[There aren't many moves. You're making a big deal out of nothing.]
Xu Cheng could tell how excited the Big Sucker across from him was, but he couldn't relate.
Still, for the sake of making money, he went along with what the other guy wanted.
[Then let's play Fiora for a bit.]
[Fiora? Sure.]
Factory Director felt a little puzzled when he saw Xu Cheng's pick.
Fiora had been reworked in S5. More than a year had passed since then, so people had long since figured out all the moves she could do—
Could it be that his opponent really hadn't been lying? There weren't many new moves at all, and his E-flash-E on Camille had just been a fluke?
As he pondered this, the various Passerby Kings and professional players lurking in the stream also shifted their attention back to the Camille E-flash-E from earlier.
"I just tried it. This guy was bullshitting. He called that 'anyone with hands can do it'? Simple? My ass!"
Xi Ye had just tried Camille's E-flash-E.
All he could say was...
He'd been completely baffled the moment he tried it. He couldn't even control the glide from her E, let alone flash the instant the first E made contact with a wall and follow up with the second E.
The timing required was down to fractions of a second.
And landing the second E demanded an extremely specific position relative to the terrain.
After trying so many times, he'd only managed it once, by sheer luck...
"Yeah, I just tried it too. I couldn't pull it off even once..."
A youth team player nodded.
"I keep feeling like there's something strange about this guy... I can't put my finger on it..."
"Maybe what he considers simple isn't the same as what we consider simple..."
As they were talking, Xi Ye's eyes were already fixed on the mid-lane matchup—
Since Xu Cheng needed to reach level six in this custom game, Factory Director had decided to lane against him first.
But as the fight went on...
"Who the hell taught him to lane like this?!"
Watching Fiora leap right into his face at level one, with no items, and relentlessly beat him down, Factory Director was completely dumbfounded!
Everyone already knew that Data Monster sometimes didn't like buying items when he played... Factory Director wasn't surprised by that.
But what the hell did it mean to leave the shop without even buying starting items and then get right in my face to fight?
And the most shocking, unbelievable part was—
Even with him playing this recklessly, Factory Director hadn't gained the slightest advantage!
That was ridiculous!
[Ming Lian丶15]: "Bro, why are you laning like this? Has nobody ever told you to buy starting items before heading out?"
[?]
Xu Cheng replied, puzzled: [Isn't that obvious? Of course you buy starting items when you leave base!]
[...]
[Then why didn't you buy any?]
Factory Director was curious.
People used to think Xu Cheng was deliberately humiliating others and showing off, but now... they felt there had to be some other reason.
[Bro! We've got money now!]: "What do you think? If I'd bought starting items, would you still be standing here laning against me?"
Fuck me!
Everyone sucked in a breath at once.
Factory Director's mouth hung open. For a long moment, he couldn't say a word.
Just listen to him. Was that even something a person would say?
His opponent's actual reasoning was this plain and simple!
What an honest guy!
[So aggressive!]
[The Data Monster we know and love is back. That's the stuff!]
[The most ridiculous part is, I think he really does believe that. Can you believe that's genuinely what he was thinking?]
[No matter how bad Factory Director is, he's still a pro. He may not be a laner, but... Data Monster's laning skill is pretty damn scary!]
Scary laning skill!
Not strong—scary in its style and its logic.
That was everyone's first impression of Xu Cheng's laning.
Most of the champions Xu Cheng had played before were picks like Thresh and Blitzcrank, champions more commonly played in other lanes.
He'd always gone top, but rarely played top-lane champions.
This time, for once, he had picked a fairly popular top laner.
And then...
Everyone had witnessed the scene unfolding before them—
A scene that looked nothing like his games on Thresh and Blitzcrank!
"Back then, his champion limited him, so he held back quite a bit. But now..."
As Factory Director watched his health bar mysteriously drop, his heart pounded like a drum, so hard it almost leaped out of his throat.
His whole body was trembling slightly with excitement!
He couldn't take it anymore!
This kind of recklessly aggressive, life-or-death laning wasn't actually the most oppressive style.
With Factory Director's experience, he could clearly see that Xu Cheng kept taking unorthodox paths in situations where he shouldn't have made mistakes.
He was clueless about some basic knowledge that only pros and players who regularly played at high levels knew.
And yet Xu Cheng was still able to suppress his opponent, using the most straightforward, brutal methods imaginable.
Just how ridiculously high was this guy's talent?!
Factory Director was truly shaken. He'd been a pro for years and had seen all kinds of Heaven's Pride, but no one had ever hit him with this kind of impact.
In that moment, he finally understood what Xu Cheng had meant earlier—
[How do we beat the Korea Team? We beat them with raw skill, head-on!]
If he got in there, he really might be able to do it!
[Bro, bro, tell me about your laning strategy.]
[Laning strategy? What's that?]
"Uh... I mean, when you get to lane and face your opponent, what are you thinking? What are you looking for?"
[Oh, that. I don't have one. I just know the enemy's basic stats, then play according to my instincts... Does that count?]
[Uh...]
Factory Director had already lost count of how many times Xu Cheng had left him reeling.
Especially that bit about playing according to his instincts. Put plainly, wasn't that just relying on talent to do whatever the hell he wanted?
He didn't even have the most basic laning strategy of a pro, or even an ordinary King Rank Passerby King!
So he played purely by personal talent and instinct, huh?
[Is there a problem?]
On the other end, Xu Cheng saw that the other guy wasn't saying anything and felt a little uneasy—
He was afraid the guy would think he wasn't good enough and refuse to pay!
[No problem, no problem.]
Factory Director wiped off his sweat and thought for a moment. Just as he was about to keep talking, Xu Cheng suddenly said:
[I'm level six.]
[Huh?]
Factory Director froze.
The next moment, Fiora hit level six and cast her ultimate. Standing at an angle, she landed a basic attack to pop one vital, then performed an E-A-flash almost simultaneously.
Three vitals vanished in the blink of an eye!
Her Q stabbed diagonally across.
Bang!
Camille, still at over half health, didn't even have time to react before she was instantly melted and hit the ground.
[Bro! We've got money now!] had slain [Ming Lian丶15]!
[First Blood!]
????!
"Holy shit!!"
Factory Director cried out.
"What happened?!"
From his perspective, he'd been perfectly healthy just a moment ago. But less than a second later, everything blurred, and Fiora seemed to teleport from his lower left to his upper right.
And then...
He was dead.
What kind of move was that?
One Second Four Break?
No, that couldn't be right. Even One Second Four Break wasn't that fast!
Factory Director was dumbfounded. The stream viewers, the various Passerby Kings, and the alternate accounts belonging to the clubs were all stunned too.
What had they just seen? Had they seen a ghost?
Thanks to all the wonderful readers for your monthly tickets and recommendations!
Even though there aren't many of those yet, to the author, they're the greatest source of encouragement. They keep me motivated to write every day!
To thank everyone, I'll keep up the five updates today!
I also hope you'll keep reading as new chapters come out. It really matters to this book.
Thank you so much!
Before you continue