ARML CH58

After finishing ranked matches, it was already 12:40 AM.

The [White Fox King] hero requires a massive amount of mechanics during team fights, and playing consecutive ranked matches was indeed very tiring. Ye Shaoyang rubbed his aching wrists and said, “Captain Chi, let’s stop practicing here for today.”

Chi Shuo didn’t want to continue either, so he simply shut down his computer: “Alright, let’s go back to the dorm and sleep.”

Qin Yizhu was playing solo-queue to practice heroes, a plate of walnuts on his desk, eating while playing, the very picture of a “top laner aloof from worldly strife.” Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing were also playing ranked on the domestic server. As Chi Shuo stood up, he happened to see the word “Defeat” pop up on their screens.

Chi Shuo paused and asked, “How come you lost again?”

Cheng Xing hung his head, not daring to breathe loudly.

Ye Shaoyang smiled: “Did Xiao Xing get ganked into a collapse?”

Qu Jiang replied, “This game wasn’t really Xiao Xing’s fault.” He opened the post-match settlement panel, pointing to Cheng Xing’s 9-4-5 KDA, and then pointed to the 1-9-3 KDA of one of their teammates, saying helplessly: “We ran into an actor (match-fixer/troll).”

In a 5v5 game, if a teammate intentionally feeds the opponent and lets them snowball, no matter how good you are, being suppressed by equipment makes the game very difficult. The domestic high-star King tier is also a mixed bag, with many streamers, professional players, and pubstompers. Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing had been stumbling in their ranked matches these past two days, their win rate only hovering around 60%.

Chi Shuo asked with concern: “How is it? Has your synergy improved?”

Qu Jiang saved some face for Cheng Xing, saying: “We’re a bit more coordinated than before.”

Chi Shuo leaned closer to the computer: “Let me see the match history.”

He opened Qu Jiang’s history; it was a solid wall of MVPs—Defeat, Victory, Defeat… But the problem was, Qu Jiang was playing the support role. If the support gets the MVP, it means the jungler, mid laner, and marksman didn’t perform their expected roles in the match.

In most matches, Cheng Xing’s rating hovered between 7 and 9, rarely exceeding 10. Meanwhile, looking at Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang’s match history, Ye Shaoyang’s average rating was consistently above 10.0.

The rating depends on team fight damage output and KDA (Kills/Deaths/Assists). The key reason for Cheng Xing’s low rating was too many deaths. Of course, it’s normal for a marksman to die, after all, the enemy jungler will target the marksman for ganks.

But averaging 5 deaths a game—isn’t that too much?

There was even a game with 8 deaths?

Chi Shuo opened the match history where the marksman died 8 times, looked at Cheng Xing, and asked faintly: “Dying 8 times, you’re really something. Did you bash your head against their defense tower?”

Cheng Xing: “…”

Captain Chi was not polite at all when criticizing his disciple, even stricter than the coach.

Sure enough, Cheng Xing blushed furiously under the scolding, his head nearly drooping onto the keyboard.

Qu Jiang tried to smooth things over from the side: “Cough, we ran into A’Yan on the opposing team this game, Xiao Xing got ganked to a pulp.”

Chi Shuo raised an eyebrow: “A’Yan is also playing ranked on the national server?”

Qu Jiang replied: “Yeah, he seems to be solo-queueing.”

Chi Shuo remained silent for two seconds, his gaze towards his disciple still stern: “Even if you run into A’Yan, you shouldn’t be ganked to death 8 times. In future official matches, are you just going to hand the enemy jungler a Legendary streak?”

Cheng Xing hung his head and whispered: “I’ll be more careful next time…”

Seeing Cheng Xing’s eyes turning red, Ye Shaoyang proactively spoke up to ease the atmosphere: “Xiao Xing just switched to the marksman role, he needs some time to adapt.” He walked forward, patted Cheng Xing’s shoulder comfortingly, and smiled: “Marksman is the role that needs to farm the most. If you don’t die in the early game, you’ll be the BOSS in the late game. Be more patient, don’t rush, take it slowly.”

Cheng Xing didn’t expect Ye Shaoyang to speak up for him. He froze for a moment, cast a grateful glance at Ye Shaoyang, and blushing, said: “I know, Brother Yang. I’ll be more careful with my positioning in the future.”

Ye Shaoyang said: “Alright, let’s head back to the dorm first. Don’t stay up too late, you guys.”

Chi Shuo gave his disciple a glance, turned, and left with Ye Shaoyang.

The two returned to the dorm side-by-side. Upon entering, Ye Shaoyang, while feeding Xiao Bai (the cat), asked: “Who is this Ah’Yan that Qu Jiang just mentioned? To be able to completely crush the bottom lane and kill Xiao Xing 8 times, this jungler sounds very formidable.”

Chi Shuo explained: “A’Yan, his match ID is YanYan, real name Yan Yan, is the jungler for the Huowen team. Outside of training hours, he likes to solo-queue on the national server.”

Ye Shaoyang remembered this person.

When he watched the Huowen vs. Jingzhe match, because the highlight moments were all on the captains of both sides, the jungler’s performance didn’t stand out, so Ye Shaoyang didn’t pay him special attention. But looking at it now, this player’s skill wasn’t weak either.

Chi Shuo elaborated: “Zhou Jiawen made a name for himself on the international server, and the Huowen team signed him back for a high price. Actually, before Zhou Jiawen joined, Huowen also played jungle-core compositions. A’Yan’s strength isn’t weak. After Zhou Jiawen joined, in order to coordinate with the mid-laner’s style, Huowen started playing various positional warfare and team crowd-control systems. A’Yan’s brilliance was partially overshadowed by Xiao Zhou, but this player actually performs very stably.”

Ye Shaoyang was puzzled: “Huowen’s jungler and mid-lane are both quite strong, don’t they play mid-jungle synergy?”

Chi Shuo replied: “Huowen also has mid-jungle synergy compositions, but usually with the mid-laner as the core and the jungler providing crowd-control. Because when Zhou Jiawen plays matches, he loves to one-shot people with a single combo.”

Thinking back to Zhou Jiawen’s [World-Ending Mage] in the arena, he indeed one-shot the enemy backline with a single combo. Forget about using Flash to escape, the opponent couldn’t even react before dying instantly. Zhou Jiawen’s playstyle was fierce yet calm. It was hard to imagine that this talent was only 19 years old, becoming the captain of Huowen at such a young age.

Ye Shaoyang asked curiously: “The most formidable mid-laners in the China region are Zhou Jiawen and Fang Zhengqing, right?”

Chi Shuo said: “Right. Zhou Jiawen prefers artillery mages, one-shotting people from a distance; his match style is clean and decisive. Fang Zhengqing prefers summoner-type mages, slowly torturing the opponent to death; his style is somewhat like a hunter playing with their prey. Both of them also know how to play mage assassins, but the two teams don’t have many compositional systems centered around mage assassins.”

Ye Shaoyang turned back to look at Chi Shuo, asking with a smile: “Then what style does Captain Chi think I have?”

Chi Shuo recalled Ye Shaoyang’s ^_^ after getting a kill and coughed lightly: “Yours is probably the ‘infuriating people to death’ style?”

Ye Shaoyang nodded thoughtfully: “Makes sense. Infuriating the opponent to death is also a psychological tactic.”

Chi Shuo: “…”

Xiao Bai finished eating, meowed, and hugged Ye Shaoyang’s trouser leg. Ye Shaoyang leaned down to pick it up, smiling: “Captain Chi, go to sleep early. Good night.”

Chi Shuo watched him walk into the bedroom holding the cat, a hint of gentleness floating in his eyes.

Shaoyang hadn’t learned all the mid-lane heroes yet. But from the few mid-laners he had learned so far, Chi Shuo could already feel his unique match style. Don’t be fooled by Shaoyang’s usual love for smiling, or his frequent ^_^ during matches; as Ye Shaoyang’s partner, Chi Shuo knew very well—he was the calmest, and also the sharpest mid-lane player Chi Shuo had ever seen.

It wasn’t just about simply infuriating people and making the opponents’ mental boom.

He was also a sharp sword capable of piercing through the clouds.

Meanwhile, at the Huowen team base. The coach and players were all wide awake, without a hint of sleepiness.

Yan Yan had just finished a ranked match when he heard Coach Li calling him from the side: “A’Yan, come over here too, take a look at the review of this match.”

Yan Yan walked over in confusion, standing behind Captain Zhou’s computer: “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Jiawen pointed to the names Sunshine and Moonlight on the screen, saying: “The Sun and Moon expert duo that suddenly appeared on the international server. Previously, the rookies from Mitchell’s team were crushed by their ‘Flying Duo’; today, I happened to run into them on the international server, and they switched to playing the ‘Black and White Duo’.”

Yan Yan immediately leaned his head in with interest: “Black and White duo? How many years has it been since they appeared.”

Coach Li sighed emotionally: “Yeah, that’s why we’re curious about the background of these two.”

Starting the review, the coach adjusted the playback speed to 0.5x.

The bottom lane duo Zhou Jiawen faced at the time were also professional players, and he was suppressed by the marksman and support, so he didn’t have much time to observe the mechanics of the Black and White Wolf and Fox. Now, with the match over, observing the entire game from an omniscient perspective, he realized that the synergy between these two was terrifyingly high.

Coach Li exclaimed in surprise: “This pincer movement, the [White Fox King]’s mechanics are very detailed! The 4 little foxes encircled from two directions, leaving the [Nightmare] hiding in the bush with nowhere to run!”

Yan Yan said thoughtfully: “Their positioning was like a pocket surrounding the enemy mid-laner.”

Zhou Jiawen added: “Furthermore, the [White Fox King]’s ‘Spirit Fox Protects Master’ prediction was incredibly timely. The instant the opposing ninja appeared, he pressed this skill, blocking a critical hit.”

Coach Li said: “The opposing ninja should be Fujita Naoya. Not many players can block Fujita’s backstab critical hits, but in this game, the [White Fox King] blocked it twice in a row. Have you guys noticed, from beginning to end, he was never solo-killed by the jungler? The only time he died was when the enemy mid and jungle teamed up, a 2v1 to instantly burst him down.”

A brief silence fell over the training room.

Yan Yan quickly spoke up: “From my perspective as a jungler, this mid-laner is extremely, extremely difficult to kill. His sense of smell is very sharp; he always seems to be able to sense where the jungler is camping him. He feels like the kind of… veteran player with rich tournament experience, who has formed conditioned reflexes from being frequently ganked by world-class junglers.”

Why are rookies easily killed? Because they lack tournament experience. Junglers have various ways of camping in bushes and assassinating you; slightly lowering your guard will lead to getting ganked to death. However, experienced veteran players can sense danger through subtle details.

Tournament sense of smell might sound like metaphysics, but fundamentally, it’s a subconscious conditioned reflex formed by rich tournament experience. For example, during the wave where the mid-lane jungler went to gank him, the enemy jungler was completely invisible in the [White Fox King]’s vision, but just because the enemy mid-laner took a step forward, he decisively used Flash.

Zhou Jiawen frowned slightly: “This person’s game sense is more terrifying than using a wallhack.”

Coach Li’s mood was complex as he looked at Yan Yan: “The jungler [Black Wolf King], what do you think of his skill level?”

Yan Yan said with certainty: “World-class.” He pointed to the footage of the final team fight, “His understanding of the jungle terrain is like his own backyard. Look at these consecutive wall jumps by the Wolf King; his entry points were chosen exceptionally well. After one-shotting the opponent, he can not only pursue but also retreat at any time.”

Some junglers gank with a “no return” playstyle; they kill the opponent but also die themselves. But every time this jungler Moonlight ganked, he always left himself a way out, capable of advancing to attack or retreating to defend, coming and going without a trace, taking heads from a thousand miles away and escaping unscathed!

This kind of assassin is the most terrifying. You don’t know where he’ll pop out from to kill you, and after killing, he can swagger away, only to pop out again a few seconds later to kill your teammate.

For a harvest-type jungler, securing 4 kills in a team fight is enough to prove how precise his grasp of entry timing is.

Zhou Jiawen said thoughtfully: “Looking at it this way, the player of the mid-lane Fox King seems very much like a veteran player with rich tournament experience? The player of the jungler Wolf King doesn’t look like a rookie either?”

Coach Li scratched his head in confusion: “Two veteran players teaming up on the international server? Which team are they actually from?”

Zhou Jiawen and Yan Yan exchanged a glance. Yan Yan asked: “If we encounter them in a match, what does Captain Zhou think our chances of winning are?”

Zhou Jiawen was silent for a moment before smiling and saying: “I don’t know.”

He truly didn’t know. Such a mid-jungle synergy, with tacit coordination and explosive burst potential, if they really made it to the arena, as long as they weren’t suppressed, it would lead to a total game collapse.

Zhou Jiawen looked puzzled: “Are there veteran players like this over in Europe?”

In his previous life, Ye Shaoyang was indeed assassinated multiple times by world-class junglers, forming sharp conditioned reflexes. It’s no wonder the Huowen team misjudged him as a veteran player.

The next day, Ye Shaoyang arrived at the cafeteria feeling refreshed. After breakfast, he went to the training room and turned on the computer. It wasn’t even 8:00 AM yet. His and Chi Shuo’s schedule truly didn’t resemble that of esports players.

Today they continued to practice the Black and White Wolf and Fox combo. Above King 20 stars on the international server, there were very few trolls, and the probability of running into professional players increased significantly. With their winning streak these past few days, they were also nearing 20 stars.

In a ranked match exactly at 9:00 AM, they clearly ran into professional players; the marksman and support were duo-queueing. The two of them once again bypassed the support to forcefully kill the marksman, killing the bottom lane marksman three times in a row.

In the training room of a certain team in the European region, a young man swore in anger and sent the recording to his captain.

In the early hours of the morning, Mitchell turned on his computer and suddenly received a recording. In the recording, Sunshine and Moonlight used the long-disappeared Black and White Fox combo to completely crush the opposing bottom lane. This bottom lane duo belonged to the TP team from the European region.

Mitchell: “???”

How did it circle around and end up back with him! He sent the recording to Zhou Jiawen again: “The European region says they don’t know these two. Koreans?”

Zhou Jiawen: “Kim Min-jun posted the recording in their professional players’ group, no one admitted to it.”

Mitchell replied: “Then I’ll post it in the World Alliance group and ask around.”

The Gods’ War World Alliance Professional Players Group. This group was even more terrifying than the China region’s [Gods’ War Super Gods]—it was filled entirely with world-class players, the captains of teams from major regions that had previously made it to the World Championship. They usually chatted in broken English, using automatic translators, but they could understand each other.

There were also many coaches in the group who would privately add friends and schedule cross-region scrims. For example, Tianhuan belonged to the China region. During the regular season, scheduling scrims with teams within their own region, regardless of winning or losing, would always psychologically impact the players the next time they met. However, scheduling scrims with teams from North America, Europe, or Korea had absolutely no impact.

Mitchell sent the three match videos in succession.

The first game was when their team’s rookie encountered the Sun and Moon duo at the beginning; the two were playing the Flying synergy. The second game was when Zhou Jiawen and Kim Min-jun coincidentally queued into the Sun and Moon duo; the two were playing the Black and White Wolf and Fox. The third game was when the European team ran into the two; their Black and White Wolf and Fox were unbelievably proficient, crushing the bottom lane in 10 minutes.

Mitchell asked in the group: “Which region are they from?”

The professional players instantly turned into detectives and began asking around amongst themselves.

Ultimately, the European region concluded: “These two aren’t from our region.” Korea: “Not ours either.” Japan: “They probably aren’t from our country, players over here aren’t awake at 9 AM.” Zhou Jiawen said: “They probably aren’t from our China region either, the earliest risers over here don’t get up until 10 AM.”

Seeing the recordings, Fang Zhengqing: “…?”

Are you sure, Xiao Zhou?

Why do I have a very strange feeling.

There are indeed very few professional players in our China region who wake up bright and early in the morning.

But there is a streamer.

His name is Xiao Bai, have you guys forgotten?