LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

As a man who has fought his way up from Season 7 to the present and won all the world championships, Su Mo's status in the hearts of LCK players has long surpassed the category of "opponent" and is more like an insurmountable mountain.

Faker stopped and extended his right hand.

"You played very well, Su Mo," Faker said in accented English, his gaze calm yet burning with fighting spirit. "See you in the finals. As for the bans... we'll handle that."

Su Mo extended his hand and shook hands with his old rival. Their hands touched briefly before parting.

"I look forward to your preparations." Su Mo nodded, his tone gentle. There was no tension, only pure probing and respect between two men standing at the pinnacle of League of Legends.

Back in the backstage lounge, the EDG players had already packed up their peripherals. They chatted and laughed as they boarded the bus back to the hotel.

The train carriage was dimly lit, and the night view of Seoul rushed past the window.

Su Mo leaned back in her chair and took out her phone. The number of unread messages on WeChat had already reached "99+".

There are many familiar names.

TheShy sent a voice message, which, when played, revealed his signature broken Chinese: "Su Mo... awesome. Teemo... fun. I'll play him next time."

Doinb then flooded the screen with exclamation marks: "Bro, you're amazing! Your Teemo shot my stream to eight million viewers! You have to treat me to dinner when you get back!!"

Rookie's message was brief: "Old Song is impressed. You've probably made 369 dream about mushrooms tonight. Good luck in the finals."

Su Mo quickly replied to a few messages, then locked the screen and closed his eyes to rest.

It was already 11:30 p.m. when we arrived at the hotel.

The team members had played three high-intensity best-of-five matches and were exhausted. They all took their room keys and prepared to go upstairs to sleep.

Mingkai stopped Su Mo in the lobby: "Mozi, the commentary team has booked a barbecue party today to celebrate our advancement to the finals. The younger players are too tired, so let them go to sleep. As the captain, you should go and show your face, which will also help support everyone."

Su Mo glanced at the time and nodded: "Okay, send me the address."

After putting down his peripheral bag, Su Mo changed into a clean black casual trench coat and, following the address Ming Kai gave him, arrived at a high-end Korean BBQ restaurant near the hotel.

Pushing open the sliding door of the private room, the aroma of roasted meat mixed with a faint scent of perfume wafted out.

There was no one else in the private room except for the five beauties of the LPL commentary and hosting team.

Yu Shuang, Rita, Luo Xin, Xiao Yu, and hope Ran.

Today, all five girls ditched their formal business attire from the cameras and changed into their own casual clothes.

Yu Shuang wore a beige knitted cardigan over a fitted camisole, exuding a gentle yet mature charm; Rita wore a fitted black leather jacket with a short skirt, her long hair casually draped over her shoulders; Xi Ran wore a simple light blue sweater and black-rimmed glasses, appearing intellectual and relaxed; Luo Xin and Xiao Yu were dressed casually in hoodies, looking youthful and lively.

When Su Mo pushed the door open and entered, the private room was quiet for a second, then immediately became lively.

"Oh my, our hero has finally arrived." Yu Shuang stood up with a smile, pulling out the empty seat between herself and Rita. "Come on, I've saved a seat for you, we've been waiting for you."

Su Mo walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down. To his left was Yu Shuang, to his right was Rita, and opposite him sat hope Ran, Luo Xin, and Xiao Yu.

"This is quite a show," Su Mo joked, putting his thermos on the table. "I'm afraid if I eat this barbecue, I won't be able to leave Seoul's airport tomorrow."

"How could that be? You're the hope of the whole village right now." Luo Xin pushed the menu in front of Su Mo and said with a grin, "When you picked that Teemo today, our hearts skipped a beat in the commentary booth. If you lose, Brother Guan has already written eight hundred words of excuses."

“Guan Zeyuan wrote it for nothing.” Su Mo opened the menu and ordered several signature Wagyu beef dishes.

The meat sizzled on the grill. hope Ran picked up a glass of barley tea, poured one for Su Mo, and said softly in Korean, her eyes sparkling, "You answered the interview questions very well today, and your Korean pronunciation is even more accurate than before. Did you secretly get some tutoring from someone?"

Su Mo understood her teasing, took the teacup, and his fingertips inadvertently brushed against hope Ran's hand. His expression remained unchanged, and he replied in a low voice in Korean, "I didn't ask anyone, I'm just talented."

hope Ran's ears turned slightly red. She gave him a reproachful look and then lowered her head to flip the meat on the baking tray.

Xiaoyu rested her chin on her hand and looked at Su Mo: "Brother Mo, after you finished playing today, Lao Song was sending out a bunch of emojis in the base group chat. He said that in all his years of playing professionally, this is the first time he's seen someone treat the opposing team like a bot in the semifinals."

"He's just saying that. If we meet again in the next match, he'll still solo kill me." Su Mo smiled faintly.

The meat is cooked.

Yu Shuang picked up the scissors and skillfully cut the Wagyu beef into small pieces. She picked up the tenderest piece, dipped it in some sauce, and wrapped it up on a lettuce leaf.

Instead of placing the meat on Su Mo's plate, she leaned forward slightly and brought it directly to Su Mo's lips.

"Come on, open your mouth." Yu Shuang's voice was gentle and sweet, and her beautiful eyes were filled with obvious laughter. "You've been playing all night and used up so many brain cells. Eat something to replenish your energy."

The gesture was somewhat intimate. The other girls in the private room stopped eating and looked at them with amused expressions.

Su Mo did not back down, nor did he appear flustered. He calmly opened his mouth, took a bite of the bag of roasted meat, chewed a few times, and swallowed it.

"It tastes good. Thank you."

When Yu Shuang withdrew her hand, her fingertips seemingly unintentionally brushed against Su Mo's lips, wiping away a little sauce. She then took a tissue to wipe her hands, her smile widening.

Rita on the right gave a soft hum. She picked up the sake glass on the table and leaned closer to Su Mo.

Beneath the leather jacket, the alluring curves almost pressed against Su Mo's arm, and a scent mixed with roses and red wine wafted into Su Mo's nostrils.

"Brother Mo, the look in your eyes when you said 'five ban slots aren't enough' on stage today was absolutely priceless." Rita lowered her voice, leaned close to Su Mo's ear, and her warm breath brushed against his earlobe. "My legs were practically shaking when I was sitting in the audience. You usually seem so gentle and refined, how come you were so domineering on stage?"

Under the table, Rita's high heels slipped off gently, and her toes, clad in black stockings, brushed against Su Mo's calf, seemingly unintentionally.

Su Mo's expression remained unchanged. He picked up a wet wipe from the table, wiped his hands, and turned his head slightly to look at Rita's somewhat dazed eyes.

“A match needs a bit of momentum.” Su Mo’s voice remained calm, but his right hand gently pressed down on the troublesome ankle under the table, giving it a light squeeze. “Besides, if your legs are weak, drink less alcohol.”

Rita gasped softly as her foot was pinched, a blush rising to her cheeks. She obediently withdrew her foot, but the watery light in her eyes shone even brighter. Luo Xin, watching their little antics under the table, though she couldn't see clearly, guessed most of what was going on and couldn't help but tease, "Hey, Rita, tone it down a bit. Our Mozi brother needs to save his energy for the finals, don't drain him dry."

"Go away, eat your meat." Rita blushed and glared at Luo Xin.

The meal proceeded in a harmonious atmosphere. The five girls took turns offering Su Mo food and toasts under various pretexts. However, Su Mo, citing the rule that he couldn't drink alcohol before the finals, only drank water and barley tea from his thermos throughout the meal. The girls didn't press him, but the subtle back-and-forth between them continued.

In this circle, the strong are always the most attractive. Especially a legend like Su Mo, who has dominated since S7. His composure in the face of adversity is fatally attractive to these girls who have been in the e-sports circle for many years.

It was past 1 a.m. when we finished eating the barbecue.

After paying the bill and leaving the restaurant, the cold wind of Seoul's late night blew by, and the girls, dressed in thin clothes, couldn't help but hunch their shoulders.

Su Mo took off his oversized casual trench coat.

He didn't give it to anyone, but instead draped the trench coat over the shoulders of Yu Shuang, who was closest to him. Then he turned around, took a spare EDG light jacket from his bag, and handed it to hope Ran, who was rubbing her arms from the cold.

"Don't catch a cold, you still have to record a show tomorrow." Su Mo stood tall in the night breeze, wearing a thin long-sleeved T-shirt.

Yu Shuang pulled her trench coat, which carried Su Mo's body heat and a faint minty scent, tighter around her neck. Looking at his profile, her eyes were so tender they could melt water: "Aren't you cold?"

"I can withstand the cold." Su Mo flagged down two taxis and opened the car door.

He watched the girls board the bus one by one and waved from outside the bus.

"Go back and get some rest. See you in the finals."

Rita leaned against the car window, watching Su Mo's figure gradually disappear under the streetlights, and couldn't help but sigh: "This man, he doesn't even realize he's flirting with people, yet he maintains this maddening sense of propriety. He's truly a devil."

Yu Shuang leaned her head against the car window, her fingers gently stroking the collar of her trench coat, a smile playing on her lips.

The next day at noon, the Seoul sunlight streamed through the hotel's floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the soft bed in its warmth.

Su Mo yawned and slowly sat up from the covers. He picked up his phone and saw that it was already past 12:30.

He scratched his slightly messy hair, slipped on his slippers, and walked into the bathroom. After washing up, he habitually unscrewed his black thermos, filled it to the water dispenser in the hallway with hot water, and casually tossed in a few goji berries.

Pushing open the door to EDG's training room, the sounds of keyboards and mice clicking filled the room.

"Damn it! Why is this Korean jungler messing around like this?!" Ah Chen, wearing headphones, typed a string of words into the screen.

Xiao Yue was also frantically moving around on the sidelines: "I got matched with Zeus this game. His Jayce proficiency is really something. He's putting me under a lot of pressure."

With just a few days until the finals, several young players are getting up at 9 a.m. to play Korean solo queue in order to maintain their form. Even JackeyLove and Meiko are practicing their bot lane duo.

Su Mo pulled out his gaming chair, sat down, slowly blew on the steam from his cup, and took a sip of water. Then, he turned on his computer and skillfully entered his account and password.

A short while later, the familiar, crisp sound effect rang out.

Instead of opening the Korean server's ranked interface, he went straight into Teamfight Tactics.

"Clap."

Head coach Mingkai walked in, holding a thick stack of vision analysis data for T1. He scanned the training room, his gaze finally settling on Su Mo's screen. Watching the little heroes bouncing around on the chessboard, Mingkai's eyelids twitched involuntarily.

"Mozi, tomorrow is the media day for the finals, and you're playing chess again?" Mingkai asked helplessly, but not angrily. After all these years, he had long been used to Su Mo's behavior.

"The queues in the high ranks of the Korean server are too slow, so I'm killing some time." Su Mo manipulated the mouse, casually rolled a card, and got a three-star four-cost card. "Besides, fighting jungle monsters doesn't require much skill, just some mouse micro-management."

Chen, who was waiting to respawn, took off half of his earphone, turned around and looked at Su Mo with eyes full of admiration: "Brother Mo, you have no idea, the internet is full of praise for your tactical game yesterday. They say you picked Teemo to destroy JDG's psychological defenses, and that you played an epic psychological warfare mastery!"

Xiao Yue chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, there's a Bilibili creator who made a video overnight, analyzing frame by frame the location of that mushroom you had yesterday, saying you used the 'Qimen Dunjia' strategy from the military stratagem in Summoner's Rift, and it's already got over three million views!"

Upon hearing this, Su Mo paused for a moment, holding the thermos.

He turned his head, looked at the two newcomers whose eyes were sparkling, and said in a tone as calm as a glass of plain water: "Actually, I chose Teemo just because I didn't want to play tanks."

"Huh?" Ah Chen was stunned.

"Playing tanks in team fights is too tedious, it always drags on forty minutes." Su Mo sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Choose Teemo to push towers faster. I was starving after playing JDG yesterday, I was just thinking about getting off work early and having a late-night snack. What psychological warfare, netizens are overthinking it."

The training room was silent for two seconds.

Then, JackeyLove couldn't hold back and burst out laughing: "Damn, as expected of you, Mo Ge. The whole world thought you were on the fifth floor, but you just wanted to leave work on time. If 369 heard this, he'd probably be so angry he'd retire on the spot."

Mingkai was both amused and exasperated. The outside world had painted Su Mo as a godlike figure, a heartless killing machine, a ruthless tyrant on the field. But only those within EDG knew that he was essentially a lazy bum. His ability to dominate on the field was purely due to his solid fundamentals and his reluctance to work overtime.

He would never drag a game out to twenty-one minutes if he could tie it in twenty-two.

As they were talking, there was a gentle knock on the door of the training room.

"Go in," Mingkai replied.

The door opened, and Yu Shuang walked in, wearing a fitted light-colored trench coat and carrying several takeout iced Americanos. She also had the black coat Su Mo had lent her the night before draped over her arm.

"Sorry to disturb your training." Yu Shuang smiled and placed the coffee on the table. "I just happened to be passing by this coffee shop, so I picked up some drinks for everyone. Jack, Tianye, here's your iced Americano."

"Thank you, Sister Shuang!" The young people's eyes lit up, and they quickly took the coffee.

Yu Shuang walked behind Su Mo and gently draped the black trench coat, which carried a faint fragrance, over the back of his chair. Then, as if by magic, she took a delicate paper cup from her handbag and placed it next to Su Mo's thermos.

"I know you don't like iced drinks, so this is hot grapefruit tea, with less sugar." (End of Chapter)