Chapter 4: Colonel Guan: "What a pity, this young officer."

The match has reached the 25-minute mark. For the favored G2, the outcome of this Baron fight could well determine the trajectory of the entire series. For the struggling RNG, however, this Baron is nothing more than a life-support measure. The only silver lining is that preventing G2 from securing it is the best possible outcome under the circumstances.

At this moment, the entire RNG squad finds themselves looking at this unfamiliar young player with newfound respect.

"Great job, Zi'ang! That Baron steal was incredible. Nice!"
"Yeah, that was absolutely brilliant. You’ve single-handedly kept us alive and disrupted G2’s rhythm!"

The top, mid, and support players are visibly excited, as no one had shown such performance in the previous four games. Only Karsa, the jungler, wears a complex expression. His jungle pathing this game has been disastrous, leading to the collapse of the jungle area and a lack of vision, which triggered a chain reaction. The mid and top lanes were ganked repeatedly and lost lane priority, both being pushed back to their tier-two towers by now.

Furthermore, stealing the Baron is fundamentally the jungler’s responsibility. He failed to do so; instead, he had specifically taken the time to farm his own red buff. If Uzi were playing, he would have been denied every red buff after the first one—such is the difference in treatment. Everyone knows perfectly well that this Lu Zi'ang is just the scapegoat pulled out by the coaching staff.

All eyes are now focused on Lu Zi'ang; the team seems to see in him a glimmer of hope for an RNG comeback. The cunning director shifts the camera to the RNG player lounge. The focus settles on Uzi's face. True enough, his expression is unreadable. The lens then pans to Sun Dayong and the other coaches. Just moments ago, they were discussing whether to keep Lu Zi'ang, and now, they are being slapped in the face by reality.

"This..." After a few seconds of hesitation, Sun Dayong hurriedly begins to clap, feigning extreme excitement and agitation—a jarring contrast that leaves everyone stunned. "Nice! As expected of a player I scouted. That Baron steal was so critical. Outstanding!"

Yet, if one observes closely, a hint of complexity can be seen in his eyes. What was once an 80-20 split in favor of G2 has shifted to 70-30 after this Baron steal.

The situation remains grim for RNG. G2, after a moment of surprise, quickly adjusts their mindset and groups up to push mid, giving RNG no room to breathe. As for Lu Zi'ang, after flashing to steal the Baron, he was instantly executed by the combined damage of all five G2 members at the pit.

"It seems G2 has no intention of letting RNG use the Baron buff to scale. They are accelerating the pace, preparing to force a fight!" In the commentary booth, Miller recovers from his initial excitement and analyzes the situation: "RNG lacks an ADC to clear the waves! It looks like they’ll struggle to hold off G2's onslaught."

"I have to admit, RNG has made too many mistakes in these 26 minutes, while G2 has only lost one Baron. It hasn't had much impact on the state of the game!"

"Will RNG choose to engage, or will they opt to split-push the side lanes?" Wawa’s expression is solemn. He already has his suspicions. Sure enough, the four remaining RNG members choose not to contest G2 in the mid lane. Instead, they opt for a safer strategy: using the Baron-buffed minion waves to sneakily push towers in the side lanes.

"Tsk..." Even Sun Dayong finds this hard to watch, though he knows it is the most prudent approach. If they were to force a fight with G2 now and get wiped, it would mean RNG’s journey ends in the quarterfinals this year. No one wants to see that. At this juncture, RNG is no longer the fearless, aggressive team they once were; everyone is subconsciously playing for safety.

"Give me a bottle of heart medication; this BO5 has been so pathetic and frustrating. I'm really speechless!" In the host booth, Guan Da-xiao watches with a look of utter disbelief. Zhou Shuyi, sitting next to him, couldn't care less: "If they lose, they lose. They can just come back next year."

"You don't understand," Guan Da-xiao shakes his head. "Though, this substitute ADC is quite strong. If he were on any other team, he’d definitely be a starter. What a pity for this young lad!"

RNG has been baffling tonight, from the drafting and tactics to the laning and team fights. There were even rumors circulating during the do-or-die game that RNG was match-fixing. But anyone who truly understands this team knows... it isn't match-fixing. RNG’s biggest weakness is their mentality. Throughout the S8 season, RNG garnered too much glory, too many flowers, and too much applause, to the point where everyone became lost in that atmosphere, becoming arrogant and blind to their own faults. RNG committed the greatest taboo in professional gaming: underestimating the opponent.

Lu Zi'ang waits in the fountain to respawn. He has no voice in this match, let alone command authority. He is the youngest, has the least seniority, and hasn't even played in a single practice match, having spent his time in the LDL secondary league. He hasn't even appeared in an LPL regular season game. Yet, as the match continues, his feel for the game grows increasingly sharp; he can clearly perceive a massive improvement in all his abilities.

At 30 minutes, the Baron buff expires, and G2 enters the high ground, taking the mid lane inhibitor. Conversely, the side-lane pressure from the Baron buff yielded very little for RNG. After thirty minutes, taking down the tier-one towers in the top and bottom lanes holds little significance. The team gold gap remains overwhelming, and they are suffocating; they haven't secured a single dragon, as G2 has claimed them all.

The only consolation is that the substitute ADC, having stolen that Baron, has fully demonstrated the terrifying resilience of a young player. Even in the commentary booth, Wawa and Miller are full of praise:

"Being Uzi's substitute, he’s clearly no simple player. They say this Sun hasn't even officially played in the LPL yet!"
"Truly, the younger generation is to be feared. I think his strength is in no way inferior to IG’s JackeyLove."
"However, the disadvantage in this game is still too great. Thirty minutes in, and the second Baron is about to spawn. Can RNG be that lucky again?"

Lu Zi'ang’s steady performance is reflected in his creep score and vision control; as an ADC, he is even doing the support’s job—clearing and placing wards. At this stage, the game can no longer be salvaged by individual skill alone. Everyone on RNG knows that the more they play, the greater the pressure becomes—they are walking on thin ice, and it is precisely this state that leads to more mistakes than usual.

At 32 minutes, the support, Ming, is caught and killed by the G2 mid and jungle while warding. This time, G2 chooses not to go for Baron, opting instead to group up and push mid, aiming to end the game in one final strike.