You've only been playing for half a year, and you've already reached the finals?

Chapter 146 Fly, Team in Danger, Return Quickly!

Ming Jing and Wang Hao traveled together. After their identities were verified by the teachers at Wenyuan Middle School, they received their student IDs, textbooks, stationery, draft paper, and other items for this national tournament.

The trainee ID card this time is strangely similar to the one Ming Jing had when he participated in the youth training camp before. They have almost the same layout, with his name and ranking below his headshot.

The only difference is that Mingjing was last in the youth training camp, ranked 20th, while this time he's doing slightly better, ranked 10th from the bottom.
The back of the trainee card shows the schedule for this training camp.

The week will consist of a one-day opening ceremony, three days of study, two days of exams, and a one-day exam analysis and closing ceremony.

Mingjing took the textbook and then found a seat in the classroom at random, as there were no strict requirements regarding seating in the team.

"Wow, I'm a little nervous." Wang Hao rubbed his hands together. "What if I don't understand the lecture later?"

Ming Jing retorted ruthlessly: "These are all questions from the International Mathematical Olympiad. How do you think you can understand them? You can't even reach the King rank."

Wang Hao's climb to the top was not ideal. After several months of playing, although his score kept rising, his ranking didn't change much. He was still over 600th place, more than 100th place away from the top rank.

The most recent time I reached rank 530, just one win away from becoming a champion. But then I was matched with Uzi and got completely destroyed. I was so angry at that jerk that I almost fainted.

Wang Hao was furious when he heard this: "Are you just making conversation for no reason?"

As Wang Hao was speaking, he suddenly saw Song Xuan, the only female student in this national competition, step into the classroom.

Song Xuan stretched out her fair swan neck and spotted Ming Jing at the back of the classroom. She then walked over and sat down on the other side of Ming Jing.

"We meet again!" Song Xuan greeted Ming Jing as he sat down.

"Hello." Ming Jing smiled and nodded to Song Xuan.

The two of them had actually been on WeChat for a while and had chatted quite a bit, mostly about everyday things, nothing particularly interesting.

But as we chatted more in daily life, we gradually became familiar with each other.

???

This move left Wang Hao, who was standing to the side, completely baffled.

No, when did Mingjing, that bastard, start hooking up with this female academic genius?

Wang Hao's mind began to wander, and he quickly came up with countless possibilities, more agile than when solving problems.

But in the end, he decided to nudge Ming Jing in the lower back and asked softly, "What's going on? How do you know her?"

"Is that even a question?" Ming Jing turned his head and said, "She plays LOL too, didn't she ask me to take a picture with her before?"

"No, how could you do this!" Wang Hao's voice was full of bitterness. "Did you add her, or did she add you?"

Song Xuan, who seemed to have good hearing, suddenly interjected, "Phi is my idol, so of course I'll add him."

???

Wang Hao was utterly shocked.

Damn, there are benefits to being good at League of Legends?
But my buddy played pretty well too! He's a Grandmaster, after all! How come I don't see this kind of thing happening?
"And their rank is pretty high too," Ming Jing chuckled. "Diamond IV in solo queue!"

“Diamond III!” Song Xuan quickly corrected him from the side: “He just reached that level a few days ago.”

Ming Jing gave a thumbs up, "Amazing, amazing!"

Season 11 has only been going on for two months, and he's already reached Diamond III. He should be able to grind to Grandmaster by the end of the season.

The main difference is that Song Xuan and Ming Jing and Wang Hao are both lazy dogs. She has been focusing on competitions recently, striving for the International Olympics, so she doesn't have much time to play games.

Wang Hao sneered, "That's alright, not as good as my Grandmaster of the Canyon."

But as soon as he uttered the words, he earned Ming Jing's disdainful look.

Wang Hao gleaned a lot from Ming Jing's eyes—how could you even say that? Does being a grandmaster help you get into the professional scene or into international competitions?

Wang Hao blushed and fell silent.

Beside him, Song Xuan asked with a smile, "Are you confident about this national gathering? Can you advance to the second stage?"

"The chances are slim," Ming Jing said with a smile, pointing to his name tag. "My ranking is probably far too low, isn't it?"

"Huh? Didn't you make a comeback in the youth training camp?"

"A comeback my ass." Ming Jing didn't want to answer such an insulting question. He knew his own limitations.

He could tell from the youth training camp that everyone in the camp was a pro, which is why he was confident that he could make a comeback.

Will it be the same this time?

"It's okay, just ask me if you don't know how!" Song Xuan patted his chest, making a loud thud as he patted his loose down jacket. "I'll teach you!"

"Alright!" Before Ming Jing could speak, Wang Hao interjected, clasping his hands in a fist salute, "Thank you, brother!"

"You're welcome, you're welcome," Song Xuan replied, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

Soon after, leaders from several colleges took the stage to give speeches, and then all the students sang the national anthem together, thus concluding the opening ceremony.

Then another teacher came up on stage.

The teacher on stage had a receding hairline and was holding a thermos. Just from his appearance, you could tell that he was incredibly strong.

The teacher operated the computer for a while, and a question was projected onto the screen in front of him.

"The rest of today is study time, no classes. You can use this problem to get by. I'll go over it tomorrow."

The students present are the 60 best high school students in China when it comes to mathematics, but the teacher wants to use a single problem to kill a whole day of their time. You can imagine how difficult that is.

But the reality is indeed quite difficult.

Mingjing looked at the question in front of him, scratched his head, and couldn't find a clue at all.

Simultaneously controlling three quantities?
Even though Mingjing's strength has always been calculation, he felt that the calculation for this problem was a bit too complicated.

The students first copied down the questions, and then entered a state of deep thought. The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, except for the occasional sigh from a student, expressing their despair.

Ming Jing lowered his head and then looked up again, and an entire afternoon had passed. Even after spending the whole afternoon, he had only managed to answer the first question with difficulty.

Finally, the school bell rang, pulling Mingjing out of his reverie, and only then did the feeling of hunger slowly creep into his stomach.

Intense thinking consumes a lot of the body's sugar, so he needs to eat something to fill his stomach.

Only then did Ming Jing raise his head and look around.

On the right, Wang Hao is exactly the same as him. He also answered the first question, but he was at a loss for the second question.

On the left, Song Xuan had finished writing. As before, she secretly glanced at Ming Jing, and only after noticing Ming Jing's gaze did she giggle.

"Brother, give me a hint." Ming Jing didn't stand on ceremony and immediately called for help.

Song Xuan didn't stand on ceremony and directly moved a chair to sit at Ming Jing's table, glancing at the draft paper on the table.

"Not bad!" Song Xuan praised, "You even solved the first question? That's pretty impressive!"

Ming Jing was somewhat speechless.

He spent too much time browsing anti-racism forums, and he always felt that the other side was sarcastic or sarcastic towards him.
Song Xuan leaned against Ming Jing's side and pointed to the key points of the question with his pen: "The second question focuses more on the construction, but it's actually not complicated. You see, because none of these three expressions are divisible by p, this probably ensures that all three expressions have a non-zero value modulo p, potentially avoiding some special cases. Then..."

Song Xuan's explanation was actually quite disjointed, skipping over a lot of the thought process, but fortunately Ming Jing's talent was not bad either. After thinking for a few seconds, he quickly understood the idea.

Next, I began to write furiously.

Problems that test the construction of ideas often do not require a long solution process; these problems focus more on the thought process.

Once you have a clear idea, it's really just a matter of four or five lines.

Of course, the calculation process is a bit complicated, but fortunately this is Mingjing's forte.

Song Xuan didn't disturb him, but just leaned on the edge of the table and watched until Ming Jing finished writing the last line, then nodded in satisfaction: "Hmm, not bad, not bad, right!"

Ming Jing was even more speechless.

Are you trying to soothe a child over here?

At this moment, Wang Hao, who was standing nearby, also came over and asked, "You've already finished it? How do you explain it? What's your thought process?"

Song Xuan glanced at Ming Jing, who handed him his solution process. "It's all here, take a look yourself."

Wang Hao: "???"

"."

In the following period, Mingjing focused solely on the training camp, temporarily setting aside anything related to LPL and Korean server anti-cheat forums.

The level of the national training team is ridiculously high. Every question is a difficult one, and the teacher explains things too quickly, as if he has no intention of explaining it clearly to everyone.

The teacher was speaking to the six people who could make it to the international competition, and those six people were able to keep up.

Just like the internet meme, Mingjing bent down to pick up a pen, and when he looked up again, he couldn't keep up.
This was the first time Ming Jing had ever felt this way.

Fortunately, there was a human-shaped quiz answerer, Song Xuan, nearby.

Song Xuan was quite patient and answered all his questions.

Mingjing also has a strong comprehension ability, and he can basically understand everything in the end.

Even though it was a bumpy ride, I eventually managed to solve every single problem.

Among the 60 students present, Ming Jing undoubtedly has the shortest study time each day, and even has several months free to do other things. In terms of talent, even if he is not as good as the top six, he can still compete with the others.

"You met the speed requirement for solving problems today!" Song Xuan looked at the time and laughed, "Looking at it this way, you might actually be able to advance to the second stage."

"Not bad." Ming Jing smiled and said, "Today felt pretty smooth. There was a question that was very similar to the one in the previous CMO competition. I remember it."

Wang Hao lay on the table, listening to the conversation between the two people on his left, and cursed them under his breath as "a despicable couple."
Wang Hao has been having a really tough time lately. He's been having a blast playing League of Legends for the past few months, but he's really struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of the game. In the end, he had to ask Ming Jing and Song Xuan for help, but they couldn't figure it out either. So, he just gave up and started playing casually.

Of course, it's normal to have open sessions; the purpose of the national team is to select, not to cultivate.

Even though the students here are considered absolute prodigies, the top 60 math students in the country, so outstanding that Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, and Shanghai Jiao Tong Universities are vying for them and they can choose any major they want, once they enter the National Team, they still have to obediently accept the selection process. In the first round alone, 75% of them will be eliminated!

Of the remaining 25%, only six people can remain to participate in the International Olympic Committee (IMO) after advancing to the second stage.

In a place teeming with geniuses, such a high attrition rate means that being eliminated is perfectly normal.

Finally, three days passed, and the grueling exam began.

Wang Hao looked at the three questions on the test paper, racked his brains, and finally managed to solve the first question and the first part of the second question.

Ming Jing is doing alright. After these few days of study, he has barely adapted to the intensity of the national competition. Even though he still hasn't finished the last question, he has managed to answer the first question.

The same applies to the exam on the second day.

After two days of exams, on the last day of the first phase, the national team results were officially released.

Song Xuan: 120 points, with a score rate of 95.2%, ranking second.

Ming Jing: 105 points, with a score rate of 83.3%, ranking thirteenth.

Wang Hao: 94 points, scoring rate 74.6%, ranked 21st.

Although Wang Hao's ranking improved significantly, it was a pity that he was still just short.

Seeing the rankings, Wang Hao sighed inwardly, "You're really a monster."

After the CMO ended, Wang Hao had a great time playing games, but at least he was still studying at school.

Mingjing really hasn't attended a single class and has been having a blast ever since!

Playing at home for a few months, then sprinting for a few days at the National Games, and you can directly jump into the top 15?

Is this right?
"It's alright," Ming Jing chuckled. "These are all similar questions we did a few days ago. They're not difficult at all."

Wang Hao rolled his eyes.

He couldn't do the problems from a few days ago either. Is that something to be said?

Wang Hao didn't bother with further conversation; he simply packed his things and prepared to leave.

"After this trip, you should be going to the competition, right?" "Yeah, that's right. After the exam, I should go back to Wuhan, and then fly directly to Shanghai."

"Okay, then I won't ask you out for dinner. I'll wait for your debut match!"

"OK OK."

The next day, Wang Hao boarded an official vehicle and returned to Wuhan.

Ming Jing, Song Xuan, and the other students entered the second stage of their studies.

In the second stage, Mingjing became just like Wang Hao before – unable to do the problems, unable to understand what he was saying, and feeling dizzy when he tried to do them.

But that doesn't matter. Ming Jing didn't have much hope for the international competition anyway; making it to the second round would be a success.

Another week passed, and in the second stage of the exam, Mingjing moved up a few places, reaching tenth place, but unfortunately, he was still a little short.

At the closing ceremony, the leaders also officially announced the participants for the upcoming international competition based on the results of this exam.

Song Xuan secured his place with second place and stood on the stage with other colleges, where he was specifically praised.

Ming Jing stood below the stage and gave a thumbs up.

Song Xuan was also staring at Ming Jing, her head slightly raised, as proud as a white swan.

After the closing ceremony, the two went to the cafeteria together for a meal.

The two have indeed been getting quite close lately; Song Xuan has practically become Ming Jing's personal tutor, so it's perfectly normal for them to have a meal together.

After dinner, with nothing to do, the two decided to wander around Wenyuan Middle School.

Ming Jing turned his head and looked at Song Xuan, who was humming a little tune, and said enviously, "You're really amazing. How come your test scores are always so consistent? This time you're only a little worse than Deng Leyan?"

Ming Jing only recently learned that Deng Leyan, who ranked first, is only 14 years old this year. He not only entered the national team in his first year of high school, but also skipped a grade. He is the youngest and has the highest score. He is indeed incomparable to such a once-in-a-decade genius.

With Song Xuan's score, he would have been number one a few years ago.

This truly impressed Ming Jing from the bottom of his heart, as he knew that he was far inferior to the other person in mathematics.

If it weren't for the other party's help, he probably wouldn't have even made it to the second stage.

In the upcoming International Olympic Games, Song Xuan will represent China and win the championship as a female athlete who has been absent from the competition for a long time.

Upon hearing Ming Jing's praise, Song Xuan immediately smiled, but still said, "It's alright, tenth place isn't bad. Besides, you're good at the game."

"Hmm," Ming Jing said helplessly, "You're not just trying to comfort me, are you?"

"No, that's not true." Song Xuan immediately corrected, "Everyone has their own strengths. I think you're much better than me. I watched the documentary released by JD.com, and you played really well in this year's World Championship."

"Really?" Ming Jing turned his head and asked, "If I asked you to switch places with me, would you be willing?"

"Of course!"

Song Xuan readily agreed, her tone unusually serious, "If you really give me a chance to switch, I definitely will! My family has always forced me to learn this and that since I was little, with endless tutoring classes and no time to rest at all."

"If I had a choice, I would rather do what I like."

Hearing this, Ming Jing was a little surprised, then turned around and smiled, "What a coincidence, me too, we're quite similar in that respect."

The reason Mingjing embarked on a professional career was initially because he was not interested in studying and competing, even though he had decent talent.

“But you’re doing what you love. I can only do competitions, even if I don’t like them.” Song Xuan said quietly, then raised her hand to tidy her slightly loose ponytail.

Ming Jing then noticed a scar on the other person's fair left wrist.

Normally, this area would never have a scar.

Ming Jing didn't ask any further questions, but instead smiled and said, "But since we're already here, we should finish the competition first, right?"

"Yes!" Song Xuan felt he had found a kindred spirit and his smile returned.

"So, are you confident about the upcoming IMO?" Mingjing asked, turning his head.

"Of course!"

Song Xuan spoke without hesitation.

International Olympic gold medals are generally won by Chinese people from China and the United States in rotation; people from other countries rarely get to win them.

Generally, it mainly depends on the lineup of players from both sides that year.

But this year, with a genius like Deng Leyan leading the team, if we hand over all the difficult problems to him, there's basically no chance of losing.

"And what about you?" Song Xuan turned and asked, "Can you still win the championship this year?"

Ming Jing smiled and said, "Of course."

Five months have passed since his last championship win. Compared to last year's World Championship, Mingjing can feel that he has grown a lot and has a deeper understanding of the game.

It should be noted that Ming Jing went from zero to champion in just six months.

I've become stronger, and my teammates have become even better.

Ming Jing didn't know what other reason there was for not winning the championship.

The two walked slowly around the school's track. The winter wind blew against their faces, and other students from Wenyuan Middle School kept passing by. Song Xuan took two more steps closer to Ming Jing, and their down jackets rustled softly against each other.

"Then, let's make a deal!"

Song Xuan turned around, extending his little finger with his right hand, "This year, we'll both win to the very end!"

"Aren't you childish?" Ming Jing chuckled, but still extended his little finger and hooked it with the other person's, then gently pressed his thumb against the other person's.

The boy and girl made a simple yet shocking pact.

"."

After the national assembly ended, Ming Jing and Song Xuan went their separate ways.

Song Xuan will return to Shanghai to continue her studies and prepare to participate in the International Olympic Games in mid-July.

Ming Jing, on the other hand, returned to Wuhan first, packed his things, and then flew directly to Shanghai to officially embark on his professional career.

On April 1st, Ming Jing, who was 7 days away from his 17th birthday, checked into the base with his luggage and officially joined the team's training matches.

However, he doesn't get many scrim slots right now because there's another mid laner on the team.

Whether spurred on or not, Scout's performance in this year's regular season was outstanding, achieving an impressive 13-3 record with the team, ranking second in the league.

The LPL has weathered the long regular season and entered the intense and exciting playoffs. This year, the league has changed the playoff format to a double-elimination system. Starting from the semifinals, all teams will be resurrected and have the opportunity to make a comeback.

This second-place finish in the league allows the team to skip the first three rounds of the playoffs and start directly from the winners' bracket semifinals on April 4th.

If I win the semifinals, there will be a winners' bracket final on April 7th.

Mingjing won't be able to play until April 8th, so Scout will have to step up for the next two games.

Scout looked at the upcoming schedule, took a deep breath, and realized he had never been so nervous.

Because he knew that the next two BO5 matches were his best chance to compete for a starting position!
If he can carry the team to victory in both games and lead them to the Spring Finals, then the team will have no reason to substitute him at the last minute!

If he seizes the opportunity again and wins the Spring Championship, he might be able to secure a starting position!

He wouldn't allow himself to lose the next three best-of-five series!

On the other hand, Ming Jing seemed to feel no pressure at all. Before the match started on April 4th, he cheered on his teammates one by one, telling them to play well.

Mingjing also had his own concerns.

The team is now on revival, theoretically having one more chance to fail, but they still need to go through two more best-of-five series before he can play.

We have to win at least one game! Otherwise, I won't get to play!

On April 4th, in the winners' bracket semifinals, EDG will face off against TES.

Mingjing sat down backstage with the team, and the director, being considerate, immediately switched the camera to the backstage area, which elicited a warm response from the audience.

In the first game, Scout's Ryze went on a rampage, achieving a perfect 4-0-2 score with 100% team fight participation in just ten minutes, setting the pace of the game and earning the MVP title.

In the second game, the team fell slightly behind. Scout played Sylas and was heavily suppressed by Knight's Orianna. However, the team played the subsequent small team fights perfectly. After several team fights in the lower half of the map, both carries took off.

Then JackeyLove started feeding, with his Tristana standing at the front of the team trying to take the dragon, only to be stunned by JackeyLove's careless Q-flash combo, resulting in a happy loss for the second game.

In the third game, TES controlled a huge advantage in the early game, but Scout performed perfectly. Playing Sylas, he stole Hecarim's ultimate in the dragon fight, and together with Flandre's Nocturne, he flew into the fray and killed JackeyLove. Then, together with Viper, they cleaned up the team fight and completed the key comeback!

"Then let's congratulate EDG!" Commentator Wawa's tone was full of surprise. "Three to zero! They've advanced to the winners' bracket finals!"

On the player's bench, Scout looked excited and bumped fists with his teammate next to him.

At this moment, the team chat was filled with the classic message: "Fly, team, don't worry."

Ming Jing watched this scene from backstage and nodded slightly.

As long as he wasn't eliminated, at least he still has a chance to play.

Watching this scene unfold, his cousin found it strange and couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you afraid that Scout will secure his position and you won't get a chance to play?"

Upon hearing this, Ming Jing shook his head: "What's there to be afraid of?"

In esports, skill has always been paramount.

He knew he was better than Scout, so the starting position was definitely his.

EDG's second-place finish in the regular season proves that the team is not yet perfect.

That opportunity will come soon.

As Mingjing had predicted, the facts proved correct.

On April 7th, just one day before Mingjing's birthday, the LPL winners' bracket finals officially kicked off.

The reorganized EDG will face off against RNG, who started with a B+ rating but took the top spot in the regular season standings.

The two sides fought back and forth, taking turns to win.

However, it was clear from the course of the match that EDG's victories were hard-fought and comebacks, while their losses were smooth and effortless.

This makes it difficult for fans to be optimistic about the outcome of the fifth game.

The early laning phase was relatively smooth. Syndra dominated Cryin's Corki and extended the advantage to her teammates, helping the team secure three dragons in a row.

Just when everyone thought the team was about to win, problems finally arose.

First, in the Dragon Soul team fight, Scout was knocked away by Alistar who flanked him. He didn't even have time to use Flash or E before he was instantly killed!

With their key carry eliminated and EDG's formation thrown into disarray, they suffered a crushing defeat in team fights, and their dragon soul rhythm was disrupted.

In the subsequent Baron fight, Cryin's Corki used a bomb to fly into the fray and slammed Scout against the wall. Then Xiaohu's Gnar used his E and dash to get close and used his ultimate to push Scout against the wall, whereupon Scout was instantly killed!

RNG seized this opportunity to take Baron again!
RNG's Gnar + Corki combination was simply too strong in team fights. Even though EDG had accumulated a significant advantage in the early game, they still couldn't withstand it during team fights!
RNG used the Baron buff to push forward aggressively, widening their economic lead to 8,000.

Afterwards, the team returned to the city to reorganize their equipment, launched a push, and won the game!

RNG advances to the finals with a score of 3-2!
EDG, on the other hand, unfortunately fell into the loser's bracket and are preparing to face an even tougher test!

After celebrating, the RNG players went to the EDG players' bench to prepare for a fist bump.

But Scout remained seated in his gaming chair, his gaze vacant, unwilling to get up for a long time.

At this moment, the screen was filled with messages like "Fly, team in danger, return immediately."

This time, it's really dangerous.

But this time, it's truly a comeback.

Backstage, Mingkai patted his cousin on the shoulder, "Ready?"

Ming Jing raised his head slightly, "Don't worry."

(End of this chapter)