All-Round Mid Laner

More than ten millions viewers were watching livestreams of that disastrous, flaming car wreck of a match featuring Fang Zhengqing and Chi Shuo's mid/jungle 'teamwork'. All six of the professional players in that match were very popular, after all. Many people personally saw that tragedy unfold in these players' streaming rooms.

Some people even recorded the whole thing. Originally, they thought they would be recording a demonstration of a world-class mid laner and a world-class jungler, working together to roam the map and provide support to their teammates. They thought this duo would handily crush their opponents, providing footage that viewers could study later on.

But as they recorded, they soon realized—this was only a lesson in what not to do!

The people recording their screens laughed wildly as they filmed. Afterwards, they really couldn't resist editing together clips of Chi Shuo and Fang Zhengqing's performance in that game. They uploaded their videos to Weibo with the tag—

#WorldClassMidJungleCarCrashIncident#

Many of the other netizens who watched this match scurried onto Weibo to like and share those video clips.

Other fans who hadn't watched the game were completely dumbstruck after watching those 'highlights' clips.

[I'm laughing so hard that I'm about to throw up. Captain Chi ducked behind Captain Fang to evade an ult, but then Captain Fang stepped out of the way, hahaha!]

[Exactly who sent that undercover spy from the other side?]

[Are these the world-class players I know and love? Stunned.jpg]

[It's a good thing they aren't on the same pro team. Otherwise, in official games, the other team wouldn't even need to lift a finger. These two are perfectly capable of destroying all three of their own lanes, hahaha!]

[Xiao Bai must be thinking: 'You guys, don't come up to the top lane. Oh, you came? ^_^ Okay, then the top lane is gone.']

[Yangyang was just happily watching the show. He's thinking: 'I was protecting the top lane just fine, and you guys just had to come over and give your lives away.']

[PoorYangyang.jpg]

When he saw the post-game stats, Zhao Xin'an laughed so hard that he was practically pounding his desk with his fist.

Chi Shuo, the jungler, came out with a kill-death-assist score of 0-4-2.

Fang Zhengqing, the mid laner, got a 1-4-1.

If he didn't know any better, Zhao Xin'an would have thought these were Bronze-ranked noobs!

Zhao Xin'an grabbed a link of a highlights video from Weibo and sent it into the pro players group chat—

[Reporter Zhao]: Everyone, please enjoy this display of a world-class mid/jungle duo: [video link]

[Reporter Zhao]: Hurry, hurry! Go watch!

[Zhou Zhou]: A world-class mid/jungle duo? Are they from the Korean division? I'll go take a look.

[Old Xu]: Did Beimu schedule a practice game against a foreign team?

[Rain]: Little Zhao, please keep up your habit of sending us nice videos in the chat~

[Binghun-Chenchen]: I'll go take a peek too.

A moment later.

[Beimu-Sean]: TornFace.jpg

[Zhou Zhou]: I finished watching. [LaughingIntoHand.jpg]

[Old Xu]: HAHAHA [LMFAO.jpg]

[Rain]: ……

These pros originally assumed this video would feature international experts and some high-level gameplay that they could learn from. But as soon as they clicked the link, they heard Fang Zhengqing and Chi Shuo bickering in the voice chat. Then, they watched as Fang Zhengqing took a step to the side just in time to let Xie Yuan's ult pass him and strike Chi Shuo. They watched as Chi Shuo initiated a fight with his ult, only to have Fang Zhengqing run away at that exact moment.

The players in the group chat couldn't stop laughing. They all started to @ the two players in question.

Chi Shuo and Fang Zhengqing saw the chatter in the group. They couldn't resist sticking their heads up to voice their grievances.

[I'm Very Square]: I really do feel very squ… squeamish right now.

[Tianhuan-Shuoyue]: Hurry up and start queueing for your next game. Once you're in a match, I'll start queueing.

[Tianhuan-Shuoyue]: I don't want to be matched to your team again. [Disgust.jpg]

[I'm Very Square]: You think I want to be on your team? You even managed to cut off my winning streak. [RollingEyes.jpg]

[Tianhuan-Lieyang]: ^_^

Ye Shaoyang forced himself not to laugh out loud.

Chi Shuo's friends were really far too interesting. Especially Fang Zhengqing. The two of them had endured a complete lack of tacit understanding ever since their teens. It was a pretty rare thing for them to have made it through so many years of misunderstandings.

It looked like Tianhuan's games against Jingzhe would be a difficult struggle indeed. Chi Shuo couldn't guess at Fang Zhengqing's thought process, and Fang Zhengqing would also make incorrect assumptions about Chi Shuo's way of thinking. Ye Shaoyang's thought process was quite similar to Chi Shuo's, which meant that Ye Shaoyang could only ever hope to have a complete lack of tacit understanding with Fang Zhengqing as well.

So, when they played against Jingzhe in the future, maybe they could let Chi Shuo guess where Fang Zhengqing would go to provide assistance first?

If Chi Shuo guessed the top lane, then everyone could head down to the bottom lane.

If Chi Shuo guessed that Fang Zhengqing wouldn't contest the grand dragon, then that would definitely mean Fang Zhengqing intended to steal the dragon?

Whatever Chi Shuo expects, the opposite will be true?

Because of the huge amount of netizens liking and sharing the highlights clips, the tag #WorldClassMidJungleCarCrashIncident# started to trend very quickly. Quite a few people interested in the gaming world clicked on those videos and immediately laughed themselves crazy.

Thousands upon thousands of 'HAHAHA' comments filled up the comments sections of those posts. The old fans who used to be sad about Fang Zhengqing and Chi Shuo not ending up on the same team were all now saying—thank god they didn't end up on the same team!

Netizens who once thought Xu Zhuo, Chi Shuo, Fang Zhengqing, Xie Yuan, and Chen Qianhua could have taken the world championship trophy if they'd formed a team of five were now realizing—no, that was wrong! If the five of them formed a team, they could forget about the world championships. They wouldn't even make it into the domestic playoffs. Chi Shuo and Fang Zhengqing had the power to self-destruct on all three lanes!

Fang Zhengqing quickly queued up for a new game. Chi Shuo waited until Fang Zhengqing was loaded into a new match before he started to queue again. This way, they wouldn't be assigned to the same team anymore, and they wouldn't crash and burn. Losing like that was just too emotionally exhausting.

Without Fang Zhengqing getting in the way, Chi Shuo's next games went very smoothly. He and Ye Shaoyang were perfectly in sync. They took three consecutive wins, then went offline to sleep at half past one.

The next day, Tianhuan resumed their usual training.

Coach Lin opened up a slideshow presentation in the meeting room and started to analyze the opponents of their next match. "We'll be facing off against Team BOB next. In the preseason games, they lost all eight of their matches and are currently ranked at the very bottom of Group B. However, past records are no indicator of future achievements. They've definitely spent the time since their preseason losses reviewing their game tapes and discussing strategy. We can't take this opponent too lightly."

Everyone nodded to express their understanding.

Coach Lin continued, "We still have one week. During this week, we'll continue with our internal training and play matches at a disadvantage against our second-string team. Let's focus on grinding with our team comps."

He paused for a moment, then looked towards Chi Shuo. "In our next game, Chi Shuo, do you want to take out a jungler core?"

Chi Shuo said, "Let's continue with a double carry comp, to let Shaoyang and Little Xing get used to the rhythm of official games as quickly as possible."

There really was no need for Tianhuan to bring out their best comps against Group B teams. That was how things worked in the professional league. Many teams would hide some of their strongest lineups and strategies, using them only in dire situations to catch their enemy off guard.

It was currently only the second week of the regular season. They could let Little Xing adjust to the rhythm of pro games for now. The comps they practiced thoroughly before—like the double flight and double wolves comp—would definitely be saved for Group S games.

Coach Lin nodded and continued, "Okay. Then we'll continue to build our teams around the mid laner and marksman. Shaoyang's Abyssal Lord took a pentakill in his first game. That was too flashy, so he'll almost definitely be on the ban list in our next match."

Ye Shaoyang said, "I've already prepared myself for the eventuality of the Abyssal Lord being banned. That's not a problem, I know how to play many heroes. I can take out other mages."

Ye Shaoyang's hero pool was already very deep. Besides the eight heroes he'd achieved National #1 rankings with, he'd gotten good at many others as well. But MOBA games were 5v5 team games. It wasn't a stage where one person could put on a one-man show. If Ye Shaoyang switched his mid lane hero, his teammates would also have to switch to other heroes that worked well with him. The coaching team had been making good use of their time to develop new team comps for the players.

Coach Lin unveiled two new team comps that the coaches had already researched. "In the following week, let's all work hard to learn these two team comps quickly. They're very similar to the team comps we've already practiced with highly mobile mid lane heroes. I believe you guys will get used to them very quickly…"

Time flew by. A week passed in the blink of an eye.

The Round 1, Week 2 games of the Gods War pro league officially began. Tianhuan's game was scheduled for Friday night at seven. The venue was Coast City, situated at the very south of the country.

In February, it was still winter in the capital city. However, the average temperature of Coast City, an island city to the south, was already twenty-six degrees.

Tianhuan's players were all wearing down jackets when they boarded their flight. By the time they landed, they were all sweating buckets. They hurriedly ran off to the washroom to take off their jackets and sweaters, coming back out in t-shirts.

As soon as they stepped outside, the sea breeze washed over them. It was so warm and soothing that Cheng Xing couldn't help but say, "Isn't Coast City way too comfortable in winter? I want to retire and grow old here!"

Coach Lin laughed helplessly as he looked at him. "You're only how old, and you're already thinking about growing old?"

Cheng Xing laughed as well and said, "Just making plans in advance and all."

The esports arena in Coast City was shaped like a large seashell. It was quite eye-catching. The hotel reserved for players by the league was a very well-known vacation resort. The resort had its own private beach, and each room gave a nice view of the boundless sea.

Plus, all the food at the resort's buffet was seafood. Cheng Xing was from the north, so he was beyond excited when he saw that he could eat as many oysters and as much abalone as he wanted. While he ate, he endlessly praised the league's decision to host the regular season games at four different venues.

While competing, players could also enjoy all sorts of food from different places.

The next day, the game was set to begin.

The weather in Coast City was nice, and Tianhuan had made a huge splash during their first match of the regular season. So, the live audience at the venue was very noticeably larger than the audience of Tianhuan's last game. More than seventy percent of the seats were filled.

A shot of the audience played out on the screen in the players' lounge. Ye Shaoyang saw that lots of spectators were waving Tianhuan's banners. There were also new posters with chibi-versions of Tianhuan's five players. Next to each of them, there was a small symbol—a flame, a drop of water, the sun, the moon, and a star. It really did make them look like a family unit.

Ye Shaoyang also noticed his own fans in the crowd. They were all waving posters with his Ragdoll cat printed on them, along with slogans like 'Xiao Bai Kitty Litter Division' and 'Victory for Yangyang' and 'Lieyang is the Most Handsome Omega in the World, No Criticisms Accepted!'

Chi Shuo saw those slogans and warmly said, "Your fans are very passionate."

That last slogan, about the most handsome omega in the world—Chi Shuo silently gave it a nod of approval.

Ye Shaoyang smiled and said, "There's quite a lot of people here."

He'd had a truly shocking amount of fans in his previous life. He was still a newbie in this life, but he'd instantly made a name for himself with that pentakill in his first game. Although this was only his second official game, a few hundred of his own fans were already rooting for him from the stands.

His popularity was shooting up like a rocket.

But that wasn't the important thing.

The most important thing for an esports player was their achievements. If they couldn't win championships, then what good would all the fans in the world do them?

Ye Shaoyang said, "Since our fans have come to the venue to cheer us on, we'll have to do a good job today. We need to make sure they get their money's worth."

He took the initiative to stretch out a hand, looking around at his teammates. "Come, come, let's get pumped up!"

Chi Shuo placed his hand over the back of Ye Shaoyang's hand. Shaoyang's pale, slender fingers were warm with his body heat. Chi Shuo's heart grew a little bit warmer too.

Very quickly, their other teammates gathered around to put their hands in as well.

Chi Shuo calmed his unruly heart and quietly said, "Play well."

Ye Shaoyang smiled brilliantly and added, "Destroy them!"

Cheng Xing excitedly echoed, "We'll destroy them!"

Compared to Captain Chi's calm and composed words of encouragement, Ye Shaoyang's way of motivating the team was much more impassioned. He could easily make his teammates get carried away with him.

"Good evening, friends and viewers. Welcome to Coast City's Esports Center. This is Round 1, Week 2 of the Gods War S10 regular season. The teams playing in tonight's match are Team Tianhuan and Team BOB. Let's give our players a warm round of applause!"

Tianhuan's five players took the stage in their short-sleeved shirts. They turned to the audience and bowed.

The atmosphere in the crowd tonight was very obviously different from it was before. As soon as those five players took the stage, ear-piercing shrieks rose up from the crowd.

"Go, Tianhuan, go!"

"Captain Chi, I love you!"

"Yangyang, you're so hot! Yangyang, look at me!"

Ye Shaoyang looked into the crowd and saw that a few girls were sitting in the VIP section, wearing flashy headbands with the words 'Little Sunshine' printed across the front. In their hands, they held posters with the kitty Xiao Bai on them, and they loudly screamed for Yangyang to look their way.

Ye Shaoyang smiled faintly at them and gave them a wave. The three girls shrieked excitedly again.

The players then made their way into a soundproofed room. The game was about to begin.

During the picks and bans phase of the first round, Team BOB's coach did indeed ban the Abyssal Lord.

An Abyssal Lord with a pentakill was a hero that absolutely couldn't be allowed to take the field!

Tianhuan continued to ban support heroes as always. Team BOB swiftly used their second ban on Chi Shuo's Bloodstained Assassin.

The commentator said, "Captain Chi once took a pentakill with the Bloodstained Assassin, and now Lieyang has used the Abyssal Lord to take a pentakill. The first two bans in this round have gone to these formidable heroes of Tianhuan's mid laner and jungler."

"Tianhuan is the blue team in this game. Which hero will they pick first?"

As soon as the commentator finished speaking, Tianhuan locked in the Illusionist as their first pick.

Ye Shaoyang was also nationally-ranked with the Illusionist.

If the enemy wanted to ban the Abyssal Lord, he would simply choose a different assassin mage.

He was going to show them the true meaning of taking a win in one fell swoop.