Chapter 62 Sorry, I Couldn't Hold Back

Barely a second after finishing his apology, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but chuckle again.

As a professional commentator, he generally wouldn't laugh unless he simply couldn't hold it in.

Retaining his professional composure, PDD tried to smooth things over: "No, that just now was nervousness. He was nervous; he panicked at the crucial moment."

Jie De chiming in with an "uh-huh": "Let me say a word for Kid, alright? He's getting up there in age, nothing we can do about it."

"No way, he just turned twenty," Xiao Xiao immediately dismantled the excuse.

PDD looked over in astonishment, momentarily suspecting that Xiao Xiao harbored a deep grudge against Kid.

Over in the Snake player booth, Zzitai, having suffered yet another critical hit from Xiao Xiao's barrage, completely lost control of his instincts. Glancing at his teammates, he slapped his thigh while winding up his W, bursting into a second wave of laughter. He nearly jumped out of his chair, letting out squeals of amusement resembling a slaughtered pig.

The more aggrieved he had been holding it in last time, the more unrestrained his laughter was now.

Crystal哥 chiming in with amusement: "Good grief, I urgently need a pair of eyes that have never witnessed this."

Flandre laughed silently without making a sound.

Only Ohq was left with lingering palpitations; he had genuinely been frightened into flashing by that one-centimeter ward-hop.

Seizing the moment while everyone else was distracted, SoFM—who perpetually harbored a desire to consume jungle camps—secretly pinched the red buff that rightfully belonged to the AD carry, a satisfied smile blooming on his face.

This formed a stark contrast to the silence-is-gold IG player booth.

The culprit, Kid, flushed crimson. After a brief pause, he muttered, "The AD has no flash."

The mischievous director triggered the replay.

The barrage in the official livestream went absolutely wild.

[What did I just witness? Why is a kindergarten student playing on a professional stage?]

[Trying to sabotage your teammate's mental state, huh? Kid, I beg you to retire quickly and stop torturing IG.]

[Sorry, I couldn't hold it in hahahaha, forgive me for laughing like a stuck pig.]

[I should've eaten dinner earlier...]

[Emperor O wasting his flash as well is the most hilarious part.]

[This is what you call combining both short and fast into one package.]

[The player who showed the utmost respect to Kid: Emperor O.]

[Emperor O retreated for ages, and Kid still couldn't reach him even after ward-hopping.]

Lin Ruo in the EDG training room, unable to hold back his laughter, jogged off to use the restroom. Upon returning, he put on a deadpan expression and declared, "Chat, stop spinning toxic narratives out of nowhere. That play actually had a purpose! You tell me whether or not it forced out Emperor O's flash? Even if he had successfully hopped over, for a Kid with no flash, he could at most force a flash anyway. Since I didn't hop all the way over yet still forced out his flash, and on top of that saved my ultimate—that's an absolute profit, understand?"

"Say I'm trolling? I am not trolling at all, I'm never a troll."

"Even though I predicted earlier that Kid would throw, that play genuinely doesn't count as throwing; he still contributed."

After Snake secured a thrilling victory in the first game, Lin Ruo opened a custom lobby without missing a beat.

"As for why that one-centimeter ward-hop happened, let me, in the name of justice, launder this reputation for Kid, alright?"

Locking in Lee Sin and selecting the Underground Boxer skin, Lin Ruo waved a hand dismissively: "That's right, it was the skin! This skin is trash, which is why Kid ended up with a one-centimeter ward-hop."

"Using those abilities constantly plays that annoying little ding-dong bell sound, which is pure cancer to your operation. The hand-feel is terrible too, which made the ward-hop slightly delayed."

[Sure, sure, keep spinning that narrative.]

[Streamer, are you out of your mind? Did Kid steal your girlfriend or something, why are you covering for him like this?]

[Turns out the streamer is a closeted Kid anti. He predicted Kid would throw at the start, and now that he's thrown, he's spinning ridiculous excuses. Busted.]

[Spinning it this hard—are you trying to make Kid retire on the spot?]

Seeing that chat completely refused to buy it, Lin Ruo argued vehemently to defend himself: "The streamer is genuinely not trolling! For all we know, Kid might think the exact same way. When the time comes, you'll all have to line up to apologize to the streamer."

"If you don't believe me, we can even ask AvoidLili for his opinion. He's a jungler too and frequently plays Lee Sin."

The moment he heard Lin Ruo ask him about the hand-feel of the Underground Boxer skin, AvoidLili felt an instant chill down his spine.

Isn't this dragging him into the drama? What a supreme troll you are, Lin Ruo!

He shook his head frantically: "Don't ask me, I have no idea. Whenever I play Lee Sin, I only use the default skin."

After a brief squabble, the second game of the Bo3 series commenced.

Snake, having won side selection, once again opted for the red side to ensure their final counter-pick could restrict Chicken Lord.

Rookie locked in Corki, while Snake picked Syndra to continue applying pressure to the lane control.

Making minor adjustments in the draft, IG helped a struggling Kid secure his proficient Rek'Sai.

SoFM, on the other hand, picked up Lee Sin, a champion he thrived on.

Right at the start of the game, after securing the blue buff to hit level three, SoFM broke convention by skipping the Raptors and instead using a blast cone to travel down to the bot lane, casually ambushing and deleting Support Baolan.

Barely three minutes into the game, Snake claimed first blood once again.

Xiao Xiao, sitting at the caster desk, couldn't help but chime in: "Whoa, what is SoFM doing? He's actually starting to help his teammates gank! Wasn't Kid wasting time camping the Raptors then? Duke's teleport ward in the top lane was already placed and ready."

IG had anticipated that SoFM would still come to steal their Raptors, so they had laid heavy traps, intending to wash away their previous humiliation.

Yet with the bot lane dying, their entire setup instantly fell apart. Duke, waiting while retreating to find a teleport window, missed out on experience, while Kid wasted time for nothing—a classic case of losing the battle and the troop as well.

"Perhaps it's because his teammates took such good care of him last game, so he's planning to return the favor this time," Jie De analyzed rationally.

Having finished ganking, SoFM cheerfully waltzed into the enemy jungle to counter-jungle their Krugs.

In his view, after pulling off a massive gank in the bot lane, he wouldn't feel the slightest bit guilty about stealing the AD carry's red buff later in the late game.

Watching the livestream, Lin Ruo burst out laughing upon seeing the Vietnamese bandit devouring minion waves: "Emperor O is at low health, SoFM gobbles up the minion wave, and then goes to counter-jungle Krugs—his pockets are stuffed to the brim."

"If Emperor O hadn't secured that kill, he'd be completely justified. If the minion wave gets stolen like that, people usually kick their chairs over in rage."

Lin Ruo genuinely hadn't expected the Vietnamese bandit to prey on his own people as well.

If AvoidLili dared to eat his minion waves like that in the early game, he'd die at least twice.

However, the gank yielded tremendous results. The Snake bot lane regained their confidence, not only achieving a reverse advantage in the matchup but also securing a solo kill by the eighth minute.

The thoroughly mediocre Emperor O soloed West's predecessor, Marge—someone who was evidently a tier more mediocre.

The suppressed Korean carry finally exposed a single inch of his leg hair.

As the bot lane crumbled, the rhythm of the game was once again completely seized by Snake.

Without Rookie's leadership and roaming, IG plunged into utter chaos.

A directionless Kid was completely invisible throughout the match.

Snake offered no openings whatsoever. At the twenty-five-minute mark, carrying the Baron buff, they pushed down the enemy base in one go, securing a resounding victory to kick off the new season.

The camera cut to the player booth. Zzitai, having won the match, wasn't even smiling anymore; he offered a cold, cocky head-tilt that looked down upon the entire arena.

"Brothers, the five of us are truly incredible!" Crystal哥 was blooming with joy, suddenly feeling that playing support also required a great deal of innate talent. He stood up to cheer and embraced Zhu Kai, who had walked up onto the stage.

Securing their opening victory caused the entire team to heave a collective sigh of relief.

Commentating from the desk, Jie De remarked, "Victory always favors the prepared team. Snake's performance today was flawless, especially Zhu Kai's draft, which completely locked down Rookie. All I can say is that IG didn't lose unjustly."

Xiao Xiao nodded in agreement, speaking with righteous indignation: "Zhu Kai actually knows how to draft! There's no way he was just impersonating a coach. Those people who claimed he was a fake better apologize right now."