Chapter Seventeen: Put on Socks Before Shoes, Be a Grandson Before Becoming a Grandfather

December 25th, Christmas Day.

On this day, when mild tremors were felt nationwide and the number of roadside scavengers suddenly increased, V5 faced another round of opponents in the Demacia Cup.

From a distance, they could see FPX arriving to participate in the competition.

In terms of age,

FPX’s players were visibly younger, even their walking seemed more like a mix of walking and skipping. But Luo Ji paid no mind to that; his gaze was fixed intently on LWX’s direction.

From his impression,

He only knew that LWX was formidable this year, but had no concrete idea of how formidable, since he hadn’t watched the Demacia Cup matches, only the post-match highlights and the discussions on the forum.

He felt a twinge of regret.

But soon, his attention was completely captured by LWX.

“So this is LWX. Watching live is definitely very different from watching through a screen.”

“Oh? How so?”

PPGOD overheard Luo Ji’s muttering and leaned in to ask.

“Never mind the rest. Just look at his walking posture—he looks terrifyingly strong. It doesn't look like an ordinary person, not even quite human.”

Everyone turned their eyes toward where Luo Ji was looking.

Sure enough,

His walking had a unique flair. While not limping, each limb moved with its own rhythm. How could there be a player whose mere walking posture made him look exceptionally clever?

In Luo Ji’s experience,

The last time he saw such a player was when he had a fever and went to the hospital for medicine—he happened to see one there.

Such a commanding stride could only mean one of two things: either someone who just had hemorrhoid surgery or someone who just had circumcision.

“How about it, Xiao Yan? Planning to take him down with one big play?”

“This is the champion AD, after all.”

“If you can beat him, and then get a club to pick you up, won’t you have a stepping stone?”

Listening to Luo Ji’s teasing, Xiao Yan’s face flushed red, unsure what to say.

Beside him, Karsa was enthusiastically fanning the flames, shouting things like, “You’re the strongest AD player,” “The heir’s rivalry is always like this,” and “Young people should be like roaring waves, crushing the old guard on the shore.”

That kind of brainwashing talk—

It was like a little piglet wearing a bra, one set after another.

Luo Ji even suspected that Letme’s “Equality for All” philosophy was born out of such persuasion. But why didn’t it work for TES? Maybe they lacked some essential ingredient in the mix, which is why 369 ended up crippled by the hype.

“How about you? How’s your form?” Rookie approached Luo Ji and whispered.

“Me?”

Luo Ji hesitated for a moment, then replied,

“I’m definitely fine. Although I don’t have the stats to prove it, and haven’t faced the Little Tiger directly, I believe my numbers are far above his!”

“???”

Unlike the earlier quarterfinals, when the Demacia Cup reached the semifinals, the excitement level rose another notch—almost matching that of the spring regular season.

The audience was like this.

Usually, they ignore small tournaments, but if it’s a semifinal or final, a bunch of idle thrill-seekers would click in, thinking, “Even if it’s crap, let’s see how salty it tastes.”

And if it’s an international match?

Oh ho~

Then the cyber champion fans would definitely show up.

“Good evening, lonely souls without nightlife.”

“Just asking, which one of these ten is Mobius?”

“Bottom lane battle between Captain Xiang and Xiao Yan—this is exciting, isn’t it?”

“Eighteen losses in a row and no one’s optimistic. Will it be the Avengers or the Defeated Alliance? Tonight will tell.”

As the comments said,

FPX wasn’t favored much this year. With this lineup, their paper strength might not even reach the playoffs. But that’s the beauty of professional matches—the outcome isn’t just about raw stats; many factors come into play.

Just like no one expected LWX to suddenly explode in the Demacia Cup.

Apparently aware that the semifinal opponent was special, before the match, V5’s club manager even pulled Luo Ji aside.

Unlike other teams, who didn’t take the Demacia Cup championship as seriously as imagined,

V5 was different!

Last season’s sixteen consecutive losses—was that just the club’s record? No, that was like spanking the son of a gambling king!

With so much money, making a profit was secondary; restoring their pride was the real key.

Then they studied V5’s roster.

Luo Ji was the only true rookie, and everyone knew his weaknesses well.

So...

When a sheet filled with reward mechanisms was handed to Luo Ji, his entire aura visibly shifted dramatically.

This change even caught Rookie’s attention from afar, making him marvel repeatedly.

It was an increase of stakes!

V5’s manager used the “increase stakes” move!

This was the most terrifying mental control skill in the workplace, capable of unconditionally activating the hidden strength within a worker.

Rumor had it that because this method was too effective on summoned creatures, but had certain economic side effects on the summoner, it was strongly opposed by other renowned summoners.

Never thought today they would witness this “forbidden power” again.

In the first game,

Empowered by the “¥” force, Luo Ji played ferociously from start to finish, dominating the Little Tiger as Renekton. With Karsa and Rookie’s coordination, the bottom lane duo didn’t even need to exert themselves before FPX’s defense was shattered, and V5 took the first win.

But quickly—

In the second game, confident with one game advantage, Nofe made a mistake common to almost all LPL coaches:

He tinkered with the lineup, trying to test if their bottom lane could withstand the opposing Caitlyn and Lux, hoping to save a ban slot.

According to LPL coaches’ logic, if your strongest weapon can be endured, then you just need to keep managing the ban-pick phase.

(PS: This tactic is recorded every year in the league.)

The bitter truth was that Caitlyn and Lux could not be allowed through. Luo Ji was still laning top, but the bottom half had already collapsed prematurely.

The score was tied 1–1.

Only in the third game did the two V5 coaches gradually realize something was wrong.

LWX’s form was heating up.

His power was surging like a last burst of energy, as if a carousel of images kept flashing through his mind.

In two games, Xiao Yan struggled increasingly against LWX’s performance. This unexplainable decline made Nofe repeatedly suspect whether the opponent was cheating.

“Is this the triple power of the darkened master? Scary, this Captain Xiang.”

“Luckily, we’re blue side next game. If we play seriously and avoid mistakes, we should win comfortably.”

“Is that what you mean? I feel the biggest problem isn’t that their old man is too strong, but that ours hasn’t hit his stride yet?”

“You little... why don’t you say it clearly?”

Karsa ruffled Luo Ji’s hair, though he was already trying his best alongside Rookie.

Well.

The “auntie’s visitor” had arrived; men had their off days every month.

Though tied 1–1,

The team atmosphere had not changed. Nofe knew they couldn’t let things slide, especially since the next pick-ban advantage was theirs.

Third game:

After both sides carefully targeted bottom lane,

V5’s lineup: Kennen top, Xin Zhao jungle, Viktor mid, Caitlyn and Rell bottom.

FPX’s lineup: Jayce top, Kha’Zix jungle, Akali mid, Jhin and Leona bottom.

Yes, you read that right—Kha’Zix jungle.

In the S12 preseason patch, Korea and China saw a surge in Kha’Zix jungle play, mainly because the patch buffed “Ingenious Hunter,” which now affected not only active items and trinkets, but also passive items like Guardian Angel and Death’s Dance.

In this patch,

Kha’Zix took the “Ingenious Hunter” rune, specializing in assassinating foes, relying heavily on awareness and skill, with the advantage that early kills led to rapid snowballing.

Looking at this lineup, Luo Ji felt a cold wind at his back.

One warrior, two assassins, a strong initiator and a long-range marksman bottom lane—what kind of sinister comp was this? Even more sinister was that he was playing Kennen without building tanky.

A tough challenge.

Even tougher, Luo Ji wanted to accelerate his development, but the Demacia Cup patch was 11.21, two versions behind his favorite 11.23.

Meaning?

The rune “Press the Attack” was not yet available, so his plan to be a rune thief was forced to fall through. And as for winning lane?

Sorry, this game he was countered hard.

But it was only lane countering.

After level six, jungle ganks would treat Jayce like a pawn, so Luo Ji’s laning mindset was clear: “Put on socks before shoes; be a pawn before a king.”

In simple terms: be cautious!

Though thinking this, the first item he bought was surprisingly bold—he chose Corrupting Potion.

Don’t ask.

Every top laner likes “development.”

“Corrupting?”

When the minion wave arrived and Kennen appeared on the lane, the Little Tiger noticed that item choice from the info panel.

Though from start to finish, the rookie opponent hadn’t shown much arrogance.

No champagne interviews, no online trash talk. But opening with a Corrupting Potion was more arrogant than any words.

“No worries, kill him. I’ll come help if I can,” the jungler Beichuan encouraged him.

“Bro! In my heart!”

“Of course, brotherhood!”

The team voice chat instantly became cheerful.

In fact,

Compared to the top lane, Beichuan wanted more to protect the bottom lane elder brother. But since he played Jhin—which required nurturing but wasn’t very impactful early on—it was better to focus on other lanes.

Also, perceptually,

If LWX’s play surprised and puzzled V5, Luo Ji’s was a pure shock to FPX.

They knew the Little Tiger’s form was good, but the first two games he was almost entirely suppressed.

Who even was this top laner?

Where had he come from? They’d never heard of him before.

Back to the lane.

Kennen versus Jayce, or Jayce versus Kennen, boiled down to this:

If Jayce’s Q hit, he traded favorably; if it missed, Kennen could trade back and win.

In other words—

The top lane outcome depended entirely on Jayce’s poke accuracy.

But level one was different.

Right after spawning, Luo Ji instantly leveled E, the electric soldier attack to contest minion waves, a common Kennen tactic against melee heroes.

Without learning E, leveling W second would put you behind.

Plus, E grants attack speed, helping trade damage better.

Early on,

Top lane was basically a back-and-forth trading duel.

As for solo kills?

Forget it. Kennen’s only chances were around levels four to five and five to six, when his damage was barely enough. Before then, he risked being killed if caught.

“Ka Ge, Ji Ge, you have to quickly break through the bottom lane and help your little brother, help your little brother!”

“Will do, will do...”

Karsa scratched his head, opening the jungle while wondering how this rookie had the CPU to multi-task laning and calling for backup.

Looking back at top lane,

He caught Luo Ji trading auto-attacks aggressively.

So fierce?

Was he overexerting himself for the prize money?

But here’s the key.

Though it looked like an all-in fight, when Kennen auto-attacked, the attack hit a ranged minion beside Jayce.

The fundamental principle of top lane minion control suddenly shone.

“Oh no, I got tricked!”

The Little Tiger cursed inwardly.

He and the opponent were so caught up in trading that he assumed both new top laners would fight head-on, no tricks.

But this sudden minion attack?

It was like meeting a master of the hook shot on the basketball court—while others think to block closely, he chose to poke the opponent’s ribs the instant they raised their hand.

This caused Luo Ji’s minion wave to start attacking the opponent, while the enemy minions kept hitting his own.

The wave promptly pushed in.

By the time both reached level two, the minion wave was already in front of Luo Ji’s turret.

Comfort beyond words.

Seeing this, Karsa silently revised his opinion of Luo Ji.

He’d thought the guy was a bit reckless, but realized he’d been too naive to expect a pure-hearted top laner.

He reeled it back.

By controlling the wave short, Jayce would have little chance against Kennen in the early levels because the minion density near the turret created a natural defensive barrier.

Moreover!

Beichuan was playing Kha’Zix with the Wolf’s Frenzy rune.

After a few years, many might not know Kha’Zix’s jungle rhythm: clear half the jungle, recall to buy boots, then clear the other half.

He had planned to recall and gank top after buying boots.

But—

Seeing Luo Ji’s wave control and health sustain, and that he bought a Miner’s Pick (restores 3 HP per hit) rather than a Doran’s Blade (which has less lifesteal),

Hmph.

Man, you lost my attention~

Beichuan smirked and decided to give this purple electric mouse a pass for now.

Unbeknownst to him,

As he reluctantly gave up on top lane,

Karsa was quietly making his move~