“Talon?”
“No problem, bro. We’ll pick Syndra this game. I guarantee we’ll press him so hard he won’t even be able to touch the wave!”
“Oh right, our Taobao shop is at the top of the screen. Brothers who like little snacks like meat-floss cakes can…”
YY platform.
White3zz, the starting mid laner of RYL Royal Club who had only just chosen to retire and stream, had barely gone live before he habitually started hawking his meat-floss cakes.
As the starting mid laner of the domestic team that had reached the finals at Worlds last year, although he had been mocked as “Fifty-Fifty” because of a pre-match interview, his popularity was still extremely high.
He was also the number-one Fizz on the Chinese server during this period.
Although at this point he had yet to find a way to monetize his traffic and could only sell cakes like the retired “seniors” before him, his stream was still highly distinctive.
“Wait, White.”
A puzzled voice came through the mic from his duo partner.
“What’s up?”
“Look at the enemy mid’s rank.”
Huh?
Fifty-Fifty focused his eyes on it and immediately sucked in a breath. “What the hell, bro? I’m not seeing things, right? Platinum?!”
“That’s way too fucking ridiculous, bro. He’s Platinum and he gets matched with my Master?!”
This was Fifty-Fifty’s main account, with a win rate of over seventy percent, a genuine Master account.
Even if he hadn’t played enough to climb to Challenger, normally there was no way he should be matched with someone in Platinum.
In other words…
For a Platinum to be matched with him, just how absurdly high was his hidden MMR?
“Could he be someone who used to be above 2400 points? Open up Box and check for me.”
Fifty-Fifty urged his friend.
He had gotten into the game back in Season 2.
Back then, the Chinese server ladder still used Rank points, and anyone above 2400 points was basically top twenty on the server.
Only players in that bracket could have hidden MMR high enough to jump two whole tiers and match with him.
His friend gave an “oh,” then fell silent.
Fifty-Fifty was puzzled.
“Why’d you go quiet? What are you doing, bro?”
“White, this guy’s a new account.”
His friend’s tone was filled with disbelief.
“I think I know why he got matched with you. This guy’s still at a hundred percent win rate up to now, holy shit. What a fucking animal!”
“Huh?”
Fifty-Fifty froze for a moment, but then he laughed instead.
“No problem.”
“After this game, this bro won’t be at a hundred percent anymore.”
A hundred percent win rate didn’t prove anything. If Fifty-Fifty made a new account now, he felt he could put up that kind of record too.
But it did indeed pique his interest quite a bit.
The moment he got to lane, he threw out his first Q.
It looked a little casual, but this was his subconscious habit for probing an opponent’s movement.
The opposing Talon also moved upward the instant the effect appeared, dodging it with ease.
Likes moving upward, does he?
Fifty-Fifty had a rough idea now.
When the cooldown came back up, his second Q carried a bit of prediction.
The dark orb bloomed, yet once again missed Talon by the slightest margin, brushing past the hem of his clothes.
“Brothers, that Q just now might have looked dumb, but I’d already discovered he likes moving up, so this Q was defi—”
“Hm?”
Fifty-Fifty was somewhat surprised, and his body straightened slightly.
He dodged it?
Not only that, the Syndra who had stepped forward had entered Talon’s Q range, and Talon came straight over to hit him with a QA.
Fifty-Fifty instinctively took a step back, then wanted to start retaliating.
However, unexpectedly—
Talon didn’t retreat at all.
Instead, the instant he retreated, Talon walked forward as well.
At the moment Syndra’s backline minions fired their ranged auto-attacks, Talon slashed Syndra again.
The timing could be called perfect.
The minions’ aggro had not been drawn!
After landing that slash, he didn’t get greedy in the slightest and decisively retreated.
Fifty-Fifty pressed his lips together unhappily.
As if venting his frustration, he auto-attacked Talon once, then threw his third Q half a body length in front of him.
The orb bloomed again, yet Talon turned back almost at the same time.
With that nimble swaying movement, the orb dissipated once more.
Fifty-Fifty’s expression instantly grew serious, and his friend’s exclamation also came through his ear.
“Holy shit, this Talon! His movement’s actually kind of good, isn’t it?!”
“White, you’re getting blasted in lane!”
Before Fifty-Fifty could speak, the barrage had already started scrolling.
[Isn’t this scripting?]
[That movement really seems wrong. Report him.]
“No, it’s not scripting.”
Fifty-Fifty shook his head and spoke very seriously.
“Brothers, you probably haven’t really seen scripts much. I’ve genuinely seen brothers who script. That kind of thing is like spinning-top movement—once it dodges, it won’t move again.”
“This Talon actually still has extra inputs. Though his movement is definitely insane.”
Scripts in the early days of League were extremely brutal, directly reading commands at the code level.
Early pros like Fifty-Fifty had basically all done boosting.
Mingkai, also known as Clearlove, was even the big director of a certain boosting crew on Ionia.
There was no helping it. They had to make a living.
In that process, they inevitably ran into people using scripts, so they understood scripts very well.
Fifty-Fifty’s manners might have been poor, and his mouth might have been stubborn.
But at this point, he still wouldn’t go so far as to falsely accuse a random player of scripting just for stream content.
If he couldn’t beat him, then he couldn’t beat him. How big of a deal was that?
The current him was a newly retired domestic mid laner with the highest honors. He truly cared about face.
Even the so-called “I’m fifty-fifty against so-and-so” from that interview actually had another sentence after it:
I feel like he might not have been taking it too seriously.
Game time: three minutes and twenty-four seconds.
Once Fifty-Fifty got serious, he quickly took lane priority again, burned through the last of his mana, and prepared to recall.
At this moment, he was already glad he had taken TP this game.
His opponent’s fundamentals were astonishingly solid, and his movement was inexplicably good, forcing him to choose to shove the wave hard.
If he hadn’t brought TP, the lane might already have become unplayable.
However, at the instant he relaxed—
Talon moved.
The instant W was cast, the golden light of Flash lit up along with the displacement.
Q, Noxian Diplomacy, landed!
How overtuned was Talon in this era?
Here’s a joke: a one-second silence.
Fifty-Fifty’s pupils shrank slightly, and he immediately pressed Flash.
But it was already too late.
Syndra, who had just turned back, had all her skills fall into a dimmed state!
Because…
E, Cutthroat, had already been pressed. Talon flashed behind Syndra, and the auto after Q had already reset.
Upon landing, auto-attack into Ignite.
[First Blood!]
W-Flash-E-A-Q-A-Ignite. A very standard and beautiful combo.
But the timing of the engage was chosen with incomparable perfection, almost calculating every bit of Fifty-Fifty’s mentality.
I know you want to recall after clearing the wave, so I deliberately cast W at the minions in front of you.
I know you definitely won’t want to Flash immediately and will want to use E to push me away.
I know that the moment you turn back…
You’re already dead.
“…Insane.”
Fifty-Fifty saw the calculations and mind games within it.
He admired it, considering it wonderfully executed.
Unfortunately, he himself wasn’t cultured, so one “insane” was enough to carry him through the world.
After this play, although he had gotten serious, the opponent never gave him another chance. Instead, Talon began driving the tempo of the entire game.
Once ahead, Talon was like an assassin wandering through the darkness.
No one could know when that cold blade would fall.
All they knew was that the enemy had begun a slaughter.
[Force-Eight Gale is on a killing spree!]
[Force-Eight Gale is unstoppable!]
[Double Kill!]
[Triple Kill!]
[Force-Eight Gale is beyond godlike!]
By the mid game, Fifty-Fifty once again became Talon’s prey.
The moment they met, R-E-Q—he didn’t even need Ignite or W to instantly kill him.
It was honestly simpler than kicking a stray dog to death by the roadside.
There was no helping it. That was what happened to a mage who fell behind.
It wasn’t like you could say a mage should have high damage and also be tanky as hell, right?
Talon: I thought it was just a speed bump!
Chu Bai led his teammates to take Baron, then ended the game in one push.
His teammates all sent out praise. Chu Bai, already long used to it, let out a breath and paid it no mind.
“…The eighth rewind. Finally won.”
Right now, he only felt tired.
Although rewinding would also rewind his physical condition, the mental exhaustion was unavoidable.
It was undeniable that the Syndra he had run into today was indeed the strongest opponent he had encountered.
—Though, from the scoreline, he seemed like the biggest stray dog.
But Chu Bai would still give him respect, because only he knew how difficult it had been to win.
From something as small as an auto-attack in the early laning phase to a single decision in the mid game.
The tenacity the opponent displayed had even left him clicking his tongue.
I almost got stomped by this dumbass. Good thing I was more skilled (referring to time rewind).
[All] Youyou Mei (The Dark Sovereign): Bro, you’re kind of fierce. You can even beat me. Impressive.
Chu Bai: ?
[All] Force-Eight Gale (The Blade’s Shadow): Is beating you supposed to be impressive?
Chu Bai was still a little resentful.
That fucking Syndra!
Though you really were kind of fierce, you made this bro rewind a whole eight times and tired me half to death.
If I don’t mouth off at you a little, that really wouldn’t be right.
And he genuinely didn’t know this person.
[All] Youyou Mei (The Dark Sovereign): I’m Royal Club’s mid laner. Do you not watch matches? I was last year’s runner-up.
[All] Youyou Mei (The Dark Sovereign): Bro, you played pretty well. You’ve got talent. I can give you a spot on my friend list.
Chu Bai froze.
A pro player?
No wonder he had put so much pressure on him.
But… what did he mean, give me a spot on his friend list?
Lmao, you’re really putting on airs.
The Chinese server does not allow someone this arrogant to exist!
Chu Bai thought for a moment.
[All] Force-Eight Gale (The Blade’s Shadow): Oh.
[All] Force-Eight Gale (The Blade’s Shadow): Then I’m the champion now.
Fifty-Fifty: ?
Friend: ?
Viewers: ???