Luo Sheng's expression was rather strange.
But this could be considered a good thing.
At least he was touching the game!
That meant he was making changes. Still, Shaco really was a disgusting champion—just watching that bit made his blood boil.
"Ahem. We've scheduled scrims with IG tomorrow. You can turn in early tonight and get up earlier to play tomorrow morning."
Seeing the training room finally return to a proper rhythm, with all the players putting in effort, even the night felt as though brilliant sunlight was shining in.
"How about a magic trick?"
Luo Sheng shrugged. That shouldn't be some kind of Sunshine Boy death whisper, right?
He really hadn't expected it—Lin Fan's champion pool was genuinely bizarre. From mid-lane Varus to jungle Demon Jester, and judging from how he played, he clearly grasped Shaco's essence. Winning or losing didn't matter; as long as he was happy while playing, the opponent would be thoroughly disgusted…
Should they let Lin Fan guest as a jungler in an official match?
Hahaha. Just imagining the opposing jungler getting tormented by Shaco made his heart stir a little.
But that was just a thought. Shaco jungle still wasn't stage-worthy—there was no way to use it in league matches.
Still, this game alone showed that Lin Fan's form was indeed excellent.
Maybe there was no need to worry so much about his condition dropping due to lack of formal training.
Perhaps this was what true talent looked like. Even without specialized practice, he could play every champion quite well and slaughter on stage.
But if he trained properly…
Just how strong would he be?
TES's rise… could it really be this year?
The more Luo Sheng thought about it, the more excited he became. He wished time would fast-forward straight to winning the World Championship.
"What's wrong with the coach?"
"No idea…"
"Then why's he smiling like an idiot?" Qingtian, a simple and honest big guy, was always this blunt.
"Shh. If he hears you, you might not get any stage time this split." Zoom, perhaps out of solidarity between big guys, offered him some advice despite being competitors.
Since the coach had already said they'd be getting up early for scrims, everyone showed restraint. No matter how much they wanted to play, they all returned to their dorms before 2 a.m.
Lin Fan naturally led by example—logging off before midnight and heading back first.
…
Due to budget issues this season, IG hadn't signed TheShy or Rookie. Aside from Xun, the rest of the roster lacked LPL experience, so their results weren't great.
But considering the messy transfer-period maneuvers, many people quietly added a "what a shame" in their hearts.
If you weren't going to sign, then don't—say it early and part on good terms.
Dragging things out until the transfer window closed left Rookie without time to find another team.
Fortunately, his current choice, V5, looked quite good. Now on an eight-win streak, they were not to be underestimated and were hot favorites for the Spring Split title. With jungler Karsa added in, it felt like a veteran's second spring.
The original plan was to play five games, but since IG had a match that evening, time was tight.
In the end, they played three.
Lin Fan played two of them—one loss, one win.
The win came when he picked Jayce, a choice that immediately caught Luo Sheng's eye.
Mid-lane Jayce was quite strong in this version, since top lane was leaning toward Gwen and Gragas.
More importantly, the mid-lane meta favored Corki, Viktor, and Ahri, giving Jayce plenty of room to shine.
The loss came when Luo Sheng asked him to pick Ahri.
That lane went exactly as expected—he got completely blown up by Yuekai.
Comparing the two games, it was like watching two different people play. The gap was enormous—painfully obvious.
Still, Ahri was a T1 mid-laner in this Spring Split version.
Luo Sheng patted Lin Fan on the shoulder.
"Ahri still needs practice."
But it was only a scrim. A loss was just a loss.
Besides, Lin Fan's Syndra had already forced a ban, which was a strategic advantage in draft.
Game three was handed to Knight.
As a former starting mid laner, not even getting scrim time would've been unreasonable.
…
Sure enough, Knight seemed to have saved all his match form for scrims.
Pulling out Sylas, he delivered what was essentially a dimensionality reduction strike against Yuekai—solo killing him in lane within three minutes.
"Not bad."
Luo Sheng nodded. It looked like he hadn't been slacking off.
His form had finally recovered.
In the end, he posted a luxurious 11–1–1 scoreline, leading the team to victory.
Hot hands. Absolutely hot hands!
Form maxed out! Fully maxed!
Knight's eyes glowed red. It was true—women only affected match performance. With no woman in his heart, the sword was naturally divine.
Now it was time to reclaim the starting position.
With this performance, the coach should definitely give him a chance to play, right?
Knight now wished the one sitting across from him wasn't Yuekai, but Lin Fan—so he could crush Lin Fan directly in scrims instead of this lopsided comparison.
Feeling the coach behind him, Knight's heart started racing.
Surely encouragement and promises were coming next?
A guaranteed chance to play.
Before he could finish fantasizing, Luo Sheng picked up the USB drive with the scrim VODs and strode out of the training room.
"..."
"Fan-ge, your Ahri is way too trash, isn't it?"
"Yeah, you even missed a point-blank Charm. Might as well seal her away."
"Heh… after today, I'll show you what a true Fox King looks like."
Yesterday's reward was Sunshine Boy.
And today's task reward, coincidentally enough, was Nine-Tailed Fox Ahri.
Then he casually pulled out his phone and opened Honor of Kings.
TIMI~
"Daji will play with you!"
"So this is the Fox King you meant? I get it now." JackeyLove stared in shock.
"Wait… the joke we made before—this 'Honor of Kings training method'—it's real? You're training League champs in Honor of Kings?"
"Why not? They're both foxes. No difference. For example, I practice Syndra by playing Wu Zetian to get a feel for my Q skill."
"I don't believe a word of that."
Knight felt completely out of place among the people in the training room.
After carrying that hard, not a single person even came over to greet him.
Meanwhile, the Ahri played like garbage was being surrounded and praised.
He couldn't understand what had happened during this time to change his teammates so drastically.
Something was wrong—seriously wrong.
It made no sense!
"Task completed."
"Reward obtained: Nine-Tailed Fox — max proficiency."
Another fulfilling day came to an end.
Lin Fan twisted his stiff neck, bones cracking softly.
Looking at everyone still grinding away,
he couldn't help but feel a little moved.
Don't believe that victory is like a dandelion on a hillside, easily plucked.
But believe that there are always things in this world worth giving everything for—even to the point of shattering yourself.
Keep going, boys. You all keep working hard—I'll head back to the dorm to rest.
Having teammates like this really made him feel at ease.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup