LPL didn't want me? I joined SKT instead!

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Although they didn't get that pentakill, the audience's passion had already been ignited to its peak.

On the big screen, Deft, with his health nearly depleted, fled back to the second tower like a frightened bird, not even daring to look back.

Xiao Yan did not blindly dive the tower. He calmly stopped, turned around, and joined the Dragon Buff minion wave that came from the middle lane.

At this moment, Xiao Yan's Ashe, Faker's Syndra, and Wolf's Lulu, along with a wave of purple minions blessed by Baron Nashor, were advancing powerfully towards KT's high ground.

"That's the power of the Baron buff!" Miller exclaimed, pumping his fist, his voice hoarse. "Look at those minions, they're like mini-tanks! KT only has Varus who just recalled; how can he defend? He can't clear those minions at all!"

The doll also shouted, "KT suffered a terrible defeat this time!"

Beneath the high ground tower, Deft's Varus, having just fully replenished his health, charged out, his eyes bloodshot. Seeing the three champions with purple auras approaching, he gritted his teeth, attempting to use his Q skill, "Piercing Arrow," to whittle down the minion wave's health.

However, Xiao Yan gave him no chance to catch his breath.

"Wolf, speed up!"

Lulu flicked her whip, and Ashe's movement speed suddenly increased dramatically. Xiao Yan, controlling Ashe, pushed to the edge of the turret's range and unleashed a W, "Volley of Arrows," to block Deft's movement.

Faker's Syndra was relentless, crossing the minion wave and attempting a long-range stun with a QE combo.

Deft was forced to use his movement skills to dodge, but in doing so, he lost the best opportunity to clear out the enemy.

"boom!"

KT's mid-lane inhibitor tower collapsed like paper under the combined attack of three players.

"The high ground is down! SKT is about to destroy the crystal!"

Deft panicked. He knew that if the crystal was destroyed, the pressure from the two lanes of super minions would completely extinguish KT's hopes of a comeback.

He activated his ultimate move, "Corrupting Vines," and purple tentacles spread towards Xiao Yan.

"Too slow."

Xiao Yan's lips curled into a smile. With the enhancement of "Dual-Handed Enhancement," his reaction speed had surpassed the limits of human ability. With an extremely subtle sideways movement, the Ice Archer deftly dodged Varus's ultimate move and countered with a critical hit basic attack.

"Bang!"

This arrow took away one-third of Varus's health.

"My God, the damage!" the doll exclaimed. "Xiao Yan is really killing everyone with one arrow now!"

Deft was utterly desperate. He wanted to defend, but Ashe's slow made him unable to move; he wanted to fight, but Lulu's shield and Syndra's intimidation made it impossible for him to deal damage.

Finally, facing the two fortified towers, Deft launched a final, suicidal charge. He flashed forward, attempting to trade kills with the low-health Xiao Yan and preserve the last shred of dignity for his team.

But Xiao Yan didn't even use Flash.

Wolf's Lulu used Polymorph at a crucial moment, turning the ferocious Varus into a comical little animal. Then, Xiao Yan's arrows rained down like a storm.

With Deft falling once again before the Nexus, KT's base completely lost its last barrier.

"Tap the tower! Tap the tower!"

Xiao Yan, Faker, and Wolf relentlessly attacked the massive blue crystal nexus. As the crystal's health reached zero, a violent explosion swept across the entire screen.

"VICTORY!"

Huge golden letters popped up.

"Let's congratulate SKT! In this highly anticipated LCK internal battle semi-final, they have taken the lead and won the first game!" Miller's excited voice resounded throughout the arena.

Meanwhile, in KT's lounge.

A dead silence.

Score hung his head, his hands gripping his thighs tightly. That failed dragon steal at the Baron pit had become a recurring nightmare for him. Smeb stared at the statistics on the screen, his brow furrowed as he looked at Xiao Yan's exaggerated damage output percentage.

KT's coach, Lee Ji-hoon, entered the room with an unusually grave expression.

He didn't scold the team members because he knew that the loss in the first round wasn't due to the players' mistakes, but because Xiao Yan was too terrifying.

Deft looked up, his voice slightly hoarse: "Coach, we can't let Ashe go next game."

"It's not just Ashe." Lee Ji-hoon took a deep breath. "We need to consider ADCs like Tristana and Kalista, who can set the pace of the game, have mobility, or strong survivability. Next game, we'll go to the red side, and we'll play what we're best at."

"41 split drive?" Pawn's eyes narrowed.

"That's right." Lee Ji-hoon nodded. "SKT's team fight execution is too meticulous. Their backline has almost no blind spots. We need to use Smeb's individual ability to create openings on the side lanes and bring them into our rhythm, instead of following their team fight rhythm."

The rest period passed quickly.

When both contestants returned to the stage, the atmosphere became even more heated.

"Okay, welcome back! This is the S7 World Championship semi-finals. SKT is currently leading KT 1-0." Wawa adjusted his glasses. "We can see that the KT players look very serious. It seems they've made some deep tactical adjustments in the rest room."

"Indeed, Xiao Yan's Han Bing in the first game was incredibly impressive; it was a textbook ADC performance," Miller added. "Now the second game begins, and KT has chosen the red side. Let's see what changes they make in the draft."

The large screen then switched to the BP interface.

As the red team, KT didn't hesitate at all when banning Ashe, the Frost Archer!

"Whoa! They've been banned! KT has given up!" The audience erupted in laughter and cheers.

Immediately following, KT's second and third bans came in quick succession: Kalista and Tristana.

"Three bans for the ADC! KT is still targeting Xiao Yan relentlessly this game!"

The camera focused on the SKT players' bench.

When Xiao Yan saw that all three of his signature heroes had been banned, he didn't show any distress on his face. Instead, he revealed a playful smile.

"Looks like you've scared them." Peanut chuckled as he adjusted his talents. "They're probably going to play a 4-1 composition this game. I saw Smeb looking at me like he wanted to eat me alive."

"Let them ban them," Xiao Yan said calmly. "There are always more ADC heroes that can be banned."

"So what should we use this time?" Coach Kkoma stood behind Xiao Yan, seeking his opinion.

Xiao Yan's gaze swept across the list of heroes.

Since the opponent wants to play a 4-1 split push and make trouble on the side lanes, they need a hero who has absolute dominance in the mid-to-late game, can clear waves quickly, and can even initiate team fights.

"Give me that." Xiao Yan pointed to a dark-colored avatar.

"The source of the plague, Tuqi."

When the rat icon lit up, the entire venue erupted in cheers once again.

"Rat! Xiao Yan's going to pick Rat!" Miller shouted. "This champion is strong in the Ardent Censer patch, but he's very weak in the early laning phase. KT picked Varus and a Roadhog-type support this game. Is Xiao Yan going to farm under pressure and then take over the game in the mid-to-late game?"

The lineups for both sides were quickly finalized:

Blue side SKT:

Top Lane: Huni

Jungler: Lee Sin (Peanut)

Mid Lane: Ryze (Faker)

ADC: Mouse (Xiao Yan)

Support: Janna (Wolf)

Red team KT:

Top Lane: Fiora (Smeb)

Jungle: Sejuani (Score)

Mid Lane: Taliyah (Pawn)

ADC: Varus (Deft)

Support: Lulu (Mata)