Rise
Chapter 27: Just a Midnight Snack

With a lightning fast combination of key presses and mouse movements, Lin Feng pulled off a perfect combo. There was no counterplay. The Jinx player’s screen turned grey before he even noticed the Lee Sin!

The other four players on the blue team felt their heads spinning. D-dead? Just like that? They stared at their screen stupefied. Before they had a chance to group up, before they even had a chance to see what was happening, Jinx had already died. Their plan to bring Lee Sin down a peck was thwarted before it could even be put into action. As for the teamfight that followed, it was a one sided massacre.

The 50,000 viewers of Ol’ Black’s stream spammed his chat with 6s. Ol’ Black himself wore an expression of indescribable shock. He’d been smurfing around in low elo for a long time. So long so that he had lost count of the number of opponents he crushed. However, never before had he encountered a Lee Sin who played at such an impossibly high level. He was at a complete loss for words.

Ol’ Black’s real skill level was around Diamond 2. Watching this Lee Sin play, he could tell they were at least Master, or perhaps even Challenger! Nevertheless, noob-stomping in low elo was still his field of expertise. He quickly snapped back to his senses and shouted, “God dammit! I won’t let you take all the glory!” He pressed down on his W key and dashed into the enemy Ahri with his LeBlanc, bursting her down in lightning speed!

The rest of Lin Feng’s team snapped back to their senses too. They excitedly carried out a one sided massacre. Before long, the game announcer’s voice rang across Summoner’s Rift.

《Ace!》

Red team only lost one player, easily wiping out the opposing team and achieving victory. The five players on the blue team ended up losing the will to fight and started a surrender vote as soon as the game reached 20 minutes. It was unanimously accepted.

Chaotic energies warped and twisted around the blue team’s nexus before it exploded. The word “VICTORY” appeared in big, bold letters in the center of the game screen.

“Easy win!” Ol’ Black exclaimed, only for his expression to crumple. He noticed his chat was only talking about Lee Sin and quite enthusiastically at that.

「Lee Sin is so 6666666666!」

「godlee godlee godlee!!!!!!」

「Ima buy lee and play just like godlee!」

「First time I’ve seen Ol’ Black get carried. This Lee is amazing!」

This time around, Ol’ Black was completely relegated to the supporting role. However, he had no choice but to admit that the Lee Sin had truly carried the game, picking up the most kills, dictating the tempo of the game, and even showing off flashy plays.

Hell! I Can’t even make an honest living stomping noob nowadays! This is supposed to be my schtick! What’s this Lee’s name again? Evening Snowfall? Ol’ Black thought as he reclined back into his chair and picked his teeth with a toothpick. He rubbed his chin for a bit before coming to a decision. “I’ve got to see what kinda streamer plays such a godly Lee Sin. Guys, follow me, we’re going on a raid!”

✹

By the time Ol’ Black and his army of viewers arrived in Su Xue’s stream, the only two people remaining on the facecam were Su Xue and Zuo You. As for Lin Feng, he’d bid everyone farewell right after finishing the match, telling the viewers that he had to do his homework.

The new viewers were dumbfounded. This kid’s still in school? What the fuck! Since when are high schoolers so good at League of Legends!?

Ol’ Black ended up missing Lin Feng. However, he wasn’t too disappointed. After all, he was greeted by the sight of two pretty ladies, which was a nice consolation. He especially took a liking to Su Xue. He bantered and chatted with her, replaceing himself attracted to her personality, as the small stream bustled with activity. In the end, he sent her a few donations and added her as a friend on League, suggesting they should duo together some time.

Given Ol’ Black’s popularity as a streamer, offering to duo queue together with a new streamer was the same as giving them access to his viewership. Su Xue naturally wasn't stupid. She knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. She happily took him up on his offer without any hesitation.

Su Xue’s loyal viewers were over the moon by this latest development.

「our xuexue is making it bigtime guyss!!!」

「I’m not crying you’re crying! It feels like only yesterday that she started streaming League」

「Work hard, Xue Xue! you; be the number one girl streamer on Huya!」

✹

Lin Feng was oblivious to these developments. After finishing the match, he scurried back to his bedroom. He sat down in front of his desk and turned the light on, then started tackling his homework with the same enthusiasm as he had while playing League. Solving problems, doing practice quizzes, and memorization. Lin Feng employed his Tryndamere and Nasus study strategy, tackling the questions from easiest to hardest like he was building up his rage bar and stacking up his knowledge like Nasus’ Q.

About two hours later, just as he was almost finished with his homework, Lin Feng heard the door to his bedroom creak open. He turned around to replace Su Xue’s head peeking around the corner. “Hmmm?”

Su Xue jolted unnaturally. She awkwardly said, “Ahem, are you still studying? Did I disturb you?”

Lin Feng scratched his head. “Oh, it’s fine. I just finished my homework.”

“Already?” Su Xue remarked in surprise. Glancing over at the desk, she saw piles and piles of schoolwork and couldn’t help but be amazed. “Wow, all that in just a couple of hours? That’s some efficiency.”

“I have a special study method.” Lin Feng chuckled. Then, he curiously asked, “You finished streaming? Do you need something?”

“Ah yeah, I just ended the stream.” Su Xue nodded. She then completely glossed over Lin Feng’s other question and asked, “Did you get enough to eat earlier tonight? Are you feeling hungry? Want me to cook up a midnight snack?”

Lin Feng scratched his chin in contemplation. He then rubbed his stomach as his face lit up. “Sure, I could go for some food!”

Su Xue finally returned to her normal self. She rolled her eyes. “You little punk. Do you really have to think about if you’re hungry or not? Fine, give me a minute, I’ll whip up some stir-fried noodles.”

Lin Feng’s eyes went wide in surprise. “Why are you being so nice tonight?”

“Err- that’s...” Su Xue choked. After struggling to replace an answer, she erupted in annoyance, “You li’l punk, what do you mean by that? You have a problem with me making you a midnight snack? Do you want to eat or not? If not, I’ll just go!” 

Lin Feng was caught off-guard by Su Xue’s sudden outburst, having no idea what he said wrong. However, the temptation of the midnight snack was too great. He instantly acknowledged his wrongdoing, whatever it was. “Sorry, I was wrong. I still want to eat!”

Su Xue harumped. “That’s what I thought. Sit tight.”

About 20 minutes later, a piping-hot bowl of noodles greeted Lin Feng in front of the kitchen table. He dug in with much gusto.

Su Xue rested her chin against her hand. Seeing Lin Feng wolfing down on the food so enthusiastically, she couldn’t help but smile. “Tasty?”

“Mhm!” Lin Feng exclaimed as he stuffed his face with noodles. Afterwards, he looked up at Su Xue and asked, “You’re treating me awfully nicely. Do you need me for something?”

“Oh! Ummm…” Su Xue was at a loss for words.