Rise (Web Novel CN)

Zeng Rui hesitated for a brief moment but then nodded. “Alright.” We’re a team now. I can’t force her to play my style. We need to find a middle ground on which we both excel. That means me trying her way, just like she’ll try mine. He looked over at her. She looks focused and ready. Time to win this fight together, as a team, with skill.

✹

Xie Qing was playing Morgana, a strong Support mage with skills to lock opponents down and to protect allies. But since the start of this game, she’d been utterly useless. And this was mainly his own fault. He’d learned Dark Binding at Level 1. It was an aggressive choice that he believed would pay off. Their opponents were only high schoolers, after all. But these high schoolers were far better than he’d ever expected. I should’ve learned Black Shield at Level 1. Then I could’ve made this damned Headbutt tactic from the Alistar useless! But by the time he learned Black Shield, the damage was already done.

Xie Qing smiled, wickedly. He’d been searching for an opening or mistake from Alistar or Kalista, but had come up empty. But now he finally found the opportunity he’d been looking for. They’ve kept us down long enough! It’s about time we show them what we’re all about! Huang Yang is coming and when that minion in front of the Alistar dies, I’ll get him! This is finally going to be our show!

Kalista was the only Level 6 champion in the bot lane, and as such the only one with her ultimate skill unlocked. The rest of the champions were all Level 5. But Xie Qing wasn’t worried about this. Kalista’s ultimate provided utility, not damage. It was incredibly powerful in a teamfight, but not so much in this specific scenario. Of course, that was on the condition that Shanghai University of Finance’s team played it right. Plus… Xie Qing glanced at his minimap. Seju just walked towards the top side of the map and the Rumble is being locked down by Fiora. There won’t be any follow up from those high schoolers. This is going to be a 3vs2 for us.

Xie Qing kept careful track of the minion manipulation Qiu Le was exerting. Then, right as another minion was about to die, Xie Qing said over the team’s voice chat, “I’m rooting the Alistar. We’re going in!”

Qiu Le fired at the minion standing right in front of the Alistar. Before the cannonball killed the minion, Xie Qing cast Dark Binding. The dark magic flew over the grass, straight at the same minion. There was almost no gap between the cannonball draining the last of the minion’s health and the Dark Binding flying past it and rooting the Alistar behind it.

“Nice one!” Qiu Le exclaimed, while activating Rocket Jump. His Tristana aimed her cannon at the ground and fired. The recoil launched her into the air and she arced towards the Alistar, landing right within attack range. Then she activated Rapid Fire. Flames erupted from the muzzle of her cannon and blazed over its body, greatly increasing Tristana’s attack speed. She placed an Explosive Charge on Alistar and charged its damage up by firing cannonballs at it. The bomb’s pale yellow colour grew more and more intense, until it exploded after the fourth shot, dealing a frightening amount of damage!

Kalista’s passive skill was called Martial Poise. Whenever she auto attacked or used Pierce, she would lunge a short distance. Tang Bingyao used this method on minions to close the distance to Qiu Le’s Tristana. And then she started auto attacking him, her spirit spears remaining lodged inside Tristana’s body.

“Haha, she fell for it! She fell for it!” Qiu Le exclaimed over the team’s voice chat. Then he added, “Huang Yang, knock her up!”

“On it,” Huang Yang replied. His Jarvan IV came running from the river entrance into the bot lane. Team Shanghai’s Botlaners were near the edge of their outer tower’s range. So he had to get the knock up right. He threw down his standard behind Kalista and then waited for half a second. When Kalista was lunging, she briefly had no control over the direction in which she went. That was his cue. He struck out with his lance, hitting the standard, and then dashed towards it!

The students watching the game in Shanghai University of Finance’s clubroom erupted into cheers! Their team had been on the backfoot all game. But now for the first time it finally looked like things were about to change!

“Haha! They fell for it!”

“I knew that Kalista was being too aggressive! Good on Qiu Le and Xie Qing for noticing it!”

“A 3vs2! We’re going to get the double kill and then WIIIIIIIIN!”

“That Alistar was so dumb. How could he get caught by that Dark Binding? What a noob!”

“Right? Even I could’ve dodged that! And I’m only Plat! Hahaha!”

“I wonder if they saw the J-Four on the minimap. It looked like they might’ve… But then why engage?”

“Because they’re cocky high schoolers! That’s why! Haha! We’re going to win this! Serves those arrogant kids right!”

✹

Tang Bingyao’s Kalista had used her black spear on Zeng Rui’s Alistar at the start of the game. This created a bond between them at the spirit level. One that Kalista could activate with her ultimate skill. When Tang Bingyao saw Jarvan IV appearing from the Jungle, she quickly hopped back toward her tower. Good. The bait worked. Then she activated her ultimate, pulling Zeng Rui’s Alistar to her side and allowing his spirit to rest inside her body.

Jarvan IV’s Demacian Standard stuck in the ground between Kalista and the outer tower, and Jarvan IV was already flying towards his standard. But Tang Bingyao didn’t worry; she smiled and pressed down on the D key. Kalista disappeared with a mottled flash of light right as the Jarvan IV completed his flag-toss combo. Then she reappeared under her outer tower. She’d dodged the knock up! And the Jarvan IV now stood at the edge of the outer tower’s range!

It was time for Zeng Rui to make his play. He was still inside of Kalista’s body in spirit form. The second part of Fate’s Call, Kalista’s ultimate, was all on him. He aimed at the Jarvan IV and barreled towards him! As he left Kalista’s body, his Alistar regained its physical form. And then he slammed into Jarvan IV, knocking him up! He followed up with Pulverize! Alistar balled his fists and slammed them into the ground with every ounce of strength in his body. It carried such an immense force that Jarvan IV was hurled back up into the air before he even landed. Alistar then ran past Jarvan IV before turning back around and Headbutting Jarvan IV towards the blue outer tower!

The outer tower targeted Jarvan IV and started firing energy shots at him, each consecutive one dealing more damage. Tang Bingyao hurled a fast moving spirit spear at Jarvan IV–Pierce! And then followed up with auto attacks. Jarvan IV tried to run away, but his flag-toss combo was still on cooldown. And to make matters worse, Zeng Rui’s Alistar cast Exhaust on him. A debilitating aura fell over him, decreasing all his stats including his movement speed! More and more spirit spears pierced his body and remained lodged there, until his health fell to 10%. Tang Bingyao activated Rend. Kalista ripped the spears out of Jarvan IV’s body with a flick of her wrist, shearing away the last of his health!

《You have been slain!》

The game announcer’s voice rang in Huang Yang’s head as he stared at his grey screen, dazed. The gank had looked foolproof. A surekill. An easy way to get back into the game! He only had to land his flag-toss combo and his Botlaners would do the rest! She was running away! Why… He didn’t know what to say or think. There was only a jumbled mess in his mind.

The players from the university\'s second team fell silent. They stared at the large LCD screen above the soundproof booths, absolutely speechless. Just a moment ago, they were picturing the glorious scene of their team picking up two kills and then maybe a tower or the Dragon. They’d already been saying as much to their friends around them. And now, now the university’s main team lost the 3vs2. Jarvan IV died and it remained to be seen whether Xie Qing’s Morgana and Qiu Le’s Tristana could save their own skins.

Zeng Rui glanced at Tang Bingyao and smiled. He said over the team’s voice chat, “Good job.”

Tang Bingyao nodded at him. Then she looked back at her screen, at Jarvan IV lying dead on the ground, and smiled. “Mhm!”

Zeng Rui also looked back at his screen and added, “Let’s focus.”

Tang Bingyao and Zeng Rui shifted their sights on Morgana and Tristana. They chased them down the lane, until the two players from the Shanghai University of Finance team reached underneath their outer tower. All the while, Lin Feng’s Yasuo and An Xin’s Sejuani had run down the river and into Red Team’s Jungle. They’d arrived behind the bot lane’s outer tower. Together with Tang Bingyao and Zeng Rui, they towerdove Qiu Le’s Tristana and Xie Qing’s Morgana.

An Xin’s Sejuani was already strong enough to take a couple of energy shots from the tower and survive. And with the four of them together, they were more than strong enough to burst both Champions from the Shanghai University of Finance down. But Tristana still had her Flash and Rocket Jump up. She jumped over the Sejuani and then flashed away, reaching all the way back to the inner tower in a matter of seconds. Team Shanghai didn’t give chase. They killed Morgana and then shifted their focus to the Dragon, which they killed uncontested.

The spectators in the university’s clubroom couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Their team, one of the best university teams in all of China, was getting their asses handed to them by a high school team! More embarrassingly, the high school team had two girls on its roster! And both girls were playing better than their counterpart on the university’s team! This went against everything the audience knew about the game!

“Those girls… They’re great!”

“Shit man… Is this really happening?”

“Oh my god…”

“I can’t believe my eyes…”

“They’re actually good!”

“Keep it up, girls!”

✹

Shanghai University of Finance’s esports team was one of the best in all of China. But they’d gone into this game vastly underestimating their opponents. This mindset was easy to fall into, and incredibly difficult to get back out of. But they were really good players and they formed a very strong team together. They talked through the problems over the team’s voice chat and recognized that they had to take this game seriously. This game was going to be a lot more difficult now than it should’ve been, seeing that they were already at a large deficit. But the game had still only just begun. There was plenty of time to make up for their mistakes. And they were fully convinced that they had the skill to make up for those mistakes!

Over the next several minutes, Shanghai University of Finance’s esports team finally showed up. It started in the top lane, where Fiora picked up a solo kill on Zhang Hao’s Rumble by beautifully outplaying him. This was followed up by Luo Yu showing to the world why teams from the LPL were scouting him. He found an opening to activate his ultimate skill, Destiny! The fog of war dispersed from the map. He could see everything and Teleport anywhere within a large circle around him. He chose the bot lane.

Playing cards spread out in a circle on the ground, opening a gate. Luo Yu’s Twisted Fate stepped through it and appeared right next to Tang Bingyao’s Kalista, a Gold Card already hovering over his head. He threw it at her and stunned her, then killed her with the help of Liu Ye’s Tristana and Xie Qing’s Morgana.

Luo Yu’s timing was perfectly in-sync with the respawn timer of Dragon. Huang Yang was already waiting there for them. The four players from the Shanghai University of Finance took the second Dragon of the game. The advantage that Team Shanghai had built up was quickly disappearing.

Luo Yu stared at his screen, focused. He’d made mistakes early on in the game because he didn’t expect Yasuo to be all that good. Now he was trying his hardest to make up for those mistakes. And it was working. But there was still a way to go before they could think about winning this game. He said over the team’s voice chat, “We have to bring that Kalista down a bit more. Look for a chance to kill her again.”

Huang Yang glared at his screen. At the Kalista. He said, venom thick in his voice, “Leave that to me. I’ll get her!”