LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

"Ah Chen, there's a fake monkey. You pick Vi, use your ultimate to lock him down, he can't escape." Ming Kai's thinking was extremely clear, and he set the tone directly in the voice chat.

"clear."

EDG's fourth-floor icon lit up instantly, locked on!
Vi, the Piltover Enforcer!
"Vi! EDG has picked an extremely aggressive lock-on jungler on the fourth floor!" Wawa exclaimed loudly. "Achen's Vi pick is excellent. Didn't JDG want to use Wukong to wreak havoc in the battlefield? My Vi's ultimate will pin you down in place, and it can also coordinate with Annie to create a chain of point-and-click crowd control, leaving your Lucian with no room to deal damage!"

The pressure instantly flowed back to JDG.

They still need to determine the mid laner and top laner positions.

Coach Homme paced back and forth behind the bench, his mind racing. EDG's lineup was beginning to take shape: Annie, Vi, and Rakan—these three champions possessed outrageous initiation capabilities. If they added a mage without self-defense in the mid lane, team fights would be instantly melted.

"Knight, take Azir in mid lane. He has long range, can push walls to protect himself, and in the late game, we still have a way to turn the game around." Coach Homme patted Knight on the shoulder.

Knight took a deep breath and nodded. He knew how much pressure this put on him; the opposing mid laner was Annie with crowd control abilities, and if he was careless and got stunned, Vi's fists would mercilessly come crashing down on him.

JDG's fourth-floor pick: [Azir, the Emperor of the Sands]!
"Azir! Knight picked Azir! This was a very solid pick, and it also made up for JDG's lack of sustained magic damage in the late game," Miller analyzed.

Now, all eyes are on JDG's fifth floor, which is 369's top lane position.

"369, you get Ornn. You only have one task this game: no matter what the enemy picks, you just stay under the tower like a rock. Staying alive is your biggest contribution. Get us items when you reach level 11 and drag the game into the late game." Coach Homme's tone was filled with deep helplessness.

The once-prodigious top laner who rolled "999" on the field and dominated the battlefield can now only hide his sharpness and become a pure punching bag in front of this seven-time champion.

369 closed his eyes, concealing the bitterness in them: "Okay, give me Ornn."

JDG's fifth-floor avatar lit up.

"I roar beneath the furnace!"

[Ornn, the Mountain's Hidden Flame]! Locked on!

"Ornn!! 369 locked Ornn on the fifth floor!!!" Wawa shouted, "As expected! JDG, forced into a desperate situation, chose to make the top lane completely vulnerable. Ornn is a champion whose ability to withstand pressure is absolutely top-tier in the entire league, and he can also provide items for his teammates in the late game. JDG has put all their eggs in one basket on their two carries!"

Zz1tai, watching from the commentary booth, chuckled with a hint of schadenfreude: "Hey, 369 is really wearing a mask of pain this game. He just begged the coach to ban Jayce and Kennen, because he was afraid of being tormented by ranged champions. Now that he's picked Ornn, as long as he stays under the tower, he should be able to survive this game peacefully, right?"

The live stream chat was flooded with comments.

[That's so tragic. A dignified 369, forced to choose Ornn as a blacksmith.]

[If you can't beat them, join the tank alliance. No problem.]

[Mozi can't just pick Sion to go head-to-head with Ornn this game, can he?]

[With Jayce and Kennen banned earlier, there are basically no ranged champions left to counter melee champions. 369's move was very smart.]

However, just when everyone thought that the top lane was about to see an extremely boring tank melee battle,

Finally, it was Su Mo's turn to make the final decision in the fifth-floor counter position for the red team EDG.

"Mozi, the enemy has an Ornn." Mingkai stood behind Su Mo, looking at JDG's lineup. "They want to drag the game into the late game. How about you pick Gwen? Or Aatrox (assuming there are other tanky champions here, based on the previous setup) and just go for it?"

Su Mo held the thermos and took a sip of water.

He stared at the honest, red-shelled white sheep icon opposite him, his deep eyes filled with nothing but extreme cruelty, devoid of any pity.

"Afraid of long arms getting worn out?"

Su Mo put down the thermos and gently slid his left hand across the mouse.

"You want to just sit here like a stone under the tower and waste your life?"

A cold, death-like smile curved his lips.

"Then I will break this stone into pieces, bit by bit."

A portrait of a cold-blooded female archer wearing red goggles, wielding a huge crossbow, and exuding an aura of darkness and slaughter suddenly lit up on the fifth floor of EDG!
Let us hunt down those who have fallen into darkness!

Vayne, the Night Hunter!
locking!!!

The entire room fell silent.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

"boom!!!"

The entire Hongqiao Performing Arts Center seemed to have been hit by a bomb, erupting in an unprecedented, earth-shattering roar!

"Holy crap!!!!"

The commentator jumped up on the podium, clutching his hair tightly, his voice cracking with shock: "Vayne?! Top lane Vayne?! Mozi, on the fifth floor of the red side, locked in top lane Vayne against 369's Ornn!!!"

Miller's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, his hand trembling violently as he pointed at the screen: "It's insane! Absolutely insane!! JDG planned everything meticulously, banning Jayce, banning Kennen, all to avoid being tormented by ranged champions! But they never anticipated that Mozi would pull out the bane of all melee tanks in the top lane—Vacuum Hunter!!!"

Zita, standing nearby, burst into laughter, coughing and slapping his thigh repeatedly: "Hahahaha! This is too damn cruel!! Brothers, what is true torture?! Top lane Vayne versus Ornn! This isn't laning, this is practically the Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty!! 369 doesn't even deserve to get experience this game!!!"

After a brief pause, the barrage of comments in the live stream exploded like an avalanche, so much so that the live stream platform experienced a brief lag!
[Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!!! Top lane Vayne! Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!]

[369: Coach, I'm retiring. I'm quitting. This game is unplayable!]

[JDG's coaching staff was completely stunned, hahaha! What's the point of banning Jayce and Kennen?! You forgot about the true damage monster!]

Is this the seven-time champion? He single-handedly ruined the top lane meta!

[Top lane Vayne, flying through the air! But if Mozi plays her, it's truly a god descending to earth!]

[With this draft pick, JDG's mentality had already collapsed. I could practically hear 369's heart breaking through the screen.]

In JDG's battle zone.

The moment 369 saw the heavy crossbow hunter lock onto him, his body stiffened abruptly.

He stared blankly at the screen, his lips trembling violently, his face turning deathly pale, as if he had seen some extremely terrifying ghost.

"Vayne...he picked Vayne..." 369's voice trembled with a clear hint of tears. He knew all too well what it meant for this champion to face a short-range tank in the top lane: the absolute punishment of the three-hit true damage, an endless hell of kiting!
Coach Homme stood behind him, feeling a sudden wave of dizziness.

He meticulously designed the draft, thinking he had seen through all the long-range options, but he overlooked the ultimate counter that was almost forgotten in the professional top lane but infamous in ranked games!
"Stay...stay calm..." Homme forced out a dry voice, but he knew how weak and powerless those words were. "Kanavi, in the early game...go check on the top lane more often."

Kanavi looked at Vayne and swallowed hard: "Coach, she has Q (Dodge Strike), E (Demon Sentence), and can push people away. My Wukong can't kill her at all in the early game..."

Despair. An extremely intense sense of despair had already enveloped the entire JDG soundproof booth even before the match began.

On the other hand, let's look at EDG.

Mingkai stared at Su Mo locking up Vayne, paused for a moment, and then burst out laughing.

"Mozi, you're really going too far." Mingkai patted the back of Su Mo's gaming chair, his tone full of extremely pleasant satisfaction. "This top lane is yours. Go ahead and torture him as much as you want."

Ah Chen and Xiao Yue were also trying hard not to laugh in the voice message.

"Brother Mo, your move completely destroyed 369's soul. I won't go in first, let him despair for a while," Ah Chen said with a wicked smile.

Su Mo held the thermos, took a sip of water, and remained calm, like an emotionless statue.

“I don’t torture people,” he said calmly, his deep eyes fixed on the screen. “I’m only responsible for crushing their hopes.”

On the big screen, the final lineups for both sides were displayed, creating an extremely contrasting comparison.

Blue side (JDG):
Top Lane: Ornn, the Mountain Hermit (369)

Jungler: Sun Wukong (Kanavi)

Mid Lane: Azir, the Emperor of the Sands (Knight)

ADC: Lucian, the Purifier (Ruler)

Support: Nami, the Tidecaller

Red Team (EDG):
Top Lane: Vayne, the Night Hunter (Mo)

Jungler: Vi (Achen), the Piltover Enforcer

Mid Lane: Annie, the Dark Child (Xiaoyue)

ADC: Niyu—Xia (Leave)

Support: Vamp - Phantom Feather

"Both lineups confirmed! Time for final adjustments!" Wawa took a deep breath, trying to calm her excited emotions. "The biggest highlight of this game is undoubtedly the top lane! How much pressure will Mozi's Vayne exert in this decisive game? And can 369's Ornn withstand the pressure and drag the game out until he reaches his power spike?"

Miller continued his analysis: "Looking at the overall lineup, JDG's offensive strategy was extremely strong this game. The Luna duo, combined with Wukong's engage, resulted in extremely high burst damage in mid-game team fights. However, EDG's lineup countered perfectly. Annie and Vi's pinpoint kills, and Rakan's counter-engage, effectively limited JDG's two carries. And the biggest X-factor was Mozi's Vayne!"

"This game will depend on how big a hole Mozi can create in the top lane!" Zz1tai chuckled. "As long as Vayne becomes an unstoppable monster on the sideline, JDG's lineup, which relies on head-on team fights, will be completely stretched to the point of collapse."

At the center of the stage, the BP countdown ended.

Coach Homme and Mingkai simultaneously removed their headphones, walked to the center of the stage, and shook hands.

Mingkai strode forward with an extremely confident smile on his face; while Homme walked with heavy steps, his face so gloomy it seemed like it could drip water.

The two held hands.

Mingkai could clearly feel that Homme's palms were covered in cold sweat.

“Your tactics…we’ll figure them out sooner or later,” Homme said in a low voice in extremely broken Chinese, trying to salvage the last bit of face for the head coach.

Mingkai smiled slightly, his eyes revealing an arrogance that looked down on everything.

“Breaking the routine is easy.” Mingkai released his hand, turned and walked backstage, leaving behind only a light but weighty sentence, “But what you are facing is not a routine, but his absolute personal strength.”

The director's camera swept across the huge championship trophy in a very beautiful way, and finally settled on the main screen.

"boom!"

Accompanied by extremely powerful sound effects, the loading screen ended.

The entire stadium erupted in the most deafening countdown of the night!

"three!"

"two!"

"one!"

Welcome to Summoner's Rift!

As the ethereal female voice of the system echoed throughout the venue, ten beams of light descended from the sky, each emerging from its own spring.

The third game of the do-or-die battle, the showdown that will determine whether JDG can survive or EDG will be eliminated in a flash, has officially begun!
The director's camera immediately locked onto the female hunter wielding a heavy crossbow and wearing a dark red cloak.

Su Mo's Vayne bought some equipment.

When the commentators and audience saw the items in his inventory, a collective gasp rippled through the stadium once again.

The director's camera precisely locked onto the Night Hunter, who had just been born in the spring.

When the commentators and the entire audience saw the faintly glowing piece of equipment lying in Su Mo's inventory, the entire venue erupted in another incredulous gasp.

[Extract], plus a bottle of life potion!
Summoner Spells: Flash and Ghost!
"Extract?! Taking Extract to fight Ornn?!" The doll covered his head with his hands, his voice trembling. "This is inhuman! Extract's stats are extremely weak, it's a greedy item for farming gold! Mozi is treating 369 like a giant mobile minion!"

Miller gasped in shock: "Not only that, look at his Summoner Spells! He didn't take Teleport, he took Ghost! This is taking kiting and chasing to the extreme! In this game, as long as Ornn dares to cross the river, or even leave the turret, once he gets Ghosted, he won't have anywhere to run!"

Zita laughed, his face flushed: "My goodness, if 369 opens the scoreboard and sees this Vayne without even a Doran's Blade, he's probably cursing the hell out of her. This is the ultimate contempt from a seven-time champion!"

The chat room was in an uproar, with some JDG fans even resorting to insults, but most of the comments were filled with awe and reverence for this extreme arrogance.

[If this weren't Mo, I would have called him a feeder. Taking Cull and playing top lane, does he really think he's playing against bots?]

This is too cruel; it's not just about killing someone, it's about destroying their spirit!

[369: Referee, can I request to surrender after 15 minutes?]

At 1 minute and 30 seconds, the entire army launched an attack.

Accompanied by the rousing bugle call, the two sides' minion waves converged on the top lane.

Olaf of 369... no, this time he has been beaten into an honest and simple Ornn, wearing Doran's Shield, standing extremely humbly behind his own ranged units, not even daring to approach the melee units.

He knew all too well the overwhelming pressure Vayne exerted at level one.

But Su Mo's actions were even more aggressive than he had imagined. (End of Chapter)