Chapter 40: Axian, you’re sneaking in extra training again! (1/7)

As for the water bottle left behind, Cheng Xian had never been able to catch the culprit in the act. After asking around, his teammates were all equally bewildered.

"Maybe it was sent by some female fan through a connection," was the only conclusion they could reach, so Cheng Xian stopped thinking about it.

There were three days left until the next match.

Guided by the philosophy of balancing work and leisure, Nofe strictly forbade Cheng Xian from continuing his grueling training, which made Cheng Xian incredibly anxious. In Nofe’s eyes, Cheng Xian was the team’s sole designated "daddy"—the carry who couldn't afford any mishaps. If he suffered a muscle strain, caught a cold, ran a fever, broke a hand, or twisted a waist, Nofe wouldn't even have a place to cry. Moreover, before entering the World Championship, IG had no room for mistakes. They had to win the upcoming best-of-five series against the championship-caliber team to secure their ticket to Worlds.

"Support, just tell us, did you pay for a boost to get your rank?"

"???"

"My goodness, Ma-zi, showing off against opponents on the rift and showing off to your fans offline, huh?"

During the tournament season, the team usually managed the players' streaming schedules to prevent them from getting addicted to other games and neglecting their training.

"No way, right? In this day and age, you need a booster to get a Gold border?"

"Oh! Look who the big star is!"

"Girls are not as important as championships," Cheng Xian said, turning his monitor back on.

"Ahem..." Cheng Xian coughed awkwardly and deflected, "This match was mainly because the bot lane AD didn't know how to play, the jungler wouldn't come to help, and the top laner kept his Teleport but wouldn't help bot. Plus, the opponents might be high-ranked players sniping me. How am I supposed to play? It's impossible."

"Brothers, I fainted from excitement after looking at Xian-bao's photo earlier. I just woke up, and Xian-bao is streaming again... I..."

The player insisted on training in secret, while the coach insisted on stopping him.

Fifteen minutes later, their own nexus was demolished by the unstoppable enemy team, and the word "Defeat" popped up on the screen.

Hearing Nofe say this, Cheng Xian had no choice. The streaming announcement had already gone out, so he had to wrap up this game hastily and turn back to his room.

As soon as he went live, gifts both large and small flew across the screen.

"???"

This guy was still hiding things!

"Brothers, watch closely and learn! See how I handle the details!"

"Going 0-10 and blaming your teammates? Are you really going to be that stubborn?"

Ten minutes later, his teammates initiated a surrender vote and started flaming him in chat.

"Xian-bao, *giggle*, *giggle*, heh heh, my Xian-bao..."

"You're really going to keep hiding things, huh? Going 0-10 in a Gold game? You've embarrassed all professional players!"

"So you finally know how to turn on the stream!"

After two consecutive major matches, Cheng Xian’s skill had been recognized by many players. Ignoring the "homoerotic" culture in the chat, Cheng Xian skillfully opened a fan's Gold-tier account.

"Do you have a preferred type of girl? I can have my teammates introduce you to someone."

Having played a champion once now meant he had the proficiency of 21 games for an average player. After several days of intense practice, Cheng Xian was pleasantly surprised to find that his mechanical skills had subtly improved to the peak of Gold, nearing Platinum level.

"I can't take it anymore, why is this support so trash? F***!"

For LPL players, losing in solo queue didn't matter; as long as they could punch hard in the actual matches, they were granted a "Get Out of Jail Free" card from the fans.

The chat was flooded with question marks.

He could even carry steadily in Platinum solo queue games at times. Thus, a very strange scene appeared inside the IG base.

Especially in terms of champion mastery, he had reached 21%.

"Xian-bao, Xian-bao, when will I be able to have a mouth half as tough as yours?"

"He's so hard! I mean his mouth, *shy*, *shy*."

"The streamer is so hard, I love it!"

However, most of the chat was just teasing; only a small portion were haters trying to stir up trouble.

The stream screen lasted for only a second before turning black, leaving the fans stunned.

He clicked into queue and selected "Fill."

Even though this embarrassing thing wasn't the first time he'd done it, he still felt a bit nervous no matter how many times he did it.

"Click it! Who is the one person not clicking? Is your mom gone?"

Soon, Cheng Xian skillfully opened OBS and clicked "Start Streaming"! His movements were fluid and cohesive, no longer as awkward as a little virgin like the first time.

The opponents they faced were getting stronger, and if he didn't train hard, big trouble would follow.

"Brothers, I think we can turn this around," he said, his face full of seriousness.

Nofe looked at Cheng Xian’s training PC stats from behind him, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly. This rate of improvement was nothing short of exaggerated.

The two were constantly playing a game of wits.

"Starting to slack off?"

Cheng Xian: "..."

"A-Xian, you're training in secret again. Take a break, why don't you watch some girls' streams instead?" Nofe walked up, ruffled Cheng Xian’s hair, and then proceeded to turn off his computer screen with a smile.

...

He quietly moved his mouse to "Decline Surrender" and clicked!

Secretly voting 'No' to torture his teammates.

His current real level was only Gold... and there were still many aspects of game understanding and skill execution that weren't refined.

He rubbed his face and took a deep breath.

Three days flew by, excluding the time Cheng Xian spent streaming on the first day.

This time, streaming was very different. Cheng Xian was as skilled as a porn star with a thousand conquests; he didn't panic at all in front of the camera and seasonedly lit himself a lollipop.

"Hey! You can't say it like that. Championships are certainly important, but a reasonable schedule is even more important. Look at you—training as soon as you get back from a match. Take it easy, don't push yourself so hard. Go stream and relax; I've already sent out the announcement that you're going live."

"Let him show off, let him show off!"

Just how much more did he have hidden?

...

But in Cheng Xian's eyes, he silently looked at his 0-6 support.

"Watching other streamers smurf is just for fun, but if you really want to see smurfing, you have to watch our Ma-zi! He can make the fish fight back so vividly!"

Cheng Xian also distributed the potential points he had earned evenly across every stat.

Over the next two days, after Cheng Xian argued his case, Nofe finally agreed to set aside a few hours of practice time for him each day.

Hmm... another string of Gold games...

Cheng Xian vaguely remembered the first time he streamed; he had trembled and clicked "Stop Streaming" right after starting it.

"This way, even if I draw a trash state, I'll still have the basic game understanding and mechanics, so I won't lose my lane so easily," Cheng Xian thought to himself, feeling a bit more confident.

Finally, the highly anticipated S11 qualification battle kicked off!

IG vs. FPX!

A clash between the S8 champions and the S9 champions!

Whoever won would represent the LPL as the third seed at the League of Legends S11 World Championship!

To go further, and see a brighter light!