Chapter 27: Something Is Wrong with Their Thinking

Wawa, standing to the side, looked slightly dazed. Because VG had abandoned the contest for the Rift Herald early on, his attention had been fixed on the monster's health bar, and he had truly missed the moment Caitlyn deleted Kha'Zix.

He could only spread his hands and joke, "I honestly only saw Kha'Zix step on a trap around the corner, and then he was just gone."

Miller, who had been watching the entire sequence, marveled at the replay, clicking his tongue in admiration: "Lin Ruo’s mechanics just now—I wouldn't say they were 'maxed out' in a general sense, but he certainly squeezed every ounce of damage out of that Caitlyn."

"The most important thing was his decisiveness; he really wasn't worried about the damage output at all."

The professional broadcast team quickly pulled up the replay.

On screen, the four members of EDG were beating down the Rift Herald. As the primary damage dealer, Caitlyn fired five basic attacks, holstered her rifle, and took a few steps toward the blue side's jungle.

Just then, Kha'Zix emerged from behind the wall, walking straight into the trap placed at the edge of the corner.

Caitlyn unleashed a headshot, immediately flashed to connect with her E-skill, triggering a second headshot proc, followed instantly by a third passive headshot. It was a seamless, chained execution.

In a split second, the rapid-fire assault hit like a torrential storm, instantly depleting Kha'Zix’s health bar and killing him on the spot.

After watching the replay, Wawa had an epiphany: "He had his passive pre-stacked, then used Flash, E, and the trap to chain three high-damage headshots in a row."

"I think the focus shouldn't just be on the sharpness of his mechanics, but on how he actually predicted that Kha'Zix would come over," Miller said, visibly deep in thought.

Wawa echoed this: "Exactly. Just the decision to place that trap not at the choke point, but tucked away in the inner corner, was already mind-boggling. How could he be so certain that Kha'Zix would come to check?"

Amidst the confusion, the meticulous production team replayed footage from a minute prior.

It turned out that before starting the Rift Herald, EDG’s jungler, Fireloli, had ventured deep into the jungle and planted a ward near the Wolves camp.

Just as it was about to expire, it caught Kha'Zix moving toward the Gromp.

Miller paused for a moment before continuing: "Then everything falls into place. Because he had that vision, Lin Ruo placed the trap in the blind spot behind the wall, hoping to get lucky."

"As a championship-caliber jungler, Bengi really shouldn't have made that mistake. If he had already decided to give up the objective, why even bother coming over to take a peek?" Wawa asked, genuinely baffled.

"To err is human."

Miller explained, then added with absolute seriousness: "In my opinion, the most astonishing part is the meticulous observation skills of EDG's new AD carry. To spot Bengi’s fleeting movement in the final seconds of a dying ward—for an AD player, whose role usually centers on laning mechanics and positioning, having that kind of awareness and judgment for the global state of the map is truly rare."

Wawa nodded in agreement.

With the duo's constant praise, EDG surged forward, winning a decisive team fight at the Dragon pit at sixteen minutes.

By the twenty-minute mark, just as Baron Nashor spawned, they were already marching toward the enemy base with unstoppable momentum.

The over-leveled Caitlyn was deleting anyone she laid eyes on; it was an unstoppable force.

"Let's go, let's head back and take Baron," Meiko, who had been holding back all game, began to command through the voice chat.

Lin Ruo couldn't help but roar, "Tian Ye, what are you being so cautious for? Two of them are dead! Scout, recall and Teleport in; Aoguang, tank the turret and lead the minions. We can end this right now!"

The moment the VG Nexus exploded, Wawa turned his head, stunned: "Is this really the EDG I know? They just played with such bold decisiveness, pushing right through the mid lane to take down their opponents."

Miller shook his head, a meaningful look in his eyes: "I don't know. But the old EDG certainly would have gone back to take Baron."

As EDG smoothly secured the first game, Lin Ruo earned the MVP title with a perfect 7-0-7 record, and the live chat exploded in response.

[Are you sure this is EDG? If I didn't know better, I’d think it was SKT.]

[It’s different now that the 'trash factory' is gone; EDG isn't playing scared anymore.]

[LPL, get ready to welcome your 'Domestic League Gods.' They might struggle at Worlds, but they’re more than enough to take out their frustrations on you scrubs back home.]

[The RNG fanboys are trolling again. Can't see other teams do well just because yours lost?]

[I heard this AD was the trash RNG threw away. How does he look ten times more lethal than their 'Void God'?]

[They won one game and are already chirping. Once the rookie protection period ends, wait until they show their true colors.]

[Hahaha, I don't know about this AD showing his true colors, but a certain 'God' has already shown his.]

After a brief fifteen-minute break, the second game began.

Having suffered a brutal defeat in the previous round, VG was fired up, selecting Elise in the jungle for a more early-game-oriented composition.

EDG countered with Rek'Sai.

From the very start of the match, both teams engaged in a "mahjong-style" brawl in the bottom lane, turning it into a high-level chaos fest.

VG mindlessly camped the bottom lane, and EDG responded with composure. The ten-player skirmish lasted a full thirty-five minutes, with both sides clearly enjoying the madness.

The cheers from the crowd grew louder with every passing moment.

In the end, the slightly more skilled EDG secured the victory with a nearly identical kill count.

On the commentary desk, Miller’s voice had grown hoarse. He rubbed his throat and said, "Honestly speaking, I never could have imagined this game would play out with this kind of tempo."

Wawa couldn't find the words, diplomatically offering, "In short, anyone who watched the entire match today was truly lucky."

Back in the EDG lounge, Coach Ah Bu, whose emotions had been on a roller coaster throughout the match, was truly defeated.

He sat in a chair, talking on the phone while glaring at the five players who had just walked in: "Hello, Boss? These guys have something wrong with their brains. I didn't even yell at them—even when they played recklessly last game, I kept my cool."

"I had the whole mid-to-late game strategy laid out for them, focusing on avoiding early-game skirmishes. Who knew they’d start fighting in the bottom lane at level two? They turned it into a Bronze-tier brawl!"

After complaining, Ah Bu hung up the phone. "Tian Ye, what were you doing? Why didn't you avoid early fighting? How many opportunities did you hand to the opposition?"

Tian Ye, called out by name, was already numb. He slumped on the sofa: "Don't blame me, man. I'm just the support. My teammates were hell-bent on fighting; what was I supposed to do?"

Ah Bu turned his fierce gaze toward the jungler: "Zhao Zhiming, tell me, why were you always going bottom to fight in the early game?"

Fireloli had been in a daze since he walked off the stage. He waved his hands: "I don't know! Lin Ruo is the shot-caller. He kept telling me to go, so I went."

Ah Bu’s eyes practically erupted with fire.

Lin Ruo quickly stood up to argue: "The enemy jungler had an Elise, who is very strong early on, but we had a Syndra! Why should we be afraid of them early? In terms of mechanics and coordination, we were clearly a tier above them, right?"

"Besides, look at their bot lane's level compared to mine. That guy Xuan-Xuan-Pi is trash-tier. If I let him dump on me, how am I supposed to show my face in the future?"