Chapter 25: A User's Guide to Men

Commentary Booth.

Following the previous "first strike" initiated by Miller, the veteran casters Da-Xiao and Jide were determined to seize the initiative in the next engagement. Sensing TES's intent to start a team fight, Jide prepared to speak, only to find that Da-Xiao—who had been talking non-stop—suddenly accelerated his speech, leaving no room for anyone else to interject.

What was this?
"Lethal Tempo"! Da-Xiao had activated "Lethal Tempo"!!!

"The second Rift Herald fight—TES has secured vision in the upper river. They’re committing to this fight."
"But in the top lane, Mebius’s Gwen has zoned out Zoom."
"V5 reacts quickly and presses forward. TES’s positioning is awkward; they can’t rely on Jayce for poke, and a head-on team fight means an inevitable gold deficit."
"What will they choose? They’ve marked Gwen—they’re choosing to focus her!"

The moment Zoom piloted his Jayce in hammer form to strike, Luo Ji instinctively triggered his ultimate, "Needlework."

Gwen’s early burst damage is slow to ramp up, requiring the ultimate to be cast early to maximize pressure, yet he only used his ultimate, holding back his critical W and E skills. It wasn't that he didn't want to go all-in; it was because the moment Jayce’s melee burst hit him, the acceleration effect from the "Phase Rush" rune immediately took hold.

Strike, then dash away. Like a scumbag playing with a girl’s heart—after the shot is fired, he immediately zips up his pants and prepares to run.

Luo Ji said nothing. As the Phase Rush effect triggered, he popped his Ghost summoner spell.

"Hook, line, and sinker!"
Seeing this, a smirk curled on Zoom’s lips.
*So young,* he thought. *When laning in a single-threaded environment, he can act like a seasoned veteran, but once the multi-threading of a team fight begins, his true nature is exposed.*

Right now, Jayce was trying to kite using the slow from his abilities and Phase Rush, waiting for his team to arrive. Luo Ji’s Gwen, meanwhile, appeared to be posturing for a suicide trade, while behind him, the four members of TES—mid, bot, jungle, and support—were charging in at full speed.

However, Luo Ji’s target was never the Jayce in front of him.

Gwen’s three-stage ultimate starts with the lowest damage; the first cast was merely to bait out the opponent's intentions. As for the following two...

Just as everyone wondered if Gwen could successfully trade for Jayce, the big screen showed Gwen, now fully accelerated by Ghost, suddenly performing an about-face and diving straight into the front line of TES. He landed a perfect W-E-Q combo. His sudden turn caught the leading Viego completely off guard, hitting him square in the face.

Moreover, the circle from his W skill happened to wrap right around Gwen’s feet, while the Viego he was controlling remained outside the zone, forced to take a step forward into the circle if he wanted to retaliate. It was the simplest trick for Gwen—brainless, yet devastatingly effective.

"Is he crazy!?"
"Doesn't matter, kill him!"

Flesh and blood can only take so much. The guys were huddled together, counting on their numerical advantage—you didn't run, and you dared to fight back? You clearly haven't seen how the "underworld" operates!

But just then, they began to notice something wrong. Because V5 was pressing so hard, Zhuo the support had been assigned to the rear, leaving a gap between him and the Gwen in front. Meanwhile, Jayce had used his speed to create distance from Gwen, only for Gwen to dash back and widen the gap again, even activating his W.

At this moment, Jayce was too far away in hammer form, and unable to target in cannon form; he couldn't provide support in time. With a Viktor and a Tristana, they either had to jump into Gwen’s circle to fight him, or they had no way to deal with him at all.

The situation turned awkward.

On one side, Gwen’s sudden counter-attack caused the TES carries to pause briefly; on the other side, the V5 members at the front were far from idle. Zhao Xin tried to charge in but was successfully intercepted by Zhuo’s Alistar.

But it didn't matter. They still had their carries and the support’s ultimate.

R: "Tidal Wave."
Nami’s ultimate covered more than half the river. Banking on this, Rookie and Xiao Yan began to press forward with ruthless aggression. As Gwen anchored himself into the enemy formation like a nail, the "pincer maneuver"—etched into the DNA of their ancestors—was triggered instantly!

Rookie didn't hesitate; he surged forward, flashed, and unleashed his ultimate. Behind him, Xiao Yan, whose reach wasn't as long as his, decisively cast his ultimate toward the TES backline. One volley of "The Culling" after another slammed into the faces of the TES players.

The crude "Emperor’s Divide" shoved Knight and JKL directly into Gwen’s face. They had prepared for the Azir drift, but this—a push forward? Who the hell defends against that!

They no longer had to answer a multiple-choice question; V5 had snatched their answer sheet away. Seeing both enemy carries knocked up by the Azir ultimate, Luo Ji felt a surge of joy and successfully released the second stage of his ultimate, "Needlework."

Positioning, auto-attacking, and opening his Q to cancel crowd control while taking hits. Then, before dying, he perfectly fired the final wave of "Needlework" with its one-second interval!

TES JKL killed V5 Mebius.

The Gwen they had been longing to kill was finally dead, but the TES crew couldn't feel happy about it. He had died, yes, but he had squeezed out almost every ounce of damage before he fell. The same tactic: feign a desperate fight with Jayce to force him away, then turn back to split the battlefield. While drawing the enemy's attention, he created the perfect pincer opportunity for his teammates, allowing Rookie to land that forward-pushing ultimate.

He had dumped all his Q and R AOE damage, leaving the opponents in shambles. No matter how you looked at it, the top laner’s performance was near-perfect. Of course, dying was inevitable; after being hammered by Jayce, being able to hold on against the concentrated fire of three TES members to land the third stage of his ultimate was already the limit.

However...
Though the Gwen on the Rift had fallen, the "top laner" outside the Rift remained.
The Substitute—"Battlefield Commander"—had arrived on stage!

"Charge!!!"
"Chicken, yes, that’s it, poke them to shreds!"
"Go, Xiao Yan, just like that, well done, keep using 'Eight Extremities Collapse' on them!"
"Nice Q! Diao Shen’s timing is key, key control +500."

Once Gwen’s AOE had done its work, the remaining team fight required no tactical positioning—it was purely beating a dog in the water. Especially Tian’s Viego. This champion needs teammates to help set up a low-health target to trigger his reset, and while there was a low-health target, he had died, and Tian had even successfully possessed Gwen’s body. But then what?

A precise Q from Nami interrupted his rise, turning him into a circus clown.

Then came the regression from a color screen to a black-and-white one. Viego died instantly, the double carries were hunted down, and Alistar couldn't save anyone. Zoom, stranded in the distance, hesitated for a long time before deciding to switch to cannon form for long-range support. As for getting closer? Forget it.

What? You say he didn't support his teammates? If Karthus can be considered supporting by pressing R from half a screen away, why can’t his long-range cannon count? Are you double-standardizing?

One for three. Aside from the mobile Tristana and the Jayce who never entered the fray, the TES mid, jungle, and support were all wiped out.

[Holy crap, Miss Gwen!]
[This is Gwen! You can be as strong as you want, Gwen is unaffected.]
[That W circle, truly a feast for the eyes. A full AOE team fight—dying was worth it.]
[To be fair, that Gwen circle placement was pretty average. Of course, if it could carry me out of Bronze hell, I’d acknowledge its power!]

In the livestream chat, countless top laners resonated deeply. This is the top lane: taking the most beatings, doing the hardest work. The AOE damage looked exactly like the plays they imagined in their own heads—though it would be better if they didn't die.

After the victory, they secured the second Rift Herald. By now, the first game was effectively over for TES. Any further dragging would only lead to a miracle team fight, or V5 handing them an opportunity.

Glancing at the side lane minions and the gold in his pocket, Luo Ji thought for a moment and spoke in team comms:
"Hey, can I have the bot lane minions? I’m a bit short on gold."
"The big hero has spoken; those minions are yours. Eat up, do you want the jungle camps too? We’ll leave them for you."
"That would be great!"

Honestly, Karsa had never felt so comfortable in this first game. Even in a normal 5v5, they had the advantage, but Gwen’s AOE had been so massive that it made them look like they were just cleaning up kills—which wasn't bad at all. As long as they won, it didn't matter how.

But... when Gwen respawned and cleared both lane and jungle, Karsa looked at Gwen’s inventory—only an Amplifying Tome alongside Riftmaker and Lucidity Boots—and asked curiously:
"When you said you were 'a bit short,' how much are we talking about?"
"About 3600. I can save up for the Nashor's myself, it's just the Rabadon's Deathcap that's a bit far off."
The other four V5 members: "???"
You call being 3600 gold short "a bit"!?

Of course, since the resources were already taken, there was no returning them. According to Luo Ji, them giving him the jungle camps was an investment—they were hoping he’d get ahead and provide a return on that investment. It was about making big money together; if they lost, it was just a failed investment. There was no such thing as "returning" resources.

Yes. Just like those predatory loans from a few years ago.

A few minutes later, the game entered the "pulling" phase—or in a sense, V5’s "Jordan Rules." Four players occupied the main force’s attention while the two top laners engaged in a 1v1 on the side. By now, with Riftmaker and Nashor's Tooth in hand, Luo Ji no longer hid his desire to kill. He was certain that Zoom couldn't beat him.

Why? Because every time Zoom realized his EQ missed or was dodged by Gwen’s W, he would instinctively retreat. Sometimes, if you can’t trust whether your damage is enough, you can trust your opponent—because he ran, your damage must be enough. Trusting the opponent's judgment is, in itself, a form of judgment.

In team comms, Karsa’s voice came through:
"We can't fight yet. We have to wait until I have enough for a Stopwatch."
"Watch out for their jungler. The only ways they can win now are picking someone off, stealing the Dragon, or stealing the power cables."
"Keep up this tempo. Our side lane is strong; wait for them to make a mistake."
"Of course, Xiao Yan, if you see an opportunity, feel free to go in and trade."

Around the 20-minute mark, Jayce’s poke is strong, but the burst damage of Lucian and Nami is equally high. Finding an opportunity to chunk someone down could lead to a tower dive or a resource rotation.

"Um..." Xiao Yan scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. Aside from understanding that Karsa wanted him to go aggressive if he saw an opening, he hadn't understood a damn word of the rest. Knowing *how* to seize an opportunity was the problem.

At this moment, Luo Ji’s familiar voice rang out:
"How about this: you guys just find the enemy jungler for me."
"Huh?"
"Just find the jungler’s position. Oh, and you don't have to fully commit to a fight, just force them out. You absolutely cannot die yourselves. If it’s just that, it should be easy, right?"
"That goes without saying!" (x4)

The moment those words fell, not just Xiao Yan, but everyone on the team had the command "Find Jungler = Mission Complete" implanted in their brains. Men are like that. If you try to explain a "zip file of mixed tasks" in vague terms, it’s just drunken boasting or empty corporate promises. But if you give a clear, specific instruction, they will execute it perfectly.

Simply put: Clear Goal + Clear Quantity + Addressing + Appropriate Praise = Nuclear-Powered Donkeys!

The four V5 members were instantly energized. However, despite the clear objective, the group acted with remarkable tacit understanding, not showing their aggression and continuing to kite the three-man TES front line.

Xiao Yan waited. He was waiting for an opening. Lucian’s range was short, and while Galeforce compensated for that, he was still an AD carry—if he went too deep, the team’s protection couldn't keep up. He had to wait for the enemy to walk into a position where he could reach them and his team could follow, to force the enemy jungler out.

Yes, force them out. After receiving the mission, they intuitively grasped Luo Ji’s subsequent plan. Why did they need to know the jungler’s position? Because compared to them in the mid lane, the Luo Ji in the side lane clearly had a much stronger intent to kill!

Until... when another cannon wave pushed through, and Knight’s Viktor couldn't clear it with one E, forced to stay for a second or two to use other skills.

The E dash was unleashed!
"Whoosh!"

The moment Lucian dashed forward, Nami, the support, had already cast her E on him a step early. Two auto-attacks landed. As Viktor realized the danger and began to retreat, Lucian followed up with a Q, "Piercing Light," splashing through the minions.

If he had stopped there, the poke would have been perfectly acceptable for TES. But... the moment "Piercing Light" ended, he used "Galeforce" to dash forward again!

He was for real?
Zhuo’s Alistar began to rush over, and JKL’s Tristana positioned in a Y-shape with Viktor. But none of that mattered. What mattered was that when Lucian dashed forward and followed up with the two passive auto-attacks from his Q—

In the lower jungle, Viego’s black mist was spreading.
Xiao Yan smirked. As he retreated, he cast his W.
Knight instinctively tried to dodge. But soon, he realized the W wasn't aimed at him—but at the Viego in the black mist.

W "Piercing Light": Reveals enemies and marks them for 6 seconds.
The skill was thrown at Viego?

This scene—let alone the four TES members at the front, even Zoom on the side lane felt confused. If you didn't use this W to initiate, why save it for the end? Why risk your life to dash in and trade? Just to set off fireworks for the New Year?

Tian’s Viego was caught off guard and revealed.
"Found you."

Just as Zoom, watching the show on the side, was stunned, the sound of the "Ghost" summoner spell triggered once more.
The Grim Reaper was singing.