LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

With that wave of TP flanking maneuvers, T1's defenses completely collapsed.

Game time is 21 minutes.

EDG gave T1 no chance to breathe.

Su Mo returned home and acquired the [Serilda's Resentment] set. With the three pieces in hand, the Sword Demon's damage output had reached an absurdly high level.

"Force Da Long." Su Mo's voice was as cold as an assassin's.

T1 knew it was a trap, but had no choice but to jump in.

The river was completely dark, and Faker, controlling Ryze, didn't even dare to face-check the bushes.

Oner's Sejuani tried to initiate a team fight with her ultimate, but was deterred by Jiejie's Maokai's counter-ultimate, Nature's Grasp.

Just as T1's formation was disrupted by the tree's ultimate ability.

From the shadows on the flank, the Darkin figure who had unleashed the Great Annihilation descended like a nightmare.

E [Shadow Dash] - Passes through walls!
flash!

Q1 knocks up Lucian and Nami as they try to retreat!
W's Flame Chain is attached to Ryze!

"A god has descended to earth!!" Miller roared.

There were no fancy maneuvers, just pure damage to kill.

The shield triggered by Star Eclipse, the damage reduction from Dance of Death, and the healing from Triumph.

Su Mo weaved in and out of T1's ranks seven times, and with each Q skill strike, a large portion of T1's health bar disappeared.

Zeus's Jayce only dared to fire one shot from a distance, and didn't even dare to switch to hammer form to hit anyone.

Because he knew that if he dared to enter the arena, the red monster could turn around and kill him with a single strike.

Double Kill!

Triple Kill!

Su Mo secured a triple kill, while the remaining Sejuani and Jayce fled in disarray.

EDG took advantage of the situation to secure Baron Nashor and pushed forward.

24 minutes 15 seconds.

T1's crystal nexus exploded under the combined might of the super minions and Su Mo's fire blades.

"Let's congratulate EDG!!" Wawa announced loudly, "A double victory over T1! They've completed a double sweep of LCK powerhouses in the group stage! Mozi's demonstration of both forehand and backhand techniques was truly inspiring!"

……

The moment Su Mo took off her headphones, she let out a soft breath.

Although he won easily, the intense concentration he had maintained still left him feeling somewhat tired.

He stood up, and before he could speak, Jiejie excitedly rushed over: "Brother Mo! That was ruthless! That Sword Demon was completely incomprehensible! Zeus was totally demoralized by you!"

Su Mo smiled and straightened his team uniform: "Let's go shake hands."

On his way to the T1 players' bench, Su Mo could clearly feel the low atmosphere around Zeus.

This talented top laner, on whom LCK placed high hopes, was slumped in a chair, covering his face with his hands, not even daring to look up at the EDG players approaching.

Two matches, one with Riven and the other with Aatrox.

Every time, they completely dominate the lane; every time, they are unstoppable in team fights.

This is a huge blow to an 18-year-old.

Su Mo walked up to Zeus and extended his hand.

Zeus then stood up as if waking from a dream, his handshake stiff and his eyes darting away.

Su Mo didn't say much, but simply patted his shoulder gently.

For the loser, sometimes silence is more merciful than comfort.

However, when he walked up to Faker, the veteran's expression remained calm.

He stood up and looked at Su Mo intently through his round-framed glasses.

"sharp."

Faker said in simple English.

Su Mo shook the hand that had won three world championships and replied in English, "Good luck, see you in the finals."

Faker paused for a moment, then a very faint smile appeared on his lips, and he nodded.

……

He stood in the center of the stage, receiving cheers from the entire audience.

"Mo! Mo! Mo!"

The shouts shook the sky.

Post-game interview session.

This time, it was LPL's host, Xi Ran, who was wearing a beautiful dress and looking at Su Mo with a smile.

"First of all, congratulations to EDG for securing first place in the group and advancing to the next round! And congratulations to Mozi for winning the MVP of this match!" Xiran handed over the microphone. "Everyone is talking about your Aatrox play right now. Many people are saying it's a 'forward and backhand tutorial.' When you picked it, did you have the intention of 'teaching' Zeus a lesson?"

Su Mo took the microphone, faced the camera, and looked relaxed:

"It's not really about education; I mainly want to tell everyone that the reason why a hero is strong in the current version is because the hero itself is strong. But if the ID is correct, any hero is a Tier 0 hero in the current version."

"As for Aatrox versus Jayce, it would be difficult for me to kill Jayce if he didn't try to solo kill me. Unfortunately, young people are hot-tempered, and that's the price to pay."

These words, once translated and transmitted, caused an immediate uproar on foreign websites.

【Killer Mo!】

Is this the King of LPL? He's too arrogant!

[Zeus: Young people get hot-tempered? I was pushed to my limit by you!]

At the end of the interview, Xi Ran asked, "There are two more matches left in the group stage, against C9 and FNC respectively. What are your expectations, Mozi?"

Su Mo yawned, a hint of languidness in his eyes suggesting he wanted to leave work.

"Looking forward to it... but it's actually quite tiring. Now that we've secured first place in the group and advanced, I think we should give our Flandre a chance to stretch his muscles in the remaining matches?"

As he spoke, he grinned mischievously at the camera: "Holy Gun has been sitting on the bench for so long, it's time to let him come up and get some fresh air."

……

Backstage lounge.

When Su Mo pushed the door open and entered, Saint Gun Bro, who was sitting in the corner playing on his phone, suddenly looked up.

"Holy crap? Mozi, what you said in that interview was true?" Holy Gun Bro was completely dumbfounded.

Su Mo walked over and collapsed onto the sofa: "Of course it's true. The intensity has been too high these past few days, I need to rest for a while. You'll play in the next two matches against C9 and FNC."

Abu hesitated for a moment: "This... although we're guaranteed to advance, the record of advancing with a perfect record..."

"What's the point of a perfect record? The trophy doesn't consider group stage results." Su Mo waved his hand. "Besides, it's good to let Xuan Jun (Holy Gun Bro) get some practice and maintain his form. What if I get diarrhea in the knockout stage?"

The factory manager laughed and scolded from the side, "You're just trying to slack off! Alright, since Brother Mozi has spoken, Xuanjun, you'll play in the next two matches. Don't embarrass me. If you lose to those European and American bastards, don't come back to the base, just swim back."

Saint Gun immediately stood up straight and saluted: "I guarantee I'll complete the mission! I won't let Mozi down! I'll go and study how to play Maokai top lane right now!"

The crowd roared with laughter.

Everyone is used to it.

In the LPL league, Su Mo often "gives way" to Flandre in unimportant games or when playing against weak teams, calling it a "rotation tactic." In reality, the whole team knows that Su Mo is just lazy and wants to watch the show from the sidelines.

……

The next two days.

The news of "Mo God's truce" has sparked considerable discussion on the international internet.

Some say this is a sign of contempt for European and American teams, while others say it reflects EDG's confidence in its tactical reserves.

But no matter what others say, when the match between EDG and FNC began, the familiar ID "Flandre" appeared in the top lane position.

Although he no longer possessed the suffocating laning dominance of Su Mo, Flandre was, after all, the S11 world champion top laner. His signature Graves and solid Gragas and Sejuani still gave the European and American top laners a lot of trouble.

Without Su Mo stealing the spotlight, Viper and Scout, the two Korean imports, completely took over the game.

Against FNC, Viper's Aphelios charged forward with a whirlwind, securing a pentakill.

In the C9 match, Scout's Sylas stole Akali's ultimate, making seven in and seven out of the fight.

Although the matches went a little longer, EDG still managed to secure the last two victories without much effort.

With this, the Group A matches of the S12 World Championship have all concluded.

EDG advanced to the quarterfinals with a perfect 6-0 record!

T1 finished second in their group with a 4-2 record (losing two games to EDG).

FNC and C9 were unfortunately eliminated.

In the following days, with Group A's results finalized, Hulu Theater in New York hosted the do-or-die matches for the other three groups to advance.

As the undefeated number one seed, the entire EDG team entered a brief "spectator mode".

In the hotel's training room, a huge projection screen was broadcasting live footage of the match.

Compared to the intense preparations of other teams, EDG's approach was quite unique.

Su Mo was nestled in the beanbag chair, holding a cup of coffee, looking like a contented "retired old man".

Saint Gun, having enjoyed two satisfying games, was now brimming with pride as he reviewed his geometric barrel play with Jiejie. "Stop bragging, Xuanjun," Clearlove tapped the table, gesturing to the screen, "Look at Group B, JDG is going to have to play a tiebreaker this game."

As predicted before the tournament, Group B has become a battle between JDG and DK.

In the second round of competition, JDG demonstrated an extremely formidable resilience.

Facing Canyon's early game tempo, Kanavi, playing Kindred in the mid lane, combined with Yagao's Sylas, managed to pull off a miraculous team fight at the Baron pit.

369 continued his resilience under pressure, which he had developed through Su Mo's "military training." Facing Nuguri's Kennen, he picked Ornn and managed to survive under the tower without missing a single hit. In team fights, he even managed to knock up four people.

"Is this the man who was beaten up by Brother Mozi?" Jiejie looked at Ornn, who was at the very front of the screen, and clicked her tongue in amazement. "369 is really as stable as a mountain now."

Su Mo took a sip of coffee and commented casually, "Because he knows that no matter how fierce the other top laners are in the World Championship, none of them are as fierce as me. Having experienced hell, the human world is just a playground for him."

Ultimately, JDG narrowly defeated DK in the tiebreaker, advancing as the top seed in their group, while DK finished second. G2 and EG, on the other hand, were eliminated.

Next up is Group C's "accident scene".

This day was a dark one for LPL viewers.

TES, who were highly anticipated, surprisingly suffered a defeat against the Vietnamese team GAM.

JackeyLove's Lucian attempted to destroy the base at the last moment, but was tackled by the newly respawned Sett, leading to a counter-push by GAM and the biggest upset of S12.

The training room was deathly silent.

Ah Shui's carefree demeanor on the plane is still vivid in my mind, but now he's become a water ghost who can only swim home.

"That's it...?" Meiko was somewhat incredulous. "TES's performance has been so inconsistent."

Looking at the bewildered expressions of the entire TES team on the screen, Su Mo shook his head: "This is the price of underestimating your opponent. In the World Championship, any moment of complacency is fatal. Top Esports' skills are still there, but their mind is in disarray."

Although TES subsequently defeated RGE and DRX, they ultimately failed to advance beyond the top 16 due to a crucial loss to GAM.

Group C was ultimately won by Europe's No. 1 seed RGE and LCK's No. 4 seed DRX.

It's worth mentioning that the young man named Zeka and the veteran Deft, despite being underestimated, fought their way through the competition and showed an amazing dark horse performance.

Finally, it was the final match of Group D.

Despite the pressure of physical discomfort, the entire RNG team still played with fierce determination. GALA's Kai'Sa flew in and out of the paint, while Wei's Fryegwart was wracked with pain.

However, facing a fully-formed Gen.G with Chovy and Ruler, RNG unfortunately lost in the tiebreaker.

Gen.G secured first place in their group thanks to their more refined operations, while RNG advanced as the second-place team in their group.

With this, the list of the top eight teams for S12 has been finalized.

Three LPL teams advanced: EDG, JDG, and RNG; all four LCK teams advanced: Gen.G, T1, DK, and DRX; and the sole European representative, RGE.

……

On October 17, after the group stage concluded, the exciting draw for the quarterfinals followed.

The guest for this draw is none other than the former god of support – Mata.

The entire EDG team sat around the screen, and the atmosphere became slightly tense.

According to the principle of avoiding teams from the same group, EDG, as the first place in Group A, will only encounter the second place teams from the other three groups: DK, DRX, and RNG.

Since JDG is first in Group B, EDG will most likely face an LCK team or an LPL internal match against RNG.

"No civil war, please no civil war." Abu clasped his hands together. "Let's go fight the LCK."

On the screen, Mata's hand reached into the lottery pool.

First ball: JDG.

JDG was placed in the upper bracket.

Immediately afterwards, Mata drew RGE.

JDG vs. RGE!

"Great draw!" The factory manager clapped his hands. "JDG is guaranteed to be in the semifinals this time. They'll easily beat the last European representative."

Then, Mata reached in again.

T1.

T1 was assigned to the lower half of the bracket.

Its opponent is...

RNG.

“Hiss,” Jiejie gasped, “RNG is in a bit of trouble. They need to go and fight T1.”

Next comes the moment that will decide EDG's fate.

Mata drew Gen.G.

Gen.G is in the lower half of the bracket.

The remaining DKs will automatically be moved to the bottom half of the map to fight Gen.G.

In the end, only EDG and DRX remained.

Mata smiled as she revealed the last two balls.

EDG vs DRX!

"DRX?" Viper was taken aback. "Isn't that LCK's fourth seed?"

Meiko's expression instantly became complicated. He looked at the familiar team logo on the screen and said in a low voice, "It's Deft... I didn't expect to meet him in the quarterfinals."

That was his former partner, and also EDG's former star player.

"It's nice to see an old friend again." Su Mo put down his coffee cup, stood up, and stretched. "This might be a good farewell for Deft."

"Brother Mozi, what do you think of this fortune slip?" Abu turned and asked.

Su Mo walked to the window, gazing at the dazzling New York night view, a confident smile curving his lips:

"A very auspicious sign."

"Although they performed well in the group stage, and Zeka seemed to have a breakout performance, their dark horse miracle came to an end in the face of absolute strength."

He turned around, looked at the somewhat sentimental Meiko, walked over and patted him on the shoulder:

"Don't overthink it. In esports, there's only winning and losing, no old feelings. Since he's an old friend, let's give him the best performance so he can leave with dignity. That's the greatest respect we can show."

"Get ready to pack your bags, guys."

"Next stop, Atlanta."

……

In the following days, although the atmosphere of EDG's preparation was tense, Su Mo's presence always gave off a mysterious sense of composure.

Other teams are playing scrims like crazy and studying the draft picks.

Su Mo's daily routine is as follows:

I get up at 10 a.m. and have a leisurely brunch.

From 12 noon to 4 pm, I would play a few ranked games on the Korean server and dominate, picking all sorts of champions, from Vayne to Karma in the top lane, and every game would be entertaining.

Of course, there are also occasional situations where he gets ganged up on by the enemy's top, mid, jungle, and support, and gets completely crushed. After all, he's solo queuing, and no jungler will protect him like jiejie does.

And the matches where Su Mo got completely thrashed were exactly what his teammates wanted to see...

Team practice matches are usually held from 4 pm to 6 pm.

However, even though Su Mo didn't participate, he still slacked off.

In the evening, Su Mo would disappear from the training room on time.

He was either going on dates or being dragged by Rita to "add food" to the LPL commentary team.

Of course, there's something even more important.

Riot Games sent over a special demo of "Star Walkin'", and Su Mo needs to work with their music director remotely to record and fine-tune it during breaks in the match.

"Perfect pitch, full of emotion!" The music director from Riot Games exclaimed on the other end of the phone. "Mo, if I ever quit making games, I'll definitely sign you as a singer! Your voice is simply kissed by God!"

Su Mo, holding his phone, stood on the hotel balcony and chuckled softly:
"Singing is just a side job. Right now, I just want to finish the quarterfinals as soon as possible."

"I heard the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta is pretty fun? After DRX, I'll take the guys there."

This sense of relaxation infected the entire EDG team.

People who were initially nervous about the knockout stage felt relieved when they saw their idol, Mozi, looking like he was "just here for a vacation and casually won a championship."

Yeah, with Brother Mozi around, what's there to be afraid of?
10 month 20 day.

The entire EDG team checked out of the hotel and boarded a chartered plane bound for Atlanta.

There, at State Farm Arena, the battle for the quarterfinals is about to begin.

On forums across the ocean, predictions for the EDG vs. DRX matchup have already been overwhelmingly in favor of one side.

ESPN prediction: EDG 3:0 DRX.

Guan Zeyuan's prediction: EDG 3:1 DRX.

To everyone else, it seemed like a one-sided, decisive victory.

Only Su Mo knew what kind of chosen one DRX was in the original historical trajectory.

But this time.

The protagonist on the stage is about to change! (End of Chapter)