The situation has progressed to this point. Even Qi Rong knows that DT is going to win. She asked excitedly, “Is Lin Lan going to win? Are they going to take the championship?”
Jiang Xu nodded. He didn’t know how DT could lose. “If nothing unexpected happens, they are going to win.”
The perspective returns to the game itself. In such a smooth-sailing match, Lin Lan’s eyelid is twitching uncontrollably.
The twitch of his right eye is considered an ominous sign.
The last time Ayu’s right eye twitched, something happened at home…
Lin Lan forced himself to focus. The overhead lights were making his eyes hurt, and Xiao Shengjing’s voice came through the earphones: “Is your eye hurting?”
Lin Lan: “No, the lights are a bit glaring.”
Xiao Shengjing: “Can you endure it?”
Lin Lan: “Yeah.”
Xiao Shengjing could sense that Lin Lan was uncomfortable and had already conceived the idea of quickly ending the match: “Prepare for the Baron.”
The commentators on stage analyzed, “DT wants to bait the Baron and force a team fight. Will IB take the bait this time? If they lose the fight, DT will most likely wipe them out because IB’s minion waves are in a very poor condition. However, if they don’t engage, DT will take the Baron and destroy two of their inhibitors, leading to a slow death…”
Therefore, IB must engage in this team fight; it’s their only chance. If they execute it well, they can even regain some advantage.
Both sides converged at the Baron pit, engaging in a tug-of-war.
After battling for vision back and forth, Jiang Jin sighed, “I feel like IB’s performance is a bit lacking compared to ENG. The intensity of the finals is even lower than the semifinals.”
Feifei exclaimed, “How can you say that?”
Not only were they the ones in the voice chat, but there were also referees. Perhaps the officials might even release the game’s voice chat after the match…
Jiang Jin quickly rectified, “No no no, that’s not what I meant. IB is very strong, they are strong, uh, they are strong.”
Laughter filled the voice chat, an unspoken understanding among them.
But to be honest, IB really isn’t as good as ENG.
They are ahead in vision control and positioning, and even their damage output is much higher than the opposing team. When Lin Lan unleashes an AOE attack, it scares the enemy support so much that they flee without looking back.
“Their support is at half health.”
“Should we go for the Dragon?”
“Yes, let’s go, we can…”
“Wait, it seems like they’re engaging. What do we do?”
Xiao Shengjing instantly issued commands: “Focus on the Dragon. Force them to come over. Someone will initiate a kill. If nobody does, continue with the Dragon. Jiang Jin, watch out for the enemy jungler.”
All of DT’s members immediately began attacking the Dragon. Both Lin Lan and Xu Shengwei’s damage output was considerable, and the Dragon’s health rapidly dropped below half. IB couldn’t just sit back and watch.
What to do?
If they lose this Dragon, they’ll lose at least two inhibitors, essentially making it no different from a defeat.
IB’s jungler, Deng, is the team’s shot-caller. He grits his teeth and makes an immediate decision, “With Ryze there, dragging the game late won’t help us. Let’s go head-to-head with them.”
The commentator says, “IB doesn’t want to give up this Dragon. The jungler is still looking for an opportunity. Is there one? Deng flashes in to contest the Dragon! Unfortunately, he’s caught by Morri’s control. DT immediately turns to engage, killing Deng. Waxi is in a dangerous situation, too. Wulen has arrived, but it seems to be of little use. IB has no fighting power left, and DT keeps chasing! Kiner still has his ultimate ready, he can teleport with his teammates and block IB’s retreat directly…!”
Waxi immediately activates his ultimate to check the entire map’s vision. But upon seeing the enemy’s position, he feels even more despair.
Their position seems like a dead end. As long as Lin Lan uses his ultimate to flank, he can take down all of them…
Through the headset, Xiao Shengjing keeps directing, “Jiang Jin, hold the flank. Lin Lan, use your ultimate and take me with you.” After he finishes speaking, there’s no response in the headset. “Lin Lan?”
Lin Lan—Lin Lan—
It’s as if his ears are filled with heavy water, a buzzing distortion, and fragments flash before his eyes, as if someone is whispering, warning him, their voice fragmented, intermittent, sometimes loud, sometimes soft…
In his mind, endless fragments replayed, overlapping with the real world, familiar scenes continuously rushed towards him, crashing into his retinas.
Lin Lan saw every significant event that had impacted him.
He massacred every mid-lane opponent indiscriminately in the LPL. In his second year of debut, he suffered a permanent right-hand injury due to an on-site accident. He endured a year of cyberbullying because of his hand injury. He defeated the Korean team at MSI. He secured three consecutive championships on the battlefield. He lay on the ground after a car accident, surrounded by shattered glass. He lost consciousness on the operating table…
Those events seemed to unfold right before his eyes, so real, as if they could replay at any moment.
He heard the lingering voice in his mind, intermittently trying to tell him something. He couldn’t make out the words clearly. His mind was a jumbled mess, his temples pulsating.
Gradually, those fragmented voices formed a sentence: “Lin Lan, you need to be careful—”
Suddenly, the wound on his right hand began to burn, the pain resurfacing, growing more intense.
A huge shadow loomed over him, growing deeper, the invisible wound burning more fiercely, triggering a traumatic stress response. Lin Lan almost instinctively pulled his hand back.
“Boom—Crash—!”
While everyone was focused on the game, no one noticed that the screw of the large light fixture above Lin Lan’s head had come loose and was plummeting straight toward him…
The enormous sound startled everyone. The game screen instantly paused, and the music stopped along with it.
The arena fell eerily quiet, almost terrifying. The camera panned to Lin Lan, who was lying on the ground gasping for air, his hand covering his eyes, blood seeping through his fingers. Beside him lay the fallen ceiling light, shattered glass strewn around him.
“Ahh—!” screams echoed through the venue, and the situation spiraled out of control in an instant.
Although the camera quickly shifted away, everyone saw Lin Lan’s injury, especially those sitting closer to the front. They all stood up, trying to gauge the severity of Lin Lan’s condition.
Qi Rong in the back rows couldn’t see anything; her view was blocked by the heads in front of her. She trembled in fear, grabbing onto Jiang Xu’s sleeve and struggling to stand up. “Did he injure his eyes?”
Jiang Xu held Qi Rong’s hand, reassuring her, “Don’t worry. Let’s wait for the officials to handle it.”
At the moment the light fixture fell, the keyboard and mouse were both flung aside, creating a powerful airflow. Shattered glass flew up, directly aimed at Lin Lan’s eyes.
Everything seemed to align with the accident from years ago.
The ceiling light fell, landing on the hand he was operating with, blood splattering…
Lin Lan struggled to breathe, unable to suppress the memories of the past. His vision is obscured by a bloody haze, unable to see the real world.
Why, why would such a thing happen even when not playing mid-lane?
Different worlds, different times. Different places, yet the same event occurs. Where is the logic in that?
Lin Lan fell to his knees, clutching his eyes. Hot blood flowed from between his fingers as he gasped for air, feeling an overwhelming sense of conspiracy pressing down on him.
The accident from years ago left him with irreparable damage, officially deemed an accident with no further investigation by the team. Rumors circulated that his hand injury was not severe at all. Lin Lan, despite exerting endurance beyond ordinary people, could never fully recover to his previous state. He even accepted the term “accident” until today, many years later, only to discover that all of this may not have been an accident at all!
The hand injury wasn’t an accident.
Then, is his death also not an accident?
“Lin Lan? Lin Lan?” Xiao Shengjing’s voice trembled. He reached out and grasped Lin Lan’s shoulder, feeling his body uncontrollably shaking. He hoarsely said, “Let me see your eyes.”
Blood dripped from Lin Lan’s hand, each drop falling slowly. He gasped for air, his hand clenched into a fist, seeming to endure unbearable pain.
“Why…” Lin Lan suppressed the pain in his chest, seemingly questioning someone, “Why me…”
Xiao Shengjing forcefully pulled him onto a chair. The medical staff forcibly removed his hand and examined the wound.
Fortunately amidst the misfortune, Lin Lan only suffered a scratch on the corner of his eye.
In the lounge, after the medical staff had finished treating him, they couldn’t help but remark on Lin Lan’s incredible luck. Such a large light fixture fell and he only received a minor scratch.
Sitting quietly on the chair, Lin Lan touched the bandage on the corner of his eye and calmly asked, “Can we move aside a bit? It’s affecting my ability to play.”
After such a major incident, he’s still thinking about the game?
The medical staff told him, “The wound is a bit deep. This is only stopping the bleeding. You’d better go to the hospital for further treatment. As for the game, you’ll have to ask the staff.”
Lin Lan looked up, silently questioning his teammates with his eyes. Each of them was very worried about him, bombarding him with questions and concerns, everyone in a state of panic.
Coach Zhang was still outside arguing with the officials. The team leader returned first, looking very embarrassed. “IB doesn’t think the accident is serious and wants to continue the game. The officials also want to downplay the incident, agreeing with their assessment. If DT doesn’t continue, it will be considered a forfeit. Coach Zhang is still disputing the issue of rest time with them…”
Lu Shi exploded on the spot after hearing this, “This isn’t serious? Then what would be considered serious? Does it have to fall on Lin Lan’s hand to be serious?”
Lin Lan realized he really had some post-traumatic symptoms. Just hearing Lu Shi say that made his hand throb with pain.
Everyone’s emotions were running high, adamantly refusing to agree, except for Xiao Shengjing, who remained relatively calm. He gently stood up and hugged Lin Lan’s head, comforting him, “It’s okay. I’ll go check on it.”
In the original world, after Lin Lan was injured, the officials also wanted to downplay the incident. IB had always had a good relationship with the officials, so they tacitly accepted this assessment.
They sent Lin Lan to the hospital while having a substitute continue the game for him. In the end, they lost the match. After the game, the overwhelming marketing campaign tried to downplay Lin Lan’s hand injury, attempting to cover up the mistake. But it also led to a year-long onslaught of violence against Lin Lan on the internet…
But what was the truth? It was just a small difference, and the doctors advised him to say goodbye to the game.
That incident had been weighing heavily on Lin Lan’s mind, becoming a lingering worry. He immediately grabbed Xiao Shengjing’s sleeve, “I want to continue the game.”
The people in the lounge were all stunned. Xiao Shengjing looked down at him for a long time, then nodded silently, “I understand.”
Half an hour had passed since the game was paused, and there was no sign of it resuming. The commentators avoided discussing the matter, seeming hesitant.
The barrage of comments exploded, fiercely criticizing the officials.
They didn’t know the severity of Lin Lan’s injury, nor how the game would be judged. All they knew was that due to the officials’ mistake, what should have been an easy victory for DT in the finals had become exceptionally difficult.
[Latest news, Lin Lan’s injury isn’t serious and didn’t hurt his eyes. But whether the game can continue is still uncertain.]
[I can’t believe it. They can’t even control a light? What are the officials even doing?]
[My friend said the light that caused the accident was a rotating light that the on-site manager decided to change on a whim. Didn’t expect it to end up in an accident.]
[Haha, I bet the manager got a kickback.]
[Given the quality of this light, I can’t understand why there was a kickback.]
[DT was about to win! I’m really angry!]
[Couldn’t they have waited for Lin Lan to finish before it fell?]
Xie Zilu, who had been making phone calls outside and hadn’t watched the game, saw his bodyguard coming to him and immediately asked, “Did we win?”
The bodyguard shook his head and whispered the details in his ear. Xie Zilu’s expression grew increasingly grim. He promptly hung up the phone in his hand and asked, “Where is he now?”
Bodyguard: “He’s in the lounge getting his wound treated. I asked around; it’s just a flesh wound.”
Xie Zilu: “Will the game continue then?”
Bodyguard: “IB wants to resume the game immediately, considering it just a minor incident. DT is still fighting for rest time with them. Both sides are in dispute, and the officials have not reached a conclusion.”
“Hmm,” Xie Zilu sneered, having seen such things many times before. “What about Lin Lan, what does he think?”
Bodyguard: “He wants to continue the game.”
Xie Zilu was about to make a call to handle the situation. But upon hearing the bodyguard’s response, he suddenly chuckled, pressing the end button on his phone. “Since he wants to play, I can’t be bothered to intervene.”
He returned to his seat, waiting patiently for half an hour. Finally, the commentators announced that the game would resume soon. He suddenly felt a bit excited to see the rejuvenated Lin Lan, wondering if he would be as stunning as he imagined.
Xiao Shengjing and Coach Zhang had been arguing for half an hour, fighting for rest time.
During this time, Lin Lan prepared for his return to the stage.
With his eyes covered by a bandage, he consulted with the doctor and switched to adhesive tape. His keyboard was still usable, but his mouse had been damaged by the fall. His spare mouse was not the same model as the one he used in the game, which would inevitably affect his feel.
Lu Shi initially thought about lending his own mouse to Lin Lan. But upon inspection, he felt embarrassed as it was too shabby to offer.
Jiang Jin scratched his head and said, “My spare mouse is a bit heavy; you might not be used to it.”
“It’s fine, I’ll make do with mine.” Lin Lan took out his spare mouse from his backpack, preparing to make do with it.
Beside him, Xiao Shengjing pulled out a box from somewhere and calmly handed it to him. Lin Lan opened it and saw that it was a Logitech mouse.
Lin Lan: “Is this your spare mouse?”
Xiao Shengjing: “Yeah.”
Lin Lan: “Why is it the same model as mine?”
Xiao Shengjing fell silent. He couldn’t exactly say he wanted to use a matching mouse with Lin Lan like a couple. He felt too embarrassed to bring it up, so he had to keep it in his backpack and never took it out…
After an hour-long pause, the game finally resumed.
The audience erupted in excitement at the sight of Lin Lan, all concerned about the severity of his injury.
An hour after the incident, Lin Lan already felt less fearful of the arena. He stepped onto the stage calmly, even waving to the camera.
The adhesive tape stuck beside his eyes blocked his vision. But it didn’t diminish his handsomeness at all.
Fans were tearful. Their Lin Lan, their divine figure, finally came back at full strength!
The scene of the accident had been cleaned up. Damaged equipment was replaced with new ones, and all the rotating lights on the ceiling had been deactivated, eliminating the dazzling lights.
Lin Lan returned to his seat, feeling strangely calm. His mindset had unexpectedly changed, remarkably serene.
Although the trajectory of this world still followed that of the original world, the resulting consequences would be different, and the internal resistance gradually diminished.
Perhaps there would be a completely different outcome, right?
He put on his headphones. The game interface, frozen at the moment before the pause, is restored by technicians using time-reversal technology.
It was already evident where this game was heading. As long as Lin Lan unleashed his ultimate and flanked, IB would have no chance of fighting back.
However, during this pause, IB had discussed numerous strategies. They decided to have their support use flash to engage Lin Lan, and with everyone’s efforts, they would directly assassinate him, reversing the situation.
Lin Lan was injured. His line of sight would definitely be obstructed.
IB believed the opportunity in this wave was immense.
As the game countdown began, everyone’s focus was heightened. In the split second of recovery, IB’s support flashed to control Lin Lan!
It’s over! If Lin Lan dies here, Xu Shengwei’s position won’t be able to keep up with the output, effectively resulting in IB completely reversing the situation!
The commentator exclaimed, “Kiner has been engaged!”
Just when everyone thought Lin Lan was undoubtedly doomed, he instantly activated his ultimate, going invulnerable on the spot, directly dodging all of the opponent’s skills.
The arena erupted into intense cheers, almost overturning the roof. With just this one move from Lin Lan, he ascended to godhood, ruthlessly suppressing IB and strangling them on the ground!
In the version where Ryzes has not been nerfed, he still has a very disgusting combo, which is his ultimate, turning into gold, allowing him to evade damage and teleport himself to the other side unharmed.
This move is the legendary, Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell!
Lin Lan completed this combo in just 0.2 seconds. Not only was he unaffected by the recent accident, but he even broke through some kind of limit.
You see, for Ryze’s ultimate, Realm Warp, to be activated, he needs to immediately find a place on the map to teleport to after pressing the R key, and then he needs to activate the ultimate!
No one knows how he did it!
But he did it!
“Kiner activated the ultimate, Realm Warp, completely evading IB’s aggressive initiation! My god, is this speed even real? Or did Kiner predict in advance that the opponent would initiate on him?” The two commentators on stage were already going crazy, commentating on the match with astonishing speed: “IB’s support got shot down in one shot. Kiner and Shenn were simultaneously teleported to the back. IB’s remaining three players have no chance of escaping!”
The moment Lin Lan activated the ultimate, Realm Warp, IB knew they had lost the game. No one can stop a Ryze in his ultimate form from teleporting himself to the other side!
The portal opened wide, and the blue light immediately transported Lin Lan over. Lin Lan canceled his invulnerability status, stood up, and unleashed a combo of QEQWQ towards them. Huge energy balls bounced between them, and without even needing Xiao Shengjing’s intervention, Lin Lan, with his high damage, “swish swish” a few times, instantly burst all three of them to death!
Lin Lan’s portal appeared in the bushes. He teleported himself into the bushes, out of sight of the opponents. They only saw a bunch of energy balls being thrown out from inside, instantly obliterating them with immense damage!
IB didn’t even get to see Lin Lan until they were dead!
Team wipe, ACE!
Some people in the audience had already started screaming. The commentators seemed to have already seen the final champion of this tournament, their faces flushed with excitement: “IB suffered a team wipe! With a respawn time of up to 45 seconds, DT’s minion wave is already nearing the high-ground tower. DT doesn’t even need to take the dragon! Just push! They can take down the towers!”
The phrase “just push” from the commentators on stage stirred the hearts of countless viewers.
After Lin Lan’s accident and the hour-long pause, every fan had a bad feeling in their hearts, fearing that this incident would affect Lin Lan.
But never would they have imagined that Lin Lan would counterattack so beautifully, giving IB a sound thrashing!
It’s just too satisfying!
DT really gave IB a 3:0 beating, leaving them no face at all!
Lin Lan led his teammates in a frenzied tower push. Xu Shengwei, eager to end the game quickly, clicked the ground so fast that it seemed like sparks were flying.
Jiang Jin teased him, “If you had played like this earlier, maybe the game would have ended sooner, and Lin Lan wouldn’t have been hit by the light.”
Everyone treated it as a joke, laughing it off. Only Xu Shengwei took it seriously, his eyes sharp as he clicked even faster.
With a 45-second respawn time, even divine intervention couldn’t save IB. Feifei was pushing and calculating how much prize money he’d receive, happily mentioning a trip to Sanya with his online boyfriend.
As soon as Lin Lan heard him mention his online boyfriend, he felt like crying for help. He didn’t even have this much anxiety when he was hit by the light.
The inhibitor turret collapsed with a crash. Xu Shengwei madly clicked on the nexus, even using Flash to reset his basic attack on the final hit.
With a resounding explosion, the crystal shattered, proclaiming IB’s failure and signaling DT’s rise.
Lin Lan released the mouse and stood up, feeling relaxed. Suddenly, he was bent over and hugged by Xiao Shengjing next to him. Before he could react, Feifei, Jiang Jin, and Xu Shengwei also came over one by one to hug him.
To be honest, without Lin Lan, they wouldn’t know how they got here.
Feifei cried the most miserably, but those were tears of overwhelming joy.
Meanwhile, Jiang Jin was too excited to speak, his eyes filled with tears. Lin Lan was afraid he would start crying, so he quickly said to him, “Alright, let’s not talk about it. Let’s lift the trophy.”
Under Lin Lan’s leadership, they walked towards the podium, greeted by victory songs. Golden confetti fell on their heads, and in their hands was the weighty championship trophy.
For all of them, including Xiao Shengjing and Jiang Jin, it was the first time they had touched this trophy.
Jiang Jin exclaimed happily, like a child, “It’s heavier than I imagined.”
Lin Lan scolded him, “Stop being so childish.”
Xiao Shengjing smiled helplessly. His gaze towards Lin Lan was unexpectedly gentle.
In this harmonious scene, only Xu Shengwei beside them looked like an honest child who wanted to touch but didn’t dare to. The barrage burst into laughter, tears mingling with their mirth.
This Spring Split finally drew a perfect curtain.
DT has encountered countless doubts. Countless times they’ve been on the brink of despair, but it’s Lin Lan who, with DT, defied fate and reached the pinnacle.
For such a result, it seems both expected and unexpected. Fans couldn’t articulate their feelings. If they had to describe it, it would be a mix of being deeply moved to the point of tears.
“Wuwuwuwu…” Qi Rong was already crying. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the DT members, seeing them lift the trophy together, tears flowed uncontrollably like a waterfall, “I’m so deeply moved. I knew Lin Lan could do it. They are the champions. They got the championship…”
In the front row of the audience, Xie Zilu leaned back in his seat, looking up at Lin Lan on the stage.
At this moment, Lin Lan was truly dazzling, like a star falling into the Milky Way, emitting an unextinguishable light.
On the other side, the defeated IB players could only leave the scene with their heads downcast, disconnected from the current festivities.
They didn’t know how much profit they lost in this match, nor did they know what their value would plummet to. Each of them wore a look of bewilderment, like defeated roosters, still harboring fear in their eyes from Lin Lan’s incredible counterattack.
“How can his reaction speed be so fast?”
“I don’t know.”
“He might really be a god.”
