Chapter 10: Swords Drawn
After Chi Jing went offline at light speed, he added Lin Chen on WeChat (Green Bubble). They didn’t engage in small talk, just two words:
“Log in.”
By the time Chi Jing got online, Lin Chen had already opened a room. The two started a 1v1 directly, with two bans each.
Lin Chen used his two bans on Chi Jing’s Mai Shiranui and Diao Chan.
Chi Jing used his two bans on Lin Chen’s Shangguan Wan’er and Hai Yue.
All troops, attack!
Standard solo rules: three kills or one tower. Chi Jing picked Xi Shi, and Lin Chen picked Bian Que.
Xi Shi started with Cloth Shoes and pre-ordered a Spell Stone. Xi Shi didn’t clear minions as fast as Bian Que in the beginning, and Bian Que stacks poison, so he built Boots of Tranquility first, then Echo of the Staff to stack magic penetration. Bian Que directly pre-ordered Boots of Resistance, clearing the wave and contesting neutral resources against Xi Shi. Xi Shi leveled Skill 2, holding an explosive orb in hand, and used the passive to blast the River Scuttler away.
Failing to get the neutral resource at the start meant falling behind in economy. Lin Chen didn’t panic with his minions; he pre-ordered a Frosty’s Breath. Seeing his economy panel and pre-selected build, Chi Jing roughly knew his build for this game. He wanted to play a tanky Bian Que. Chi Jing was used to farming economy to crush opponents with an advantage or roaming the whole map to drive the rhythm.
Chi Jing felt a sudden chill down his back. Taking advantage of the recall, he looked backâsix pairs of eyes were staring straight at him, including the team manager and head coach. A pressure-free solo match suddenly gave him goosebumps under their gaze.
“I mean, I can understand the coach staying to help me study loopholes and playstyles, but you guys crowding behind me is making my back cold!”
Mo Jingchun stared at the battle with interest and replied, “I’m waiting for his miserable defeat in this match.”
The others nodded in agreement regardless of the situation. Chi Jing’s temper was ground down. After buying Echo, he went out, starting with Skill 2 for slow plus passive explosion, Skill 1 for control, then stacking Skill 2’s explosion. Bian Que used Skill 1 to stack poison marks followed by two basic attacks, Skill 2 to deal magic damage and detonate marks, followed by Skill 1 to stack again and two more basic attacks. Skill 2 detonated, followed by the Ultimate to maximize damage.
Both Xi Shi and Bian Que had very short cooldowns. At this point, it was a contest of economy. However, Xi Shi’s economy was 180 higher than Bian Que’s. Five minutes in, no kills had occurred. Chi Jing calculated the damage: Skill 2 slow plus passive explosion, Skill 1 controlâhe took First Blood directly. Unfortunately, there was no health pack under the tower, and he was eventually worn down to death by Bian Que’s poison marks.
He had to admit, Lin Chen’s Bian Que really had something. Whether it was his build or his game sense and mechanics, he could utilize this hero to the fullest.
The game atmosphere gradually became tense, with swords drawn. Both struck fatal blowsâyou use a Skill 1, I use a Skill 2. Xi Shi traded one-for-one with Bian Que again, both returning home together. Chi Jing gradually got a bit impatient. At the 12th minute, he made a mistake and ran raggedly to the tower to eat a health pack. The minion wave was frozen. Now in poor condition, recalling would definitely mean missing a wave.
Chi Jing gritted his teeth. When Bian Que pressured the lane, he used Flash-Skill 1 combo followed by Skill 2 and Ultimate, controlling Bian Que directly under the tower. Combined with tower damage, he took Bian Que down.
Mo Jingchun raised an eyebrow watching the opponent surrender. He had thought the final wave would still be a one-for-one trade. Chi Jing’s playstyle was savage and domineeringâif he could fight head-on, he would never cower under a tower. This playstyle was suitable for solo ranking when he was a streamer, but he was now a pro player. If he blindly charged without team coordination, he would definitely be crushed in a tournament.
The head coach also saw this problem. After the solo ended, he immediately customized a training plan for Chi Jing, making him practice support-utility mages like Xi Shiâaka “Tool Men”âto grind away his habit of rushing forward from the root. Chi Jing himself had no objections.
Stretching his back, Chi Jing opened his phone to see a message from Lin Chen.
Lin Chen: [Like] Young man played well, but the style is too reckless. You’ll suffer in tournaments. [Facepalm]
Chi Jing: Thank you. [Rose]
Seeing Lin Chen’s message, Chi Jing wondered if this guy was unsatisfied and wanted another go. Lin Chen was, after all, a veteran player of several years; his game sense and mechanics were above Chi Jing’s. Opening the message, only one thought crossed his mind:
This guy is actually kinda nice.
“Good Guy” Lin Chen was currently nestled in his base reviewing the match. He had indeed underestimated the enemy. He hadn’t expected Chi Jing to dare go for the kill with a sliver of health, nor expected his playstyle to be so aggressive.
He pulled up WeChat and sent a few voice messages to the contact named [Mo Jingchun].
Thousands of miles away, Mo Jingchun received the message and knew what fart Lin Chen was releasing without even thinking. First, he habitually turned down the volume, then played the voice message.
“Holy shit Old Mo, your new Mid Laner plays exactly like I used to, damn it. He has a sense of liveliness like someone who hasn’t experienced the beatings of society.”
Mo Jingchun got a headache listening to this microphone-blowing voice message. Unfortunately, the speech-to-text function failed.
“Daring to go for the kill on low healthâthis mindset is awesome but unstable. This match really felt too good. I’m too embarrassed to ask, can you ask your Mid Laner if he’s free to duo queue? I can fill.”
Mo Jingchun typed out cold text and sent it:
[Get lost]
Followed by a string of question marks. He muted his phone and tossed it casually onto the table. Suddenly, a pair of fair hands appeared in front of him, holding a bag of snacks.
“Brother, have some snacks.”
Song Qi’s cheeks were puffed up from eating, looking just like a hamster hiding food.
Mo Jingchun lowered his eyes, taking the snacks from his hand and saying, “Don’t eat so many snacks at night, you’ll get bloated.”
Song Qi had food in his mouth, speaking indistinctly, “Last bag, last bag! It smells so good.”
After speaking, he ran to the side, afraid Mo Jingchun would stop him from foraging. Chewing food in his mouth, his hands were still playing a game. Playing Doria, he used a skill right at the start and got so scared he choked.
Mo Jingchun rushed over in a panic to pour him water and pat his back. Once he was a bit better, he asked, “What happened? Ate too fast? Chew slowly when you eat, listen to me.”
Song Qi pointed at the screen and wailed in breakdown, “My fish! My cute Mermaid Princess, why did she turn into an electric eel, ahhh!”
Without seeing the person, just hearing the voiceâthis shout summoned the other few over.
“Look at that electric fish tail, and that Skill 2… I really don’t want to say it, but damn, the Mermaid Princess was violently modified into Electric Blade Kid, ahhh!” Song Qi shouted, defenses broken. He felt his world go dark. What kind of dog bug was this? How did his beautiful Mermaid Princess become Electric Blade Kid? Companion skins are skins too; support players’ lives are lives too.
The group gathered around and laughed at Song Qi mercilessly. The entire base filled with laughter. Mo Jingchun also had a smile in his eyes. Luckily, Song Qi was just bored and playing Infinite Brawl, not Ranked or Standard; he could make do.
After playing a round, Song Qi’s mouth didn’t rest. One moment he was cursing, the next he turned his head to accept the small snacks Mo Jingchun fed him. Qi Feng cried out that it was an eyesore. Chi Jing expressed he couldn’t bear to watch. And our Yuan Jibai, emitting the light of a straight man, said a sentence: “Look, the two brothers have such a good relationship.”
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