Chapter 32: The Strongest Challenger—Achieved!

With no one able to withstand the Gragas’s damage, Jiang Ming transformed into the grim reaper of this match. Wherever he went, death followed.

Between kills, pushing towers, and plundering the jungle, the Purple team’s gold lead ballooned from a few thousand to nearly ten thousand in a matter of minutes. By the mid-game, Smiley and his teammates attempted to rely on their team synergy to defend their inner turrets and high ground, but the Gragas remained silent, relentlessly launching his explosive barrels.

A quick QR combo into the crowd meant instant death for those caught and severe injury for those merely grazed. He threw his abilities as if they were worthless, his sole purpose being to whittle them down. Once their health bars were depleted, the Blue team would push again; Smiley and his squad had nowhere to stand. Against a full-health team, even the protection of the defensive towers was no longer safe.

When they finally managed to group up for a desperate counterattack, a perfectly timed second ultimate from Gragas blasted Thresh, Lee Sin, and the others back once more. Lacking the ability to force an engage, they could only watch helplessly as the Blue team retreated.

Seeing the Purple team collapse like a mountain in the livestream, unable to mount a single effective resistance, the fans of WE in the YY90001 channel fell into a deathly silence. The fiercer their trash talk had been before the game, the harder the slap to their faces felt now. They never imagined that four WE players, reinforced by a powerhouse top-laner, would be rendered completely powerless by their opponents.

In the end, had the Blue team’s Vayne not been overly aggressive and caught by Juanmao’s Thresh hook, the Purple team might not have even secured a single kill throughout the mid-to-late game. Jiang Ming’s overwhelming dominance in the mid lane, combined with his superior understanding of the game's current patch, meant that the "clash of titans" the audience had anticipated never materialized. To put it bluntly, it had turned into a one-man show for the mid-laner—an ultimate performance built upon the corpses of four WE members and the reputations of professional players.

...

Victory!

As the Purple team’s nexus crumbled with a roar, the word representing triumph stretched across the center of the screen.

The tenth match of the placement series—won!

With a final record of nine wins and one loss, Jiang Ming stared intently at his personal dashboard. The rank emblem, which had reached 100 League Points in Diamond I, crackled and dissolved into a mist of light. Then, the mist slowly coalesced as blue-and-gold wings unfurled around a diamond-shaped crystal.

[Oh my god!]
[It’s here, it’s here! JM’s Challenger badge!]
[I ask you, who else is there? Who else!]
[Where are the WE fans now? Speak up! Come out and talk!]

The fans in Jiang Ming’s stream were ecstatic, feeling a shared sense of glory.

...

A fight for the top of the Chinese server? A clash between a solo-queue king and professional players?

Back and forth, yet in less than forty minutes, they couldn't distinguish who was superior? Sorry, if you count the queue time, the entire game lasted barely half an hour, and from start to finish, it didn't even put a shred of pressure on JM.

Professional players aren't necessarily better than our solo-queue legends. It’s just that JM hasn't entered the professional scene yet.

Jiang Ming smiled radiantly, admiring his updated profile page.

Region: China, Challenger—Goal achieved!

...

"Congratulations, player YY-JM has been promoted to the Challenger tier!"
"Congratulations, player YY-JM has been promoted to the Challenger tier!"
"Congratulations, player YY-JM has been promoted to the Challenger tier!"

As the blue-and-gold Challenger badge took shape, countless League of Legends players logged into the Chinese server received the same notification.

[Whoa, what the hell? Someone already hit Challenger?]
[Damn, the ranks haven't even been updated for a day, I haven't even finished my placements, and someone is already Challenger!]
[Is this the world of the strong? I just want to reach Gold for the skin...]
[Brothers, go watch! JM is streaming on YY, and he just hit Challenger by stepping on the heads of world champions.]

The YY platform followed up with lightning speed, activating pre-prepared celebration effects, site-wide notification banners, and promotional advertisements almost simultaneously.

The first Challenger on the entire platform!

At the same time, because of Ming Kai’s defeat, his competitor’s League Points were deducted. This meant that at this very moment, Jiang Ming was also the rank-one player on the Chinese server.

A perfect performance on Gragas, a transcendent slaughter, and the crushing of world-class team members. With both mechanics and awareness on display, and having stepped into the "Emperor Realm" over the corpses of professionals, he had essentially maxed out every possible buff.

For a moment, the stream was flooded with gifts from the platform and the viewers.

[You're amazing, Brother Ming!]

[Rank one on the Chinese server! Even if it’s only temporary, we’ve really shown what we're capable of.]
[Let’s see if those fans keep trying to compare pros to solo-queue players. My JM just stepped on their heads to get promoted.]
[Are they really pros? They seemed pretty average. Watching from JM’s first-person perspective, there was zero pressure. It was a pure stomp.]
[One step ahead, every step ahead. JM was a fixture in the top of the ladder last season, and this version of the game seems perfectly suited for him. It wouldn't be surprising if he holds onto the top spot.]
[Requesting a replay! Brothers, I just got off work—boohoo, I missed the promotion battle.]

On the other side, having exited the match, Jiang Ming received a flurry of friend requests, including one from Tabe. After accepting them one by one, he finally turned his attention to the chat.

He thanked the viewers who sent gifts, "Thank you all, thank you to all the brothers in the stream for your support."

"Haha, had some good luck. Got matched with some solid teammates, and the jungler is actually a member of my own team."

"Crushing the pros? Haha, I wouldn't say it like that. I’m not a god... It’s mainly because, after the version changes in Season 3, the tempo is very fast. Once the mid and jungle secure an advantage, it’s easy to pull off a stomp like this."

"So, in this new version, the mid and jungle positions are crucial. You could basically say they’re the top choices for climbing the ladder. What are you waiting for?"

After thanking them, Jiang Ming began picking out and answering questions from the chat. If left unchecked, the narrative could easily get out of hand. With his team about to enter the LPL, being the center of too much controversy could make them a target.

However, the viewers in the stream chose to accept Jiang Ming’s explanation selectively. Version reasons? Luck? You’ve got to be kidding. If I were that lucky, why can’t I stomp a professional team’s mid and jungle? It was just a humble remark.

Some fans, however, were more interested in the team members Jiang Ming mentioned.

[Oh ho, team members? Is the jungler from that professional team you put together, JM?]
[So you really did start one? Does JM plan to go pro?]
[Seems boring, doesn't it? Going pro, a bunch of gaming addicts having fun together... better to just stream and make money.]

"That’s right. The team has been in the works for a while now, and our organization, NXG, has already secured a spot in the LPL preseason."

Jiang Ming narrowed his eyes, putting on the appearance of someone who had accidentally let a secret slip. Since the previous match had drained a fair amount of his energy, he didn't rush to queue up again, choosing instead to chat with his audience.