LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

Su Mo paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. The playful smile on his lips faded slightly, replaced by an unusual seriousness.

“What I mean is,” he said slowly, “I don’t lack clingy little birds; there are plenty of those canaries everywhere. What I like is Rita, who is confident and poised on the commentary stage, speaking eloquently to tens of thousands of viewers; Luo Xin, who is quirky and always up to something on stage; and Yu Shuang, who is intellectual, gentle, and capable of standing on her own.”

His gaze finally settled on Xiaoyu: "Similarly, I also admire Xiaoyu, the professional and adorable host who shines on stage."

“So,” Su Mo raised his glass, “I don’t need anyone to give up anything for me. What I want is for us to reign supreme in our respective fields, and then clink glasses at the very top. Understand?”

These words not only defused the tense awkwardness of the previous exchange, but also subtly flattered everyone, and implicitly responded to Xiaoyu—you are fine as you are now, there's no need to rush to change, and no need to rush to sacrifice for me, there's plenty of time in the future.

Xiaoyu stared at him blankly, her eyes slightly warm.

She understood.

He did not reject her feelings, but he was also not in a hurry to accept this heavy sacrifice.

He was protecting her self-esteem and giving her room to grow.

"I understand... I understand." Xiaoyu lowered her head, using the act of eating to hide the tears welling up in her eyes, but her heart felt as if it had been filled with honey.

Rita pouted. Although she was still a little annoyed by Xiaoyu's comment, Su Mo's words made her feel comfortable, and her anger subsided considerably.

She picked up her glass and hummed, "Come on, let's drink! Let's not talk about this anymore!"

"cheers!"

The crisp sound of glasses clinking echoed through the wooden cabin, while snow fell heavily outside the window and the cabin was warm and cozy.

……

The trip to Switzerland came to a close amidst laughter and joy.

On the flight back to China, Su Mo and his group once again occupied the first-class cabin.

Perhaps the time spent together these past few days had broken down the last barrier, and the atmosphere on the return trip was much more relaxed and casual than on the way there.

Rita and Luo Xin played a childish game of "rock, paper, scissors" to compete for the seat next to Su Mo.

In the end, Luo Xin had incredible luck and won. She happily clung to Su Mo's arm and slept like a koala the whole way.

The plane landed in Shanghai Pudong.

Back at the villa in Sheshan, life seemed to be back on track.

Xiaoyu didn't move in right away. She was a smart girl and knew that too much of a good thing could be bad.

This trip has allowed her to successfully penetrate the "inner circle," and the next step is to maintain this connection gradually.

However, the frequency of her visits has visibly increased.

She would often use the pretext of "sending local specialties to Sister Shuang" or "sending delicious food to everyone" to get people to accept her as an unofficial member of the family.

……

Happy times are always fleeting, and in the blink of an eye, the drums of the S12 LPL Summer Split are about to sound.

That afternoon, Su Mo was lying in his gaming chair, watching the latest anime series, when Abu's call came as expected, his tone more serious and urgent than ever before.

"Brother Mozi! I'm in urgent need of help! You really can't slack off this time!"

Su Mo: "What happened? Did the sky fall? Or did the base explode?"

"It's worse than the sky falling!" Abu roared on the other end of the phone. "The officials just gave us a death order! You have to start in the opening game of the Summer Split! You have to play the whole game! And you also have to cooperate in filming the promotional video! They said the higher-ups specifically requested to see it!"

"Why?" Su Mo frowned. "Can't we let Holy Gun Bro play?"

"No way!" Abu pleaded earnestly. "You know, although LPL is very popular right now, T1 from the LCK has won the championship with a perfect record, and Faker is back at his peak, full of momentum. Our sponsors and Tencent are anxious and desperately need someone to step up and tell the world that LPL is the number one region! You are the FMVP, the Spring Split champion, if you don't step up, who will?"

“Moreover…” Abu lowered his voice, “the opponent chosen for this opening match is quite significant.”

"Who?"

“TES,” Abu slowly uttered three words, “Top Esports.”

Su Mo raised an eyebrow.

TES is indeed an interesting opponent.

Although EDG won the Spring Split, TES, led by JackeyLove, successfully launched a northern expedition in the second half of the season, showing tremendous momentum.

They have the most popular players besides EDG right now – JackeyLove, Knight, and Tian.

"Alright then." Su Mo sat up straight, a long-lost interest flashing in his eyes. "Since that's the arrangement, let's go have some fun."

……

After receiving Su Mo's affirmative reply, the LPL officials were energized and launched a massive publicity campaign.

Weibo, Douyin, and Bilibili are all filled with promotional posters for the "Return of the God King".

In the poster, Su Mo is wearing an EDG black and gold team uniform, with his arms crossed and a disdainful look in his eyes, with the huge shadow of the Silver Dragon Cup behind him.

Opposite him was the entire TES team, with JackeyLove standing in the center, his eyes defiant, and a storm of red and black behind him.

The title is overflowing with chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) vibes—"Ragnarok: The Throne Battle".

To facilitate the promotion, Su Mo had to return to the photography studio.

"Brother Mozi, make your eyes colder! Yes! It's that 'you're all trash' feeling!" the director excitedly directed.

Su Mo reluctantly followed the instructions and struck various embarrassing poses.

Meanwhile, the trash-talking segment between TES and TES was also incredibly heated.

JackeyLove smiled at the camera and said, "Now that Brother Mozi is back, I'm not sleepy anymore. I heard he's been resting at home for a long time? Hopefully he can keep up with my pace, or I'll just clear the bottom lane."

Tian said with a sarcastic tone, "I also want to take a vacation, but unfortunately I don't have the ability. Now that Mo Shen has come out of retirement, I definitely have to take good care of him, after all, I'm his fan."

Knight pushed up his glasses and said rather honestly, "I just... want to win. I'll hold my ground in the mid lane."

When Su Mo was shown this video of trash talk, he just smiled.

When it was his turn to record, he only said one sentence to the camera.

"I heard someone wants to beat the game? Perfect, I've had enough rest. Hopefully, I'll break a sweat and not finish too quickly."

This statement caused an uproar across the internet!

But this is the familiar Mo!

……

July 10, Shanghai Hongqiao Tiandi Performing Arts Center.

The opening match of the LPL Summer Split: EDG vs TES.

On this day, the flow of people outside the venue was comparable to that during the Spring Festival travel rush.

Tickets were scalped to exorbitant prices, and even standing tickets were extremely difficult to obtain.

In the commentary booth, it was still the familiar Haier Brothers – Miller and Wawa.

"Wow, seriously, I'm getting goosebumps." Wawa rubbed his arms. "Is this the kind of presence LPL's top stars have? I feel like there are sparks in the air today."

“That’s right,” Miller nodded. “Most importantly, Mo is back! After resting for more than a month, everyone is most concerned about how he is doing.”

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's have the players enter the arena!"

As the rousing music played, the lights focused.

The entire TES team took the stage first, their black and red uniforms exuding a menacing aura.

Next up was EDG.

When Su Mo walked last and stepped onto the stage, the roar of the crowd instantly surpassed any previous one.

He stood in the center of the stage, his expression calm, without making any unnecessary movements, only slightly adjusting his headphones.

That composure and confidence that emanated from his very being put immense pressure on the opposing TES team.

On the playing field.

"So, Brother Mozi, who are we going to teach a lesson to in the first game?" Jiejie rubbed his hands together, looking extremely excited.

Su Mo glanced at the BP interface and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Since it's the opening match, let's play something the audience likes to see."

"Give me Yasuo."

Upon hearing this, not only Jiejie but even Abu was taken aback.

"Yasuo?! Mozi, are you serious?"

"Yeah, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters."

When EDG locked in "The Unforgiven - Yasuo" on the first floor, the entire arena exploded!
"Yasuo!!" Miller roared, "In the very first game of the opening match, Mozi is pulling off some crazy antics! Is he about to have some fun?!"

"To dare to pick Yasuo against a strong team like TES, they're not treating their opponents like human beings!" Wawa exclaimed. "Is this the confidence of a god?" TES was clearly also stunned by this move.

Knight stared at the Yasuo icon, his lips twitching slightly: "Which way is he going?"

"Since he wants to be happy, then we'll make sure he can't be happy." The coach snorted and waved his hand. "Left hand, you take Ice Maiden! Pair her with a strong crowd control composition, let's see how he skates!"

Therefore, TES's lineup was quickly finalized, and a highly targeted lineup was displayed on the big screen:
Blue Team TES:

Top Lane: Gnar - Wayward

Jungle: Tian, ​​the King of Ruined King

Mid Lane: Lissandra, the Ice Witch (Knight)

ADC: Draven, the Glorious Executioner (JackeyLove)

Support: Nautilus (Mark), the Deep Sea Titan

EDG:

Top lane: Gragas (Holy Gun)
Jungler: Lee Sin (Jiejie)

Mid Lane: Yasuo (Mo)

ADC: Kai'Sa (Viper)

Support: Leona (Meiko)

"Wow! TES's lineup is so solid!" Miller exclaimed, looking at the big screen. "Mid lane Lissandra is a hard counter to Yasuo! If Yasuo dares to engage, his ultimate will teach him a lesson. Add to that the crowd control chains of Nautilus and Gnar, and Draven's burst damage... Mozi's Yasuo this game is practically dancing on a knife's edge!"

Wawa also expressed some concern: "Indeed, Yasuo is rarely seen in matches because he's so vulnerable to crowd control. And the opponent's Lissandra is Knight, whose skill level is top-notch. Mozi's move... to be honest, was a bit too overconfident."

The live stream chat exploded instantly, with many expressing doubts:
[He's getting cocky! Mozi's gotten arrogant after winning the championship!]

[Picking Yasuo first to make him a target for the left-hand player? Lissandra against Yasuo is a piece of cake, right? Use W to root him down and coordinate with the jungler, Yasuo is doomed!]

[Although I'm a fan of Mlxg, I feel like we're going to lose this game. The opposing team is TES, not some pushover.]

[Waiting for a 0-5 start, Yasuo requests interaction.]

To be honest, picking Yasuo in this kind of game is disrespectful to the opponent, and you deserve to be criticized if you lose.

The game has finished loading, and both sides have entered Summoner's Rift.

As soon as he went online, Knight's Lissandra showed extremely strong dominance.

Taking advantage of his long reach and skill level, he frequently used his Q skill to whittle down Yasuo's health from level one, and positioned himself extremely far forward, not giving Su Mo a chance to touch the minion wave.

Su Mo's Yasuo had a rather frustrating experience.

He learned the Q skill, so he could only honestly last-hit minions and occasionally use the passive wind shield to mitigate some damage. If he wasn't careful, he would get hit twice by Lissandra.

To make matters worse, TES's jungler, Tian, ​​had planned to focus on ganking the mid lane from the very beginning.

At 2 minutes and 50 seconds, Tian's Foygo finished clearing the red buff, didn't even glance at the river crab, and went straight to the mid lane with the Blade of the Ruined King.

"Tian's here! This is a level 2 gank in the mid lane! Mozi isn't level 3 yet, and he doesn't have Wind Wall!" Miller shouted nervously.

Seeing this, Knight decisively used Flash + W!

This coordinated attack was extremely decisive. As long as the enemy was immobilized and followed up with Foygo's W stun, Yasuo would either be dead or severely wounded!
However, the moment Lissandra flashed and landed, Su Mo seemed to have already foreseen everything.

A flash of white light appeared simultaneously.

"Shh!"

Knight's Flash W only froze a wisp of air!
Tian's Foljego also rushed out from the river bushes at this moment, charging up his W to try and finish off the control.

"He dodged it! What amazing prediction!" Wawa exclaimed. "Knight missed his Flash-W and exposed Foygo's vision. What a loss!"

Although he escaped a close call, Su Mo no longer had the ability to use Flash, which meant he still had to play cautiously.

In the next few minutes, the mid lane became Su Mo's "pressure simulator".

It's as if Tian lives in the mid lane. Whenever Su Mo tries to last-hit a minion, a Foygo will always pop out of the bush, or a Titan's hook will fly in from the side. Mark's Titan even ignores Draven in the bottom lane and roams to the mid lane to annoy Yasuo.

Four minutes later, Tian came to gank again. Luckily, Su Mo was close to the turret, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to escape.

Five minutes later, Mark flanked Su Mo, forcing him to abandon the minion wave and return to base, thus losing a wave of experience.

The haters in the live stream started to get excited:
[That's it? That's it? This is the world's number one? He got caught like a dog!]

[Hilarious! He's been down almost ten CS, this Yasuo's useless.]

[I told you he got cocky, picking Yasuo and making the enemy team his ATM.]

To be fair, being targeted like this and only falling ten slashes behind is already pretty impressive...

It's outrageous that Jiejie didn't come to help. Even though Mozi told them not to help, they couldn't just watch him go to jail, could they?

However, despite their disheveled appearance, attentive viewers discovered a horrifying truth.

Despite TES's ruthless targeting, Su Mo just won't die!

He used his exceptional tower defense skills and masterful control of the experience zone to keep up with Knight's level.

Although Knight didn't lose experience, his jungler and support took away a lot of his experience, so he didn't get ahead of Yasuo.

Although I was more than ten hits behind in last hits, I still gained all the crucial experience points.

Finally, at six and a half minutes, both mid laners reached level six almost simultaneously.

Knight glanced at Su Mo's equipment—attack speed boots and two short swords, while he himself had returned home to complete the missing chapters, giving him an advantage in both equipment and health.

Moreover, he has a powerful ultimate ability in hand, which is Yasuo's absolute nemesis.

"I can pressure him as the minion wave pushes into the tower," Knight said confidently in the voice chat. "Tian, ​​you stay nearby and wait. If he dares to use his E to trade blows, I'll use my ultimate to stun him, and you can finish him off."

"Okay." Tian's Fiorio was crouching at F6.

Under the tower, Su Mo watched the large wave of minions rushing in, his eyes remaining calm.

Instead of playing the cowardly last-hitting role that Knight expected, he suddenly made a move!

Q skill [Steel Slash] kills a melee minion and accumulates a stack of Whirlwind Slash effect on itself.

Immediately afterwards, Lissandra used her E skill, [Sweep Slash], to slide towards a ranged minion, instantly closing in on Lissandra who was pressing in front of the tower!
"Looking for death?" Knight sneered, his finger already hovering over the R key. If Yasuo dared to get close, it would be his death!
Su Mo's Yasuo used the minion's movement ability to instantly enter Lissandra's attack range.

Knight reacted extremely quickly, pressing his W skill in an attempt to immobilize Yasuo before unleashing his QR combo.

However, just as Lissandra raised her hand, Su Mo used his Wind Wall W!
But he wasn't blocking the skill; instead, he used the wind wall's casting animation to cancel the E skill's recovery animation, and then took a small step back!

It was this subtle distance that caused Lissandra's W to miss completely.

"What!" Knight's pupils contracted.

Before he could react, Su Mo's counterattack had already arrived!

AQ, then ER!

The violent wind cuts off the breath!
"Sawyer-Gitung!"

Yasuo teleported into the air, brandishing his longsword, and countless sword energies poured down on Lissandra's fragile body like a storm.

Light it and hang it up!

The moment he used his ultimate, Lee Sin, who had been hiding behind him, immediately used his ward to W followed by Flash and then QRQ to unleash a combo on Lissandra. Lissandra was left with only a sliver of health and was burned to death by Yasuo's Ignite before she even landed.

"First Blood!"

After being targeted for a full six minutes and falling behind in CS, Su Mo's Yasuo, in front of the tower, used a hook to help Lee Sin kill Knight's full-health Lissandra!
Even Tian, ​​who was lying in wait at F6, didn't react in time!

When he rushed out, all he saw was Lissandra's cold corpse and her back as she moved about in the minions.

"No, it's so silky smooth..." Tian couldn't help but say, "You didn't even give yourself a chance to 'R'."

The sentiment in the live stream chat instantly reversed:

【? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 】

Holy crap! They killed him already?!

[Honors, speak up! Where are the people who were just saying Yasuo is useless?]

[666666! This move made me cry!]

[Knight: Where's my ultimate? Where's my super ultimate?]

Jiejie's teamwork was perfect too; he didn't give Lissandra a single chance to use her ultimate.

This is the best Yasuo in the LPL! Who agrees, who disagrees?!

In the game, Su Mo calmly returned to base, purchasing a Zeal (yellow cross) and an attack speed short sword. (End of Chapter)