League of Legends: League of Unknowns

Chapter 268: Across the Distance

Beneath those smooth eyelids, his eyes held the same despair and aimlessness as his teammates.

Seeing his skinny, freckled little face only made Luocheng’s heart twist even worse.

‘I’m from a tiny little place in Gansu Province, called Xiao Bei Village. My name is Xiao Bei, too. I don’t really get what this is, but I think I like it. Luocheng, can you teach me to play?’

Unbidden, a flashback came to Luocheng of the first time he’d met Xiao Bei. He’d been saying something along those lines.¹

A young man from the North-West, brought out from the mountains by an uncle living far away, so he could work at small jobs in ever-blooming Shanghai. He didn’t have a clue about anything, except that he liked gaming.

Looking into his uncertain eyes, one could see that he only knew who he was when he had his hands on a mouse and keyboard, controlling a Champion upon a computer screen.

Luocheng had believed that he’d really be able to get somewhere in pro-gaming, with such a sincere passion for it in his heart.

Every team needs a guiding light. Xiao Bei was still barely more than a mewling pup, but Luocheng was pinning his hopes on him!

***

Xiao Bei was truly at a loss. Individually, Team Fudan’s players clearly weren’t a match for Team Skycrown—and yet, they had all but vanquished Team Skycrown.

If they really lost this game, what was left for them?

Would the team have to part ways, just like that?

After all, even if they wanted to keep going, where would they find the money to keep five people fed for several more months?

Xiao Bei gazed at Yu Luocheng. He needed his help now. He needed Luocheng to tell him what to do…

But Luocheng was so far away, right now. Against the harsh glare of the lights behind him, all he could make out was a shadowy silhouette.

What was he even looking for? Luocheng wasn’t on the battlefield with them.

Xiao Bei was about to turn back to his screen, where his base was about to be broken open someplace else—

A tiny movement caught his eye.

It was Luocheng’s figure. He was trying to communicate something to him.

Xiao Bei’s gaze whipped right back to him, where Luocheng stood among the shadows.

He held out his right hand in a fist, and gently tapped it against his own chest.

Thump! Thump! He could almost hear the sound in his own ears.

It was a gesture he recognized well. The sight of it awoke something deep inside of him, something which spread through his whole body and set his blood on fire!

It was the victorious salute of F-Hawk!

After they’d become the first-place champions of China after a hard-won battle against Team Daemons… in spite of the disdain they’d received from Korea, America, and Europe… F-Hawk had flattened all opposition to claim the ultimate honor in the International Solo Tournament…

… and then, with a smile, he’d tapped his right fist to his chest: Victory by his hand, as a gamer with all his heart!

It was a moment deeply ingrained in Xiao Bei’s memory, the symbol of Yu Luocheng’s triumph over the entire world of pro-gaming, and seeing it again helped him to understand two important things:

He didn’t have to envy those people who boasted a better education and lifestyle than him. He didn’t chase after wealth or status. Contempt, judgement, promotion, income… he didn’t understand any of these things—but when Team Wings had stood at the top of the whole world, he’d learned the meaning of glory and dignity!

To other people, it might be a complete joke: Small fry like him, struggling just to make ends meet, and still worrying over something like this.

But so what? He’d found these two qualities in someone like Yu Luocheng!

That was the kind of person he wanted to become.

Victory by his hand, as a gamer with all his heart. He’d found his reason for existence again!

He longed to know what it felt like to receive the applause of countless people, to feel his heart awaken! How many years he’d longed for it!

But if he couldn’t even prevail in a little game like this, what place did he have talking about conquering the world, claiming the throne of pro-gaming…

And how would he ever look Yu Luocheng in the eye again?

It was time to rise up!

Rather than letting his hands fall in defeat, he would yet thump them against his chest in victory, and rally his faltering heart!

Biting his lip, Xiao Bei nodded meaningfully at Luocheng.

He’d understood the meaning behind the gesture!

He’d do his best—no, he’d demonstrate the full measure of his potential!

***

You can find out a lot about somebody just from the look in their eyes.

A moment ago, Xiao Bei’s eyes were clouded, glazed over; after that brief moment of encouragement from Luocheng, the scattered light of his eyes was now in sharp focus!

All systems at full speed!

The eyes saw, the brain processed, and the hands acted with lightning speed!

“Player Xiao Bei appears supremely confident in his movement control. He’s dodging one skillshot after another from both Jayce and Ezreal, and now he’s successfully taken the Red Buff! This should be the first time Team Skycrown has managed to get themselves one of the Buffs ever since they started losing this game!”

Having secured the Buff, Xiao Bei proceeded directly to the Bottom lane to farm.

Another five hundred gold, and he could get the ‘Bloodthirster’. With items like the Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, Bloodthirster, and a Pickaxe, his damage output would be truly fearsome. It was just a pity that he hadn’t had much opportunity to bring all this firepower to bear.¹

A fresh wave of minions arrived just as he reached the Bottom lane. Xiao Bei polished these off, and then poked through the jungle for more money from creep camps.

With the rest of his team out of commission, Xiao Bei had all three lanes to himself, and the cash was positively rolling in. While he was pushing the minion wave down in the Bottom lane, everyone on Team Fudan appeared in the Top lane!

Their assault down the Top lane had begun. Everyone else on Team Skycrown had revived now, and they gathered to repel the enemy’s advance. Alone, Tristana continued to push down the Bottom lane.

The moment he’d amassed five hundred gold, Xiao Bei brought Tristana back to base to get her gear.

Xiao Bei had made a mistake with his item build order: With such potent harassment from the enemy team, he should have completed this Bloodthirster much sooner.

“Everyone get Homeguard!” Lin Dong commanded.¹

With the vast difference in gold and therefore equipment, the Shock Blasts from Jayce presented a mortal peril to all. A single hit could halve the health bar on any of the squishier champions.

No one could blame Team Skycrown for despairing. The gap between the two teams had grown too wide. They had no hope of standing up to them, now.

Fending off the defenders with an unending barrage as they wore away at the tower, Team Fudan attacked in concert with the Super Minions coming up the Middle lane. They kept this up for a while, and now the Top-lane Inhibitor Tower was on the verge of collapse.

Xiao Bei watched Jayce closely, dodging every one of his shots. Tristana darted nimbly around the place, virtually impossible to hit.

“Xiao Bei, go clean up Mid a little,” Lin Dong instructed. “Another Super Minion is coming.”

“Alright. They’ll probably attack the moment I leave. You guys be careful.”

Everyone nodded.

No matter what, they had to hold off this attack!

Tristana cleared the wave off quickly. Not even a Super Minion could long withstand her damage output.

Even as the Super Minion was brought down, a fresh wave of minions arrived from the Top lane. When Ezreal, wielding the Iceborn Gauntlet, managed to Slow two enemy champions at once, Team Fudan couldn’t hold back any longer, and marched headlong through Team Skycrown’s attacks to demolish the Top Inhibitor Tower!

Once the tower fell, the battle was joined!

Jayce’s Shock Blasts, Ezreal’s Mystic Shots, Orianna’s Ball, Lee Sin’s Sonic Waves, Anivia’s whirling blizzards, Kennen’s lightning…

Multi-colored skills erupted across the battlefield, catching champions in their areas of effect. Flesh was rent, and blood was spilt!

Once the team fight got into full swing, the difference in gear was made painfully obvious. Wu Sen, playing Support, was barely able to get out a couple of skills before he was abruptly eliminated.

Zhou Yan, playing Jungler on Elise, actually had the most durable champion on the team. However, drowned beneath a furious torrent of enemy skills, he was soon delivered unto oblivion all the same.

As his last act before death, he caught Lee Sin with a ‘Cocoon’—and then everything went black-and-white.

The moment Elise died, Zhou Yan took his hands off the keyboard.

On the enemy team, Lee Sin was near death, but everyone else was still in excellent health. Two champions on his own team had already fallen, how could they go on? The equipment advantage was too great. Even beneath their own towers, they were getting killed off with ease!

Lin Dong’s Anivia was dithering between fight or flight. Da Luo’s Kennen was fleeing to the Fountain with grave injuries.

This time, there hadn’t even been an opening for Kennen to use his ulti!

They’d lost.

It was an unbearable feeling.

“Team Skycrown is helpless to halt Team Fudan’s advance! Fudan is already breaking their Inhibitor! If this second Inhibitor goes down, Team Fudan could easily take the Nexus with their next push! Take the Baron for good measure, break open the Bottom-lane entrance as well for the sake of being methodical, and victory will already be firmly in their grasp!”

The audience was already cheering uproariously.

Anyone could see that the end of the game was already in sight, and Team Skycrown’s disadvantage was all but insurmountable. They could very well lose it all right now.

“The Top Inhibitor is just about to go down,” Qi Qiao observed. “I guess it’s safe to congratulate the university team on their entry into the LPL. Team Skycrown is still putting up a fight. No one’s going down quietly—that’s proper sportsmanship. It must be said that Team Fudan’s strategy has been very effective this time, proving that the game ‘League of Legends’ isn’t just about individual player ability.”

Qi Qiao was talking very rapidly. Already, she was wrapping up the whole game with a grand flourish.

Lin Dong and Da Luo were still in the game, but they both knew that it was just about time to throw in the towel. It was already over for them.

But in their hearts, they refused to surrender. The Nexus was still intact. The game was still on!

This was the true meaning of professionalism: To fight on in the face of certain defeat, too proud to give in. If they lost this game, they’d lose everything—but until then, they were still winning.

Boom, boom, boom!

Taking advantage of her extended range, Tristana fought back tenaciously. She still plenty of health left. Like the others, Xiao Bei had no intention of lying down to die!

He glanced at the last little sliver of health Lee Sin had remaining, and then watched as Kennen came charging out from the Fountain in desperation and rage.

A thought floated up in Xiao Bei’s mind. It was the beginning of a plan which set his heart racing furiously!

This game wasn’t over yet. They hadn’t lost yet!

Somehow, he needed to reach across a distance of two thousand units!¹

That was the distance he needed to move to get behind the enemy team. From there, he’d use Tristana’s ultimate skill to knock them back towards the Fountain—as Kennen came charging out with Homeguard and his ulti!

However, a distance of two thousand units was equivalent to Flashing three times in a row. How could she possibly pull this off?

Lee Sin. That nearly dead Lee Sin!

She could use him as a springboard!

Xiao Bei had a complete plan in mind now!

And now was the moment to make it happen!

No mistakes, now—not one single mistake!