Chapter 9: Don’t ask. If you do, the answer is that I trained for a full 180 days.

[Victory!]
[The great V5 dragon has truly been resurrected!]
[TES, WBG, and V5 divide the world; IG? I don't know them.]
[I won't lie, I've been a die-hard V5 fan for ten years...]

The moment the match ended, even without the roar of a live audience, Luo Ji and his teammates rose to celebrate. After all, it was their first match of the Spring Split, and a strong start is always a good omen.

As for the post-match interview? In his past life, Rookie had handled it. The reason was simple: V5 had been eliminated from the Demacia Cup so early that Rookie and Karsa hadn't even finished their quarantine in time. But in this life, they decided to send Rookie anyway. Many fans hadn't been following the Demacia Cup, and to them, this was effectively Rookie's first match since his transfer. He needed to show his face to the fans.

"I still don't get it. How could IG decide to let Rookie go?" Luo Ji rubbed his chin in confusion.

Whether in terms of commercial value or individual player skill, Rookie was still in excellent form at the start of Season 12. Not to mention, the meta was about to shift from warrior mid-laners back to mages. Yet, IG had let him walk, and they had done it in a backstabbing way, no less. Could it be... that the "seven-year itch" was a real, magical debuff?

"Forget about it," Karsa said, ruffling Luo Ji’s hair again.

By Season 12, the league had mandated that players must wash their hair before matches, but there’s a difference between a proper wash and a lazy one. At least Luo Ji’s was clean, making it satisfying to grab and scratch.

"It’s IG’s problem that they didn't want Old Song, but it’s precisely because they abandoned him that we have the current V5. I don't think he’ll have much nostalgia for IG with us around."

"Because he’s the only champion player on the V5 roster, right?"

"You brat, really emphasizing the 'champion' part, huh?" Karsa laughed, his hand moving even faster.

Nearby, Nofe was busy scribbling in his notebook. Although their opponent hadn't been particularly strong, this match against WE had exposed several issues within the team. He saw them, but he wasn't in a hurry to speak up. It was expected that a newly formed team would have problems; it would be abnormal if they didn't.

However, he was curious about how Luo Ji developed his personality. He was young, yet he had zero interest in the post-match interviews that could have brought him fame. When Rookie was scheduled for the interview, Luo Ji had even asked why he wasn't picked. Yet, he was never out of the spotlight online. The five-kill Aatrox in the Demacia Cup hadn't been long ago when the "Top Lane Smite Janna" strategy appeared, and now he had just unveiled "Top Lane Tahm Kench."

Was he just naturally a magnet for trends?

That night, Top Lane Tahm Kench undoubtedly blew up the internet. That’s how the LPL is. Fans usually watch the same champions over and over; the drafting is so predictable that fans often joke the coaches are just there to order takeout. But if you pull out something "spicy," that’s a different story.

Why was there so much traffic? Because LPL fans rarely saw these things on the professional stage. And even better, before it was nerfed, this strategy was actually damn strong. Online reports showed that Miller had secretly copied Luo Ji's strategy to climb the ranks, boasting a seven-game win streak. A man in his thirties was just "gaga-slaughtering" his way up with a stat-stick monster.

[I am not a 2D fan: You, don't tell me you're really going to walk the path I paved?]

At the club that night, when Luo Ji opened his phone, the first message he saw was from Flandre. It made sense; when Flandre first debuted, he played everything—he was slippery as can be. Since the Demacia Cup, Luo Ji’s hero pool had rarely repeated, except for Gwen.

Luo Ji thought for a moment and typed back:

[I am not a waifu-con: It’s a must. Since it’s officially recognized that I’m following in your footsteps, I’m not just going to drive your car, I’m going to drift in it.]

[I am not a 2D fan: You kid...]

After sending the message, Luo Ji tossed his phone aside and opened the game to test more strategies. He had the ideas in his head, but whether they fit the meta required testing. The success against WE proved his logic was sound. Predicting the World Championship meta was his greatest cheat code.

As for the strategies he could use in the regular season... developing them was just a way to label himself a "meta researcher." Without that title, he couldn't trick his teammates into practicing World Championship-tier heroes. Take Akali and Sylas, for example. Without a good excuse, it would be hard to convince Rookie to touch those two—he couldn't exactly hold a knife to his neck.

Watching Luo Ji open the custom lobby again, Karsa leaned in with interest. "How is it? Research anything new?"

"It doesn't happen that fast. Do you think I'm the one updating the game? I have to test them one by one." Luo Ji gave Karsa a look of disdain. Now that they were familiar, the image of these "big brothers" in his mind was rapidly crumbling.

"Hurry up, then. Share some strategies that a jungler can use. I promise, as long as you give me a bite, you can come to me for anything. I might not be able to handle big stuff, and I might be lazy with the small stuff, but remember: just tell me."

"Alright, get lost."

At the start of the S12 season, most strategies revolved around the "First Strike" rune. Luo Ji had tried for half a day without much luck. But as the saying goes, two heads are better than one. If he couldn't think of it alone, he could get help.

"So, you’re saying you want someone to help you collect those 'spicy' strategies from overseas servers? And not just the LCK, but regions on the level of the LCS?" Nofe was stunned by Luo Ji's idea.

"Exactly. In the new meta, every region is testing new strategies, but the LPL’s development capacity is relatively weak. The LCK is already being heavily watched by everyone, but the other two of the four major regions might have something different."

Nofe thought about it carefully and accepted the proposal. It was just referencing high-win-rate strategies from foreign servers; it wouldn't take much time. He’d just have to tell Zero to spend more time researching this and less time browsing food delivery apps.

Nofe agreed readily, though Zero looked a bit troubled. Strangely, he didn't protest and silently accepted the task, which made Luo Ji look at the assistant coach with a hint of admiration. It felt like this guy was becoming more and more of a workhorse.

"Oh, right!" Nofe seemed to remember something. "You had a package arrive. You were in a match when it came, so I had them leave it at the front desk."

"A package!? I'm coming!!!"

An hour later... when Luo Ji’s package was finally assembled, a crowd of spectators had gathered around his "finished product."

"Is this... a wheelchair?" PPGOD touched it uncertainly, his face filled with disbelief.

"Wrong! This isn't a wheelchair, this is an ergonomic gaming chair!" Luo Ji corrected him.

"But it looks just like a wheelchair."

"Sigh, that’s where you’re wrong. Look at this chair. Although it looks plain, it’s leather-upholstered, has a mesh back, hydraulic adjustment, and a built-in headrest. You can sleep in it when you're tired from training. If you're too far from the computer, you can use the desk as a keyboard tray, and the footrest is fully adjustable."

"And the best part? It only cost three figures."

The rest of the V5 squad: !!!

At this point, most official LPL event chairs were sponsored by AutoFull, but as for club sponsorships, only RNG, RA, and eStar had them. Luo Ji hadn't tried the so-called "gaming chairs," but to be honest, they weren't ergonomic at all.

The wheelchair was the way to go. While it was a nod to the "Wheelchair God" OTTO, it was genuinely comfortable.

Speaking of RA, that was V5’s next opponent. The S12 RA roster was quite decent. The top laner was Cube, the "Nasus Bar" leader. Coincidentally, last year he was grouped with 369 and Bin as the "Three Geniuses of Mental Breakdown." It’s fair to say that these top laners who would go on to shine were all quite abstract when they first debuted.

The jungler, Leyan, was a talent in the jungle and the league’s "unpaid salary" poster boy—except he was the one paying the league. The mid-laner, Strive, was the LPL’s own "Chovy-lite," with a CS-per-minute of 9.2, but unfortunately, he only inherited Chovy’s farming, not his prowess. The bot lane was Iboy and Zorah. Iboy was one of the three new-gen ADs of S7, but his strength was middling and his fame had faded. The support, Yuyanjia, had been disliked at TES, but upon moving to RA, it was considered a "reinforcement."

If you say they’re weak, their carries were actually capable, and Leyan’s early-game tempo was strong. Cube wasn't as bad as the memes suggested.

Since the victory against WE wasn't overly difficult, Nofe didn't put too much pressure on them for the match against RA. However, during the wait, the game received another update: Patch 12.2.

This patch nerfed the Tahm Kench top that Luo Ji had just debuted. The E-shield now required two nearby enemies to maintain its pre-nerf values. In a 1v1, it was only a fraction of what it used to be—effectively kicking him out of the top lane. This change caused an outcry across the Rift.

But beyond that, the biggest change arrived: Patch 12.2 introduced a new AD hero—the 158th champion, Zeri.

As soon as the update hit, while other teams were still researching, Luo Ji had already dragged Xiao Yan to the desk to practice day and night.

"Yes! Exactly like that! Practice for 180 days, and you'll be fresh every day!"

At V5, Rookie and Karsa were veterans with status; he could only guide them slowly. But Xiao Yan, a substitute who hadn't really debuted in the LPL yet, was on his level. Luo Ji didn't need complex maneuvers; he just said, "You don't want me to be unable to target you with my ultimate when I enter the fight, do you?"

This ruthless threat forced Xiao Yan to bite the bullet and practice the new hero. Don't let the S12 World Championship fool you—though her pick rate wasn't massive there, she absolutely slaughtered the playoffs. The most representative performance was JKL’s Zeri. In the fourth game of the BO5, he looked like a god reborn, staging a comeback from a 9,000-gold deficit with a damage conversion rate of 339.2%! Of course, everyone knew what happened later—JKL’s brain overloaded, and he E’d right into the enemy team, providing "entertainment value" that rivaled the Spring Festival Gala. But there was no doubt the hero had infinite potential.

"No, this hero is just too damn weird. You say she’s a spell-caster, but she’s more exhausting to play than a stutter-step ADC; you say she’s a stutter-step ADC, but she relies on her Q for damage." After being forced to play her for days, Xiao Yan felt like he had internal injuries. ADC was already a hand-wrecking role, and Zeri was "super-doubled."

"Wrecking your hands is normal. But don't you see? The ceiling is ridiculously high. She has mobility, burst, sustain, and poke. Compared to traditional ADCs, she’s like a 'Three-Body Problem' entity. As long as the numbers are there, she can take off."

"That logic holds, but..."

"There are no 'buts,'" Luo Ji interrupted, his voice dropping. "After we finish with RA, we face TES again. Don't forget that you lost the lane against them during the Demacia Cup. You only won because Karsa was there to carry you."

Xiao Yan fell silent. It was true. Even though they won the BO5, he had lost the lane. That was an undeniable fact.

"Besides," Luo Ji continued, "there are so many famous ADCs. If you don't step on a few big names to get ahead, how will you get a good contract in the future? Have you ever thought about what you’d do if no team wanted you?"

"And look at you, so frail. You're not durable enough to be the '1,' you can't take the '0,' you get tendonitis if you play the 'T,' you can't hold your own if you're the 'P,' you laugh if you're the 'S,' you fight back if you're the 'M,' you get beat up if you're the mistress... you’re just meant to be a loser, but if you stay that way, your life is over!"

Xiao Yan nodded subconsciously.

Then... "Hmm!???"