TCWSITD – Chapter 40.1

Chapter 40 has 3 parts; 40.2 and 40.3 will be uploaded tonight at 20:00 and 21:00 EST.

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Chapter 40.1 – Witnessing Lin Jiang At His Peak

At Level 1, Zed was no match for LeBlanc.

So Fore didn’t act recklessly.

Lin Jiang hit Level 2 first and immediately went on the offensive—W to dash in, then auto-Q-auto, triggering Electrocute. He chased Zed down, forcing him out of the minion wave!

Trying to deny me minions to farm?

The mole between Fore’s brows seemed to sharpen as his eyes turned deadly cold.

He raised his hand and threw his shuriken, hitting two low-health minions at a tricky angle. The instant the minions died—before the system could even display the level-up notification—his finger was already on the level-up key.

In a motion too fast for the naked eye, he instantly reached Level 2, used W[mfn]Living Shadow (W) – creates a shadow that mimics his movements and abilities for a short duration, allowing for various combo possibilities and outplay potential. Zed can also use the “W” key to swap places with his shadow.[/mfn] to swap places with his shadow, and hurled two Qs at Lin Jiang!

After Zed swaps with his shadow, he leaves behind a clone that mimics his actions. and when he throws his Q, it hits from both the shadow and his real body, dealing double damage.

It was Zed’s deadliest move!

If this skill hit Lin Jiang, he would lose at least a third of his health.

Fore’s hand speed was astonishingly fast. Many people watching didn’t react until they realized this was Fore’s ultimate counterattack.

Lin Jiang had already positioned himself at the intersection of the two Qs and pressed W to safely return to his original spot.

The live chat was flooded with “???”

No one had even seen the exchange clearly. It was too fast for the human eye.

At the time, all anyone saw was both players swapping positions, skills flying back and forth—and once the dust settled, Zed had lost three bars of HP, while LeBlanc had only lost one.

So… did Lin Jiang win that exchange?

In that short time?

The live chat was in an uproar and utterly confused!

Not just the audience, even the commentators couldn’t fully explain what just happened.

Many viewers rushed to Old Mao’s stream in search of answers. As soon as they tuned in, they heard Old Mao analyzing the play.

“Emperor F’s speed was absolutely insane. It’s the first time I’ve never seen a Zed play like that. He already had his combo planned before the minions even died. The moment he got enough XP, he instantly leveled up to 2 and counter-engaged.”

“Who won? Of course Lin Jiang won! The timing of his second W was insane, like freakishly precise—he dodged both parts of Zed’s Q and landed just in time to avoid the damage.”

“Luck? Bro, what, did you not have internet two years ago? Sure, someone else pulling off a move like that might’ve been lucky—but not Lin Jiang.
Go watch his highlight reels from back then—you’ll get it.”

“This guy is just ridiculously strong. Let me put it this way—I’ve been in this business for years and have seen all kinds of top-tier plays. But Lin Jiang’s operations give me chills.”

“Ah, if you’re not a professional player, you wouldn’t understand. Every player respects him. If they don’t, he’ll beat them into submission.”

At this moment, Fore wasn’t entirely convinced. He still believed Lin Jiang’s play had some luck involved. And he thought—if LeBlanc deliberately dulled her tempo, played slower and less sharply, he could actually dodge most of his limit-speed plays.

So this was how Lin Jiang wanted to play? Not exactly fair and square.

They both hit level 3. But this time, Lin Jiang stayed patient. Fore made the first move.

He opened with his W, dashing forward and leaving behind a shadow clone at his original location. Both the real Fore and the clone fired shurikens simultaneously.

The angle he chose was tricky—two shurikens forming an inescapable “X” shape, ensuring Lin Jiang would take damage no matter where he moved.

Just as the double Q was about to hit, Lin Jiang activated W, lunged forward and slipped through the gap of the X.

Upon landing, he instantly retaliated with a QE combo[mfn]Sigil of Malice (Q) – this ability marks an enemy with a sigil, and if the enemy takes damage from another ability, it will be consumed for bonus damage; Ethereal Chains (E) – this ability roots an enemy, dealing damage initially and then again if the root duration is not interrupted[/mfn] triggering LeBlanc’s mark for bonus damage.

Bang! Zed lost another three health bars, and the E’s chain remained attached. If Fore didn’t escape within 1.5 seconds, he’d be rooted.

This was a dangerous signal.

Fore’s only option was to return to his original position. But then he realized—Lin Jiang had a starting point too. If they both blinked back at the same time…

He’d land right back in LeBlanc’s chain.

And that—would be checkmate.

In that split second, Fore deliberately hesitated for 0.2 seconds with his mouse, faking a move to bait Lin Jiang.

But Lin Jiang didn’t fall for it!

The chain was still tethered to Fore, forcing him to return early to his shadow. Just as he’d predicted, Lin Jiang reacted the moment he moved, returning to his original position at the same time.

Bang! The chain took effect—rooting him on the spot!

Fore broke out in a cold sweat!

He had no idea how Lin Jiang made that judgment!

The two “hand-raising” actions of the real cast and the fake one looked almost identical. Unless you had a magnifying glass, it was virtually impossible for the naked eye to distinguish between them in real-time!

Yet Lin Jiang made a decision faster than the limit of 0.2 seconds. And then responded with something even more precise.

A massive shadow loomed over Fore. He had never gone up against Lin Jiang at his peak—and for the first time, he felt the fear of being overshadowed by a giant.

Was this the “river” who had dominated the league for two whole years?

Even with the mid lane meta restored, this man still reigned as king.

The chain landed, binding Fore in place.

Because of how aggressively both sides had played early on, neither player had much HP left. The moment the chains trapped Zed, Fore’s HP had already dipped below the critical point.

Flash was his last lifeline.

Lin Jiang, calm and methodical, applied Q and Ignite.

Just as Fore’s HP was about to be depleted, he hit Flash in the nick of time.

He landed, thinking he was safe.

The next second, Lee Sin’s Q[mfn]Sonic Wave (Q): is a skill shot that deals damage to the first enemy hit and marks them[/mfn] ability flew out from the bushes.

Not good!

Their jungler was here!

Fore’s fingers reacted in an instant, sidestepping and dodging Lee Sin’s Q — surviving yet again!

This near-death experience had the entire audience holding their breath, and the commentators began raving about Fore. “Emperor F’s mechanics are insane! He actually dodged that Q!”

But the next moment, A’Deng ward-hopped under the turret range and stood still, calmly tanking the turret’s shots.

Lin Jiang kept walking forward.

The commentator exclaimed, “river still wants the kill? But the distance isn’t enough anymore!”

The turret’s damage rained down on A’Deng, yet he remained unshaken, steadfastly tanking for Lin Jiang.

The next second, Lin Jiang suddenly dashed forward with a W, Flashed close to Fore’s face upon landing, instantly casting QE to trigger the mark effect and eliminate Fore!

First Blood!

A’Deng only left after Lin Jiang secured the kill. Lin Jiang pressed W, returning to his original position. Throughout the entire dive, he only took one turret shot while solo-killing the enemy Zed.

The venue erupted instantly!

With Fore’s brilliant maneuvers and escape, no one expected Lin Jiang’s solo kill to be even more spectacular!

The commentators on stage frantically analyzed the play. “Zed was just about to escape, but river’s Distortion came off cooldown, and he W-Flashed to finish him off!”

“Wait, what about Fore’s W? His shadow? Why didn’t he blink back? Wasn’t it ready yet?”

Indeed, Fore’s W ability hadn’t fully cooled down—technically, it was 0.8 seconds away.

Zed’s W cooldown is 20 seconds, while Lin Jiang’s W is 18 seconds.

Since Zed had used his ability a second earlier, his cooldown was exactly a second slower than Lin Jiang’s!

In the arena, every second counts.

A one-second delay was all it took to seal Fore’s fate.

The broadcast replay finally revealed the brilliance of Lin Jiang’s play.

His “fast” and “slow” were relative—using a combination of deliberate delay and sharp aggression to control the rhythm, playing psychological warfare to its absolute peak.

In front of him, Fore looked like a foolish prey, overestimating himself. Even if he desperately struggled out of the trap, he still couldn’t escape the hunter’s net.

Before the match began, many had assumed Lin Jiang was no match for Fore.

Even when Lin Jiang picked LeBlanc, some still believed his assassin play couldn’t possibly surpass Fore’s.

No one expected the outcome of the duel to be the complete opposite of what they had predicted.

Turns out, when Lin Jiang chooses to go for the kill, he’s not one bit softer than Fore—he can even reveal the killing intent of a natural-born predator.

Sure, Fore clawed his way up from the bottom.

But Lin Jiang was also a hunter reborn from the brink of despair.

The intensity of this duel was almost on par with the World Championship. The live chat erupted, calling it a visual feast, with everyone spamming about how strong the LPL mid lane was this year!

Amid the comparisons, many in the chat claimed that only Alike’s skills were fake.

At that moment, Alike, who was watching the live broadcast, stood up and kicked a chair, cursed, and stormed out of the training room.

The coach shouted after him, “Where do you think you’re going?! We’re still in the middle of preparations, you can’t leave!”

Alike didn’t listen at all. Before leaving, he snapped back, “Dock my pay, punish me, report me—whatever. I don’t care.”

The coach’s face turned livid with anger.

This guy kept insisting he didn’t rely on his cousin, but the truth was, without his cousin, he wouldn’t even get into the door of KUG.

His hands trembled with rage as he drafted a long message, ready to send it to the management but then he hesitated.

Alike was the cousin of the big boss. The entire KUG belonged to his family. If the coach wanted to keep his job at KUG, he absolutely couldn’t afford to offend him.

He swallowed his anger and deleted the message.

The coach sat back down, turned back to the match and noticed that the pace of the game was now firmly under OT’s control.

Lin Jiang’s talent was something that couldn’t be suppressed.

Back at KUG, the coach had deliberately limited Lin Jiang’s tactical influence in fear that he would lose authority in the team if he didn’t.

It was a chilling thought, but he couldn’t help but admire him.

In the arena, it wasn’t just about talent and effort—it also required superior IQ and unshakable composure.

On the Rift, Lin Jiang showed no fear against Fore, securing an early lane advantage before roaming.

At first, the lead was small.

But through these incremental gains, OT slowly tilted the game in their favor.

By the time YIG realized how tough the game had become, they were already 3,000 gold behind.

But only one kill had occurred from start to finish —so how had OT built that gold lead?

Confused, the audience carefully examined the in-game data—and made a shocking discovery.

In the mid lane, Lin Jiang had maintained a small advantage, chipping away two plates from the opponent’s turret.

Then after A’Deng secured the Rift Herald, they took down two more plates.

Song Zhixu in the top lane leveraged his teleport advantage to slowly manipulate the minion wave, leaving his opponent 30 minions behind.

Shen Ju in the bot lane had been relentlessly pressuring his opponents, forcing YIG’s duo to play defensively. They were down 20 minions and two plates.

The entire game’s tempo was firmly in OT’s hands. Even YIG’s sharpest blade — Fore — had been dulled by Lin Jiang before it ever had a chance to strike.

As predicted by the commentators, OT held tightly to their lead, slowly pushed wave after wave, and secured the first game victory.

What is the bayonet most afraid of?

A slow knife.

It drains your blood unnoticed, and by the time you realize you want to fight back, you no longer have the strength to lift your blade.

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