Mid-jungle dual-carry synergy is one of the classic strategies in 5v5 matches.

Because the mid lane is closest to both top and bottom lane teammates, its rotation and roam speed are the fastest. Since the jungler needs to map-roam globally, the champion best equipped to keep up with the jungler is the mid-laner.

When the jungler ganks top lane, the mid-laner can rapidly arrive to assist; when ganking bottom lane, the mid-laner can also rotate in time to help.

Jungler champions usually deal high burst damage, but if the enemy has a support protecting them, a single combo burst might not necessarily insta-kill the target. In that case, the gank becomes useless and might even end in the enemy counter-killing them.

If the mid-laner follows up, the combined damage of the mid-laner plus the jungler is more than enough to execute enemy squishies.

This is the terrifying aspect of “mid-jungle synergy.”

However, mid-jungle synergy places extremely high demands on the unspoken chemistry between the mid-laner and the jungler. Once the synergy falls short, it easily turns into a tragedy: mid and jungle roam together, one dies and the other feeds, effectively throwing all three lanes into ruin.

Back in Season 6, Team Tianhuan relied on their mid-jungle synergy strategy to set the record for the highest win streak in the Regular Season. That year, Chi Shuo had just made his debut. The young player’s style was incomparably sharp—his signature [Bloodstained Assassin] slaughtered across the entire Rift, while his [Stealth Rogue] struck fear into everyone’s hearts. The squishies he had instakilled could form a line wrapping around the map.

At that time, Tianhuan’s mid-laner was Chi Shuo’s mentor—the talent scout who had brought Chi Shuo into the esports scene.

Later, a major game update added high-experience river crabs on both sides of the mid lane, forcing both junglers to contest river control and drastically speeding up the game’s tempo. Mid-jungle synergy could no longer exert its suffocating pressure, and the meta shifted toward a steadily scaling bottom lane, sparking the rise of the marksman-plus-support combo.

After Chi Shuo’s master retired, Tianhuan’s newly cultivated mid-laner, Qu Jiang, specialized in control mages, displaying a style completely different from Chi Shuo’s. Consequently, Tianhuan’s team strategy gradually pivoted toward their marksman.

Furthermore, because everyone knew how formidable Chi Shuo was, opponents targeted him ruthlessly. When playing against Tianhuan, enemy coaches would continuously ban Chi Shuo’s jungle pool, leaving him almost no chance to pick his preferred champions.

Tianhuan’s performance last season wasn’t ideal. They barely scraped into fourth place in the playoffs and failed to qualify for the World Championship. Although they managed to reach the playoffs again this season, Chi Shuo remained far from optimistic about the upcoming matches.

His jungle role was being heavily targeted. While mid-laner Qu Jiang played very steadily, the mages Qu Jiang excelled at lacked burst kill potential and were better suited for team fights. Yet in Tianhuan’s team fights, veteran marksman Nie Cheng’s hand speed was declining, rendering him unable to keep up with his teammates’ tempo. Meanwhile, the new marksman had not fully matured, leaving Tianhuan stuck in an awkward transitional phase.

Although Team Tianhuan had begun its downhill slide over the past two years, Chi Shuo’s eyes remained fixed on the World Championship trophy—it was his ultimate obsession.

Could Xiao Bai be the teammate he had been dreaming of?

Chi Shuo couldn’t be sure yet.

However, he was unwilling to let this opportunity slip away.

An opportunity that could completely overturn Tianhuan’s plight.

As Chi Shuo was lost in thought, footsteps sounded behind him one after another. The night-owl players had all woken up. Chi Shuo looked down and saw it was already 1:00 PM—Tianhuan’s lunch time.

A voice of surprise came from nearby: “Master, you got up so early for training?” It was Cheng Xing, who had just finished lunch and rushed to the training room, two grains of rice stuck near the corner of his mouth, his eyes wide. “C-Coach is here too…”

The teenager looked just like a middle schooler caught red-handed by his head teacher after arriving late to class.

Dejected and uneasy.

Coach Lin walked over, patted his head, and said warmly, “Captain Chi and I had some matters to discuss, which is why we got up early today. Don’t worry, you woke up at your normal time, so no one is going to scold you.”

Cheng Xing glanced cautiously at Chi Shuo. Sure enough, his master had no intention of scolding him. Chi Shuo shut down his computer and said indifferently, “I’m going to eat lunch.” After taking two steps, he turned back to glance at Cheng Xing and frowned: “Wipe your mouth.”

Cheng Xing instinctively wiped his mouth, discovered the two grains of rice, and flushed deep red with embarrassment.

Coach Lin chuckled: “You’re almost 18, so why are you still acting like a kid? Hurry up and get to training. Practice last-hitting for 2 hours this afternoon, then spend 3 hours solo-queuing with marksmen. Reach Master 30 Stars today.”

Cheng Xing nodded vigorously: “Understood, Coach!”

When Chi Shuo arrived at the dining hall, several other Tianhuan players were currently eating.

As a top-tier domestic club, Tianhuan had purchased a 3-story building in the scenic suburbs of the Capital, converting it into their esports base. The third floor housed dormitories for players, coaches, and staff; the second floor held several training and meeting rooms; while the first floor featured a gym, recreational area, tea bar, and dining hall.

The club paid top dollar to hire professional chefs for their meals, so the team’s food was consistently top-notch.

Chi Shuo set down his tray and sat at a dining table. Qu Jiang, who was mid-meal, put down his chopsticks and asked curiously, “Captain Chi, what’s the occasion? Why up so early today?”

Nie Cheng also yawned and said, “Don’t you usually sleep until noon? In my half-asleep state this morning, I thought I heard you getting up around nine.”

Chi Shuo didn’t mention Xiao Bai to them. Since nothing was set in stone, revealing it now would only distract them and affect their match focus. He said casually, “It’s nothing, just got up early to discuss tactics with the coach.”

Support Song Yuning asked, “By the way, has the playoff schedule come out?”

Nie Cheng downed the rest of his egg drop soup, wiped his mouth, and said, “I just checked the official league website. The first match in the Winners’ Bracket is Jingzhe against Huowen. Matches in the Winners’ Bracket are bound to be intense.”

The teammates fell into a brief silence.

Tianhuan’s performance in the Regular Season this year had been quite poor. Qualifying barely as the fourth seed in their group, they were placed into the Losers’ Bracket.

The playoffs followed a double-elimination format. Losing in the Winners’ Bracket meant you still had a second chance, but losing in the Losers’ Bracket meant immediate elimination. For the upcoming matches, they wouldn’t be able to drop a single game if they wanted any hope of taking the championship.

That hope was exceedingly slim.

Especially with veteran Nie Cheng’s form starting to decline, the lack of synergy between mid-laner Qu Jiang and jungler Chi Shuo, and the fact that Chi Shuo was being targeted so ruthlessly, making their team fights feel constrained and stifled.

For a team that had once set the record for the highest Regular Season win streak to now be sliding downhill was a painful feeling. Yet, the players continued to work hard, desperate to change the situation.

Qu Jiang broke the silence with a smile: “Between Jingzhe and Huowen, who do you guys think has the higher win chance?”

Coach Lin Feng happened to walk over carrying his food tray. Hearing this, he chimed in: “A battle between top-tier domestic mid-laners. In a match between these two teams, it all comes down to the mid-laners’ performance.”

Old Nie sighed with emotion: “Fang Zhengqing’s Cobra King has been permabanned for two whole seasons now. Jingzhe’s poison composition hasn’t been let out of bans even once since S8 World Championship. I’m actually really looking forward to seeing him get his Cobra King.”

Chi Shuo said, “When Jingzhe plays Huowen, the coaches will definitely ban mid lane. Fang Zhengqing’s [Viper King] won’t be released, and Zhou Jiawen’s [Goddess of Flame] will also be placed on the ban list out of respect.”

Champions banned during the BP phase were essentially “locked in the dark room” and could not be picked for that game.

For a player to force a champion onto the ban list was a testament to their individual skill. An opposing coach would only ban your hero if they truly feared what you could do with it.

Fang Zhengqing’s Cobra King remained permanently banned because the poison team comp they created was simply too obnoxious. Even the league’s top mid-jungle combos or marksman-support combos couldn’t reliably beat Jingzhe’s dual-poison mage strategy.

So banning it outright was easier than letting him use it.

Chi Shuo suddenly wondered: if one day Xiao Bai entered the professional league…

Would his [Abyssal Lord] be drawn onto the ban list?

After all, Xiao Bai was about to secure the rank of National No. 1 for [Abyssal Lord].

Just then, Team Manager Tang Can walked into the dining hall with a beam on her face and said, “Next Saturday is the playoff opening ceremony. The league doesn’t require every team to attend, so teams without matches don’t have to go. I wanted to check everyone’s thoughts—the opening ceremony is in Star City this time, so should we head over early?”

Star City?

Xiao Bai’s city badge for Abyssal Lord was ranked #1 in Star City.

Gods’ War assigned regional rankings automatically based on the player’s login IP. Him holding the #1 spot in Star City meant he was currently living in Star City, Mingzhou Province.

Chi Shuo pondered for a moment, then suggested in a low voice, “I recommend going early. Our match is scheduled for next Thursday, also at the Star City venue. Heading over early lets us get familiar with the environment.”

Tang Can looked toward Coach Lin.

Lin Feng smiled: “Chi Shuo makes a good point. Let’s go early to prevent anyone from getting jet-lagged, out of sync, or struggling to adjust their schedule. Little Tang, book the plane tickets and hotel rooms for everyone, and I’ll send you the final headcount list later.”

Tang Can nodded: “Got it! Oh, right, the tournament committee mentioned that the league reserved a row of VIP tickets near the stage area for all the teams. You can bring family or friends to watch the matches live. Anyone who needs them can register with me.”

Chi Shuo said, “Give me two tickets.”

Tang Can looked at him curiously: “Captain Chi, you have relatives in Star City? Are they going to watch the match in person?”

Chi Shuo replied, “A friend.”

The “friend” he referred to was, of course, Xiao Bai.

Through his careful observation of Xiao Bai, Chi Shuo had realized the streamer possessed extraordinary gaming talent.

He desperately wanted to meet this person in real life.

If he were to bluntly say, “Streamer, I’m coming to your house to find you,” the other party would surely decline. Offering match tickets was a method that allowed Xiao Bai to attend the venue without feeling guarded, while also allowing Chi Shuo to meet Xiao Bai face-to-face.

He wanted to see for himself whether this Xiao Bai was truly suitable to become a professional esports player.

When Ye Shaoyang returned from lunch, he saw that his client had gone offline, leaving him a message: “Xiao Bai, I have something to take care of this afternoon, so I can’t queue with you. Once your Abyssal Lord takes the national title, I’ll come back to drop some gifts for you.”

Since his cousin had gone to a classmate gathering and his client was busy, Ye Shaoyang decided to solo queue.

In solo queue, all four teammates were unknown variables, and he occasionally ran into AFK trolls, losing a few games along the way. Fortunately, Ye Shaoyang had already recovered his feel for the mid lane from his past life, executing mechanics with increasing fluidity.

In this game, as long as your mechanical execution was top-tier, even if you lost, the defeat MVP wouldn’t lose too much hero power. The hero power on his [Abyssal Lord] steadily climbed, surpassing 10,000 by the time he logged off that night.

The weekend was peak traffic time for online players. To ensure his ranking wouldn’t be overtaken, Ye Shaoyang ground out ranked games for two more days, pushing his [Abyssal Lord] hero power to its maximum cap of 12,000. His rank also climbed to Supreme King ×30 Stars.

On Monday at 00:00 sharp, Ye Shaoyang received a system notification—

[Congratulations! Based on last week’s hero power calculations, your champion [Abyssal Lord], with a hero power of 12,000, ranked No. 1 nationwide and earned the title of [National No. 1 Abyssal Lord]!]

National No. 1—marked by a striking golden trophy icon!

Looking at his very first national title in this world, Ye Shaoyang smiled, stood up, and stretched his back.

All his hard work over the past few days had not been in vain.

Because he earned the national title badge, a flood of stream gifts began spamming Xiao Bai’s live room screen—

[Xiao Bai’s Fan No. 1 sent the streamer Xiao Bai Deep-Sea Torpedo ×1] [Don’t Lose Ranked Streak sent the streamer Xiao Bai Deep-Sea Torpedo ×1] [Jungler No. 8 sent the streamer Xiao Bai Deep-Sea Torpedo ×100]

Ye Shaoyang sat back down in front of his computer and said, “Thanks to Xiao Bai’s Fan No. 1 and Don’t Lose Ranked Streak for the torpedoes. Thanks to Jungler No. 8 for the 100 torpedoes… Boss, you’re spending too much, please don’t drop any more.”

Jungler No. 8 was back.

This big spender in Xiao Bai’s stream was absurdly generous. Whenever he showed up, the bottom-left chat exploded with a continuous stream of gift alerts, triggering a wave of “666” comments in the chat as viewers begged to latch onto the rich guy’s thigh.

[Jungler No. 8: Congrats to Xiao Bai on securing the National No. 1 title for [Abyssal Lord]]

[Jungler No. 8: Check your in-game private messages]

Ye Shaoyang closed the stream window and opened his in-game private chat—

“The playoffs kick off next Saturday at 2:00 PM. The playoffs are split into Southern and Northern venues, and the Southern venue is right at the Star City Esports Center. I saw earlier that you held the Star City local badge for Abyssal Lord—are you based there? I have two extra tickets. If you’re interested, you can bring your cousin along to watch the match live.”

Attached below were the QR codes for two electronic tickets.

Ye Shaoyang typed back a reply: “Thank you, boss!”

He hadn’t expected this year’s playoff opening ceremony to take place right on his doorstep.

A rare opportunity to watch the matches live—there was no way he was going to miss it!