Chapter 111: Training Match

At noon the next day, Coach Lin sent a message to the group chat: “@All Members, gather in the training room at 3 PM sharp this afternoon. I’ve booked a training match with a Korean team.”

A couple of days ago, Coach Lin mentioned that since Tianhuan’s upcoming matches in Group A against teams like CYC, Jixuan, and Xueying should be easy wins, they could take the opportunity to arrange scrimmages with Korean teams to sharpen their skills.

Unexpectedly, Coach Lin was so efficient that he had already booked one.

Chi Shuo asked in the group: “Which team?”

Ye Shaoyang also typed: “Which team?”

Two messages popped up simultaneously. Everyone was used to the synchronized brainwaves of Tianhuan’s Mid-Jungle duo by now. Qu Jiang sent a covering-mouth-laughing emoji and said, “I wanted to ask too, but my hand speed isn’t as fast as you two.”

Coach Lin said: “Team TIP.”

Currently, the strongest team in the Korean region was ATB, led by Cui He and Park Won-seok, last year’s World Champions. The team Coach Lin booked, TIP, used to be a powerhouse in the Korean region as well, but their performance declined later on. They were eliminated in the playoffs last year and failed to secure a spot for the World Championship.

Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo happened to know their captain—when the two were duo-queuing on the international server, they had bumped into Zhou Jiawen and Kim Min-jun. Kim Min-jun was the captain of TIP, who had learned some half-baked Chinese from Zhou Jiawen and often duo-queued with him.

Coach Lin said: “TIP didn’t perform well last season, but their new marksman and mid-laner from the youth training camp this season are very strong. Their current record in Group A is good, and they have hope of breaking into Group S.”

Lin Feng paused, then added: “Originally, I wanted to book the champion team ATB, but when I privately messaged their coach, they ignored me. It seems they look down on our Tianhuan a bit.”

Ye Shaoyang laughed: “Yesterday when I played ranked with Captain Chi, we ran into Cui He and Park Won-seok. They are indeed quite arrogant. Forget looking down on Tianhuan; they look down on the entire Chinese region’s teams. They probably feel that playing a training match with us is like Challengers stomping Bronzes—boring.”

Coach Lin sighed: “Sigh, we can only blame ourselves for not being competitive enough and never winning a championship.”

These words sounded a bit poignant. It was quite difficult for Lin Feng to book international training matches. The champion teams of major regions were impossible to book, so he could only find teams with similar strength to Tianhuan.

TIP belonged to the category of teams in the Korean region that could make the playoffs but might not win trophies—similar to Tianhuan. So when Lin Feng sent the message, they agreed quite readily.

Chi Shuo asked: “How many games?”

Coach Lin: “The usual 2 games, just casually practicing lineups.”

After lunch, everyone quickly gathered in the training room. Coach Lin looked at everyone and said, “Chi Shuo has played against Kim Min-jun, the captain of the Korean TIP team, so he should be very clear about his strength.”

Chi Shuo said: “Mn. Kim Min-jun’s style leans towards stability; he’s a typical farming jungler. He won’t play too aggressively in the early game, but once his economy takes off, he will quickly find opportunities to break a lane and snowball.”

Coach Lin nodded and said, “This season, Team TIP is much stronger than last season. Jungler Kim Min-jun has rich tournament experience, Mid-laner Jung Chang-wook has a deep hero pool, and Marksman Han Seung-soo is a rookie debuting this season with excellent performance. He has already won MVP several times and has the potential to compete for the Rookie of the Year award in the Korean region.”

Hearing this, Cheng Xing couldn’t help but lower his head secretly—both were rookies, yet Han Seung-soo performed excellently and could carry games to win MVP, while he always relied on Brother Yang and Master to carry him to victory. It was truly shameful.

Coach Lin saw Xiao Xing hanging his head and said, “Xiao Xing, I booked this training match with TIP specifically to let you practice bot lane confrontation.”

Chi Shuo and Kim Min-jun had played against each other before. If Tianhuan really played seriously against TIP—Jungle Carry vs. Jungle Carry, or Mid-Jungle synergy invading the jungle—they could likely win. But training like that would be meaningless.

The key to training matches was to find our own weaknesses.

Tianhuan’s current weakness actually lay in the side lanes.

Although Old Qin was stable, he didn’t have many eye-catching performances.

Cheng Xing’s performance was very average, with damage output below 30% per game and low KDA scores, relying entirely on Mid-Jungle to carry the rhythm. He hadn’t reached the level of an excellent marksman yet; he could only be called passable.

Tianhuan’s Sun and Moon were too dazzling, making it hard to see the light of the Little Star.

So, Coach Lin booked a team with a strong marksman for the training match to hone Cheng Xing and help him grow up as soon as possible. Even if he couldn’t reach the level of a top-tier marksman, he should at least become an excellent one.

Cheng Xing understood Coach Lin’s intention, raised his head, and said seriously, “Coach, I will play well.”

Coach Lin instructed: “In today’s training match, Jungler and Mid-laner should not help bot lane. Let Cheng Xing and Qu Jiang handle the pressure. Winning or losing doesn’t matter; we need to find the problems in our bot lane coordination as soon as possible.”

Qu Jiang nodded: “Understood.”

Coach Lin: “Alright, go to the training camp to warm up first. We start at 3 PM sharp.”

Everyone sat down in the training room, opened the bot training camp, and practiced mechanics casually. Half an hour later, Coach Lin said, “Log in to the international server. I’ll send the account passwords to the group.”

Coach Lin had a memo specifically for smurf account passwords. After he copied and sent them to the group, everyone logged in according to their positions.

The five accounts were the ones used last time against the American FNO team Mitchell and the others—all Bronze rank.

Coach Lin opened a custom lobby, pulled in the Korean TIP coach, and then both sides started inviting players.

Soon, the 10 slots were filled, and everyone swapped order.

On Tianhuan’s side, it was a neat row of TH001~TH005, all Bronze. On the Korean side, it was TIP-A, TIP-B naming convention, also 5 Bronze smurfs.

Coach Lin turned on the room voice chat. Immediately, a young man’s voice came through everyone’s headphones: “Hello, everyone. I am, Kim, Min-jun. Very happy, to meet, everyone.”

Everyone: “…”

Ye Shaoyang held back his laughter and said, “His phrasing… sounds a bit strenuous.”

Chi Shuo said: “Zhou Jiawen taught him.”

Captain Zhou was the “social butterfly” who debuted on the international server and knew professional players from various countries. Mitchell, Kim Min-jun, and others were all familiar with him and learned some Chinese and emojis from him.

Coach Lin said politely: “Hello, hello. We are ready on our side. Shall we start?”

Kim Min-jun: “Okay. Do, you, want, Blue, or, want Red?”

Everyone was stunned.

Qu Jiang was confused: “Asking us directly if we start Blue or Red? Is he going to invade?”

Coach Lin realized and said: “He probably means to ask if we choose Blue Side or Red Side.”

Everyone: “…”

Coach Lin said: “We, take, Blue, first. Next game, you, Blue?”

Kim Min-jun: “OK.”

Coach Lin was led astray by Captain Kim opposite him, pausing after every word as if he couldn’t catch his breath. But at least both understood each other.

So in the first game, Tianhuan was set as Blue Side, picking heroes first. First pick or last pick didn’t matter much in training matches; both sides were practicing lineups and could pick their preferred systems.

Tianhuan took a very standard lineup: [Black Dragon Knight], [King of Fighters], [World-Ending Mage], [Forest Messenger], [Holy Spirit Archer]. Top lane continued to play weakside, Jungle and Mid could carry rhythm, and Bot lane played for late-game scaling.

TIP took a lineup with a weakside [Paladin] top, [Stealth Rogue] jungle carry, [Kraken of the North Sea] mid, and a bot lane of [Radiant Shield] + [Wind Spirit].

Cheng Xing instantly felt immense pressure.

[Stealth Rogue] could go invisible to flank and delete him, [Kraken of the North Sea] could use its ultimate to eat him in one bite, and [Wind Spirit] had flexible positioning, making laning difficult to handle.

Moreover, Coach Lin said Jungler and Mid shouldn’t help bot lane. This game was simply “Bot Lane Hell Mode.”

The match began.

Chi Shuo started Red, clearing from bottom to top. After finishing the first buff rotation, he roamed to top lane with Ye Shaoyang, leaving bot lane completely abandoned. However, the enemy [Stealth Rogue] supported bot, and their Mid came too.

Just as Cheng Xing wanted to retreat, a red exclamation mark appeared above his head—

This was the sign that an invisible enemy was nearby.

Cheng Xing was so scared he Flashed immediately, but it was useless. The enemy 4v2 tower-dived brutally, taking Cheng Xing’s life with a full combo. Qu Jiang couldn’t escape either.

At the same time, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang coordinated with Old Qin in the top lane to tower-dive and kill the enemy top laner.

After respawning, Cheng Xing returned to bot lane. Just as he cleared a wave, the enemy support suddenly jumped in with a stun, rooting Cheng Xing. The marksman [Wind Spirit] moved rapidly, whittling him down to critical health. The jungler hiding nearby suddenly popped out, executing a backstab combo to take his head again.

Top lane, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang also sent the enemy top laner back to base.

TIP’s Top Laner: “…”

Tianhuan’s Marksman: “…”

Top lane “weakside” became “can’t-hold-side,” and bot lane “farming lane” became “no-farm lane.”

Kim Min-jun quickly realized Tianhuan was focusing on top lane this game and abandoning bot. So he frequently supported bot, pushing the outer tower as fast as possible. Cheng Xing, killed three times in a row, was almost autistic.

Equally autistic was TIP’s top laner. Top laners used to be lonely, but this time it was too lively. The enemy Mid and Jungle came to visit him at the drop of a hat. He really wanted to say: Don’t come over here!

Both sides’ top and bot outer towers fell almost simultaneously.

Both sides started grouping mid to push. Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang coordinated to try and burst the enemy marksman, but TIP’s marksman flashed and used a displacement skill to escape. TIP’s mid-laner used a Devour ultimate to cripple Cheng Xing, and the enemy jungler collected Cheng Xing’s head once again.

Cheng Xing: “…”

On how difficult it is for a Marksman “To Live.”

The first game ended in less than 20 minutes. Although Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang pierced through the top lane, our marksman died too many times in the early game. The economic gap was too large, and he couldn’t deal damage in team fights at all.

Coach Lin: “I, go, drink, a sip, of coffee.”

Coach Lin: “Rest, five minutes, okay?”

Kim Min-jun: “Okay!”

Coach Lin took a tactical break. Seeing Cheng Xing’s dejected look with his head hanging low, he walked over and said gently, “Xiao Xing, was that game the most difficult situation you’ve faced since you started playing matches?”

Cheng Xing whispered, “Mn.”

Because Mid and Jungle deliberately didn’t come to help, bot lane was often 2v4. Even the most awesome player couldn’t win a 2v4, right? Being killed was normal. It was just that dying too many times made him feel terrible inside.

Coach Lin patted his shoulder and said, “In official matches, Chi Shuo and Shaoyang wouldn’t just watch you die without caring. Your pressure will definitely be much less than in this training match… However, you can’t always rely on your teammates. You have to find ways to protect yourself.”

Cheng Xing nodded: “I know. Brother Yang said, a marksman must find a way to live.”

Coach Lin: “Next game, try playing [Wind Spirit], the marksman with the highest mechanical difficulty but also the most flexibility. Try your best to survive and drag it to the late game. Can you do it?”

Cheng Xing took a deep breath, quickly adjusted his mindset, and nodded vigorously: “I can!”

Coach Lin turned on the microphone and said, “Let’s start.”

Kim Min-jun: “Start! We, Blue?”

Coach Lin: “Okay.”

In the second game, TIP was Blue Side and picked first. They took the classic tower-pushing bot lane + Jungle Carry. Tianhuan switched marksman to [Wind Spirit], and Support took [Radiant Shield] for stronger protection.

Both sides started frantically ganking bot lane. Cheng Xing learned his lesson this game. When the enemy jungler tower-dived him, he instantly used Cleanse and used his Q skill to jump into the side bush, escaping with low health.

In the second wave, when Kim Min-jun came to gank him again, Cheng Xing’s Cleanse was on cooldown, and getting CC’d would mean instant death. Qu Jiang hurriedly raised his shield to block the key damage. Using the terrain advantage, Cheng Xing activated ‘Gale’ state, jumped over the wall into the Red Buff pit, and ran away again!

His positioning was extremely flexible, like a lively rabbit.

Kim Min-jun found this marksman quite hard to kill, so he changed strategy to gank top, running right into Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo waiting in ambush. The two joined hands and deleted him.

In the second game, both sides tugged back and forth, dragging it to the 25-minute late game.

In the team fight, Cheng Xing activated his ultimate for rapid positioning and damage output. Although he was eventually caught and burst down by Kim Min-jun, he dealt massive damage before dying, crippling the entire enemy frontline!

Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo cleaned up together, ending the game with a triple kill.

Returning to the lobby, Kim Min-jun said: “Your, Mid-laner, very strong. Is he, a rookie?”

Coach Lin said: “Yes. Your, rookie, also very strong.”

Kim Min-jun: “Have, opportunity, play, training match, again.”

Coach Lin: “Okay, goodbye.”

Both sides politely exchanged compliments and logged off.

They didn’t go all out in today’s training match; it was just a simple spar to practice and adjust their state.

In the two games, Ye Shaoyang’s performance was indeed impeccable, no wonder he was singled out for praise by Kim Min-jun. Cheng Xing died miserably in the first game, killed 5 times in a row, but adjusted his mindset immediately for the second.

What surprised Lin Feng was that after Cheng Xing brought out [Wind Spirit], a hero requiring flashy mechanics, the effect wasn’t bad, and he persisted until the late game.

Did I underestimate Xiao Xing’s potential?

Previously, he always let Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang carry the rhythm, covering up Cheng Xing’s brilliance. In future matches, perhaps he could let Tianhuan’s marksman play a bigger role?

If Tianhuan wanted to make it to the World Championship, relying solely on Mid-Jungle wasn’t enough. The marksman position couldn’t be a weakness.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng clapped his hands, signaling everyone to take off their headsets, and said, “Everyone performed well in today’s training match. The pressure in the upcoming Group A matches isn’t high, so Cheng Xing can pick some carry marksmen and try to deal more damage. Before entering Group S, I hope Tianhuan improves not only in Mid-Jungle but in overall strength!”

Ye Shaoyang couldn’t help but approve in his heart—Coach Lin’s thinking was actually correct.

How much water a wooden bucket could hold depended not on the longest plank, but the shortest one. Similarly, how far a team could go depended not on the strongest player, but the weakest one.

Once a breach was opened in one of the three lanes, opponents could easily snowball.

Tianhuan’s Mid-Jungle was indeed strong. But Mid-Jungle alone wasn’t enough to contend with world-class powerhouses. Once Cheng Xing was instantly deleted in a team fight, Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo’s damage output wouldn’t be enough. So, taking the opportunity to train Cheng Xing in Group A was right.

Don’t wait until Group S to get bot lane destroyed; training then would be too late.