On Douyin, in Su Hang's livestream.
Wails filled the public chat.
"Exalted Emperor's good days are probably coming to an end. Nuanyang and Zimo are both top KPL players, and Nuanyang even earned the Strongest Overlord title. With a stacked lineup like that, I hate to pour cold water on everyone, but Exalted Emperor doesn't stand a chance."
"Damn it! This fucking matchmaking system, why does it have to target Exalted Emperor like this? Isn't it just trying to break the account's perfect win record?"
"It'd be fine if his teammates could play, but he got matched with a bunch of low-star Glory kids. They're basically walking ATMs for the other team. How's Exalted Emperor supposed to play?"
Despair spread through the livestream.
Su Hang smiled slightly. "Everyone, there's no need to be so pessimistic. The opponents are strong, but I'm confident I can win."
That was no exaggeration; it was the truth. Even if every opponent were a top KPL player, he could still claim the final victory with his top-tier game sense and flawless mechanics.
Getting a top MVP rating, however, would be very, very difficult.
The viewers assumed Exalted Emperor was just encouraging himself.
As he spoke, the hero ban phase ended.
The banned heroes on both sides were Shao Siyuan (banned by both), Dolia (banned by both), Yuan Ge, Jing, Zhao Yun, Sun Quan, Taiyi Zhenren, and Cao Cao.
A teammate's question came through the team voice channel.
"Exalted Emperor, you pick our hero lineup. We'll follow your lead."
For once, Su Hang turned on his mic. "Don't worry too much about building a balanced lineup. Just pick the heroes you're best at."
Apart from the fourth-slot roamer, who hadn't spoken, the other three teammates were all low-star Glory players. If they rigidly copied a popular lineup and strong team composition, it could easily backfire and cause them to crash and burn.
The first, second, and third slots preselected their respective heroes: Sun Ce, Monkey, and Xiao Qiao.
Su Hang glanced at the bans. All the heroes commonly played on his new account, whether fighters or marksmen, had been banned. Clearly, the other side was targeting him.
He had been assigned to the farm lane, leaving only Hou Yi for him to choose.
But his proficiency with Hou Yi wasn't high enough, so the system would unlock a few fill-in marksmen.
"Let's see what kind of fill-in marksmen the system gives me."
Before long.
It was Su Hang's turn to select a hero.
The system unlocked three fill-in marksmen: Marco Polo, Luban No. 7, and Di Renjie.
Without the slightest hesitation, Su Hang immediately locked in [Marco Polo]. It wasn't because Marco was particularly strong, but because he was the only mobile marksman among the fill-in choices.
Compared with immobile marksmen, mobile marksmen were more agile and better at keeping themselves alive. Their mechanical ceiling depended entirely on the player's skill.
Most importantly, mobile marksmen didn't need a support glued to them for protection in the early game. Even fighting alone, they could use their mobility skills to play safe and farm.
"Not bad luck. I got Marco Polo." Su Hang nodded in satisfaction. If the system had given him three immobile marksmen, he would have had to talk to the fourth-slot roamer and persuade him to pick a tank support.
Now there was no need at all. Whether the fourth slot picked an enchanter, a tank support, or a utility support, and whether he stayed with Su Hang or not, it made no difference.
The viewers in the public chat were puzzled.
"Huh? The system gave him three dumpster-tier fill-in marksmen, and Exalted Emperor actually looks completely satisfied!"
"Marco? Doesn't that put him at a disadvantage right from the start? Marco's the bottom of the dumpster right now."
"In the early laning phase, anyone can come along and kick Marco around. He's weak as hell, and playing him is like doing time."
Seeing the discussion in the public chat, Su Hang smiled. "It's just as everyone says. Marco can't beat any other marksman early on, and even when he unlocks his ultimate at level four, he can only use it for mobility."
"However, Marco is extremely strong in the mid-to-late game. As long as you master the essence of playing him-extreme kiting-you can toy with the enemy in the palm of your hand."
"Also, if playing Marco early on feels too much like doing time, you can talk to your roamer during hero selection and ask him to pick a support who pairs well with Marco, like Da Qiao."
His words instantly piqued the viewers' curiosity.
"Streamer, streamer, I think Da Qiao takes too much mechanical skill. Can you recommend a support who's easier to play but still pairs well with Marco?"
"Yes..." Su Hang nodded. "Marco has two major pain points early on: he isn't tanky enough and has no sustain. Your support can shore up those two weaknesses. Yao, Sang Qi, Zhang Fei, and Bull Demon King all work."
"However, if you don't consider how hard the hero is to learn, the support who pairs best with Marco is-"
With a muffled thud, the fourth-slot teammate locked in his hero.
"Su Lie?" Su Heng froze for a moment.
That was right. Su Lie, the support picked by the fourth slot, was the best match for Marco. He was tanky, had crowd control, and lighting the beacons for the second life granted by his passive could restore health...
He was a perfect match for Marco on every front, without a single blind spot.
The viewers were amazed.
"Whoa, Exalted Emperor hadn't even said Su Lie yet, and the fourth slot picked him! He and Exalted Emperor came to the same conclusion. Could the fourth slot be a real master?"
"Probably a coincidence. It's true that Su Lie works well with Marco, but it also depends on who's playing him. I've watched Exalted Emperor's streams for ages, and I haven't seen a single support teammate who could keep up with his offensive tempo."
"National server farm-lane player passing through. I agree with the guy above. With Exalted Emperor playing at a level comparable to an Overlord-tier marksman, a support would have to be at least Overlord-tier to keep up with his farming and attacking tempo."
"I even think Exalted Emperor's potential as a marksman goes beyond that. Only when a King Title roamer comes to support him will we get a glimpse of his true limits."
Su Hang's gaze fell on Su Lie's in-game ID.
[Yugong].
At that moment, the fourth-slot player [Yugong] sent a text message.
"Fifth-slot marksman, is this your promotion match?"
That one sentence instantly put Su Hang and the other three teammates on guard, because it was a classic line from a match-throwing player.
Su Hang narrowed his eyes and replied, "Yeah, my promotion match to a hundred stars."
[Yugong]: If I don't play Su Lie well and indirectly affect your promotion match, I hope you'll understand.
A moment later, Yugong in the fourth slot sent a skin-sharing poke. In an instant, every one of Marco Polo's directly purchasable skins lit up as unlocked on Su Hang's game screen!
[Use any of my skins you like this match @Exalted Emperor]
The teammates immediately erupted.
First slot: Bro in the fourth slot, you're V10! Share your skins with me.
Second slot: Do you have Monkey's Hellfire skin?
Third slot: Me too, me too!
Yugong generously sent them skin-sharing pokes.
Looking at all of Marco Polo's skins unlocked, Su Hang frowned as some hazy memories surfaced in his mind.
If he remembered correctly, it had been season S1 of Honor of Kings, when the ranking system had just launched. Back then, at eight years old, he had taken only a week to reach 99 stars at Mighty King.
But in his promotion match to 100 stars at Mighty King, he had been matched with a terrible support, causing him to lose a promotion match he'd been certain to win.
So he pulled the other player aside for a lecture in the game. The player apologized profusely but had no idea what he'd done wrong. The more that happened, the angrier Su Hang got. He demanded the player's QQ number and added him as a friend.
Using a voice changer to sound like a burly man, he went through the match with the player frame by frame, harshly critiquing his skills without using a single swear word. He kept it up for a full three hours.
The player understood what he'd done wrong, apologized sincerely, and cautiously asked what he could do to earn forgiveness.
Su Hang casually said he wouldn't forgive him even if he gave him a thousand Hellfire skins.
Once he'd vented his anger, he deleted and blocked the player on QQ and in the game.
Later, he happened to come across that hundred-star promotion match. He opened the terrible support's game profile and discovered that the player's rank was only [Gold].
Only then did he understand that a problem with the ranking system had caused that Gold support to be matched with him at 99 stars.