Taking Down Weibo Gaming

With the enormous lead they had built from those two plays, the rest of the game became very simple.

Both Miss Fortune and Orianna were excellent at clearing waves, and as Renekton and Bunny gradually passed their power spikes, no one could stop Yone from split-pushing after the kills he had picked up early on.

In this version, top laners could gain experience very quickly as long as they were willing to push side lanes.

At fifteen or sixteen minutes, they could even be nearly two levels ahead of the mid laner, let alone the jungler and AD carry.

Invictus Gaming chose not to get carried away. They steadily used their side-lane pressure and fights over major objectives to close out the game step by step.

After the game ended, the director, who loved stirring up trouble, deliberately showed close-ups of the fist bumps.

First up was TheShy, who was walking in front. He merely smiled as he passed his former teammates Jiejie and Xiaohu, then gave them a quick fist bump and moved on.

For Wei, the director deliberately showed two close-ups. The first was Elk: Wei wore a professional fake smile, while Elk looked seemingly serious, with a hint of awkwardness and displeasure. The chat instantly erupted.

But that wasn't all. When he reached Jiejie, Little Wei kept up his fake smile, but Jiejie was a more genuine person. His face was cold and almost expressionless. After all, Little Wei really had taken his job last year.

The second person to watch was Uzi. As a veteran who had come out of retirement several times, he had faced countless doubts on the road to chasing his dream.

By now, he played every game as though it were his last, and he had made peace with everything that had happened before.

With a slightly more genuine smile, he fist-bumped every opponent, including Xiaohu. This time, Xiaohu also showed a slight smile and nodded to him.

The chat was full of wistful comments.

[Man, they've all grown up. We'll never see another classic moment like the Two-Stage Laugh.]

[Last time, I stopped laughing along with you. This time, we meet with a smile and put our grudges behind us.]

[I kind of miss the old Royal team.]

[I've been flaming teams for over a decade, but the only rosters whose members' real names I remember are the ultimate Royal Never Give Up and the S8 Invictus Gaming.]

[Damn it, this old Royal fan is getting a little teary.]

[Man, flame them all you want, but I really do hope veterans like Xiaohu and Uzi can win a championship. Sure, they've both choked hard, but they've genuinely carried hard too.]

[Yeah, just like Peanut last year. He was once the spirited silver-haired Peanut, and he also had those painful-to-watch plays after saying, "Langx, I don't owe you anymore." But as long as he keeps playing, there's still a chance. If he retires, it'll be a regret forever.]

[What are you all getting sentimental for? Do Xiaohu and Uzi deserve to win a championship?]

[F*** you. If you're so good, you go play.]

[***,*******]

[Anyone who genuinely wants to win deserves one. Should it go to those match-fixing rookies instead?]

Whenever a star player came up, the chat would soon return to its true nature.

Even Faker, with six championships to his name, was no exception. After all, he still needed a seventh to prove himself.

Lin Heng, meanwhile, was very courteous after the game. Smiling, he bowed to each person and fist-bumped everyone.

Of all of them, only Xiaohu smiled as he fist-bumped him. When Elk fist-bumped Lin Heng, he couldn't even maintain the slightly professional fake smile on his face. His expression was completely stiff.

After the game, Little Wei slowed his pace, waited for Lin Heng to pack up his keyboard and mouse, and walked with him toward the waiting room.

On the way, Little Wei patted Lin Heng on the shoulder and quietly said, "Thank you."

Lin Heng was taken aback.

"I know part of the reason you picked Shaco this game was to get back at him for me. Honestly, I didn't care that much about what happened," Little Wei said with a smile.

Lin Heng smiled without explaining further. In truth, he had picked Shaco first because he did work well with his teammates, and second because of the system mission.

The system mission for this game was to tilt Elk.

Lin Heng had suddenly thought of it on a whim. Though it was a little underhanded, he had locked in Shaco, a pick with a particularly fitting meme behind it.

As everyone knew, Lin Heng was a shy, low-key kid. If not for the system, he would have disdained doing something like this.

"Heh heh heh." At that thought, Lin Heng suddenly let out a sly laugh.

Little Wei gave Lin Heng a somewhat bewildered look, assumed he was enjoying himself, and smiled helplessly again.

Throughout the game, aside from placing vision and teamfighting, Lin Heng had spent most of his time dancing where Elk could see him.

Shaco's somewhat taunting dance was enough to make anyone angry just watching it.

Even Little Wei thought it was a little too much of a mental attack, but that was the kid's style, so he couldn't really interfere too much.

When a staff member called for someone to attend the post-match interview, the group discussed it briefly.

"Should the captain go?"

"Lin Heng should go. It's his first time on camera today," Rookie suggested.

"Brother Dog or King Ning should go. It's your first game back, so the audience would definitely rather see you interviewed," Lin Heng demurred. He wasn't that fond of being on camera either.

"You should go. Post-match interviews are part of this stage too. You played so well today; the audience will really appreciate you," Uzi said with a smile.

"Lin Heng, you should... go," TheShy, who was sitting nearby, said briefly.

"Hurry up. Are you embarrassed?" Ning said with a smile too.

Unable to resist them, Lin Heng could only do his job.

Today's host was Yu Shuang. After seeing Lin Heng take his place, she smiled and said,

"Welcome to the post-match interview. Joining us today is Invictus Gaming's support player, Lin Heng. Please say hello to everyone."

Perhaps because the ID Joker had some negative connotations, the casters and host preferred to call Lin Heng by his real name.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Invictus Gaming's support, Joker."

The audience erupted into enthusiastic applause, catching Lin Heng a little off guard.

But that was how competitive sports worked. Play well and you would earn applause. Even if you often made outrageous statements, when you truly showed your skill in a match, plenty of fans would speak up for you.

Take Bin back then, for example. In that game against T1, his Camille won him who knew how many fans with a single kick.

Yu Shuang: "Today was also Joker's first appearance in the LPL, but he showed no stage fright. Both of his unconventional champion picks were very effective. Lin Heng, why did you choose Taliyah and Shaco as supports?"

Lin Heng: "Um... whether it was Taliyah in the first game or Shaco in the second, I thought both picks could counter the opponents in lane and in teamfights, so I picked them."

Yu Shuang: "In the second game, Shaco and Rookie's Orianna also pulled off some excellent engages together. Had you practiced that combination with Rookie beforehand, Lin Heng?"

Lin Heng: "Um... that combination is actually pretty simple compared with the Orianna and Nocturne engage combo, but we did practice it a few times."

Yu Shuang: "Oh? Do you mean you'd already considered playing Shaco?"

Lin Heng: "Yes. If I come across another suitable matchup and team composition, I'll pick him again."

Yu Shuang: "Does Joker have any other surprise picks?"

Lin Heng: "Since they're supposed to be surprises, please look forward to them."