At the V5 base.
"Does Dine really not train at all?" Rookie asked after finishing a ranked game, opening a Douyu stream.
What he saw made him pause—Lin Fan was playing a game that looked suspiciously similar to League of Legends.
"What game is this?" Rookie quickly asked his teammates.
"If I'm not mistaken… this is Heroes Evolved. The one he's playing looks a bit like Ashe and a bit like Vayne—probably the Demon Hunter. I'm not 100% sure though. I touched it before, then stopped playing," ppgod leaned over, watched for a moment, and answered.
"That's what makes it weird. In matches he keeps pulling out hero after hero, but there's zero visible training history. A player like this is impossible to study. I can't read him at all."
Rookie frowned, watched for a bit longer, then closed the stream.
Watching this was worse than reviewing match footage—at least those were real League of Legends games.
But even those match replays had already been reviewed to death by the V5 coaching staff.
At the start of the year, the team's positioning was supposed to be "a regular playoff team."
Instead, they unexpectedly rattled off ten straight wins.
Under these circumstances, the coaching staff had no choice but to work overtime.
They wanted to create a V5 miracle.
Undefeated regular season. Win the playoffs. Go to MSI.
But tomorrow, a massive hurdle stood in the way.
A resurgent TES.
If they wanted to stay perfect, they had to clear this obstacle.
Bot lane…
The ppgod–photic duo had performed very well in previous matches.
But against JackeyLove and Mark, the pressure was obvious.
That lane was likely lost on paper.
So they had to find advantages elsewhere.
Rookie's recent form was excellent, but Dine could be summed up in one word: strange.
When it really came down to it, even the coaching staff couldn't guarantee Rookie would win the matchup.
So they seized every remaining opportunity to study him.
But the deeper they dug, the more it felt like torture.
How do you even research Dine?
According to the official pro accounts, despite over two months of league play, his ranked history was almost nonexistent.
The coach and analyst sat in the tactics room for a long, long time.
Just watching match footage revealed almost nothing.
Tomorrow, they could only take it one step at a time.
Syndra absolutely had to be banned.
BLG didn't believe it—and got smashed senseless by that Syndra.
Those were lessons written in blood. When you shouldn't be stubborn, you really shouldn't be.
Early the next morning, the two showed up in the training room with dark circles under their eyes.
Anyone unaware might've thought they'd gone out stealing people together.
March 13th.
The final match day of Week 7.
As part of a golden weekend, there were three matches scheduled today.
Because of the teams involved, the atmosphere was unusually heated.
Naturally, all eyes were on the 5 p.m. match: TES vs V5.
Whichever side won would become the league's only undefeated streak holder.
Even before the match began, the tension was palpable.
Just looking at the fan banners, the two sides were evenly matched.
JackeyLove had a massive fanbase—but also plenty of haters.
Rookie, on the other hand, was a model mid laner. He rarely got involved in drama, and combined with his past achievements, he had very few haters.
So the crowd balance was about even.
But before TES vs V5, there was still a "fun" match to watch.
Weibo vs RA.
On paper, Weibo should have crushed RA.
Instead, reality flipped upside down.
RA swept Weibo 2–0.
In Game 1, after a grueling 36-minute battle, TheShy went to solo the dragon—
Ryze ulted, driving five people straight into the pit for a surround.
One teamfight ended the game.
Perhaps shaken by failing to close out a game they should've won, Weibo completely collapsed in Game 2.
They didn't even last 25 minutes before RA steamrolled them.
Cube solo-killed TheShy and took MVP in both games.
It was an outright domination.
"Ridiculous. RA can beat TES48, RNG, and Weibo—but still trade blows with TT and LGD. One moment god-tier, the next disaster-tier."
"I can only say Weibo has too many clowns."
"Absolutely insane—top gets caught, and the jungler keeps farming? Finishes camps, strolls over, then eats the wave?"
"Weibo should rebuild around TheShy. Ever since leaving IG, his form has clearly rebounded."
"'The richest,' 'already bought,' 'controlling the score,' 'testing comps.'"
"Top gap."
"If TheShy can't play, he should just become a streamer."
"If jungle and mid don't move at all, how is top not supposed to get camped?"
"At least losing cleanly like this is fine—it ensures the 5 p.m. match starts on time."
"True. Weibo really thinking of the greater good—how could we flame them?"
"Has anyone noticed TES didn't bring Knight today?"
"Yeah… probably because the drama was too big. But honestly, most of it sounds true."
"Doesn't matter. TES doesn't need Knight right now—Infinite Borders Bro is enough."
"Really looking forward to Rookie vs Brother Infinite Borders."
"Rookie's form has recovered, but not peak yet. Brother Infinite Borders's hero pool is absurd—endless weird picks. I'm leaning toward Brother Infinite Borders."
The chat's focus fully shifted from Weibo vs RA to V5 vs TES.
This was the real main event.
One team on a ten-win streak. The other riding a six-game resurgence.
Meanwhile, under staff direction, both teams headed into the player tunnel, preparing to take the stage and set up equipment.
"TES top laner Zoom, jungler Tian, mid laner Dine, ADC JackeyLove, support Mark."
"V5 top laner Rich, jungler Karsa, mid laner Rookie, ADC Photic, support ppgod."
As host Yushuang announced the lineups, both teams took the stage one by one.
They sat down at their stations and began equipment checks.
"I think this is the most exciting match of the day.
V5 has gone ten straight wins so far, while TES is also riding a huge winning streak. These are the only two teams with major streaks in the league."
"Exactly. Today we'll see whose streak breaks—will V5 continue making history, or will TES charge forward on their western expedition?" Miller picked up from Wawa.
"TES reaching this point is largely thanks to their mid laner, Brother Infinite Borders. His performance keeps surprising me.
He's not limited to one hero—he's pulled out Ahri and Twisted Fate as well. His hero pool is still expanding!"
As soon as the words fell, the background music changed.
The big screen switched to the ban–pick interface.
Everyone perked up.
The match had finally begun.