They won
Chenhe woke up later than expected. The curtains weren't completely drawn, and a breeze lifted a small gap, letting the slanting sunlight shine on the floor—a rare beautiful day.
He leaned against the headboard to wake himself up, picked up his phone, and saw that Chen Yuchuan had sent the message quite early:
"I've left the key on the table. Someone will prepare the food when you wake up. There are drinks in the fridge. Go for a run upstairs."
Shen He stared at the screen for a few seconds without replying to the message, and then decided to sleep a little longer.
After finishing their meal and cleaning up, it was almost 1:30. Shen He put away Chen Yuchuan's keys, took a bottle of water from his refrigerator, and didn't get up until his phone alarm rang. He then grabbed his coat and went out.
At 2:30, ASG held a brief pre-match meeting.
The coach's tone was more somber than in the previous two games.
"KGD's individual skills aren't particularly outstanding. They're used to playing it safe in the early game, ensuring the development of the advantageous lane, and they don't pick overly strong single-target heroes, but we can't rule out the possibility of changing their strategy. We won't gamble; we'll still focus on teamwork."
Finally, he emphasized: "The most important thing in this game is discipline and rhythm. Just follow the instructions and decide who should move and who should stay put. This is a team game, not a game won by individual heroism."
After finishing the business, the coach glanced at everyone and said, "Don't cause any more trouble. If there are any problems in this game, we'll be at the bottom of the standings. Focus before the game."
As they walked out of the conference room, Zhou Yifan paused and deliberately walked side by side with Shen He.
He lowered his voice, his tone seemingly casual but actually carrying a hint of excitement: "To be honest, after playing so many official matches and scrimmages, this is the first time I'm preparing to team up with you without considering the lineup."
Shen He glanced at him sideways, and Zhou Yifan's eyes lit up, revealing an undisguised youthful vigor.
“If there are resources in the upper half of the bracket, you should come over,” he added. “I will also try my best to move down the bracket and help you find opportunities.”
Seeing his expectant look, Shen He didn't dampen his spirits and replied, "Okay."
During the break between the first game, before the stage lights were even turned on, the noise from the audience could be heard through the soundproof glass. City B is the main base of the champion team VLG, and the e-sports atmosphere is always very strong. Some people had already organized the fans of the two teams to shout trash talk at each other.
After Gao Mingyuan finished adjusting the equipment, he turned to the side and said to Shen He in a low voice, "Didn't you ask the coach to play? Why hasn't he come yet?"
Seeing his mischievous look, Shenhe couldn't help but laugh: "Why don't you go and call him over? I don't know him well."
During the draft phase, the coach still gave the first pick to the top, mid, and jungle. However, Zhou Yifan let the top and mid picks get strong heroes first, and he picked a fast laner himself. KGD picked the ranger, and Shenhe continued to pick Firefly.
Overall, both KGD and ASG drafted solid lineups, avoiding risky picks that relied heavily on mechanical skill, and their compositions were well-balanced: frontliners, initiators, and core damage dealers were all present.
Before the game, it seemed like neither side was at a disadvantage, but neither side gained an advantage. The outcome depended on the ability to seize opportunities during the game. Whoever could take the initiative first would be able to turn the tide of the entire game.
As expected, the opponent tried to push the lane during the laning phase. Shenhe and Gao Mingyuan both knew that the lane just needed to stay in the lane.
Gao Mingyuan played it safe, sacrificing some minions and experience to conserve his strength. Zhou Yifan didn't rush to invade the top side of the map to start a new game; instead, he farmed his own jungle, cleared vision, and used the fog of war. His frequent appearances made the enemy hesitant to be too aggressive.
Shenhe reminded him, "Stop fighting the lizards, come over here beforehand to untie the ropes."
Zhou Yifan revealed his intentions directly on the bottom lane. The enemy jungler did not reveal his movements. Li Anze used fake vision to not help the top lane, but instead came to ambush. Sure enough, he ambushed the enemy mid laner who came to support, forcing out both of the enemy's carry's summoner spells.
In the first dragon fight, the enemy's Flash was almost there and they didn't plan to engage, but Gao Mingyuan Flashed in and started the fight. Although the fight was a bit of a struggle, they managed to trade two kills for three, but they prevented the enemy from taking the Rift Herald and gained a significant advantage.
Although the heroes in Shenhe's hands were not particularly strong, he played much more comfortably with this complementary rhythm, and the mid lane was noticeably easier, no longer running around the top and bottom lanes as before.
Having suffered a loss, the opposing team gave him no more chances. Shenhe handed the bottom lane to Li Anze to carry, while Zhou Yifan went to counter-gank. He then immediately bought Split Arrows to farm the mid lane and jungle, quickly accumulating gold.
More than ten minutes passed, and although ASG did not have an absolute advantage, they did not lose any resources or rhythm, and the game looked smoother than the previous two games.
The advantages of picking a strong hero in the top lane are also evident. Zhang Cheng can push the lane and create pressure on his own, so the team doesn't need to give him too much extra attention. Because the economy and vision in the bottom half of the map are gradually suppressed, he can still develop safely even though he gets ganked a few times.
The commentator couldn't help but praise: "ASG played much smarter today than in the previous games. Although they didn't seize any big opportunities, the bot lane and jungle synergy still managed to open a gap in the usually stable KDG."
Shen He's gaze remained focused on the screen, but he seemed a little more relaxed. This round, as long as he didn't make any mistakes, he'd have it.
Although the opposing team put considerable pressure on them in the late game, ASG's frequent lane switching and split pushing ultimately led to their defeat.
The second game's draft was similar. Shenhe didn't have many good options, so he ignored what the coach said and randomly picked [Star-Patterned Snail], a squishy ADC with no mobility, strong stationary ability but short range, and long-range and long-duration control skills.
This is an extremely unpopular hero, designed in a contradictory way. His incredibly high stats and extremely short range leave him with almost no good attack positions. Once he misses his ultimate, he's practically useless, and the ultimate's projectile speed is very slow, making it easy to dodge. The coach's tone was a bit harsh, but it wasn't shown on camera. The commentator was also stunned for a moment, "What is Styx doing??? Did he pick the wrong hero???"
Once the game started, Shenhe barely showed up. Zhou Yifan tried to cross the lane, but Shenhe stopped him, saying, "Wait until I have my ultimate." In addition, the support picked a poke mage, whose protective ability was slightly weak. They were ganked several times, lost a lot of tower plates, and fell behind in gold, but they still managed to survive until level six.
As the game progressed into the mid-game, the opposing team's defensive lineup made it difficult for them to establish a rhythm. Shenhe's equipment didn't follow the conventional path, instead focusing on cooldown reduction. Gao Mingyuan also abandoned protection and opted for control and damage output. Shenhe's damage output was slightly lower, but his control frequency was ridiculously high, giving ASG many opportunities for single-target kills.
The commentator couldn't help but laugh: "The other side can't find him at all, they're just hiding in the bushes and shooting arrows from the shadows."
Another person added, "This was a popular fish-frying game for a while, and I never expected ASG to bring it to the competition."
Looking at his own 7-2-1 score and Shen He's 1-5-10 score, Li Anze couldn't help but laugh and tease, "Wow, you've turned an ADC into a support."
Gao Mingyuan laughed, "Looking at the panel, I feel like my damage output is higher than yours."
In the final team fight, Zhou Yifan initiated the fight, and Shenhe unleashed his ultimate at close range. Although he fell, he delivered crucial crowd control. The mid and support players then combined to unleash a high burst of damage. The top lane had already pushed the minion wave, and ASG successfully destroyed the main crystal.
"Congratulations to ASG!" The commentators were in high spirits. "They played very intelligently in this game, with a stable rhythm and clear thinking. Especially Styx, although he didn't get MVP, his control and poke made the mid and jungle players very comfortable."
Another person laughed and said, "I think the MVP should go to Styx. I thought he picked randomly, but his proficiency with these unpopular heroes is still ridiculously high."
Shenhe took off his headphones. These two games were indeed won cleanly and beautifully. At the very least, the trust and cooperation among the team members had improved a lot.
After the match, the atmosphere was noticeably more relaxed than the previous two. Back in the locker room, Zhou Yifan came over and sat down next to Shen He, his voice low: "I still didn't feel very comfortable playing."
Shen He glanced at him sideways but didn't say anything.
“The hero you picked isn’t strong in lane, and the resources I can give you are just so-so,” Zhou Yifan said frankly. “The two of us aren’t really in sync yet. The reason we were able to get going in this game was mainly because they made too many mistakes. If we were on a stronger team, it wouldn’t be so easy to win.”
Shen He took a sip of water and hummed in agreement, "I took the snail because I thought it was a sure win, but I didn't expect it to work so well."
After thinking for a moment, he said:
“If you don’t just blindly follow the coach’s ideas and get stuck on the details, you’ll win the game much more easily.”
Zhou Yifan paused for a moment, then turned to look at him and smiled: "Are you praising me?"
Shen He did not give a direct answer, but calmly said, "It's better to have a judgment than not to have one."
Neither of them said anything more, but they both knew in their hearts that today's victory was not due to any one person leading the charge, but rather that the signals from all sides finally aligned, even if it was only briefly, it was still a beginning.
Today's interviewee is Gao Mingyuan. After saying goodbye to Shen He and the management, he returned to the hotel early, packed the spare peripherals and personal belongings he had left behind yesterday into his bag, hailed a taxi, and went straight to Chen Yuchuan's house without much delay.
For him, it didn't matter where he slept. But he always felt that if he didn't go there, Chen Yuchuan would be a little disappointed.
Shen He pushed open the door and entered the house. It was quiet inside, with warm lights automatically turning on and a faint scent of wood in the air. Shen He changed his shoes, washed up quickly, and leaned back on the soft sofa. At that moment, he truly escaped from the noise and commotion outside.
Not long after, the doorbell rang. It was the same couple who had cooked for him yesterday. The uncle smiled at him and went into the kitchen to prepare the ingredients. The aunt, while tying her apron, asked with a smile, "Xiao Shen, what would you like to eat? I made you some of the local specialty soup."
Shen He sat up straighter, his tone gentle and polite: "No need to go to too much trouble, just make whatever he usually eats."
He added, "Thank you for your hard work."
The aunt waved her hand with a smile: "Why are you being so polite, child?"
Seeing the aunt's smiling face and good intentions, Shen He was about to say something when Chen Yuchuan's call came in at the right time. He smiled apologetically and went to the balcony to answer the call.
"Congratulations," Chen Yuchuan said with a smile, "One official MVP and one people's MVP. Not bad, Styx."
As the night breeze blew through Chenhe, his voice still a little tired, he said, "It's alright."
Chen Yuchuan said with a smile, "Did you have a lot of fun today? You even took out a snail. Your coach's face was so sour, you didn't really pick it randomly, did you?"
Shen He raised an eyebrow: "The opponent's strength is average. Their draft looks solid, but it doesn't stand up to scrutiny. My last pick is to see which counter heroes the opponent picks based on their lineup, okay? How can that be considered a random pick?"
Chen Yuchuan clicked his tongue: "You can justify playing recklessly? Others may not know you, but I know you too. Before, when we were duo-queuing, you would use these underhanded tricks to annoy your teammates and the opposing team."
Shenhe warned him, "Keep your mouth shut, that's all you need to know."
Chen Yuchuan laughed and said, "Okay, okay, okay."
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Don't go back. Just stay in City B and come back a few days later."
Shen He leaned against the glass, his tone still languid: "There's a debriefing meeting on Monday."
“You weren’t this proactive when you were in school; you were always skipping classes or asking for leave.”
Chen Yuchuan's tone was slightly dissatisfied, "Your coach is incredibly stupid. He speaks slowly and ramblingly, and it's all nonsense. He should just ask for leave."
Listening to his complaints, Shen He couldn't help but chuckle, "This is the first time I've heard something so reasonable from you."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Chen Yuchuan's sneer came through, tinged with smugness: "Wait for me, I'll come back right after I finish the call tomorrow."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
