Luo Sheng stared at the final results screen, his face twisting.
"Pest!"
Furious, he slammed his palm hard onto the desk. The next second, his hand went numb—his reddened palm trembled nonstop.
"Fucking horrible!"
That roar almost pierced the ceiling.
Da Huang and Qingtian, the two substitute top laners, jumped in fright. They cowered next to the water dispenser, not daring to make a sound—terrified of getting caught up in the fallout.
It was obvious the coach was in a rage.
Everyone still remembered the scene of him pointing at 369 and cursing.
After a moment, Luo Sheng seemed to calm himself. He swept his gaze around the lounge, then looked toward the water dispenser—and saw Lin Fan sitting there.
Lin Fan's eyes met his.
In that instant, Luo Sheng felt as if light had appeared in his dark world.
Then he thought back to Spring Split…
The situation back then wasn't that different from now—actually, it was even more critical.
Knight's performance was bad, and TES started with a six-game losing streak.
After his one experimental substitution, TES was like a team handed a key—everyone unlocked at once and found the way to win.
A ten-game win streak in the regular season. A straight path into playoffs.
He followed instructions and gave Knight his chance to prove himself.
But Knight was useless!
He even insulted teammates during the match.
There was no way Knight could play Game 3.
"Lin Fan, you're up for Game 3." Luo Sheng said it with hope so thin it felt fragile.
But Lin Fan truly was TES's last lifeline.
"Okay."
Luo Sheng took a deep breath. "Relax. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. They're holding three match points. We still have a revival life. We can fight, but we don't need to go all-in."
"I don't have that much pressure. The guys on stage might not be in a good place mentally, though."
Hearing that, Luo Sheng's face darkened.
That really was the situation.
Pressure from teammates, plus pressure from the opponents—
two games of pure torture.
How much mental stability did JackeyLove and the others even have left?
He should've nailed that idiot to the bench from the start.
Can't beat the opponent, so you pressure your teammates instead?
As the players returned from the stage to the lounge, the atmosphere in TES's room was stiff.
Luo Sheng glanced at Knight and bit his lip hard.
Anyone who knew him understood: he was forcing down his anger.
"Next game, Lin Fan plays!"
The moment JackeyLove heard that, he looked revived.
He'd been tortured for two games.
If Knight played again in Game 3, he felt his left hand wouldn't even be able to press the keyboard anymore.
Yare—was Knight a deepwater bomb?
After so long without matches, that familiar stench was still the same.
Tian's eyes sharpened.
He silently walked to the water dispenser, poured a cup, and handed it to Lin Fan.
"Fan-ge, water."
Knight, didn't you just say in comms that I only like being Lin Fan's dog?
Then I'll show you right now.
"Thanks." Lin Fan smiled and accepted the cup.
In the lounge, you could even hear Knight breathing heavily.
This was Tian's reply to Knight. Everyone understood—and everyone could understand Tian.
"Game 3, play it properly. I'll go report the sub." Luo Sheng said, then pushed open the lounge door and left.
…
Caster desk.
The three casters were still talking about the last game when the director's message came through:
TES is making a substitution!
Brother Infinite Borders will be subbed in for Game 3!
Wawa, 957, and Gugu weren't surprised.
Knight's performance in the first two games was simply awful.
Letting him play Game 3 would've been absurd.
So him getting benched was inevitable.
But with V5 already up 2–0… could TES really reverse sweep?
That difficulty was beyond imagination.
"TES has subbed!"
"Brother Infinite Borders is on!"
Those two simple sentences made chat explode.
And TES fans in the arena swung their flags in wild excitement.
A reverse sweep was hard, but they believed a miracle could happen.
Especially with Wawa, who was a master at working the crowd.
"Have you noticed? This situation is exactly like Spring Split TES!"
"Regular season pressure was bigger. This is playoffs, but we still have a revival life…"
"Right. Even if the pressure isn't as heavy as Spring Split, a reverse sweep is still extremely, extremely difficult." 957 picked up the topic.
"957, if you were in this situation back when you played, what would your mentality be?"
"Me? If I played the first two games, I'd be fine. But if you sub me in and tell me to reverse sweep? I'd probably start swearing."
Watching the match, Xiangguo silently nodded.
Well said.
But honestly, White Moon was truly inhuman.
Why didn't he start Brother Infinite Borders earlier? Only now does he realize who the real daddy is?
"Esports isn't just about strength—it's also a place full of miracles! Let's see if TES can create a reverse-sweep miracle!"
At that moment, both teams returned to the stage.
The director panned across TES, and when Lin Fan appeared on the big screen, the arena erupted into cheers.
Especially the little group holding Yu Ji signs—they stood out like crazy.
Honor of Kings fans here to support!
That also gave other fan groups a new thought:
Maybe they could show up and cheer too, in future matches?
"Brother Infinite Borders is in?" Xiao Zao rubbed his nose.
"Still playing Genshin? Stop that crap and come cheer."
He'd already applied for the co-stream and got permission. Brother Zao wasn't scared.
"Reverse sweep? Big deal. I got reverse-swept by Clearlove before. Brother Infinite Borders can do it."
…
"Yare—unconditional support for Brother Infinite Borders!" In the back, right behind the counter with flower pots, Gangzi displayed the bravery of an eleven-time champion.
"This series is intense. I wonder if Brother Infinite Borders can handle it?"
"With Brother Infinite Borders getting carried in like this, honestly, Knight is going to have a hard time finding work…" Only Erzi could say something so gleeful.
Especially with the four of them co-casting—maximum content.
When Rookie saw Lin Fan, that easy feeling vanished instantly, replaced by pressure.
This man was impossible to read.
His champion pool was insanely deep—no one knew what he'd pull out.
Wawa shouted, "When TES gets pushed to the brink, they bring out Brother Infinite Borders again. Let's see whether a miracle will happen!"
Now the ban-pick began.
TES fans were beyond excited.
Some neutral viewers weren't as optimistic.
Rationally speaking, Rookie had smashed Knight for two games and looked in top form.
And Brother Infinite Borders had been warming the bench for two games. For the past half month he'd been obsessed with other games.
This wasn't like the regular season, where a few days off meant another match. With such a long gap, his match form was a real question mark.
With that ebb and flow, could Brother Infinite Borders really save the world?
Hard, honestly.
V5's draft changed the moment Lin Fan got subbed in.
Syndra, Twisted Fate, and even Vladimir were all banned away.
Rookie had watched Lin Fan's Vladimir games. His feeling was simple:
Hard to deal with.
As an honest man, if he couldn't beat it, then he couldn't beat it.
So banning it was the best option.
"V5's bans are showing huge respect to Brother Infinite Borders."
"Three mid bans."
"TES doesn't want to give Rookie LeBlanc, so they ban it. You could tell from Game 2—his LeBlanc hands were blazing. Good choice."
"Let's see what V5 first-picks."
"Instant Jayce!"
With how Rich had been performing, Jayce was high priority in V5's system—worth snapping up.
TES locked in Gnar and Hecarim on 1–2.
V5 took Jarvan IV and Ryze on 2–3.
TES discussed a bit, then chose Aphelios for JackeyLove.
In the second ban phase, V5 removed Viktor and Ahri!
Five mid-lane bans!
The crowd gasped.
"Looks like putting Brother Infinite Borders in really gives V5 a lot of pressure."
Five mid bans on stage—just that alone said everything.
"TES's fourth pick—could be mid."
Ryze was already revealed, so leaving support for a counterpick would make bot lane easier too.
TES's fourth pick was indeed mid.
But it was a rare sight—an Akali, completely ignored throughout Spring Split!
"An assassin who obeys no one… is the most terrifying."
The instant the lock-in happened, the arena went dead silent.
Akali hadn't been changed recently.
Her early game was still painful.
Her Q couldn't be spammed—only at max rank did she really feel like an assassin.
Meanwhile, Ryze had just been buffed in patch 12.7.
A tier-one mid in pro play—if doinb hadn't already been eliminated, against LNG he would've been a must-ban.
So picking Akali into Ryze… how confident did you have to be?
"Brother Infinite Borders is back to his familiar self—pulling out a new champion again after a long absence."
"This comp's mid-jungle strength doesn't look great. Akali's power spike is late. Against Ryze early, TES top and bot may have to play under pressure."
"Q poke for 130 early. Even if energy regen is faster, ten energy per second still isn't enough in a trade."
"And Ryze Q damage got buffed, so Rookie will control the wave."
"Picking Akali means TES's margin for error is basically zero. But V5 has three match points. Picking anything else won't save the game either, so Brother Infinite Borders comes in and immediately delivers a strong dose of medicine."
"We can only hope… maybe Brother Infinite Borders has some abnormal understanding. But five mid bans really did force out one of his champions."
…
"Akali? Rookie should be fine, right?" V5's coach asked.
Rookie shook his head.
"Yes. If they pick Akali, it means they're desperate. Brother Infinite Borders hasn't touched League at all lately—he's been obsessed with climbing in TFT."
"I don't believe he has a deep understanding of Akali. Let's finish this in one push and take TES down."
The coach patted Rookie's shoulder hard.
"It's time to prove we can win Spring Split too!"
As both bot lanes and supports locked in, the drafts were complete.
Blue side V5: Top Jayce, jungle Jarvan IV, mid Ryze, bot Xayah + Leona.
Red side TES: Top Gnar, jungle Hecarim, mid Akali, bot Aphelios + Rakan.
The idea behind Hecarim, Rakan, and even Gnar was simple:
Create chaos in teamfights and open space for Akali to clean up.
But the premise was that Akali had to be fed.
If she wasn't, it would be hard.
As for Aphelios, he'd do the later cleanup work.
But no matter what, Akali needed to have presence this game—otherwise TES would struggle.
V5's coach was relaxed, smiling as he walked to center stage and shook Luo Sheng's hand.
He even observed Luo Sheng's expression.
That made it even better.
Pressure, huh? Good. That's how it should be.
Brother Infinite Borders was strong, sure, but ban his champions and the show was over.
Akali?
He didn't believe Brother Infinite Borders could create a miracle on that pick.
Rookie was on Ryze!
Just looking at the matchup, mid lane was already decided.
After both coaches left, the loading screen ended quickly.
Both sides bought items and sprinted out of fountain.
Cheers rose in the arena.
Especially for V5—their roar overwhelmed TES.
…
Both teams lined up in a single-line formation.
Game 3—neither side wanted any problems.
Level one had huge variance. In pro play, whoever gained a big early advantage basically locked the game—there wouldn't be chances given back.
Tian glanced at the familiar figure beside him and finally felt secure again.
"Fan-ge, can we gank mid at level two?"
"We can try, but Rookie probably won't give us an opening."
Still, trying wouldn't hurt.
Even if Tian didn't ask, Lin Fan was going to call him anyway.
At minimum, don't let Rookie have too comfortable a lane.
Akali couldn't pressure Ryze much early—she really needed jungle help.
Listening to the peaceful mid-jungle conversation, JackeyLove felt that familiar regular-season comfort.
Stable.
Reverse sweep?
Smash them!
"Mark, let's play more aggressive early!"
Aphelios and Rakan into Xayah and Leona was generally favored for TES.
Tomboy was very strong in early skirmishes.
Xayah really was weak early—she needed her support to hold the lane.
And Leona's level one wasn't good.
This was also purposeful.
If bot lane played aggressively, the enemy would worry about a level-two gank.
Especially since junglers often start with help from bot lane on buff.
But Tian's route was top-side red start, then level-two gank mid.
That could help create a good condition for mid-jungle.
In the lounge, Knight listened to the comms.
His face drooped.
So you're all Lin Fan's dogs, huh?
TL: Damn right you dog
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup