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

"laugh--"

With a pleasant pop of the can being opened, carbon dioxide gas rushed out.

Faker tilted his head back and gulped down a large mouthful. The icy liquid slid down his throat, countless bubbles bursting on his tongue, the stimulating sensation instantly dispelling the stuffiness in his chest.

"ha……"

Lee Sang-hyeok let out a long sigh of relief, a long-lost expression of contentment appearing on his face.

Although he said he didn't like carbonated drinks, his actions betrayed him. It wasn't just the pleasure brought by sugar, but also a kind of "revenge"—even though it was that kid who owed him that.

He looked at the Coke in his hand, which was now a third empty, and then at the remaining bottle on the table.

After hesitating for a moment, Faker did not touch the second bottle.

For professional athletes, excessive sugar intake can impair reaction speed, and also...

"You're smart to back down, kid."

Faker pushed up his glasses, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips. He pushed the remaining unopened bottle of cola back onto Xiao Yan's table, placing it perfectly upright, as if silently accepting this "ceasefire agreement."

The frustration in my heart completely vanished after I finished half a bottle of cola.

……

Over the next few days, the atmosphere in SKT's training room underwent some subtle changes.

The first to notice something was wrong was the assistant, Wolf.

As Xiao Yan's partner in the bottom lane, he knew every subtle movement of the AD carry like the back of his hand. In the past, although Xiao Yan had sharp skills and quick reactions, he would occasionally miss a few minions due to his overly aggressive pressure on the enemy.

This is common in professional matches. After all, a person's energy is limited. If you want to weaken the opponent, you will inevitably have to sacrifice some of your focus on last-hitting.

However, since the "Cola incident," Wolf has noticed that Xiao Yan has changed.

That afternoon, the two were playing duo queue on the Korean server.

Wolf plays Tahm Kench, while Xiao Yan plays Varus.

During the laning phase, Xiao Yan maintained his suffocating dominance. As long as the opposing AD dared to take a step forward, they would inevitably be hit by Varus's arrow rain and basic attacks.

However, what horrified Wolf was—

"etc……"

Wolf took advantage of the moment he returned to town to press the Tab key and glance at the data panel.

The game lasted 10 minutes and 30 seconds.

Xiao Yan's number of finishing blows: 102.

Wolf rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things.

How is that possible?

In that recent exchange of blows, Xiao Yan was clearly dodging skills, maintaining attack range, and even pushing past the minion wave to suppress the opponent for half a minute. Under such intense pressure, he actually... didn't miss a single hit?

"Hey, Xiao Yan." Wolf couldn't help but take off his headphones and turn to look at Xiao Yan beside him. "Are you cheating?"

"What?" Xiao Yan didn't even turn his head, completely focused on controlling Varus to take down a ranged minion. "What kind of cheat am I using?"

"Your last-hitting..." Wolf pointed at the screen, his tone exaggerated, "Are you a robot? That cannon minion just now, the enemy jungler had already shown up, and you were able to turn around and kill it while retreating, does that make sense?"

Xiao Yan smiled faintly and clicked the mouse lightly: "It's just basic skills, don't make a fuss."

This is certainly not a simple basic skill.

The passive effect of [King of Last Hit] is simply overpowered. In Xiao Yan's vision, every minion's health bar seems to have a precise kill line. As long as his attack power is sufficient, even if he is making complex movements, his basic attacks will land precisely on the heads of low-health minions as if they have navigation installed.

This feeling is as natural as breathing.

Not only Wolf, but Faker and KkOma soon discovered this as well.

During a replay of an intra-team scrim, KkOma paused the recording and pointed to a play in the bottom lane, saying:

"Look here."

On the screen, Xiao Yan's policewoman is being surrounded by three opponents. In such a critical situation, he not only calmly sets traps and uses his E skill to create distance, but also takes down two low-health melee minions while retreating.

"To remain calm and composed even under these circumstances, and not even miss a single strike." KkOma's admiration deepened. "Xiao Yan, your growth rate has exceeded my expectations."

Faker looked at the screen, silent, but a hint of approval flickered in his eyes. As a mid-laner, he understood all too well the importance of last-hitting minions. Last-hitting equals gold, gold equals items, and items equal damage.

An AD carry who never misses a kill means that his development will never fall behind, and that he can always pull out the most devastating items in team fights.

"This kid..." Bang sat in the corner of the bench, looking at the data on the big screen with a complicated expression.

His prized "steadiness" seemed to have lost its only advantage in the face of Xiao Yan's near-perfect finishing skills. Xiao Yan was not only more ferocious than him, but now even his development ability was stronger.

With Xiao Yan's "evolution," SKT demonstrated terrifying dominance in subsequent training matches and official games.

The opponents quickly discovered that facing SKT's bot lane was a real torment.

You want to fight him? His mechanics are more refined than yours, you'll lose if you trade blows.

You want to farm peacefully with him? Sorry, but ten minutes later you'll find that while everyone else is just last-hitting minions, he inexplicably has a B.F. Sword more gold than you.

This suffocating feeling, like being slowly boiled like a frog in water, is even more despairing than being killed outright.

"This is completely unplayable!"

After a training match, Pray, the bot lane duo of LZ team, typed the following in the public chat.

Seeing his opponent's complaints, Xiao Yan leaned back in his gaming chair, unscrewed the bottle of cola Faker had left him, and took a sip.

so sweet.

…………

The SKT Club building, top-floor office.

Director Kim Sun-jung held a thick data analysis report in his hand, his fingertips lightly tapping the table.

The report's cover read "Summary of Recent Training Match Data," and the first page revealed Xiao Yan's astonishing radar chart.

KDA, damage per minute, gold difference against their lane opponent, teamfight participation rate... almost every statistic is at the very top. The most terrifying one is the "average CS advantage," which is positive and even double digits when facing other top bot laners in the LCK.

"Not only are his skills sharp, but even the most mundane basic skills have evolved to this level..." Kim Sun-joong muttered to himself.

He recalled the look in Xiao Yan's eyes when he signed the "life-or-death contract" in the lounge that day. At the time, he thought the kid was gambling, but now it seemed that it wasn't gambling at all; it was the absolute control of the situation by a strong person.

Bang is indeed stable, a veteran player who has made great contributions to SKT. But esports is cruel; data doesn't lie, and performance doesn't deceive. The current Xiao Yan is like a sophisticated killing machine, possessing both Bang's stability and a ferocity and aggressiveness that Bang lacks.

Kim Sun-joong closed the folder and exhaled a long smoke ring.

As the team's operator, he must make the most rational choice, even if that choice is somewhat ruthless.

He picked up the internal phone on the table and dialed the training room number.

"Hello, Coach Kim Jung-kyun? It's me."

Kim Sun-joong's voice betrayed no emotion, only an unquestionable resolve: "The starting lineup for the next match against KT has been finalized."

"Attack position, Xiao Yan."

……