Ye Shaoyang walked toward the opposing soundproof booth and shook hands briefly with Mitchell. Mitchell looked full of resentment, glaring at Ye Shaoyang as he spoke in broken Chinese, "Next time, I, definitely, win you!"
This guy's personality was one that never admitted defeat. Rumor had it that after Zhou Jiawen solo-killed him twice on the international server, Mitchell chased Zhou Jiawen down for a full month demanding duels, only stopping once he had pulled his win rate back up to 50%. Now that Ye Shaoyang had solo-killed him once in a practice match and beaten him again in the World Invitational…
Had Mitchell set his sights on Ye Shaoyang now? Would he chase him down for matches too?
Ye Shaoyang didn't mind being targeted by an opponent; to him, it was a form of motivation. He smiled, patted Mitchell on the shoulder, and said, "See you next time."
Mitchell huffed indignantly, "I'll 1v1 you on the international server later!"
Ye Shaoyang replied, "No problem. We'll set it up after the tournament."
After returning to the hotel, Chairman Qiu sought out Ye Shaoyang for a brief chat. The gist was, "Making it to the Top 4 has already met our expectations. Play the remaining matches with a relaxed mind; winning or losing doesn't matter."
The Chairman said this to help Ye Shaoyang relax. As the sole seedling from the Chinese region (S10) to break into the Top 4, too many eyes and expectations were focused on him. If the psychological pressure became too great, it could easily lead to performance errors.
But Ye Shaoyang's mentality had always been excellent, and he was used to this kind of pressure.
Winning or losing doesn't matter? That was just something people said.
He was definitely going to win!
Ye Shaoyang didn't go to the venue for that evening's matches. He stayed in the hotel room with Chi Shuo, watching the livestream while analyzing and discussing. In the match between the European region's Vanessa and the North American region's Lambert—an assassin civil war—Vanessa ultimately won 2:1.
In the other two matches, Kim Min-jun and Han Chang-ho successively advanced to the Top 4.
With this, the Top 4 consisted of two players from South Korea, one from the European region, and one from the Chinese region. The matchups for the semifinals (4-into-2) were decided by drawing lots. Early the next morning, the four players gathered together to draw red or blue balls from a box. Those who drew the same color would be opponents in the semifinals.
Under the supervision of a notary, the tournament committee staff brought the box before the four of them. "Who wants to go first?"
Kim Min-jun glanced at Ye Shaoyang. "Lieyang first?"
Tianhuan and Kim Min-jun's Korean team, TIP, frequently played practice matches, and they had encountered each other several times on the international server. Although it was their first time meeting in person, they were somewhat familiar.
Ye Shaoyang didn't stand on ceremony. He nodded at him, stepped forward, and drew a card: Blue.
Kim Min-jun followed immediately, drawing a Red card.
The remaining two looked at each other. Vanessa drew Blue, and Han Chang-ho drew Red.
Vanessa looked at Ye Shaoyang, a faint smile on her lips. "I'm playing against you next. Good luck, Omega player."
Ye Shaoyang replied, "You too, Alpha player."
Vanessa raised an eyebrow, squared her shoulders, and walked out of the conference room in her high heels. Judging by her state, she seemed very confident about the next match, determined to win.
Soon, the draw results were published on the official website. Korean netizens wailed in despair because Kim Min-jun and Han Chang-ho, the two Korean players, had crashed into each other in the semifinals. This meant they couldn't meet in the finals.
Many Korean netizens commented:
"I thought Han Chang-ho and Kim Min-jun would enter the finals together, making the S10 Solo Champion and Runner-up both ours. Now it looks like we can only take the Championship and the Bronze!"
"It doesn't matter, we still have Choi Hyuk and Park Won-seok for the Duo Championship."
"Both the Duo Champion and the Solo Champion will be ours."
"The S10 World Tournament Team Champion will also be ours. Grand Slam, fighting!"
Yao Mu knew Korean. As she scrolled through the comments on the Korean forums, she couldn't help but complain to the streamer Xiao Wei, "The Koreans are really arrogant. They're already celebrating the championship ahead of time, as if the solo title is guaranteed to be theirs."
Xiao Wei asked, "Do you think our Xiao Bai has a hope of winning gold?"
Yao Mu thought for a moment. "The other three players are all very strong. It'll be hard for Yang-yang's Mage-Assassin style to take the championship. But his condition is great; he's not nervous at all."
Xiao Wei sighed with emotion. "Sigh, when I first met him, I just thought he was a talented streamer. I never expected him to make it to the World Tournament! The two of us really stumbled upon a 'golden thigh' by accident."
Yao Mu laughed. "Isn't that the truth? I hope he beats Vanessa tomorrow. As long as he makes it to the finals, he'll at least bring a trophy back. He would be creating history."
In the history of the league, no Omega player had ever won the solo championship because most Omega players played support. A ferocious mid-laner like Ye Shaoyang was a minority in itself, not to mention one who had killed his way into the World Invitational Top 4.
Therefore, not only did the audience in the Chinese region place high hopes on him, but audiences from other regions were also gradually taking notice of this Omega rookie from China.
The semifinals were scheduled for the following evening, giving them a day to prepare.
Ye Shaoyang simply took his laptop to Chi Shuo's room in Building B. The two sat together analyzing the opponent. Chi Shuo said, "Vanessa excels at surprise attacks. She has a great sense of rhythm and plays very aggressively. You must be careful of the bushes when playing against her. The tactics from the group stage can't be reused. for example, the Shadow Warlock against the Stealth Rogue strategy—others have seen that routine, and she will easily counter it."
Ye Shaoyang nodded seriously. "I think so too. Let's research some other strategies."
Chi Shuo said, "En, I'll practice with you."
Sitting face-to-face at the desk, they opened the in-game arena. Chi Shuo started with the most common [Stealth Rogue] to practice with Ye Shaoyang, switching through various heroes to find the best tactical solutions.
They practiced until 2 AM before finally shutting down the computers to rest.
The next evening at 7:30 PM, everyone arrived at the competition venue. Chairman Qiu wanted to offer Ye Shaoyang some encouragement, but found the guy smiling broadly, looking completely devoid of nervousness. Chairman Qiu felt awkward saying too much, so he just patted him on the shoulder and told him to play well.
The match began quickly.
Ye Shaoyang walked onto the stage, bowed to the audience, then turned to the soundproof booth to connect his keyboard and mouse and debug the equipment.
Yao Mu and Brother Dong opened the livestream channel and spoke loudly, "Friends in the audience, we are here in Seoul, South Korea, at the scene of the S10 World Invitational Solo Semifinals! Lieyang vs. Vanessa. We can see Yang-yang is debugging his equipment in the booth. His state is as relaxed as ever; we hope he performs well today."
Brother Dong said, "Vanessa is a player with a mysterious background. There are rumors in Europe that she is the apprentice of the retired World No. 1 Jungler, Antonio. Since her debut this season, she has taken many MVPs, with Triple Kills or Quadra Kills in almost every match. She plays very fiercely!"
Yao Mu added, "Yes, we watched Vanessa's match recordings. She is a jungler with a very keen sense of smell. When ganking lanes, she usually manages to kill the opposing squishies. Her kill count is quite high. The mid-laners and marksmen she's killed could line up around Europe. Yang-yang needs to be extremely careful in this match."
In the domestic livestream room, many of Lieyang's fans were cheering for him.
There were also many fans discussing Vanessa's beauty.
[Vanessa's looks are so aggressive, huh?]
[A blonde, blue-eyed, glamorous female Alpha. She fits my aesthetics perfectly.]
[Although the young lady is pretty, I still hope she loses!]
[Yang-yang fighting! Beat that Vanessa, and you'll be the most handsome Omega in the world!]
At the competition site, Ye Shaoyang was focused, his eyes fixed on the computer screen, his hands tapping rapidly on the keyboard. After last night's analysis, he was very clear about Vanessa's strength.
Although Vanessa was strong, he believed that no jungler could compare to Chi Shuo.
Chi Shuo not only had fast reactions and top-tier awareness but also rich tournament experience and calm judgment. Ye Shaoyang had been 1v1ing Chi Shuo every day recently, and his own awareness and reactions were improving rapidly.
The effect of having Chi Shuo as a sparring partner was significant.
So, meeting a world-class jungler assassin in the solo competition today, Ye Shaoyang wasn't nervous at all. After all, if he could go 50-50 against Chi Shuo, was there any need to fear other assassins?
Game 1 started quickly.
Vanessa locked in the common assassin [King of Fighters]. Ye Shaoyang took [Storm Goddess].
Using [Storm Goddess] against [King of Fighters] was something they had just tried yesterday.
Although [King of Fighters] had high burst damage, [Storm Goddess] was a hero with relatively high defensive stats among mages. Her damage output relied on tornadoes. Whether her three tornadoes could control the enemy was key; the mechanics were difficult.
But there was an advantage: this hero didn't fear assassins getting close. As long as the assassin dared to come at her, a tornado could blow the opponent away, preventing them from completing a combo to one-shot her.
Vanessa smiled slightly when she saw this choice.
The number of [Storm Goddesses] she had killed in the European region was uncountable. Although theoretically, [Storm Goddess] countered all melee assassins by blowing them away with tornadoes, one shouldn't forget that the key to high-level play was speed! As long as you were fast enough, you would be dead before you could release the tornado.
Vanessa confidently pressed 'Ready'. Ye Shaoyang also pressed 'Ready'.
The map loaded, and both sides began clearing minions in the middle lane.
Early minion clearing seemed boring to the audience, but for pro players, there were many details. Missing one or two minions meant failing to reach Level 6 on time.
Seeing the opposing [King of Fighters] step up to clear minions, Ye Shaoyang suddenly released a Q-skill tornado, scattering the enemy minion formation and blowing the [King of Fighters] back a meter.
The result was that the enemy minions killed his minions, and the [King of Fighters] failed to get the last-hit reward.
Vanessa frowned and continued to farm patiently.
As time passed, the levels of both heroes rose rapidly.
Level 4… Level 5…
The audience stared nervously at the screen, waiting to see who would make the first move at the Level 6 spike.
Just then, the upgrade light flashed on Ye Shaoyang's [Storm Goddess]. Vanessa thought, I'm about to hit Level 6 too. He should retreat to the tower to defend.
However, Ye Shaoyang did not retreat.
The [Storm Goddess], dressed in green mage robes, suddenly flashed behind the [King of Fighters]. At the same time, she raised her staff, and a hurricane blasted violently from the tip—
The hurricane would knock back enemies in a straight line by 1 meter. Ye Shaoyang found the perfect angle; this blow sent the [King of Fighters] directly under the defense tower!
The defense tower automatically attacked enemies within range. Since there were no minions under the tower at this time, the [King of Fighters] took a hit from the tower, losing about 20% HP.
Vanessa realized something was wrong. Just as she was about to Flash away, another hurricane blew from the tip of the [Storm Goddess]'s staff, knocking the [King of Fighters] back another meter.
Immediately following that, a third hurricane blew right in her face!
Vanessa: "…"
Vanessa, who was being blown away continuously, really wanted to smash her keyboard!
—TH-Sunshine (Storm Goddess) has killed Vanessa (King of Fighters)!
Seeing this, Yao Mu exclaimed excitedly, "Reverse Flash, triple knockback! Yang-yang's mechanics were too fast; he used the defense tower to kill Vanessa!"
Brother Dong laughed. "The Storm Goddess really can't kill an opponent with her early game damage. But the defense tower's damage is very high, increasing with each hit. Yang-yang blowing the opponent under the tower was indeed very smart. The Storm Goddess's Q skill is actually hard to hit; his prediction of the opponent's movement and that sudden Flash behind—it was played beautifully!"
Yao Mu said excitedly, "Most Storm Goddess players play defensively, using tornadoes to drive away assassins who get close. But Yang-yang's Storm Goddess today is an offensive Storm Goddess! His tornadoes aren't for driving people away, but for killing them."
In reality, pro players knew common heroes like [Storm Goddess] very well. It wasn't that easy to hit an opponent with the Q-skill tornado.
But Ye Shaoyang had analyzed Vanessa's movement habits and playstyle overnight. He knew Vanessa would definitely ambush from a bush at Level 6 for a surprise attack. In the early game, he blew away the minions to deny Vanessa some experience, causing her to reach Level 6 two seconds slower than him…
This was the best opportunity to strike.
Catching her off guard, Flashing behind, blowing her under the tower, and letting the tower send Vanessa off.
This series of actions was as fast as lightning. Utilizing the brief stiffness after the opponent was knocked back to follow up with another knockback—if the triple control deviated even slightly, it would have been interrupted.
But Ye Shaoyang showed everyone with his actions—
His mechanics never deviated.
After Vanessa revived and returned to the lane, she played increasingly cautiously.
But soon, she discovered that this Omega player was too hard to kill! He always held a tornado in reserve, ready to blow away any assassin who got close, and his Ultimate's continuous tornadoes could be used to counter-kill.
She had encountered many [Storm Goddesses] in the European region and always felt that squishies like this were easy to kill. However, Ye Shaoyang's [Storm Goddess] moved flexibly, acting like the wind itself, making it hard to catch his position. Vanessa's Ultimate couldn't guarantee a stun on him.
What's more, Ye Shaoyang was a master of crowd control and froze the minion wave extremely tight.
Vanessa didn't want to drag it to the late game. She ambushed from a bush and forcibly took his head, but it was of no use. Ye Shaoyang began to avoid combat and focused on pushing towers with minions.
His way of pushing towers was infuriating.
He brought minions to the tower, and when you stepped up to clear them…
He would blow you away.
"Have you felt the power of the tornado?"
Hearing the Storm Goddess's voice line, Vanessa, who had been blown away, was furious!
Can you just let me clear the wave?!
The minions couldn't be cleared, and the defense tower lost half its health to them. The second wave came, another half health gone… Unknowingly, the outer tower fell, then the inner tower.
Ye Shaoyang pushed all the way to the crystal with his minions. Vanessa healed up at the base and hurriedly stepped forward to clear the minions. The result? She was hit by Ye Shaoyang's Ultimate triple-blow again and blown back into the Fountain?!
Vanessa, who was blown all the way home: "??"
I don't want to go home, let me clear the minions!
Yao Mu was about to die of laughter watching this. "Yang-yang blew her back into the Fountain!"
Brother Dong said, "Cough, he's expressing through action: You go home, let me push the crystal."
Yao Mu said, "Remember in the group stage, when an opponent was recalling under the tower, Yang-yang suddenly popped out and one-shot him with a combo, sending him home?"
Brother Dong said, "Today, he used a tornado to blow the opponent home?"
Yao Mu: "When it comes to sending people home, Yang-yang is truly experienced!"
The viewers in the domestic livestream room saw this familiar style and sent a row of 'Hahaha'.
[Lieyang Brand Express, safe arrival at home, fast and worry-free!]
[Killing them to send them home, or blowing them home with a tornado? You can choose either express method.]
[Lieyang Express has never disappointed when it comes to sending people home [Doge.jpg]]
[Sending you home, remember to give a five-star rating~]
Vanessa was blown home and failed to clear the final wave of minions. Ye Shaoyang quickly swapped equipment in front of the crystal, bought an attack speed knife, and pushed the crystal with the minions, winning the first game.
He took his hands off the keyboard, very satisfied with the result.
The kill score was 1:1, but he won in the end.
He found that [Storm Goddess] was quite useful against this kind of melee assassin. Of course, the prerequisite was that the prediction was on point and the skills were accurate. Otherwise, if you rolled out a tornado, you'd only catch a ball of air.
For the first time, Vanessa felt the urge to vomit blood.
This Lieyang, his gameplay was truly infuriating!
She took a deep breath to adjust her mindset and started the Second Game.
In the second game, she chose [Bloodclad Assassin]. This was the assassin with the highest burst, but the risk was greater; highest damage could only be dealt at low health, making it easy to fail a kill and get counter-killed. Ye Shaoyang chose [Holy Spirit Mage] for survival. [Holy Spirit Mage] was the tankiest mage, and had a sealing Ultimate that could lock the opponent in place.
Theoretically, [Holy Spirit Mage] had a high chance of winning against [Bloodclad Assassin]. After all, with high defense, the Bloodclad Assassin couldn't necessarily one-shot him. But Vanessa played extremely risky in the second game. Perhaps Ye Shaoyang's strategy of blowing her around in the first game depressed her, so in the second game, she directly self-harmed to approach, trading life for life.
She would trade even if it meant death.
The kill score went 1:1, 2:2. One more kill would decide the winner.
Ye Shaoyang thought she would stabilize at such a critical moment and look for opportunities slowly. But he didn't expect this sister to be so ferocious. She directly lowered her own health to 1 HP, suddenly Flashed over, and one-shot Ye Shaoyang with a burst combo!
Although she died too, the judgment of death order placed her killing Ye Shaoyang first, and Ye Shaoyang killing her second. So, Vanessa won this round.
The score was 1:1. Ye Shaoyang rubbed his fingers, preparing for the third game.
Game 3 (Decider). Blind pick; opponents' choices were invisible.
Vanessa chose [Demon Hunter], a mid-range control jungler with long reach, unafraid of being zoned from minions.
Ye Shaoyang chose the assassin-mage [Illusionist], simple and crude, capable of one-shotting people with a burst combo.
In the early game, Vanessa had a slight advantage, controlling Ye Shaoyang to take First Blood.
But Ye Shaoyang fought back immediately, not suffering any loss.
Both sides knew this game would decide the winner, and they fought fiercely.
After the kill score became 2:2, Vanessa used the brush as cover, hiding there intending to launch a sneak attack and take the third head. The audience with the God's-eye view watched helplessly as Ye Shaoyang walked past the bush she was hiding in, their hearts in their throats.
However, as if he had precognition, Ye Shaoyang turned his head with great instinct. Suddenly, he threw a Q-skill into the bush, knocking the hiding Vanessa out. He immediately followed up with a W-R combo. Dazzling purple illusion shards rained down from the sky, killing Vanessa and sending her home in one wave!
—VICTORY!
The golden text popping up on the screen made the domestic audience erupt collectively!
The livestream room was flooded with '666'. Yao Mu's voice trembled with excitement: "Congratulations to Lieyang for winning the semifinal victory and successfully breaking into the S10 World Invitational Solo Finals! Lieyang has also become the first Omega player in history to make it to the Solo Finals!"
Brother Dong said, "From not being favored at the start to now becoming the biggest dark horse of the S10 World Invitational, killing his way into the finals in one breath—Lieyang has created a miracle once again!"
On stage, Ye Shaoyang left the soundproof booth to shake hands with Vanessa.
Vanessa seemed a bit dazed, unable to accept the result. Ye Shaoyang stood in front of her for a moment before she snapped back to reality. She stood up, shook hands with Ye Shaoyang, and raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I was hiding there?"
Ye Shaoyang smiled and said, "Because I have a jungler teammate with top-tier awareness. He knows where you like to hide."
Vanessa paused, then realized. "You mean Moonlight?"
Ye Shaoyang: "Yes."
Vanessa shook his hand with a complicated expression. "Congratulations."
When he returned backstage, Chairman Qiu walked up to Ye Shaoyang excitedly and patted him on the shoulder. "Good job, you made the finals!"
Ye Shaoyang couldn't help but ask, "Chairman, did you never think that I might win the championship?"
Chairman Qiu had certainly thought about it, but only secretly; he was embarrassed to say it out loud.
Because if he said it, others would think he was boasting shamelessly.
It just seemed unlikely, right? Lieyang was a rookie, and a mid-laner at that. Solo Champion? There were so many excellent assassins and fighters in the world; for a mage to break through their siege?
It was as hard as ascending to heaven.
But now, Lieyang had actually created a miracle and killed his way into the finals…
Nothing was impossible!
Chairman Qiu smiled until his eyes narrowed. "I believe you can take the championship!"
Over these past few days, Chairman Qiu had discovered a strange phenomenon. Lieyang's mentality was exceptionally good. He could convert even the greatest pressure into motivation. Instead of telling him "winning or losing doesn't matter," it was better to tell him "I believe you can win."
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Ye Shaoyang said seriously, "I will play well in tomorrow's final. I've already reached the last step. If I shrink back now, I'd be letting down everyone who supports me."
As he said this, he looked back at Chi Shuo, meeting Chi Shuo's gentle gaze perfectly.
Chi Shuo mouthed, "Fighting."
Ye Shaoyang smiled and mouthed back, "I know."
The players from the China region returned to the hotel together. They didn't dare eat out indiscriminately during the competition, lest they get an upset stomach and lose more than they gained. Chairman Qiu promised to treat everyone to a good BBQ meal after the competition was over.
The group stayed in the hotel to watch the second semifinal match.
In the next match, the civil war between Kim Min-jun and Han Chang-ho ended with Han Chang-ho's victory.
Han Chang-ho was the teammate of Choi Hyuk and Park Won-seok, the main top-laner of the ATB team. Last year, he had won the S9 Team World Championship with them. He had rich tournament experience and a calm, seasoned playstyle. Plus, having world-class mid and jungle teammates by his side all the time, his skill level had also advanced by leaps and bounds.
The Korean media always touted Choi Hyuk and Park Won-seok as the world's number one mid-jungle duo, so Han Chang-ho was naturally praised as the world's number one top-laner.
The Korean region's recommended players this year were the Choi Hyuk/Park Won-seok duo and Kim Min-jun for solo. After all, if all three players came from the ATB team, other teams would have objections, and Kim Min-jun had more seniority. So, the Korean Professional League pushed Kim Min-jun, and Han Chang-ho didn't get a recommendation spot.
He had fought his way into the Invitational from the Wild Card qualifiers.
With an undefeated record, ranking first—a dark horse from the Wild Card region.
Seeing the matchup list for the finals, the Korean forums began to party.
Especially the fans of team ATB, who were ready to celebrate: "Duo Tournament, ATB Mid-Jungle champion; Solo Tournament, ATB Top-laner champion. This year is truly a perfect ending!"
"ATB, the well-deserved World No. 1 Team!"
Some people also questioned Ye Shaoyang's strength.
"That Chinese Omega just has better luck. He hasn't met our Korean players along the way. The finals will let him know the gap in strength!"
"Exactly, if he had drawn Kim Min-jun, he might not have won."
"Vanessa's assassin is far worse than our Oppa Kim Min-jun."
"The overall strength of the China region is poor. This Lieyang really has exploding luck."
"Unlucky draw. If it were Kim Min-jun vs. Lieyang and Han Chang-ho vs. Vanessa, our two Korean players would have advanced to the finals together. Because of the draw, China's Lieyang picked up a freebie."
"Anyway, he'll get silver at most. In my heart, Han Chang-ho is first, and Kim Min-jun is second!"
Yao Mu was almost laughing with anger reading these comments. Did Korean netizens not put Yang-yang in their eyes at all? Saying he got to the finals because of luck?
Just because he came from the China region, which hadn't won a world championship in recent years, did they have to look down on him like this?
Suppressing the anger in her heart, Yao Mu sent a message to Ye Shaoyang: "Yang-yang, we are always right behind you! Don't think about anything else, focus on preparing for tomorrow's match. Fighting!"
Ye Shaoyang replied with a smiley face: "Don't worry Sister Mu, I will ^_^"
For some reason, seeing this smiley face, Yao Mu suddenly felt relieved.
She knew that Ye Shaoyang was a player who could always bring surprises and create miracles.
And he would certainly maintain that miracle until the very end.