LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

On the competition stage, the two players took their seats.

BP officially begins.

As it was the first game of a best-of-five series, both sides were testing each other. G2, on the blue side, banned SuMo's Fiora, Camille, and AChen's Sejuani in their first three picks.

EDG, as usual, removed Vi, Rakan, and Lucian.

In the battle between the first and second floors, G2 directly locked in their signature mid laner, Kaps' Sylas, and jungler Maokai.

EDG secured Syndra for Xiaoyue and Aphelios for Leave.

Entering the second round of BP.

G2 reserved the fifth counter pick for their top laner, Bi Bi.

"Oh? G2 revealed something bright green on the fifth floor!" Guan Zeyuan suddenly raised his voice, "Bio-maniac Zac!! G2 really picked Zac in the top lane!! In the current version, this champion is incredibly tanky in the top lane with Grasp of the Undying, and his passive Cell Division gives him extremely strong lane sustain and tower diving ability! It's disgusting!"

"This is going to turn the top lane into a complete mess." Miller frowned. "Zac is a champion that doesn't compete with you in terms of skill; he just clears waves and heals. So what should Mozi, the fifth pick on EDG, pick to counter him? If he picks Renekton or Darius, it's actually very difficult to solo kill him in the early game."

All eyes were once again focused on the fifth floor of the red team.

Su Mo sat in the gaming chair, looking at the Zac avatar on the other side.

Want to use a cheap, overpowered hero to rack up game time under the tower? Don't want to work overtime?
There is no such option for a seven-time champion.

"Choose this one," Su Mo said calmly over the voice message.

"Scissors, a glimmer of light, and a needle and thread!"

Gwen the Spirit Doll!!!
"Gwen!! Mozi has picked out the extremely lethal magic-based carry Gwen!" Guan Zeyuan shouted, "Gwen's passive percentage magic damage is simply the bane of all tanks! This game, the top lane is an ultimate clash between spear and shield!"

Game loading.

Welcome to Summoner's Rift!

The director kept the camera firmly focused on the top lane. Everyone knew that whenever Mo played, the top lane would inevitably see the most brutal confrontations.

However, in the first five minutes of the game, Su Mo played exceptionally steadily.

Facing Zac equipped with Doran's Shield and Grasp of the Undying, Su Mo's Gwen didn't blindly engage in a trade. Instead, he used his Q skill, Quickcut, to stack stacks of damage along the edge of the minion wave, precisely last-hitting each minion.

Seeing that Gwen wasn't putting up a fight, Bi Bi's Zac grew bolder. He tentatively used his Q skill, Extended Strike, to pull a minion, trying to whittle down Gwen's health.

Just as Zach stretched out his arm!
A cold glint flashed in Su Mo's eyes.

Full stacks of Q skill!
Gwen's giant scissors instantly opened and slashed down directly at Zack's face!

"Snap! Snap!"

With the crisp sound of the scissors closing, the true damage in the center area was triggered. Zac not only lost a large chunk of health, but the slime block that fell to the ground was also crushed by Su Mo with a very delicate little step, cutting off Zac's recovery!
"What exquisite micro-management! Mozi not only dealt maximum damage, but also stepped on Zac's passive slime! This trade was incredibly costly!"

Six minutes later, both sides reached level six.

Su Mo's Gwent had already out-farmed Zac by a full twenty CS, pushing the minion wave into G2's top lane tower.

Just then, G2's jungler Maokai circled around from the Krugs position, and mid laner Kaps' Sylas abandoned the mid lane minions and rushed to the top lane from the river!

"G2 is going after Mozi! Their jungler and mid laner are both here! This is a 3v1 stalemate!" Miller exclaimed. "Gwen is positioned too deep; she has absolutely no way out!"

Surrounded by three people, Su Mo picked up the thermos cup on the corner of the table, quickly took a sip of water, and then put his hands back on the keyboard.

"Trying to capture me? Have you calculated the damage you'll cause?"

The giant tree initiated the attack, its ultimate ability, Nature's Grasp, covering the entire area under the tower. Zac also activated his E ability, Elastic Slingshot, charging up under the tower, preparing to slam Gwen into the air. Sylas, meanwhile, used his E ability to close the gap, stealing Syndra's ultimate to unleash a burst of damage.

At this critical moment!
Su Mo activated his W skill – [Silk Thread Entanglement]!
A holy blue barrier unfolded beneath Gwen's feet.

"Gwen's immunity!!!"

All crowd control and damage outside of the W skill's barrier are nullified! Maokai's ultimate passed through Gwent's body without causing any root effect!

At the same time, Zac's E skill landed inside Gwen's barrier.

Su Mo did not back down. Instead, he faced the falling Zac and activated his ultimate skill, [Needle Shot]!
The first part of Su Mo's ultimate skill, the flying needles, hit Zac, slowing him down. Then, Su Mo used his E skill, Intermittent Dash, to dodge the center of Zac's knock-up, and unleashed a full stack of his Q skill, relentlessly slashing at Zac and Sylas who had just charged into the barrier!

The true damage melted Zac's health bar instantly, like cutting through tofu, and forced him to unleash his passive ability to split into four pieces.

"Zac's passive has been triggered! But Mozi is still tanking the tower! Sylas's damage is also very high!"

Su Mo completely ignored Sylas who was attacking him. He used the second stage of his ultimate skill, the flying needles, to pierce Sylas again. The extremely high amount of health regeneration allowed him to stand firm under the attack of the turret.

Then, the third ultimate move! Three thick flying needles, carrying devastating magical damage, instantly emptied Sylas's health bar!
"EDG.Mo has killed G2.Kaps!"

After killing the mid laner, Su Mo calmly followed up with a basic attack, shredding Zac's last split body.

"Double Kill!"

"Double kill!!! Despite being ganked by three opponents under the tower, Mozi used a perfectly executed W skill to evade fatal crowd control and turn the tables, killing the enemy mid and top laners!!!" Guan Zeyuan stood up abruptly in the commentary booth, his voice hoarse. "That's Mozi!! Your three-man gank was just an appetizer delivered to his doorstep!!"

Seeing that things were going badly, the remaining jungler Maokai was so frightened that he immediately used Flash to escape from the turret's range.

Meanwhile, Su Mo's Gwent, stepping over two corpses and with only a sliver of health left, calmly walked out of the turret's attack range.

Fifteen minutes.

With two kills and the gold from the first tower, Gwen immediately bought Rift Slayer and Nashor's Tooth.

This game has completely turned into a one-sided massacre.

In the subsequent Rift Herald and Dragon team fights, Su Mo's Gwent was like an unstoppable divine weapon. As soon as the barrier was activated, G2's formation was instantly torn apart like paper.

At 22 minutes, EDG, with the Baron buff, swiftly and decisively destroyed G2's base.

A terrifying 22 to 3 kill ratio.

The second and third games followed a remarkably similar script. No matter what strategies G2 employed, they all proved futile in the face of overwhelming superior skill.

3-0! EDG swept aside their opponents and won their first BO5 of MSI with overwhelming force, advancing to the next round!
"Let's congratulate EDG!! In this BO5, Mozi showed God what true top lane art is!"

After the match, in the back corridor of the Copperbox Stadium in London.

Su Mo, carrying his peripheral bag, walked towards the lounge with his teammates, who were excitedly discussing what kind of big meal they would have that evening.

Just then, a petite figure wearing a black baseball cap and a large gray hooded sweatshirt peeked out from behind the emergency exit door in the corridor, like a thieving kitten.

Because she was wearing a black mask, only a pair of cool yet cunning peach blossom eyes were visible.

Su Mo paused slightly, and a smile instantly spread across his deep, abyss-like eyes. He turned to Ming Kai and the team members and said, "You guys go back to the rest room first. I ran into a friend and need to say a few words."

"Okay, okay, Brother Mo." Chen and the others didn't think much of it and walked away.

Once the corridor was empty, the petite figure immediately nestled into Su Mo's arms like a fledgling swallow returning to its nest.

"Teacher Su! You were so handsome on stage today, I almost couldn't breathe!"

Lin Xuan took off her mask, looked up at him with her breathtakingly beautiful face, even without makeup, her eyes sparkling.

Su Mo stretched out his large hand and naturally put his arm around her slender waist, leading her into a hidden safety passage nearby.

"Didn't I tell you not to come to the scene? There are a lot of international students and domestic media in London. What if you get photographed?" Su Mo's voice carried a hint of reproach, but his movements were extremely gentle as he tidied her hair that had been messed up by her hat.

"I don't care, I just want to see you win as soon as possible." Lin Xuan pouted, like a wronged little wife. "I found a high-level executive at Tencent and got an internal VIP pass in my private name. I went through the staff entrance, and no one saw me."

As she spoke, she took out a mint candy that was still warm from her body from her hoodie pocket, unwrapped it, and stood on tiptoe to put it into Su Mo's mouth.

"This is a reward for you. The commentators were praising you just now, and I was sitting down there feeling incredibly proud. Because that arrogant man on stage, who seemed like a god, is mine." Lin Xuan declared her ownership domineeringly.

Feeling the refreshing minty taste in his mouth, Su Mo chuckled softly. He lowered his head and, in a dimly lit corner away from all cameras, pressed a kiss onto her lips with extreme restraint yet boundless affection.

"I accept the reward. Which hotel did you book in London?"

"It's right next to your team's hotel, just across the street." Lin Xuan blinked, a sly, seductive glint in her eyes.

"Okay. I'll come find you tonight after the team finishes their debriefing." Su Mo's voice became even lower.

On this rainy night in a foreign land, although the smoke from the competition had not yet dissipated, for Su Mo, the real "off-get off work time" had just begun.

11 p.m. London time.

EDG's post-match debriefing meeting has ended. Mingkai closed his laptop and told the players to go back to their rooms to rest.

Su Mo returned to his room, changed into a black waterproof trench coat, put on a black baseball cap, picked up his room key, and went out. He avoided the lobby staff and exited the hotel through a side door.

The rain in London hadn't stopped. The streets were wet, and the streetlights cast long shadows in the puddles. Su Mo crossed two streets and arrived at a hotel called The Savoy.

Upon arriving on the sixth floor, Su Mo knocked on the door of room 6012. Two long knocks followed by one short knock—this was the pre-arranged code.

The door was quickly pulled open. Lin Xuan, wearing a loose white T-shirt and shorts, pulled him into the room and then quickly locked the door.

The room was filled with the rich aroma of braised beef noodles.

Su Mo took off his rain-soaked trench coat and hung it behind the door. He glanced at the two instant noodle cups on the coffee table, then walked over and sat down on the sofa.

"I really can't stand the food here anymore." Lin Xuan sat cross-legged next to him, took a dry towel, and helped him wipe the moisture off his hair. "This afternoon, I went to a restaurant and ordered a Stargazing Pie. The fish head was staring at me, and I threw up on the spot. I had to ask my assistant to go to Chinatown to buy some instant noodles from China."

Su Mo picked up the untouched instant noodles from the table, broke open the disposable chopsticks, picked up a noodle, and took a bite.

"Make do with this." He swallowed his food. "Don't wander around these next few days. If there's anything you want to buy, send me the list and I'll have the team leader buy it."

Lin Xuan rested her chin on her hand, watching Su Mo's profile as he ate noodles, a smile curving her eyes: "I'm not buying anything. I'll just stay at the hotel and watch you guys play. Who's next?"

“T1.” Su Mo took a sip of soup and put down the paper tube.

"Is that the Korean team with lots of female fans?" Lin Xuan blinked. "Their top laner seems to be an 18-year-old prodigy, and a lot of people online are comparing him to you."

Su Mo pulled out a tissue and wiped his mouth. He leaned back on the sofa and pulled Lin Xuan into his arms.

"Eighteen years old, your skills are indeed impressive." Su Mo stroked her long hair. "But competitions aren't just about skills. Get some sleep, I have to go back to the base for practice matches tomorrow morning."

Lin Xuan nestled obediently against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. The room temperature was just right on this rainy night in a foreign land.

……

Two days later.

In EDG's training room, a replay of T1's match against LCS's C9 team was playing on the screen.

T1 dominated the three games, winning decisively. Top laner Zeus, in particular, secured three consecutive solo kills against his lane opponent, showcasing an impressive record.

"Zeus is on fire." Abu pressed the pause button, and the screen froze on the moment Zeus' Jayce blasted the enemy AD with a single shot. "Oner has been protecting him in the top half of the map almost the entire game, and Faker has also been using his teleport to help him. T1's tactical intention is very clear: they want to rely on Zeus to break through the defense."

Ah Chen scratched his head: "Then how do we fight? I also live with Brother Mo on the road?"

"No need." Su Mo sat in the gaming chair, unscrewed the thermos, and took a sip of water.

He pointed to the small map on the screen.

“Pay attention to Oner’s jungle clearing route. Every time he goes to the top lane, he will first take the Raptors or Gromp. It’s a habitual action.” Su Mo’s voice was calm. “Zeus likes to push the lane. Every time he controls the lane beyond the river, he will definitely move towards the bush. Because he is afraid of being ganked, he wants to use the bush to block vision.”

Mingkai stared at the video for a few seconds, then his eyes lit up: "Indeed! He was subconsciously on defense, but his positioning exposed his weakness."

"Chen, you don't need to worry about the top lane this game." Su Mo put down his water glass. "Go help the bottom lane. Force T1's bottom duo back to base, and they won't dare to control the dragon. As for Zeus, leave him to me."

……

MSI group stage, winners' bracket semifinals.

EDG vs. T1.

The clash between the top seeds from the China and South Korea regions filled the London Copperbox Stadium to capacity. The tension reached its peak the moment the two players stepped onto the stage.

In the commentary booth, Guan Zeyuan and Miller were on high alert. (End of Chapter)