LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

“An official event.” Mingkai shrugged helplessly. “In order to promote the upcoming World Championship, the LPL officials hastily prepared an e-sports variety talk show called ‘The Road to Legend’. They not only invited all the members of EDG, but also went all out to invite Uzi from RNG, TheShy from IG, and JackeyLove and 369 from TES.”

"I'm not going." Su Mo refused decisively; he hated this kind of pointless, time-wasting show.

“This time, there’s no escaping it, Mozi.” Abu walked out from behind with a wry smile. “This is a direct order from Tencent’s headquarters. It’s not just for publicity, but also to secure a massive amount of sponsorship for the teams going to the World Championship. Moreover, the official name is specified; you must be there. Otherwise…”

"Otherwise what?" Su Mo's eyes were extremely cold.

“Otherwise, the franchise fees for all clubs in the league will have to be reassessed next year.” Abu sighed helplessly. “The boss called personally to give me instructions, so I’ll just take this opportunity to relax.”

Su Mo remained silent for a moment. He could disregard external opinions, but he couldn't completely ignore the club's interests.

"Okay." Su Mo nodded indifferently. "Two hours. I'll leave if it's even a minute longer."

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

The filming location for "The Road to Legend" has been set up in an extremely luxurious private estate in Shanghai.

This was less like a variety show recording and more like an extremely high-end private gathering of the e-sports community. The manor was lush with green grass, and a huge long dining table was set with exquisite refreshments. Numerous high-definition cameras were hidden around, striving to capture the players' most authentic and relaxed interactions.

When Su Mo led the entire EDG team into the manor, the atmosphere instantly reached an extremely enthusiastic climax.

"Holy crap! That's God Mo! The living God Mo!" The staff at the scene whispered excitedly.

By this time, a considerable number of people had already gathered inside the manor.

Wearing an extremely loose white T-shirt and still looking a little chubby, Uzi (Jian Zihao) was chatting very enthusiastically with JackeyLove. Next to them sat TheShy, looking extremely shy, and 369, who still looked somewhat listless.

Upon seeing Su Mo approach, Uzi greeted him with great enthusiasm.

"Brother Mozi! Congratulations! That Fiora in the Summer Finals was amazing! It was incredible!" Uzi smiled and extended his hand. This former LPL god-level AD player showed obvious admiration when facing Su Mo.

Su Mo extended her right hand and shook hands with him quite naturally: "You're not bad either. If it weren't for injuries, we might have met in the finals."

This extremely understated affirmation made Uzi sigh with deep emotion.

JackeyLove chimed in, tossing his hair in a flamboyant manner: "Brother Mozi, your Hecarim game practically shredded me. But if we run into an LCK team at Worlds, you'd better step up your game."

Su Mo gave him a cold look: "Mind your own business. If you use that ridiculously powerful whirlwind again, I won't mind clearing a wave of minions for you in the jungle."

Ah Shui scratched his head in extreme embarrassment, which caused a burst of laughter from those around him.

At this moment, TheShy walked up to Su Mo with extreme shyness and said in extremely broken Chinese, "Brother Mo, you played very well. If I have the chance, I'd like to solo with you."

The encounter between these two top-tier top laners, some of the most skilled in LPL history, instantly drew the attention of all the cameras.

Su Mo looked at TheShy, a very rare and faint fighting spirit flashing in his deep eyes.

"Okay. I'm available anytime." Su Mo agreed readily.

Standing to the side, 369 looked at Su Mo with an extremely complicated expression. He stepped forward with great difficulty and bowed deeply: "Brother Mo, I accept my defeat in the Summer Finals wholeheartedly. I will do my best in the World Championship."

Su Mo looked at him, her tone extremely calm: "Remember what I said. Don't try to withstand the pressure. If you still only want to be a useless rock in the World Championship, then don't come back to the LPL."

These words were extremely harsh, but 369 nodded vigorously, his fighting spirit rekindled in his eyes.

The recording of the program has officially begun.

The host was still the extremely professional Yu Shuang. On set, she and Su Mo maintained a professional distance with remarkable tacit understanding, but their occasional glances revealed an extremely deep tenderness.

The first segment of the show was an extremely lighthearted "Truth or Dare" game.

This is an extremely easy area to cause trouble.

The bottle spun on the extremely smooth tabletop, and finally, with remarkable precision, came to a stop in front of Su Mo.

The entire arena fell silent instantly. Everyone watched with intense anticipation as the usually aloof seven-time champion looked on.

"Brother Mozi, truth or dare?" Yu Shuang asked with extreme professionalism, barely suppressing her laughter.

"Honestly." Su Mo picked up his thermos and took a sip of water, his tone extremely calm.

Yu Shuang pulled out a card from the extremely thick stack of question cards, glanced at it, and her face instantly turned a very unnatural red.

"This question was voted the most by netizens." Yu Shuang cleared her throat and read with great difficulty, "Mo, in your opinion, which is more important, e-sports or love?"

As soon as the question was asked, the entire audience erupted in extremely enthusiastic cheers!
Ah Shui, with an extremely gossipy tone, leaned close to Uzi's ear and said, "This question is brilliant! Let's see how Mozi answers it! If he says esports is important, he'll definitely be kneeling on a washboard when he gets back; if he says love is important, then his extremely aloof and domineering CEO persona will collapse!"

All the cameras were fixed intently on Su Mo's face.

Su Mo calmly put down the thermos. He didn't even think for a second.

"Esports".

Su Mo uttered those four words with extreme coldness.

The entire audience erupted in an uproar!
Even Abu covered his face in extreme pain: "It's over, this kid is too straight-laced, Yu will skin him alive when we get back!"

But Su Mo hadn't finished speaking.

His deep eyes naturally swept over all the cameras and landed precisely on Yu Shuang's face.

"Esports is my purest pursuit." Su Mo's voice was extremely calm, yet it carried an extremely domineering air. "But she is an indispensable part of my life."

"The two are not comparable. Because in my world, I want both honor and her."

Dead silence.

After an extremely brief period of deathly silence.

Holy crap!!!

Ah Shui jumped up from his chair in extreme excitement, "That's so damn awesome!! I got goosebumps!!"

"Awesome!!" Uzi gave a thumbs up in utmost admiration.

The entire audience erupted in extremely enthusiastic applause and screams!

Yu Shuang stood at the edge of the stage, her once extremely professional expression completely out of control, her eyes slightly red, filled with tears of immense happiness. She knew this man was not good with words, but every time he spoke, he struck the softest spot in her heart with remarkable precision.

The recording went extremely smoothly, but almost all the spotlight was overshadowed by Su Mo's unintentional domineering declaration.

The two-hour mark was reached precisely on time.

"Time is up."

Su Mo stood up decisively, ignoring the director's pleading gaze, "Mingkai, take them back to the base for a debriefing."

After saying that, he turned and left with great flair, leaving behind an extremely aloof and proud figure.

It was already evening when I returned to the river-view apartment.

Su Mo pushed open the door and immediately sensed that the atmosphere in the apartment was extremely strange. The spacious living room was devoid of its usual boisterous laughter.

Luo Xin, Xiao Yu, Rita, and Xi Ran, four girls, sat side by side on an extremely soft sofa, each holding a mobile phone with extreme nervousness.

Upon seeing Su Mo return, the four girls stood up in perfect unison.

“Brother Mo… Brother Mo, you’re back.” Rita lowered her head, feeling extremely guilty.

Su Mo took off his coat very naturally, put on slippers, and walked to the single sofa in front of them and sat down in a very calm manner.

"Cellphone." Su Mo extended his right hand, his tone extremely calm, yet exuding an extremely terrifying sense of oppression.

The four girls reluctantly handed over their phones.

Su Mo glanced at the screen extremely quickly.

At the top of the Rift, four Platinum I accounts, their battle records filled with an extremely glaring red!

"Ten consecutive losses?" Su Mo raised an eyebrow slightly, a faint hint of coldness flashing in his deep eyes.

"Brother Mozi, it's not our fault!" Luo Xin pouted, feeling extremely aggrieved. "I don't know what's wrong with the Canyon of Heroes today, it's full of incredibly skilled players! That jungler Lee Sin on the other side killed me six times in ten minutes! I almost cried from the beating!"

"Exactly! And our teammates were extremely aggressive and verbally abusive towards us!" Xiaoyu nodded in strong agreement.

Su Mo tossed his phone onto the extremely expensive crystal coffee table, making a very crisp sound.

"Call on."

Su Mo gave the instructions in an extremely brief manner.

He stood up and walked into the extremely spacious gaming room. It was equipped with five top-of-the-line high-spec computers, specifically prepared for the girls to play games together.

The girls exchanged surprised glances and quickly followed her inside.

"Brother Mozi, are you going to duo queue with us?" Rita asked excitedly.

"No." Su Mo sat in front of the computer in the middle with extreme coldness, and logged into an extremely unfamiliar account with extreme skill. The ID was displayed as "blank".

"Let's play five-player squad. I'll play jungle."

Su Mo put on the headphones with utter indifference.

The breathtaking canyon journey has officially begun!
This was destined to be an extraordinary night.

Su Mo's Lee Sin demonstrated an extremely brutal and devastating performance in five-player ranked games at the Gold and Platinum levels!
A three-minute counter-jungling maneuver, with extremely precise Q skill blind vision prediction, resulted in the ruthless and decisive execution of the enemy jungler at the red buff!
Five minutes of an extremely unreasonable tower dive double kill, an incredibly smooth roundhouse kick that sent the enemy mid laner flying into Luo Xin's Annie's face!

In less than twenty minutes, Su Mo's Lee Sin had already achieved an extremely terrifying 25-0 score!
"My God! Brother Mozi, your Blind Monk skills are even more insane than Ah Chen's!" Luo Xin shouted excitedly.

"This isn't even in the same game dimension!" Xiaoyu looked at Su Mo's extremely focused profile with utmost admiration.

Under Su Mo's incredibly fast pace, the four girls easily achieved a series of exhilarating victories!

It's 11 p.m.

"One last game. Time to sleep after this." Su Mo looked at his account, which had already been upgraded to Diamond rank, with utter indifference.

The girls nodded obediently.

Entering the crucial final character selection screen.

"Huh? This guy on the other side... seems to be an extremely famous streamer?" Rita said in surprise, looking at the top laner's ID.

Su Mo glanced at it very casually.

"Brother Ba".

A streamer who is extremely famous on the top of the Rift, known for his extremely casual and extremely torturous playstyle.

"He seems to be aggressively climbing the ranks today, with over 100,000 people in the live stream!" Luo Xin swallowed nervously.

Su Mo ruthlessly chose an extremely unpopular hero—[Shaco, the Demon Jester]!
"No matter who he is."

Su Mo's voice was extremely calm, yet it exuded an extremely suffocating domineering aura.

Su Mo's voice was calm and even, yet it carried an undeniable sense of pressure.

"Tonight, no one can survive arrogantly in my jungle."

With this casual remark, the game officially loaded.

In another city thousands of miles away, Ba Ge, a top streamer on a well-known live streaming platform, was excitedly shouting into the camera: "Brothers! It's a breakthrough game! If we win this, we'll be in Master tier! The enemy jungler is a Shaco? Haha, what era are we living in that people still play such a trash champion? Watch my amazing Malphite, I'll smash that Shaco into mincemeat in the team fight later!"

The live stream chat was flooded with comments.

[Brother Ba is awesome! The Stone Man, the monster that gets points easily, steps forward!]

[This game is in the bag. The other team is playing a five-player team with four girls. That clown is probably just a carry player. He'll be helpless against Ba Ge's Sighing Wall.]

[Brother Ba, don't underestimate your opponent! If you mess up, the show's entertainment value will be off the charts.]

However, the laughter in Ba Ge's live stream stopped abruptly after only three and a half minutes into the game.

In the top lane, BaGe's Malphite cowered under the tower, watching Rita clumsily push the lane with her Maokai. He had planned to use his Q skill to poke a bit, then safely farm under the tower.

Just as he crossed the edge of the turret and was about to throw the stone!

In the narrow blind spot of the defensive tower behind him, a cloud of inconspicuous orange smoke suddenly exploded!

"A terrifying box?!"

Ba Ge only managed to utter half a cry of alarm before the stone man involuntarily retreated in terror from the Pandora's Box. At the same time, a demonic clown wearing a grotesque smiling mask, accompanied by a streak of red lightning, emerged from stealth, his poisoned twin blades ruthlessly plunging into the stone man's back!

"Backstab!"

"boom!"

With the burning ignition and the terrifying critical damage from the double blades, plus Rita's Asian Binding (W skill) combo, the level 3 Malphite, who already had little resistance, had his health bar instantly emptied as if by magic!
"First Blood!"

Ba Ge stared at the dim screen, mouth agape, unable to process what was happening for a long time.

"When...when did this clown get here?! Wasn't he the one who started in the red? How did he end up behind my tower?!" Ba Ge grabbed his hair in disbelief.

The live stream chat exploded instantly.

Holy crap! That clown's flanking maneuver is weird!

[Brother Ba got slaughtered like a pig! This girl-chasing maniac is something else.]

[The show's about to get going! Watch as Ba Ge breaks down!] (End of Chapter)