League of Legends: League of Unknowns

Bao Jun’s tone grew heavy, with his respect toward the professional players, and he started to read the report from the Deputy Secretary General of ACE.

 “To our beloved audience and our LOL fans who are watching from home, as I congratulate Team Skycrown for obtaining victory in their second match, I would also like to announce some sad news. That is, the ADC from our strongest team, Team Daemons—Asmodai, will be withdrawing from the e-sports professional scene from today onward…”

 “In the earlier days, before Bai Feng of Team Revelations had appeared, who was the strongest ADC in China? I think nobody would hesitate to say that it was Asmodai. He was the one who taught us how to play Ezreal, Graves, Vayne, and many other old-timer ADCs as well as Caitlyn who was nerfed later on. It was he that taught us that even Twitch was a champion that was able to carry the entire game…”

 “It was also him who had led our ADC trend for almost a year, no matter what his abilities are like now, no matter how many better ADCs are standing out now, I hope that you remember his ID with the most respect and fondness. Remember the contribution that he has given in our local LOL scene, remember that today, he will be leaving our LOL professional arena!”

 When was there ever a time that the spotlight was on the losing team after a competition?

 Luocheng heard the words from the commentators just as he took off his headphones, and his eyes searched frantically and finally found the person who was wiping his eyes non-stop with his sleeves.

 He was retiring!

 Luocheng couldn’t believe his own ears.

 He was retiring…

 Then this was his last game!

 Luocheng’s mind was in chaos and everything else around him was drowned out in white, the only thing he could see was Asmodai’s figure.

 He recalled back when he had still been in university, when Asmodai had challenged himself, to raise the banner of e-sports…

 Why, why had he suddenly decided to retire?

 Were the rumors true, that his capabilities were declining!?

 In these two matches, Luocheng hadn’t faced Asmodai and Mephistopheles head-on at the bottom lane, and so, he couldn’t tell whether Asmodai’s strength had really declined.

 At the very least, that side-stepping had led Luocheng to think that Asmodai still retained the quality of a professional player.

 Luocheng stood where he was, not moving. Da Luo who had just removed his headphones obviously hadn’t heard what Bao Jun had just announced, and he was moving toward the center of the stage when Luocheng stopped him.

 “Let’s go shake their hands.” Lin Dong said.

 Luocheng nodded his head, walking in front of his team.

 When Luocheng, Zhou Yan, Wu Sen, Da Luo, and Lin Dong came to stand in front of Team Daemons, Asmodai had already rubbed off the stains from his face that he himself thought to be ridiculous, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes plastered on his face.

 He thought he had covered it up, but he wasn’t aware that the camera had already caught the footage of him previously.

 “You’re really retiring?” Luocheng asked, his throat dry.

 The question was hard to choke out, and it was obvious. Only another professional player would understand how difficult it was for someone who had such passion for e-sports, who enjoyed the wisdom and actions, how hard it was to say retirement.

 Asmodai had turned away, but he replied, “Yeah, I’m a bit tired. I’ll be taking a break.”

 Everyone who was there knew that he was lying. He was like a demon just now, a dying man who was struggling till the end with that desperate look.

 “Our 1 vs 1, it was a draw. We should still be able to have a chance to meet again, if you’re not there, there will be a lot of things missing.” Luocheng said.

 Asmodai didn’t say anything, he didn’t know how to respond to that.

 He knew that he was being an embarrassment, his back facing the cameras and thousands of spectators.

 Luocheng didn’t say anymore, shaking hands with the other members of Team Daemons…

 “Fighting Hawk.”

 Just as Luocheng and the others were heading backstage, Asmodai turned around, those eyes which were unreadable, focusing on Luocheng’s back.

 Luocheng paused in his steps, turning around to look at the twenty-four year old man.

 In his eyes, Luocheng saw the familiar expression of solitude and helplessness. It was the same look he had seen in Coach Qin’s eyes when Huang Yu had injured his hands…

 Was it something that all the people who had chosen the path of e-sports would have in their eyes, this helplessness and solitude…

 “Why did you choose to retire at that time, and what made you return?” Asmodai asked from afar.

 A person who loved e-sports down to the bone, how could they even mention the word retirement. Asmodai couldn’t understand why Luocheng had chosen to leave in the first place, he was clearly stronger and better than so many other people. The loss of the championship once was nothing, he wasn’t someone who would easily accept defeat!

 Luocheng was startled, it felt as though this question wasn’t pertaining to just Asmodai when it was asked.

 Why had he retired?

 Because at that time, he didn’t know what the point of victory was anymore. He had lost his loved ones and felt like a stranger toward his own friends. When he closed his eyes, it automatically drew out the image of the game, nothing else mattered.

 And now, why had he chosen to return?

 Because now he knew what he wanted, he knew what he was chasing and what he loved. Come to think of it, it was quite funny. He didn’t know why he had set such a high goal for himself, saying that he wanted to do something for the e-sports industry. Wanting to change the society’s view of something that was perceived as dangerous and addictive in nature. He was just an ordinary person who had won several trophies and titles, and a student for a few years…

 He and Asmodai had said that they would reach the top in the field of e-sports, their goal was high and ambitious. Maybe his comeback would just be a bunch of sacrifices made to the immature e-sports industry and he too would retire from the field in tears.

 Whether or not it would happen that way, Luocheng didn’t know. He just knew that if he didn’t choose this path while he was still young, if he didn’t go all out against the skies and fight for it fiercely, he would forever hate himself as well as the person who tried to stop him!

Luocheng didn’t make his comeback for Xiao Bei, and it was definitely not because he felt he had the responsibility to fight for the championship. He believed that even without Xiao Bei, there would come a day when he would embark on the path of e-sports once again.

 You know your own heart the best.

 However, Xiao Bei had exchanged his life, which was the push he needed to overcome his hesitation on returning to the field. To a professional player, this little bit of time was so very precious, letting Luocheng still have sufficient time to fight for it, rather than waiting for him to grow older where his finger speed and reaction time would have long declined!

 He who had never challenged himself, who had yet to reach that state of competitiveness, who had not been able to claim victory, who had not been able to obtain the championship…

 Asmodai stood there, waiting for Luocheng’s answer.

 Luocheng was aware that he was waiting, and after a long while, he opened his mouth to answer, “I retired for myself, and the comeback, was also for my own sake!”

 “Let’s give a warm round of applause to our top China teams’ exit, two very exciting matches. Presumably even for those overseas who are watching our LPL, I’m sure they have been surprised by our two teams. Looking forward to seeing if our Team Skycrown would have the chance to enter the Worlds, let the foreign teams see the power of our Republic of China!” Bao Jun said loudly, his tone heated.

“A draw, 1 to 1, and both teams have obtained 1 point each. This is the only match that Team Skycrown has lost in this LPL, and if I remember correctly, their next opponent is Team Sky who has been on a victory streak. That will probably be the last confrontation in our LPL. In the past, it had always been Team Daemons against Team Sky in the finals, will Team Skycrown bring us a different champion this year!?” Li Hua said.

 A different champion?

 That’s right, all these years, Team Daemons had completely dominated the championship, but this year was unexpected. They had lost to Team Sky with a 2 to 0, and now, they had drawn with Team Skycrown with a 1 to 1.

 Thus, for Team Skycrown who had only lost one game and Team Sky who had been on a victory streak, the championship would now fall into either one of their hands.

 No matter which team won, it would be a different champion this year. Could it be possible that these two teams were already stronger than Team Daemons?

 If Team Daemons could win the third place in last year’s group stage, then these two teams who had been tempered and trained to be stronger, could it be possible that they would qualify for the group stage into Worlds, and for the first time in China LOL e-sports history, bring back the trophy for being one of the top eight in the world!?

 Maybe, it was possible!

 The next game would be Team Sky against Team Skycrown, and following the announcement by the two commentators, the millions of LOL spectators had become even higher!

 ***

 “I thought that you would be beaten 0 to 2, but being able to win one match, that’s incredible!” At the backstage, Zhang Aijing smiled as she spoke to Luocheng and his team.

 Once the competition ended, the other professional players left the stands and headed toward the backstage.

 “Team Daemons was just caught off-guard by the strange tactics you used. If it was a normal play, the score would definitely be 0 to 2.” Guan Langjie walked past Da Luo, his face full of disdain as he said those words.

 This year, their Team Sky had beaten Team Daemons 2 to 0. Langjie didn’t know what the big deal was that Team Skycrown had won just one match against Team Daemons.

 Da Luo grew angry at the sight of Team Sky’s members, and his hand shot out and pulled Guan Langjie’s collar, bringing his face near to his as he stared into his eyes, “Don’t talk like you’re all that in front of me, believe me when I say I will deliver a kick that will flatten your a*se!”

 Langjie was not afraid at all. After all, this was the backstage, he was sure that Da Luo wouldn’t do anything stupid here.

 “Let go of me, I’m not the one to blame for your previous ADC so don’t take it out on me. So what if I’m not happy with your team? Other than using brute force, what else can you do?”

 “Last time we beat you like dogs, and now you still don’t know how to tuck your tail between your legs?” Lin Dong said, walking over and pushing Da Luo away.

 Aijing was also watching Langjie with unsatisfied eyes, muttering a number under her breath.

 Guan Langjie’s face turned red instantly, you could even see the steam coming out from his ears, “Our captain wasn’t around that time!”

 “So what if Zhao Tinghua had been around?” Da Luo said, laughing coldly.

 “If he was there, don’t even dream of ever taking the championship!” A voice came from beside the studio, it held an indifferent tone, but at the same time slightly provocative.

 A tall figure stepped out from behind the darkness and into the light.

 Luocheng’s eyes became turbulent while Da Luo became even angrier. Zhou Yan went silent and Lin Dong also stopped talking.

 Blood Eagle, Zhao Tinghua!

 Their most trusted teammate who had once competed with them in the World Competition!