Chapter Summaries

Wang Chuan explained that League of Legends needed to be easy for newcomers to learn while offering experienced players room to improve. The chapter left A'Dai recognizing that the beginner tutorial and accessible controls helped build the large player base needed to keep the game thriving.

• Wang Chuan compared reaching 2,000 Warcraft III points to an accomplishment that could take thousands of hours, leaving Wei Wei, Liu Qiang, Zhou Wei, and Qin Ming feeling hurt.
• A'Dai noticed Huang Shanshan, Gong Yingnan, and the other girls struggling through the League of Legends beginner tutorial.
• A'Dai considered how features such as a fixed camera could reassure beginners even when experienced players disliked them.
• A'Dai reasoned that League of Legends needed both an accessible learning curve and a high skill ceiling to attract newcomers and keep players engaged.
• A'Dai concluded that rookie players formed the foundation of a healthy competitive game and that League of Legends' tutorials, controls, and art helped it succeed.

A'Dai received and equipped a Garen skin based on Arthas after completing the tutorial, while Wang Chuan explained the game's planned shop and currency systems. Once Huang Shanshan, Gong Yingnan, and Zhao Jing finished the tutorial too, A'Dai suggested they play a match together so they could unlock matchmaking.

• A'Dai opened the beginner reward chest and received the Garen—Lich King Arthas skin.
• A'Dai equipped the skin, and Wang Chuan explained that every player would get it after completing the tutorial.
• Wang Chuan described how gold and points would support cosmetic purchases without affecting gameplay.
• Huang Shanshan, Gong Yingnan, and Zhao Jing completed the tutorial and received Garen skins.
• A'Dai suggested that the group play a match together, and Zhao Jing asked to use Garen.

Wang Chuan watched new players try League of Legends as Huang Shanshan, Zhao Jing, A'Dai, and Gong Yingnan formed a team with a random player. After choosing heroes and simplified talents, they entered a bot match with a standard jungle-and-lanes setup.

• A'Dai invited Wang Chuan to join their five-person team, but Wang declined because the experience store was full.
• A'Dai reviewed the hero labels as the group entered a bot match, and Zhao Jing locked in Garen before the randomly matched player could choose him.
• The team settled on Zhao Jing as Garen, the matched player as Master Yi, A'Dai as Annie, Gong Yingnan as Icey, and Huang Shanshan as Soraka.
• The players chose summoner spells and used the one-click talent options because they were unfamiliar with talents.
• The team loaded into a match against Blitzcrank, Icey, Veigar, Nunu, and Teemo, with the bots assigned a jungle role to match the players' setup.

Wang Chuan explained that he gave the AI skins to encourage players to buy them, while A'Dai and the others began their first League of Legends match. The game quickly descended into confusion, with the AI scoring first blood and Zhao Jing dying in lane.

• A'Dai admired the AI's skins, and Huang Shanshan revealed that she had made Bunny Teemo's model before Wang Chuan praised her.
• A'Dai asked why the AI had skins, and Wang Chuan claimed they were meant to comfort it while privately explaining his plan to tempt players into spending money.
• The opposing Blitzcrank pulled Gong Yingnan into range of a tower, killing her and giving the AI first blood before the minions spawned.
• A'Dai learned Annie's abilities and the basics of last-hitting as the minions met in mid lane.
• Zhao Jing approached Teemo, was poisoned, and died after nearby minions joined the attack.

A'Dai struggled to carry his teammates in an easy bot match as they repeatedly died to the enemy. The chapter left him speechless as the players defended their deaths by accusing the bots of lacking sportsmanship or insisting they had not fed.

• A'Dai advised Gong Yingnan and Huang Shanshan after they died to Blitzcrank and the turret, then killed Veigar with Annie.
• Master Yi died, leaving the team behind 1-5, and A'Dai panicked until Wang Chuan assured him that easy bots were hard to lose to.
• Wang Chuan explained that Annie relied on ability power but refused to pick equipment for A'Dai, who followed the system's recommendation instead.
• Master Yi died to Veigar, Nunu, and minions after trying to attack a low-health Veigar, then claimed the bots had ganged up on him without sportsmanship.
• Zhao Jing's Garen died while trying to kill Teemo, and she insisted that her one-on-one duel did not count as feeding.

A'Dai and the others tried League of Legends against easy bots, won their matches, and explored its heroes and mechanics. After struggling with Katarina, A'Dai stopped playing matches and began testing every hero in the training ground, where Lee Sin and Lucian caught his interest.

• A'Dai learned Annie's abilities and used her combo to kill enemy bots as his team bought equipment and eventually destroyed their crystal.
• The group praised League of Legends and started another easy-bot match, while A'Dai asked Wang Chuan for a hero that would test his skill.
• Wang Chuan suggested Lucian, Katarina, and Lee Sin, and A'Dai chose Katarina for the next game because he liked her appearance.
• A'Dai struggled to understand Katarina's skills, but his team still won the match.
• A'Dai left the bot matches to test every hero in the training ground and found Lee Sin and Lucian especially interesting for their distinctive movement abilities.

Wang Chuan gathered player feedback on League of Legends and laid out preparations for its launch, including promotion, frequent hero updates, and expanded server capacity. The team accepted his ambitious plans, though Wei Wei, Qin Ming, Liu Qiang, and Zhou Wei were surprised by their scale.

• Wang Chuan collected feedback from players, who praised League of Legends to varying degrees depending on their experience with Warcraft.
• Wang Chuan assigned Zhao Jing responsibility for promoting League of Legends online and offline.
• Wang Chuan told Wei Wei, Qin Ming, and the others to prepare weekly updates with at least four heroes each.
• Wang Chuan tasked Liu Qiang and Zhou Wei with raising the servers' concurrent capacity to four million.

Players and game producers debated League of Legends after its demo-store launch revealed its basic gameplay. At Penguin, Ding Ke and three colleagues reviewed extensive footage and considered the game’s simplified controls, hero focus, teamwork, and potential for growth.

• Demo-store players shared League of Legends footage and details online, prompting arguments about its gameplay, style, and single-map format.
• Players and casual fans debated whether League of Legends offered enough depth compared with Warcraft as its growing publicity drew wider attention.
• Ding Ke had ten employees gather more than ten hours of gameplay footage and detailed materials from Huangtu Game’s demo stores.
• Ding Ke asked Tian Boxun, Lin Yao, and Lu Hui to assess League of Legends.
• Tian Boxun highlighted the simplified controls and beginner-friendly design, while Lin Yao emphasized heroes and teamwork and Lu Hui noted each match’s fresh progression and the genre’s uncertain future.

Ding Ke persuaded his colleagues to secretly develop a game like "League of Legends" so they could follow Wang Chuan if it proved successful. Meanwhile, Wang Chuan watched players enjoying the game at the experience store, where A'Dai tried to take over a player's computer after his own playtime ran out.

• Tian Boxun questioned why Wang Chuan had not used the "Warcraft" IP, and Ding Ke argued that Wang Chuan was testing a new genre before risking a major IP.
• Ding Ke told Lin Yao, Lu Hui, and Tian Boxun to prepare a similar game in secret and release it quickly if "League of Legends" showed promise.
• Other game companies also began quietly developing similar games, waiting to see whether Wang Chuan's game succeeded.
• Wang Chuan strolled through the busy experience store, where players played custom matches and Zhao Jing expanded offline promotions.
• A'Dai advised a player during a match, but the player accused him of pretending to help because he wanted to use the player's computer.

Wang Chuan told the experience store players that League of Legends would launch soon and defended its champion balance, then agreed to play a match against them. The chapter left the match about to begin, with A'Dai leading the store’s strongest players against Wang Chuan and four Huangtu Game employees.

• A'Dai failed to trick another player into accepting his advice, and Wang Chuan told the players that League of Legends would launch before long.
• Wang Chuan said the game would receive no champion balance changes, prompting the players to challenge him to prove his skill.
• Wang Chuan agreed to play, and the players gathered around as he turned on the store projector for everyone to watch.
• The match became a contest between the experience store players and Huangtu Game employees, with Wang Chuan, Wei Wei, Qin Ming, Huang Shanshan, and Gong Yingnan on the company team.
• A'Dai questioned Wang Chuan’s lineup after judging the four employees’ League of Legends skills to be weak.

Wang Chuan faced A'Dai and four other lounge players in League of Legends, picking Teemo while the inexperienced players chose their champions and spells. As the match began, Wang Chuan warded against a possible jungle ambush, but A'Dai mistook his minion attacks for novice play and planned a gank with Master Yi.

• Wang Chuan agreed that enjoying the match mattered more than winning, then picked Teemo as the others discussed his reputation.
• Wang Chuan took top-lane Teemo, while Huang Shanshan and Gong Yingnan chose Sivir and Soraka, Wei Wei chose Karthus, and Qin Ming chose Amumu.
• A'Dai picked Tryndamere for top lane, with Master Yi, Veigar, Lucian, and Blitzcrank completing his team.
• Wang Chuan placed a ward near his bottom-side buff, while the other players headed to their jungle camps and turrets.
• A'Dai saw Wang Chuan repeatedly attack minions and decided he was a noob, then asked Master Yi to come help kill him.

Wang Chuan used Teemo to deny A'Dai’s Tryndamere minions and steadily drain his health. After A'Dai recalled, Teemo returned to lane first, controlled the wave, and killed him beneath his turret, leaving Teemo far ahead in levels.

• A'Dai tried to last-hit a minion, but Teemo blinded him, causing him to miss while his own minions killed it; Teemo then drove him back and cost him health.
• Wang Chuan farmed carefully, then harassed A'Dai whenever he approached the turret to last-hit, leaving Tryndamere below one-third health.
• Master Yi asked whether A'Dai needed help, but A'Dai declined because Amumu was missing and Master Yi was low on health.
• A'Dai recalled to recover, and Wang Chuan recalled too, bought boots and a Dark Seal, then returned to lane before him.
• Wang Chuan held the minion wave near his turret and prevented A'Dai from farming; when A'Dai tried to approach, Teemo chased and killed him beneath the turret.
• Teemo reached level six and was nearly level seven while Tryndamere had only just reached level five.

Wang Chuan’s Teemo overwhelmed A'Dai’s team with mushrooms and Karthus’s ultimate, building a huge kill and level lead. A'Dai’s team finally focused every ability on killing Teemo, but their Nexus exploded as they celebrated his death.

• A'Dai struggled against Teemo, and Master Yi tried to help until mushrooms and Karthus’s ultimate forced him to retreat.
• Teemo killed A'Dai and Master Yi, then grew stronger with the blue buff, Sorcerer's Shoes, and Rylai's Crystal Scepter.
• A'Dai’s team repeatedly lost health and died to Teemo’s mushrooms and Karthus’s ultimate, so they agreed that Teemo had to die even if they lost the teamfight.
• Wang Chuan led his team into a fight, where Veigar trapped Teemo and the enemy team piled on with their abilities.
• Teemo died beneath the enemy’s attacks, and the Nexus exploded as A'Dai’s team cheered.

After Wang Chuan demonstrated Teemo’s deadly tactics, players tried to imitate him and struggled against their opponents. Zhao Jing reported that Huangtu Game’s extensive League of Legends promotion was ready, and Wang Chuan urged her to ensure the game’s continued operations.

• Players praised Wang Chuan’s Teemo play, while A'Dai reviewed the match and asked how Wang Chuan had used early minion control and range to gain an advantage.
• Wang Chuan hinted that Teemo could pressure melee top laners early, and A'Dai opened the replay to study the match.
• Players chose Teemo in their own games, but many were killed, had their mushrooms revealed, or were surrounded by enemies.
• Wang Chuan returned to the office and received Zhao Jing’s promotional plan for League of Legends.
• Zhao Jing reported that League of Legends promotion would run online and offline across cities, with initial costs estimated at 300 million, and Wang Chuan urged her to focus on ongoing operations.

Wang Chuan launched League of Legends with an enormous promotional campaign, spending three hundred million yuan across online ads, city advertising, and Internet Cafes. The chapter ended with the game offering launch events to draw players, while its most expensive skins remained the Warcraft series at 199 yuan.

• Wang Chuan announced League of Legends and promoted it through the Huangtu Game platform, which added login-page advertising and Summoner's Rift DLC to Minecraft and Warcraft.
• Wang Chuan allocated three hundred million yuan to promotion, with one hundred million spent online and two hundred million on offline advertising.
• Huangtu Game covered gaming websites, city plazas, transit stops, and other high-traffic locations with League of Legends promotions.
• Huangtu Game subsidized Internet Cafes and offered licenses with trial skins and exclusive titles, while requiring participating cafes to maintain a League of Legends theme.
• Internet Cafes joined the campaign because League of Legends suited group PC gaming better than costly VR games or difficult Warcraft.
• League of Legends introduced launch events that rewarded players for queuing together, and its priciest store skins were still Warcraft series skins costing 199 yuan.

League of Legends surged in popularity after Wang Chuan gave every player a high-quality Arthas skin and launched an enormous promotional campaign. Internet cafes prospered, while game producers questioned whether the free-to-play game could recover its advertising costs.

• Players recruited friends to claim the free Arthas skin, and League of Legends reached the top of trending charts two days after launch.
• Internet cafes drew crowds of League of Legends players, and owners sought authorization, though Wang Chuan limited it to qualifying establishments.
• Internet cafe owners ran promotions such as giving players drinks for pentakills or godlike performances.
• Players new to the genre joined because League of Legends let veterans and newcomers start each match on equal footing.
• Game producers discussed Wang Chuan’s extensive advertising campaign and worried about whether skin sales could repay its costs.

Wang Chuan’s massive League of Legends campaign drew intense scrutiny, but the game’s early figures stunned the industry and exceeded his expectations. He attributed its success to a more detailed tutorial and improved matchmaking that kept players near evenly matched.

• Developers, media, and players debated whether Wang Chuan’s heavy promotion could make League of Legends a hit and watched for the major companies’ reactions.
• Wang Chuan publicly released League of Legends’s data, reporting 4.5 million daily active users and 75 percent three-day retention.
• Game developers and Wang Chuan’s studio were stunned by the retention rate, which surpassed expectations for a free-to-play game.
• Wang Chuan explained that he had improved the tutorial and matchmaking to help newcomers learn the game and face opponents near their skill level.

Wang Chuan’s League of Legends promotion and growing user base alarmed Penguin Games, where Ding Ke suspected he was building Huangtu Game into an open distribution platform. Ding Ke recognized that the Three Factories might move against Wang Chuan and checked on Penguin’s own game project.

• Ding Ke dismissed his assistant and asked Tian Boxun, Lin Yao, and Lu Hui to consider Wang Chuan’s motives after they reviewed League of Legends materials.
• Lin Yao suggested that Wang Chuan was spending heavily to capture the market, but Ding Ke and the others considered the explanation obvious.
• Ding Ke argued that Wang Chuan’s investment in League of Legends pointed to a larger goal: expanding Huangtu Game’s influence and becoming a distribution channel.
• Tian Boxun, Lin Yao, and Lu Hui realized Ding Ke believed Wang Chuan was building an open platform.
• Ding Ke warned that the Three Factories would resist a new distribution channel, then asked about Penguin’s game project; Tian Boxun said its framework was complete but its core gameplay remained unfinished.

Ding Ke ordered his team to develop a differentiated MOBA within a month as Penguin and other major companies prepared to compete with Huangtu Game. After a week of massive promotion, Wang Chuan announced League of Legends had passed twelve million players and reached 5.5 million daily active users, though developers debated whether its free-to-play model could generate enough revenue.

• Ding Ke told his team to draw inspiration from League of Legends, secure the best resources, and finish their game within a month.
• Ding Ke recognized Huangtu Game as a growing threat, and Penguin, Net Entertainment, and Bali planned to develop competing games.
• Wang Chuan reviewed League of Legends' rapidly growing data after spending three hundred million on promotion.
• After League of Legends had been online for a week, Wang Chuan announced it had twelve million players and 5.5 million daily active users.
• Developers discussed the scale of Wang Chuan's promotion, while some questioned whether League of Legends could earn enough from skins and decorations to recoup its costs.

Wang Chuan dismissed concerns about League of Legends' mixed early reviews and planned new heroes, ARAM mode, and holiday events to keep the game ahead of competitors. At Penguin Games, Lin Yao and Lu Hui proposed building a simplified MOBA for casual players, then asked Tian Boxun for his view.

• Players praised League of Legends but complained about its equipment system, difficulty, and lack of maps, and its rating lagged behind Wang Chuan's earlier games.
• At a meeting, Wang Chuan said players had not yet experienced the game's core appeal and told the team to release five new heroes and ARAM mode the following week.
• Wang Chuan warned that the Three Factories were likely developing competing games and urged his team to maintain its advantage with updates and events.
• At Penguin Games, Lin Yao and Lu Hui concluded that League of Legends lowered the barrier to entry and targeted casual players.
• Lu Hui suggested that Penguin's MOBA should simplify its gameplay to compete for casual players, then asked Tian Boxun what he thought.