All-Round Mid Laner

The Black Wolf was the assassin with the greatest potential for launching surprise attacks. Chi Shuo actually liked this type of hero a lot.

There were two ways to play this hero.

One was to start out in human form, pouncing and biting at enemies from a distance. This opening move would activate 'hunting mode', in which the Black Wolf took his wolf form and used his superior jumping powers to chase down any crippled heroes trying to flee.

The second way was the reverse—joining a battle in wolf form and launching a sneak attack from nearby. After taking down an enemy, the Black Wolf would switch into his human form and either chase down escaping enemies or make his own retreat.

With all that shifting back and forth, this hero seemed like he would be hard to grasp. This kind of 'kill-oriented hero' was also very dependent on assistance from his teammates—theoretically, as soon as his teammates got all their enemies down to low health, the Black Wolf could find the perfect opportunity to leap into the fray. Relying on his uniquely agile skills, he could swiftly take a pentakill.

Unfortunately, the black/white wolf kings comp was just too difficult to play.

It was hard to time the Black Wolf's entry into a fight correctly. If he leapt in too soon, it was too easy for him to be killed. The White Wolf had to be played with extreme precision. In team fights, he could easily be overwhelmed and subsequently turn into a useless punching bag.

There were other people in the professional league who could play these two heroes. But the mid laners and junglers who could play them, and were on the same team, didn't necessarily have the sort of tacit understanding necessary to play them together. It was rare to find two such players on one team.

So, this duo was like a Queen of the Night—a flower which rarely bloomed and wilted soon after its first appearance in the game.

The reason was simple: this comp was too unstable.

It was just like the flight comp. Too easy to crash and burn.

Coach Lin wanted the two of them to practice these high-difficulty duos. That was actually a very big test of their tacit understanding.

Ye Shaoyang opened up the character profile and started to carefully study the White Wolf King's abilities.

Summoner mages were difficult to play because they had to manage multiple units. Players always had to keep track of their pets, and they had to command their pets to go where they were supposed to go. They had to operate all these moving pieces swiftly and precisely, and their dynamic vision had to be extremely sharp for them to capture every opportunity.

Sending four little wolf cubs out to hit a wooden block was very easy.

But leading them in a 5v5 team fight?

When ten heroes clashed in a chaotic brawl, flinging their skills all over the place and filling up the screen with colorful special effects, teammates and enemies would all get mixed up into one cluster. At times like that, most players probably wouldn't even be able to find their little wolf cubs.

But Ye Shaoyang had earned an S-rank result on his dynamic vision disturbance resistance test. To him, it wasn't all that difficult to find and command his pets in the midst of this sort of chaotic brawl.

He opened up the training program on his computer and started to practice with the White Wolf King.

When he first started practicing with this hero, everything did feel a bit like a mess. The wolf cubs would never listen to his orders, instead running all over the place or spacing out right where they spawned. Ye Shaoyang spent a few rounds getting used to them before figuring out the trick to using these wolf cubs.

The White Wolf King was actually a very flexible hero. His four wolf cubs could group up and bite the same target at the same time, or they could split up and bite four different people. When paired with the Black Wolf, these two heroes could work pretty well together when ganking enemies or participating in team fights.

And in his human form, the White Wolf King's ult was an AoE crowd control skill that instilled the 'fear' effect. This would immobilize all enemies in his range for two seconds, allowing him to help the Black Wolf find an opportunity to dive in. Alternatively, the White Wolf King could use this effect to immobilize the enemy and do his own damage.

Ye Shaoyang was very quick to adapt to a new hero. Although it was his first time practicing with a summoner hero, he spent just one afternoon in training mode and figured out how to play this hero.

At dinnertime, Ye Shaoyang turned to Chi Shuo and said, "Captain Chi, I'm about done with practice here. Let's play a few rounds of 1v1, so I can get used to your Black Wolf's rhythm too?"

"Okay," Chi Shuo said.

The two of them created a room and played 1v1 for half an hour. Ye Shaoyang also familiarized himself with the attacks of the Black Wolf.

On their way to the cafeteria, Ye Shaoyang curiously asked, "The Black Wolf is a kill-oriented assassin with huge damage potential, and it looked to me like Captain Chi was very familiar with how to play him just now. Why haven't you played him in official games before?"

"It's difficult to work with your teammates with this hero," Chi Shuo explained. "In S6, we'd originally planned on practicing this pair. My master thought the White Wolf King was too troublesome to play, so we didn't keep practicing. The black/white wolf kings comp is pretty complicated. You should know, the more complicated a comp is, the more likely it is for something to go wrong during a game."

In the tense environment of official games, all players' reaction speeds were calculated down to the tenths of a second. Some heroes could take a swift kill by simply launching a QWR skill combo. Some required players to click all sorts of things with their mouse and hit a bunch of keys. Which type of hero would cause players to make more mistakes? The answer was obvious.

The more complicated a hero was to play, the easier it would be for a team to completely collapse with a player making one misclick.

That was why the black/white wolf kings comp was theoretically very strong, but saw a very low win rate. And that was why this comp had vanished from professional games.

"That's true. The black/white comp isn't very stable, it's easy to crash and burn." Ye Shaoyang turned back to look at Chi Shuo. He earnestly continued, "But I believe people can achieve anything with effort. As long as we practice a lot and work on our synchronicity, as long as we create the opportunities for you to dive into the fray, I think you—with your abilities and game sense—will definitely be able to use the Black Wolf to reap those kills."

Chi Shuo had never played the Black Wolf in an official game before. It wasn't that he didn't dare, it was just that he couldn't.

His teammates couldn't keep up with his rhythm, which meant he would be a lonely orphan wolf on the battlefield, only capable of giving away his head.

Gradually, Chi Shuo had learned to slow down his own pace and work with his team at their tempo.

But why wasn't it his teammates who quickened their pace to catch up with him?

Ye Shaoyang was the only one willing to keep up with Chi Shuo's pace.

Time and again, he would choose to learn the most difficult heroes to play. He would stake his life on catching up to Chi Shuo. And so, he was the only one who could stand at Chi Shuo's side and bring out the best in their mid/jungle duo.

Chi Shuo was silent for a moment. He looked towards Ye Shaoyang with warmth radiating from his gaze. "These few days… you've worked hard. You have to learn a large number of heroes in a short span of time, and you have to practice all sorts of duos with me."

"Working hard now is all for the sake of winning more games in the future and being flamed less!" Ye Shaoyang took out his cell phone and opened an alert which informed him that five million yuan had been transferred to his bank card. He showed Chi Shuo that message and waved his cell phone with a grin. "I have to make sure I'm worth this signing fee you paid me."

Chi Shuo looked at that message and smiled faintly as well. "It's already been transferred?"

"Mm," Ye Shaoyang confirmed. "Tianhuan's financial department works pretty fast."

The two of them walked into the cafeteria shoulder-to-shoulder. After eating dinner, they went back to their rooms to feed the cat and rest for a while. Then they returned to the training room to start with their evening practice.

Chi Shuo sat down in front of his computer. While he loaded up the game, he asked, "Is your White Wolf King ready for ranked?"

"Just about," Ye Shaoyang said. "I spent all afternoon practicing today. I've got a pretty good feel for him."

"Back to the international server?" Chi Shuo suggested.

Ye Shaoyang nodded. "Mm. Give me a sec to log in."

At exactly eight in the evening, in the Ultimate Kings rank on the international server…

Sunshine and Moonlight came online once more.

The two of them got into a group to queue for a ranked match together, and they were quickly assigned to a game. Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang were the fourth and fifth players to pick their heroes.

Chi Shuo took the initiative to type into the chat: [4L Jug, 5L Mid, thanks.]

'Jug' was jungler, and 'Mid' was mid laner. He'd indicated that Player 4 was playing jungler and Player 5 was playing mid laner, and they were queueing together.

Anyone who regularly played on the international server would recognize the English abbreviations for the five positions.

Chi Shuo's message served the purpose of preventing their teammates from snatching away their positions and making it difficult for them to work together in the game.

A mid/jungle duo was the most commonly seen team-up, and their player IDs looked a lot like a pair of sweetheart names. The other three international players obligingly chose other positions, leaving the jungler and mid laner positions to them.

When the fourth and fifth picks came up, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang locked in the Black Wolf and the White Wolf King.

Their teammates were baffled.

What the fuck? These sweethearts weren't griefers, were they?!

The three international players felt their hearts sink, suddenly possessed by a foreboding sensation.

After the game loaded up, the team discovered that these two players were using commemorative skins from S3. Although they weren't explicitly designed to be a couple, these skins made them look like a very suitable pair. The scariest part was—these two were only at a basic proficiency of 100!

That meant these players had only used these heroes in a few training matches against A.I. teams.

They'd never played ranked before? Not even once?

So, this couple was just here to choose the black/white wolf kings comp and show off their love in front of their teammates while dragging everyone down to defeat?

All three international players silently prepared themselves for their inevitable surrender.

One of those disgruntled teammates started to spew insults in the team chat. Of course, Ye Shaoyang couldn't understand what they were spewing. The angered teammate sent out a few lines in English, and Ye Shaoyang couldn't be bothered to translate right then and there. So he just answered with some symbols.

[Sunshine]: ^_^

Chi Shuo glanced at Ye Shaoyang, then took the initiative to translate, "Our teammate is saying we're two lovers here to flaunt our relationship on the international server, and they're asking why we don't just go home and watch a romantic movie. They're saying the black/white wolf kings comp has been abandoned a long time ago, why is it coming out now to drag the whole team down? They want to know if there's something wrong with our heads."

"Oh," Ye Shaoyang said. "Then I answered with a smiley face. Might have just made them angrier."

Chi Shuo was silent.

You really know how to answer them.

Chi Shuo helplessly rubbed at his temples. Could he somehow restrict Shaoyang's input method and prevent him from typing emoticons in the future?

Ye Shaoyang said, "Don't worry. We'll carry them to victory."

The teammate who had just been blasting them in the chat was playing marksman that round. They had chosen the Rapid-Fire Gunner.

Ye Shaoyang moved to the middle lane to start clearing minions.

The White Wolf King could clear minions by releasing just one wolf cub, which was powerful enough to take down creeps on its own. If Ye Shaoyang released all four of his wolf cubs, only to have them all taken down by the enemy's ult, then it would be way too much of a hassle to resummon them to his side. This hero wasn't just difficult to operate. Knowing when and where to summon the wolf cubs was something which required the player to have a keen sense of judgment in the game.

In this round, Ye Shaoyang encountered the familiar Frost Goddess as his enemy mid laner.

Ye Shaoyang's movements were extremely convoluted. He moved in a random, serpentine path. There was no way for the Frost Goddess to freeze him even if she wanted to. But what the Frost Goddess couldn't have anticipated was that… Ye Shaoyang's wolf cubs moved randomly as well?! She couldn't freeze a single one of them!

To handle so many moving pieces at once, controlling both his own hero and his little wolf cubs, required extremely fast hand speeds from Ye Shaoyang.

The player behind the Frost Goddess faced off against Ye Shaoyang for a few minutes, then realized Ye Shaoyang was an expert. The Frost Goddess meekly retreated and stopped trying to freeze the enemy hero, only focusing on farming creeps.

The two mid laners steadily leveled up without disturbing each other.

But the instant the White Wolf King hit Level 6, those four wolf cubs suddenly surged towards the Frost Goddess like a gale of white wind. She had no time to react before her health bar was chomped down to its last sliver. The Frost Goddess instinctively wanted to use her flash to escape, but the White Wolf King suddenly shifted into his human form. That handsome man with the furry ears and fluffy tail swiftly immobilized her with the 'fear' effect.

A figure leapt out from the side—the Black Wolf, in his human form—and killed her off with one bite.

First Blood!

Chi Shuo had taken the first kill.

"Beautiful!" Ye Shaoyang praised.

They hadn't actually used the voice chat to coordinate their moves just now. They had relied solely on their tacit understanding.

Ye Shaoyang saw that Chi Shuo had circled around in the jungle on his right side, lurking slightly behind him. And so Ye Shaoyang had struck decisively, first setting his wolf cubs loose to bite the enemy, then changing into his human form to petrify the enemy in place just as the enemy tried to escape. That way, Chi Shuo could easily come in to take the kill.

Chi Shuo had also taken note of the moment Ye Shaoyang turned into a human, and he'd instantly shifted to pounce in from afar at that moment.

Upon activating 'hunting mode', he took down the enemy with just one blow.

The two of them interwove their skills fluidly. When the black and white wolves ganked together, the result was quite excellent.

After killing the opposing mid laner, the two of them invaded the enemy jungle together. The enemy jungler was in the middle of fighting the red buff. At that moment, the Black Wolf shifted back into wolf form and used a smite from over the wall to steal the red buff at the last minute. Then, from his hiding place, he leapt out and killed off the enemy jungler as well.

"I'm realizing that this comp's most flexible feature is how we can change our attack range," Ye Shaoyang said.

"That's right," Chi Shuo said. "You can attack from afar, or you can attack from nearby. In wolf form, you can leap over walls as well."

"But the Black Wolf's shapeshifting skill has a very long cooldown," Ye Shaoyang said. "You can only instantly refresh the skill after getting a kill. And you can't shift freely, so you have to have a really good sense of when the right opportunities come up. If your teammates don't cooperate with you and if they steal your kills, you won't have the means to shift and do your damage."

"If you could shift at will," Chi Shuo said, "this hero would be unreasonably overpowered."

Ye Shaoyang smiled and nodded. "That's true."

The two of them played while chatting. Very quickly, their teammates realized…

It seemed they were being carried to a victory?

The marksman who had badmouthed them at the start of the game watched as the wolf kings came down to the bottom lane. Four little white wolf cubs and a vicious black wolf seemed to leap at the enemy at the exact same moment, and then… the Black Wolf actually got a double kill?!

Sometimes taking human form, sometimes taking wolf form… these two shifted so much that no one could understand what they were doing!

Plus, the White Wolf King was always followed by his four little brothers, who surrounded him like bodyguards—like he was a VIP?!

The game ended very quickly. This pack of wolves kept their enemies on the run, and those enemies soon developed some serious psychological scarring from their constant assault.

[Mickey]: Sorry, I didn't know you were experts.

He'd apologized in English, saying he didn't know these were big bosses.

The person who had just badmouthed them earlier was actually taking the initiative to apologize.

[Sunshine]: ^_^

Chi Shuo turned and looked at Ye Shaoyang again. This smiley guy really seemed to be asking for a spanking sometimes. Whether he was insulted or praised, he always came out with that same expression. He was never riled up. That multipurpose smiley face could dominate the international server.

Chi Shuo looked back to his own computer and quietly asked, "Continue?"

"Mm," Ye Shaoyang confirmed. "I used my skills too early in that match just now. Almost made us crash."

"Next time I'll signal you when my ult is ready," Chi Shuo said.

Ye Shaoyang massaged his fingers. The White Wolf King required a lot of commands from the player, so playing him was a lot more exhausting than playing other heroes. Most mages could be controlled with just four skills—Q, W, E, and R. But the White Wolf King had to command his wolf cubs, which meant the player had to click those little cubs with their mouse and pick out positions for their cubs… executing such complex operations with both hands was quite troublesome.

No wonder it was relatively rare for this hero to be used in tournaments. It was vital for a player to maintain their focus when they played such troublesome heroes. The hand speed and reaction speed requirements were very high as well. Any 'handicapped' player wouldn't be able to use these heroes at all.

Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang continued to play ranked until midnight.

In four hours, they played a total of eight games. They won five and lost three.

In one of their losing games, they'd run into a teammate who disconnected during the match—probably due to a poor internet connection. In the other two losing games, they'd been matched with teammates who didn't quite want to cooperate with them. These teammates kept stealing kills from Chi Shuo, making it impossible for Chi Shuo to get his ult back up.

A Black Wolf who couldn't get his ult back up could only die, and the teammates who'd stolen his kills couldn't turn back time, so their team fights would swiftly be lost. It was very normal for this sort of thing to happen in games with random strangers. Passersby would rarely be willing to give kills to other players; no one knew each other in these randomly matched teams, after all.

Some random players didn't even know how the Black Wolf's skills worked. This hero was extremely neglected; he rarely appeared in ranked games at all.

Chi Shuo looked towards Ye Shaoyang and warmly asked, "Tired?"

Ye Shaoyang rubbed his fingers and said, "Let's sleep after one more."

Chi Shuo queued them up again.

At the same time, in Team Huowen's base, Zhou Jiawen queued up for a ranked match.

Zhou Jiawen had originally  made a name for himself on the international server. In S8, he was the 'amateur king' of the international server, and he had been signed by Team Huowen for a high price. In S9, he'd become the captain of Team Huowen. He was currently only nineteen years old, the youngest captain in the Chinese division.

He was used to playing on the international server, and he knew quite a lot of high-level international players. He had plenty of alts on the international server.

Today, he was using the alt 'ZZ7878'—King-rank, ten stars.

He was queueing up with 'JinJin666'—also King-rank, ten stars. This was Jin Minjun, a player from the Korean division and captain of Team TIP. He was a jungler.

When the game began, Zhou Jiawen swiftly typed out a message.

[ZZ7878]: 4L Jug, 5L Mid, thanks.

[Moonlight]: 2L Jug, 3L Mid, thanks.

The two messages popped up at basically the exact same time.

Player 1 was trembling with nerves—the fourth and fifth players were a jungler and mid laner, and the second and third players were a jungler and mid laner. They were all double queueing with each other, so what was Player 1 supposed to pick?!

Zhou Jiawen saw this situation and couldn't help but smile as he called out, "Coach, I ran into the sun and moon."

The coach hurriedly rushed over. "Holy shit?"

Author's Notes:

I'll gloss over all the games with passersby, because there's no point wasting ink on those games and slowing down the pace~

The next game will be more exciting.

We'll have Chi Shuo, Ye Shaoyang, Zhou Jiawen, and Jin Minjun on one side—all professional players on alt accounts. You can imagine what the other team will be like.