"The training match results for RAG were not great. Many teams that had been wary of them suddenly felt relieved.
In the group, someone tagged Zhou Xunwen: [Big brother, your team list scared us to death. We’ve been doing intense training for a whole month, and people are about to be exhausted, but your win rate is so low.]
Every time Zhou Xunwen replied in the group, he smiled bitterly. After Lu Sheng joined, there had been an influx of investment, but after the practice match, they lost investors.
He put his phone away and went to the training room, hoping to see some improvement in their performance. From far away, he could already hear Bai Yu’s voice: "I haven’t even looked at you guys for a minute, and you’re playing like this? Fang Zhixu, didn’t you talk it over with him before the game? Chen Shi’an, if you’re not planning to play, you should at least let them know… and Lu Sheng, stop pretending you didn’t hear me. Turn your head around. If you’d even looked at Chen Shi’an’s position for a second, this wouldn’t have been such a mess..."
It was a team fight full of mistakes, and not a single person could give him peace of mind. Yet, each of them had their own reasons.
Fang Zhixu innocently said: "The opportunity was too good, so I went for it. I thought they would all keep up."
Chen Shi’an looked helpless, "My equipment wasn’t updated. The best way to handle this situation was not to go in, and I just resumed training, so many of my moves aren’t coming out properly."
Lu Sheng said briefly: "They’re too bad at the game."
Fang Zhixu & Chen Shi’an: Huh?
Seeing the blame coming their way, Fang Zhixu quickly explained, "I was too deep, so it was hard to handle the situation later."
Chen Shi’an was a little sad, "Can you give me some more time? I think I need more time to adapt."
It was Lu Sheng’s turn to speak, but Bai Yu, afraid he might say something, cut him off: "Forget it, forget it. Everyone is tired. Let’s just train on our own. I’ll figure out where the problem is."
He went outside the training room and saw Zhou Xunwen. "Want a smoke?"
The two went to the back garden, where it was quiet, and they calmed down a lot. Bai Yu held a cigarette between his fingers, thinking about the practice match with some frustration: "I expected the early coordination to be bad and was prepared for repeated training, but I really didn’t expect it to turn out like this..."
Logically speaking, their team should have been in the top three.
But in reality, based on their win rate, they might barely make the playoffs.
Zhou Xunwen asked curiously, "Didn’t you guys do well in the previous matches?"
Talking about this made Bai Yu even more helpless. "That’s because their individual skills were strong enough to crush the opponents in the early game. Even if they played badly later on, they could still win. The final against POX was a perfect example. The early game was going so smoothly, but the rhythm fell apart later. If I hadn’t kept the pace, who knows who would’ve won."
Zhou Xunwen still couldn’t understand, "If they’re individually strong, how could they still lose?"
Bai Yu shook his head, took a drag from his cigarette, and said, "That’s exactly why. Their individual skills are so strong that no one respects each other."
Lu Sheng, after all, had just won two consecutive championships. No matter how much he listened to Bai Yu’s instructions, when it came to the competition, Bai Yu couldn’t control his mindset.
Fang Zhixu was too smart, and his brain worked so fast that he couldn’t even communicate with his teammates. His sudden ideas were too abstract for the others to understand.
Chen Shi’an, on the other hand, was too steady. He preferred a slower-paced playstyle, progressing steadily. He couldn’t coordinate with players like Lu Sheng or Fang Zhixu.
Qi Yi was obedient, but he had only worked with Bai Yu for a short time. Many times, they couldn’t reach a consensus, and he also had his own ideas.
On the other hand, Xu Bo was the one Bai Yu didn’t have to worry about. They had a high level of cooperation, and Xu Bo followed Bai Yu’s instructions 100%, without thinking afterward.
Bai Yu rarely complimented Xu Bo: "Sometimes, it’s good if your teammates are a bit slower."
Zhou Xunwen couldn’t help but laugh. He took a drag from his cigarette, smiled, and then felt a bit melancholy, "I didn’t expect LPL to be so hard to play."
Bai Yu had been in LPL for many years, and he really understood the pressure. "It’s always been tough. LPL has no weak teams. The promotion and relegation system has been in place for so many years, and it’s always the same teams at the top. To be honest, they’ve already monopolized the industry with their strength. To get a share of the pie, you need to have the qualifications to sit at the same table."
The online complaints never stop, but in reality, the LPL’s traffic hasn’t dropped at all. Every match is still packed, and the competition remains fierce.
This is the confidence of the veteran teams.
Zhou Xunwen could feel the pressure on Bai Yu. He finished his cigarette, worried Bai Yu might be overthinking things. "It’s fine, as long as we make it to the playoffs, whether we’re top three or not, we’ll work hard."
Bai Yu didn’t respond because his goal wasn’t even top three. He wanted to win the championship and go to the World Championship. Now, it seemed like it was still a long way off.
After they finished their cigarettes, Zhou Xunwen reminded him, "You can’t smoke anymore."
The last cigarette went out in Bai Yu’s fingers, and he suddenly thought of something. "Ah Wen, you have connections with people overseas in that group, right? Can you help me ask someone?"
Back in the training room, Bai Yu sat down and put on his headset, typing quickly without telling them to train or speaking a word.
Everyone thought he was angry and didn’t dare make a sound.
Fang Zhixu carefully crouched next to his desk, placed a candy next to his hand, saw that Bai Yu still wasn’t responding, and tugged at his sleeve. "Captain, don’t be mad at me. It was my fault earlier. I shouldn’t have acted on a whim. I’ll make sure to communicate with my teammates next time."
Bai Yu was handling something, but still replied, "What you did wasn’t wrong. The problem was that your teammates couldn’t keep up with the coordination. You should double queue with Lu Sheng and Chen Shi’an to improve the coordination. Try to use voice chat more to share your ideas. Also, your last move was indeed slow. You need to improve your hero proficiency."
Fang Zhixu didn’t expect Bai Yu to say that.
Back when he was in other teams, he would always get scolded for his sudden ideas. He stopped taking risks for a while.
But since joining Bai Yu’s team, he had been encouraged to try bold moves, and he couldn’t help but act on his instincts. Even though it turned out badly, he thought Bai Yu would criticize him, but Bai Yu didn’t.
Fang Zhixu felt a little excited, and couldn’t resist getting a little closer. "If it were the captain, you definitely would’ve kept up with me."
Bai Yu could have kept up. After all, Fang Zhixu was someone he had discovered from a solo queue game, and many of his big-picture insights were things Bai Yu had personally taught him. Back then, Fang Zhixu had played with a lot of flair, but after joining TIN, he seemed to have lost that spark. Bai Yu even regretted it, which is why he brought him back into the team, never restraining his ideas.
In fact, Bai Yu was very happy that Fang Zhixu dared to play like that.
"However, the premise is that we have to win.
Bai Yu stopped what he was doing. 'You can play however you want in the training match, but when it comes to the competition, you must listen to me. Apart from me, no one in the team understands you. You need to actively communicate your ideas with them, work more on coordination, and don’t make sudden decisions before then.'
Fang Zhixu smiled sweetly, 'Okay, I’ll listen to the captain.' After he finished speaking, he blinked and carefully leaned closer to Bai Yu’s side, 'Captain, thank you.'
From this angle, Fang Zhixu really looked like a cat.
Bai Yu had no resistance to his acting cute. He raised his hand and patted his head, 'Train well.'
Fang Zhixu missed this feeling and wanted to stay close to him, but suddenly felt a cold, sharp gaze from behind. He turned around and saw Lu Sheng's gaze cutting through two positions, icy like a knife.
Fang Zhixu pretended not to understand, blinked, and pressed himself even closer to Bai Yu, 'Captain, does Lu Sheng not like me? His gaze at me is so scary.'
Bai Yu looked up and immediately caught Lu Sheng's eye, warning him, 'Lu Sheng, be a bit friendlier to your teammates.'
Lu Sheng: '...'
This teammate was harder to deal with than the World Championship.
After finishing his game, he stood up to go outside for a smoke. Just as he was about to light one, he froze when he noticed Bai Yu had come out too.
Bai Yu leaned against him, casually took a cigarette from him, 'Thanks.'
Lu Sheng thought Bai Yu was here to settle the score and didn’t dare smoke or speak. He relaxed only when he heard the sound of Bai Yu lighting his cigarette.
Bai Yu took a puff, was about to speak, but then saw Zhou Xunwen coming out. He quickly hid his cigarette, 'Hey, can you block for me?'
Lu Sheng: ?
Bai Yu pulled him over, shielding the cigarette with his hand, his gaze slightly lowering, 'He’s still controlling you on smoking?'
Bai Yu was about to explain but didn’t feel like it. He came out for something else.
"The coordination in recent practice matches has been really poor. I wanted to discuss adjusting the training pace for the future."
Lu Sheng had no objections, 'You speak.'
Bai Yu took a drag, his expression serious, 'The regular season is about to start, and we must make it into the playoffs at least. Right now, our ranking is really risky, but it’s hard to improve the coordination in such a short time, so I’ve been thinking... Let Fang Zhixu play duo with you for a while. See how you can follow his playstyle.'
Lu Sheng thought about Fang Zhixu and wasn’t too happy. He wanted to say that the guy wasn’t that good, so why should he follow his playstyle?
Then Bai Yu added, 'His thinking is very jumpy, and others can’t keep up. But with your reflexes, you’ll definitely manage, so I want you to play duo with him.'
Lu Sheng was about to say something, but it ended up as, 'Alright.'
He glanced at Bai Yu. Bai Yu’s profile was calm, his skin porcelain white, and when he spoke, only his hair moved slightly. After speaking for a while, Bai Yu noticed Lu Sheng was distracted and smiled, 'Are you spacing out?'
Lu Sheng looked away, 'No.'
The voice lingered in his ears, and his gaze couldn’t help but return. Bai Yu’s lips were faintly colored, and his skin looked almost glowing, 'You guys are doing well, just need some more coordination. Fang Zhixu’s biggest problem is his jumping thoughts. His actions can’t keep up with his mind, and sometimes you’ll need to make up for it. Your hero pool is deep, and your playstyle is well-rounded. I can’t tell you train a lot, but you’ve definitely worked hard. A talented and hardworking player like you is really rare...'
Lu Sheng just looked down at him, feeling a peace he’d never experienced before.
Bai Yu’s every detail was crystal clear to him now—his hair gently moving in the wind, his porcelain white fingertips, and the smoke slowly exhaling from his mouth as his eyes narrowed slightly.
Lu Sheng suddenly felt that the cigarette in his hand had become unbearably hot. He opened his mouth, 'You...'
Just then, Zhou Xunwen seemed to have noticed something and started walking over. Bai Yu’s expression immediately became tense, and he hurriedly stuffed the half-smoked cigarette into Lu Sheng's hand, 'I’m going back to the training room.'
Lu Sheng’s hand froze. He held the cigarette, still warm from Bai Yu’s fingers, and Zhou Xunwen passed by without noticing anything unusual, turning to leave. However, after a few steps, he turned back and warned, 'Don’t let him smoke.'
Both of them left, leaving Lu Sheng standing still. He kept his head down for a long time, and the cigarette in his hand was burning close to his fingertips, still carrying Bai Yu’s warmth...
Lu Sheng suddenly turned his face away, covering his mouth with his hand.
---
The regular season was held on schedule under the eyes of tens of millions. Maybe because last year’s overall performance wasn’t great, this year’s opening ceremony was done with a lot of care, pulling the sentiment card.
But what made people sigh was that among last year's three top tier teams IKG, TIN and SG only two remained this year.
Since Bai Yu left SG’s ranking dropped to 12th place and they were officially kicked out of the strong teams list. Instead FFT and WG rose up and the strengthened TUP also performed well. The team led by Bai Yu, RAG was also quite strong. It seemed like every team had something to show except SG who got scolded every day.
[ SG’s upper management must be going crazy getting scolded every day. ]
[ Can’t blame the fans. Who can accept a top team suddenly dropping to the bottom? ]
[ SG was never really top tier. They only made it to the world championship for three years because Bai Yu joined. ]
[ I’ve said it before without Bai Yu, SG couldn’t even qualify for the world stage but no one believed me. ]
[ I remember SG’s AD and mid were pretty strong. How did they suddenly become this bad? ]
[ Because they don’t have their dad protecting them anymore. ]
[ The new support is more afraid of dying than the AD. ]
[ LOL go look at how much damage Captain Yu absorbed. ]
[ Say what you want, Bai Yu’s skill interrupting was really on point. ]
[ As I recall Bai Yu didn’t even play badly at last year’s worlds. Yet they pinned all the blame on him for only making it to the round of 16. ]
[ Joke of the day, SG hopes their support will carry. ]
[ Hahaha no more worrying about round of 16 anymore. ]
[ What a dark joke. ]
[ SG upper management: Thank you ]
[ Insult freely I’m a proud anti fan of SG now. ]
Amid the ridicule the opening match began.
RAG didn’t have a match today so Bai Yu didn’t go to the venue. He just stayed at the base casually observing. Occasionally he’d go over to coach Qi Yi then go back to watching a bit more.
Lu Sheng never watched these kinds of matches. He usually just skimmed the post match summary and could get the gist.
Chen Shi’an beside him wasn’t watching either but was listening with his ears. On the screen side only Xu Bo and Fang Zhixu were watching, Fang Zhixu was studying their opponents’ playstyle and Xu Bo was just resting after grinding. Neither of them spoke. The only sound in the training room was from Song Bo who took on the role of announcer.
“IKG has had lane dominance all game secured three dragons. Feels like WG is done for if they lose the next Baron fight.”
“Whoa that Baron fight was crazy. Candy flew in and double killed the enemy mid jungle. Captain of IKG’s gonna lose”
When Bai Yu heard that he went “Hm” and walked over to check the situation just in time for the replay.
Sure enough WG’s AD used his ultimate to dive into the backline and pulled off a double kill on the enemy mid and jungle in a clutch moment. The opponent’s formation fell apart and WG counterattacked and flipped the game from a losing position.
Seeing that Bai Yu immediately took out his notebook to jot things down
“Candy’s Kai’Sa aggressive style.”
Fang Zhixu noticed something too.
“WG looks like they changed their team strategist.”
Even though their head coach was still the same their playstyle was clearly different now. The new strategist was obviously bolder. Otherwise they wouldn’t have given Tang Su, Kai’Sa to play.
After losing the first match, IKG brought out their comfort picks and scraped out a 2 to 1 victory in the end.
This made Bai Yu take note of WG and he wrote down a lot in his notebook.
The next match was between TIN and FFT. Both were strong teams. Bai Yu mainly wanted to see Xiangtian’s style but TIN didn’t show their full hand and still won 2 to 1.
Chen Shi’an suddenly said “Xiangtian’s been practicing his Corki again.”
Xiangtian was famous for his Corki and his ID “Flayer” earned him the nickname “Ace Pilot”
After the meta changed and nerfed him he hadn’t picked Corki much. But now it seemed he was picking him back up again
Bai Yu kept his head down scribbling in his notebook.
The third and final match of the day began. Bai Yu looked up after finishing his notes and oh was that his former team and former former team?
This match between SG and TG became instantly dramatic with Bai Yu’s departure.
Back in the day SG used to get crushed by TG. Later after signing Bai Yu they reversed the situation and crushed TG. Now that neither team had Bai Yu. who would crush whom?
Commenters made bold predictions.
Chen Shi’an got interested too “Who do you think will win?”
Everyone in the training room looked at Bai Yu. He kept his head down still writing in his notebook not even lifting his head “TG will win.”
Fang Zhixu was curious “Why?”
Bai Yu finally stopped writing and calmly said “Because Cao Xinzhi will rip Cheng Lin apart.”
Cao Xinzhi was TG’s jungler personally promoted by Bai Yu.
Cheng Lin was SG’s AD Bai Yu’s former teammate at Worlds. He knew exactly how these two would play.
At the start of the match Cao Xinzhi went into full aggression mode and repeatedly ganked bot lane.
Cheng Lin acted like his support was still Bai Yu trying to sneak in a few extra auto attacks. But his positioning wasn’t good got slowed and his current support not only didn’t block skills for him he was even more scared of dying and straight up abandoned him.
Bai Yu saw this and chuckled in disbelief “What kind of garbage was I supporting for three years?”
Chen Shi’an couldn’t help but laugh. He was curious too “Why did you even go to SG back then?”
It was kind of a sad story. Back then Lin Kun retired and Bai Yu was hit hard. He wanted to leave and prove himself. Just then SG approached him and promised him a lot of authority so he signed with them.
He didn’t expect that even with authority he couldn’t handle as the management constantly guilt tripping him.
Bai Yu spoke with some helplessness “Cheng Lin had some connections in the team. When I promoted him I didn’t think much of it. But once he got in he couldn’t be replaced. People kept pleading for him. I couldn’t say no so I kept giving him chances until he felt so emboldened that he thought even if I left he still wouldn’t be benched. After that I couldn’t control him anymore.”
So that was how it was.
Chen Shi’an knew Bai Yu was a strict person. He must have given Cheng Lin a lot of directives.
But with someone backing him, Cheng Lin would stop listening. Once Bai Yu lost his grip, the rest of the team would also stop taking him seriously.
That explained SG’s poor coordination during the world championship.
Now that they thought back on that match everything that seemed odd back then started to make sense.
If the AD didn’t trust Bai Yu, their synergy would suffer. In critical moments most decisions come from instinct.
So his instinct was to retreat. And when the AD hesitated the midlaner would be influenced as well.
To avoid making mistakes on the world stage they would instinctively follow the AD’s lead.
No matter how strong Bai Yu was, he couldn’t override instinctive reactions. Losing that match was inevitable.
Talking about that world championship still made Bai Yu hold a grudge “I could’ve beaten Out in that game
But I lost because of that brat. No matter what, I’m going to Worlds this year. Otherwise I won’t be able to let it go…”
Chen Shi’an looked at him and suddenly couldn’t help but laugh.
Angry Bai Yu was kind of cute.
The match continued. SG lost the first game and in the second game they changed strategies but still lost because of poor coordination in the bot lane and the AD dying too easily.
The comment section was full of scolding.
[ Playing like a pile of crap. ]
[ Seriously are you guys trying to force me into becoming a hater? ]
[ How is the support more scared of dying than the AD? ]
[ The AD’s positioning is dumb too. He still thinks the support is Bai Yu and waits for him to interrupt skills. ]
[ At this level they won’t even make playoffs right? ]
[ Looks like the round of 16 last year was already their peak... ]
[ How did I not notice before how bad Cheng Lin is? ]
[ AD relies heavily on support. SG management really doesn’t understand esports. They actually think support isn’t important. This role might not carry games but it affects everything. ]
[ Whose sky fell? Oh mine did. ]
[ I’m done. Bye family. ]
[ I will never watch any SG match again. ]
As Bai Yu predicted TG beat SG 2 to 0.
After the match Cao Xinzhi gave an interview. Maybe because he had avenged Bai Yu he was smiling so hard it.
“I really didn’t expect it SG’s bot lane would be this easy to gank.”
The whole comment section lost it
[ Hahahahahah... ]
[ Bro you are vicious ]