All-Round Mid Laner

d like a very fashionable model.
His slight smile gave him a very refined look.
And so, less than two years after going pro, he'd become just as popular as older players like Fang Zhengqing.

Zhao Xin'an shouted from the front of the seating area, “Little Zhou!”

Zhou Jiawen smiled at him and greeted Zhao Xinping.
“Captain Zhao, you guys came all the way from Star City to watch the game.
That's a pretty long trip.”

Zhao Xinping answered mildly, “We have nothing to do anyway, there aren't any games to play.
The league will reimburse us for our airfare.”

Team Huowen's Coach Li smiled brightly and scooted over to Lin Feng.
He asked, “Rumor has it your Tianhuan's marksman and support have retired, right? Have you settled on your marksman and support for next season yet?”

As soon as that question was asked, everyone who heard pricked up their ears.

Lin Feng answered with a smile.
“Not telling you.”

Coach Li fell silent.

Zhao Xin'an laughed boisterously from up ahead.
“Coach Li, your undisguised espionage is too much.”

Coach Li shrugged.
“I haven't asked you anything yet, what are you getting worked up for! Your Beimu's mid laner has retired too, right? How's it going? Have you found a suitable new mid laner yet?”

Zhao Xin'an really wanted to complain—he'd originally wanted to sign the streamer Xiao Bai, but someone else had beaten him to the punch! Just the thought of it made him mad.

Zhao Xinping calmly answered, “We've actually been thinking we'd like to have Captain Zhou sign with us.
Will Huowen let him go?”

Zhou Jiawen politely flashed a slight smile.
“Captain Zhao really wants to sign me? Then I'll talk to my club and request a transfer.”

Zhao Xin'an flapped a hand.
“Forget it.
You're too expensive, we can't afford you!”

Everyone laughed and joked together.
Chi Shuo wasn't really the type to crack jokes, so he sat calmly without saying a word.
It wasn't until a while later, when another group arrived and moved to the fourth row, that Chi Shuo stood up.
He turned and gave the captain of this new team a light hug as they greeted each other.

This captain was wearing a light gray sweater.
Although he wasn't extraordinarily handsome, he looked very proper.
He looked like he was full of vitality, and his laugh was very refreshing.
“Chi Shuo, you guys got here pretty early!”

Chi Shuo said, “Tianhuan's base is right in the capital.
It would have been inexcusable to arrive late.”

Others in the crowd also politely called out, “Captain Xu!”

The man swept his gaze over the group.
He finally settled his attention on Ye Shaoyang and curiously asked, “Who's this handsome little ge? How come I haven't seen you before?”

Chi Shuo said, “He's our Tianhuan's newbie.”

After saying that, he lowered his voice and said to Ye Shaoyang, “This is Team Yueying's captain, Xu Zhuo.”

Xu Zhuo was known as the best anti-pressure top laner in the Chinese division.
He had been decorated with countless awards and titles from the international league.
He, Chi Shuo, and Fang Zhengqing had come out of the same class of Star City's rookie training camp.

He and Chi Shuo had known each other for four years.
It was no wonder Chi Shuo would go out of his way to greet only him.

Ye Shaoyang stood up and extended his hand with a small smile.
“Hello, Captain Xu.
I'm Little Ye, new to Tianhuan.”

“Oh,” Xu Zhuo acknowledged.
He shook Ye Shaoyang's hand while joking, “You guys at Tianhuan are getting more and more attractive.
Are you guys planning to star in an idol drama?”

Hearing him say that, everyone started to look over at Ye Shaoyang again.

The person next to Chi Shuo truly was very attractive.
His facial features were outstanding, and he seemed to be mixed race.
His hair was naturally a chestnut-blond, but not in a garish way.
Rather, his hair complemented his pale skin well.
His eyes were extremely beautiful.
When he smiled, he gave people a feeling of warmth.
He was a typical sunny, handsome young man.

Chi Shuo had brought him to the live venue, and he was sitting next to Chi Shuo.
It was obvious that he was very important.

Was this Tianhuan's new support?

Zhao Xin'an scooted over to his sister and whispered in her ear, “This should be Tianhuan's new support.
Their second-string marksman, Fu Yue, might be taking the marksman role next season.
With this handsome little ge as their support, their lineup will be complete.”

Zhao Xinping answered, “It's possible.
I don't have any impression of this person at all.
He probably wasn't recruited from some other team.
He could have been trained in Tianhuan's own rookie training camp.”

Zhao Xin'an nodded.
“I think so too.
If he's new, then we won't know how strong he is.”

“We'll know next season,” Zhao Xinping said.

Everyone was very curious about this new face on Team Tianhuan.
Sometimes, they would cast a searching gaze towards Ye Shaoyang.
Regardless of whose gaze Ye Shaoyang met, he would always respond with the same ^_^ expression.
Gradually, everyone grew a bit too self-conscious to keep looking at him.
They returned their gazes to the main stage.

The game had yet to begin.
On the big stage below, stadium employees were hastily adjusting the equipment.

From one side, Zhao Xin'an loudly called out, “Hey, hey, should we bet tonight? On who's going to win?”

Zhou Jiawen laughed and said, “I'll bet on Jingzhe.
We defeated Jingzhe in this playoffs season, after all.
If Old Fang takes the championship title, we'll save some face as well.”

Huowen had defeated Jingzhe earlier.
If Jingzhe became the champions in the end, then wouldn't that mean Team Huowen's power was no less than that of the champions?

Zhao Xin'an's eyes flashed.
“Captain Zhou's logic is wicked cool! Then I want to bet on Jingzhe winning too.
We were eliminated by Jingzhe.
We would save face if we were eliminated by the champions too!”

Xu Zhuo sat in the row behind Chi Shuo.
Hearing this, he couldn't help but ask, “A-Shuo, what do you think?”

“I think Binghun will win,” Chi Shuo answered mildly.

Xu Zhuo laughed and leaned back in his chair.
He lazily drawled, “Little Chen doesn't have it easy.
He's taken this ragtag team of Binghun players all the way to the finals.
I want to see him win one too.”

Ye Shaoyang lowered his head and quickly looked up this team's information on his phone.

Team ICE-Binghun's captain, Chen Qianhua, was the most popular beta player in the league.

Chen Qianhua had been in the same rookie training camp as Chi Shuo, Xu Zhuo, Fang Zhengqing, and Xie Yuan.
These five players were, respectively, a support, a jungler, a top laner, a mid laner, and a marksman.
Netizens often called them the five gods that had graduated from Star City's rookie training camp.

Chen Qianhua had debuted in S6 as well, but he hadn't performed very well at the beginning of his career.
He was a far cry from the indomitable Chi Shuo and Fang Zhengqing.
Later on, he gradually made a name and play style for himself.
He could be considered a player who'd built himself up slowly, over time.

Team Binghun's lineup had been changed up twice.
After Chen Qianhua became the captain, he fought desperately to keep his team—which had almost been eliminated from the professional league in S8—in the running.
And in S9, he'd actually led them to the finals.

Chi Shuo had debuted at a peak, and his tournament achievements slid downwards from there.
Chen Qianhua, on the other hand, was the exact opposite—he'd debuted without any glory, but he slowly learned and accumulated strength until he was ready to counterattack and topple the giants in the league.

This person had a level of courage that was very hard for normal people to attain.

Binghun's greatest strength was team fights.
Their teamwork was exceptionally strong.
Under the guidance of their support Chen Qianhua, the five of them were far more powerful than a team of five individuals added up together.

Many teams that played against Binghun would gain an advantage in early-game.

But as soon as they got into a team fight, they would collapse.

Binghun, led by Chen Qianhua, facing off against Jingzhe, led by Fang Zhengqing.
Which team had a greater chance of victory?

Ye Shaoyang looked towards the main stage with anticipation.

The S9 champion of the Chinese division would be born here!

 

Author's Notes:

Let me make one thing clear, I don't want to write a main team that just sweeps their enemies away and bulldozes their way to a championship win.
I don't want the supporting characters to all be like background props.

So, I also thought a lot about the construction of these supporting teams~

The #1 support Chen Qianhua leads ICE-Binghua, a team strong in team fights.

The laziest captain in the league, Fang Zhengqing, created the poison comp with Jingzhe.

The twin brother and sister of Beimu specialize in taking the outer lanes by storm.

Zhou Jiawen, from the international server, leads Huowen with the burn comp centered around the Flame Goddess.

And there's Chi Shuo's good friend Xu Zhuo, who just showed his face today.
He's a top laner who can withstand a 1v2 fight.

It's fine if you don't remember them, our main team will play against them all next season.
The games will be a tense back and forth, it's more interesting that way.
^_^