Chapter 38: Preposterous Design! "Special Skill, Go!" [Two-in-One 4.5K]

"Here we go, here we go! Today’s main course!"

Before Sun Yeyou, the streamer for the DYS Bilibili co-stream, even appeared on screen, his voice was already booming through the broadcast.

"TES versus Weibo Gaming. That Graves pick from Shanji feels a bit bizarre, and picking Zoe mid is pretty spicy too," Sika chimed in, shaking his head.

"But this player’s ID is the spiciest of them all—he really wants the streamer to call him 'Grandpa,' huh?"

"Wow, this 'Ye Yi,' he’s even using the Scout skin. Talk about a blatant cuckold move right to his face!"

[Is that how you talk to Master Ye? I see you, you hairless Master Yi and Kirby-looking Chen Kohan, are you trying to challenge our Wing Chun orthodoxy!]

[What’s wrong with the skin? Who said whoever has the skin is the best? I’m asking you.]

[Exactly. Everyone knows the championship skins for the Red Glasses and the Mantis Girl are all in name only! A true god doesn't need skins to prove anything!]

[Not to be that guy, but Zoe is really trash this patch. With the durability update, you can't burst anyone down. He’s just playing against the meta—does Ye Yi think he’s really Ip Man?]

[For real. Top lane is a dual-wielding brother posing as a law-enforcing Taoist, losing the lane and getting his brain eaten; mid lane is an Eastern martial arts showdown against a Western camper myth. What a world war of ancient and modern, East and West!]

As the largest "barbecue stall" on the internet, the DYS stream is famous for its "skewers"—a slang term for sarcastic, trolling commentary. From the streamers to the viewers, everyone is a master of this craft; it's impossible to tell what’s serious and what’s not.

Because of the team voice comms in last week’s *Heroes' Microphone*, where Jiejie shouted "Master Ye" at Ye Bo in the final moments, the nickname had accidentally gone viral overnight. Combined with the "1v9 incident" from before, it fit the nickname perfectly. Now, the forums were flooded with fan-made memes of Ye Bo and the *Ip Man* movies:

"Master Ye, cut off his mid lane!"
"I want to fight ten!"

Ye Bo had no idea how he’d become a sensation again, but the red notification dots for new followers on Bilibili hadn’t stopped for days. It proved his earlier theory: the ID didn't matter. No matter what name you picked, it would inevitably be memed to death, and whether it turned into something positive or absurd depended entirely on your "real-time performance."

"Wow, this is really not it. Why is this Zoe running Teleport? He’s not getting the streamer’s approval at all! Scout always takes Ignite!" Sika glanced at the runes and kept roasting.

"Playing for the team... wait, hold on! EDG is invading the jungle at level one! They’re up to no good again!" Sun Yalong suddenly pointed at the screen.

After the lesson from LNG, every team had noticed EDG’s sudden shift. Previously, EDG had been middle-of-the-road, with very few tactical designs or changes. That was due to the playstyles of their mid, jungle, and support. For a team, top and AD are the most "isolated" positions; unless there’s a massive gap in skill, they rarely make an impact in the early game. Meiko, the support, preferred enchanters—strong in lane, but lacking the playmaking and roaming tendencies of more aggressive supports.

The mid-jungle duo, however, must move together. If the jungler wants to invade but the mid wants to lane, nothing happens unless one compromises. Originally, EDG almost always saw the jungler compromise for the mid laner.

This was the first difference between Ye Bo and Scout. While he loved playing high-skill, carry-oriented heroes, his goal wasn't "How can I carry?" to pad stats or snag an MVP. His goal was simply, "How can we win this game?" The MVP was just a happy accident.

WBG had prepared, though. The Nautilus didn't follow the AD to the bottom side; he stayed with the pack in mid, forming a 1-3-1 formation, ready to thwart any level-one invasion.

"Fight? I can fight, eh?" TheShy, who had already headed to the top river bush, said in broken Chinese. He knew that for him to play comfortably, his jungler had to play comfortably. After half a year together, he knew exactly what happened to his own lane once Sofm started "getting possessed."

"I’m a bit weak at level one, but... I can take a look," Sofm said, clearly less patient than Tarzan.

"I’m here! I’m here! I’m coming!" ON, waiting in mid, headed straight over.

The Orianna and Sivir didn't follow. Not only because they were weak at level one, but also because they had to watch out for EDG pulling a "luring the tiger away from the mountain." It was clear they had done their homework.

The EDG top-mid-jungle trio first warded the river bush, then walked boldly through the entrance of the Blue Buff, staring down the three opponents from a distance. They even flashed three "Teemo Thumbs Up" emotes. The Zoe was positioned quite far forward, looking incredibly arrogant and punchable.

"He’s so cocky! Why is he more cocky than me? On what basis?" ON felt his hands itching at the sight of the Zoe. "Should we hook him? Take a trade?"

"Don't rush. Watch out if they're just coming to ward, but I have a sweeper, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Not just the opponents in the game, but even those with a spectator’s perspective couldn't understand what EDG was trying to do. This time, there were no strange tricks, no weird ward placements; the bot lane was playing conservatively. It really looked like they were just walking in to "act cool."

"What is EDG doing? Why? What right do you have to invade? Where’s your crowd control? Even if Zoe learned E at level one, it’s useless!" Sun Yalong screeched in disbelief.

"Look, the Nautilus is hooking!"

After ten seconds of dancing around, ON couldn't take the Zoe’s constant forward-poking anymore and threw his anchor. It landed perfectly, pulling the Zoe back and following up with his passive root! Jayce followed with a Shock Blast, but didn't jump in, just kept stutter-stepping to auto-attack.

WBG’s jungler was a Rek'Sai; even if he learned W at level one, it was hard to follow up, and Sofm didn't want to ruin his jungle pathing—it would make him very uncomfortable. Zoe took the free damage but didn't retaliate, retreating to half health under the cover of her teammates.

"This is so bizarre. Is this guy here to do comedy?" Sun Yalong clapped his hands in amusement. "Oh, you act tough, get knocked down to half health, and then just run away like that?"

"It’s pretty funny. And Sun, this Zoe is effectively throwing the lane now!" Sika noticed something else. "The minions have already spawned! With this health, Zoe either has to chug two potions or recall and waste her Teleport!"

"This was a completely senseless act of arrogance!"

The two masters of sarcasm seized the opportunity to tear into the play, and the chat was filled with mockery. Honestly, up until now, no one could see what EDG was planning. It looked like the mid laner took his top and jungle for a walk to show off, got beaten up for free, and then slinked away.

However, the WBG trio didn't let their guard down, remembering their coach’s instructions. They used the sweeper Sofm had bought at the start, clearing the path they had walked through to ensure no strange wards had been placed. There was nothing.

WBG felt that "this guy must have some issues," but they let their guard down.

In truth, EDG hadn't set anything up there. But Ye Bo obviously hadn't just gone to show off...

"Wait? What is this guy doing?"
"What the...? What the!?"
"He’s got another idea!"

DYS, who were just busy mocking them, suddenly saw a bizarre scene from the spectator’s view.

1:30, the minions arrived. The Orianna guarding mid didn't see Zoe immediately. After confirming the Zoe wasn't hiding behind the wall to throw a Q, or waiting to shove the wave, Angel made a judgment: "Zoe didn't want to use Teleport, so she’s going to miss a few minions. I can get priority before level three."

"Alright, I’m going to invade the red side then."

Meanwhile, a fierce battle was breaking out in the top lane. TheShy loved early-game pressure, and Jayce excelled at it. Jayce not only had a range advantage but also three skills at level one, giving him the upper hand in trades. Graves, on the other hand, had his E armor nerfed after Worlds, and while he could still play top, his early laning power was undeniably weaker.

Jayce started posturing aggressively, occupying the first bush and using it to weave in and out for auto-attacks. Shanji played just as fiercely; everyone knew he was here to "face his demons," and he refused to back down. However, Jayce not only had a 75-range advantage but also extra damage spells, quickly gaining the upper hand. The health gap was widening!

"What is this Graves doing..." Sofm, watching from the jungle, couldn't understand the top laner’s play.

"Hey, why hasn't the enemy mid laner shown up yet? So slow," Angel wondered. Zoe’s recall timing was awkward, but by the time calculations, she should be back by now. Yet, when the first three melee minions fell, Zoe still hadn't appeared.

"Holy shit!!!"

At that very moment, a crisp, authentic shout of "Oh~ shit! He’s been trapped!" erupted from the top lane. Sun Yalong and Sika screamed in unison.

"TheShy!"

Just as Jayce moved to auto-attack and retreated into the bush to drop minion aggro, a colorful "Sleepy Trouble Bubble" flew out from the "toilet" (the alcove), hitting Jayce with lightning speed!

Jayce grew drowsy.

The Zoe, who had been beaten down to half health at level one, walked out from behind him, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She hadn't recalled; she had walked straight to the top lane and hid in the alcove. That level-one showboating, the intentional hook, and the sacrifice of health—it was all a setup. If she hadn't been at that health, a mid laner going missing at level one would have raised massive red flags, putting everyone on high alert.

Clearly, this was Ye Bo "creating a reason" for his opponent. It made everything look so reasonable.

None of the WBG players suspected a thing; there was no reason to! Because of Jayce’s aggressive positioning, the gap was significant. Even with TheShy’s elite mechanics, he couldn't trade for free; the 70% to 50% health gap was already a massive level-one advantage.

But the problem was... there were two of them now!

Zoe walked out and triggered the *Sparkles!* passive, breaking the sleep and dealing double true damage, while the bubble’s 30% magic resist reduction made the hit even more painful! Graves dashed in with *Quickdraw*, shoving his gun barrel into Jayce’s face!

"TheShy burns Flash! Can he run? I don't think they have enough damage!" Sika was more excited than the Graves.

"Hard to say, hard to say. Jayce is too far forward, and he traded too hard at level one... holy crap!" Sun Yalong shouted in disbelief. "Zoe flashed to help auto-attack? He’s insane!"

Jayce transformed and accelerated to create distance, but Graves, who had pre-planned his movement, chased him down with an E. Zoe, despite having no skills left, flashed synchronously to land the finishing auto-attack! With the *Nimbus Cloak* movement speed, even though Zoe’s auto-attack only did 50 damage, it was enough to sting!

Graves chased into the tower like a madman. TheShy tried to use the tower to block Graves’s auto-attack, but Shanji flashed to hug the wall and forced a kill under the tower! Taking two tower shots, he walked out with a sliver of health.

"He killed him!!!"
"First blood! TheShy is down!"

"That’s not fair! That’s not fair!" Sika cheered with passion but didn't forget to troll: "Wow, but this Ye... he really has some weird tricks up his sleeve!"

Sun Yalong’s expression changed as fast as a Sichuan opera mask: "I have to give it up for Shanji, this was great. Who’s ever seen a mid laner gank top like that?"

"Don't say that, Sun, it works! Zoe has Teleport; she can just TP back to mid and won't lose much! As long as she doesn't get caught by the jungler, it’s a net gain!"

"Damn, so that’s what the Teleport was for?"

[Taste is great, no extra salt needed.]
[Apologize! Apologize! Everyone apologize to me!]
[Truly great. Some people could never do this—unless they owed money, they’d only tell their jungler to be their dog. How could they ever sacrifice themselves for a teammate like this?]
[This is a bit much, though. MD, if you can't win the lane, you just call for help? That’s not fair!]
[But what’s the point? Jayce TPs back, he’s only down one kill. So what if TheShy gave up a kill!]

The chat was full of sarcasm and banter, but there was some truth to it. Getting the kill was definitely a win. But how much of a win? It was hard to say. Jayce’s wave was fine, and because they had chased him, the minions were being pushed into the tower, so he wouldn't lose much by TPing back. Graves got the kill, but EDG had spent four Summoner Spells to get that First Blood...

But then, Zoe’s next move left everyone confused again.

"What is this Zoe doing? Not TPing, not B-ing?"
"What does that even mean? Is he waiting for him to revive and TP back? Bold! Does he know who TheShy is? Is the top-ranked player on the server that easy to catch!?"
"Impossible. No matter what, you can't camp this. Jayce will land and take the tower minions first. You’d be camping until the end of time—you’re losing your mid lane!"

Back when Graves chased into the tower, Zoe had already retreated and vanished from vision. But now, with everyone’s eyes focused on her, Zoe didn't press recall. She just stood in the alcove, staring at the wall, leaving everyone completely baffled...

Was that really the end of it?

That little harvest wasn't enough to justify EDG’s elaborate level-one design. Ye Bo was staring fixedly at the time in the top right corner, comparing it to Jayce’s death timer. He aimed his mouse at a rock on the wall, his finger hovering over the E key.

He counted down in his head, following the timing he had practiced countless times.

"Three... two... one..."

"Go! You!"