Chapter 38: S7 Champion FMVP? Nothing Special

"Are you okay?"

Seeing Ruler get solo-killed, Crown, who was playing in the adjacent lane, asked with a note of concern.

Ruler waved his hand dismissively, then said earnestly, "It's not a big deal. It's just that this Miss Fortune on the other side is ridiculously strong. I suspect he might be Uzi."

"But it doesn't quite feel like him either. Uzi’s laning is indeed very strong, but not to this extent. His micro-movements are so intricate that I can't handle it; laning against him is exhausting." Ruler glanced at his CS stats and let out a sigh.

"I noticed."

Crown felt the weight of that statement, as the Zoe he was laning against was also absurdly strong. "It looks like the LPL is going to have some powerful new players emerging in the S9 season."

The intensity of ranked games can't usually compare to professional matches, but both Ruler and Crown felt that tonight's game was rivaling the intensity of the World Championship.

"Sigh. Is our LCK really on the decline? We even let the LPL take the S8 championship trophy this year."

At this thought, Ruler couldn't help but recall lifting the trophy at the Bird's Nest last year. Comparing that memory to being suppressed by a relative unknown in a ranked game, he felt a mix of frustration and melancholy.

"We can't lose this game. We have to win it." Wiping the sweat from his face, Ruler put on his glasses, gritted his teeth, and said, "We must."

"Yeah..."

Crown felt incredibly uncertain. Even if they won this game, the undeniable fact remained that he was losing his lane to the opposing Zoe.

In the game, Peanut saw the bot lane in trouble and rushed back to assist. However, after securing the kill on Ruler, the blue side immediately retreated, giving no opportunity for a counter-attack.

"Damn it!"

"Mlxg, that’s not very honorable of you!"

Peanut immediately criticized the jungler's behavior in the chat using Pinyin.

However, all he got in response was a "?". Peanut continued to vent, but the jungler ignored him and headed back to base to buy items.

Being killed at this stage of the game was a heavy blow to an ADC's development rhythm. What was worse, the kill had gone to the Miss Fortune, who was already the most fed player on the map.

Even the Fiora on the top lane, a signature pick for their specialist, wasn't as well-farmed as Lu Zian's Miss Fortune. It was clear that the laning phase would only get worse from here.

Lu Zian knew he had to pick up the pace. Miss Fortune was an early-to-mid-game ADC; they absolutely could not let this game drag on to the late game, or else the opposing Kai'Sa would inevitably become a ticking time bomb.

He had been laning against the Kai'Sa for over ten minutes and understood the opponent's strength well.

"Guodong, let's swap lanes. You head bot to farm. We need to speed this up, or we won't be able to play in the late game. If their Fiora, LeBlanc, and Kai'Sa get going, we'll just be waiting to die!"

Lu Zian sent a message to Guodong and pinged the mid lane.

Guodong replied with an "Ok," and the mid and bot lanes swapped immediately.

Although the support Morgana in this match was low-ranked, she had enough game sense to know that if she just supported the ADC well, they might win.

She immediately followed Lu Zian to the mid lane to face off against the LeBlanc. Because of the lane swap, a 2v1 situation was instantly created in the middle.

LeBlanc was already struggling in the mid lane and wasn't doing well; this lane swap from the blue side left the player completely bewildered.

"What are they doing?"

Crown's mentality was beginning to fray. Seeing how battered and strained Ruler looked, he knew this ADC was outrageously strong—certainly more so than the Zoe.

After all, Ruler was the FMVP of the S7 World Championship. Even if the SSG team hadn't performed well this season, his individual skill was still above his own.

"They swapped lanes." Ruler’s expression was grim. "They’re starting to accelerate. We can't play against this team composition in the late game. This Miss Fortune wants to widen the gap and snowball. You have to be careful; this guy is very good."

"Aren't you going to swap back?" Crown retorted. He didn't want to face a 2v1; it was too difficult for him. Every time that ADC landed a shot, he lost at least a third of his health.

Ruler shook his head. "I can't. I lost a huge wave of minions when I died earlier. If I swap to mid now, I'll lose even more, and our disadvantage will only grow."

"Good luck. As long as you can hold the pressure, they'll definitely lose after 20 minutes," Ruler said helplessly.

With that said, what else could Crown do? He just nodded gloomily. "Fine, I'll do my best."

At this moment, the viewer count in Lu Zian's live stream had broken through 90 million, rapidly approaching 100 million.

While it was common knowledge that viewer counts on the Shark platform were the most inflated in the industry, 100 million was still a staggering number.

Inside the EDG team house, as Lu Zian climbed the trending topics and his stream grew hotter, everyone was watching his ranked game.

There were even a large number of streamers spectating and casting the match, treating it like an official tournament game. All the EDG players were watching along.

The feed was even projected onto the 200-inch screen in the EDG observation room.

When Lu Zian killed Ruler, everyone broke into cheers and applause: "That kill was so smooth!"

Even iBoy, who had never fully acknowledged Lu Zian's skill, couldn't help but mutter, "He is indeed very strong."

The others felt the same. Over the past week in ranked games, Lu Zian had displayed too many stunning, applause-worthy plays.

In his live stream, the viewers were going wild:

"66666!! Even if it wasn't a solo kill on Ruler, that play was just too flashy. Ruler must be in despair."

"So much for the champion ADC! You guys were lifting the trophy at the Bird's Nest this time last year, and now you're getting slaughtered on the Summoner's Rift!"

"It's starting, the lane swap. The 'Falcon Man' rhythm is kicking in! Everyone get your stools, cola, peanuts, and sunflower seeds ready, and watch him go on a rampage."

"Ten minutes of laning and he completely suppressed Ruler. He's up by over 10 CS—even Uzi probably couldn't do that, right?"

Lu Zian's stream was so popular that it even attracted many streamers from the gaming section. One of them, Sister Zhou, even gifted 10 Super Rockets in his channel!

"Holy crap, isn't that Sister Zhou? What, could it be that she's taken a liking to the Falcon Man..."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. Don't spread rumors, okay? Is she even worthy of the Falcon Man?"

"True."

Seeing these comments, Sister Zhou retorted in disgust: "What are you guys talking about? What is going through your heads all day? I gave Zian rockets because I felt like it."

"Besides, I was on the hosting desk during the RNG vs. G2 match that night. I admire his mentality! He has a certain drive; I believe he will definitely stun the entire LPL in the S9 season!"

"So, please don't spread rumors about me! Hmph!"

As soon as these words were out, viewers immediately began their own "literary analysis":

"Got it, isn't this just a fan-girl mentality? Women really are superficial. Isn't it just because the Falcon Man is too handsome?"

"Hehe, honestly, if I were a woman, I'd like the Falcon Man too."