Chapter 44: The Thunder God, Like an Old Friend, Our Very Own LPL Faker

None of the RNG members had ever played such a frustrating match.
The RNG coaching staff also wore expressions that shifted wildly.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that as EDG caught up in the standings, RNG's momentum had been completely suppressed, leaving EDG firmly in control of the initiative.
Even icon could not help but sigh, "RNG is done for. What on earth happened? How did it turn into this?"
……
After securing the Baron, EDG began their push.
RNG's outer towers fell one after another.
Meanwhile, thanks to the Baron buff, the Ryze split-push became even more potent.
RNG simply had no answer for Ryze.
Ryze pushed relentlessly on the side lane, destroying multiple turrets in rapid succession.
Right as the Baron buff was about to expire, he even took down RNG's bottom lane inhibitor.
"Could it be?"
Looking at EDG's soaring net worth, which had now completely surpassed RNG's, Dolls and Miller felt their hearts skip a beat.
Earlier, both of them had thought RNG had the game in the bag, never expecting such a dramatic turnaround.
What made it most crucial was that the driving force behind all of this was a single player...
Turning the tide of battle single-handedly.
Such a plotline, usually confined to web novels, now materialized in reality, delivering an incomparable shock.
The cheers from the live audience grew increasingly deafening.
However, RNG were no pushovers; holding on by a thread, they barely managed to weather the storm of the Baron-empowered push.
"That's a relief," Dolls said, letting out a breath. "With the Baron gone, RNG can buy themselves some breathing room to regroup before the next Nashor spawns."
That was the nature of the current patch—clearing waves was relatively easy, and without a Baron, breaking high ground was exceptionally difficult.
Rushing a tower dive carried far too high a risk of throwing the game.
Having just brought the game back from the brink, EDG naturally chose not to take unnecessary risks.
As soon as the Baron buff faded, EDG recalled their forces.
"Awesome!"
"Once we take the next Baron, we can just roll right through the base."
Seeing victory within reach, the heavy silence in EDG's voice comms vanished as the players lit up with excitement.
ClearLove took a moment to glance at Chen Yan, whose expression remained entirely calm, feeling an indescribable shock deep in his heart.
Although he had always been optimistic about Chen Yan, he had previously placed him on the exact same tier as Scout.
That was already a high compliment, considering Scout's ability was undeniably world-class.
Yet after this single game, ClearLove's mind was blown completely blank.
At a point when he had already accepted that defeat was all but guaranteed, Chen Yan had somehow single-handedly revitalized the entire game state.
Whether it was split-push spacing, multiple solo kills, anti-gank positioning, or using his ultimate to lead a stealth Baron steal...
Every single decision was executed with absolute composure, and each one steadily pulled EDG back into the game.
It was no exaggeration to say that if they won this match, it was entirely because Chen Yan had dragged the other four of them across the finish line.
If it were Scout in his place, pulling this off would have been utterly impossible.
"With a mid laner like this, EDG this year..."
Suddenly, a wild thought flashed through ClearLove's mind, making his breathing hitch for a fraction of a second.
Chen Yan's divine prowess was simply too immense.
Perhaps, his ultimate dream might actually be realized through Chen Yan.
People always joked that he loved finding someone to carry him and calling them dad.
Well, as long as the carry was thick enough, what did it matter if he called him dad?
……
Chen Yan was completely unaware that ClearLove was already contemplating "adoption."
As the mastermind behind it all, he did not feel particularly emotional about it.
Are you kidding?
With match experience and tactical techniques leading the current version by countless patches, paired with his own peerless top-tier mechanical execution, if he couldn't even beat a newly formed RNG squad, he'd have no face left to take Abu's money.
Though Chen Yan's personality had become rather capricious lately, he would never smash his own signboard.
His core philosophy was simple: let the money do the talking.
As long as the pay was right, he could smash anyone to pieces.
Don't bother telling him how strong the opponent was; just tell him how much they were willing to pay.
"I'm about to hit full build. When the time comes, follow my shotcalling."
"The next Baron will decide the game."
With that, Chen Yan went back to quietly farming his economy.
……
By now, his teammates no longer held a shred of resentment toward Chen Yan.
As long as they could win, everything else was secondary.
Professional esports teams operated on a simple truth: as long as you win, no conflict is a real conflict.
Conversely, if you keep losing, a friendly attitude counts for nothing.
After all, nobody was here to play house; a pro player's prime years were painfully precious, and who had the time to waste playing around?
……
Time ticked away.
Both teams were waiting for the next Baron respawn.
During this period, RNG had completely shed their early-game arrogance, retreating into safe zones.
In contrast, EDG began an aggressive invasion of enemy territory.
Thanks to Kha'Zix's exceptional mobility, he frantically planted vision throughout RNG's jungle while keeping the elemental drakes secured.
ClearLove hadn't done much else this game, but his control over the drakes had been rock solid.
Chen Yan, meanwhile, buried his head in farming gold and soon completed his six-item build.
Ninja Tabi, Rod of Ages, Archangel's Staff, Righteous Glory, Frozen Heart, and Mejai's Soulstealer.
This gear outclassed everyone else on the map by a wide margin.
What surprised people even more, however, was that Ryze's itemization leaned heavily toward tankiness.
"I can't even begin to imagine how tanky that Ryze is," Dolls said with a wry smile as he looked at the inventory.
"Player Chen Yan has a profound understanding of Ryze," Miller said with a smile. "RNG only has Nidalee dealing magic damage, but her output is inconsistent. Because of that, Ryze's defensive build makes him an absolute brick wall."
"And a Ryze built this way still outputs a terrifying amount of damage."
Everyone nodded.
Ryze's passive converts maximum mana into additional spell power. Even though he built tank items, those items also granted mana, which naturally amplified his damage-dealing capability.
Coaching staffs across all major clubs fell into deep contemplation upon seeing Chen Yan's Ryze build.
Itemization in League was never set in stone; adapting to different situations with flexible builds was always the optimal path.
Chen Yan's tank-Ryze undoubtedly provided a brand-new perspective for everyone.
……
A few minutes later, the Baron roared and descended upon the canyon.
Both squads had already established position ahead of time, vying for vision control.
Everyone on both sides knew this skirmish would be the ultimate life-or-death showdown.
Relatively speaking, EDG held a slight advantage, but RNG still had a fighting chance.
If RNG could win this team fight, given the current death timers, they would have a prime opening to end the game in a single push.
Consequently, every player's heart rate began to accelerate.
Outside the arena, casters and spectators sat with wide eyes and bated breath.
"RNG is poking, but Lulu has her shield and Ryze is quite tanky, so the poke isn't achieving much."
"Mostly, it's just that RNG can't contest vision against EDG."
The stalemate dragged on, neither side able to crack the other.
Chen Yan felt no rush at all; poke compositions only grew more pathetic the later the game went.
He knew RNG's patience would snap before theirs did.
Sure enough, after repeated poke attempts yielded nothing, the Ashe arrow from afar initiated the team fight.
Bang!
The arrow targeted Varus, but Chen Yan directly piloted Ryze to intercept and absorb the shot with his own body.
"Kill Ryze first!"
RNG made a decisive call, focusing all their firepower onto Ryze.
Yet Rumble dropped his ultimate to block the pathway, sheets of flame fracturing RNG's formation.
Simultaneously, ClearLove's Kha'Zix slipped into stealth behind the enemy backline, harassing them with empowered W pokes.
He didn't dive straight in because Kha'Zix was an execution-style cleaner who needed targets to drop low on health to truly shine.
With his teammates helping absorb the brunt of the assault, Ryze's health bar barely moved.
Once the crowd control wore off, Ryze popped Righteous Glory and surged ahead, frontline-tanking and outputting damage directly onto Maokai.
At this sight, the pupils of several RNG members constricted.
"So tanky?!"
Even more despair-inducing was that while Ryze was trading with the frontline, he cast his ultimate, targeting the very heart of RNG's backline.
"Protect the backline!"
Desperate screams echoed through RNG's voice comms.
The next instant, Ryze materialized alone right in the middle of RNG's squishies.
Q-W-Q-E-Q!
A single spell rotation triggered both Stormraider's Surge and his passive at the same time.
Chen Yan stuck to Uzi's Ashe like glue.
Meanwhile, Ashe and Karma counterattacked fiercely, while Xiaohu's Jayce rotated over to assist.
The three of them ganged up in a desperate counter-offensive against Ryze.
To the Skies!
Draw a Bead!
Jayce leaped forward while Ashe fired a flurry of arrows.
Xiaohu blinked in confusion, realizing that his entire skill combo had barely scratched Ryze's health pool.
Yet Uzi was even more furious and red-faced.
Pew-pew-pew, pew-pew-pew, pew-pew-pew...
He was clicking his mouse until it felt like it would break, yet Ryze's health bar was only ticking down a fraction of a percent at a time.
The livestream chat room erupted into twitching lips and relentless mockery—
"Tickling him!"
"Master Yi, I beg you, stop scratching!"
After Ashe had spent ages chipping away uselessly, Ryze's Stormraider's Surge came off cooldown, allowing him to stick to the AD carry once more and finish off Uzi with a final spell rotation.
Without Ashe, the damage output from Karma and Jayce fell woefully short.
Ryze first disposed of Jayce right in front of him, then chased relentlessly after Karma.
Bolstered by Kha'Zix's slow, Ryze easily collected Karma's head as well.
"Triple kill!"
The announcer's broadcast rang out.
Echoing alongside it were the ecstatic voices of Dolls and Miller, shouting, "Triple kill! Ryze single-handedly pinned down three people! And he finishes with a triple kill!"
"Oh my god! This is the true Lightning God!"
The chat went wild spamming 666, followed quickly by messages asking, Who is this even alluding to?
In the match.
With Ryze securing a triple kill, Maokai and Nidalee had already fallen on the frontlines.
The outcome was decided.
EDG didn't even bother taking the Baron; they marched straight down the mid lane to close out the match.
Bang!
As the RNG nexus exploded into pieces, the game screen froze on that exact frame.
Everyone in the venue stared at the monitor, unable to calm down for a long time.
Icon sat with a blank, lifeless gaze, leaning powerlessly back into his chair, looking somehow even more miserable than the RNG players.
When the chat kept asking what was wrong, icon was hit by a sudden wave of profound sorrow:
"The RNG players only lost a match, but I'm going to have to wash my hair upside down."
Hahaha!
The chat exploded with laughter.
Meanwhile.
Dolls and Miller regained their composure and loudly announced the final result.
"Congratulations to EDG for defeating RNG three games to two, advancing to the finals!"
"Congratulations to EDG."
At that moment, the cheers of the masses shook the arena.
Exchanging a glance, Miller took a deep breath and declared, "In this match, player Chen Yan's Ryze genuinely blew me away. In the face of despair, he turned the tide.
I believe anyone who watched this game knows what kind of performance that Ryze put on."
Dolls chimed in abruptly, "And watching him, I saw the shadow of an old friend."
Everyone shared a knowing smile, well aware of who Dolls was referencing.
Back in the day, Faker's demonic Ryze burst onto the international stage, sweeping aside all opposing mid laners.
Today, Chen Yan's Ryze similarly turned the situation around, standing against a host of foes with peerless grace.
Of course, in terms of accolades, Chen Yan was still miles away from matching Faker.
Even so, Miller remained overwhelmingly excited.
The LPL had finally produced a mid laner of true caliber.
"Though player Chen Yan is still green, based solely on today's performance, I believe he is entirely capable of growing to Faker's heights.
Our LPL region now has its very own Faker!"
As those words fell, the cheers throughout the arena swelled once more, crashing outward like wave after towering wave.