TCWSITD – Chapter 30.2

Chapter 30.2 – A Grudge Match

During the 15-minute break, Alike stormed down the long corridor, cornering Lin Jiang in the restroom, his tone sharp and fierce. “Why don’t you fight me head-on?”

It was the same question he’d asked before—in another life.

Lin Jiang had taught him. Had shown him when to be reckless and when to hold back.

It had to be said that Alike was an excellent student. He would ruthlessly absorb anything that could make him stronger, even if it came from someone he despised like Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang had personally trained the explosive esports sensation known as God A—only to end up relegated to the substitute bench.

Now, given a second chance, Lin Jiang swore he would never play the good guy again.

He calmly wiped his hands clean. “Because you’re not worthy.”

Those words completely enraged Alike.

He was taller than Lin Jiang, radiating pure intimidation.

Suddenly, he grabbed Lin Jiang’s collar and slammed him against the bathroom mirror.

“Lin Jiang, say that again, you motherf—?”

The disturbance caught the attention of those outside, prompting someone to call security.

Lin Jiang met his gaze calmly, and fearlessly said, “Because you’re not worthy. You’ll never be my match.”

For the first time, Alike saw something in Lin Jiang’s eyes that genuinely terrified him.

He didn’t understand what he was seeing—like a summit he would never touch in his life—briefly numbing his senses.

Alike stiffened and released his grip. With the KUG manager’s urging, he quickly left the scene before things escalated further.

Lin Jiang clicked his tongue and casually wiped his collar without a second thought.

His teammates rushed over upon hearing the news. “Captain, are you okay?”

Lin Jiang shook his head, coldly and terrifyingly calm, “I’m fine. Just a mad dog—he can’t bite me”.

Shen Ju heard it and thought he was being insulted.

He immediately stiffened, only relaxing when he saw Lin Jiang wasn’t looking his way.

Phew—he was now a good dog.

But if Alike dared act so arrogantly, it must mean the last match hadn’t humbled him enough. Next game, he’d have to turn up the pressure.

Because of this incident, Duren argued fiercely with the officials but ultimately had to compromise to avoid disrupting the match schedule.

He returned to the team and said, “I couldn’t win against their manager. It’s up to you guys now.”

The match kicked off on schedule, and the entire OT squad’s tempers flared high.

KUG picked the blue side this round and chose not to ban any mid laners, leaving them all open. A’Deng’s Nocturne, Shen Ju’s Lucian, and Kai’Sa were all locked into the ban zone.

Song Zhixu was a little displeased. You didn’t ban me at all—what’s that supposed to mean? You’re looking down on me?”

Zhou Wen pointed it out straightforwardly, “Because you have Sion as a backup.”

Song Zhixu’s resilience with these two champions was top-tier, and since they couldn’t ban both, they left them open.

Lin Jiang also didn’t ban any mid laners this round. There were too many options—it wasn’t worth wasting a ban slot.

His picks this round mainly targeted KUG’s bottom lane.

Song Zhixu would definitely hold his own in the top lane, and A’Deng’s tempo couldn’t surpass Zeng Yuan’s. The best choice was to let Shen Ju carry.

As for the mid lane, well, it was time for Lin Jiang to school them.

As the draft phase progressed, both teams quickly locked in their heroes.

KUG’s lineup: Top – K’Sante, Jungle – Sejuani, Mid – Akali, AD – Jinx, Support – Thresh.

OT’s lineup: Top – Ornn, Jungle – Jarvan IV, Mid – LeBlanc, AD – Xayah, Support – Rakan.

The commentators analyzed, “Top lane K’Sante was specifically picked to counter Ornn, Metoo needs to be careful. However, the bot lane will have a slight advantage for OT. This game mainly depends on the mid-jungle tempo of both sides.”

But everyone knew A’Deng’s tempo was far inferior to Zeng Yuan’s. Hearing this analysis, the fans’ hearts sank.

Surely, OT won’t fall because of A’Deng, right?

A’Deng trembled with nerves, his hand gripping the mouse slightly shaking.

He didn’t know why, but the more people expected from him, the less he could deliver the results he wanted.

Sweat dampened his eyelashes. He raised his hand to wipe it away, but no matter how much he tried, it wouldn’t go.

Suddenly, Lin Jiang gently tapped his arm, saying nothing, just silently urging him to relax.

A’Deng suddenly remembered what Lin Jiang had told him before the match: “Don’t think about creating tempo. Zeng Yuan has four more years of professional experience than you and has competed in many international tournaments. He understands tempo far better than you. But you also have an advantage over him: your playstyle isn’t set yet, making it unpredictable. You can completely reverse your approach and catch them off guard.”

Reverse your approach and catch them off guard.

In the last game, Lin Jiang hadn’t let him play this way because he said veteran players like Zeng Yuan could be fooled temporarily, but not consistently.

A’Deng breathed deeply, matching his rhythm to the game’s pace.

He reassured himself, “It’s okay. If Lin Jiang says I can do it, then I definitely can.”

The game began.

A’Deng was hyper-focused, making bold choices in his jungle route.

From the god’s-eye view, the commentators analyzed, “lamp has changed his jungle route, perfectly avoiding enemy vision. He was much smarter than in the last game!”

After clearing three camps, A’Deng waited a few seconds before taking the river crab.

Once again, he precisely avoided enemy wards.

Zeng Yuan, still seeing no trace of Adeng, felt a flicker of unease. He began suspecting A’Deng might be following Lin Jiang’s instructions to steal his blue buff.

Zeng Yuan decisively gave up vision control of the bottom half and went to his blue buff to try and catch someone. But the next second, A’Deng went to the bot lane to take the river scuttle crab and left through a ward’s blind spot.

The commentators exclaimed, “mp secures both river crabs right out of the gate! This jungle path totally threw Xiao Zeng off his game. Looks like rookies really do get that jungle protection bonus!”

Hearing this, the audience burst into laughter.

Because honestly, it’s kind of true—rookie junglers do enjoy a sort of “newbie protection”.

Veteran players tend to refine their playstyles over years, often locking into habitual routes. So at the highest level, what separates them are the tiniest details—and rhythm.

Rookie junglers, lacking fixed routines, often take bizarre paths that throw seasoned veterans into complete confusion.

This is the unique “newbie protection” of the jungle.

However, this protection period would soon pass. Once A’Deng plays enough matches, the veteran players will figure out his patterns too—and teach him a lesson.

Previously, A’Deng had been the type of rookie too afraid to innovate, sticking to conventional playstyles where he naturally fell short in every aspect compared to his opponents.

But in this game, after listening to Lin Jiang’s advice, he reversed his thinking—and genuinely caught the audience off guard.

With the early jungle phase holding steady, things were looking up for OT.

Next, it would all depend on how the laners performed.

Song Zhixu was, in fact, no match for the opposing top laner, and the champion he picked couldn’t go toe-to-toe in the early game. But the opponent was too bloodthirsty and wanted to lure Song Zhixu out of tower range for a kill.

In the past, Song Zhixu wouldn’t have engaged, but the thought of how this top laner had disrespected Lin Jiang for three years made him swing his hammer with extra force.

With every strike, it felt like he was avenging Lin Jiang.

The more he struck, the better it felt. His confident playstyle left his opponent speechless—too intimidated to even call for a jungle gank.

Just like that, Song Zhixu made it safely through the most dangerous part of his lane.

The bot lane was naturally no issue. Last game it was Lucian and Nami, this time they had Xayah and Rakan—another dominant duo.

And with Jinx being even weaker in lane than last game’s Kai’Sa, Zhou Wen led the charge while Shen Ju followed up—swish, swish—clean, effortless combos that pinned their opponents under the tower in no time.

Moreover, A’Deng’s early river vision outpaced the enemy’s, allowing Shen Ju to dominate the laning phase with ease.

Once the vision expired, Zhou Wen always had two control wards ready, making it impossible for the enemy to clear them effectively.

This vision control caught the commentators’ attention. “winker’s the quiet type, but his warding is exceptional. Otherwise, with sgod playing this aggressively, things should’ve gone wrong by now.”

Top lane, bot lane, jungle—everything was miraculously stable.

Lin Jiang focused entirely on laning against Alike.

He knew Zeng Yuan’s gank habits too well and placed his wards in extremely tricky spots, avoiding them perfectly both times.

Alike was dead set on proving himself against Lin Jiang. Once they hit Level 6 and gained the means to fight, he declared, “Don’t come. I can kill him.”

Both reached Level 6, and the duel officially began.

Lin Jiang was playing LeBlanc, his signature champion—the one he used to win the world championship in his debut year.

Back then, the league had crafted a stunning championship skin for him. Lin Jiang, ever humble, rarely used it in matches. But today, against Alike, he immediately pulled it out.

It seemed to constantly remind Alike: Lin Jiang was the one who brought the championship to KUG.

What Alike resented most was that during He Gu’s founding of the team, Lin Jiang had secured two titles—a height he would spend his entire career trying to surpass.

He gripped his mouse tightly, nerves stretched to the limit.

Lin Jiang, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

Every time he picked LeBlanc, he remembered his first year in the league.

That feeling of standing atop the world—where a single leap could touch the pinnacle—returned.

In this game, he would use his most trusted champion to show Alike what the realm of a true top player really looked like.

Lin Jiang made his move.

Then, without a hint of warning or aggression, he struck.

He stepped onto W, landed the Q, followed up with two crisp basic attacks to trigger Electrocute[mfn]Electrocute (rune) – triggered when she hits an enemy with three separate instances of damage within a short window.[/mfn], and kept the pressure on with relentless autos.

If his Q passive landed, Akali would lose at least one-third of her health in this exchange.

Alike’s reflexes were sharp—his first instinct was to deploy his smoke screen, blocking Lin Jiang from triggering that deadly Q passive.

But Lin Jiang remained unhurried, casually farming minions like he was out for a stroll, always ready to slip back to his W’s safety whenever Alike made a move.

This skirmish forced Akali’s smoke screen out early, making Alike much more cautious without his escape ability.

He continued last-hitting minions, eyes searching for an opening.

Then the opportunity arrived.

The moment a minion died, he suddenly dashed toward Lin Jiang with his E[mfn]Shuriken Flip (E) – this ability has two parts: a first cast that throws a shuriken and dashes her backward, and a second cast that allows her to dash to the marked target, dealing damage.[/mfn], intending to unleash a combo and finish him off with his ultimate.

But just as his E was about to land, Lin Jiang abruptly used W to blink onto a minion, narrowly dodging Akali’s mark.

Damn it. Alike was about to back off.

Then, Lin Jiang used his ultimate to replicate his W skill, suddenly blinking right into Alike’s face!

This time, instead of W then Q, Lin Jiang flipped the combo—Q into W.

With W instantly triggering the Q passive, double damage erupted simultaneously, slicing Alike’s health down to just a third in an instant!

If Lin Jiang’s chain hit him again, he would almost certainly be dead.

Alike analyzed the situation in a split second, but when he looked up to find an escape route—

He realized he was surrounded… completely boxed in by Lin Jiang.

LeBlanc’s W was a blink ability—it left a mark at the cast location, and pressing it again allowed her to instantly return.

By using his R to replicate W, Lin Jiang had dashed twice, marking three positions around Alike, trapping him in a perfect, unescapable triangle.

This was Lin Jiang’s signature technique from back in the day—

The Death Triangle.

Once locked within this zone, no matter where you moved, death was inevitable.

And Alike’s only life-saving skill—his smoke screen—had already been baited out by Lin Jiang ten seconds ago. Now, no matter where he tried to flash, death was certain.

Alike felt his fingers go numb.

From the fog, Lin Jiang emerged at last—cold and poised, like a venomous serpent watching from above.

Because you’re not worthy.

With the triangle locking Akali in place, Lin Jiang mercilessly flung out his chain. Even Flashing now would only delay the inevitable, yet Alike still burned his Flash in vain.

First Blood!

Staring at the grayed-out screen, Alike suddenly remembered Zeng Yuan’s warning:

Don’t let Lin Jiang dictate the pace. All of his mistakes—he lets you see them on purpose.

Now, Alike finally understood the true meaning behind those words.

Lin Jiang was never the prey—he was the apex predator lurking among them.

All those moments when Alike had arrogantly believed he could surpass him were nothing but illusions Lin Jiang had crafted for him.

Alike stared fixedly at the screen, frozen.

In everyone’s eyes, Lin Jiang was a support-type player. And Alike was a lane-dominant one.

He had always believed that if he could face Lin Jiang in a direct showdown, he’d prove himself—

That even if KUG lost, he wouldn’t have lost to Lin Jiang.

But Lin Jiang picked a lane-dominant champion and delivered the message loud and clear:

“You were never even a worthy rival.”

But he had lost to Lin Jiang… on the very battleground he took the most pride in—lane dominance.

Overwhelming despair wrapped around him, and he couldn’t help but doubt himself.

Am I really not as good as Lin Jiang?

His cousin had come to watch the match today. Seeing such a result—would he be disappointed in him?

After that death, Alike’s performance grew increasingly erratic. Many of his decisions resulted in major mistakes.

Zeng Yuan stepped up multiple times to try and turn the tide, but even he couldn’t stop Lin Jiang’s LeBlanc—who was playing like a straight-up bug.

Wearing the championship skin he once used to win KUG their title, Lin Jiang dashed in again and again—his W landing squarely in their faces, delivering one crushing blow after another.

By the late-game, Shen Ju’s Xayah had begun to ramp up in damage—KUG simply couldn’t withstand the onslaught.

Zeng Yuan could do nothing but watch helplessly, a bitter smile on his lips as the game drew to an end.

He had warned his teammates—Lin Jiang wasn’t just strong individually. His control over the game itself was suffocating.

Yet no one believed Lin Jiang could lead OT to break through the siege.

He inhaled deeply, eyes fixed on Lin Jiang as he approached to shake hands.

And in that moment, Zeng Yuan saw a reflection of KUG from four years ago—

And a sharp sting rose in his nose.

He took Lin Jiang’s hand and pulled him into a solid embrace. “Congratulations,” he said.

Lin Jiang hugged him back. “Mm, thank you.”

Grateful for the trust Zeng Yuan had given him over the years—and for the blessing he offered now.

This match against KUG showed Lin Jiang the potential in OT. He was determined to lead them, to write a new chapter of greatness.

He stepped onto the stage and bowed deeply.

And with steady conviction, he declared to the world: I’m back.

Most of the audience were KUG fans. Seeing Alike lose to Lin Jiang like this, they all became emotionally charged and started cursing loudly.

In the front row, right at the center of it all, He Gu sat motionless, eyes fixed on the defeat of his team. The spotlight caught the depths of his gaze—dark, unreadable.

His phone buzzed in his pocket—it was a call from his secretary.

Amid the roar of the crowded arena, regret echoed through his earpiece: “A 0.5% return rate is too low, Young Master He. I’ve done everything I could—there’s no way to save this…”

He Gu simply replied with a low “Mm,” acknowledging the news.

He set the phone down, maintaining his composure.

His eyes drifted to Lin Jiang, radiant under the stage lights, and he recalled how slim KUG’s chances had been back then—lower than 0.5%.

Yet Lin Jiang had the courage to say those words: “Even if we lose, I’ll turn it around for you.”

In his youth, he was sharp and ruthless. Now, even if he tried to summon that fiery spirit, the man he once was had long vanished.

He Gu could no longer remain composed. He stood and left the venue.

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