LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

"Bang bang bang!"

A shower of confetti rained down on Su Mo's head and shoulders.

"Congratulations to our invincible Demon King for dominating the LPL once again!" Luo Xin jumped up excitedly and hugged Su Mo's arm. "Brother Mo, what you said in the interview today, 'Leaving get off work on time,' was so cool! My WeChat Moments are flooded with your posts!"

Rita walked forward with an extremely alluring air, naturally reaching out to pat the confetti off Su Mo's shoulder. Her captivating peach blossom eyes sparkled as she said, "To celebrate your victory, we personally prepared a huge late-night snack, just waiting for you to come back."

As Su Mo looked at the group of beautiful women, a rare, almost imperceptible tenderness flashed in the depths of his eyes, which were usually as cold as ice.

He took off his coat and handed it to Xiran very naturally, then rolled up his shirt sleeves and walked towards the restaurant.

"Wash your hands and eat."

Su Mo gave the instructions in an extremely calm manner, and then pulled out the chair in the main seat and sat down with great skill.

The girls immediately washed their hands obediently, like extremely well-behaved kittens, and sat down around him.

On the enormous dining table was an extremely lavish late-night snack. Although it didn't look as appealing as the top chefs at the Waldorf Astoria, for Su Mo, this was the place in the world where he could completely relax his tense nerves.

Xiaoyu thoughtfully served Su Mo a bowl of steaming chicken soup and carefully placed it in front of him.

Su Mo picked up the spoon and took a very slow sip.

"You added half a spoonful too much salt," he commented with remarkable precision.

"Oh dear! I told you Luo Xin's hand was shaking at the last moment!" Xiao Yu immediately pointed at Luo Xin with extreme grievance.

“It was clearly Rita who said it wasn’t salty enough!” Luo Xin retorted, extremely unconvinced.

Watching the girls bickering so vividly, Su Mo didn't say anything more, but just quietly drank the bowl of slightly salty chicken soup.

Yu Shuang sat down naturally to the side, pushed a plate of freshly peeled crab leg meat to Su Mo's side, and gently smiled to defuse the situation: "Alright, you guys don't need to take credit. Brother Mo fought so hard on the field today, this bowl of soup is to replenish his salt."

"Sister Yu is still the most supportive of Brother Mozi." hope Ran covered her mouth and chuckled, then turned around and took out a bottle of exquisitely packaged Romanée-Conti from the wine cabinet, along with several wine glasses. "But today is a joyous occasion, Brother Mozi. This is a wine that the boss gave you when you won the championship last year. You have to have a sip with us today, right?"

Su Mo put down the spoon and carefully wiped his hands with a damp towel. He glanced at the expensive bottle of red wine, his deep eyes showing little emotion.

"Half a cup," Su Mo said calmly.

"Yay! Long live Brother Mozi!" The girls cheered excitedly.

A deep, rich red liquid was poured into the wine glass. What was originally a cozy late-night snack gathering gradually became more lively under the influence of alcohol. Luo Xin and Xiao Yu pulled Rita into dancing to soft music in the spacious living room, while Yu Shuang sat quietly beside Su Mo, gently peeling shrimp for him.

It was during this extremely pleasant and relaxing moment.

"Boom—!"

Outside the window, an extremely thick bolt of purple lightning instantly tore through the night sky of Shanghai, followed by a thunderclap that seemed to explode right next to your ear!
The bright night was instantly swallowed up by an extremely violent early autumn rainstorm. The gale, mixed with large raindrops, pounded fiercely on the huge French windows like countless dense bullets.

"Ah!" Rita screamed in fright. She had been terrified of thunder since she was a child, and her body instinctively backed away.

But as she stepped back, she not only tripped on the edge of the carpet and lost her balance, but more importantly, in her panic, her slender arm slammed into the extremely heavy crystal decanter tower that was half a person tall!
The decanting tower emitted an extremely piercing screeching sound as it crashed straight down onto Rita, who was lying on the ground, and Luo Xin, who was completely unprepared beside her!
"Watch out!" Yu Shuang exclaimed in alarm, her face turning deathly pale instantly.

It all happened so fast that the slightly tipsy girls didn't have time to react at all.

But in Su Mo's eyes, it all seemed to have been slowed down countless times.

The terrifying dynamic vision and muscle reflexes displayed on the field also demonstrate an extremely inhuman level of dominance in reality.

Su Mo did not get up.

He simply extended his left hand with extreme composure, his palm leaving an afterimage in mid-air with remarkable precision, just like when he used Fiora's W skill to predict and block in the game!
"boom!"

The extremely heavy crystal decanter, filled with red wine, was held firmly by Su Mo's incredibly steady and powerful left hand, which was less than three centimeters from Rita's forehead.
His right hand, however, grabbed Luo Xin's collar with extreme force and speed, pulling her out of the potential blast radius of the shattered decanting tower as if she were a chick.

"Snap—"

Even though Su Mo held up the base, the fragile crystal of the upper part of the decanter tower still broke due to the violent inertia, and sharp glass shards mixed with dark red wine poured down violently.

Without even blinking, Su Mo smoothly flipped his left arm and used his forearm, clad in a black short-sleeved shirt, to shield Rita from all the extremely sharp shards of glass!
"Splash!"

The sound of shattering glass mingled abruptly with the thunder outside the window.

The living room fell into an utterly silent stillness.

“Mo…Brother Mo…” Rita collapsed to the ground, looking at Su Mo’s left hand, which was still holding the base of the decanter tower with remarkable stability, and tears welled up in her eyes instantly.

Su Mo casually placed the remaining half of the crystal tower on the table, his gaze still deep and unfathomable.

"What's the panic?" Su Mo's voice was extremely calm, without the slightest ripple, and even his breathing rate remained unchanged. "It's just a little thunder."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soft "snap" sounded, and all the lights in the apartment went out instantly.

The violent thunderstorm caused an extremely rare and sudden power outage in this upscale residential area.

Endless darkness instantly enveloped the entire apartment, with only the occasional flashes of lightning and thunder outside the window illuminating a corner of the living room in a stark white light.

"The power's out!" Xiaoyu cried out in alarm.

"Don't move, there's broken glass on the ground."

Su Mo's extremely calm and authoritative voice rang out in the darkness, like a stabilizing force that instantly calmed the panicked minds of all the girls.

He expertly pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned on the flashlight.

Under the extremely bright, cold white light, Yu Shuang, with her sharp eyes, noticed a three-centimeter-long wound on Su Mo's left forearm, from which blood was oozing out in a glaring manner! It was from when he shielded Rita from the broken glass!

"Brother Mozi! Your hand is bleeding!" Yu Shuang cried out in distress, tears streaming down her face, her voice trembling. For a top esports player who had just won the FMVP award, his hands were his life!

“Brother Mozi, I’m sorry…it’s all my fault…” Rita saw the scene under the light and cried bitterly, wishing she could slap herself. “Brother Mozi, the first-aid kit is under the TV cabinet, I’ll go find it!” hope Ran was extremely flustered and ran barefoot towards it.

"stop."

Su Mo coldly stopped her. He shone his phone's light on the ground, "There's glass shards everywhere. Do you want to ruin your legs too?"

He stood up with remarkable composure, took a tissue from the table, and casually wrapped it twice around the wound on his forearm.

"It's just a superficial injury; it didn't damage any bones or tendons, and it certainly didn't injure your wrist or fingers. There's no need to make a fuss."

Su Mo's tone was extremely calm, as if he wasn't the one bleeding. Holding his phone, he precisely avoided the shards of glass on the ground, walked to the TV cabinet, and not only took out the first-aid kit but also several extremely thick emergency scented candles.

"Click".

The lighter made a very crisp sound.

The warm and extremely soft orange candlelight gradually illuminated the spacious living room.

In the flickering candlelight, Su Mo's extremely cold and stern face appeared even more profound. He sat quietly on the sofa, extending his injured left arm.

"Take care of it," he said calmly, looking at Yu Shuang.

Yu Shuang quickly grabbed the first-aid kit and, with trembling hands, cleaned his wounds with alcohol swabs. Although Su Mo spoke very casually, seeing the torn flesh, Yu Shuang's heart ached so much it felt like it was being torn apart.

"Brother Mozi, does it hurt?" Luo Xin and Xiao Yu squatted down beside him, looking at him with extreme guilt.

"If I couldn't even endure this little bit of pain, I would have gone crazy from those extremely long disadvantageous situations on the field long ago." Su Mo looked at the ceiling, his voice still extremely calm.

Just then, the cell phone on the table rang abruptly.

In the extremely quiet candlelight night, the ringing of the bell sounded particularly jarring.

Su Mo answered the phone with his right hand with utmost ease, and even casually turned on speakerphone.

"Brother Mozi! You haven't rested, have you?" On the other end of the phone came head coach Ming Kai's extremely anxious voice. "I heard that the thunderstorms along the Huangpu River were extremely severe, and there was a large-scale power outage in the neighborhood? Are you alright? Did you hurt your hand? We have to take the official photos for the World Championship in a few days, so please don't let anything go wrong!"

Even Mingkai, a former LPL legend, unconsciously used the extremely respectful title of "Brother Mozi" when facing this absolute god of the team.

Su Mo glanced at Yu Shuang, who was carefully bandaging herself, and then at the several girls around her who were staring at her expectantly.

"It's nothing. We're having a midnight snack by candlelight," Su Mo replied calmly. "How's the tactical research going?"

"My dear Mozi, what time is it? You just won the FMVP, can't you relax for one night?" Mingkai sighed helplessly on the other end of the phone. "Alright, I'm relieved that you're okay. Get some rest, see you at the base tomorrow."

The phone hangs up.

The wound was also bandaged perfectly.

The torrential rain outside the window continued to fall violently, but in the dim candlelight, the atmosphere in the apartment had shifted from extreme tension to extreme ambiguity and warmth.

"Brother Mozi." Rita obediently moved closer to Su Mo, her eyes red, and like an extremely docile kitten, gently rested her head on his uninjured right shoulder.

“Tonight, a few of us will take turns keeping watch over you.” Rita raised her head with utmost seriousness, her peach blossom eyes filled with intensely passionate love.

Su Mo turned his head and looked at her extremely delicate face. A very rare, faint smile flashed in his deep eyes.

"No need to work night shifts."

Su Mo extended his right hand with extreme domineering force, pulling Rita into his arms around the waist, and then calmly swept his gaze over every girl present.

"Go get the blanket. Stay in the living room with me tonight and listen to the rain."

The thunderstorm outside the window lasted all night, only finally stopping in the early morning.

The extremely rare thunderstorm in Shanghai became a trending topic, but for the people in the EDG river-view apartment, the night was extremely peaceful and cozy.

A thick carpet was covered with an extremely soft cashmere blanket, and a few emergency scented candles emitted a faint cedarwood fragrance before burning out. The girls lay sprawled on the blankets, sleeping soundly. Su Mo remained seated on the sofa, his back ramrod straight, his deep eyes gazing at the gradually brightening dawn outside the window. His left forearm was wrapped in neat white gauze, while his right hand was naturally held in Yu Shuang's arms, resting against her cheek.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the power was restored precisely on time.

"Hmm..." Luo Xin rubbed her eyes and sat up. Seeing that Su Mo was still in the same position as last night, she opened her mouth wide in surprise, "Brother Mo, you didn't sleep all night?"

"I slept," Su Mo replied calmly, gently pulling his right hand out of Yu Shuang's grasp and stretching his exceptionally long fingers. In truth, he hadn't slept; years of extremely intense professional training had reduced his sleep needs to an incredibly limited level.

The girls woke up one after another, and when they saw Su Mo's injured left arm, they showered him with concern and care.

After breakfast, Su Mo changed into an extremely loose black hooded sweatshirt, hiding his bandaged forearm under the long sleeves. He calmly picked up his peripheral bag and prepared to head to the base.

"Brother Mozi, your hand is injured, so don't go to the base today!" Rita said, tugging at his clothes with great reluctance.

"It's a superficial injury, it won't affect your typing." Su Mo's voice was extremely calm, leaving no room for negotiation. "The World Championship roster has been finalized, and the game version is also being updated. Starting today, we will conduct extremely detailed data analysis on teams from other regions."

He casually ruffled Rita's hair. "Stay home and behave. I'll check your rank on the Challenger tier when I get back tonight."

Leaving behind this extremely domineering statement, Su Mo walked out of the apartment, leaving the girls looking at each other with a mixture of helplessness and utter admiration.

Back at the EDG base, the atmosphere in the training room was extremely enthusiastic. The joy of winning the championship was still going strong, but the moment Su Mo pushed open the door and entered, everyone instantly fell silent.

"Brother Mo!" Ah Chen greeted him obsequiously. "Did your wives drain you dry? Hey? What happened to your hand?"

Ah Chen, with his sharp eyes, spotted the edge of the gauze faintly visible beneath Su Mo's long sleeves and exclaimed in surprise.

"It's nothing, just a slip of the finger." Su Mo brushed it off casually, walked to his gaming chair, and sat down. "Have you prepared the replay data?"

Mingkai walked over with an extremely serious expression and placed a very thick document on Su Mo's desk: "Everything is ready. However, you probably won't have time to review it this morning."

Su Mo raised an eyebrow slightly: "What is it?" (End of this chapter)