Yu respawned, he would definitely go to the bottom jungle to farm, or perhaps, he might abandon the jungle and invade my jungle directly. In that case, it would be very risky for me to jungle in my bottom half. I would be susceptible to a gank. Xiao Yu has a first blood bounty on him and is one level higher than me. If we meet in the jungle, I definitely can’t beat Xiao Yu in his current state.”
“So, I go to the top lane to secure the river crab for safety?” Xiao Xi asked in response while wondering why Senior Jiang Mo was not stuttering anymore.
Jiang Mo smiled and said, “I’m just putting myself in the shoes of a jungler. Park Eun-kyung would have thought about this. But the opponent is Xiao Yu, and he won’t back down. It’s a 5v5 game. Even if he can’t beat Xiao Yu, who has better items, he can still call for his teammates. At least he can avoid getting ganked by Xiao Yu. Most importantly, Park Eun-kyung is overly confident and blind. He doesn’t believe Xiao Yu would gank him. The reason he went to the top lane was, firstly, to control vision by taking the top river crab, and secondly, Xie Ning was too arrogant, pushing the minion waves all the way to the enemy turret. Park Eun-kyung wanted to seek revenge but found it difficult due to the minions being pushed so far.”
Park Eun-kyung holds grudges the most, and Jiang Mo understands this well.
So, Park Eun-kyung definitely didn’t expect that after Xia Zeyu left the base, he didn’t go to the bottom jungle but instead came to the top river just like him.
After his second respawn, Park Eun-kyung patiently went to clear his bottom jungle. He finished his Blue Buff and started clearing the Raptor camp. Unexpectedly, when the health of the Raptor camp was about to be depleted, it was snatched away by the sudden appearance of Lee Sin.
He reacted swiftly and tried to escape. Lee Sin didn’t chase him but instead went to the top side and started clearing the three wolves that he didn’t manage to kill.
In his headset, Park Eun-kyung called for his teammates to come support. The support and mid laner quickly rushed over. SVP’s mid laner and support also joined the fight.
In the jungle skirmish, Park Eun-kyung and his mid lane teammate escaped with a sliver of health, but they lost a support teammate who protected them.
The smile on Park Eun-kyung’s face disappeared, his lips forming a straight line.
He really didn’t expect Xia Zeyu to suddenly become so aggressive. In the past, Xia Zeyu wouldn’t dare to casually enter his jungle.
That kid, where did he get the guts to enter his jungle!
No matter how angry Park Eun-kyung was, Xia Zeyu’s snowball was still rolling.
Xie Ning was the kind of person who would constantly expand his advantage once obtained. With Xia Zeyu excelling in jungle farm, and the bottom lane’s Little Cherry having the ability to suddenly ramp up her farm despite being imprisoned for a long time, this game ended in twenty-two minutes.
SVP finally secured the victory, and jungle Xia Zeyu was awarded MVP for this game.
However, in the next game, Park Eun-kyung began to launch his assault. Although Xia Zeyu withstood the pressure and didn’t perform poorly in the second game, the two sides fought intensely for nearly forty minutes. In the end, during the Baron teamfight, the EK team secured the Baron and defeated the SVP team with a score of 3:1.
The live chat didn’t witness the heated arguments they had expected; instead, it was filled with messages saying “Well done.”
In this match, although SVP didn’t perform well in the first two games, the last two games really pumped up the audience. The fourth game was a hard-fought battle, and everyone could see that every member of SVP gave their all.
The main reason was that in the fourth game, the sight of Park Eun-kyung recalling on Xia Zeyu’s corpse infuriated the audience in the live stream.
At this point, no one cared about the outcome of the match; they were just hurling insults.
…
After the match, in the rest area—
“Sorry, it’s my fault for dragging…” Xia Zeyu was about to say this but was interrupted by his four teammates.
Xie Ning: “I didn’t initiate the team fight at Dragon Pit well.”
Li Yuan: “It’s my fault for not protecting Little Cherry properly, letting her get half health from Park Eun-kyung’s attack.”
Tang Zi: “Say ‘Little Cherry’ one more time and see what happens.”
Tao Zi: “Little Cherry?”
Tang Zi: “Get lost!”
Xia Zeyu: “…”
Coach A’kang gave everyone a warm hug and patted their shoulders. “I know you all did your best. You’re great. Take some time to regroup, and let’s work harder for the summer season. Next time, we can’t lose the championship.”
“We will.”
Xia Zeyu’s eyes started to well up again. This time, he couldn’t stop the tears.
They lost the game, but no one blamed him. With this group of teammates by his side, what did he have to fear or be afraid of?
“We will,” he shouted loudly.
With no chance to make it to the finals, Xie Ning and the others didn’t want to come back immediately. The summer season was still a while away, and since they were finally abroad, they wanted to enjoy their time in Germany for a bit and return in a few days.
The first one back to the base was Manager Da Tian. Having taken care of everything at home, he returned with a large bag of local specialties. He distributed the items to the kids on the first floor and then excitedly went to see Jiang Mo.
“How have you been during this time? Did they bully you? If they did, don’t keep quiet. I’ll teach them a lesson…” Da Tian said a long sentence, and Jiang Mo didn’t even have a chance to respond. A large bag of dried squid was forcibly stuffed into his arms, and all he could manage to say was thank you.
“Oh, by the way, the transfer window has already started. I’ve submitted your information. You…” Da Tian sized up Jiang Mo, “Damn, it’s only been a few days. Why did you lose so much weight? Haven’t you been eating properly?”
How did the conversation suddenly shift to his physique?
Jiang Mo: “It’s a matter of… physique.”
Da Tian: “Then you should eat more. Losing so much weight, some people will be heartbroken.”
“Ah?” Jiang Mo blinked, not understanding.
Da Tian cursed himself silently, wondering why his mouth was so unreliable.
He awkwardly brought the conversation back, “When your teammates come back, you’ll go take promotional photos with them. Photos still need to be taken. When you announce officially, you’ll also need a solo photo. I was worried before that your face was too recognizable. But now, with this weight loss, at first glance, I almost didn’t recognize you. Come on, try wearing a mask.”
Jiang Mo took the black mask that Manager Da Tian gave him. The mask was a standard size, not as loose as when he had worn it before.
Now, he really felt that he had lost weight. There was less flesh on his face, and the mask felt a bit loose.
“Wow…” Da Tian crossed his arms, furrowing his brows, making a long hissing sound.
“W-What’s wrong? Is this bad?” Jiang Mo asked with concern.
Da Tian: “No, it’s just that you look too handsome. I was sighing.”
Jiang Mo: “…”
The mask was an enhancing tool; it covered the lower part of the face. If the lower half wasn’t attractive, but the eyes were, wearing a mask would direct everyone’s attention to your eyes. Jiang Mo’s face was flawless, whether he wore a mask or not. With the mask on, it emphasized the strengths of his eyes and eyebrows.
Da Tian marveled and sighed. This was really like finding a treasure. If Jiang Mo hadn’t debuted in the entertainment industry, based just on his appearance, who knows how many fans he could attract. Add technical skill on top, and he could easily become a sensation!
“Actually, I can still recognize you.” Da Tian regained his composure and began to observe Jiang Mo seriously.
Jiang Mo had many photos of himself wearing a mask. Comparing the previous photos with Jiang Mo in person, his fans would surely recognize their idol.
Da Tian: “Are you sure you want to conceal your identity?”
Da Tian understood Jiang Mo’s concerns, but Jiang Mo was no longer in a state of being criticized across the internet. Wasn’t it unnecessary to hide his identity? What’s wrong with going public?
Jiang Mo: “I… I want to keep it a secret.”
At the beginning, he was afraid of the criticism. Even now, Jiang Mo still didn’t believe that he had no antis. If they found out he was going to play professionally, these antis might come to bash him. They might even criticize the team together. He didn’t want to involve his innocent teammates.
Seeing Jiang Mo’s persistence, Da Tian stopped persuading him. He tentatively asked, “How about changing your hairstyle?”
Jiang Mo was puzzled and touched his hair. “What hairstyle?”
He hadn’t cut his hair for a long time. The ends of his hair now reached his neck, and his bangs were getting long. He had originally planned to cut his hair when taking the promotional photos.
Da Tian glanced at him, and all the imagined hairstyles in his mind vanished when he saw Jiang Mo’s current hair.
“The current length is good, even better than before. Don’t cut it, leave it like this.”
Jiang Mo blushed. “Th-Thank you for the compliment.”
“However, you’re still easily recognizable,” Da Tian said. “How about dyeing it a different color?”
“What color?” Jiang Mo blinked. He had never dyed his hair before. Many professional players liked to dye their hair in various colors—red, blue, pink, yellow. Many netizens joked that they weren’t a esports team but an alternative team. Jiang Mo had never dyed his hair and didn’t mind dyeing it.
Da Tian: “You have fair skin, so any color would suit you. What color do you like?”
Jiang Mo: “Yellow.”
Da Tian stroked his chin, envisioning what Jiang Mo would look like with yellow hair.
“Our team’s uniform this season is red. It wouldn’t be strange to have yellow hair. Since you like yellow, how about dyeing it yellow?”
Jiang Mo hesitated. “Let me think about it.”
After the play, Chi Yu received a text message from Jiang Mo.
[MOMO: Chi Yu, what’s your favorite color?]
[Chi Yu: Why, not calling me “brother” now?]
[MOMO: …]
[MOMO: Brother, what’s your favorite color?]
[Chi Yu: Black.]
Jiang Mo: “…”
[MOMO: Besides black?]
[Chi Yu: White, I guess.]
Jiang Mo immediately made a decision and reported to Manager Da Tian, “Manager, I’d like to dye it white.”
Author’s note:
Mo Mo: I want to dye it green.
Chi Yu: Haha, suit yourself.
Mo Mo is the wife, and Xiao Jie Ba is the lover.
In any case, it’s up to you to choose your color ^-^
Mo Mo: …
Damn! He should’ve dyed it yellow! I’m imagining Kenma hahaha