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

Chapter 33 The Ruler's Shadow

"Alright, everyone, lift your heads."

SSG head coach Edgar clapped his hands, breaking the deathly silence.

Although his voice was stern, a closer listen revealed a hint of helplessness in his attempt to boost morale.

"This is only the first game, and the best-of-five series has just begun. We can afford to lose, but we can't afford to lose our mentality."

Edgar walked to the tactical board but didn't rush to analyze the mistakes of the previous round because he knew that it was useless to talk about tactics now, as the players' mentality had collapsed.

He turned around, walked over to Ruler, and gently patted him on the shoulder.

Ruler froze, slowly raising his head. His once confident eyes were now bloodshot, moist, and filled with confusion and fear.

"Coach—I—" Ruler's voice was hoarse, trembling with tears, "I can't beat him—his distance control is terrifying, I can't even touch him—"

"Ruler, look at me." Edgar crouched down, looking directly into Ruler's eyes, his tone softening. "You weren't unable to beat him; you were intimidated by his aura. That rookie is indeed very strong, but he's human too, and he makes mistakes. Last game was our problem with the draft; we let you pick a weak laning champion."

"Next game, we'll give you a strong pick. You're Ruler, you're the AD carry we're taking to Worlds, how can you fall here?"

Edgar stood up, surveyed his lifeless teammates, and roared, "Get your act together! This is the playoffs! That guy on the other side is just a rookie! Do you want a rookie to climb over your dead bodies to get to the top?!"

"CoreJJ, help Ruler build confidence! Ambition, you're the captain, you need to keep the pace steady!"

"Forget the last game! Forget that damn policewoman! Next game, we'll get our revenge!"

Although the coach's words were forceful, the response from the SSG members remained sparse.

The fear of being dominated by Xiao Yan was like a bone-deep infection, deeply etched into their minds.

Ruler wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded, but his hand holding the mouse was still trembling slightly uncontrollably.

The brief break passed quickly, and both contestants returned to the center of the stage.

The second game began with the draft phase.

In this game, SSG had the first choice of side and chose the blue side.

Upon entering the ban/pick screen, SSG's first pick almost without hesitation instantly locked in a ban slot—

Caitlyn, the Piltover Policewoman.

When the image of the policewoman wearing a top hat turned gray, the entire audience burst into knowing laughter.

"Looks like XiaoYan's Caitlyn in the last game left an indelible psychological scar on SSG," the commentator, Quan Yong'e, joked from the commentary booth. "That was an absolute lightning-fast ban; I even suspect Coach Edgar emphasized 'Ban Caitlyn' a hundred times in the locker room."

In the SSG voice chat, Ruler visibly relaxed when he saw the female police officer being eliminated, his tense shoulders slumping slightly. As long as he wasn't facing the female police officer who made him afraid to even farm minions, he felt he could still win.

Immediately afterwards, SSG banned the mid lane with their last two bans.

Syndra, Clockwork.

On the other hand, SKT's bans seemed somewhat "casual".

They banned Zac, Rakan, and Gragas.

While these three bans were also strong picks in the current meta, they weren't specifically targeting any particular SSG player; they were more like a standard tactical block. This "I'm not targeting you because I'm confident I can crush you" attitude allowed SSG to...

The crowd's expressions grew even more grim.

It's SKT's turn to select players.

In their first three picks, SKT secured Rumble for top lane, Lee Sin for jungle, and Alistar for support.

When it was time for the AD position to be selected, the camera focused on Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan leaned back in his gaming chair, looking relaxed, as he scrolled through the hero list with his mouse.

"XiaoYan, what do you want to play this game?" Coach Koma stood behind him, notebook in hand, his tone gentle. "They banned Caitlyn, Varus and Ashe are both out there, or maybe Draven?"

Xiao Yan's mouse hovered over an avatar.

It was a ghost wielding a dark green spear, exuding an aura of vengeance.

Kalista, the Spear of Vengeance.

"How about this?" Xiao Yan asked casually.

Koma paused for a moment, then said, "Kalista? You don't seem to have played that champion before?"

Not only Kkoma, but Faker and WoIf next to him also cast questioning glances. Kalista is a champion with a unique mechanic, extremely dependent on proficiency and skill. If she can't jump high enough or doesn't gain an advantage in the early game, her effectiveness in the late game will be greatly reduced.

"Just because I haven't tried it before doesn't mean I can't." Xiao Yan's lips curled up slightly, a hint of confidence flashing in his eyes. "Besides, this hero is very suitable for the current atmosphere, isn't he? Revenge."

Wolf looked at Xiao Yan's confident profile, and the image of the policewoman who used a reverse flash in the previous game involuntarily came to mind.

That suffocating sense of oppression —

"Choose," Wolf suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. "I believe in him."

Faker adjusted his glasses and calmly said, "If he wants to play, let him play. I'll keep an eye on the mid lane."

Kouma, observing his teammates' reactions, took a deep breath and nodded: "Alright, let's lock it in!"

"The vow has been made, our hearts are in sync!"

As a sharp yet firm voice rang out, the moment Kalista was locked onto, another gasp erupted from the crowd.

"Kalista?! XiaoYan picked Kalista!" the commentator exclaimed. "That's a high-risk, high-reward champion! We've never seen him use this champion in the regular season. Is this SKT's secret weapon?"

Just how deep is this kid's champion pool?

On the SSG side, Ruler's hand trembled slightly when he saw Kalista lock onto him.

"Kalista—" Ruler gritted his teeth, a sense of foreboding rising within him. This champion's dominance in the laning phase was even comparable to Caitlyn's.

"Don't worry, this champion is useless in the late game," support CoreJJ comforted him. "We'll pick Varus and Tahm Kench and just focus on farming."

However, only Xiao Yan himself knew that this was not some "hidden ultimate move," but simply that his current attributes were sufficient to control it.

While not reaching the level of Caitlyn or Tristana, Varus's 95% proficiency is still respectable in the LCK.

It is also a very strong existence.

More importantly, Xiao Yan now possesses super-fast reaction speed and dynamic vision enhanced by the system.

What is Kalista's core mechanic?

It is the displacement of the "martial arts posture".

As long as you react quickly enough and your hand speed is fast enough, Kalista is an elusive ghost in Xiao Yan's hands, capable of twisting any non-targeting skill into a pretzel.

"Since you're worried about the policewoman's long reach," Xiao Yan flexed his fingers, looking at Ruler's slightly tense face on the loading screen, and sneered inwardly, "then this round, I'll show you what the despair of close-range combat really means."

Blue team SSG:

Top laner CuVee: Maokai, Jungler Ambition: Sejuani, Mid laner Crown: Taliyah, Bot laner Ruler: Varus, Support CoreJJ: Tahm Kench (Red side SKT T1)

Top laner Huni: Rumble, Jungler Peanut: Jarvan IV, Mid laner Faker: Galio, Bot laner Xiao Yan: Kalista, Support Wolf: Alistar