TCWSITD – Chapter 39.3

***
Chapter 39.3 – Song Zhixu’s Cousin

After a well-structured training session, the semifinals on the upper side of the bracket quietly got underway.

It was a showdown between two elite teams—TG versus SNG.

From the very first moment, TG displayed flawless synergy and precise control over the game’s tempo. Not a single player made a mistake throughout the game.

SNG ultimately lost 1:3 to TG, bowing out from the finals.

With this win, TG became the first team to secure a spot in the Summer Split finals.

As the game concluded, Li Qian couldn’t stop shaking his head, clearly uneasy about what lay ahead.

Lin Jiang kept his head down, taking notes while listening to Fang Luxing outline their strategy.

Their next opponent wasn’t TG yet, but YIG, currently ranked second. The winner would advance to the finals to compete against TG for the championship.

Fang Luxing’s focus remained entirely on YIG.

The current point standings were already very clear.

A victory over YIG would secure them at least 90 points—enough for a direct ticket to the World Championship.

A loss would push them into a battle for third place against SNG. Winning that match would still get them into the Regional Qualifiers.

However, if they fell to YIG and then couldn’t take down SNG…

“Then our points would fall below TG, YIG, SNG, and KUG. In the Regional Qualifier, we’d no longer have a second chance—losing a single match would mean losing our World Championship spot.”

So defeating YIG and advancing to the finals was the safest path.

Lin Jiang scribbled diligently in his notebook. His thoughts weren’t on TG at all. Every ounce of his attention was fixed on YIG.

YIG had been last year’s Spring Split champions. Their mid laner, Emperor F, was a powerhouse, a player who had clawed his way up from the bottom ranks. He was called the Phoenix Reborn from the Ashes.

His playstyle was unpredictable and specifically countered traditional mid-laners. In last year’s Spring Split, they defeated Lin Jiang to claim the Spring championship.

From a pure matchup perspective, Lin Jiang couldn’t deny it—

Emperor F was his natural counter.

In their matchups, there was always an indescribable pressure suppressing him the entire time, preventing him from freely executing the plays he wanted.

And when he couldn’t use his mid-lane advantage to open up the map, it was as if half the game was already lost for KUG. Worse still—YIG’s jungle-support synergy was terrifyingly strong.

Their support was known for his full-map support, and their jungle-support synergy made many teams suffer in their hands.

They are distinctly different from TG.

If you had to paint a picture—TG was like a heavily fortified citadel, perfectly engineered for defense. YIG, on the other hand, was a gleaming bayonet—aggressive, fast, and deadly.

Having climbed up from the bottom, they understood the taste of failure better than anyone else.

Lin Jiang had faced Emperor F many times and was well aware of his opponent’s strength. He frowned slightly, “Fore’s not someone you can take lightly.”

Meanwhile, YIG was also holding an internal meeting.

Previously, A’Deng hadn’t been in good form. After several training matches, they didn’t feel much threat from OT, so they had withdrawn from scrims along with TG.

But after seeing OT defeat WG with a 3:0 score, YIG began to feel wary again.

“A’Deng didn’t just bounce back—he’s playing better than ever.”

“It’s like they’ve replaced their jungler.”

“I don’t quite understand. What exactly did Lin Jiang do?”

“Zeng Yuan was the same before. He was quiet and low-profile at first, then suddenly teamed up with Lin Jiang and took home a championship.”

“Does Lin Jiang have some kind of secret training technique?”

Even as fellow professional players, they couldn’t see through Lin Jiang. They were all at the top of their game, yet somehow, Lin Jiang always seemed to be on another level entirely.

“I kind of regret not playing those training matches with them. I’m really nervous now.”

As long as the opponent was Lin Jiang, it seemed like an inexplicable fear would rise in everyone’s hearts.

Almost in unison, their gazes turned to the young man calmly wrapping bandages around his wrist. Without thinking, someone asked, “Fore, what do you think?”

The young man had a mole between his eyebrows, making his features appear sharp. giving his already sharp features an even more striking edge. His voice was cool and certain. “No one is stopping YIG’s back-to-back title run.”

With that, he finished wrapping his bandages, stood up, and walked off—his presence leaving behind a spark that lit the fire in his teammates’ eyes.

Of course. They hadn’t clawed their way from the bottom just to stop now—wasn’t it all for the championship?

On the day of the official match, the venue was packed.

Shen Ju stepped out of the car, scrolling through Lin Jiang’s comment section, half-looking for gossip, half-checking if fans were talking trash behind his back. As he kept scrolling, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and snatched his phone away.

“Looking at your phone while walking will make your eyes go blind.”

Shen Ju looked up and met Lin Jiang’s eyes, coughing awkwardly. “Captain, you’re such a liar.”

Lin Jiang suddenly laughed. He leaned in close and said seriously, “Yeah, I lie—but never to puppies.” Then he waved Shen Ju’s phone in his hand. “Confiscated. Everyone handed theirs in, only you didn’t.”

Shen Ju abruptly stepped back, his ears turning red in an instant.

Too unfair.

By this point in the playoffs, the season was nearing its end. The match between YIG and OT would decide the final seat in the championship round.

Both teams hadn’t even stepped onto the stage yet, and already the air was thick with tension. The crowd—inside and out—was practically buzzing with nerves.

Of all the anxious fans watching, none were more on edge than Lin Jiang’s—because Emperor F’s playstyle truly countered him. Every time they faced off, Lin Jiang ended up at a disadvantage.

During the Spring Split, Lin Jiang’s team KUG had lost to YIG, securing only second place. Now, leading OT, he had once again fallen to YIG in the regular season.

This cursed counter-matchup.

Even before the match began, Old Mao wasn’t optimistic about OT’s chances. “Lin Jiang is great in every way, but he’s too stable. Emperor F specializes in dismantling players like him. He’s not afraid of your calm. He wants to disrupt you.”

“You can’t keep backing off against someone like Emperor F. The only way to beat him is to fight him head-on—and win.”

Li Qian had said the same thing to Lin Jiang before the match.

“There’s no such thing as absolute perfection,” he said. “Your defenses will always have gaps and Emperor F excels at finding cracks within perfection—the more you try to hide your weaknesses, the harder he’ll shatter them.”

“The only way to beat him is to become a blade sharper than his—and use that blade to shield your own weakness.”

Lin Jiang had always pursued an extremely perfect playstyle—which was precisely why Emperor F could restrain him so effectively.

As Li Qian’s words echoed in his mind, Lin Jiang was tightening the bandage around his wrist—his movements uncannily mirroring those of Fore, standing just beyond the partition, preparing in the same quiet ritual.

Li Qian’s voice echoed in his ears. “Lin Jiang, face him with the same form you had two years ago—only you in your prime can defeat the current Emperor F.”

Lin Jiang put on his headset and began carefully adjusting the settings.

Right now, Emperor F truly reminded Lin Jiang of himself years ago—young, fierce, and completely fearless. A player who charged down the road to greatness without hesitation.

Well, let them compete against each other at their peak.

Both sides completed their champion picks very quickly, with clear intentions and decisive, ruthless choices.

YIG’s lineup: Top – Jax, Jungle – Jarvan IV, Mid – Zed, AD – Varus, Support – Nautilus

OT’s lineup: Top – Renekton, Jungle – Lee Sin, Mid – LeBlanc, AD – Kai’Sa, Support – Alistar.

The picks instantly electrified the atmosphere because this was a lineup of pure aggression!

Fore had locked in his signature champion, Zed the Master of Shadows. Meanwhile, Lin Jiang had chosen the champion that represented his highest level of play, LeBlanc the Deceiver.

Both champions hold absolute dominance in the mid lane. Whether in operational difficulty, hand speed, or reaction time—this would be an incredibly exciting showdown!

And the overall champion matchups between both teams were also packed with tension!

YIG’s lineup was stacked with relentless fighters—Jax, Jarvan IV, Zed, and Nautilus, all pushing aggression to the limit.

OT didn’t back down either, directly countering Renekton against Jax and LeBlanc against Zed, determined to match their aggression head-on.

As the commentators analyzed YIG’s signature dominance, one couldn’t help but exclaim, “OT actually dares to go blade-to-blade with YIG! This Summer Split, OT has brought us so many surprises!”

And not just today—the very fact OT made it this far was already a huge shock!

Some viewers who only watch playoffs were still completely confused—

[Wasn’t OT ranked last in the Spring Split?]

The game officially began. Both sides charged in without hesitation.

YIG headed straight to the bot lane brush to set up an ambush, while Lin Jiang led A’Deng and Song Zhixu to intercept their top laner.

At Level 1, Alistar didn’t have much presence. As they moved toward the lane, Zhou Wen stayed vigilant, using two feints to lure the enemy hiding in the brush.

YIG’s ambush was a failure.

Meanwhile, OT easily caught the enemy top laner off guard, burst him down to half-health, and forced him to burn his ward hop to escape.

As a result, Jax had no choice but to recall!

When he teleported back, Song Zhixu was already a Teleport ahead of him!

Since this was the semifinals, even the slightest advantage sent the crowd into a frenzy. In such an intense matchup, the audience was truly in for a treat—it was a visual feast!

Lin Jiang returned to the mid lane, boldly stepping on his W[mfn]Distortion (W) – allows her to dash to a location, dealing damage to nearby enemies, and then return to her starting position within a 4-second window.[/mfn] to clear minions and boldly walked up to auto Zed right in his face.

At this point, Fore knew that even if he retaliated, Lin Jiang would simply use his W again to return to his original position, dodging his Q skill.

Fore deliberately canceled his auto-attack animation with a ground click to bait out Lin Jiang’s second W. Then instantly threw his Q[mfn]Razor Shuriken (Q) – Zed throws a shuriken in the target direction, dealing physical damage to enemies hit. The damage is reduced by 60% for each subsequent target hit. The ability costs 75/70/65/60/55 energy and has a cooldown of 6 seconds.[/mfn] skill, barely managing to poke Lin Jiang as he returned to his original position.

But Lin Jiang wasn’t fooled.

He landed two consecutive auto-attacks, triggering Electrocute[mfn]Electrocute (rune) -a strong keystone rune choice for LeBlanc in League of Legends due to her burst-oriented playstyle and fast-paced combos. It synergizes well with her ability to quickly trigger its damage with chains, sigils, and distortion dashes.[/mfn], and only leisurely returned to his original position after Fore had already used his Q.

In this psychological war, Lin Jiang came out on top.

The crowd erupted in cheers—it was another small advantage!

With his headset on, Fore gave a cold snort. “This old fox.”

When Fore was still struggling at the bottom, Lin Jiang was already a top-tier mid laner in the league. By the time Fore clawed his way up, Lin Jiang had already switched roles to become a utility mid laner.

And now, in this version of the game where mid lane reigns supreme, Fore was more than curious.

He wanted to see for himself—

Was Lin Jiang’s “peak form” really as terrifying as they say?

— — — —