You Call This 'Steady'?

Winning the Demacia Cup set off a wave of Avengers hype in a short time.

TES was simply too popular. Both sides had veterans leading rookies—one had the Double C, the other had Mid-Jungle. Logically, either side winning or losing should have been perfectly normal, but online public opinion would not go easy on them. First came the praise for one side and the stomping on the other, followed by the famous hunt for the mole.

Under the pressure of public opinion, most of TES's blame ultimately landed on Qing Tian. Zhuo, being even more of a rookie than Qing Tian, escaped the worst of it. After the firepower from top lane spread downward, the Double C absorbed nearly all of it, leaving barely anything for him.

TES's manager, Guo Hao, began to panic.

Normally, TES panicking had nothing to do with Luo Zhen. Online, plenty of viewers were praising him. Based on his Demacia Cup performance, Luo Zhen had more than earned the phrase "a promising future." Over the past few days, he had barely gone anywhere, spending all his time in the club scrolling through the Tieba bros' compliments.

Well, he had also properly invited Xiang Zhangmen out for a meal in the middle of all that.

Honestly, if LWX had not suddenly decided to disgust Xiao Tian and used his skill-transfer technique on him overnight, Luo Zhen might not have been able to withstand TES bot lane's pressure in the finals. That one-on-one coaching session over a day and a night had spared him at least several months of detours in his pro career.

But just as he planned to slack off at the club and mooch food and drinks until his teammates returned, V5's team manager and Coach Homme unexpectedly did not go home. Seeing him bored out of his mind at the club, they directly took him out with them.

Luo Zhen was dumbfounded.

He had been happily drinking Ke Le, singing songs, enjoying the air conditioning, and watching anime. He had not even finished enjoying himself—so why was he suddenly working overtime?

Although the overtime had come out of nowhere, Luo Zhen figured being idle was still being idle, so he gradually resigned himself to it. He was only a little curious. As a pro player, was he going to have to attend business dinners with the bosses like in his Previous Life?

Please no.

Seemingly noticing Luo Zhen's panic, Coach Homme and the team manager exchanged a glance, then both smiled and reassured him. "Don't worry, this has nothing to do with you. We're just taking you out for some fresh air. Don't stay in the club so long that you rot."

"Then where are we going exactly?"

"We're just picking up a top laner. Nothing major."

You called this nothing major?

On January 13th in the Original World, the third day of the Spring Split Regular Season, the LPL suddenly issued a new rule: players could transfer teams during the season. Casual onlookers who did not follow matches could not understand the rule, but viewers who watched games every day knew exactly why it had been introduced—it was to open a window for TES to buy a support.

In this life, however, the rules had changed slightly, because they were even more short on top laners now.

"It's embarrassing to say, but I have a lot to do with this new member," Coach Homme said helplessly, rubbing his head. "Before I joined V5, JDG contacted me first. I thought I would be joining JDG then, so I recommended a player to their management."

"Who?"

"369."

"Pfft—" Luo Zhen, who had been drinking water, immediately choked when Coach Homme said 369's name. Since he had transmigrated to this Parallel World before the S11 World Championship finals, his impression of S11's 369 was that both his performance and reputation had been terrible.

Picking 369 at a time like this—Luo Zhen had no idea whether Coach Homme had a keen eye for talent or had simply lost his mind.

"No, wait. Do we even have spare money?" Luo Zhen suddenly realized the key issue. No matter how bad 369's reputation was, he could not have been cheap. Did V5 really still have enough money to poach someone from TES?

"We really don't have spare money, but considering Coach Homme's foresight, we decided to gamble. Together with JDG and TES, we proposed a concept before the Transfer Period ended—an exchange." The team manager spoke up at just the right time. He had personally submitted this gamble, so if it went badly, he would have to take the blame.

"An exchange?"

"Yes, an exchange!"

TES needed a steady, experienced top laner, and they had their eyes on JDG's Zoom.

And because JDG had initially agreed to the exchange due to Coach Homme, only for Coach Homme to be poached midway through, the deal had been suspended. JDG was not stupid. Their club's reputation was bad enough already; they truly did not dare take on a player like 369, whose gameplay and reputation were both questionable. They could not afford that gamble.

This time, V5 contacted both sides again and proposed continuing the exchange, except they wanted to add another party to the trade.

"You mean..."

"Yes, exactly what you're thinking. Rich goes to JDG, Zoom goes to TES, and 369 comes to us. The day after the Demacia Cup ended, Rich had already packed his bags and left."

Before the Demacia Cup, JDG would definitely have refused this deal.

But V5 had performed well throughout the Demacia Cup, and Rich in particular could split-push, make sacrifices, and Team Fight. His Champion Pool also looked highly compatible with the meta, while his salary did not need to be nearly as high as Zoom's. So JDG was Tempted. After all three parties had communicated with their players, everyone ultimately agreed to the exchange.

Rich received a higher salary from JDG. Zoom voluntarily took a pay cut to join TES and form a Galactic Battleship for his championship dream. And when 369 heard that Coach Homme had personally selected him, he immediately looked ready to die for the one who recognized him—though he did reveal a strange expression upon hearing that Karsa was there too.

Still, the outcome was good.

Ordinary coaches shuffled their drafts on stage. Top-tier coaches shuffled players offstage.

This move completely blew Luo Zhen's mind as a fellow professional.

When they picked up 369, he was so moved that he looked ready to kneel before Coach Homme and shout, "If you do not reject me, I wish to acknowledge Coach Homme as my Godfather!" Fortunately, V5's team manager was built like a tank and had read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so he immediately interrupted the casting.

Looking at 369's unusually eye-catching Chupa Chups-like hairstyle, Luo Zhen held back his laughter and seriously introduced himself to him.

Then they were sold out by the coach and team manager.

"Wait, the two of us are going back by ourselves?" Luo Zhen looked at the two bosses in surprise, disbelief written all over his face.

"You're both grown men. Is it really that hard to return to the club? There are still a few days of vacation left, and we want to go see our wives and children. As for 369, you'll take him back. Oh, right, the flight tickets have been sent to your phone. Check them."

Although the situation was baffling, 369 and Luo Zhen ultimately boarded a bus to the airport together.

JDG really was impressive. Their home venue was directly in the Imperial Capital, and Luo Zhen, visiting for the first time, was surprised by the surrounding scenery. He looked around before finally noticing the hat on the driver's head. He nudged 369 beside him and quietly asked,

"Hey, Brother 9, you've seen more than I have. Why does the driver's hat have a Red Bull logo on it?"

"Really? Let me see." Hearing this, 369 also looked at the driver's hat. On its side, the Red Bull logo was clearly visible. "It really does. That's rare. Did Red Bull invest in the taxi market too?"

"How about we ask him?"

"Sure. You ask."

Thinking Luo Zhen was more sociable, 369 simply handed the questioning duty to him. In truth, Luo Zhen vaguely remembered having seen the Red Bull logo somewhere while scrolling videos before, but he could not recall where at the moment.

In that case, he would ask.

After organizing his words, Luo Zhen subconsciously used the greeting he had learned during his time at V5's home venue in Guangdong Province and spoke to the driver.

"Master."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Have you eaten?"

Silence. Dead silence.

The driver's calm expression vanished. His sharp eyes opened wide as he carefully observed the Backline passengers through the rearview mirror.

An expert?

After carefully examining Luo Zhen and the others' hands, his years of experience as an extreme sports challenger allowed him to sharply realize that the two were fellow professionals who also made a living with their hands.

In other words... challengers?

"Young man, could you repeat what you just said?" The driver's voice was low.

It had been decades. Ever since he learned to drive, he could not remember the last time someone had openly mocked him like this. Were young people these days really so ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth? They had come right up and challenged this old comrade's driving speed?

"Oh, Master, I asked whether you'd eaten."

Luo Zhen was confused.

He did not understand why the pressure inside the car seemed to have suddenly dropped several degrees. He had not seen the driver turn down the air conditioning, so where had this strange low pressure come from? It could not be haunted in broad daylight, could it?

"Young men, may I boldly ask what your profession is? Who exactly are you two?"

"Oh, Master, we're pro players. Do you know about professional players? The kind you often see online." 369 timely added his piece. But the instant he finished speaking, Luo Zhen felt the pressure inside the car drop even lower.

The driver before them seemed to be brewing something.

The waves of pressure coming from him made Luo Zhen wonder whether he had unknowingly hailed an illegal cab.

One benefit of airports was that they were usually located in remote areas, and the roads leading to them were long and sparsely trafficked during off-peak hours. Looking at the traffic light ahead, the driver's expression gradually turned nostalgic as he softly said, "Fifteen years. This is the first time in fifteen years that someone has seriously challenged my driving speed."

"Huh!?"

"For a civilian front-wheel-drive car's launch, you need to control the pressure of your left foot at the clutch's biting point. That way, you can get better grip."

At this point, no matter how slow Luo Zhen was, he could clearly sense that something was wrong.

"No, Master, I think there may be some misunderstanding."

"No, perhaps there is a misunderstanding. But it no longer matters. Fasten your seatbelts... I shall make a fool of myself!!!"

Bang!

Social Death Award

A few days later.

When Coach Homme and the others returned to the club, they were surprised to discover that 369 and Luo Zhen's friendship seemed to have risen rapidly in just a few days. They had even reached the point of calling each other brothers.

That detail left them somewhat confused, but while no one else knew what had happened, the two of them knew perfectly well.

Teammates who had endured hardship together aside, once they returned to base, they were at least fucking brothers. Ever since they left the Imperial Capital alive that day, both had been traumatized by the place and resolved never to set foot there again unless absolutely necessary.

Rookie and the others were also a little confused when they returned to the club and found that their top laner had changed, but after learning that Rich had left willingly, they had nothing more to say.

As long as he had not been forced, there was no reason to stop an old friend from pursuing a higher salary.

Except...

"Yo, isn't this 369? Haven't seen you for one season—why are you so bald now?" The moment Karsa saw 369, he began snickering. Even his greeting movements became gradually ridiculous.

"Get lost!" 369 laughed as he threw a pillow at him, but Karsa nimbly dodged it.

The two former teammates started mocking each other the moment they met, but they were not actually on such bad terms. Anyone who played games knew that losing a match could indeed make people mad, but it only lasted for a while. A man's grudges were generally either settled on the spot or forgotten after sleeping. By now, they had long forgotten that incident. The TES vlog from before had simply been too misleading.

369 joining would definitely be a Negative Buff to the team in the short term, because they had barely played together.

But in the long run, everyone was willing to place fresh expectations on a player personally chosen by Coach Homme. After all, Luo Zhen was the perfect product of Coach Homme's discerning eye.

And his potential had already been felt by everyone through a single Demacia Cup.

"All right, get familiar with each other. We should also work on building synergy as soon as possible. The Spring Split is about to begin, and because of our Demacia Cup performance and 369 joining, we will inevitably become the focus of attention in the short term. I don't think anyone wants to embarrass themselves, right?" Coach Homme casually pulled over a chair and sat down, then looked at the players in the room.

Judging by the rosters, S12's Spring Split could be called a clash of immortals.

RNG acquired Bin, BLG acquired God, WBG got Shy, EDG retained their championship roster, and there was no need to mention LNG. Doinb plus Tarzan was already a powerful combination. Add V5 and the similarly rebuilt JDG, and nearly every team you looked at was a Galactic Battleship.

S12's challenge could not be considered small.

"So, the team manager and I discussed it, then set a goal for each of you. If you fail to complete your goal, then—you will face severe punishment." At this point, both Coach Homme and the team manager wore very serious expressions.

"Um... Coach, can I ask what exactly the severe punishment is?" Luo Zhen weakly raised his hand.

If it was only a salary deduction, his salary was already low. Whether they deducted it or not did not seem to make much difference. The club provided food and housing anyway, and being a freeloader was not bad.

"Oh, that." Coach Homme wore a playful expression. He could see at a glance what Luo Zhen was thinking, but it did not matter. This punishment was exceptionally effective—not just for these young people, but even for old hands like them.

"We have decided!"

"If we find that you have not met the targets we assign each month, we will punish that person by having him publicly read the posts he made on QQ Zone and his old status messages in front of everyone. Oh, and Tieba comments too."

V5's players:!

"Also, we will record it. If you fail to improve for a long time, we might even put it in the team's vlog and upload it online. You understand, the team's operations staff happen to be short on material. If you are willing to help provide some, I imagine they would be very happy."

V5's players:!!!

Killing someone was only a matter of dropping a blade, but Luo Zhen had thought fining them was already the cruelest punishment. He had not expected there to be higher mountains beyond higher mountains. This club had actually come up with something this inhumane.

Could the things in his QQ Zone, which only he could see, be casually shown to the world? Every time he clicked into them, he felt like his toes could claw through the bedframe.

Rookie laughed.

He did not use that stuff at all. This punishment seemed useless against him, did it not?

But...

"As for Rookie, we'll publicly browse his browser history. Since you have a girlfriend, I imagine there won't be any major issue even if your browser history is made public. You're lucky this time."

Seeing Coach Homme's expression as if he had struck it rich, Rookie immediately shook his head violently like a rattle.

Are you insane?!

How could there not be a major issue? If his browser history were made public, would he still dare show his face in real life?

What kind of fucking Social Death Award was this?

Under such inhumane coercion, the new V5 miraculously recovered nearly sixty percent of their Regular Season form in just one day. The absurd speed of recovery even surprised the team manager who had come up with the idea.

Meanwhile, online.