"Hello, are you the one who ordered delivery?" Jiang Yifan asked, holding a packaged rice bowl next to computer number 32 at the Times Internet Cafe.
The young man with yellow hair sitting in the chair stared intently at the screen, hands flying across the keyboard and mouse, his expression tense. A game of LoL was in progress on the computer.
"Hello, did you order delivery?" Jiang Yifan asked again.
"Fuck, I died again!" Yellow Hair suddenly cursed, slamming his keyboard. He glanced back at Jiang Yifan, pointed at the watch on his wrist, and yelled.
"What time is it? I ordered this when my last game started. I planned to finish the game and eat, but you're only just arriving. By the time this game is over, the food will be cold!"
"Sorry, I was delayed a few minutes on the way. My apologies."
"What's the use of apologizing? This is a do-or-die match in my promos! If I lose, I have to do it all over again. You think a simple 'sorry' cuts it?"
Jiang Yifan glanced at the computer screen. He really wanted to say, 'Five minutes in and the score is zero and five. There's really no point in continuing.'
Of course, he didn't say it out loud. Otherwise, a negative rating would be unavoidable. A few years ago, he would have started flaming him, but now...
"I'm sorry, really, my apologies."
"I'm asking you what you're going to do about it, not asking you to apologize!" Yellow Hair roared, pointing at Jiang Yifan.
"I'll give you two choices. First, I give you a bad review. Second, you comp my meal, and you pay for my dinner tonight too." Yellow Hair looked at Jiang Yifan smugly. "Choose."
Jiang Yifan fell silent. Looking at the champion about to respawn, he pointed at the computer and said, "You eat first. I'll help you win this game."
"Heh, did I hear you right? A delivery guy like you? This is the Ionia server, Diamond rank! It's not like your Bronze and Silver games. If you lose, what will you use to compensate me? Can you even afford to?!"
The onlookers who heard Jiang Yifan also started laughing. Diamond rank on Ionia was extremely high in solo queue; you could even get matched with pro players.
Ordinary people could only look up to this rank. Someone like Yellow Hair was practically a god in this internet cafe.
"If I lose, the meal is free, and you can give me a bad review, whatever."
"You'll also pay for my internet cafe time tonight."
"Fine." Jiang Yifan nodded. "But if I win, you give me a five-star rating."
"Alright, you said it!" Truthfully, Yellow Hair knew this game was unwinnable from the start. Getting a free late-night snack and internet time out of it wasn't bad.
Jiang Yifan sat down in Yellow Hair's seat, familiarizing himself with the mouse and keyboard. The champion's respawn timer was counting down.
'Such a familiar scene.' Only, he hadn't played in over half a year.
The champion Yellow Hair had picked was Darius, the Hand of Noxus, also known as the "Noob's Hand." He was simple to operate, perfect for stomping newbies.
But this 0-3 score was truly hard to look at. For such a strong early-game champion to be played like this... Jiang Yifan had no idea how he'd even reached Diamond.
Looking at his own teammates, all three outer turrets were gone. Everyone could only huddle back and farm timidly.
"ff 20, don't waste time," the support typed.
"Darius boosted?" a teammate taunted.
"Winnable," Jiang Yifan typed back simply.
"Heh," the teammate replied.
Jiang Yifan naturally wasn't affected by his team's morale. He bought some items and headed toward the battlefield.
After taking all three outer turrets, the enemy team began to constantly invade their jungle.
If they couldn't counter-attack now and win a clean team fight, the game was basically over. The rest would just be a slow death.
After pushing a wave, the enemy team didn't overextend. Instead, they solidly chose to take the dragon.
In this disadvantaged situation, his teammates clearly had no intention of stopping them, planning to just hand over the dragon.
Jiang Yifan knew what his team was thinking, but he also knew: if you don't fight, you never have a chance.
"We can fight, I have TP," Jiang Yifan typed in chat while pinging near the dragon pit.
"You're really afraid you won't lose fast enough, huh? Trying to drag your team down with you," someone watching from behind laughed.
In their eyes, fighting now was no different from feeding.
After clearing their minion waves, a few teammates also began to move toward the dragon, looking for an opportunity. Giving up just like that didn't feel right.
The enemy team was focusing down the dragon. Seeing the four opponents approach, they began to get into formation, preparing to take the team fight.
But the enemy team had overlooked one thing. There was a Control Ward behind them. After pushing the minion wave in the top lane, Jiang Yifan immediately used his Summoner Spell, Teleport, and appeared behind the enemy.
Seeing their teammate flank, the four allies in the front immediately launched their attack, charging the enemy's formation.
Jiang Yifan, controlling the Hand of Noxus, arrived behind them but didn't immediately enter the fray. He watched carefully from the side.
Although his teammates were behind, they were Diamond players, after all. A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. They could still put out some basic damage.
The enemy ADC, Lucian the Purifier, had built an early lead. His damage at this stage was explosive. His own teammates in the front line were quickly worn down. Once Lucian's skills were off cooldown, he could easily clean up.
Jiang Yifan had already locked onto Lucian's position. He knew that as long as he snuffed out Lucian, the enemy's damage output would immediately plummet.
Darius stood in the shadow of the Fog of War, waiting for the right moment to strike.
To dodge a skill, Lucian habitually took a step back. It was this single step that brought Lucian into Darius's range.
Jiang Yifan decisively used his F-key—Flash—and instantly appeared behind Lucian.
"Holy shit, what perfect timing! That Lucian is dead for sure," an onlooker couldn't help but say.
Faced with a defenseless Lucian right in his face, Darius, under Jiang Yifan's control, immediately swung his axe. This was followed by a W—Crippling Strike—and the enemy ADC's movement speed was significantly reduced.
Lucian didn't panic. A Diamond player could be considered a master. This kind of situation was nothing.
Lucian used his agile dash, about to escape Darius's attack range.
At that exact moment, Darius extended his axe. E—Apprehend—pulled Lucian back from the absolute maximum range.
Lucian, who had just escaped the "demon's claws," was instantly dragged back to hell.
Jiang Yifan didn't hesitate for a second. After landing another basic attack, he directly cast his ultimate—Noxian Guillotine—and instantly executed Lucian.
"Damn, nice! That reaction... 0.1 seconds slower and he wouldn't have caught him."
"That Lucian's mental has gotta be booming, right? Getting pulled back from that?"
The people behind him began to praise Jiang Yifan's play.
Seeing their main damage dealer get assassinated by the flanking Darius, the enemy team was furious. They immediately switched targets, intending to execute Darius on the spot.
But the Darius controlled by Jiang Yifan was no longer the punching bag from the top lane that everyone bullied.
The enemy mid laner, already reduced to a sliver of health by his teammates, made a positioning error and retreated right in front of Jiang Yifan. Another ultimate.
"DOUBLE KILL!"
But the enemy team still had the advantage, no matter what. After killing both enemy carries, Jiang Yifan's health was no longer looking good.
Just then, the enemy jungler, Lee Sin, rushed over. Without a word, he fired his Q—Sonic Wave—directly at Darius.
Lee Sin was too close to Darius. Jiang Yifan had no way to dodge the Q.
"It's over." The moment Jiang Yifan was hit by the Q, the people behind him were already shaking their heads.
The enemy Lee Sin didn't hesitate either, immediately activating the second part of his Q, preparing to instantly finish off the flanking Darius.
Just as Lee Sin kicked toward him, Jiang Yifan cast his E on Lee Sin, pulling him down and completely canceling the damage from the second Q!
'Those reflexes... they're inhuman!'
With his ability interrupted, Lee Sin knew there was no point in struggling. He could only be mercilessly executed by a Darius whose ultimate was ready.
With three of the enemy team dead, the remaining two had no combat power left. They were trapped like turtles in a jar, to be slaughtered at Jiang Yifan's leisure.
...
"PENTA KILL!" The announcement flashed across the top of the screen.
Yellow Hair, eating his meal on the side, almost spat his food out.
The person who had just mocked Jiang Yifan really wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
"Congratulations to computer 32! The Diamond master from Ionia has scored a Penta Kill!" The internet cafe's PA system was fast. The penta had just happened, and it was already being announced to the whole cafe.
A Penta Kill in Diamond rank... Once the announcement went out, many people couldn't sit still. They hurried over to computer 32 to watch the master at work.
Jiang Yifan focused intently on the game, not even noticing that a circle of people had gathered behind him.
After acing the enemy team, Jiang Yifan continued to lead his teammates, taking down the enemy's mid-lane turret. Just like that, after this one team fight, the previous disadvantage was almost entirely erased.
"Getting a penta like that... awesome."
"Is this the first time this expert's been here? I don't think I've seen him before."
The crowd behind him began to murmur among themselves.
The group that had been waiting to see him fail was now completely silent.
After the penta kill, the entire disadvantage was instantly turned around. His teammates were also deeply impressed by Jiang Yifan's play.
In the following Baron fight, Jiang Yifan scored another Penta Kill, devastatingly crushing the enemy's counter-attack.
Jiang Yifan led his teammates straight to the enemy's mid-lane inhibitor, planning to end the game quickly.
The enemy team knew a comeback was impossible and directly chose to surrender.
"VICTORY" hung on the computer screen.