"Honestly, this match is no fun at all."
"Guys, I haven't even gotten serious, and they're already all down."
Dou Sha Live.
Ah Shui's livestream.
Only fifteen years old, Ah Shui watched yet another crushing victory. Like after taking care of himself in private, the excitement had drained away in an instant.
His face was serene, his bearing solemn.
"Honestly, I could win with my eyes closed."
Bao Lan, who was duo-queuing with him, said with a grin.
"I could win with my eyes closed and my feet."
Ah Shui pursed his lips and glanced at the chat. It was full of complaints that the streamer was boring and only knew how to stomp weaker players.
Ranked had been disabled for almost ten hours, and the entire matchmaking system had become a complete mess.
Countless sharks who usually lurked in deep waters had suddenly plunged into a tiny pond. It wasn't just a bloodbath anymore; it was a slaughter, utterly devoid of humanity.
"What kind of trash is this? The officials said they'd find high-ranked players suitable opponents, didn't they? Are these guys even max level?"
Ah Shui complained, "If this keeps up, I'm done streaming. I'll just go AFK and take a shower."
"One warning, okay... All right, all right, one more game. You have to admit, stomping weaker players is pretty fun."
Bao Lan pulled Ah Shui into another queue.
Buzz.
The match popped instantly, a familiar S6 sight.
"How about I play top and you play jungle this game?"
"Sure. Pick whatever, play whatever... Hmm?"
Before Bao Lan could finish speaking, he suddenly froze. "Why are there two supports on the other team?"
As soon as they entered the match, both teams had picked at lightning speed. On the opposing side, there were Thresh and Blitzcrank, two support champions.
What...
Was that supposed to mean?
"No way. Are they all brand-new players? How did we end up in a game like this?"
Seeing the picks, Ah Shui could barely keep a straight face.
You only ran into games with two supports in normal matchmaking.
He was still thinking that when the game loaded. The moment he saw the enemy Blitzcrank's starting mastery setup, he completely lost it.
Cunning.
The enemy Blitzcrank had actually taken the Cunning tree's offensive masteries.
Had they run into someone who didn't know how to play, or someone else messing around with random picks like them?
"They're unranked."
Bao Lan took a moment to check DuoWan Box and saw that the enemy Blitzcrank was listed as unranked.
He must be one of those legendary matchmaking warriors who made even Silver's veteran soldiers tremble!
"Oh, no wonder."
Ah Shui understood and stopped paying much attention.
He'd already lumped the enemy Blitzcrank in with all the ordinary matchmaking players they'd run into before.
As they left the fountain and headed to lane, Ah Shui saw the enemy's empty item slots and smiled mysteriously.
"He didn't even buy items before leaving the base. Is this what matchmaking players are like? I love it."
"He looks so adorably clueless. Kind of cute... Hmm?"
Ah Shui trailed off.
The enemy Blitzcrank walked straight out from under his turret, completely ignoring Ah Shui as he passed by and headed toward the blue team's turret.
Thump, thump...
After two hits from the turret, Blitzcrank was left with a sliver of health. Ah Shui suddenly snapped to attention.
He reflexively landed a long-range basic attack on him.
At the same time, the turret's attack struck.
[JackeyLove drew First Blood!]
???
"What does that mean? Is he just giving away kills?"
Ah Shui's mouth fell open!
Meanwhile.
At an internet café.
Watching himself give away a kill, Xu Cheng let out a long breath, looking thoroughly pleased. "Plan's working. Now it's fair."
Then he couldn't help grumbling, "That guy across the way is such a dope. If I hadn't deliberately walked back just now, he wouldn't even have gotten the kill. The turret would've killed me first."
"Sure enough, matchmaking players are just too weak."
Shaking his head, he respawned, headed back out, and officially entered the lane.
"I don't get it. What was he trying to do? Was it on purpose or an accident?"
Ah Shui was baffled. That kill had come out of nowhere, leaving him feeling uneasy.
The only explanation was that the enemy was a newbie who didn't even know the basics of the game...
Judging by how straightforwardly he'd given away the kill, he might even be a girl.
Of course, whether the enemy was a cute girl or not, as a stone-cold straight guy, Ah Shui still had to crush him.
He loved helping cute girls kick their internet addiction.
When the enemy showed up in lane again, Ah Shui controlled Jayce and pushed straight toward the turret, grinning. "I don't care what you're trying to do. Blitzcrank into my Jayce? That's just asking to get wrecked."
Whoosh!
As soon as he finished speaking, a silver hook shot in and struck the careless Jayce just outside the turret's range, pulling him beneath it!
"Aw, shit!"
Jayce instinctively backed away.
Fortunately, it was still early in the game. Blitzcrank didn't have E or any damage yet, so he couldn't keep Ah Shui there.
After tanking one turret shot, Ah Shui got out of range.
"I wasn't paying attention just now, and I didn't have Flash. The enemy got lucky. From now on, I'm going to focus on laning. You guys watch and learn!"
Ah Shui saved face with that little speech. The minion wave had arrived by then.
Jayce against Blitzcrank—whether in theory or in practice, there was no way to lose.
Ah Shui pushed forward without a care. His King Rank awareness was razor-sharp; he stayed behind his minions, denying Blitzcrank a chance to hook him.
"Look, that was all because the enemy Blitzcrank is insane. Picking Blitzcrank top without even checking who you're laning against? From this point on, I won't die once, and I'll go legendary... Damn it!"
Ah Shui shouted, and the familiar scene played out again.
A silver hook, like it had come from beyond the galaxy, shot forward with a whoosh and once again hit Jayce, who was hiding behind his minion wave.
It connected and pulled him beneath the turret.
"Wait, I was behind my minions. How did his hook go through them? Is this guy cheating?!"
Ah Shui was dumbfounded. He had no time to react, and this time, he didn't have the convenient escape he'd had before.
Xu Cheng had already reached level two. He chained an E skill into a Knock Up.
The Q+E combo held Jayce in place for several seconds. He'd already taken one turret shot, too.
The instant he hit the ground, he died.
[Bro! We're Loaded!] killed [JackeyLove]!
"Wait, wait, he just hooked through the minions!"
Ah Shui finally understood when the notification sounded.
He'd figured out what the enemy had done.
The minion in front of him had already been low on health. The moment it died, the minion that had been blocking him switched targets and stepped forward a few yards.
With that tiny gap between them, the enemy had reacted instantly, threading his Q through at the last moment and hooking Ah Shui.
The hitbox and animation hadn't even lined up, so it looked as if the hook had passed straight through the minion.
What kind of ridiculous play was that?
Ah Shui was completely stunned.
And getting hit by Q twice in a row made him feel like someone was pointing a finger in his face and cursing him out.
"Wasn't he supposed to be a newbie? Wasn't he just a matchmaking player? There's no way an ordinary player can make plays like that!"
"And that sneaky hook through the minions—aren't you afraid of divine punishment?!"
[Hahaha]
[Warning! Warning!]
[Holy crap, what a hook!]
"Who is this Blitzcrank? That one Q alone looks like a King Rank player. Is he smurfing?"
"That Q was insanely accurate. Could he be a trainee support for some team?"
The chat was initially guessing who Xu Cheng was, but before long, the mood shifted—
[Holy crap, what is he doing?]
[He's feeding again??]
[Is this guy really a newbie?]
"Streamer, are you even any good? Do you need a good first impression to win a matchmaking game?"
"It's not me! I didn't do anything! Don't make stuff up!"
Ah Shui stared at the screen, just as stunned.
The screen was dark after his death, and Xu Cheng's Blitzcrank had gone back for seconds, walking beneath the blue team's turret again.
Thump, thump, thump...
The turret killed Blitzcrank.
Since Jayce had landed a basic attack on Blitzcrank earlier, the system awarded the kill to Ah Shui.
[JackeyLove] killed [Bro! We're Loaded!]!
"..."
"Is he humiliating me?!"
Ah Shui's face suddenly flushed red. "Is he humiliating me?!"
"He keeps giving me kills. What does that mean? Does he think I need him to go easy on me?"
"No, he's not humiliating you."
Suddenly, Bao Lan gritted his teeth. "He's humiliating all of us..."
Ah Shui froze and hurriedly looked over.
Sure enough.
A new line appeared in all chat—
[Bro! We're Loaded!] (All): "Hey, Jayce, could you cooperate a little? You're making it so close every time. I almost failed to feed successfully just now. You can't even catch a kill properly?"
[Bro! We're Loaded!] (All): "Also, if anyone else on the enemy team dies too much, come find me later. I'll give out kills for free. Just don't be like that Jayce, with those slow reactions. You're a total clown. And you're supposed to be King Rank? Go home and raise pigs."
??????
"Pfft!"
Overcome with fury, Ah Shui couldn't help spitting out his drink.
What had he just seen?
Someone had actually dared to question JackeyLove?
By S6, Ah Shui had already made a name for himself on Dou Sha Live and had reached National Server First twice.
More than one top professional Club had sent him an offer. Everyone in the scene regarded him as a rising star, the future of esports.
And today, the future of the LPL—Water Bro—had been mocked and challenged by some ordinary unranked player?
"Try running away! One-on-one, man to man! You're unranked, and you still dare mock a King Rank player?"
Ah Shui stormed back to lane.
A true expert could spot another at a glance.
The two kills Blitzcrank had gotten with Q had already proved that his opponent was definitely smurfing.
But even if he were a real King Rank player, who wouldn't show JackeyLove some respect?
Either way, Ah Shui had to teach this guy a lesson. Otherwise, how could he show his face among King Rank players again?
That was what Ah Shui thought, and he acted accordingly.
But once he actually fought the enemy Blitzcrank, his expression gradually changed.
First he was focused, then serious, and finally frowning.
This guy...
Was strong.
A support facing a top-lane Evergreen Tree like Jayce was at a disadvantage because of the champions' kits.
But setting that aside, the enemy's laning, awareness, and even the precision of his hooks were all unbelievably good.
After several minutes of laning, Ah Shui realized he couldn't kill his opponent. At one point, he'd nearly been killed in a counterattack alongside the enemy jungler...
Besides that, what made Ah Shui feel even more absurd was—
The enemy really was giving away kills!
After laning against Ah Shui for a few minutes, Xu Cheng started roaming whenever he had a chance to recall.
With his hooks, whenever he showed up in a lane, someone was bound to die.
After a few plays like that, Blitzcrank was loaded with gold, and his teammates had reaped plenty of rewards too.
But seeing this, Xu Cheng wasn't happy.
If they kept killing them like this, the other side would soon be worth nothing!
So, in the name of the most scientific financial planning, Xu Cheng stepped forward without hesitation—and kept his promise.
Whenever someone on the other side had died too many times, he'd go over and feed them another kill.
Once or twice was fine, but by the third or fourth time,
everyone was stunned.
This guy was the real deal. When he said he'd feed them kills, he meant it!
Before you continue