TCWSITD – Chapter 38.3

Chapter 38.3 – I Won’t Let You Lose

On camera, Lin Jiang finally smiled—bold, radiant, and unshakably proud.

He was probably the first mid laner who dared to laugh so freely after dying.

But everyone knew he deserved it!

In that heart-stopping final moment, it was his unwavering trust and fearless decision that allowed his team to respond with perfect synchronicity.

In those three games, two were dragged out to the full sixty minutes.

The fans, like hawks kept awake overnight, had waited breathlessly for the final verdict.

And Lin Jiang delivered.

And as he rose from the ashes, he told the world loud and clear—he had never made the wrong choice.

[Waaah, I’m crying! Lin Jiang is still playing with a hand injury!]

[He fought through the pain all the way here. I’m so worried that he won’t be able to bear it in the fourth game, waaaah, does anyone understand…]

[Shen Ju is so steady now! Unshakable!]

[Holy shit, I never realized Song Zhixu could be this cool.]

[A’Deng is a completely different jungler compared to the regular season.]

[OT leveled up big time today!]

Once the stats were revealed, it was clear that Lin Jiang, Shen Ju, and Song Zhixu all put up impressive numbers, their performances shining through.

The barrage was in heated debate over who deserved MVP.

Today, Song Zhixu definitely made great contributions—both waves of big tempo were thanks to him. Shen Ju’s damage output was also very high, even steadier than in the regular season.

And Lin Jiang’s impact was undeniable. Not only did he crush Galio in lane, but he also initiated the perfect team fight in the final clash.

After the judges’ vote, Song Zhixu won by one vote, earning his first-ever MVP!

On stage, unaware of the result, Song Zhixu beamed with an innocent, radiant smile, cheerfully greeting the crowd.

When he returned backstage and found out he was the MVP, the live broadcast caught his stunned, slightly embarrassed expression.

Laughter erupted from the audience, and the commentators on stage were struggling to hold back their amusement. “Today, metoo played exceptionally well. It was completely different from his usual performance in the regular season. He deserves praise.”

Hearing this, many people began to change their opinions about Song Zhixu.

His fans erupted in cheers online—

[Finally standing tall!]

[He’d been kneeling for too long. When I heard he finally stood up, my expression matched Song Zhixu’s exactly.]

[Mom, this idiot is finally getting noticed!]

[Actually, Song Zhixu’s progress has been consistent. It might not be obvious if you watch him game by game, but if you compare his first and last match, you’ll see how terrifying his improvement has been.]
[What’s Song Zhixu been eating? He’s on fire!]

Suddenly, Song Zhixu became the talk of the town. The host made a point to bring him on for a post-match interview.

They even asked him about the details of that play with K’Sante, where he killed the enemy Gangplank under the tower.

As everyone knew, Song Zhixu was a natural comedian, once voted as the funniest top laner in the league.

The moment he stepped onto the stage, Song Zhixu brought an air of comedy with him. With a shy and hesitant look at the camera, he said, “I wasn’t planning to kill him, really. He kept trying to beat me up. I still didn’t want to kill him… But then our captain showed up, and I thought, ‘Hey, my ge’s here, how can I let you off now?’ So I Flashed in and started beating him up!”

This response had the whole room bursting into laughter. No one expected he could be so funny until they saw the interview!

The host had asked about in-game mechanics and team communication—and he hadn’t answered a single thing of use.

Song Zhixu’s fans were already familiar with his antics and took it in stride. But the audience members who were just getting to know him had never seen such a character before and were thoroughly entertained.

The host nearly lost it onstage and had to take a solid five seconds to compose herself before moving on. “In that last Elder Dragon fight, river initiated and took out the enemy AD. Then you flashed and ulted Gangplank to the upper side of the pit, buying time for sgod to deal damage. Could you walk us through how you coordinated that play?”

Song Zhixu wasn’t actually dumb. He didn’t reveal any core strategies, opting for a vague answer instead. Mainly, WG was way too bold—they actually dared to start the Elder Dragon right in front of us. You think our captain with that hot temper could hold back? He jumped in right away, and I thought, ‘If I sell him out and run, I’ll definitely get scolded later,’ so I gritted my teeth and charged in too!”

By the time he finished the last word, his Northeastern accent had already slipped out. Combined with his towering 188-cm frame, he was practically a walking meme.

The host stared blankly at the camera, as if silently pleading, “We asked so many questions—how did not a single one get a real answer?”

The barrage went wild with laughter, flooding the screen with comments calling Song Zhixu a legend and dubbing this interview “The Song Zhixu One-Man Show.”

When the interview wrapped up, OT moved on to the prize draw and giveaway.

Unlike regular season matches, the playoffs only feature one match per day, so every fan in the arena was there specifically for these two competing teams.

Regardless of who won or lost, the organizers would hold a lucky draw for the winning team’s fans as a token of appreciation for the audience.

And today, that lucky team was OT. Which meant—OT fans were in for a treat.

As the five of them lined up neatly on stage, the crowd finally understood why OT was called the team of visuals.

They weren’t just tall—ridiculously tall—they were devastatingly handsome too. Lined up side by side on stage, OT looked less like an esports team and more like a boyband set on stealing hearts.

Only now did people realize just how visually striking OT’s lineup really was!

Before Lin Jiang joined, everyone only noticed Song Zhixu’s height and rarely paid attention to his face. As for Shen Ju, people mostly focused on his temper, seldom discussing his appearance.

But after Lin Jiang came, he immediately raised the team’s visual appeal by a whole level.

Shen Ju also grew more handsome the more he behaved. Fans joked that the best version of Shen Ju is the one who doesn’t talk.

And after Song Zhixu got fiercer on the field, his handsomeness skyrocketed too. Turns out, skill is the best cosmetic for esports players!

A’Deng gave off obedient, golden-retriever energy. And Zhou Wen, with his round baby face, was starting to look downright adorable.

And they were all so incredibly tall!

All five players stepped onto the stage together, towering like gods. Even the host beside them—wearing 10-cm heels, no less—looked petite by comparison.

This must be heaven for both appearance fans and skill fans.

[If I get picked, I’ll faint on the spot!]

[If I get picked, I’m hugging all five of them!]

The host read out the name of the lucky fan, and the first person to come up was a fan of Lin Jiang.

He was a guy, sure, but that didn’t stop him from looking at Lin Jiang with full-on heart eyes, pouring out his admiration like a love confession. Nor did it stop him from leaning his head gently against Lin Jiang’s shoulder for the photo.

Lin Jiang maintained his gentle smile throughout, even sweetly forming a heart gesture with the fan.

This scene pierced straight through the audience’s hearts.

[Ahhh he’s so sweet to fans I can’t take it!]

Only Shen Ju didn’t seem very happy—during the photo, he stared intensely at that male fan.

The second audience member was Shen Ju’s fan, a woman who declared herself his supporter before positioning herself between Shen Ju and Lin Jiang… then tilted her head to form a heart with Lin Jiang for their picture.

Shen Ju: ?

Whose fan is she again?

The audience burst into laughter.

[Can’t blame her. After all, Shen Ju is around every year, but you don’t always get a chance to meet Lin Jiang.]

The third fan was here for Zhou Wen. He didn’t take a picture with Lin Jiang, but even as he passed by, his eyes were practically glued to him. If longing could be visible, his gaze would’ve left trails in the air.

The fourth one was a fan of A Deng. After taking the photo, his first reaction was to take the gift from Lin Jiang’s hand, only to find out it was already given away. He belatedly turned to A’Deng to take his.

Then came Song Zhixu’s fan, who proclaimed undying love for him… while repeatedly glancing at Lin Jiang.

Song Zhixu stared in disbelief, his expression screaming: “Bro, you’re being way too obvious.”

Even the host couldn’t keep it together. He laughed into the mic, “Wait, is this supposed to be river’s fan meet-and-greet?”

[Hahaha don’t judge. They’ve never seen a superstar like Lin Jiang before.]

[A lifetime of supporting OT just for one photo with Lin Jiang? Worth it.]

[I swear everyone who went up there was a Lin Jiang stan in disguise—pretending to be fans of the others just to get picked!]

[The competition among Lin Jiang’s fans is too fierce. Couldn’t win the lottery, so had to settle for second best.]

[Their body’s in Cao’s camp, but their heart’s with Han.[mfn]身在曹营心在汉 (shēn zài Cáo yíng xīn zài Hàn) – historical idiom; someone is in one faction physically, but their loyalty lies with another[/mfn]]

[Doesn’t matter. As long as I can see Lin Jiang with my own eyes, I’m good.]

After the match, Lin Jiang trended on social media due to the lucky draw segment. Countless fans picked up these little tricks to meet him, secretly preparing to try their luck next time.

Then there were Song Zhixu’s little memes.

Previously, no one had realized that Song Zhixu was this funny. After digging through his matches, they found his face was basically a meme generator.

After this highly anticipated match, Song Zhixu gained a bit of fame, and his follower count skyrocketed.

His latest post read: [OT_metoo: 330.]

Confused by its meaning, new fans flooded the comments asking for clarification, stacking replies upon replies and causing the comment count to explode.

His fans, unfamiliar with this kind of attention, grew worried that Song Zhixu might have gotten into trouble outside. Upon learning it was positive exposure, they immediately switched to being concerned that this big dumbass might post something weird and embarrassing.

In short, every day was another day of worrying about Song Zhixu!

After being named MVP, Song Zhixu who was usually unnoticed, had fans chasing after him shouting his name as he left the venue.

Once in the car, Duren teased him on purpose. “Little celebrity, how does it feel to be famous?”

Song Zhixu originally wasn’t shy at all. He even joked around with Duren a bit. But the moment he saw Lin Jiang picking something up, he immediately quieted down, bashful and reserved, running over like a young bride.

“Captain, what are you carrying?”

“Unsent gifts. I saw Ryan couldn’t carry them all, so I helped her.”

“Let me hold them for you.”

Song Zhixu helped carry the items off the bus. He was chatting and laughing with Lin Jiang when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure. His smile gradually froze on his face.

The figure wasn’t tall. A little thin, almost frail, with a black baseball cap tugged low over his face. He raised a hand and waved.

“Zhixu-ge, I’ve been waiting for you for so long.”

When Song Zhixu didn’t respond, he took off his cap. “It’s me, Xiaoshan. Don’t you recognize me?”

Song Zhixu’s smile vanished instantly. “What are you doing here?”

Everyone on the bus heard the commotion and looked up in confusion—Lin Jiang included.

Song Zhixu didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of them, so he quickly stepped forward, grabbed Cao Shenshan, and lowered his voice. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? Come on, let’s talk over there.”

But Cao Shenshan’s goal wasn’t him. He barely glanced at Song Zhixu, dodging his grip and heading straight to the bus.

Although the bus was crowded, he immediately spotted Lin Jiang’s striking presence and grinned brightly. “Captain Lin, hello!”

Lin Jiang’s hand froze slightly as he picked up his backpack. He glanced at Song Zhixu, then at Cao Shenshan. “Hello.”

Cao Shenshan’s grin widened. Without hesitation, he stepped right up to Lin Jiang and eagerly thrust out his hand.

“I’m Xiaoshan, a huge fan! I’ve watched every one of your matches! Sorry, I’m just so excited, Captain Lin, sorry—can I call you that?”

His intentions were too obvious to hide.

Lin Jiang saw right through it.

Although plenty of people had tried to build connections with him, few were this blatantly obvious.

He returned a polite smile. “Just call me Lin Jiang.”

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