Chapter 56: Quarterfinals (Part 3) — A Rough Start
The brilliant spotlights beamed down, and the banners in the spectator stands surrounding the arena stretched out like a vast ocean.
Standing amidst the players’ gaming chairs, Zuo Chi looked up. Manager Li was at the very front of the coaching bench, facing the audience, seemingly shouting something to rally the team. With every shout, the VEX banners in the crowd would sway violently in response.
“It seems like more and more people are coming to watch our matches,” Fugui remarked with a hint of emotion.
“Your mic is a bit quiet. Have the referee help you turn it up.”
Zuo Chi confirmed that every cub’s headset volume was normal before glancing at the countdown for the BP phase.
“Keep this in mind: don’t get reckless during the laning phase. BLUE is a team with very strong laning capabilities. Their average solo-kill count per game ranks first in the league. Especially you, Wu Yang—you’re up against Storm. Play it steady.”
“Understood.”
“BLUE is also one of those rare teams that loves to play around a mid-lane carry. Wu Yang, whether you’re clearing waves or rotating to support other lanes, be careful when checking brushes. Wall and Fugui, make sure you’re ready to back him up.”
Wall and Fugui both nodded.
“Finally, their rhythm is theirs, and we play what we’re best at. Even if the laning phase collapses, maintain our usual rhythm for playing from behind. Don’t let them lead you around until your head spins.”
Zuo Chi had prepared several backup plans for the BP draft. For the first game, they took a dive-in initiation composition they were used to, though he gave Beyond a late-game hyper-carry capable of handling pressure to ensure they had enough damage if the game dragged on.
Once the draft was finalized, he prepared to leave the stage.
“VEX—”
“Jia-you!!!”
[I’ve got my fried chicken and Coke ready for the match. VEX, whatever you do, don’t let BLUE 3-0 you!]
[The team compositions on both sides are pretty much 50-50; both have a chance. However, BLUE went straight for their signature comfort picks. VEX’s mid-laner, Sea, better not get solo-killed by Storm.]
[Wait, why did Coach Zuo run over to BLUE’s coaching bench?]
[Look at their expressions; he’s probably just going over to say hello. Isn’t it common knowledge that BLUE is the most well-liked team in the circle? Let the BLUE veteran quintet take another championship!]
[LMAO, Coach Zuo ‘saying hello’ is just a front for snatching snacks. He even swiped two bags of spicy strips on his way out. Eating and taking at the same time—I’m reporting him!]
As the first game began, BLUE’s support started in the mid-lane. Wu Yang cleared his waves late and avoided being caught, but Storm provided fake vision. On the surface, he looked like he was heading top, but in reality, he ganked the bottom lane, forcing a Flash out of Beyond.
At the six-minute mark, Wu Yang was returning to the mid-lane after supporting the bottom. As he passed through his own jungle, he was ambushed by Storm. A full burst of damage instantly melted him, giving up First Blood.
At eight minutes, a 3v3 skirmish broke out in the mid-lane, resulting in a 1-for-1 trade as the supports were swapped.
At eight and a half minutes, Wu Yang and Storm engaged in a 1v1 duel in the mid-lane. Both were left with a sliver of health, but both sides’ junglers arrived to provide support. No kills were secured, and both retreated to base to recover.
Zuo Chi watched the back-and-forth struggle on the big screen.
Three-man mid-lane priority, mid-jungle-marksman jungle clearing… After the Round of 16 match, their team’s economic operation methods had indeed been discovered by other teams, and they were quick to adopt them.
The difference was that BLUE had added their own understanding. When they ran a mid-lane carry composition, the jungler didn’t share Storm’s mid-lane gold; instead, they even shared the jungle economy with Storm.
In the early game, almost no position had enough gold to buy magic resistance items. Since the dual carries needed to prioritize damage for their first three items, a high-economy mage dealt terrifying damage during early skirmishes.
If hit by two skills, Beyond would be crippled. If a full combo landed, even the tankiest Fugui would lose over half his health.
Furthermore, Storm was a very instinctive player, always lurking in unexpected positions to ambush or gank.
VEX’s advantage still lay in team fights and the details of their lane-swapping for gold. They had to endure the early laning phase.
At the twelve-minute mark, Fugui made a positioning error and was picked off, leading to the loss of half their top-side jungle.
At fourteen and a half minutes, Wu Yang failed to hit anyone with his skills while checking a brush. He was collapsed on by three enemies and couldn’t escape.
The kill score reached 1-4.
At fifteen minutes, the first Small Dragon team fight began.
Zuo Chi could almost imagine the team’s voice comms. Land would likely have Fugui push forward to squeeze out vision while Wall cleared brushes, first looking for Storm’s position.
Since they were currently at a disadvantage, it wasn’t wise to force a dragon fight. Their best bet was to look for a chance to steal it.
BLUE held vision of the dragon pit and started the objective first. Storm’s poke damage was making things very difficult for Fugui; he lost health the moment he tried to pressure forward.
Land was calculating the dragon’s health, looking for a window to use a displacement skill and attempt a steal.
Beyond stayed in a safe position, ready to follow up with damage or retreat with his teammates at any moment.
Wu Yang held onto his skills. When Land dove in for the steal, he would need to immediately provide crowd control to cover Land’s retreat.
The dragon’s health was dropping rapidly, approaching the execution threshold.
Zuo Chi knitted his brows. He saw Wu Yang’s position moving toward the dragon pit—but he wasn’t in a position to cover a retreat. Instead, he looked like he was initiating a fight.
When the Small Dragon had 500 HP left, Wu Yang suddenly Flashed into the pit. A full set of skills landed on BLUE’s jungler—a 0.5-second stun—and he was immediately focused down and melted by BLUE.
The dragon reached the execution threshold, but BLUE’s jungler was CC’ed and couldn’t use Smite.
Land immediately charged in, using his skills plus Smite to secure the Small Dragon before shifting back to safety.
Commentator A: “VEX’s Sea chose to initiate with his own body again, trading his life to secure the Small Dragon for the team! In the previous match against WIN, Sea also chose to Flash onto the high ground to stall for time.”
“Although they’re down by four kills, trading one kill for a Small Dragon is still a profit for VEX! However, Storm’s damage is truly terrifying! Even Million can’t tank it. If it hits the backline, Beyond won’t have any room to deal damage at all!”
“After all, this is BLUE’s signature mid-carry composition. They won a championship with this exact strategy years ago!” Commentator B said with a smile. “Although the forms of BLUE’s five veterans have fluctuated during this Spring Split, it seems today that these veterans haven’t passed their prime yet!”
Commentator A: “Indeed! Even though they got the dragon, VEX is still at a disadvantage. Can they use the buff from this dragon to claw back some of that deficit?”
“Coach Zuo? Coach Zuo?” Manager Li was nervously chugging water. “Do you think we still have a chance for a comeback?”
“We have to stall. Fugui has already finished his magic resist item, so he’ll be able to tank a bit more. Once Beyond gets some magic resist as well, we can take the team fights.”
“It feels like BLUE’s offensive is relentless. The cubs’ expressions are getting more solemn by the second.”
Zuo Chi pointed at the match milestones displayed on the edge of the big screen. Above the BLUE veteran quintet was the text: “The Immortal Monument.”
“Don’t even mention how much pressure the cubs are under up there. Just sitting in the coaching seat, I feel like my hair is falling out in clumps.” Zuo Chi also opened his thermos and took a few sips of water. “Fortunately… there’s only one comp in this meta that can run a mid-lane carry like this. BLUE used it in the first game, so the following games won’t be as difficult.”
“…Coach Zuo, if this goes to a full five-game set, I’m seriously going to pass out from the nerves.”
“Don’t pass out yet. Regarding Wu Yang’s situation, has the clarification statement been posted on Weibo?”
“It’s posted. A professional team wrote the statement, the evidence is solid, and we attached the court judgment. I checked the comments, and they’re almost entirely in support of Wu Yang.”
“That’s good.”
Rather than waiting for Wu Yang’s parents to strike first with malicious accusations online, it was better for them to take the initiative and explain everything clearly.
They needed to nip the rumors in the bud.
Originally, out of consideration for Wu Yang’s feelings, they didn’t want this matter to become public knowledge.
Unfortunately, Wu Yang’s parents hadn’t considered his feelings in the slightest.
Once they finished discussing Wu Yang, Zuo Chi looked up to see that the cubs had already been pushed back to the high ground by BLUE.
Manager Li: “…Quick, where’s the oxygen? Coach Zuo, the oxygen!”
“Stay calm.” Zuo Chi took a large gulp of water.
BLUE was a team that tended to make a fair amount of mistakes when sieging the high ground.
As long as the crystal hasn’t exploded, anything is possible.
At twenty-three minutes, all three of their high-ground towers were destroyed.
At twenty-four and a half minutes, BLUE brought in minions from all three lanes with surging momentum. A 2-for-4 trade ensued, and they pushed down VEX’s crystal.
“Congratulations to BLUE for taking a 1-0 lead! BLUE’s famous mid-carry composition has once again brought the team victory today! Congratulations to BLUE!!! The MVP for this round is undoubtedly Storm—his rhythm was everywhere!”
Zuo Chi clapped along with the BLUE fans as the cubs walked off the stage and toward the coaching bench.
They had done some psychological prep before the match, so the cubs weren’t too discouraged, though they were quieter than usual.
“It’s fine. BLUE played that game impeccably. You were constantly looking for openings, and that’s what matters.”
“The main issue was the early game. Sigh, after I was picked off that one time, we couldn’t hold the jungle. I’ll definitely be more careful next game.” Fugui scratched his head. “This mid-carry comp of BLUE’s… maybe we should practice it too?”
The cubs discussed the mistakes of the previous game as they headed toward the lounge.
Just outside the lounge door, Wu Yang walked up beside him. “Coach Zuo… let’s run the roaming support-style comp for the next game.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m worried… if we start 0-2, the pressure on the brothers will be too much. Give me that roaming set. I can tie the score at 1-1.”
Every mid-laner who faced Storm felt an immense amount of pressure.
“I know you could tie the score at 1-1 with that comp, but if we use it in the second game, there are still too many heroes they can use to restrict us… It hasn’t reached that point yet.”
Wu Yang lowered his head, a trace of stubbornness in his eyes, but he didn’t argue. He only gave a soft “Mm” in response.
“Wu Yang, Storm’s style is different from yours. Play your own game. Just like that dragon fight where you dove in to help the team steal the objective—not every mid-laner can pull that off.” Zuo Chi patted his shoulder. “Even though we kept getting caught during the laning phase, we still played the 3v3 skirmishes better. You were the one who initiated those.”
Wu Yang dazed for a moment, a thoughtful look flashing across his face.
After taking a few more steps, he suddenly smiled. “I understand, Coach Zuo.”
Storm was good at ganking and loved dealing damage from the backline; he wasn’t as good as his opponent in that regard.
But his own ability to initiate as an assassin-mage was also his opponent’s weakness.
Initiating was all about having the courage to die—but if he caught the enemy, they would lose far more than he did.
Translator’s Note: Higanbana (彼岸花), also known as the Equinox Flower, is a beautiful but ominous flower in Asian folklore often associated with death and the underworld. In this novel, it’s the name of the hero Wu Yang uses. The “Immortal Monument” title for BLUE really highlights how legendary the veteran players are.
Recommended Reads
![Does A Broken Mirror Reunion Exist in Esports? [Esports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/esports-225x300.png)