"Unfair. RNG should apply for a rematch, or just Chronobreak back to that 3:30 mark. If we rewind to then, Brother Infinite Borders wouldn't have three kills, and Xiaohu could stabilize mid lane."
"Don't bring that bullshit talk in here!"
"Fair point: the gap between the two mid laners is kind of huge. Even when Corki didn't have any kills, he was already bullying Orianna at level one. That tells you a lot."
"Didn't everyone know the mid gap already? Saying it doesn't mean much. I just hope Xiaohu can calm his mentality… With how things look today, Brother Infinite Borders has decided to go all-out, full firepower."
"I still don't get it—what was Xiaohu thinking picking Orianna? If he picked another champ, they might've won. Even if he didn't play Akali or LeBlanc, there are plenty of good options."
"Hahaha, 15:57 just keeps getting faster, 43:96 just keeps getting higher."
"Honestly, 43:96—Clearlove really had no room to do anything in that game. Lee Sin that late does no damage anyway. Xiaohu's 2200 was way more ridiculous. On that Ryze, toss two spells and your damage is already there. In the end it's the same as how he plays now—cowardly beyond belief!"
The chat went insane, spamming nonstop about the match that had just ended.
Mainly, everyone was focusing their fire on Xiaohu. That loss was just too ugly—getting bulldozed in 17 minutes. What the hell was that?
As for RNG's official Weibo, they had barely reposted the match result before the comments hit 3,000+.
Hate is hate, but RNG really does have a ton of fans. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be able to whip your junk out without running into an RNG fan.
To be fair, if Xiao P were RNG's ADC, he probably wouldn't need to simp—he'd get hooked naturally.
But it still turned his "junk release plan" into a huge joke.
On that front, he really needed to learn from senior Huanfeng. Since the two brothers shared the same goals and ideas, they should definitely communicate more in private.
Back in the lounge, Xiaohu was feeling down… and also at a complete loss.
Brother Infinite Borders got stronger again! Compared to before, he was far stronger—while Xiaohu was still stuck in place… or even declining.
And he was getting older. Getting results was becoming harder and harder.
If he still couldn't produce anything this year, he might never get another chance.
So he had to defeat this inner demon—Dine!
Only by beating him would this year truly become a year of hope.
Xiaohu scrubbed his face hard. Corki was actually one of his comfort champions. He knew it inside out.
The nickname "Tiger 90k" wasn't something people made up randomly.
He'd once set the record for the highest Corki damage in the league—though that game was also because it dragged on forever…
"Sigh…" Xiaohu let out a long breath in his chair. If he were just two years younger, he'd have the confidence to fight Brother Infinite Borders. But now that he was older, his attention and focus had dropped too much. He simply didn't have that confidence anymore.
It was hard to understand—Dine doesn't even train, so how does he keep such insane form?
Is this what real talent looks like?
Xiaohu had always envied Faker's competitive state. They were the same age, yet Faker always looked so confident in-game.
And even that confident man got crushed by Dine like it was nothing.
It gave him a kind of "the rabbit dies, the fox mourns" feeling.
TL:
This is a Chinese idiom: 兔死狐悲 (tù sǐ hú bēi) - literally "the rabbit dies, the fox mourns"
Meaning: When someone in a similar situation suffers misfortune, you feel sad because you empathize with their plight - knowing you could face the same fate. It's like "there but for the grace of God go I."
When you get older, you really do get eliminated by the times.
Facing Lin Fan, Xiaohu didn't even know what kind of approach could work.
He couldn't outplay him mechanically. He couldn't even turtle in lane. From start to finish, the pressure was maxed out—what was he supposed to do?
And the most outrageous part was TES's drafting. They didn't even give him a way to live—banning even Ryze.
Honestly, it wouldn't matter if he ended up with the lowest damage of his career. As long as lane didn't become a breach point, it was fine.
Don't add pressure to teammates.
But in this situation… that was hard.
As always, every year new monsters showed up.
This year's monster was mid lane.
Dine… why does even your Corki make people despair?
Tabe noticed Xiaohu's terrible state immediately, but there was nothing he could do.
When he was a pro, wasn't this the kind of thing you had to overcome yourself?
If you couldn't overcome it, then you just waited until the match ended.
But the fact that Dine could keep this form… that was something Tabe never expected.
Originally, he thought Dine's spring performance was just early-season volatility: people hadn't studied him yet, plus he didn't take rank seriously, always messing around in other tournaments. Sooner or later, he'd be exposed. No big achievements.
But instead, he slaughtered his way to MSI—and not only that, he won MSI.
That was something every coach found hard to imagine.
Dine had his own period of glory during Tabe's pro career. Compared to other pros, he was relatively lucky.
Even with the outside world calling him the best candidate to win it all this year, Tabe still held to his judgment: Dine couldn't sustain that match state for long. Looking at Summer Split regular season, even though TES had a six-match win streak, you could clearly feel Dine's dominance declining.
Add the inevitable meta shifts…
It was about time for a big reshuffle.
The emperor changes hands. And it should be RNG's turn.
So even if they lost today, it didn't affect RNG too much. The regular season exists to serve the playoffs, doesn't it?
High seed or low seed didn't matter that much overall…
Just beat every team in front of you when it counts.
Tabe clapped his hands, immediately drawing everyone's attention in the lounge.
"Today's match has only just begun. Game two is the real blades-out fight. Honestly, game one was mainly because that level-three skirmish was too impulsive. Forcing the enemy jungler's Flash was already a win. Chasing further just wasn't rational.
"So I'll just mention that briefly. There's no point beating it to death. I want you to think more carefully, as much as possible, and don't play so impulsively. Our team absolutely has the strength! If we find the right direction and play it out slowly, we still have a chance."
…
After a short break, a staff member knocked. Both teams returned to the stage—game two was about to begin.
Sides swapped this game.
Lin Fan locked in Orianna. Xiaohu picked Azir.
With those mid picks locked in, the game was destined to be less bloody—more late-game scaling focused.
But the moment people had that thought, they shook their heads hard.
Bullshit. Everyone thought the same thing last game too, and that Corki played like he wanted to murder people. Starting Cull and still fighting nonstop. Whether it's aggressive or not depends on Brother Infinite Borders' mood—mid lane is basically whatever he decides it is.
Even though Lin Fan rarely played Orianna, 100% proficiency wasn't a joke.
How to play into Azir was practically carved into instinct—he had absurd experience.
He knew Azir's ranges perfectly. A small step to the side and the sand soldiers couldn't hit him. Every time Xiaohu tried to walk up to poke with soldiers, he'd often take two steps forward due to misjudging distance—
—and eat an Orianna Q-A combo plus Aery procs.
Two words: miserable.
These tiny details also made it obvious how hard Xiaohu's form had fallen. If game one still looked "okay," then game two was rough to the extreme.
Even Lin Fan couldn't help sighing.
Truly: Spring Tiger Emperor, Summer Tiger Trash.
Looks like people weren't wrong.
In Lin Fan's eyes, spring Xiaohu was still strong. In lane, he gave you zero chances.
But this Azir now? Full of holes. By level three, he'd already been forced out of the experience zone.
Xiaohu started doubting himself. Is Orianna really that strong in lane early?
Then why did it feel completely useless when I played her? The moment I showed up mid, the lane was already over.
Weird.
Or… am I just that bad?
Viewers laughed nonstop. This Azir looked so clumsy—like he was being led around by Orianna, completely dumbfounded.
"Didn't expect Xiaohu to be this trash. Azir into Orianna is supposed to be fine—how do you play it like this?"
"He must've gotten beaten stupid by Brother Infinite Borders in game one."
"Possible. He got killed brain-dead and forgot how to play."
"The Huya four dogs are laughing their asses off. The entertainment value is maxed. All I can say is: pure troll."
"No way. Is the whole internet hoping RNG loses? Am I the only one who wants RNG to win?"
"Not targeting players—targeting the organization. I'd love RNG to die."
"Same. I never thought an organization could be this disgusting."
"I hope RNG wins, but I know the gap is too big… how could they possibly win?"
Just as everyone thought mid lane might spill blood—because the HP bars were so low, and a jungler visit could enable a tower dive—
—no one expected First Blood to happen bot.
Mark's Nautilus landed a hook onto Zeri. Even though Cleanse was used quickly, the passive still followed. Draven picked up his axes and started chopping.
TES had never really feared Zeri. Even without Kalista, bot lane always had a pocket Draven.
Land the hook and you can chase them to death.
Mark was meticulous too—he held Ignite until after Cleanse was used.
So they chased all the way to the tower and completed a lane kill. As for Ming's Yuumi—if she wasn't under tower, it would've been buy one get one free.
Once Zeri got solo-killed in lane, bot lane was basically doomed.
Wei's face drooped.
My god… what the hell.
They were hoping mid could hold, and then bot gets lane-killed?
All he could do was pray Xiaohu didn't implode mid.
But as time reached 6:13, neither mid laner had recalled to upgrade items.
Lin Fan used Q into ultimate and forced Xiaohu's Flash.
But Tian had already been waiting. His Viego landed W stun, followed up with damage, and killed the already-not-healthy Azir under tower.
Mid and bot were both collapsing hard. Top lane, Zoom was absorbing pressure well. Breathe had never been known for pure laning anyway—he couldn't do much.
At that point, everyone knew RNG's game two was slipping away too.
Orianna was about to spike early again.
Sure enough, once Orianna's second ultimate came off cooldown, she linked up with the newly level-six Viego and ganked bot.
They killed Zeri and Yuumi successfully—RNG bot lane completely collapsed.
Xiaohu's performance was ugly, but at least he wasn't solo-killed. He only died to tower dives. His CS deficit wasn't as massive as last game—his farm was still somewhat okay.
Tabe thought Xiaohu had slowly adjusted. He was a veteran; small setbacks shouldn't matter much.
But he never expected bot lane to get targeted into the ground.
One lane kill, one tower dive—completely unplayable.
Tabe rubbed his head.
They needed more practice.
Good thing this was only regular season. If this were playoffs, there'd be no room for regret.
This time, Wei didn't just sit there. Once he hit level six, he pinged and went straight mid.
Live by the phrase: Hesitate and you suffer.
But Tian's Viego had been camping mid the whole time. Lin Fan flashed the ultimate, turned and countered, instantly deleting Wei's Wukong—then chased down and killed Azir too.
It really matched the old saying: mid-jungle synergy, one dies and one delivers.
Acceleration.
By just twelve minutes, TES had already taken mid outer turret—slower than last game, but still fast.
Then bad news came from bot again. Zeri got point-and-click locked by Nautilus and couldn't do anything—she could only watch Draven chop her down one hit at a time.
Ming's Yuumi had no answers either.
That's Zeri plus Yuumi for you—when you're behind, you're just toys. A walking 300 gold.
So as soon as mid outer fell, bot outer fell too.
The gold gap exploded.
The "good news" was that it lasted longer than last game. At least it wouldn't be another 17-minute bulldoze.
But it still entered TES's favorite mid-jungle macro rhythm.
RNG had no real answers from start to finish. They could only try to trade kills to compensate for farm.
But no matter what they did, TES's gold snowballed far faster than RNG's.
At 22 minutes, TES took Baron and pushed high ground. RNG had no options.
Azir and Wukong went for a desperate engage—only to be interrupted mid-air by Orianna's ultimate. Seeing that, Xiaohu's heart went cold.
After that, it was slaughter time. Draven one-shotted people back to fountain.
Orianna's damage couldn't match Draven's burst, but she still stole a kill—shattering JackeyLove's dream of a pentakill.
Ace!
With the Nexus exposed, no one could protect it anymore.
TES's remaining three players casually smashed it.
2–0. TES defeated RNG for a seventh straight win!
The moment the match ended, the director immediately cut to the TES player cams, wanting to see their expressions.
But Lin Fan simply picked up the cup beside him, took a sip, set it back down—expressionless.
Everyone else looked the same.
Meanwhile, chat went insane.
"What the hell? Why aren't they smiling after winning?!"
"TES won, but it feels like they lost. This is ridiculous!"
"That's the kind of team that's terrifying. Winning looks as easy as drinking water… and honestly, the game really was that easy."
"Yeah, no waves at all. They just won. The gap is huge."
"With Xiaohu in this state, bring ten more Xiaohus and they still won't beat Brother Infinite Borders. He should just go back to streaming—more fun."
"True. I want to see Brother Infinite Borders commentating from the caster desk. Maybe then he'll show some emotion."
"Hahaha, you guys are way too cruel."
…
"Oof, oof—Xiaohu got beaten stupid. This is Brother Infinite Borders' terrifying dominance. I don't even know how to comfort him," Zzitai joked in his distinctive raspy duck voice.
His stream chat rolled along too.
"General Tiger in summer form: Tiger the Trash!"
"Brothers, don't force it. With Brother Infinite Borders' form, nobody in China can beat him. It's normal for Xiaohu to get blown up. Against other mids he can still punch hard."
On-site, Lin Fan and his teammates had already walked over to RNG's booth for handshakes.
Xiaohu's gaze toward Lin Fan looked timid.
To put it bluntly, he was scared now.
Game one Corki, game two Orianna—he was starting to doubt life.
Am I really this bad?
Do I really get demolished every game?
But then he remembered what Tabe said in the lounge: Dine is definitely a great player, but without daily rank training to maintain form, his curve is still trending downward overall. Right now, he's just the last gasp of a spent bow.
Even so, when Lin Fan's hand reached out, Xiaohu's mind still went chaotic.
Fuck it—what's the point of thinking about this?
Can it change the fact they lost?
"Brother Infinite Borders, you're getting stronger and stronger. It feels… unreal."
"It's just that your form wasn't great today. Your decision-making was a bit messy. Fix that and you'll definitely not be my opponent," Lin Fan said with a smile.
Between pros, you're rivals on stage, but privately everyone's on good terms. If you're nearby and free, grabbing a meal together is totally normal.
So whenever fans fought each other online, it was actually awkward for the players—because they were friends.
You can't cut ties just because fans are arguing, right?
"…Don't comfort me. I know my own level," Xiaohu forced a bitter smile.
Year by year, it really felt more and more exhausting. His form got worse every year. He didn't even know where he'd go next year.
New rookies kept coming, and the pressure only grew—miserable as hell.
Seeing Xiaohu's expression, Lin Fan could only pull him into a big hug.
Maybe someday you'll unlock an Old God System—get stronger the older you are.
Anything's possible.
"Brother Infinite Borders has a good relationship with domestic mid laners. Look, he's even comforting Xiaohu."
"Yeah. Xiaohu's play today was rough. He didn't adjust well. Hopefully after this match, Xiaohu will train harder and find his form again," XiaoSan said.
"But Xiaohu's been fighting in pro play for so long. Staying at this level for this long—I think it's not easy."
After the handshake line ended, it was time for the interview segment everyone loved.
This time, JackeyLove was up.
And the host was still Xiao Yu—the same one who'd been messing around with Rookie earlier.
The moment JackeyLove walked up, he couldn't help laughing.
Their relationship had always been great. Back when Rookie and Xiao Yu planned a trip to Sanya, they even tried to bring JackeyLove along.
JackeyLove didn't fall for it. Back then, he wasn't dating—just a lonely dog.
He knew exactly what it was: trick the dog into coming to be slaughtered. During the day they'd all hang out, at night the two of them would go back to the hotel and giggle—what was he supposed to do? Go stare at the ocean? Damn, he wasn't some seaside boy.
"Alright, JackeyLove—say hello to everyone."
JackeyLove took the mic.
"Hello everyone, I'm TES's ADC, JackeyLove."
The arena immediately erupted in cheers.
"Today was a fast and fairly smooth win. How do you feel?"
"It felt pretty smooth. Overall it was really good. No pressure during the match. Mainly, once Fan-ge got that triple kill, I knew we weren't losing today."
"Oh! I see. Dine's performance today really was stunning."
Xiao Yu smiled as she lifted the mic.
"TES is recognized as a brawling team, and RNG also likes to brawl. After playing this match, how did it feel?"
"If it's my personal feeling… I had a pretty good gameplay experience." His mouth crooked slightly.
"Actually, we've been practicing a lot recently, so winning today was normal. Our form is still getting better. It'll keep improving."
As the interview ended, the broadcast cut back to the studio.
The three casters excitedly announced:
"Two days from now at 7 PM—TES versus V5. These are the two LPL teams currently on win streaks. It's a replay of spring!"
"In spring, V5's win streak was ended by TES. In summer, can V5 get revenge?"
"This is truly thunder striking fire. Just thinking about it is exciting."
This match was also the key matchup of the week.
Naturally, the casters kept hyping it up nonstop.
The audience's anticipation rose accordingly.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup