Chapter 3

For a moment, all the students gathered around the computers were stunned by He Rui's outburst, full of resentment. They subconsciously took a step back and turned their heads to look back in confusion.

At the very back of the crowd, a stranger wearing a clean and fresh white shirt, with an innocent and bewildered expression, caught everyone's eye.

Noticing the gazes of the crowd, Lin Xiao, who had suddenly become the focus of attention, was still somewhat dazed and unsure of the situation.

Then he immediately realized that his habit of muttering to himself had once again caused trouble.

Embarrassed, he scratched his head and waved to the crowd with a slightly shy smile:

"Hello everyone—"

Who is this guy?

The students looked at each other, then sized up Lin Xiao from head to toe.

Is he from Class 8 for the next class?

I don't remember there being such a guy...

However, He Rui didn't care about that at the moment. Irritated by the muttering that had just disturbed him, he was still fuming as he controlled his support Hecarim to return to the base, while glaring angrily at the stranger in front of him:

"Was it you who was talking nonsense back there?"

Lin Xiao scratched his head: "Not really nonsense—"

"Are you good at playing Hecarim?" He Rui asked aggressively.

Lin Xiao responded honestly: "Not bad."

"Alright, then you play!" He Rui was thoroughly angry.

Lin Xiao was taken aback, pointing at himself: "Me?"

Scared, huh? These days, people who like to talk big can only bark, and when it comes to the real thing, they just hide like turtles... He Rui was about to continue his tirade with a cold smile, but Lin Xiao nodded first:

"Sure."

Sure, sure??

He Rui almost choked on Lin Xiao's straightforward "Sure." His mouth twitched for a long time before he finally managed to reorganize his words and sneer: "If you're not confident, don't be so stubborn. Hecarim isn't that easy to play well; the skills require a lot of technique..."

A classmate watching the game immediately sneered: "Cut it out, you're just showing off. You talk big, but you're just a pit."

This made He Rui's face turn red with embarrassment.

Lin Xiao, however, was quite considerate and didn't rub it in. Instead, he kindly tried to smooth things over for He Rui: "Don't worry, I have a lot of experience playing Hecarim, I won't let you down."

Feeling his pride hurt by being exposed by a classmate, He Rui couldn't help but want to retort when he heard Lin Xiao speak: "Just because you say you won't let us down doesn't mean you won't..."

But Ouyang Yang, who was sitting at the computer on the left, was already urging: "Hey, stop talking! If you say you can play, let him try. Anyway, with you continuing to support, I have no hope—"

"Alright..." Even his ADC teammate was starting to look down on him, so He Rui could only grumble as he unwillingly stood up, still eyeing Lin Xiao: "I hope you're not just talking big. Don't mess up—"

Lin Xiao smiled good-naturedly: "I won't, I won't."

Then he unceremoniously plopped down in the seat He Rui had vacated.

...

Left hand on the keyboard, right hand on the mouse, Lin Xiao quickly familiarized himself with the feel of the keys and the responsiveness of the mouse.

Taking advantage of the time while the Hecarim on the screen slowly made his way, he casually pulled a pack of black chocolate out of his jeans pocket.

Tearing open the wrapper, he carefully bit off a small square of the chocolate, savoring the smooth, rich, and sweet flavor in his mouth.

(Playing a game and eating chocolate so seriously—)

(Are you trying to be a gambling god or something?)

He Rui, watching Lin Xiao's actions, was extremely unhappy and cursed in his heart: "Let you act cool, we'll see how you act when you mess up!"

At this moment, Ouyang, who was controlling the ADC Miss Fortune under the tower, had a moment to spare and turned his head to ask Lin Xiao without looking:

"Hey, buddy, let me know, how good are you? Have you played ranked matches before—"

"Don't worry, I'm Silver 2," Lin Xiao casually made up a rank in response to Ouyang's question, then, as if remembering something, turned his head to his ADC teammate: "That—"

"Uh?" Ouyang Yang turned his head instinctively.

"Do you want a piece of chocolate?" Lin Xiao offered the black chocolate bar he had already bitten into, enthusiastically recommending it: "It's really good."

"No, no... thanks." Ouyang Yang felt three black lines appear on his forehead.

At this point, he finally began to worry about whether this unfamiliar classmate sitting down was reliable.

"Hey, what rank did you say you were?"

"Oh, I'm Silver 3." Lin Xiao casually answered again.

This time, the classmates watching the game behind him had black lines on their faces—Hey, you just said you were Silver 2, which one is true?

Completely unaware that he had just contradicted himself, Lin Xiao was still calmly and confidently reassuring Ouyang Yang: "Don't worry, focus on your last-hitting and development. This game's lineup is good, we can win."

Just now, he had pressed the Tab key to check the lineups on both sides. On their blue side, besides their bottom lane Hecarim and Miss Fortune, the top lane was a Nasus, the mid lane was a Karthus, and the jungle was an Amumu.

A perfect team fight lineup.

They could definitely win.

However, while Lin Xiao was calm and composed, Ouyang didn't have such good nerves.

This is a placement match!

Not a bot game, not a normal match, but a match that determines your rank for life, okay?

He didn't want to be stuck in Bronze and play with a bunch of noobs for the rest of his life—

With this heavy burden on his mind, Ouyang's right hand, holding the mouse, was tense, and Lin Xiao could see the veins on his hand throbbing even from the corner of his eye, his knuckles were pale.

[This mindset is not good for playing at your normal level...]

Thinking this, Lin Xiao shook his head repeatedly, but he didn't have a good solution for this situation.

Offer him the chocolate again and ask if he wants to eat a piece to relieve the pressure?

Lin Xiao hesitated.

But then, he dismissed the thought:

Forget it, there's only one bar left, and I don't have enough for myself.

...

The more nervous you are when playing a game, the more likely you are to make mistakes.

This was well proven by Ouyang.

Seeing a low-health purple melee minion nearby, Ouyang instinctively controlled his Miss Fortune to move forward.

At this moment, Lin Xiao's support Hecarim had just arrived at their first tower and placed a ward in the bush.

The fog in the bush was instantly cleared, and the vision revealed the figure of the purple support Prince!

"Damn! Be careful!"

"Miss Fortune, retreat! Prince is going to EQ!"

The classmates watching the game behind them were suddenly very anxious.

Miss Fortune's health was already less than half, and her healing and flash summoner spells had been used less than a minute ago. If she was picked up and controlled by Prince's EQ combo, and then followed by the damage from the enemy Vayne and Prince's ultimate "Unstoppable Force," the kill was almost certain.

Realizing this, Ouyang panicked and frantically clicked the right mouse button to control Miss Fortune to turn and retreat towards the tower.

But it was too late.

Ping!!—

A blue banner with a Demacian flag fell from the sky, landing in front of Miss Fortune as she fled towards the tower.

E skill—Demacian Standard!

And in the next moment, the imposing figure of the purple Prince, in golden armor, charged out of the bush!

Q skill—Decisive Strike!

A perfectly executed EQ combo was about to be performed, and it was almost certain that the blue Miss Fortune would be picked up and controlled.

It's over.

The classmates watching the game behind them all shook their heads in frustration.

This mistake was Ouyang's own fault. The support Hecarim had already placed a ward in the bush as soon as he got to the lane. If you blame anyone, it can only be blamed on Miss Fortune's careless movement.

Knowing that Prince was definitely hiding in the bush, you still moved forward to last-hit a minion. Isn't that just asking for trouble...

If you give up another kill, the bottom lane will really be a disaster.

Just as everyone was pessimistic about Miss Fortune's fate, only Lin Xiao, sitting at the computer on the right, calmly controlling the support Hecarim while eating chocolate, remained composed.

The moment the Demacian flag from the purple support Prince was placed, he even had time to mutter:

"I knew you couldn't resist using EQ."

Almost at the same instant as the Prince's Q skill, Decisive Strike, was about to connect, Lin Xiao lightly clicked the right mouse button, controlling Hecarim to step forward.

In the next moment, the Prince, with his sharp spear, charged towards the flag's location!

At the same time, Lin Xiao's eyes became intensely focused.

And in that very second—

It was as if the whole world suddenly became quiet.

Time seemed to slow down infinitely.

The intense battle about to break out in the bottom lane was instantly split into countless static frames.

One frame, one frame, slowly flickering.

On the screen, the golden-armored purple Prince charged out of the bush.

In the next frame, the Prince's figure narrowly missed Hecarim.

In the next frame, Lin Xiao pressed the E key, and a blue rectangular skill indicator appeared on Hecarim.

Adjusting the angle in an instant, his finger pressed the left mouse button—

A lightning-fast click.

Time returned to its normal flow.

On the screen, Hecarim swung his scythe chain with great force, the powerful momentum of the cold, green metal chain swinging backward!

The purple Prince, mid-air, was about to successfully pick up and control Miss Fortune, but in the next moment, a powerful force came from his left side, as if he was yanked hard, and the Prince's figure suddenly stopped and tilted to the left—

The EQ combo was interrupted mid-air!!

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