Rise (Web Novel CN)

Su Xue was the first in the crowd to react. She jumped to her feet and threw her fist up in the air. “GO LIN FENG! Hahaha! Nice! First blood!”

Zuo You looked at the large screen above the stage, wide-eyed. “Damn. That play was so sick. Like. Damn.”

However, it wasn’t over yet. Lee Sin was still alive and Jax had almost no health left. The Lee Sin was briefly caught off guard. He’d just spent all his skills and abilities on chasing down the Jax, only to see his own Toplaner dying. Still, there was one consolation. He was now between High School 13’s outer tower and the Jax. The Jax was maybe two attacks from death. This was his chance.

But then, a wild Rek’Sai appeared! She dug a tunnel and Unburrowed right underneath the Lee Sin! He was knocked Airborne. The Jax turned around and slammed down with his lamppost, while the Rek’Sai bit Lee Sin. Her teeth sunk into his skin and tore away his health. Then the Jax’s lamppost lit up. It was empowered. He thwacked the Lee Sin. Killed him.

《Double kill!》

“WOOOO!” West Wind shouted from behind the caster desk. “What a play! Jax did it! The Toplaner for High School 13 picked up the double kill! That was amazing!”

“Tell me about it!” Silent Reed said. She looked at Lin Feng sitting behind his computer. He looked as calm and relaxed as before the game. “That Jax just got a double kill and double buffs. The Fiora is screwed. I bet they’re having some not so fun talks in Bright High’s voice chat. Would be great if we could listen in.”

✹

Lin Feng pressed on the B key, recalling back to base. Then he leaned back in his chair and laughed, “Haha! That’s game. Fiora is useless now! Haha!” His Jax was 2/0/0 with double buffs, while Fiora was 0/1/0. She had the level and gold disadvantage. On top of that, Lin Feng’s Jax gained mana regen and cooldown reduction from the Blue Buff and burn damage from the Red Buff. This was literally a worst case scenario for the Fiora and Bright High.

Shanghai High School was also in the crowd today. They weren’t playing, but one of their rivals in Tonji Affiliated High did. Those games were quick and fast and Zeng Rui learned from them what he wanted to. But instead of going back home, he stuck around for the High School 13 series. He wanted more intel on that Support from last game. The one who was now playing in the top lane. He watched the gank. How the Lee Sin tried to make a play and how the Fiora screwed her team over. Idiot! Fool! You were one attack from dying. Why would you go in? Are you already inting? You knew that Jax still had his Q. He could leap to you whenever he wanted. You were practically asking to get killed…

After cursing the Fiora for being a mindless fool a little while longer, Zeng Rui turned his attention to the Jax. To High School 13’s Toplaner. The reflexes Lin Feng showed. His awareness. These were things no ordinary player had. This play wasn’t something a beginner could pull off. It wasn’t dumb luck, it was skill of the highest level. He gazed at Lin Feng, coldly. Like I thought. He was just messing around in Support. This guy, he’s a really dangerous Toplaner. We should be wary of him.

✹

Bright High had lost the top lane. The Fiora did come back. She tried. She really did. But there was nothing she could do to pull the lane back in her favour. Lin Feng wouldn’t give her the chance to. Whenever she approached a minion, he had his Jax Leap Strike on her and gave her a thwack with his lamppost. A simple combo that dealt a third of the Fiora’s health as damage. It didn’t matter if the Fiora used Riposte. She was immobile while it was active. Lin Feng just waited it out, standing right next to her. And then slammed an empowered lamppost in her face. All she could do was Lunge away and hide under her outer tower.

Lin Feng pushed hard into Bright High’s outer tower in top lane. The Fiora was barely safe hiding underneath it. Realistically, she wasn’t. Not if there came a gank. So Lee Sin is around, or coming. Lin Feng was fully prepared for this. He’d instructed Liu Yue to come to top lane and be ready for a countergank.

It took too long. The Lee Sin didn’t show himself and Liu Yue was just hiding in the tri brush right beneath the outer tower. The Fiora had almost no health. All Lin Feng and Liu Yue had to do was juggle the tower aggro, so as to not give away a kill. That wasn’t going to be hard either. The Rek’Sai dug a tunnel from the fog of war and Unburrowed right beneath the Fiora, knocking her Airborne. Lin Feng followed up with his Jax, jumping on her and thwacking her to death with an Empowered strike of his lamppost.

《You have slain an enemy!》

The Rek’Sai backed away immediately after delivering the knock up. She got out of tower aggro in the exact moment after Lin Feng dealt the killing blow. This meant that the aggro wouldn’t shift to Lin Feng’s Jax. They both got out alive after picking up the kill. To add insult to injury, the Lee Sin walked through top lane to the outer tower. He showed himself as the Fiora died, then turned around and ran away. High School 13 had picked up a kill and wasted the Lee Sin’s time! It was another win-win!

Behind the caster desk, West Wind and Silent Reed were watching the large screen. High School 13’s Toplaner and Jungler were taking top tower after picking up a kill, while the Lee Sin was hovering in the back. Just walking back and forth, looking for a way in but not finding one. West Wind shook his head and said, “Is that Fiora really Diamond 2? It doesn’t look like it to me. And that Lee Sin. What is he doing there?” He grabbed his notepad and flipped through the information on Bright High. His finger traced what was written down about the Toplaner. “Diamond 2, yeah. That’s what they claim he is…”

West Wind’s analysis wasn’t quite fair. Anyone would struggle against a double buff and double kill Jax. He was a walking calamity. The Fiora player was angry. Infuriated! Enraged! He wanted to grab his monitor and throw it into the crowd! From the moment he walked into lane, he was at a disadvantage. The Jax had started on the Raptor Camp. He hadn’t. It only got worse. The Jax snowballed. And now all he could do was sit under his tower and hope the Jax would show him some mercy.

Lin Feng was merciful. Or rather, he understood there wasn’t much more he could take from the Fiora. She was out of the game. It would take more than a little farm for her to get back into it. He could pressure her, and that would surely help his team push for a win, but there was something better he could do. There was a mid lane that was in full swing. He would go there and throw his weight around!

✹

At 5:40 minutes, Lin Feng pushed the minion wave in top lane towards Bright High’s inner tower. Then he had his Jax move down to the mid lane through the jungle. Past the Krugs. The Red Buff Camp. The Raptor Camp. There he stopped. The Raptor Camp was separated from the midlane by a wall of trees. Lin Feng had his Jax attack the raptors twice, charging up for the passive proc from his ultimate–Grandmaster’s Might! A powerful third auto attack!

Yang Fan in mid lane knew Lin Feng was coming, thanks to a combination of constant pings and instructions over voice chat. He had his Syndra push the minion wave towards Bright High’s outer tower, doing everything to make it obvious a gank was coming. Bright High’s Orianna picked up on it. She ran back to her outer tower. Back to safety. But Yang Fan kept pushing, staying near the bottom half of the lane. Instinctively, the Orianna moved to the other side. The top side. Towards the wall of trees connecting mid lane to the Raptor Camp.

The people in the crowd, other contestants, analysts, fans, everyone wanted to look away. The Jax was sitting there in the Raptor Camp, waiting. He already had his Counter Strike active. This was going to be a dive. This wasn’t going to be pretty for Bright High. Some people turned their heads away, while others moved their hands to their forehead, blocking their vision of the screen. What was about to happen was a tragedy.

Lin Feng grinned. The Orianna was in range. He moved his mouse over her and then pressed on the Q key–Leap Strike! His Jax jumped over the wall of trees and onto the Orianna! He followed up by activating the second half of Counter Strike, stunning the Orianna! Then he Empowered his lamppost. It lit up as the Jax swung it down onto the Orianna.

The stun was short and the Orianna broke free before the Jax could do anything more. She flashed away. Away towards her tower, slightly back into lane. Towards Yang Fan’s Syndra. That was the wrong move. The Syndra placed a Dark Sphere on the ground, dealing magic damage to the Orianna. Then, she pushed the Dark Sphere back, doing the same to the Orianna and stunned her–Scatter the Weak!

The Orianna was served on a golden platter to Lin Feng’s Jax. Yang Fan’s Syndra had pushed her right back to him. Lin Feng didn’t hesitate. He hit her with two auto attacks. Then. Empower was back off cooldown. The passive from his ultimate would proc on his next attack. A combination of terrifying damage! The lamppost lit up. The Jax raised it over his shoulder. He swung it like a bat, hitting a homerun.

《Rampage!》

The cheers of the crowd rang out in the background. The shoutcasters were screaming his name. And Lin Feng smiled and nodded. Perfect. That Flash let me cancel tower aggro for a moment. Really nice of her. His Jax was now 4/0/0. It was hard to see anyone manage to stop him this game. He looked over at Yang Fan and gave him a thumbs up. Then he grabbed his microphone and placed it close to his mouth. “I’m really good at Jax too! Hehe.”