You Call This 'Steady'? Chapter 8

V5 had plenty of room to improve, if nothing else.

After all, with sixteen straight losses, it was hard to imagine any team that could possibly be worse than them.

As for shot-calling, that was easy enough. Karsa and Rookie were both veteran players and did not have overly strong personal egos. PPGOD in the bot lane had yet to recover his fighting spirit after the losing streak, while their ADC had only been temporarily promoted a few days ago. So that left Rich?

"Oh, that's secondary. Mainly, your boss offered too much money, and I couldn't resist."

Hong Mi was quite honest about it. He had indeed been negotiating with JDG, but JDG was a team he had coached before, and the novelty had long since worn off. Then V5 appeared with their new roster. Hong Mi had merely taken one look before immediately asking about the team's shot-calling authority. Once he received a clear answer, he directly stood JDG up.

Sorry, I loved you, but I love Rookie Players more.

But...

"Rich is actually already a very mature player. A Triple Crown Champion from Storm, he has already demonstrated that he is someone who knows how to adapt. I'm not all that worried about him."

"Then XLB?"

Karsa thought about it. From the Group Stage all the way until now, XLB's performance throughout the Demacia Cup had been quite commendable. As a Fighter, he was definitely above the passing line. Was Hong Mi planning to start cultivating his jungling shot-calling awareness?

For a moment, Karsa felt the bench beneath him turn a little cold.

Oh no.

Was he really going to end up as a Substitute just from sitting here?

No! Don't let that happen~

Karsa's self-induced fantasy sent his brain into a System Crash, but...

"At first, I did have that idea. However, a few days after I arrived, I realized I had nearly overlooked a hidden treasure. He had clearly been hinting at his extraordinary qualities in all sorts of ways, but unfortunately, I only truly began paying attention to him a few days ago." Hong Mi narrowed his eyes, his expression seemingly quite pleased.

"A hidden treasure... You mean Luo Zhen?" Karsa was full of doubt. After spending so many days together, the only thing he could sense was that their ADC played steadily and defensively, with very solid Basic Skills. He was indeed a pretty good blue-collar AD, but calling him a hidden treasure seemed a little too hasty, didn't it?

"There's no mistake." Hong Mi's tone was extremely certain.

Talented players had always been difficult to manage.

Back in S7, he had been with WE and had clashed with Xi Ye. Yet he led WE to break through the team's historical limits and reach the World Championship Top Four. If Condi had not been poisoned by a centipede and Mystic had not fallen ill on the verge of battle, the outcome of the Semifinals would have been hard to predict.

In S7, Jin Zhuzhu, who had a similar style to him, was with IG. Faced with the then-unmatched TheShy, Jin Zhuzhu had once benched TheShy to make him reflect. Even after returning to the LCK, T1's Faker had not escaped the fate of being sent down either.

It was a common problem among Genius Players. They were extremely arrogant, and compared to coaches, they believed in themselves more.

Many LPL coaches often leaned toward the players' own Senses, such as Bai Seyueya and Chashao. They trusted the players' own feelings more.

Neither of those styles could be called better or worse. A coach-led approach had a higher lower limit, while a player-led approach had a higher Upper Limit. Each had its own strengths.

Take the S10 World Championship, for instance. JDG, led by Hong Mi, had Lost to SN, led by Chashao. It was not that the drafts had been bad, but SN's transformation had come too suddenly, Catching Off Guard a JDG accustomed to Hong Mi's formulaic macro play.

After that, Hong Mi began changing his way of thinking.

He handled the drafts well, kept a tight grip on daily routines, and strictly demanded that players follow the broad strategic direction. At the same time, he returned late-game decision-making authority to the players, trying to find a balance between the two.

He had thought this idea would not be implemented until years later, but now... he faintly felt that he could see hope.

"You see his steady play because he wants you to know that he can play steadily. But I see his steady play because I saw ambition in his eyes." As he spoke, Hong Mi handed Karsa his notebook. Karsa took it and opened it. Written in meticulous detail were Luo Zhen's astonishing KDA stats from his year in the LDL. Among them, his damage share, teamfight participation, damage conversion, and teamfight deaths all ranked first among AD positions.

And this was called fucking steady?

Even Karsa was Completely confused after looking at those data-packed statistics.

"There will be no so-called absolute core in my team. His EQ is very high, so he has been using this steady style to signal to me."

"Then why didn't you ask..."

"Because someone already answered that for me, didn't they?" Hong Mi tilted his head back, smiled, and patted Karsa on the shoulder. "We're both veterans of so many years, but when it comes to insight, Rookie really does see things more clearly than you."

"We may not have an absolute core, but if it truly comes down to a life-or-death moment..."

"We can have one final card."

I Will Become the Hero of This Match

The Demacia Cup matches did not feature the suffocating macro play of the Regular Season or even the Playoffs, but the viewing experience was still not bad. At the end of the day, people watched matches to have fun, and everyone knew what kind of level the Demacia Cup was.

Both sides were veteran-and-rookie lineups. The reason V5 had remained stable for so long was, frankly, thanks to Hong Mi's intensive inspections these past few days. But... a coach's plans could only provide broad guidance for the Early to Mid Game. What made matches so exciting was that on the battlefield, no one could predict what would happen the Next Second.

Just when even Luo Zhen on V5's side thought they had probably secured this game, Tarzan and Doinb suddenly erupted.

With an inconspicuous bait and a deliberate lure between veterans, one minute before the fourth Elemental Dragon spawned, the two successfully used Xin Zhao as bait to trick the Opponent Jungler XLB into Getting Carried Away.

Thanks to the river vision, XLB believed he had found a 1v1 opportunity to Lock Down someone and kicked in with his Second Q without hesitation.

Then...

He discovered that Akali had been lying in ambush in the Blind Spot between the river wards.

Vision Art!

Lee Sin, you Fell for the Trap!

"Hold on! We're coming right away."

Rookie was not far from Lee Sin, and that was the core reason XLB had dared to kick in. But no matter how close he was, could he be closer than Doinb, who had been using a Vision Block to fish for an ambush?

Clearly, he could not.

Xin Zhao activated his ultimate and charged forward, splitting the battlefield. Akali's Demonic Blade targeted Lee Sin directly. From afar, Jhin fired a Dazzling Display, successfully rooting Lee Sin in place before he could even use his ult. Leona watched the opening closely with her ultimate ready. LNG's objective was crystal clear.

Kill Lee Sin!

Once Lee Sin died, they could immediately turn to Baron Nashor with all five alive and force V5 to contest. In a Five vs Four, especially when Kaisa had not yet completed her Three Item Set, LNG had no reason to fear V5's counterattack.

That was the difference between players at different levels in the LPL.

Mediocre players waited for opportunities. Outstanding players seized opportunities. Top-tier players created opportunities.

Doinb and Tarzan were exactly that. When the team needed them most, they created an opportunity in one stroke and seized V5 by the throat. V5's reinforcements had already been very quick. With their avoidance-focused style, V5's entire team was relatively clustered together, and they had Arrived at the Battlefield at the First Moment.

But as they looked at Xin Zhao, who had activated his ultimate and firmly Blocked Position at the river entrance, Rich and Diao Huang hesitated somewhat.

If they used their ultimates now, they might not be able to save their Jungler. If LNG started Baron Nashor afterward, they could only watch helplessly. But if they did not go in and simply watched their Jungler die, then they would have to let LNG control them in the Dragon pit later.

What to do!?

When the team encountered such a sudden trolley problem, Rookie, who was responsible for shot-calling, realized that he could not issue an order at the First Moment. With a New Team lacking coordination, he had no way to quickly judge whether they could engage this fight.

GG, getting caught here means losing Baron Nashor. XLB was still too young this time.

What a shame. His mechanics were there, and he was a decent Fighter, but his brain clearly could not compete with the Opponent. They should bring Karsa back in.

Karsa, do something, Karsa. I haven't heard him say a word all game.

#Checking Karsa's status#

Their Jungler had been caught in the jungle, while the top laner and Support had crowd control but did not immediately enter to save him. Having watched plenty of matches, the Audience had already imagined the follow-up. Wasn't this obviously selling the Jungler and taking Baron Nashor to decide the match?

But during those brief one or two seconds of hesitation, Luo Zhen's Kaisa did not stop at all. Instead, she charged against the flow of her team and rushed into Xin Zhao's ultimate range.

She activated her abilities as she entered, fired two Auto Attacks, then shot a Void Seeker fiercely toward a point on the Frontline Battlefield, looking like an AD engaging with her body.

"Their AD is Getting Carried Away?"

Tarzan Frowned and instinctively wanted to strike back, but reason stopped him in time. What they needed now was deterrence. This ADC still had Flash and Purify, so charging in might merely be a Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao feint. As long as Lee Sin died, they could freely crush V5's Composition with the Baron Nashor tempo afterward.

Against a half-tank Xin Zhao, what could a Kraken Slayer Kaisa do even if she fully stacked her passive twice? Tarzan was not scared in the slightest.

Did Luo Zhen know his efforts were pointless?

Of course he did.

From the instant he Charged Up, mid and top had been pinging for him to retreat. The Support had already decided to abandon the Jungler and run toward the Baron pit.

"Is this all there is..." Luo Zhen asked himself.

He had played steadily for so long. Was all that previous effort going to be thrown away because of one ambush from the Opponent?

No, he would not accept that outcome!

He could sense Rookie's hesitation regarding team coordination, and he understood the team's Trade-off in this situation. Reason told him that retreating to preserve their strength for the Dragon Teamfight might be the safest choice, but if he really chose that...

"He would definitely be disappointed."

Luo Zhen muttered to himself, but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter. He marked an attack signal toward the battlefield, then charged forward alone Without Hesitation.

As for playing steadily?

Hmph.

He would think of a way to explain it to the coach afterward.

At least for now, Grandpa was done pretending!

I'm moving forward! Void Seeker, Lethal Tempo, every piece of Foreshadowing has been laid. I'm moving forward! I am the Dawn in the Dark Night, the Salvation in Despair, the Hymn at Dusk, the Eternal Hope.

I will become The Only One Hero!

The instant Void Seeker showed that it had hit an enemy, Luo Zhen pressed the R key Without Hesitation.

Purple light streaked through the air.

As Kaisa's figure crossed the battlefield, Hunter's Instinct carried her to the rear of the fight.

Before her stood AD Jhin, who already had Two Plasma Stacks on him.

Deng Huang was Completely confused. With his steady personality, he could not understand no matter what why, when their Jungler was clearly already dead, an ADC would still dare to charge in so fearlessly.

Weren't you afraid of my Teammates?

Two Auto Attacks before firing, then one more Auto Attack after landing. Three stacks of Lethal Tempo had clearly not yet fully stacked, but there was no time left for her to build more stacks.

Auto Attack, Icathian Rain, then another Auto Attack to trigger Plasma!

In just one exchange, Jhin's HP was cut straight down to critical.

Just as Lee Sin used his R skill for crowd control before dying, V5's ADC used a single Void Seeker to dive into the battlefield alone, Catching Off Guard all of LNG.

Xin Zhao was still Blocking Position, while Jayce and Akali remained where Lee Sin had died. The only one who could fall back to defend was Leona, who hurriedly used her ultimate, but...

D: Purify Instant Cleanse

A milky-white flash passed through the air, and the slow from Leona's ultimate vanished in an instant.

With three rapid changes of direction in a second, Kaisa narrowly dodged Leona's follow-up Apex Blade and continued Auto Attacking.

Then—

Whoosh!

She used Flash to predict Leona's Flash Q and create distance, while also predicting Jhin's Flash to widen the gap. Kaisa's ability to fight tanks could only be called average at this point, but when it came to deleting an ADC, Kaisa was known as an AD assassin. Her damage was absolutely insane.

Another Auto Attack landed. Lethal Tempo was fully stacked, and under the overflowing attack speed, Kaisa's final chasing Auto Attack perfectly triggered The Collector's effect.

V5's AK killed LNG's Light

That one ADC ultimate entry instantly ignited the atmosphere of the entire venue and the Official Live Room.

Now, they had turned the situation around!

Show Time!

On the Demacia Cup Commentary Desk, the two Commentators were staring intently at the game screen.

"LNG is waiting. They're waiting for V5's Jungler XLB. Can they pull it off?"

"Here he comes! XLB Fell for the Trap! Doinb's Akali had been waiting in ambush here for ages. V5 is in huge trouble this time!"

"Xin Zhao is holding them off, and LNG's Main Force has also Arrived at the Battlefield. Is V5 going to save him? It looks like they don't plan to. Then after LNG finishes him off, they should be heading for Baron Nashor."

"Wait! Kaisa, Kaisa went in!?"

An AD Single Core flanking from behind.

The last time such a spectacle had happened was with RNG at MSI, when Gala Hunter used Hunter's Instinct to fly into the crowd and precisely instakill DK's ADC in a 1v5.

The time before that was when FPX faced RW, and LWX flew in against four.

Before that, it was Xayah betting her Professional Career on a Flash at the S8 World Championship.

Going further back, they would have to trace it to the era when Uzi had just debuted.

And today, they witnessed the fifth New AD to fly into the battlefield alone and Defy Fate through his own strength.

And he was merely a Rookie Player who had just debuted in the Demacia Cup.