Chapter 032 — mlxg: “Can I get carried to an easy win this game?”

“Liu Shiyu, what are you talking about?”

Although wearing noise-cancelling headphones, Uzi still caught Teacher Guo’s gossip. Frowning deeply, he said, “Have you reached Master rank in Korean server yet? All you do is gossip here every day!”

“I’m not gossiping at all. These are things netizens said. Why are you mad at me?”

Teacher Guo was a bit indignant. He was one of the few players on the entire RNG team bold enough to talk back to Uzi.

“Am I mad?”

Uzi shrugged and took off his headphones. “Please, say less. No one treats you like a mute.”

Teacher Guo looked displeased at first, then started muttering like a resentful woman:

“It’s just Master rank on the Korean server, what’s the big deal? Damn it, before the season ends, I’ll get it just to show you...!”

“Good luck. The S8 season is about to end. Ranking up now is much harder than usual. If you make Master, I’ll order you a month’s worth of takeout.”

Uzi knew Teacher Guo’s skill. This guy could dominate in matches but was a complete iron waste in ranked games.

Suddenly, Teacher Guo was filled with fighting spirit. He knew he spent hundreds on takeout every day; over a month, that added up to tens of thousands.

As if afraid Uzi would regret it, Teacher Guo emphasized, “Alright! You asked for this yourself, no backing out!”

“Don’t worry, a gentleman’s word is his bond. Provided you really make Master!”

“Heh heh, you really underestimate me, Liu Shiyu. What’s Korean Master rank? Little pup, just wait. This month, I’m gonna make you hurt.”

Teacher Guo was brimming with confidence. Though he hadn’t reached Master for several seasons, stuck at Diamond 1, this season he’d worked hard, always playing promotion matches, just failing to advance. Now, he was one win away from Master.

Uzi had no idea about this!

Heh heh.

A month of takeout, huh?

I’m gonna feast on truffle lobster, imitation cod roe, Alaskan king crab every meal... You look down on me? Watch me eat you alive.

At this moment, Teacher Guo was also playing ranked.

Coincidentally, it was his final promotion match for Master rank. Win this, and he’d make it.

“I hope my teammates carry me! Also, I start at the same time as Lu Ziang. Maybe we’ll be teammates. Given my rank is so low, with his win rate, he’s unlikely to be on the opposing team.”

Teacher Guo rubbed his hands eagerly, secretly excited.

---

In Lu Ziang’s live stream, his ID was obscured.

This was mainly to prevent being targeted or sniped. It worked early on, but as match quality rose, hiding the ID was impossible.

“Heh heh, two IDs are in Chinese pinyin. Could be GuoDun and Lu Ziang. Haha, this game feels solid!”

Teacher Guo gestured excitedly. This game he played the classic warrior jungler “Berserker Olaf.” At the start, he couldn’t help but type in chat:

“Hello, gentlemen, I’m RNG jungler mlXg! Which lane should I help this game?”

Teacher Guo’s self-introduction sparked lively discussion in Lu Ziang’s stream. Viewers were thrilled:

“Damn, unlucky to get Teacher Guo. He’s been stuck for years at Korean server Diamond 1, sometimes not even that level.”

“Really a narrow path of enemies. RNG keeps getting dragged into these rank matches, and now we meet the noble jungler.”

“To be honest, Teacher Guo’s pro stage performance is notable — a starvation-style jungler, not just empty reputation.”

“Heh heh, this should be fun. I wanna see how Teacher Guo messes with Brother Sunzi!”

“This game, the blue side is all Diamond ranks except Teacher Guo at Diamond 1. The red side has five Masters, all in the top 180 Korean server.”

“Yikes.”

“Blue side has Teacher Guo at Diamond 1, two others at Diamond 2.”

In such high-quality Korean ranked games, Diamond rank was quite low.

The enemy had five Masters, top 180 players!

Clearly, the matchmaking system didn’t want Lu Ziang to keep his winning streak.

Teacher Guo waited a long time with no reply, so he obediently went to the blue buff spot and quietly awaited monster respawn.

Lu Ziang played ADC again, and GuoDun was mid lane.

They chose “Bounty Hunter Miss Fortune” and “Twilight Star Zoe,” both popular picks in bot and mid lanes in the current meta.

Jungle: Olaf
Top: Cho’Gath
Support: Morgana

This was the blue side’s lineup, quite standard in ranked. It was one of Lu Ziang’s rare relatively normal compositions in 78 matches: frontline, burst, crowd control, area damage, soft and hard CC, and mobility all covered.

The red side’s lineup was more reckless:

Top: Fiora
Mid: LeBlanc
Jungle: Lee Sin
ADC + Support: Kai’Sa + Braum

Their confidence stood out — a full carry threat team. Except support couldn’t carry, every other position could.

Lu Ziang didn’t use third-party software to check enemy win rates or ranks, but he judged their strength by his own win rate and their champion picks.

This game was definitely harder than the last. After all, he and GuoDun had already reached Master rank.

Monsters respawned. Lu Ziang and support helped clear blue buff, then chose to return to lane via bot side instead of river.

At this quality match, to keep winning, caution was key. One surprise death at the start could be fatal.

Lu Ziang’s advantages in ranked were “growth potential,” “mechanics,” and “game sense.”

Ranked wasn’t a tournament. Don’t expect teammates to cooperate much.

Especially in these top-tier matches, ranked was a solo game, whereas tournaments were team-based — a huge difference.

But whether in ranked or tournaments, one person rarely saves the day alone.

Lu Ziang could only leverage his strengths and place all hopes on himself.

At this moment, Lu Ziang’s stream popularity had soared to a terrifying 68 million plus. As the ranked match began, viewers started sharing insights:

“The red side has five Masters. ADC is Emperor Chi! Damn, the support is Braum the specialist, basically a pro-level support. Mid is Crown, the AD and mid from the Samsung Galaxy team, and jungle is SKT’s Peanut...”

“Top is Fiora the pro, four consecutive seasons as strongest Master. Damn!”

“Looking at the players alone, Brother Sunzi is basically done for.”

“The system really knows how to stir things up, huh? Or did IG winning the championship tonight rile up LCK players? They all came to ranked?”

...