Chapter 50: The Great Battle on Spirit Stone Road

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“The Thresh Seven-No-Hook Rule? What a ridiculous name.”
Ailoli sat in the pre-match lounge, scrolling through clips from Bilibili’s livestream, laughing so hard his chest felt like it was pressed against his back.
He couldn’t imagine what Lin Ruo had been up to during the half-month they hadn’t seen each other at the base.
On Weibo and Tieba, the buzz was at its peak; everywhere were those flashy catchphrases about him. The “Thresh Seven-No-Hook Rule” video on Bilibili had garnered over a million views and was being sung about by everyone.
“Lin, you’ve been expanding your streaming career behind my back, haven’t you?”
Leaning back in his chair, Lin Ruo shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. “I swear, I just queued up for a duo with my idol, and somehow it blew up overnight. Now everyone’s making memes about me.”
He had only intended to casually mess around during the New Year, never expecting to become a meme master.
His Weibo followers had surpassed 200,000; he’d truly become the center of entertainment.
Damn it, his skills hadn’t brought him fame in competitions, but streaming and riding off the “Little Chubby’s” popularity with a few witty lines had catapulted him to stardom.
“May I ask, if Thresh’s hook doesn’t hook seven things, then what exactly should it hook?” Aoguang, surfing intensely online, sought an answer.
“If you’re bad at playing Thresh, you’re just bad. No need to make up some ‘Seven-No-Hook’ nonsense,” Tianye sneered, having watched the clips, unable to believe Lin Ruo’s two hooks at level one were even humanly possible.
Lin Ruo smiled knowingly and nodded. “You get it. Since I don’t hook anything, naturally I’m hooking my teammates who surrender with finger guns.”
“I’m convinced. So that’s how you play.”
No matter what, Aoguang never would have guessed that answer.
“Alright, let’s get serious. Time to get on stage for the match.” Abu, wearing his work badge like a sword, glanced at the time and reminded the team to stay humble.
It was now 5 p.m. on February 10th, the second week of the post-New Year Spring Split. The opening match was EDG versus Snake, a duel of the twin stars on the Ling Stone route.
…
“Please welcome the EDG Esports Club team.”
As the enthusiastic announcer’s voice filled the arena, the long-awaited cheers echoed while the EDG starting five took their seats.
“Hello to all viewers watching the livestream. You are now watching the 2017 LPL Spring Split Week Two regular season match between EDG and Snake. I’m commentator Ji De.”
“I’m commentator Guan Zeyuan.”
Dressed sharply in suit jackets, the two stood upright at the commentary desk and began their work.
The return of the match after a long hiatus sent the official stream into a frenzy, with the man’s name flooding the chat.

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[“Lin, fly with confidence. If something goes wrong, you take the blame.”]
[“Is the King of Sass doing a post-match interview today? If not, I’m not watching.”]
[“EDG winning is a given, but watch out for a slip-up against Snake.”]
[“The royal troll is on patrol again, shut up.”]
[“Stop dragging the match out. Lin, can you just finish quickly and get back to streaming? I want to hear more of your clever lines.”]
[“I want to see the Thresh Seven-No-Hook Rule played in a pro match.”]
[“Go EDG, secure that third win steadily.”]
“The chat’s heating up more than expected today,” Guan Zeyuan remarked, watching the flood of scrolling comments.
Wang Ji responded smoothly, “Haha, Zeyuan, you must’ve heard the latest meme, right? The stream’s popularity is all thanks to the guy sitting in the player’s chair.”
They exchanged a glance and said no more.
At the EDG player seats, Lin Ruo glanced at the slightly excited Ailoli and said, “Hook Eight, did you take something before the match? You’re way too hyped.”
“No, Lin, I just practiced a new hero over the holidays. Feels really effective.”
Rubbing his hands eagerly, Ailoli explained, “If I play a hero that can initiate fights up front and also shield and protect you in the back, wouldn’t that make me an unbeatable jungler?”
That was just the newly released hero, Hecarim.
Lin Ruo wasn’t sure if Ailoli was bluffing or just teasing, but expanding one’s hero pool was always good.
“Not bad. You’ve got potential. I have high hopes for you.”
“Focus,” Nofe’s monotonous voice nagged from behind.
He had already assessed the enemy’s lineup and drawn a conclusion:
The opposing coach was even more anxious than him.
At the Snake team seats, the starters wore dull expressions; even the usually cheerful Saint Gun kept his mouth shut, silent.
Since the Spring Split began, Snake had struggled to win a single match and had recently lost unexpectedly to the promoted GT team, leaving the owner furious.
Last year, Snake was still a strong contender at the World Championship.
Not to mention they had invested heavily this year, buying four new players to strengthen the team, yet now they were in such a sorry state.

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Any reasonable owner would have lost patience by now.
“Damn it, Aran, throwing me against EDG right off the bat? No mercy at all.” Crystal, recently recovered from injury and playing support, finally spoke up.
He still remembered the scrim match where EDG’s new AD took the lead; he had half the credit for that.
“It’s no big deal. Who else would we face? Cowardice isn’t our style. We have to believe that only by fighting hard can we win.”
Coach Zhu Kai, the king of motivational speeches, stood behind them with his notebook, scribbling erratically. He tried to mask his anxiety while pumping up the players.
If anyone had no chance, it was him.
A few days ago, after an intense meeting with the club owner, his pressure had become overwhelming.
With the team performing poorly, he was the first to be on the chopping block as the fake head coach.
After the humiliating loss to GT last match, Zhu Kai had hastily changed the starting lineup, keeping only the top and jungle players.
He had replaced the mid laner Tank with Zitao, brought in new recruit Ohq for the bottom lane, and moved Crystal temporarily to support, experimenting with combinations.
If one group didn’t work, they’d try another; with so many players, there was always a way out.
But today they faced a formidable opponent in EDG, and Zhu Kai dared not hold high hopes, timidly saying,
“Guys, let’s just aim to win one game. Don’t lose too badly. The owner’s watching from the sidelines.”
“Alright, alright, let’s go,” Saint Gun finally spoke positively.
Zitao, just starting the match, wore a determined expression, resolved to oust the Korean and secure his starting spot. Clenching his fist, he gently said, “Let’s go.”
During the pick and ban phase, after three bans, EDG locked in Jayce for the blue side.
“Still giving Mouse Jayce?”
As a commentator who covered the last match, Guan Zeyuan couldn’t help but question, “Mouse didn’t perform well on Jayce against WE last time. The win came from perfect bottom lane play. Giving him Jayce again—EDG seems stubborn, determined to change their playstyle.”
Wang Ji disagreed, “I think EDG is targeting Saint Gun. As a versatile LPL top laner, Saint Gun has a wide champion pool. If you can’t restrict him, better pick a strong laner like Jayce. No matter who Snake picks for top next, they won’t be countered.”