In that moment, Yan Jie met a pair of…
In the team rest room, Jiang Nan’an sat by the bar counter, leaning back in his chair waiting for the laptop in front of him to enter the matching queue.
With some time left before the finals broadcast officially began, Jiang Nan’an had borrowed a laptop from the production team, wanting to play a few solo games to practice before the official match.
After all, due to health reasons in the past few days, his training time had been much less than his teammates’. With the match imminent, he couldn’t make up for daily training, but he at least wanted to ensure his in-game feel.
North Star and Jiang Shanshan were still at the other end of the room preparing their makeup and styling. Men’s hair and makeup were much simpler compared to women’s. inBlue had finished his preparations early and was lounging on the sofa watching a replay of some previous match.
After a while, someone knocked on the rest room door, and Yan Jie walked in casually, holding a pink package. Upon entering, he scattered something to everyone in the room like a flower-scattering goddess, then walked straight to Jiang Nan’an at the bar counter and pulled out a chair opposite him to sit down.
“What are you doing?” Yan Jie looked at him and asked casually.
“Solo queue.”
“So diligent?”
Yan Jie used his fingers to take out a strawberry candy from the package, casually tore open the small candy wrapper, and reached out to offer it:
“Here, have a candy to sweeten up.”
At that moment, a commotion came from outside the training room as the warm-up livestream’s female host entered with the cameraman.
Jiang Nan’an knew about this segment tonight-the warm-up host would take viewers around the venue to see the front-stage preparations and the backstage state of the contestants. So he didn’t pay much attention, just glanced over before returning his gaze to the light pink candy in Yan Jie’s hand.
“I don’t eat candy.”
“It’s delicious!”
“Even if it’s delicious, I won’t eat it.”
“Oh come on, try it. No one can resist my strawberry candy.”
“Now someone can.”
“Don’t be like that, Teacher Xiao Shan, please, Little Spring has only one wish in this life-”
“.”
Jiang Nan’an looked at the candy, then at Yan Jie.
After struggling for two seconds, he still held out his hand to Yan Jie.
Having achieved his goal, Yan Jie smiled, showing his canine teeth, and poured the pink candy into Jiang Nan’an’s palm.
“Oh no,” exclaimed the makeup artist adjusting Jiang Nan’an’s hairstyle at the moment the pink candy fell into his palm:
“Teacher Jiang, your BP!”
On the computer screen, Jiang Nan’an’s champion selection time had only three seconds left. He had been so focused on talking with Yan Jie that he hadn’t noticed it was his turn in the Ban & Pick phase.
He hadn’t gotten the mid lane position this game and was assigned to jungle. He quickly scanned the lineup, wanting to lock in Nunu, but his hand slipped, the mouse cursor moved, and he accidentally clicked on the champion next to Nunu.
“Ah…” The makeup artist, who had been closely watching the screen, sighed with a bit of disappointment when she saw Jiang Nan’an hadn’t selected the champion he wanted.
“What happened?” Yan Jie asked, looking at their expressions while sucking on his candy.
“Selected the wrong champion.”
“What did you pick?”
“…Aurelion Sol.”
“Oh,” Yan Jie chuckled:
“Our Teacher Jiang has a special fondness for the Sea King. Last time you picked the wrong champion it was him, and this time too. So, is this your main account ranked game?”
Jiang Nan’an sighed: “Mm. I should quit.”
“Planning to force-quit in front of the world’s number one Aurelion Sol again?” Yan Jie propped his face up, curved his eyes, and looked at him with a smile.
“What else? Play as an extra minion in the canyon?”
“Tsk.”
Yan Jie then sat up straight, pretended to cough lightly, and casually pointed at himself.
“…”
Jiang Nan’an looked at his gesture, then at his computer screen, hesitating until the BP phase ended before saying:
“I don’t have a skin.”
“True masters never need fancy skins to gild the lily. Using the most basic skin to deliver the most dazzling, jaw-dropping plays is Little Spring’s ultimate belief.”
“.” Although the language was a bit exaggerated, since Yan Jie had said so, Jiang Nan’an still turned the laptop in front of him toward Yan Jie and pushed it over, along with his mouse.
But Yan Jie seemed somewhat surprised by his action.
He was taken aback and asked: “You’re giving it to me?”
“Mm.”
“Really giving it to me?”
“If you’re not going to play, give it back to me.”
“I’ll play, I’ll play!”
Taking advantage of the loading time, Yan Jie immediately started moving his shoulders and wrists. If time and place had allowed, Jiang Nan’an suspected he would have even done a few push-ups on the floor.
With the game handed over, Jiang Nan’an relaxed, leaned back in his chair, found a comfortable sitting position, and gently massaged his wrists.
Looking up, he discovered that the warm-up livestream team hadn’t left. Not only had they not left, but the host and cameraman were standing not far away, looking in their direction.
Perhaps noticing his gaze, the female host came back to her senses and walked over with the cameraman, saying:
“We can see that the Makeshift Troupe players are still squeezing in practice. Oh, everyone seems very concerned about Teacher Jiang… Would you like me to ask for you?”
The host glanced at the comments, only able to find two types of people in the waterfall-like stream-Boating at Guazhou CP fans and solo fans concerned about Jiang Nan’an’s health.
“Let me ask then… Teacher Jiang!”
“Hmm?” Jiang Nan’an looked up at the host and camera across the bar counter.
“Your fans asked me to check on you. Is it true that you were sick a few days ago, as reported online?”
“Yes.” There was nothing to hide about this, so Jiang Nan’an nodded.
“Oh… you had a fever, right? Haha, everyone’s information is so accurate. Was it serious?”
“It was fine. I recovered several days ago, it won’t affect today’s match.”
The host nodded, then looked at the comments again, hoping to pick a few fan interactions, but found them increasingly strange.
Ask if what Spring and Xiao Shan said is true? What does this have to do with Spring, wasn’t it Jiang Nan’an who was sick?
Ask if Spring found Xiao Shan easy to carry?
Want to hear Spring call him husband?
What is all this???
The host increasingly couldn’t understand and couldn’t say any of these comments, so she hurriedly picked one saying “Xiao Shan, take good care of yourself, health comes first, competition second,” then left with the cameraman, heading toward Very Nice’s rest room.
The finals night broadcast officially began at 6 PM.
Many celebrity guests were invited to the commentary booth for tonight’s broadcast, and many previously eliminated contestants were also invited back. For example, Fire and Sheng Yujia were sitting in the audience, and the director gave them a big close-up.
Before the main competition, there were opening performances and pre-match commentary segments. After the pre-match trash talk recording was completed and both teams made their appearances, along with various other preliminaries, the two finalist teams officially took their battle seats at 7 PM.
In the first Ban & Pick phase, Very Nice’s first ban was Yan Jie’s Aurelion Sol.
This was normal. In fact, in all the matches Yan Jie had played in this show, he hadn’t been able to use Aurelion Sol even once. After all, his usual claim of being the “universe’s number one Aurelion Sol,” while partly boastful, was also an objective fact.
Ten years ago, it was he who brought this relatively unpopular champion to the competitive stage, and it was he who won the global finals championship with Aurelion Sol. He single-handedly increased the champion’s popularity and pick rate, and even today, Aurelion Sol remained firmly in the jungle T0 tier.
It could be said that over so many years, Aurelion Sol had become inseparable from the name Spring. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that 90% of today’s top Aurelion Sol players’ playstyles bore Spring’s influence.
Therefore, in “Burning Eternity,” regardless of which team faced Spring, the first ban would always go to Aurelion Sol. Very Nice doing this was within everyone’s expectations.
Yan Jie himself was an extreme jungle carry player who liked to play fragile assassins with high burst damage and extreme mechanics. Very Nice guarded against this by banning his commonly used champions, leaving only Nunu.
According to the coach’s prediction, Yan Jie would most likely pick Nunu, which would allow their bottom lane to pick two champions that counter Nunu and have an advantage. But what they didn’t expect was that after the selection area on the screen flickered several times, the half-body poster of the champion Black Widow appeared.
Black Widow was a somewhat clunky champion with low burst damage, but her slowing and sustained damage mechanics were annoying. For a team like Makeshift Troupe with obvious weaknesses that needed to gain advantages in the early game through the jungler, this choice didn’t seem wise.
After all, if Spring couldn’t secure kills or create advantages in the early game, who could they rely on?
This question was quickly answered because just a few minutes into the game, Black Widow led her mid laner into the jungle, precisely controlling the enemy jungler with her slowing effects, after which the mid laner followed up with damage to secure the kill and also severely damaged the late-arriving support. Afterward, the two began treating Very Nice’s jungle like a buffet, leaving a trail of bodies and blood wherever they went, whether in top or bottom lane.
Black Widow provided control, slowing, and damage absorption, while Jiang Nan’an played an assassin responsible for securing kills. It was unclear when Makeshift Troupe had practiced this composition, but Very Nice was caught completely off guard and quickly collapsed across all lanes, losing the first game.
“We’ve always known that Makeshift Troupe likes to play mid-jungle synergy, but usually it’s Jiang Nan’an providing control while Spring secures kills. This time they’ve reversed roles, and the effect is surprisingly good,” Commentator A remarked with admiration.
“Very Nice probably didn’t expect this either, they seem a bit stunned… Alright, after the mid-game break, the second game’s BP officially begins. Very Nice has first ban and first pick, and their first ban goes to Spring’s Aurelion Sol again.”
In the second game, Black Widow was effectively banned by being picked by the opposing team. Yan Jie chose the conventional Nunu but was countered by Black Widow and couldn’t create a significant advantage. Later, as the game dragged into the mid-game, Makeshift Troupe couldn’t gain an advantage in two neutral resource team fights and Very Nice evened the series.
In the third game of the BO5, Makeshift Troupe changed tactics again. Jiang Nan’an picked Orianna in mid lane, a champion he had never shown before, while Yan Jie abandoned the jungle carry style and shifted focus to inBlue in the bottom lane, beginning to compete with Very Nice in a protect-the-one strategy.
Before the game started, the commentary desk wasn’t very optimistic about this, because there was a skill gap between the two teams’ top laners, and both the jungler and mid laner were assassin-style players. Spring didn’t need to be mentioned-as a top-tier jungler, he could understand any champion. But Jiang Nan’an had previously played very aggressive champions, and suddenly switching to a supportive mid laner like Orianna made the commentary desk worry whether he could really handle it.
But clearly they were overthinking. Jiang Nan’an could kill enemy carries with assassins, and he could also protect his team’s main carry flawlessly with supportive champions. Throughout several team fights, his coordination with Jiang Shanshan was on point. The two positioned themselves subtly, providing shields and heals to inBlue, giving him a very comfortable environment to deal damage. Although North Star couldn’t compete in mechanics, she could be a qualified meat shield to absorb damage for the main carry. The entire team was of one mind with no one dropping the ball, and they ultimately secured victory at the 35-minute mark.
The score reached 2:1, with Makeshift Troupe holding two match points, and the team’s atmosphere became much more excited.
Commentator A: “I never imagined that Makeshift Troupe could not only execute mid-jungle synergy but also master the protect-the-one strategy. It feels like after losing to Fangfei in the first elimination match, they secretly practiced many strategies just to catch Very Nice off guard.”
Commentator B: “Indeed, congratulations to Makeshift Troupe for securing match point first. When Makeshift Troupe was initially formed, there was a lot of controversy online regarding Spring’s team formation and player selections, but they haven’t disappointed the audience. I wonder what other surprises this team will bring us next.”
Commentator A: “More surprises? Here we go, the fourth game of the BO5 begins. Very Nice still chooses the blue side, with their first two bans going to Black Widow and Maya. Makeshift Troupe chooses to ban Fangfei’s signature Venomous Arrow and Meowball, and then… wait???”
Not only was the commentary desk surprised, but the audience also erupted in commotion.
For the third ban, Very Nice prohibited North Star’s Tarzan.
“They didn’t ban Aurelion Sol?! Is Very Nice’s jungler Xiao Liang going to pick Aurelion Sol instead of banning it, challenging this champion right in front of Spring himself???”
“Wow, Spring, they’re looking down on you, not even banning your Aurelion Sol anymore.” Chenghua remarked with a “tsk tsk”:
“Their jungler doesn’t play Aurelion Sol. Look, they picked a mid Radish first. What do you think, want to take it?”
“Gifts offered by fate surely have their prices marked in secret. Who knows what evil might be lurking behind this. Aurelion Sol has obvious weaknesses and is easy to counter. My lord, we must be cautious!” Yan Jie raised his hand to stroke his chin.
“Come on, the universe’s number one Aurelion Sol is afraid of being countered???” Chenghua felt this statement really didn’t match Yan Jie’s gambling personality.
“Can’t help it, we’re at match point. I promised our Teacher Jiang we would win, so we can’t risk any mishaps.”
Yan Jie said this with an affected manner, then curved his lips and glanced at Jiang Nan’an, revealing his true intentions:
“How about this, if Teacher Jiang is willing to play Siren for me, then Little Spring will have to risk being countered to death and sacrifice himself to accompany this gentleman.”
“…” Here it comes again, Spring’s supreme conversation habit-beginning, development, transition, Jiang.
Jiang Nan’an raised his hand to adjust his headphones, didn’t give Yan Jie a glance, and after half a second simply dropped one word:
“Take it.”
On the big screen, the red side locked in Aurelion Sol first, triggering a wave of screams from the audience. But before the excitement could subside, the appearance of Siren in the second slot ignited the entire venue once more.
Commentator A: “Aurelion Sol paired with Siren! What is this! Both players have brought out their signature champions! At this rate, inBlue might as well pick Veigar to fulfill the audience’s dream and give us a fantasy highlight match!”
Commentator B: “Veigar on the competitive stage? Fangfei would laugh her teeth off.”
Commentator A: “Haha, just joking… Good, both teams have confirmed their lineups. Oh my, indeed, Very Nice has picked three champions that counter Aurelion Sol. Can Spring show off his skills?”
Commentator B: “Be careful, Spring might come find you after the match, grab your collar, and ask why you’re questioning the universe’s number one Aurelion Sol.”
Facts proved that Yan Jie’s prediction was correct. Since Very Nice dared to leave Aurelion Sol open, they must have prepared countermeasures.
At the start of the game, Makeshift Troupe engaged in a level one team fight in the jungle. Jiang Shanshan’s support was caught, and Fangfei secured the kill, giving Very Nice the first advantage.
Although Aurelion Sol and Siren were the Sea King and Sea Queen couple, these two champions didn’t have much synergy in their mechanics. Both were gambling-style assassins with high mechanics and burst damage-when both were on one team, they would rise or fall together.
In this game, Very Nice stopped targeting mid and bot lanes, instead changing their strategy to block North Star in the top lane.
Although North Star tried to play safe, the opponents’ multiple ganks showed a determination to not rest until she was dead, leaving her no chance to escape. The top lane quickly collapsed, and the economic gap gradually widened. With no choice, they could only try to drag the game out.
Very Nice’s side clearly understood Yan Jie’s Aurelion Sol well. Combined with champion counters, Yan Jie tried several times but couldn’t gain much advantage. Fortunately, their teammates’ coordination was good, and although they couldn’t secure a game-changing advantage, they weren’t too far behind either.
“The situation doesn’t look optimistic for Makeshift Troupe,” Commentator A observed the game state:
“Makeshift Troupe has lost almost all three lane towers, while Very Nice has only lost one high ground in the bottom lane. Now the Ancient Dragon has respawned again. This is no ordinary dragon; it’s the Dragon King that has evolved three times. The outcome of this match will likely depend on who secures this dragon.”
In-game, Very Nice, having gained the advantage, naturally moved toward the dragon’s nest first. On Makeshift Troupe’s side, inBlue placed some vision and said:
“The enemy is going for the dragon. We need to try to steal it. If we get it, we still have a chance; otherwise, we’ll really lose.”
After two seconds of silence on the microphone, Yan Jie made the decision:
“Move toward that area.”
So Makeshift Troupe stealthily approached the dragon’s nest, but Very Nice knew they would try to steal the dragon and had been waiting. The moment Jiang Shanshan moved forward to place vision, they caught her with their abilities and followed up with a burst of damage, making her evaporate on the spot!
“Oh no!” Jiang Shanshan slapped her mouse in frustration: “I’m sorry, everyone, I’m sorry.”
With the support already down, they had to fight this team battle whether they wanted to or not.
North Star threw her ultimate into the crowd, triggering a two-second lockdown. inBlue entered the fight to deal damage, but without their support, North Star alone couldn’t protect the AD carry. She quickly fell, and inBlue managed to take down the enemy support before gloriously sacrificing himself.
After a brief team fight lasting just a few seconds, only Jiang Nan’an remained standing in the dragon’s nest.
He used his abilities to weave between the four opponents, dodging a lot of control and damage, but no matter how perfectly he played, he couldn’t survive against four people.
He originally wanted to at least take down Fangfei before dying, but before his final mark could land, the enemy jungler controlled him with an ability and secured his kill.
Jiang Nan’an’s screen went black.
The dragon team fight was lost.
This game was most likely gone.
Match point, the closest game to the championship. Although there was still a deciding game to play and the final outcome was yet to be determined, letting victory slip away when it was so close still left a feeling of disappointment.
Looking at the gray screen, Jiang Nan’an felt a bit heavy-hearted.
But at that moment, he suddenly heard excited shouts from the others in his headphones.
Jiang Nan’an raised an eyebrow slightly, coming back to his senses, only to see all four members of Very Nice suddenly abandoning the unfinished dragon and collectively recalling to base.
“?”
Jiang Nan’an sat up straight and looked at the mini-map, where a familiar icon was clearly visible at the enemy base!
“Base rush! Base rush!!”
Commentator A nearly jumped out of his chair:
“During the team fight just now, Spring threw a control ability into the crowd and then circled around from below, maintaining vision all the way from the bottom lane to Very Nice’s high ground. But the Very Nice members were all focused on the team fight and didn’t notice that Makeshift Troupe was missing someone! Now all four Very Nice members are recalling. Can Spring pull off the backdoor? Can he do it?!”
Yan Jie, leading a wave of minions, reached the high ground and quickly destroyed the two inhibitor towers before the four Very Nice members could return, then thrust his sea king trident toward the nexus crystal.
But when the nexus health was reduced to two-thirds, the four opponents arrived. Countless abilities flew toward Yan Jie!
But just as Fangfei’s binding arrow was about to hit Yan Jie, he activated Zhonya’s Hourglass, becoming immune to all damage for 2.5 seconds! After the golden stasis effect ended, Aurelion Sol’s E ability dodged the jungler’s control, followed by his R ability, Deep Sea Prison, stunning all four enemies for one second. He then used W and Flash to escape the crowd and continue attacking the crystal.
“A series of moves dodging all abilities from four people! Spring! Still attacking! Can he destroy it?! No, the Sea King’s ultimate stun only lasts one second. Spring probably doesn’t have any other survival abilities left. The mid laner is locking down Aurelion Sol. Is Aurelion Sol trying to fight four people? Is that possible? But he’s Spring!”
Commentator B was so excited his voice almost broke, seemingly expecting Spring to somehow kill all four opponents without abilities and write a legend.
But clearly, such miracles don’t exist in this world. Aurelion Sol couldn’t continue to struggle. As his health was consumed to the last drop, he was still trying to approach the crystal to attack it, but unfortunately, when he fell, the crystal still had one last sliver of health remaining.
The audience, who had been holding their breath, collectively sighed, seemingly lamenting that this brilliant backdoor attempt had failed.
But in the next second, the game screen froze, and Very Nice’s crystal suddenly shook and exploded!
What happened?!
Everyone was stunned, except for Commentator A, whose brain was racing:
“The passive! Aurelion Sol’s passive! When the Sea King perishes, he deals true damage equal to 10% of his health to all units within 125 units! These units include towers and the nexus! But many people don’t know this!! Such a detail?!!!”
Commentator B: “No more words needed, universe’s number one Aurelion Sol! Let’s congratulate Makeshift Troupe for winning the first season championship of Burning Eternity!”
The screams in the team voice chat made Yan Jie feel like he was among ancient monkeys. He had appeared composed during his extreme maneuvers on camera, but he was far from as calm as he looked, with his heart rate already soaring to 160.
He had used all his damage in a short time to take down the enemy nexus. With victory secured, he let out a long sigh of relief, pushed away his keyboard, took off his headphones, and stood up. His first glance was toward Jiang Nan’an sitting beside him.
And Jiang Nan’an had just turned to look at him.
In that moment, Yan Jie met a pair of eyes filled with light and joy.
Yan Jie had never seen Jiang Nan’an smile so happily and naturally before. His eyes held the clear, bright light of the competition arena, and his whole being was as radiant as the July summer sun.
Somewhat unfamiliar, yet inexplicably alluring.
Just a second ago, his heart had felt like it was about to leap out of his chest, but the moment he met Jiang Nan’an’s gaze, Yan Jie suddenly seemed unable to feel his heartbeat.
Had his heart stopped?
No, that wasn’t it.
It was as if the world had stopped.
There was no sound.
The scene before his eyes seemed to be in slow motion. In that brief second, Yan Jie felt like he had been entranced for an entire century.
Oh no.
When he came back to his senses and heard the cheers and screams of the arena again, only one thought remained in Yan Jie’s mind-
He’d fallen for it.
#
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
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