Rise

The audience couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Conversations, discussions and arguments broke out between all of the High School 13 students in the audience! Some of them didn’t understand why this change was even necessary. They argued and yelled at the stage about how perfectly in-sync An Xin and Lin Feng were during Game 3 of the Finals. Others yelled about how the two of them made Shanghai High School, who were the favourites for the title, look like beginners. But most of them were just upset by the change and nervous. They looked at each other and talked about how High School 13 only needed one more game to win the whole tournament! They wanted someone to explain what was happening, and none of them could. They moaned about how they thought they were going to be the Champions of Shanghai at the end of the last game!

The change agitated High School 13’s students because they were already picturing the trophy sitting in their school’s trophy cabinet! But right as they started to taste victory, the esports team threw a curveball at them. The magical Mid-Jungle duo had been broken up! An Xin left the Jungle to Liu Yue and decided to hook up with Tang Bingyao as a Support in the bot lane.

“Crazy? Or crazy GOOD? Maybe she’s an even better Support!” “Calling it right now! Best Support China! Go Nami, gooooooo!” “Show us that girl prowess! Guys have nothing on us! GIRLS WILL RULE THE WORLD!” “Oh my sweet lord, this is sooooooo exciting!”

Shanghai High School was just as surprised as High School 13’s students. The team members had watched Zeng Rui struggle for the last half of the previous game and also during the subsequent break. Zeng Rui had looked lost, as if for the first time ever he didn’t have the answer. He couldn’t come up with a strategy to beat the Mid-Jungle pair of Lin Feng and An Xin. And they’d worried with him. They came to him with suggestions, which he wouldn’t even listen to. But they still tried to help him. They wanted to do anything they could to help their team captain. But now they didn’t need to worry about that anymore. High School 13 brought them the solution by changing strategy. They leaned back in their chairs, smiling, relaxed.

Zeng Rui, on the other hand, didn’t share the optimism of his teammates. Something’s wrong. What is she doing? He looked across the stage at High School 13’s team. And at An Xin. Why do I have this feeling again? Last game was the same and then… He shook his head and tried to rid that thought from his mind. Last game is played. I need to focus on this game. If she wants to compete with me for Support, I’ll… I’ll just… He grinned and said over the team’s voice chat, “We’re going to win this one. I’ll show her exactly how good of a Support I am.” I’m going to beat her!

Westwind sat at the caster desk, dead silent. It looked like he’d left his tongue in the breakroom as he was staring at the large screen above the stage. They didn’t just change their lineup, they also changed their strategy. He finally looked over at Silent Reed who was sitting next to him and nodded. Then he grabbed his microphone and said, “Looks like High School 13 has a different plan in mind for this game. What do you make of this, Reed?”

“It’s interesting. Very interesting,” Silent Reed replied. “Honestly? I don’t get it. They were so good last game. They looked unbeatable! And now they change everything. Lin Feng who is by far their best player even picked Lulu! Lulu is a Support Champion! She is the defensive choice in mid lane when you’re afraid your team is going to lose! He’s so much better than Shanghai High School’s Midlaner. Why is High School 13 doing this?”

Silent Reed knew the answer to her question perfectly well. She was merely creating a dialogue, something for the audience to latch onto. She winked at Westwind, who grinned and answered, “I think it’s pretty obvious what they’re going for! They’re building a team around the Vayne! She basically has two Supports now! You know what we call this? The ‘Protect-the-ad-carry’!”

Silent Reed shook her head and said, “I believe you, but… Ok, listen up here. Don’t get me wrong. I really want the girl playing Vayne to do well. I really do. But if today’s games are anything to go by… I mean, it just… It looks like a bad choice by High School 13. Maybe they got a little overconfident after the ease with which they won the previous game.”