Rise

Lin Feng had been farming Jungle Camps over the last couple of minutes. His Olaf had the Blue Buff, which lowered the cooldowns of his skills and increased his mana regeneration, allowing him to spam Undertow without having to worry about running out of mana. He went from one Jungle Camp to the next, throwing his axe back and forth, each time chasing after it to pick it up again. In the meantime, he kept his eye on the minimap, searching for opportunities. That was when he saw the Rek’Sai gank Yang Fan’s Lissandra. He was too far away to help, so he could only watch it happen. But then the Rek’Sai moved towards the bottom of her side of the Jungle. Lin Feng was hovering near the bot lane, only a short distance away from Shanghai International’s Jungle. He didn’t need to think and directly started chasing after the Rek’Sai. He found her at the Gromp Camp.

Lin Feng had his Olaf throw an axe at the Rek’Sai, then ran forward to pick it up and throw it again. The Rek’Sai had used her skills in the gank in mid lane. Flash was also on cooldown. She found herself back in the same situation as a couple of minutes before. The Olaf attacked while she tried to run away. But his slow was too strong and her health was too low. He kept attacking until she only had a little bit of health left. Then he jumped up, raising his axes high above his head, and hacked down with such force that he dealt true damage to the Rek’Sai and himself–Reckless Swing! The Rek’Sai died; he lived.

《You have slain an enemy!》

Westwind shot up from his chair at the caster desk, microphone clutched in his grasp, and shouted, “OLAF HAS DONE IT AGAIN! He killed the Rek’Sai in her own Jungle! Is she safe anywhere? I THINK NOT! Don’t you guys agree?” He paused for a moment, winking at Silent Reed as the crowd cheered in response to him. Then he continued, “But some real talk here, guys. What this Olaf is doing isn’t all about luck. A really skilled Jungler can predict the pathing of their opponent and play accordingly. I’m pretty sure that’s what this Olaf here is doing. Insanely impressive. LET’S HEAR IT FOR OLAF!”

Silent Reed shook her head, smiling, as the crowd erupted into a second round of cheering. They hung on Westwind’s words, doing as he asked of them. She looked over at the stage and said, “That’s some prediction ability. The Olaf is practically living in the Rek’Sai’s jungle. Reminds me of that Jungler from a few years ago. What’s his name...”

Westwind turned to Silent Reed and said, “Right! Shit. I can’t remember either. You mean the, ‘your jungle is mine and my jungle is mine!’-guy, right?” He waited for the nod from Silent Reed and then continued, “They really do share some similarities. Maybe it’s a brother from another mother! Haha!”

In the private seating area of the competing teams, Zeng Rui sat at the edge of his seat, staring intently at the large screen. He was always meticulous in his approach. But until now, he hadn’t considered High School 13 a threat. He’d watched them play and concluded they weren’t good enough to make it to the Finals. The team he watched back then and the team in front of him right now were completely different. This team did have what it took to make it to the Finals. And that thundering dumbass also knew how to Jungle. Lin Feng had played every role at some point in the tournament and had never lost a game. Zeng Rui would be a fool if he didn’t recognize that. So, for the first time in this year’s Shanghai 16 School Tournament, he got really serious.

✹

Chu Fang watched the Semifinals backstage, out of view from others. He was grinning and laughing. There was a mixture of emotions overflowing from him. Joy. Gratification. Hope. It’s really him. It really is! He’d watched every second of the High School 13 games, every second of Lin Feng. He’s not there yet. But it’s him. It’s really him! He’ll get there again! Chu Fang couldn’t keep the smile from his face. He was beaming! All his hard work with setting up the Shanghai 16 School Tournament was worth it. He’d found the talent he’d been looking for! The biggest talent of them all. Lin Feng!