Jiang Jinran watched the text constantly scrolling across the public chat, her face expressionless.
Because she was used to it.
Everyone who had watched her play Legend had marveled at her mechanics.
Getting praised was as simple as drinking water.
[Boss, are you still playing mid? You can play whatever position you want. We'll all make way.]
[Exactly, it's all up to the boss.]
Jiang Jinran moved her fingers and typed a line in the public chat-
[I'll stick with mid. Play whatever you like.]
Jiang Jinran locked in a mid-lane hero and was the first to enter the match screen.
At that moment, the spectator stream's viewer count and popularity were rising rapidly.
[Hyped and waiting.]
[Finally, you're here, my Sha Yu.]
[I came to the stream specifically today to learn from Boss Sha Yu's mechanics.]
[You won't be able to learn them.]
[Sha Yu's already Gold? That's some fast climbing after just one match.]
The game began.
Jiang Jinran performed as consistently as ever, showing off from start to finish and carrying the entire match with dazzling mechanics.
The spectator stream's popularity was already approaching that of the god-tier players.
Almost everyone now knew that a Bronze newbie who had played only two matches was creating miracles with her talent.
When the game ended, the energy donations Jiang Jinran had received were already overflowing, and her rank had gone from Gold to Emerald.
Meanwhile, a player on the opposing team suddenly sent her a private message.
[I'm the team manager for KG Club. Interested in going pro? I'd like to invite you to a tryout.]
[Of course, it'd be even better if you could tell me your age. If you're over twenty, we'll still consider you if you perform well at the tryout.]
Jiang Jinran glanced at it and replied directly-
[I have school. No time to go pro.]
After replying, she exited the game screen.
Jiang Jinran queued up for another match. Right now, she only wanted to climb as quickly as possible.
After several matches as effortless as chopping melons and slicing vegetables, her rank had shot all the way up to Diamond.
Sha Yu had practically taken over the entire Legend forum.
[Bronze to Diamond in two days with a hundred-percent win rate. What level is this?]
[A level I couldn't reach in my entire life.]
[A level that crushes pro players.]
[I want to poach this mid laner for the team I support. Way too strong.]
[Is this a monster? I finally believe this isn't some god-tier player's smurf, because even those gods aren't this ferocious.]
[Serious discussion: who's better, Sha Yu or the super god Fatal?]
[I'd advise Sha Yu fans to ease up on the hype. Just a few games in, and you're already clout-chasing off Fatal.]
[Real Sha Yu fans aren't trying to clout-chase off Fatal. Sha Yu's just a little newbie who's played for two days. I'm taking her out of this. Anyone dragging Fatal into it is definitely a troll posing as a fan.]
Having reached Diamond, Jiang Jinran had completed her task for the day. She had intended to log off immediately, but her hand slipped, she clicked the wrong thing, and she started another match.
She decided she might as well finish this match before logging off.
However, when she saw an opposing player's ID, Jiang Jinran's gaze paused slightly.
The name Fatal appeared brightly before her eyes.
A beat later, Jiang Jinran's eyes widened, joy flooding into them.
She hadn't expected to get matched against Fatal after only just reaching Diamond!
Pretty good luck.
Meanwhile, the forum erupted once again.
[Breaking! Sha Yu got matched against Fatal!]
[Holy shit, Sha Yu fans and Fatal fans were just passionately fighting on the forum, and now the players themselves have run into each other!]
[Oh my god, a clash between the new god and the old god.]
[Our Fatal isn't an old god. He's the eternal god. Get it right.]
[Sha Yu's only been playing for two days. What kind of god does that make her? Perfect timing-Fatal can test the goods and see whether she's actually good or just lucky.]
[LMAO, Fatal's nicknamed the Newbie Slayer. Plenty of newbies before thought they could summon wind and rain after a few matches, only for one game against Fatal to beat them back into their true forms.]
[Hehe, exactly. Fatal specializes in putting newbies in their place. Don't get beaten to tears in a minute, Sha Yu.]
Jiang Qiche was sitting at his computer.
His gaze, cold and clear as snow and frost, landed squarely on the opposing player's name, Sha Yu.
Suddenly, the coldly handsome boy with picture-perfect features curved his lips ever so slightly.
A trace of nonchalance and barely perceptible interest suffused his eyes.
Over the past two days, he had already watched quite a few GIFs of Sha Yu.
She was indeed interesting, someone who had managed the rare feat of stirring some interest in Jiang Qiche.
Now was the perfect opportunity.
He would test whether she was the real deal or a dud.
Countless viewers poured into the spectator stream.
Almost every player online abandoned their own games and rushed to the stream to watch this showdown.
Its popularity effortlessly shot off the charts, leaving every other stream in the dust.
It would be no exaggeration to describe this ranked match as eagerly anticipated and watched by all.
The screen was blanketed in bullet comments discussing it.
[Place your bets. Who wins, Sha Yu or Fatal?]
[I'll bet fifty cents. Fatal definitely wins. He's been the server's number one for so long, a super god. What kind of rotten fish or shrimp is Sha Yu?]
[A newborn calf doesn't fear the tiger. I'm backing Sha Yu to topple Fatal.]
[Sha Yu's winning streak ends here. He can't beat Fatal. Fatal's ridiculously strong.]
[Sha Yu looks impressive, but don't forget, he's only played low-ranked matches. He does look good next to the competition, but who knows his actual skill level?]
[People are actually doubting Fatal? There have been plenty of newbies like Sha Yu before, and Fatal took care of every one of them. Just wait and see.]
[One match until Sha Yu's weeping rivers of tears and snot.]
After entering the game, Jiang Jinran hurried straight to mid lane.
Fatal, or rather Jiang Qiche, also mainly played mid.
So she and Jiang Qiche would soon be facing off in mid lane.
Jiang Jinran worked her mouse, brimming with ambition, wanting to give Jiang Qiche on the opposing side a little shock-
But to her surprise, they hadn't been laning against each other for long before Jiang Qiche called all his teammates over!
What was going on?!
Jiang Jinran's eyes widened.
With his four teammates, Jiang Qiche surrounded Jiang Jinran right under her tower!
Against this iron-barrel formation of five surrounding one, no matter how skilled Jiang Jinran was, there was absolutely no way she could escape alive.
Naturally, the five opponents surrounded and killed her under her tower, making her give up first blood.
However, that was far from the end.
This tactic seemed to work every time for Jiang Qiche. Jiang Jinran had barely gotten a moment's peace before he came to surround her with his four teammates again...
Fuck.
Jiang Jinran had already started cursing inwardly.
Jiang Qiche, are you even a man?!
If you've got the guts, fight me one-on-one and let our mechanics decide! What kind of man keeps calling his teammates over?!
Jiang Qiche kept calling his teammates over to target Jiang Jinran relentlessly together, while Jiang Jinran couldn't get her own teammates to come.
It wasn't that her teammates didn't want to help, but that they were all trapped in their lanes, too busy keeping themselves afloat.
Every one of Jiang Qiche's teammates was a strong laner. After pushing their waves, they moved to mid lane and grouped up to "bully" Jiang Jinran.
Jiang Jinran's teammates, meanwhile, were all busy dealing with minion waves and couldn't move.
Just like that, only ten minutes into the game, Jiang Jinran had already died a full five times.
In her previous matches, she hadn't died once, maintaining her unbroken mantle of immortality, but right now-
Jiang Jinran's score had reached an utterly humiliating 0-5!