LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

After the glory and excitement of MSI gradually subsided, EDG Club gave the entire team a week-long break.

This is the first truly relaxing vacation these young men have had since the Spring Split.

The atmosphere at the base instantly shifted from tense preparation to joyful planning.

Jiejie immediately booked a flight home, clamoring to drive his newly acquired Maserati on a championship parade through his hometown, a small county town.

On Meiko's recommendation, Viper and Scout enthusiastically planned a trip to Beijing, having long yearned to visit the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.

Saint Gun chose to go home to spend some time with his parents and enjoy a few peaceful days.

When Abu asked Su Mo about his plans, he was lazily scrolling through his phone and replied without looking up, "Sleeping at home, playing games, and ordering takeout."

This unoriginal answer was exactly what everyone expected.

However, his phone vibrated at that moment. It was a message from Rita: "Brother Mozi, you still owe us the MSI championship celebration party. Luo Xin and I have agreed that we won't let this go without treating you to a Michelin three-star meal."

Su Mo raised an eyebrow as he read the message.

Just as he was about to reply with a restaurant address, intending to resolve the issue with a meal, Rita's second message arrived: "Also, we want to go on a trip. Can you be our driver, bodyguard, and tour guide, and take us out for a few days? You decide the location, and there's only one requirement: beautiful scenery."

The message was accompanied by a cute emoji of Luo Xin with her hands clasped together and her eyes sparkling, clearly taken on location...

Su Mo stared at his phone, falling silent.

He sighed and replied with two words: "Okay."

……

Three days later, a low-profile black minivan drove away from Shanghai, heading southwest.

Inside the car, Su Mo focused intently on driving.

In the passenger seat, Rita, wearing an oversized pair of sunglasses, was excitedly studying a travel guide, while Luo Xin in the back seat was like a primary school student on her first spring outing, constantly taking pictures of the scenery outside the window with her phone.

Their destination was Furong Town, an ancient town in western Hunan.

This is not a popular tourist destination; it lacks the hustle and bustle of Lijiang and the commercialization of Wuzhen.

This was a place that Su Mo randomly drew on the map and chose based on his intuition. His only criterion was that "there are few people and it doesn't look noisy."

After nearly a day's journey, the van finally stopped at a parking lot outside the ancient town, having traversed layers of mountains. It was almost dusk.

As the three of them got off the bus, a wave of moist air, mixed with the scent of water vapor and vegetation, rushed towards them, instantly washing away the fatigue of the journey.

"Wow! This place is so beautiful!" Luo Xin exclaimed sincerely, looking at the waterfall and stilted houses shimmering in the sunset.

Rita also took off her sunglasses, took a deep breath, and smiled with satisfaction: "You have good taste, Mozi-ge."

"Of course." Su Mo didn't smile, but simply took three suitcases out of the trunk with practiced ease, and then led them towards the inn they had booked.

The inn is located in the heart of the ancient town and is a riverside stilted building converted from an old house.

Pushing open the carved wooden window, you'll find the You River flowing endlessly beneath your feet, and in the distance, the magnificent Furong Town Waterfall, its roaring waters strangely bringing a sense of tranquility to your heart.

A simple dinner consisted of authentic Hunan-style cured pork and a few dishes of wild mountain vegetables. There was no elaborate plating, but it possessed the most genuine, rustic charm.

Rita and Luo Xin also enjoyed their meal.

The ancient town is exceptionally tranquil at night.

The bluestone path gleamed softly under the glow of the red lanterns. Apart from the babbling water and the occasional bark of a dog, the only other sounds were the unhurried footsteps of the three people.

“Honestly, this feeling is amazing,” Rita said as she walked beside Su Mo. “Just walking like this, without having to think about anything.”

“Yes, yes,” Luo Xin followed behind like a little tail, “It feels like time has slowed down.”

With his hands in his pockets, Su Mo looked at the mountain outlines under the night sky and said, "So, people still need to leave their familiar environment occasionally, otherwise their brains will get rusty."

Over the next two days, the three of them completely immersed themselves in the slow-paced life of the ancient town.

They would get up very early to eat a bowl of the most authentic rice tofu;

You can take a covered boat and drift down the You River, watching the green mountains and stilted houses on both banks slowly recede into the distance.

I would also find a riverside teahouse, brew a pot of local Maojian tea, watch the waterfall cascade down, and sit there for an entire afternoon.

Su Mo doesn't talk much, but he always manages to pinpoint the most inconspicuous yet delicious little restaurant when Rita and Luo Xin are arguing about which place to eat.

He seemed to have a natural intuition for various routes and environments, always able to lead them away from the crowds and find the most unique viewing angles.

Of course, only Su Mo himself knew that he had just randomly chosen a spot on the map...

That afternoon, the three of them were taking a walk along a secluded path by a stream, intending to find a "wild waterfall" mentioned in the travel guide.

This road is rarely traveled, with dense bamboo forests on both sides, and only the sound of babbling brooks and clear birdsong can be heard.

"Brother Mozi, are you sure this is the right road?" Rita joked, looking at the increasingly primitive environment. "Don't sell us two beautiful girls into the mountains!"

"The map shows that we'll arrive once we pass through this bamboo forest." Su Mo's eyes swept around the surroundings from time to time, with a habitual vigilance.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

Suddenly, three fierce-looking local men wielding sticks rushed out of the bamboo forest ahead, blocking the three men's path.

The leader was a bald man with a thick gold chain around his neck that dazzled people in the sunlight in the forest.

"Halt!" The bald man's voice was rough and thick with accent. "This road is mine, these trees are mine. If you want to pass, leave your toll!"

This line, which only appears in TV dramas, stunned both Rita and Luo Xin.

Well, Su Mo was also stunned.

"Big brother, are you guys filming a short video?" Su Mo asked suspiciously.

"Fuck your head, can't you tell I'm robbing someone?" The burly man at the head of the group glared fiercely at Su Mo.

Luo Xin's face turned deathly pale instantly, and she instinctively hid behind Su Mo.

Rita remained relatively calm, frowning as she said, "Who are you people? You dare to rob me with such intentions? We're calling the police!"

"Call the police?" A tall, thin man next to the bald man sneered, brandishing a stick in his hand. "By the time the police arrive, you'll all be fish food in the river! Enough talk! Hand over your phones, wallets, and everything of value!"

The tense atmosphere froze instantly. Su Mo's eyes remained unmoved, as if the three burly men wielding clubs before him were no different from the minions charging at him in the game.

"Are you sure you're not joking?" Su Mo asked again with a cold face.

"Kannima coin..."

Before the burly man could finish speaking, Su Mo moved and charged straight at him.

The bald leader roared and swung his stick down, creating a gust of wind.

However, the moment his retina caught Su Mo's figure, Su Mo had already moved half a step to the left like a weightless fallen leaf.

Just that half step, the bald man's stick grazed Su Mo's clothes and slammed into empty air with great force. The huge inertia made him stagger, leaving his groin wide open.

Using his left foot as a pivot, he turned his body and his right elbow struck the inside of the bald man's right elbow joint at an extremely tricky angle.

"Crack!" A slight but clear sound of a joint dislocating.

Before the bald man could even scream, his entire right arm went numb instantly, and the stick flew out of his hand.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

The tall, thin man next to him was shocked to see this and instinctively swung his stick, trying to force Su Mo back.

However, Su Mo was faster than him.

As he struck the bald man, his body turned towards the tall, thin man, and his left hand, like a nimble snake emerging from its hole, caught the stick that had been thrown out of his hand!

He didn't try to block the tall, thin man's sweeping attack, because it was completely unnecessary.

With a flick of his wrist, the stick he had just intercepted drew a perfect arc in his hand, like the sword of an ancient knight-errant, and struck the wrist of the tall, thin man holding the stick.

"Ouch!" The tall, thin man cried out in pain, and the stick fell to the ground with a thud.

Before he could react, Su Mo had already thrust the stick forward, the hard tip striking the third thug's abdomen without any resistance.

The guy who was still in a daze suddenly felt a churning in his stomach, his legs went weak, and he knelt down like a boiled shrimp, unable to even make a sound.

From the moment Su Mo took his first step to the moment the third person knelt on the ground, the entire process took no more than five seconds.

The scene fell into an eerie silence.

All that remained was the roar of the waterfall and the suppressed groans of the three burly men.

Su Mo casually tossed the stick to the ground, dusted off his hands (which weren't actually dust), and turned to look at Rita and Luo Xin, who were now completely petrified.
"What, am I handsome?"

Rita opened her mouth, her beautiful eyes behind her sunglasses filled with shock.

In her mind, Su Mo had always been omnipotent, but he couldn't possibly be this awesome!

Luo Xin's eyes lit up with admiration. She covered her mouth with both hands, watching Su Mo's back with a look that was not only filled with worship but also with an almost fanatical light.

Ignoring their shock, Su Mo walked straight to the bald man who was still groaning on the ground, took out his phone from his pocket, unlocked it skillfully, and dialed the police.

"Hello, is this the police? There were three robbers on the bamboo forest path west of Furong Town. I subdued them. Um, I was just a helpful tourist passing by."

……

When the local police officers arrived at the scene, panting, they were met with a sight they would never forget: three burly men who looked like tough guys were kneeling on the ground with bruises on their faces, while a thin young man wearing a baseball cap was leaning against a bamboo tree, idly playing on his phone.

Beside him, two incredibly beautiful girls were looking at him with adoration.

After a brief identity verification and on-site evidence collection, the head of the police station personally took charge.

Because when they checked the system, they were shocked to discover that these three guys were not ordinary thugs at all, but fugitives from a neighboring province who were wanted for several burglaries!
This completely changed the nature of the incident.

An ordinary tourist, unarmed, subdued three armed fugitives in seconds!
This is no longer a simple act of bravery; this is a heroic deed!
The local government reacted quickly. The next morning, leaders from the county public security bureau arrived at the inn where Su Mo was staying, carrying a banner recognizing him as an "Advanced Individual in Righteous and Courageous Acts" and a reward of 60,000 yuan.

Meanwhile, the local media, with their keen sense of smell, also sprang into action, armed with cameras and microphones, and they even recognized Su Mo…

And so, a dramatic scene unfolded.

"Mr. Su, were you afraid when you were facing three armed assailants?" A female reporter excitedly held the microphone to Su Mo's mouth.

Su Mo replied sleepily, "I'm not scared, it's just a bit noisy, it's affecting my enjoyment of the scenery."

"Some people online say you are a martial arts master. May I ask which school or sect you studied under?"

"I have no affiliation or school of thought; I just get into gaming and have a quick reaction time."

"As a world champion in esports, and now a real-life hero, what are your thoughts?"

"My feeling is... it seems like my vacation is ruined."

This interview, conducted in Su's style, paired with his lazy yet excessively handsome face, and the police chief behind him holding a banner with a wry smile, created a scene full of wonderful humor and unexpected charm.

That evening, the news spread like wildfire across the internet.

It started as local news, but when the name "Su Mo" appeared, LPL fans instantly ignited public opinion!
[Holy crap! My god Mo Shen can catch fugitives even while on vacation?! Isn't this combat power a bit too much?!]

[This is hilarious! "It's a bit noisy, it's affecting my enjoyment of the scenery," typical of you, Mozi!]

[#How terrifying is the reaction speed of esports players?# Stop scrolling! This isn't just about reaction speed anymore; it's like a martial arts novel coming to life!]

[Who started this trending topic #MoShenCanAlsoGetTripleKillInRealLife#? So clever! I need an analysis of every detail of MoShen's captures in three minutes!]

Rita and Luo Xin, as "eyewitnesses," made their Weibo posts the first real-time account of the incident.

At the strong request of netizens, Luo Xin described the scene in words: "I swear, I only saw a blur, and then they all fell down. At that moment, I really felt that the person standing next to me was not a person, but a god."

This Weibo post adds another layer of mystery to Su Mo's story.

Overnight, Su Mo went from being a god in the e-sports circle to becoming the "real-life God of War" who was the talk of the entire internet.

For the first time, his name appeared on various social media accounts in a way that was unrelated to gaming, yet even more impactful.

This unexpected "adventure in western Hunan" brought Su Mo's vacation to an early end.

After politely declining all in-depth interviews from local media and the enthusiastic invitation to the "Youth Heroes Report Meeting," he returned to Shanghai ahead of schedule with Rita and Luo Xin. (End of Chapter)