This Time, I Won't Laugh Along With You Anymore

In the makeup room, a makeup artist was touching up Lin Heng's hair when someone pushed open the door and stood behind him.

Lin Heng looked in the makeup mirror and saw a very familiar face.

"Brother Hu? Are you here to get your hair done too?"

Xiaohu touched his short hair, a little speechless, then pitched his voice up and gave him the smile of a veteran.

"No, I heard Invictus Gaming's support was getting his makeup done here, so I wanted to come take a look."

"Looking for me?" Lin Heng looked at him in the mirror.

"Yeah. I wanted to see who kept messing with my mental in the game, hehe."

"Brother Hu, wait a moment." Lin Heng urged the makeup artist to hurry up and finish his hair.

"It's your first appearance today. You should look your best, so let the makeup artist take a little more time with it." Xiaohu smiled like a warm, welcoming senior.

But Lin Heng took a notebook out of his backpack and solemnly held it out to Xiaohu.

"Brother Hu, I was going to ask for your autograph after today's match. I'm a real fan of yours."

Xiaohu didn't stand on ceremony. He took the notebook and signed it, joking as he did, "Don't think I'll go easy on you later just because you say you're my fan."

To his surprise, Lin Heng said very seriously, "Brother Hu, we both came from Royal Never Give Up, but I never had a chance to meet you before. Still, I've always remembered what you said."

"Oh? What did I say?" Xiaohu asked with some interest.

"From the moment we set foot on the path of professional play, I've had only one goal: the championship!" The corners of Lin Heng's mouth lifted slightly.

Xiaohu froze for a moment, then patted Lin Heng on the shoulder, looking a little dejected.

"Haha, I thought you were going to say, 'Liars have to swallow a thousand needles.' You used every means you could to win in-game, but I didn't expect you to be so humble in person. That's good. Keep it up."

As if trying to ease the atmosphere, Xiaohu lightened the conversation again, then pushed open the door and walked out with Lin Heng.

Back in his team's practice room, Zhao Lijie saw Xiaohu come in and asked eagerly, "Did you meet that new support?"

"Yeah." Xiaohu smiled.

"Oh? Sounds like you two had a good chat?" Jiejie asked.

"Yeah, he's a very low-key and humble rookie," Xiaohu replied.

After he said that, the practice room suddenly fell silent for a moment, and then several people turned their heads in unison.

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They had arranged two scrims with Invictus Gaming, and Lin Heng's performance in those games had been downright arrogant and infuriating.

Afterward, Jiejie and Zika had even joked about arranging to meet him offline next time.

So when Xiaohu actually said he was a low-key and humble person, they naturally didn't believe it.

"Really. I didn't expect it either. I just wanted to see what kind of person he was. We used to be with the same organization, after all, and I'd never met him once."

"I saw people online saying he used to be pretty bad, and that he liked picking strange champions to mess with his teammates' mental, so Royal Never Give Up kept him benched. Is that true?" Elk turned around and asked.

"I'm not really sure. When I was there, he was practically invisible. The club didn't seem to have any intention of bringing him up to the LPL, so I don't really know," Xiaohu replied.

"You're up against three, maybe even four former teammates today. What do you think, Brother Hu?" Jiejie asked with a smile.

Xiaohu paused, only then realizing it.

Invictus Gaming's starting lineup today was TheShy, Ning, Rookie, Uzi, and Joker, with Wei as a substitute.

Today's match was a best-of-three, so if Ning didn't perform well, there was a good chance Wei would go in.

Uzi, Wei, and Lin Heng were all Xiaohu's former teammates at Royal Never Give Up, while TheShy had been his teammate at Weibo Gaming in 2023. That really did make four former teammates.

After a moment of surprise, Xiaohu suddenly laughed and waved a hand with gusto. "Crush them."

At that moment, the two casters had already begun building anticipation for the match. As the opening match, it had to have a suitably impressive lineup. Casting today were Guan Zeyuan, who had grown increasingly popular over the past two years, and his partner, the gentlemanly 957.

Guan Zeyuan's casting style was professional yet goofy, and he generally managed to remain impartial during his commentary.

Words like "dry" and "not a loss," which his two older colleagues often used, were hardly ever heard from him.

And with the Management Studies he was famous for, although the LPL's results had grown worse over the past few years, Guan Zeyuan's casting had only gotten better.

During his professional career, 957 had been Team WE 2.0's undisputed carry. Since retiring and becoming a caster, he had kept a low profile and remained professional, earning him the audience's affection.

After greeting the viewers, the two began their pre-match analysis.

"Folks, just getting to see today's match is a treat. None of you came for nothing," Guan Zeyuan began.

"That's true. On paper, both teams look very strong this season," 957 agreed.

"Hey, since you brought up the lineups, Leg Brother, what do you think the viewers most want to see today?" Guan Zeyuan asked, raising an eyebrow with a smile.

"How the rebuilt Invictus Gaming performs, I'd say. After all, Uzi and Ning have both been away from the stage for a long time. How well they can compete now that they're back is probably what Invictus Gaming's fans are most concerned about," 957 reasoned.

"Wrong." Guan Zeyuan was already struggling to keep a straight face.

"Oh?" 957 was puzzled.

"If you ask me, what viewers want to see first is, 'This time, I won't laugh along with you anymore.'" At that, Guan Zeyuan could no longer keep a straight face. He broke into a grin and laughed aloud.

957 was a little unsure how to respond to Guan Zeyuan's sudden meme reference.

"Really. If you don't believe me, ask the audience what they want to see most today." Guan Zeyuan immediately began interacting with the audience.

Guan Zeyuan's greatest strength wasn't how witty or professional he was, but his exceptional ability to read the room and judge a situation.

You could also say he had a very good sense of propriety.

Most of the time, as long as he hadn't lost his head, he knew perfectly well whether his words and actions were appropriate for the moment.

For example, if he had said something like that around 2017 or 2018, fans would probably have blasted him off the stage.

But now, with the league's popularity declining by the day, casting like this not only drew attention but also brought in quite a few fans.

Of course, he also knew where to draw the line. For example, he was among the first to call Jackeylove "Brother" onstage, but he would never call TheShy "Dock."

When he used memes, he chose ones everyone found explosive but that weren't too personal, making his commentary more entertaining.

"This time, I won't laugh along with you anymore," for instance, was a classic meme.

Back when Xiaohu and Uzi were on the same team, they had given everyone the classic "Two-Stage Laugh" during the S8 draw.

Then in 2023, when Xiaohu was on Weibo Gaming and Uzi had come out of retirement with Edward Gaming, Xiaohu's team defeated Uzi onstage and shook his hand expressionlessly. The contrast created a memorable moment.

"This time, I won't laugh along with you anymore."

Whatever had happened when the two were on the same team, they were now among the few remaining veterans who had been with the LPL since its wild early days, and they carried the affection and hopes of many fans and viewers.

That alone made this match well worth watching.