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

Meanwhile, Huni's Rumble ultimate "Constant Burn" once again proved effective, landing directly on KT's backline, scorching Deft and Pawn, who were trying to move forward to deal damage, until their skin was torn and bleeding.

"Kill the AD!"

After Xiao Yan killed the prince, his W skill refreshed. Ignoring the tough Shen beside him, he activated his speed boost and charged towards Deft, who was forced to move by Rumble's ultimate, like a cheetah.

Deft felt a chill run down his spine as he watched Draven charge towards him, radiating murderous intent. He unleashed Varus's ultimate ability, "Chains of Corruption," in an attempt to restrain the madman.

Purple vines meandered out.

"flash!"

A flash of golden light.

Instead of dodging backward, Xiao Yan dodged forward!

He passed right through Varus's ultimate and instantly dashed into Deft's face!

"What?!" Deft's pupils contracted sharply.

This isn't just dodging skills; this is blatant face-to-face damage!

With the cannon's passive effect, a basic attack landed heavily on Varus.

Critical hit! 890!

Deft's health bar instantly dropped by more than half.

"Heal!" Deft hurriedly cast a healing spell and flashed backward to create distance.

But Xiao Yan's ultimate move was already ready to be unleashed.

"Cold-blooded killer!"

Two enormous round axes flew close to the ground, tearing through the canyon floor with a screeching sound, accurately predicting Deft's landing point after his Flash.

"Got it! Second hit to bring it back!"

"Double Kill!"

Varus fell to the ground.

KT's two carries were either dead or severely wounded. Although Pawn managed to hold on with Seraph's Embrace, he was already exhausted under Faker's relentless barrage of Syndra attacks.

"Chase them! Don't let a single one escape!"

Xiao Yan picked up the axe, and his W speed boost refreshed again. At this moment, he was like the Grim Reaper on the battlefield; each fall of the axe was accompanied by the crisp sound of gold coins going into his pocket.

Pawn fell.

Mata falls.

In the end, only Smeb's Shen remained, and under the combined attack of the five, he desperately gave up his life.

"Ace!"

The system's cold yet impassioned female voice resounded throughout the entire venue.

Destroy the group!

"My God..." The commentator's voice trembled as he watched Draven standing amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood on the screen, arrogantly twirling his axe during his recall animation. "Is this really a rookie? This positioning, this courage, and that godlike reaction that interrupted the Prince's EQ... this is simply art!"

"SKT's ambush was deadly, but what's even more deadly is Xiao Yan," another commentator exclaimed. "His forward flash to dodge Varus's ultimate was absolutely insane! But he won the gamble! Deft was completely helpless against him!"

……

In-game.

"One wave."

Xiao Yan spoke calmly in the voice chat, as if his astonishing actions just now were merely casual.

SKT's five players, along with the mid-lane minions, pushed powerfully onto KT's high ground.

There are 30 seconds left before you can respawn.

KT's Nexus is as fragile as a sheet of paper under Draven's high attack power.

As the deafening sound of the crystal exploding rang out, the screen froze on the word "Victory".

Xiao Yan took off his headphones, listened to the faint cheers coming from outside the stadium, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

The smile on Xiao Yan's lips appeared particularly meaningful in the close-up shot taken by the director.

The audience and commentators assumed it was the composure of a victor, the high spirits of a prodigy. But only Xiao Yan himself knew that behind that smile lay the incredibly pleasant mechanical notification sound in his mind.

This time, happiness came twice as much.

[Ding! Enemy jungler Score has been detected to be experiencing severe self-doubt due to his signature Jarvan IV being "played like a fool," and has been deemed "deeply compromised."]

[Ding! Enemy ADC Deft has been completely tilted due to being overwhelmed and unable to fight back. He is now considered "mentally broken".]

[Congratulations, host! By simultaneously breaking the defenses of both enemy jungler and marksman cores within a short period of time, the "Double Critical Hit" reward mechanism has been triggered!]

[Rewards being distributed... Congratulations, host, for obtaining rare items: One God-level Proficiency Breakthrough Card! One Proficiency Enhancement Card!]

Xiao Yan's pupils contracted slightly, and his heart skipped a beat.

God-level Proficiency Breakthrough Card!

The system's description then appeared:

This item is extremely valuable and cannot directly increase proficiency levels, but it can be used to break through bottlenecks. When the host's proficiency with any hero reaches 99 (top-tier professional level), using this card will instantly break through the shackles and raise it to 100 (god-tier/divine realm).

Xiao Yan took a deep breath, suppressing his inner elation.

Previously, Varus achieved 100% mastery, giving him a "god-like" feeling of complete control. Now, this card means he can forcefully elevate his signature champions—such as Draven, which he's already proficient with but has been stuck at a bottleneck—to that despair-inducing level.

This is simply a killer weapon prepared for the upcoming playoffs and even the World Championship.

"Let's go shake hands." Faker's voice interrupted Xiao Yan's thoughts.

Xiao Yan snapped out of his daze, composed himself, and followed the team toward KT's player bench.

This time, the atmosphere at KT was even more oppressive than at SSG.

When Score approached, the veteran captain of the LCK was staring blankly at his hands, head down. The image of Draven interrupting his EQ combo in mid-air with his E skill was haunting him like a nightmare.

That was muscle memory he had practiced thousands of times, yet a newcomer easily neutralized it like swatting a fly.

Xiao Yan reached out his hand, and Score reacted a beat too late to grasp it. When he looked up, his eyes were full of confusion and bewilderment, as if asking, "How did you do that?"

Xiao Yan didn't speak, but simply nodded and walked towards the next person.

Finally, there's Deft.

This usually gentle and shy alpaca was now slumped in a chair, its eyes red-rimmed, radiating an aura of "autism".

He was completely demoralized by Xiao Yan's forward flash. As a top-tier ADC, he had never been humiliated like this in lane or team fights—not because of teammates, but because of pure individual skill.

Seeing Deft's expression, which looked like he was about to cry at any moment, Xiao Yan swallowed back the witty remark that was on the tip of his tongue.

Based on his usual personality, he would have said something like, "Senior Kim Hyuk-kyu, is your Flash used for moving graves?" or "Next time, remember to stay away from my axe."

But looking at Deft's trembling shoulders and tightly clenched lips, Xiao Yan suddenly felt that if he were to open his mouth to mock him again at this moment, this honest alpaca might really go berserk on the spot and pick up the keyboard to have a real-life PK with him.

Although Xiao Yan has just improved his physique and is not afraid of fighting, fighting on the field will still result in a ban.

In order to sustainably harvest armor penetration, you can't just pluck all the sheep at once.

Therefore, Xiao Yan remained unusually quiet.

He reached out and grasped Deft's cold, sweaty hand.

Deft raised his head and stared intently at Xiao Yan, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions—anger, shame, and above all, a profound sense of powerlessness.

Xiao Yan remained expressionless, showing neither mocking smiles nor the arrogance of a victor. He simply shook hands professionally, then quickly released the handshake and turned to leave.

In Deft's view, this silence was a more sophisticated form of indifference.

It seemed that in Xiao Yan's eyes, Deft was not worthy of being an opponent at all, and did not even have the right to be ridiculed.

Watching Xiao Yan's departing figure, Deft clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his flesh.

"Damn it..."

He muttered a curse under his breath, his voice choked with emotion.

Xiao Yan, who was walking ahead, did not turn around, but a soft notification sounded in his mind again:

[Ding! Detected that Deft feels even more humiliated by the host's "ignorance," his defense threshold has slightly increased... Reward: a slight boost to hand speed]

Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow.

Does this work?

It seems this alpaca will produce a lot of good stuff in the future.

…………

Back at the SKT base, despite having just secured a resounding victory, Xiao Yan keenly sensed a subtle gloom hanging in the air.

The source of this gloom is Peanut.

Everyone was discussing the match just now, and Wolf was even still savoring Xiao Yan's forward flash. Only Peanut sat in the corner, his face, which used to always have a sunny smile, now as blank as a mask.

Xiao Yan's heart stirred.

As a time traveler, he knew all too well what had happened during that period.

Although SKT's performance improved significantly due to his arrival, reversing their previous losing streak, it did not solve Peanut's personal predicament.

The current version is undergoing a dramatic change without anyone noticing.

The era of Lee Sin and Nidalee dominating the jungle, the era of carnivorous junglers, is fading away. In their place, utility tank junglers like Sejuani and Zac are rising in popularity. For Peanut, known for his aggressive invasions and shrewd mechanics, this patch change feels like putting a collar and muzzle on a tiger, suffocating him.

Worse still, Xiao Yan knew very well that the next version would be even more distorted—the era of the "Incense Burner Monster" was about to begin.

It was a celebration for ADCs, a feast for supports, but a nightmare for junglers. The introduction of Ardent Censer greatly raised the floor for ADCs while simultaneously locking in their ceiling, making the outcome of matches increasingly reliant on protecting the bot lane. At that point, junglers would be relegated to a secondary role, or even just a mobile ward.

However, Xiao Yan was not worried about himself.

He had the system, which was the source of his confidence. Even in the Incense Burner version, he was confident that with the system's rewarded stats and various skills, he could carve out a bloody path.

But League of Legends is ultimately a five-player game.

Xiao Yan's goal was clear—the Bird's Nest, the World Championship Finals. He wanted to be there, on that stage under the spotlight, to slap the LPL players in the face and show them who the real gods were.

To achieve this, he can't do it alone. He needs a jungler who can keep up with his pace and even break through the opponent's defenses when he's being targeted, not a "gatekeeper" who just meekly farms the jungle.

In the following weeks, things developed exactly as Xiao Yan had predicted.

Although Xiao Yan maintained a high level of pressure in the bottom lane, SKT's overall rhythm began to stagnate.

Peanut's performance was visibly poor. He became hesitant during the game; the once fearless and aggressive young man was gone, replaced by a confused player with erratic movements and slow decision-making.

We lost to LZ, we lost to SSG, and we even lost to JAG, which is ranked lower.

A series of three consecutive defeats has drawn a barrage of criticism from the outside world.

"Peanut is not suitable for SKT", "Peanut is finished"...

These comments cut into Peanut's heart like a knife. During that time, the smile completely disappeared from his face, he became taciturn, and even dared not give loud commands during practice matches.

……

The stars twinkle in the Seoul night.

After a day of reviewing and ranking, the team members dragged their tired bodies back to their rooms to rest.

In the corridor, Xiao Yan called out to Xiao Huasheng, who was looking down and like a lost soul, preparing to return to his room.

"Wait a moment."

Little Peanut stopped in his tracks, turned around somewhat dazedly, and stared blankly at Xiao Yan: "...What's wrong?"

"Can't sleep? Come with me and get some fresh air."

Xiao Yan didn't give him a chance to refuse, and directly put his arm around his shoulder, leading him to the base's terrace.

The night air in Seoul was a bit chilly, and the wind carried the dampness of the Han River in the distance.

The two leaned on the railing, gazing at the not-so-bright starry sky above them, and remained silent for a long time.

Xiao Yan took out a cigarette from his pocket, and just as he was about to light it, he looked at the obedient-looking Xiao Huasheng next to him and put it back.

"Brother, what's wrong with you lately?" Xiao Yan broke the silence, his voice exceptionally clear in the night. "You don't seem happy."

Little Peanut paused for a moment, his fingers unconsciously picking at the paint on the railing.

"I..." He opened his mouth, his voice dry, "I don't know. I just feel like... I've forgotten how to play this game. The coach makes me play tanks, makes me protect the platoon, makes me do vision... I know it's to win, but... I feel like I'm just messing around."

"I wasn't like this before." Peanut lowered his head, his voice trembling slightly. "I used to... be able to carry the game."

Xiao Yan looked at the genius young man who was caught in self-doubt and sighed inwardly.

This is the curse of SKT; it can create gods, but it can also destroy the talent of geniuses.

Xiao Yan turned around, leaned against the railing, and stared intently at Xiao Huasheng.

"Bro, what do you think is the point of us playing professionally?"

Little Peanut looked up, his eyes filled with confusion.

Xiao Yan extended three fingers, then put them back one by one:

"Is it for the money? SKT pays you quite a bit, doesn't they?"

"Is it for victory? We've won a lot before, but you weren't happy."

"Or is it for...the passion?"

The last two words, spoken softly by Xiao Yan, struck Xiao Huasheng's heart like a heavy hammer.

Peanut's lips moved, and a hint of struggle and recollection flashed in his eyes.

He recalled his time with ROX Tigers. Although they were poor and didn't have the same environment as SKT, he played with great joy. Back then, he was the freest wind in the Rift, a nightmare for all his opponents.

"I..." Peanut stammered, his eyes gradually reddening, "I want to win... but I want even more... to win like I did."

Xiao Yan smiled.

He stepped forward and patted Little Peanut on the shoulder heavily.

"Then just be yourself."

P.S.: Guys, the reason I'm updating so late is because I originally planned to cancel this book, but before doing so, I asked my editor. The editor said that although the book's performance isn't great, it's still worth trying. So I'm back to updating. I hope everyone will read it daily and support this book. I hope the first day after its release won't be too dismal.