While pre-picking champions, it was possible to see what skins your teammates chose. Jian Rong remembered that before he had adjusted his runes, Tang Qin had been using the rare āPAX Twisted Fateā skin, not this 45 yuan couple skin.
Who wouldāve expected them to match into a game with people they knew even while playing on Lunar New Yearās Eve. Jian Rong pulled up his teammateās profile and took a glance at it. Tang Qin was a Diamond 1 player, and although her win rate wasnāt that high, it was still 53%. Her frequently used champions were all mid laners, so she shouldāve been the one to climb up the ranks herself.
This game, Jian Rong was playing top lane Kalista. He absent-mindedly bought his items and walked out of the base. āShould we level 1 team fight?ā
Lu Boyuan seemed to be occupied with something on his end, and he only answered a few seconds later. āNo, they have Caitlyn and Blitzcrank. You can go to your lane.ā
Jian Rong let out an āohā before he turned around and walked towards the top lane.
[Xiao Tang Also Wants To Carry: Arenāt you guys really rather working too hard? Still duo queueing and training even on Lunar New Yearās Eve?]
Though she said āyou guys,ā it was obvious that she was just asking Lu Boyuan. Because he wasnāt familiar with her, Jian Rong didnāt reply.
As time dragged on, the sound of typing never came through his headphones.
A long while later, Lu Boyuan asked in voice chat, āDid you eat lunch already.ā
āI did.ā Maybe it was because before leaving, Ding-ge had instructed him countless times to eat properly, but Jian Rong added without thinking, āI ate noodles, with a poached egg.ā
Lu Boyuan chuckled. āā¦how luxurious.ā
Jian Rong was about to say something else when a message suddenly popped up in the chatā
[[All] Kongkong: Soft, what a coincidence, you also got placed into the top lane?]
[[All] Kongkong: God Lu and Tang Qin-jie are both here too ahā¦ Happy new year, happy new year. Should I just straight up hand my points over this game and forget about trying?]
Jian Rong was startled. Only then did he realize the opposing top laner was actually Kongkong.
As two professional mid laners who both queued into the top lane, it was indeed coincidental.
[[All] TTC ą¼ Road: Happy new year.]
[[All] Just Watch My Gameplay: Then vote to surrender at 15 mins.]
[[All] Xiao Tang Also Wants To Carry: Kong, thankfully you arenāt playing mid, or else Iād be the one handing my points overā¦]
[[All] Kongkong: Canāt surrender, my teammates said theyāre going to carry. Jie, what are you saying? Thankfully Iām not playing mid, youāre duo Qāing with God Lu right now, if I play mid wouldnāt I just be ganked to death by him.]
[[All] Xiao Tang Also Wants To Carry: Iām not~ heās Qāing with Soft.]
Kongkong was playing Camille. Originally, he and Jian Rong were peacefully standing at the opposite ends of the lane staring at each other, neither side interfering with the other. But as soon as he sent that message, Jian Rong charged forward and threw a spear at him.
[[All] Kongkong: ???]
[[All] Kongkong: You learn your Q at level 1 when playing this champ?]
[[All] Just Watch My Gameplay: Got a problem?]
[[All] Kongkong: Nope.]
Lu Boyuan killed the red buff. āCan you beat Camille?ā
Jian Rong didnāt even think about it. āI can.ā
Actually, Jian Rongās champion was a little restrained by Camille. Camilleās passive shield was amazing for dueling, and regardless of whether it was before or after level 6, she could gain the advantage as long as she seized her opportunities.
Even though Kongkong didnāt really know how to play top lane, he felt like he could still rely on his champion to restrain and beat Jian Rong.
Five minutes later, his fantasy was shattered. His health was pitifully beat down by Jian Rong until only a shred remained, and he rushed back under his tower. He couldnāt help but type out a question, completely dumbfounded.
[[All] Kongkong: How come you even know how to play Kalista??]
[[All] Just Watch My Gameplay: Stream request]
[[All] Kongkong: ?]
[[All] Just Watch My Gameplay: Before, in order to earn money, the water friends could designate what champion they wanted me to play if they sent gifts. To tell you the truth, the champion Iām actually best at is Teemo.]
[[All] Kongkong: ā¦ā¦ā¦]
The announcement of Lu Boyuan killing the enemy jungler and getting first blood sounded. As Jian Rong went back to base, he couldnāt resist switching to Lu Boyuanās POV to take a look. Evelynn just got a kill and still had half her health remaining; Lu Boyuan was in the middle of killing the Rift Scuttler in the upper part of the jungle.
[Xiao Tang Also Wants To Carry: Are you two in voice chat together?]
A long while later, Lu Boyuan responded with an āin-game voice chatā only after he finished clearing out the enemyās jungle.
[Xiao Tang Also Wants To Carry: Oh oh. Hurry and come to mid to help me gank a few waves, itās a little hard for me to beat the enemy mid lanerā¦]
Although Jian Rong wasnāt at a disadvantage, he didnāt have a large advantage either. Kongkong played very cautiously, and combined with Camilleās high mobility, nobody had died yet in the top lane at level 8.
When he saw that message, he couldnāt help but shoot a glance at the minimap. Lu Boyuan was already on his way to the mid lane.
Jian Rong stared at it for a few seconds before the sound effect of Camilleās skill suddenly came from his headphones.
Kongkong had just finished consuming two health potions. When he saw that Jian Rong was distracted and had messed up his positioning, Kongkong instantly tried to use his E to dash up and take down the third of Jian Rongās health that was still remaining.
Jian Rong reacted extremely swiftly. He didnāt have much mana left, and he quickly calculated in his head the amount of damage that he could output in this wave. After confirming that there was no way to counter-kill Kongkong, he didnāt hesitate to retreat.
The moment he turned around, he saw the enemy junglerās Nidalee appear behind him. Jian Rongās eyebrows furrowed, and he knew that he wouldnāt be able to escape this time.
The enemy top laner and jungler forced him into the recess by the path. Jian Rong continuously relied on his championās built-in bouncing around to skillfully reposition himself, but unfortunately the space in the recess was too small. Not even someone using scripts would be able to outplay here. After dealing a few seconds of damage, Jian Rong pressed his lips together, already prepared to see his screen go gray.
At the same time as he was CCād by Camille, the sound of a flash came from his headphones.
Evelynn flashed into the crowd and immediately hung a charm on top of Nidalee, followed closely by a burst DPS combo. Nidaleeās health quickly dropped to 30%, triggering the condition needed for Evelynn to deal double the damage with her ultā
[TTC ą¼ Road has slain I Climb To Challenger For Your Dad]
Jian Rongās fingers paused.
Wasnātā¦ Lu Boyuan going to the mid lane?
Lu Boyuan: āKill Kongkong.ā
Jian Rong snapped out of it and didnāt hesitate for a single second, daring to charge forward and spear Kongkong even with barely any HP left. Seeing that, Kongkong gritted his teeth, wanting to exchange a death for a death. He was about to blink over and kill Jian Rong when he was instantly called back by one of Lu Boyuanās charmsā
āDouble kill!ā
After getting the kills, they stood together and recalled to base.
[Xiao Tang Also Wants To Carry: ā¦ā¦ā¦Lu, werenāt you already all the way to mid just now? I was ready TAT]
[TTC ą¼ Road: Hard to gank Fizz]
[Xiao Tang Also Wants To Carry: Just come~ itāll be easy to gank him after I trick out his E skill.]
[TTC ą¼ Road: Depends on the situation, Iām ganking the disadvantaged lane this game]
Jian Rong stared at the two words ādisadvantaged laneā for a few seconds before he pensively shifted his gaze away.
At that moment, Kongkong was streaming from his house.
āSoft is too abnormal.ā He finished buying items and left the base while harping, āBefore God Lu came, I was almost counter-killed by himā¦ but itās no big deal, jungler daddy said that heās only ganking the top lane this round. Weāll be fine as long as we wait for our teammatesā assistance. Soft is pretty good at positioning, weā¦ā
When he got to that part, he just happened to enter the lane. After ensuring he had a dependable escape route that he could use to flee safely, Kongkong tentatively moved forward and used his E. It landed.
Forget positioning, the other person hadnāt even moved.
Kongkong: ā?ā
He dealt out a combo; again, all the skills landed.
Kongkong: ā?ā
Jian Rong returned back to his tower with minimal health. After consuming a health potion, he cleared his throat and called out, āā¦Captain.ā
āMn.ā
Jian Rong said something that he had never once said before in his entire life. āI canāt beat him.ā
His tone was utterly flat without any inflection whatsoever.
After profiting for two consecutive waves, Kongkong said, astonished, in his livestream room, āIāve become stronger?ā
Seeing that Jian Rongās health was so low, Kongkong couldnāt help himself in the next wave. Before his own jungler had even arrived at the top lane, he rushed over to Jian Rong, wielding his grapple.
As a resultā¦ he blinked right onto the stealthed Evelynn.
Lu Boyuan effortlessly dazed him, and the minimal health Kalista was as bold as an ox. Relying on the presence of her jungler, she unceasingly jabbed her spear into his face. A few moments later, Kongkongās screen abruptly grayed out.
It was normal to be ganked. At the base, Kongkong refreshed his items and said, āItās fine, Iām able to suppress Soft already. Iāll definitely kill him this wave.ā
The barrage all said that he was shooting off his mouth.
Up until three minutes later, as they watched with wide eyes as Kongkong perfectly CCād Kalista next to the wall and nearly swept her away.
Kongkong: āDidnāt I say so, Iāve become strongerā¦ fuck!!!ā
A little heart appeared above his headāEvelynnās Allure skill.
In less than ten seconds, Kongkong was sent back home again.
During the third wave, Kongkong learned his lesson and specially called along his jungler.
āI can kill him this time for sure.ā Kongkong said, āIn that first wave, Soft seemed to have just gotten lucky. I feel like heās only so-so at playing this champion, weāre basically doing a 2v1.ā
Three minutes later, Evelynn showed up once again at the top lane. Meanwhile, that āso-soā Kalista charged to the very front and avoided Kongkongās movement-reducing skills while hopping and jumping all over the place and piercing his body full of spears. The moment Kalista ripped the spears from his body, Kongkong perished on the spot.
[[All] Kongkong: ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ @Soft?]
[[All] Just Watch My Gameplay: ?]
[[All] Kongkong: I just want to ask, how are you managing to be suddenly strong and suddenly trash?]
[[All] Just Watch My Gameplay: Oh, Iām an inspiration-type player. Whether I play well or not all depends on my mood during those few seconds.]
Kongkong: ā?ā
His horizons had been broadened.
[[All] Kongkong: So youāre implying that every time before you go on stage in a competition, your teammates all have to coax you?]
Jian Rong wanted to laugh while reading his own message, and he had just typed out a single word whenā
[[All] TTC ą¼ Road: Thatās how it is.]
Jian Rong: āā¦ā
[[All] Kongkong: ā¦incredible.]
Tang Qin glanced at her score: 1/4/1. It was truly a bit unsightly.
She looked at Evelynn, who walked right past her and was the other pair to her couple skin. Her heart felt sour, and she typed something out after a long time passed.
[Xiao Tang Also Wants To Carry: Lu, how about I come and roam with you? Are you still going to the top lane in the next wave? I can immediately fly over with my ult.]
[TTC ą¼ Road: Let me ask]
Ask what?
Jian Rong had just gone back to base and was buying items. As he left the base, his eyes never strayed from the chat.
āJian Rong.ā Lu Boyuan unexpectedly called his name.
Jian Rong said subconsciously: āAh.ā
āFive kills, 200 CSā¦ā Lu Boyuan listed out his stats and asked, āCan you beat him now?ā
Jian Rong pursed his lips guiltily and said after a lengthy pause, āā¦I can beat him now.ā
Lu Boyuan hummed mildly before he typed:
[TTC ą¼ Road: Not going to the top lane anymore. You should just farm by yourself in the mid lane.]
Wei: (if JR were a Pokemon:) Soft learned a new skill: Act Spoiled!