S7, here we fucking come!

The chaotic fight was still raging on the Rift.

Kassadin was dead, but WE still had four players left.

Under their focused fire, Lu Chen's health plummeted. Even with Shen's Ultimate shielding him, he was still a squishy ADC, and he burned Heal!

Ben's Braum jumped to Jarvan IV with W, finally landing an auto on Lu Chen to apply his first passive stack of the entire game!

But just then...

TheShy's Shen landed and immediately activated W, Spirit's Refuge, making Lu Chen immune to basic attacks.

Then he fired back with an E-Flash, catching both Xayah and Jarvan IV!

"Shen! Shen stepped up!" Remember shouted. "IG can still fight this! Braum can't proc the passive he put on Caitlyn!"

No sooner had he said that...

Another notification appeared on-screen: "IG ChenYu has slain WE Mystic!"

"Rampage!"

Caitlyn's items were too strong, and Xayah's level was too low.

After TheShy's Shen activated Q and hacked away most of Xayah's health, Lu Chen finished her off with a single auto.

"Back off, back off!" Xiye shouted urgently. "Syndra's coming!"

WE's remaining players could only retreat in disarray.

Their five-man dive against two in bot lane ended with two deaths and no kills.

Lu Chen was already low, so he didn't chase. Instead, he backed away to recall, laughing as he said, "TheShy, great backup!"

TheShy smiled shyly. "Not bad, not bad."

At this point, most people in the LPL still saw TheShy as an aggressive player who easily got carried away and caught out.

After all, the prevailing style among LPL top laners was still to play it safe.

Players like Letme and Brother Leg, 957, were the ones the public considered top-tier top laners.

Very few people could see TheShy's potential.

"ChenYu played that with so much confidence!" Remember said, watching the big screen. "But confidence is the most important thing for an ADC. It's an ADC's seventh legendary item!"

Godlike followed up, "After that fight, though, WE has almost no hope of turning this around."

WE hadn't merely failed their five-on-two dive and lost players in return.

Rookie had also taken their mid Outer Turret, while Ning Wang had cleaned out their jungle and taken the Rift Herald along the way.

They had practically lost everything but the shirts on their backs.

"But they didn't really have a choice."

Godlike explained seriously, "They had to deal with this Caitlyn sooner or later. They just fell short at the last hurdle. If Kassadin hadn't died there, he would've had a chance to clean up. IG knew exactly what they wanted to do. Right from the start, they prioritized taking out Kassadin, the biggest threat."

In short...

From that point onward, the scales tipped overwhelmingly in IG's favor.

Use Herald to take towers, secure Dragons, push waves and pick people off, invade for jungle resources.

As they worked through that entire sequence, the gold gap kept snowballing!

WE avoided fights almost the whole time. They didn't dare contest a teamfight and surrendered every resource they could.

Before twenty minutes, even their mid and bot inhibitors had been destroyed.

The gold gap had reached a full ten thousand!

Then, at twenty minutes, Baron Nashor spawned.

Every member of IG turned his attention to the Baron pit.

Their voice comms were buzzing, because all of them could already feel their ticket to the S7 World Championship beckoning!

"Do it, do Baron!"

"Vision! Clear all their vision!"

"You guys do it. I'll lie in wait!"

"Their ADC's still at base clearing Super Minions. He can't get here in time!"

"Watch out for their jungler, Jarvan IV!"

Even through their screens, the audience could feel the IG players' excitement in the camera shots.

By contrast, WE was utterly quiet, with almost no communication.

Or rather, at this point, no amount of communication could help.

Only Condi spoke softly. "I'll try to steal Baron."

And so Jarvan IV ventured into the jungle alone.

Unfortunately, the Son of Baron couldn't work another miracle this time. IG had vision everywhere in the jungle!

Condi was spotted as soon as he reached the area above Blue Buff. TheShy led the charge, dashing in with E to lock him down.

His Shen had built Titanic Hydra, and he was extremely fed, so his damage was terrifying!

Lu Chen's Caitlyn locked on with her Ultimate too. The bullet flew, hunting its target from afar!

"IG ChenYu has slain WE Condi!"

As the system announcement sounded, WE's last hope vanished with it!

Then Baron's dying cry echoed across the Rift!

"That shot!" Remember's voice suddenly rang out. "That practically ended WE's S7 journey!"

Godlike added, "IG's going to push now. Are they looking to end it here?"

"Push, push, push!"

In IG's voice comms, everyone turned into a shot-caller, their eyes fixed on the enemy towers.

And they weren't the only ones. Backstage in the lounge, Su Xiaoluo, Mafa, JackeyLove, and the others were all shouting in unison, "Take the towers! Take the towers!"

With Baron Buff and Super Minions in two lanes...

WE truly had no way to defend anymore.

In mere moments, one of their Inhibitor Turrets exploded.

The survivors launched one final charge. Even if they died, they would die on their feet!

Kassadin and Maokai rushed straight at Lu Chen, while Xayah unleashed her Ultimate, showering all of IG in feathers!

Unfortunately...

The gap in items and levels was simply too large.

With Shen's shield and Alistar protecting him, Lu Chen's health remained comfortably high.

He fired back with a few shots to kill Kassadin, then helped his teammates finish off Maokai.

As for Xayah, Rookie's Syndra unloaded her Ultimate and instantly burst her down!

Braum, the last survivor, could only stand helplessly beside the Nexus, watching the enemy tear through his base.

"It's over! It's about to end!" Rita cried excitedly. "I think we can already congratulate IG on earning their ticket to the S7 World Championship!"

"Just destroy the Nexus, and it's over!" Godlike shouted, unable to contain himself either.

IG's voice comms had dissolved into utter chaos.

"Hit the Nexus! Hit the Nexus!"

"S7! I'm fucking going to S7!"

"I'm finally going to Worlds!"

"I'm hitting it! I'm hitting it!"

"Brother Chen, you're a fucking legend! Long live Brother Chen!"

At the same time, countless ecstatic cheers erupted throughout the venue!

"IG! IG!"

"IG! IG!"

Finally, the blue-side Nexus shattered.

"Victory!"

"Let's congratulate IG on securing the final ticket to the S7 World Championship!"

As the caster's words rang out, every IG player sprang to his feet, overcome with emotion, and they threw their arms around one another.

Every one of them was howling.

"Aaaaaah!"

"Waaaah! We won! We won!"

"Worlds, here we fucking come!"

Ning Wang was so fired up that he squeezed Lu Chen until he could barely breathe.

Then Su Xiaoluo, Mafa, and the others rushed out of the backstage lounge in excitement, charging onto the stage and forcing their way into the players' group hug.

For a moment, anyone who didn't know better might have thought they had won a championship.

Of course, the significance of this regional qualifier final truly rivaled winning an ordinary tournament.

This was S7!

The World Championship was being held on home soil, with the final taking place at the Bird's Nest!

It hadn't even started, yet the hype was already exploding!

Who could have imagined that this IG squad, which had only finished rebuilding its roster just before the Summer Split began...

Would actually fight its way through every obstacle and make it to Worlds?

Rookie, for one, was already crying uncontrollably. He couldn't help it. After two long years of pent-up frustration, he simply couldn't hold himself together anymore.

Lu Chen patted Rookie on the shoulder. "Old Song, keep it together. It's too early to get this emotional. Save the tears for when we win Worlds."

By now, he had become close enough with everyone that even the way he addressed them had changed.

Watching those young men in white jerseys celebrate so emotionally...

At the caster desk, Remember said with feeling, "You can tell just how difficult this Summer Split journey has been for IG's players. Let's congratulate them once again on winning this regional qualifier!"

As Rita watched the scene on the big screen, her eyes shimmered.

(End of chapter)