Rise

《Pentakill!》

The announcer’s voice boomed out from the stadium speakers. The bass thrummed on the ground. The 9,000 fans felt the vibrations come up their feet and into their voices as they were screaming their lungs out. Colourful beams lit up the dome and flashed around. The Zenith Paris was on fire! Then the hall went dark. A sudden change. A sudden silence. A single beam of light lit up and shone down on Tian Tian. The large LCD screens started a replay. The Fiora dashing through Assassins’ team with her Bluesteel rapier, reaping lives. It was the perfect play. It was a...

“P–P–P–PEEENTAAKILLLL! GOD ROUNDY GETS THE PPEENNNTTTAAAAAA!” Lolo cried out! She jumped off her seat on the commentator desk and grabbed her hair with both hands. Her expression said more than a thousand words. Utter joy and disbelief.

Stone was drumming on the desk, laughing. That same expression of joy and disbelief. “God Roundy! What a hero! He gets the first penta at Worlds this year! What a brilliant play! Holy… Damn. The timing. The teleport, focus… Perfection.” He forced his head away from the replay and looked into the camera. “For all you people sitting at home, wondering what perfection looks like? This was it. This was perfection. God Roundy is perfection! It was all planned and executed to perfection! PERFECTION! Did you all see that Flash? That’s only possible if he knew the Zenith Blade was coming for him. He was prepared to hit that D! It was fucking perfect! God Roundy, if you watch this back later. I LOVE YOU! That was just… perfect.”

Qinghe didn’t jump up from his seat, nor did he join in the laughter. Not on first sight, anyways. But his attempt at hiding the big smile on his face fooled exactly zero people. Anyone could read the joy in his expression. He turned to the camera and said, “Don’t forget the rest of KG! It was the quick turn around and follow up by their Mid and Support that helped God Roundy to get the Penta! But let’s talk a little about the rest of the game now. Assassins’ plan failed. God Roundy got back into the game. KG now has a solid lead. They might’ve lost two players in this fight, but that’s nothing compared to the penta and first Dragon. KG really has to screw up from here to not win this game.”

The pentakill killed the deadlock the game was in. Tian Tian was catapulted ahead of everyone else, grabbing both the gold and experience lead. His KDA went up to 5/0/0 and he’d become Unstoppable in the span of a single teamfight. It was a double whammy for Assassins. All their effort, resources and strategizing were out the window. Their gameplan of shutting Tian Tian down had failed, miserably. It’d completely blown up in their faces! There was no one on their team who could stop him now. Even sending two members after him wouldn’t change that. He was too far ahead. Two members sent his way was the same as giving away two more kills. This situation was a nightmare for them.

The crowd was cheering KG! The casters celebrated the phenomenal performance! The millions of KG fans all across the globe could finally relax back in their chairs. KG was doing it. They were winning! Even the critical Lin Feng joined the bandwagon. He smiled and said to Su Xue’s stream, “KG should win this game. They’re doing it! Actually, let me make it a little more clear. If KG doesn’t win this game. If they let Assassins get back into it and win, then they might as well swim back home to Shanghai!” It was a running joke in China. A punishment for a team that didn’t just underperform, but a team that played so badly that they should feel too ashamed to ever show their faces again!

KG wasn’t planning to swim home, or take the plane. They were going to stay in France and make it to the next round! Their first step was this game. There was a small change to their gameplan. Tian Tian was now the main carry. The resources in the game were shoved his way and the rest of the team played around him. He was so strong that with the help of his team, there was nothing Assassins could do. It didn’t matter how good Read XIII’s Lee Sin was. It didn’t matter how well they played. The gold gap was too big. Tian Tian was too far ahead. And he only played better. Towers fell and Assassins were pushed back into their base.

Read XIII slammed down on his keyboard. He gripped his mouse and almost squashed it in half. “Fuck fuck fuck! The hell did that fatass eat? He’s never been this good! What the fuck. He’s playing out of his fucking mind!” He knew Tian Tian was good. They went way back. But there was a clear distinction between being good and being great. This game, Tian Tian was great. Maybe even better. So good that Read XIII, as a King, could do nothing to stop him. Read XIII was powerless to turn this game around.