To the familiar login music, Li Hao stepped back into the matchmaking lobby.

He quickly noticed an unfamiliar friend was online—Maple. The match timer showed nearly twenty minutes; it was almost over.

*Maple?* Li Hao paused, then remembered: that was Feng Yijiu.

He checked her rank—and his mind went blank. He’d been struggling miserably in Diamond V, while Feng Yijiu’s account already sat at Star Lord I.

Then he recalled her so-called “Chinese practice method.” On impulse, he tapped the reservation button.

Maple: “Wait up! Duo queue, let’s go!”

Li Hao, who’d planned to quit, now felt too awkward to stand her up. He waited. Soon, Little Orange’s avatar frame popped into his team queue.

“Li Hao, you’re still only Diamond V?” Feng Yijiu’s voice was slightly higher than at school. Li Hao barely registered it. After matching, he opened team voice chat.

“Damn… what kind of crap method was that?” Li Hao gritted out.

“Huh?” A pause, then muffled laughter crackled through the mic. “I—I didn’t expect you to be *this* bad! No worries, I’ll carry you this round.”

“Tch.” Annoyed by her flippant tone—and maybe to prove something—Li Hao, picking first, instantly locked Nakoruru.

Feng Yijiu took her time. After helping secure picks, she filled support. After hesitation, she settled on Guiguzi.

“Listen,” she said confidently, “follow my rhythm. Our combo’ll be insanely strong.” *Of course,* she thought. *Before transmigrating, I peaked at 2000. Carrying Diamond? A piece of cake.*

Li Hao pursed his lips. Moments later, he saw her Guiguzi sneaking toward top lane.

“That’s top lane! Shouldn’t you help *me* instead of mid?”

“Tch. A support who doesn’t wanna be a sneaky ambusher isn’t a good support.” Disdain laced her words. Seconds later—*First Blood!* Li Hao panned over: enemy Erlang Shen lay dead. Their two low-health minions marched past his corpse straight into the turret.

“Sigh… that top laner’s so naive,” Feng Yijiu’s humblebrag voice chimed. “Go leech mid waves. No reason *not* to leech from Zhang Liang—especially before four minutes.”

“I was just heading there,” Li Hao muttered, guiding Nakoruru leisurely toward mid.

“Don’t rush bot yet. Wait—I’ll initiate. Enemy jungler…” She hadn’t finished when Li Hao’s Nakoruru burst from grass, ultimate slamming down on enemy Marco Polo.

Marco Polo dodged with a dash. Enemy jungler Dian Wei appeared, axe swinging straight for Nakoruru’s head.

Feng Yijiu turned and walked away without a glance.

“Sigh… just listen to me,” she said once he respawned, taking command.

“Someone’s definitely in mid bush. Enemy Angela’s been missing too long.” Guiguzi feinted.

*Whoosh!* A fireball shot out—classic air-skewer. Angela, having burned her only CC, couldn’t escape Li Hao’s chase. Taken down.

…

“This fight’s ours. Wait for my pull, then ult in. Your damage’s enough now.”

At ten minutes, Feng Yijiu activated Wolf Rush. Ultimate charge + skill two + Flash—yanked three in the Dominator pit. Li Hao’s Nakoruru dropped her massive rear: two dead, Dominator secured.

With gold snowballing, Li Hao needed no finesse. Every slam deleted enemies. Paired with Guiguzi? As Feng Yijiu put it: “Just slam down on *me*.”

Enemy Nexus exploded at thirteen minutes. Li Hao claimed MVP with a godlike 13-1-5.

…

“Oops… this account just hit King tier,” Feng Yijiu said after two matches, offering an apologetic smile. “Guess we can’t queue anymore. Logging off!”

“Mm, okay.” Riding high after two MVPs and a quadra kill, Li Hao swelled with pride. Feng Yijiu leaving? No big deal. *Joke’s on her—I’m a jungle prodigy.*

He instantly locked Nakoruru again. At level four, he charged solo toward enemy marksman, jungler, and support.

“You’re surrounded! Uzi-ka, Mas-ka, Ura!”

“I am the sun!” In that moment, Li Hao *became* light.

Then—his earth-shattering Rock Drop barely scratched a quarter of their health. Li Hao froze. *This isn’t the script… Why aren’t they following it?!*

*First Blood! (Nakoruru has been slain!)*

Spectating invisibly, Feng Yijiu lay in bed, laughing until she rolled over.

*This silly guy’s actually reliable—when trouble hits, he really charges in!*

His solo queue nightmare continued. Refusing to accept defeat, Li Hao cleared camps with double buffs and charged top lane.

There, Ma Chao—nearly bullied under enemy Master Confucius’s tower—saw Li Hao’s signal, perked up, activated Swift Run, and dashed out to teach the arrogant old man “a hefty lesson.”

Moments later, Nakoruru lay peacefully on the ground. Nearby, Master Confucius—boots stomping with double buffs—whacked the tethered Ma Chao, who howled in pain.

No help for it: Li Hao’s “Zhao Feiyan” was underfarmed. Her skill combo dealt featherweight damage—and landed squarely on the old man’s damage reduction.

Teammates, mentally broken, initiated surrender before Nexus fell. Four green bars flashed instantly.

“These teammates suck!” Li Hao exhaled. Homework done, he eagerly queued again.

But in this mindset? He’d already lost.

Later, post-shower, Feng Yijiu logged back secretly. Seeing Li Hao still matching—but now Platinum—she gently pinched her smooth chin.

*…Did I screw him over too badly?*