You Call This 'Steady'?

Kaisa's solo flank forced the battlefield back into a 4v4. At the very instant he flew in, PPGOD and Rich tacitly chose to enter the fight as well.

There was no reason why.

Even their AD had charged in with his ultimate. Naturally, they would not abandon their teammate.

The AD's sudden death threw LNG's frontline into disarray. Meanwhile, Luo Zhen, positioned at the back of the battlefield, continued to kite Leona's HP. With fully stacked Lethal Tempo activated, Kaisa's kiting and Four Plasma Stacks mechanic were pushed to their absolute limit.

At the instant his focus, spirit, and awareness were all stretched to their limits, at the instant his heartbeat raced to its peak, Luo Zhen suddenly felt as if everything around him had slowed down. He saw Jayce, not far away, trying to pull back and kill him, only to be firmly locked down by his teammate Rakan. He also saw Akali, hidden within her Smoke Bomb, quietly reveal herself. When she vanished back into the smoke, her direction seemed to be aimed right at him.

Sensing something, Luo Zhen abruptly halted his pursuit. The next moment, the shuriken shooting out of the smoke narrowly grazed the spot he should have advanced into.

Akali's final threat missed!

"Holy crap, this is cheating, right?"

Doinb stared at the spot where Kaisa had stopped in disbelief. To trade for the AD who had ruined their plan, he had even used the Smoke Bomb to conceal his movements. But why... could that E skill still miss?

Akali no longer had E or R, so she posed no threat to Kaisa in the short term. She was just about to leave.

But with Luo Zhen in such blazing form, how could he possibly let the opponent escape?

The final two Auto Attacks flew out. Leona, trapped by Cooldown and distance, ultimately fell to Kaisa. With E skill's acceleration available again, Luo Zhen activated it once more. This time, his target was Doinb's Akali.

It exploded.

It completely exploded!

To ambush Lee Sin and prevent the opponent from entering to rescue him, LNG had positioned themselves far back.

But their composition lacked crowd control, and the increased density of their defensive formation gave Kaisa the chance to flank alone and turn the tide. Now, the Frontline Battlefield had been reclaimed by the enemy, while Kaisa alone slaughtered the backline. In just a few seconds, the river skirmish went from LNG catching Lee Sin alone to all of V5 hunting down Doinb.

Only after securing the final Akali kill with his teammates' help did Luo Zhen slowly emerge from that state. Then... he stared at the screen in front of him with a puzzled expression.

Looking at the enormous TripleKill notification in the center of the screen, Luo Zhen's brain, which had only just cooled down, suddenly suffered a System Crash.

What... had that state just been?

As Kaisa's final Auto Attack flew toward Akali, both the fans on-site and the esports fans watching in the Live Room kept their eyes firmly fixed on Kaisa, who had descended like a miracle.

At that moment, the whole world went silent!

Especially when the Triple Kill notification appeared above Summoner's Rift and the massive system sound rang out, the hearts of everyone at the venue and in the Live Room felt as though they had been struck by a hammer.

They turned it around... they fucking turned it around!

They could turn that around?

Holy crap, AK!

You're telling me this is a Rookie Player? What Rookie Player AD can pull off something like that?

Who was it that said this guy was steady? Come on, look at that play. You Call This 'Steady'?

As long as he could maintain this level and it was not just a flash in the pan, V5 had truly found a treasure this season! They had Won Big!

What was a top ADC Raw Material?

This was a top ADC Raw Material. In the entire LPL, there were fewer than ten players capable of changing the situation through their own strength alone.

"Holy crap, A-Zhen, do you know what you just did? You're a fucking genius!"

The moment the Team Fight ended, PPGOD began trembling all over. He was even more excited than Luo Zhen himself. That performance almost meant he was about to witness the rise of a Genius ADC. He might even become the next Gala.

Rookie and the others offered their congratulations as well. For Veteran Players like them, the stronger their teammates were and the greater their potential, the more promising their goals for this year became.

After a 1-for-5 exchange equalized the gold, they took Baron Nashor. LNG no longer had any chance of turning the game around.

1:0

V5 struck while the iron was hot, taking the first game of the BO5 and drawing first blood!

"Nice! We won!"

Karsa, sitting below the stage, was full of excitement. It was not just him. Even Hong Mi beside him seemed to have a flush on his face, clearly from getting too excited just now.

They had all seen Luo Zhen's performance.

Even Hong Mi himself had not expected that he had only just praised his Young General's future a little, only for him to immediately deliver a Famous Scene right before his eyes the very next second.

Although such a reckless move did not quite align with Hong Mi's philosophy, without that AD's play, they might not necessarily have won the Baron Nashor standoff that followed.

Strictly Speaking, Hong Mi, who was often defeated by unexpected factors from enemy players, had unusually won this game because of an unexpected factor from one of his own players.

It was... pretty satisfying.

When the V5 group finished the first game and returned from the stage to the lounge, Hong Mi looked up and saw Luo Zhen standing before him with an expression like he was admitting his mistake.

Luo Zhen was beyond nervous right now.

Before crossing over, he had often watched UP Masters analyze videos about Hong Mi. He knew very well that his coach hated disobedient players the most. That play had looked bold and cool, but from another angle, if he had failed to Instakill Jhin, or if the target rooted by W had not been the enemy ADC, then flying in would have just been him giving away another kill.

Forget Baron Nashor; the opponent might even have been able to push and end their base in one wave. It was a play where risk and opportunity coexisted. The key was how the coach judged it.

Hong Mi stared at him in silence for a long time, making Luo Zhen lower his head further and further. Rookie was about to step up and say a few words for Luo Zhen, but Karsa quickly elbowed Rookie, stopping him.

Seeing that, Luo Zhen's eyes darkened, and the last trace of luck in his heart vanished.

Just as he thought he would be sentenced to the water dispenser right after his debut, Hong Mi, who had been standing in front of him with a stern expression, suddenly laughed.

"Alright, alright. Don't be so scared. You're making me look like I eat people." With that, he smiled and patted Luo Zhen on the shoulder. The sudden change left the despairing Luo Zhen completely dumbfounded.

"From my personal perspective, I really do hate players who do not follow the coach's arrangements. In my view, if players do not listen to their coach, then what is the point of having a coach on the team?"

"However, there are exceptions." Hong Mi looked at the players before him, his tone gradually growing calmer.

"After the fifteen-minute Time Point, the game has already left the range where a coach can influence it. From then on, the changes a player can create through individual ability will be infinitely magnified. The reason I do not give any of you, aside from Rookie, the right to act on your own is because, as newcomers, you do not yet possess the ability to create miracles on the Pro Scene."

"But now, you have met the standard."

The Principle Makes Sense

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The Birth of One Man, One Team, and One Xiang Zhangmen

V5's shocking Quarterfinals performance immediately sparked a huge wave of discussion online that very night.

Luo Zhen's Famous Scene was one catalyst, but the bigger reason was how thought-provoking the team's roster was. Top laner Rich was discarded by the LCK, Jungler Karsa was discarded by TES, Mid Laner Rookie was discarded by IG, their Bot Lane AD was a Second Team player whom V5 had ignored throughout their sixteen-game losing streak, and their support was a direct victim of that sixteen-game losing streak. What kind of fucking Avengers was this?

It really was a strange matter of different regions.

In the LPL, those dazzling Galactic Battleships that everyone hyped up often suffered Sudden Death, while Avengers squads could almost always go far.

S7 WE, S8 RW, and of course this year's V5 could all be considered classic examples of Avengers.

Of course.

No matter how intense the online discussions became, Luo Zhen still had to review games back at the base.

Unlike his Previous Life, he had genuinely joined an LPL first-string team in This Life. He could no longer keep up his old at-home routine of endless sleep, endless shitting, endless farting, and endless gaming. Now, in addition to accepting Post-Match reviews, he had to maintain his daily RANK games and Training Volume. Hong Mi even dragged him away for individual improvement sessions. The pressure was immense.

However, since the Demacia Cup matches were packed tightly together and the Demacia Cup Top Four began the next day, Hong Mi was relatively restrained these days. Of course, he still enforced the necessary discipline. He had initially wanted to give the players a warning not to let down their guard. Just as he entered the room and was about to speak, he discovered that Luo Zhen, who usually slacked off a little, was sitting in front of his computer and playing RANK with extreme focus.

Had he... changed?

Hong Mi was somewhat unable to make sense of the sight before him. In the end, he simply sat beside Luo Zhen and watched him operate desperately.

Only after a RANK game ended did Luo Zhen, whose attention had been fully focused, notice his coach sitting beside him. Without even greeting him, he directly asked about the state he had entered during today's game.

That feeling, as if everything had slowed down in an instant, was enough to intoxicate any AD player. Even Luo Zhen was no exception.

"It's actually very simple. In more scientific terms, it is a state where your mind is focused to its extreme. It is not something that only happens when you Play Professionally; people often trigger it in daily life as well. For example, some top students can quickly enter a very good state when studying or solving problems. That is the state you were talking about." After hearing Luo Zhen's question, Hong Mi immediately understood what he meant.

In mystical terms: Kuroko's Basketball's "Zone."

In scientific terms: a Flow State of total concentration.

It could appear at any time: while studying or solving problems, playing FPS shooters, exercising or playing ball, letting one's Mindset wander... and so on. Put simply, at that moment, your entire body and mind, inside and out, served only the one thing in your head. Your brain ran at high speed, and you entered an Overclocked State.

"Normally, athletes are more likely to trigger this state because their bodies and minds truly work in unison. You may have heard of this concept in the NBA, and you may have seen plenty of players deliver so-called God Moments." Seeing the stunned look on Luo Zhen's face, Hong Mi thought for a moment. Then, a crooked idea instantly emerged in his mind, and he continued:

"Besides, this state is actually controllable."

"Controllable?" Luo Zhen looked up in shock. Special Meow, he had only crossed over to play esports. How had something akin to a superpower suddenly entered the picture, and with scientific evidence too?

He glanced again at Baidu and Zhihu on his phone. Holy crap, there really was information on it?

The discussion threads were even filled with people sharing times they had triggered the state in their daily lives.

Was he crazy, or was this world crazy?

"Jordan mentioned this state on a program. It seems the only way to enter it is through constant hard training, making your body get used to that state in practice and thereby raising the chance of entering it in actual matches. Once you enter it, your body or mechanical skill will perform beyond its usual level. So work hard."

After patting Luo Zhen on the shoulder, Hong Mi began to leave with a smile.

As for whether players could truly master that state on their own?

He was not sure. But considering how little room for survival the AD position had, and how incredibly difficult the Famous Scene plays pulled off by ADs were, almost to the point of impossibility, yet some Genius ADCs could still execute them, it seemed reasonable to summarize their state at the time as entering the Zone.

After all, most teams he had coached over the years had often been defeated by incomprehensible individual plays from enemy players, making it difficult for him not to believe that this thing might exist.

Otherwise, explain SN's evolution in the S10 Semifinals, or JKL's comeback in the S12 Summer Split Playoffs. There was no way to explain it otherwise.

Anyway, whatever.

Now that he had fooled This Kid, at least he would not have to worry about him slacking off for a while. Thinking that, Hong Mi's mood improved considerably.

At the scene, only Luo Zhen remained standing there with a pained expression, unable to calm down for a long time.

After getting past LNG during their early adjustment period, the next match would be an Internal Match between Avengers.

That was right, FPX.

After FPX posted a steaming pile of a record in S11, the entire team instantly fell apart just as the Audience had expected. Si Shao went to BLG, Wukong went to LNG, Xiao Tian went to TES, and top laner Nuguri had no team for various reasons. The only one who remained on the team was LWX, the very person who had first talked big about leaving and escaping FPX.

The birth of one man, one team, and one Xiang Zhangmen.

No one had favored this newly rebuilt FPX roster before the Demacia Cup Quarterfinals. Yet this very team swept UP 3:0 in the Demacia Cup Quarterfinals, and their lineup was quite novel.

Top laner Little Tiger was one of the more Eye-catching top laners among the New Generation. In the Original World's Spring Split Regular Season, his personal KDA reached as high as 12.0, ranking first. He could practically be called the King of KDA, showing just how much potential he had.

Jungler Beichuan was an FPX Youth Training jungler, formerly first in the Rift and the king of Stranger junglers. He Ranked Up as easily as drinking water. It was said Little Yu Ji had also been boosted by him. Of course, he later got caught up in a match-fixing scandal. Whether it was real match-fixing or fake match-fixing, all anyone could do was wait and watch for entertainment.

Mid Laner Gori had been a Faker Substitute and had even gone to EDG. Even EDG, a team that loved Faker Substitutes, had let him go, so he definitely had weaknesses, and obvious ones at that. The facts proved that he was the typical weak laner and Team Fight War God, a classic ARAM Player.

Bot Lane Xiang Zhangmen and Hang. The AD could be skipped; the support was worth paying close attention to.

Let's put it this way.

As Everyone Knows, there were three "untouchable" supports in the LPL: Meiko, Ming, and Crisp. Crisp had already been sold, though.

Then there were a few supports whose names people could call out: Mark for engages, On for looks, Hang for mechanics, Lvmao for brains, Iwandy for being a tiger in RANK and a mouse in tournaments, and Missing for finesse.

Yes, those were the only LPL supports worth watching. The rest were either nameless, or perhaps there was also the veteran anchor of a team, Cold. But that was it.

Oh, no.

There was also a unique Gore Drinker, Zhuo. But Zhuo did not like others commenting on him, so he would not be included in the list above.

For a Rookie Player to be listed alongside those supports was enough to prove his strength and potential.

For most of the team, tomorrow's match was merely against an emerging team full of newcomers. But for Luo Zhen, it would be his first time facing a World Championship champion ADC in bot lane.

"A champion ADC..."

Looking at the Top Four preview spread across the webpage before him, Luo Zhen's eyes flashed with envy as he murmured:

"I won't lose!"

The Art of BP Is React to Tactics

Next Day.

At Hongqiao Stadium in Magic City, it was the same venue but a different stage of the tournament. Here, the Four Teams would decide the top two and compete for the 2021 Demacia Cup championship.

As a newcomer, Luo Zhen had not slept well last night.

When people got nervous, they found it easy to lose sleep. When they could not sleep, they wanted to look at their phones. But he had overlooked one thing: he had already become famous on the Pro Scene. The moment he logged into his public account, his direct messages were flooded with escorts frantically sending him revealing pictures.

Although he knew women were devils and would only slow down his kiting, he ultimately failed to resist the Devil's temptation. Later, he criticized those pictures until Late Night.