League of Legends: League of Unknowns

A team was more than just the players alone.

Everyone knew that the career of a pro gamer was a brief, flickering candle, even more dependent on one’s youth than prostitution.

Pro gamers all started to show dramatic signs of regression around the age of twenty-five. They could play professionally for a few years perhaps—but what about after that?

If they hadn’t yet formed into something resembling an agency, something which could really earn them a steady living, then Team Skycrown’s legend would also prove a short one.

They were in no hurry to meet that fate.

But where did they go from here? They didn’t really have an answer to this question.

Back when they were playing for Team Sky, all they had to worry about was playing the game. Ignorant as babes, they didn’t know a thing about internet publicity, official procedures, or acquiring sponsors.

“We’ll figure it out!” Zhou Yan declared.

“Leave it to me! Leave it to me!” Li Meiqi said coquettishly.

Everyone looked at her. She’d clearly had too much to drink.

***

After qualifying for the LPL, Lin Dong’s phone had been ringing non-stop.

Unfortunately, most of them were about buying the team.

There were several established entertainment agencies in the country, and they were all seeking talents to fight in their name.

Having been burnt by Sky Club in the past, no one on Team Skycrown was interested in joining up with an agency. They played out of love for the game, and even if they lost their edge to advancing age, they’d still be willing to risk it and keep playing.

They would form their own agency, and be no one’s slaves!

They had no idea where to even get started doing such a thing, but they’d figure it all out, and make something of themselves.

***

Somehow, no matter how much he drank, Luocheng remained the most clear-headed person at the table.

This was not to say that alcohol had no effect on him—he’d been stone-cold drunk before. However, one good barf and he’d be right as rain.

“You can just return to campus,” Zhou Yan assured him. “I’ll see them all home safely.”

Da Luo, Lin Dong, Wu Sen, and Xiao Bei were already over the moon. Seeing their drunken little smiles brought some delight to Luocheng’s heart. They’d made it back into the professional scene. It wouldn’t be too long before they all could enjoy a faster internet connection, new computers, a new place…

“Alright, you guys take care,” he replied.

“Will you be spending Chinese New Year with us?” Zhou Yan asked.

Chinese New Year would come rather early this year, around the end of January.¹ Luocheng’s exams would finish around mid-January. If he didn’t hurry home immediately after that, then he’d basically be spending the occasion in Shanghai.

Luocheng had already done so twice before, both times in the company of this team. It had always been a somber time for them.

“I’ll probably be going home. The LPL begins around March. That gives you a couple of months to train up.”

This match against Team Fudan had made clear Team Skycrown’s shortcomings. Although they were always able to get ahead in their own respective lanes, they struggled to utilize it to secure victory for themselves. It was a major headache.

By Luocheng’s estimations, he’d say the players were already first-class in terms of individual ability, but their teamwork and group tactics were still rudimentary, at times not even comparable to a second-class pro team. This was something they needed to shore up on.

There would be no competitions going on during Chinese New Year, and most pro gamers would be on an extended break. Luocheng hoped that Team Skycrown would be able to take advantage of this laxness on the part of their adversaries to grind more and get ahead, and patch up their two most glaring weaknesses.

“I guess you know that we’re just a bunch of penniless bums. We don’t have the money to go out on the town. It’s a stretch even for us to take the bus.” Zhou Yan grinned with a mouth full of pearly whites.

Luocheng smiled in reply, and patted one of Zhou Yan’s broad shoulders. “No worries. Things will get better, real soon.”

***

After that, Luocheng became very busy indeed.

Tests for nine subjects in all, each one requiring several days of intensive study. It was a stressful endeavor.

What the hell! Who was it who said that university life meant limitless freedom and leisure!

There were more exams than back in high school. It was inhuman!

January arrived, and Luocheng lived a monochrome life. The Gaming Society was forbidden territory. The library was his home, now.

Back in high school, his homeroom teacher was like a god-tier Jungler. In order to ensure that his students were studying hard, he would sneak up on you when you least expected it, ganking you while you were napping in the back, or playing with your phone, or reading some novels.

In university, even if everyone in the back was sound asleep, and the battle lines were all in disarray… no one seemed to care. It had to be the most feeble and hopeless kind of Jungler.

Tragically, this lack of adult supervision invariably resulted in great hordes of students, normally absent from view, congregating in the library to exert a level of effort which could put to shame the regular diligence of the top students.

As such, being in the library became akin to marathoning an entire drama series. There was never a dull moment, and every character was rife with quirks and conflicts.

His buddies Qiu Jingtai and Jiang Jiu were habitual slackers. As the end of the semester drew close, they became inseparable from Luocheng, and spent their days in the library putting their nose to the grindstone.

However, when they showed up at the library only to find that someone had already reserved a seat for Luocheng, all they could do was weep.

How wonderful it was, to have someone holding a seat for you—especially when that someone was the ice queen of their class, Bai Feifei.

For a long time, there’d been a rumor going around about those two being more than friends. They’d refused to believe it at first, but the moment they saw this with their own eyes, they immediately dropped their books and left!

What did people always say? So you’re a model student… That’s great, good for you. Oh, you have a Diamond frame¹, too? Now you’ve crossed the line!

Luocheng was a hardcore gamer who had no right to any success in academics. So he’d dueled with Blood Eagle before… That’s amazing, you’re really something else. You have a swim-team goddess for a little sister… That’s swell, you must have done a lot of good deeds in your past life. Going to the library at semester’s end to make a show of studying, and the class beauty saved a seat for you?

Where is the justice in this world?

***

“What’s up with you two?” Feifei beheld the tears of the two boys, bewildered.

“Critical hit to their self-esteem, I’d wager.” Luocheng elected to ignore the pair of drama queens.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure exactly when Feifei started this practice of always keeping a seat free beside her. What she’d do was leave a book on there, and tell people that it was already occupied—even though the book was already there even before Luocheng actually showed up.

This tiny act caused something to stir within his heart, if ever so slightly. Could it be that this fair lady, most-coveted of the class, was harboring feelings for him?

Ah, at some point Luocheng would learn the truth: Bai Feifei was always blocking the seat beside her in order to prevent random people from coming over to chat her up. Luocheng was actually included in that list, but he’d somehow come to the conclusion that she’d been saving that place for him, so he’d just picked up the book and taken the seat, bold beyond belief.

At first, Feifei had been miffed by this. However, when she saw that Luocheng had genuinely come to do his revision, rather than pester her with small-talk, she’d granted him tacit permission to take that place beside her from then on.

Quite frankly, Feifei did not welcome people intruding upon her quiet little world.

“Two more to go. If I don’t fail any subjects this year, I’ll treat you to something.” Luocheng put his book down.

This semester, Luocheng had spent the past two months playing in the LOL University League, which meant missing quite a few classes. Most of his notes had come from Feifei, who’d even photocopied them for him.

For a month or so after that, Team Skycrown had been working to get into the LPL, and Luocheng skipped his classes again, or slept through them. Already accustomed to covering for him, Feifei prepared a set of notes for him of her own accord. If he didn’t fail anything this time around, it would be thanks to her.

Feifei declined politely. “No need.”

“Anything you like. Be my guest.”

“Let’s talk about it if you pass everything, then.”

***

The next two exams went by without issue.

University exams were easier than he’d expected. Just by comparing Feifei’s notes to the selected texts, each subject could be squared away in three or four days.

Good, good. At this rate, it would be smooth sailing ahead for him. He could spend up to three or four months each semester fooling around, then pull up his socks for the last month, and he’d be sitting pretty!

After the last exam was over, students began to leave for home, one after another.

He hadn’t seen much of Yang Ying, Xiao Jia, Qin Ting, and the others lately. They’d probably been busy with work. Luocheng wondered if he’d ever get another chance to meet up with them for a merry game or two.

Well, it seemed like they had all remained in Shanghai. There would surely be other occasions to come.

Luocheng didn’t leave right away. First, he spent a few days with the Skycrown guys. This involved fervently studying replays alongside Lin Dong in order to pick up the tactics used by top teams, which they hoped would help them to develop a personal set of strategies for their team.

Next, they would be facing the strongest teams in the whole nation. Judging by the legacy of these teams, they should be familiar with every kind of team composition and battle strategy. If all they did was duplicate established stratagems, there were unlikely to see much success against these opponents. They would have to develop something unique, or else the other LPL teams would always be one step ahead of them.

“I’ve already looked it up: In the LPL, finishing at seventh or eighth place is worth fifty thousand RMB, and each team will also receive an additional fifty thousand.” Lin Dong was smiling from ear-to-ear as he strode in to announce this to everyone.

“Seventh or eighth place? Wouldn’t those be the last two places?” Wu Sen exclaimed.

“That’s right. In other words, even if we lose it all, and end up at the bottom of the heap, as long as we finish all our games, we’ll still come out with a hundred thousand RMB!”

“Hot damn! Is this for real?” Da Luo was delighted.

Back when they’d gone for that international DOTA tournament, only a scant few at the top could get a share of that pathetic prize money. After paying for airport taxes, flight tickets, room and board… there was hardly anything left.

No one on Team Skycrown had known that merely being in the LPL—even if they got their butts handed to them at every turn—guaranteed a pay-out of one hundred thousand RMB!

A sum like that, for a team with no patronage to speak of, would be an absolute lifesaver!