Over on Lightless Hearts stream, they were watching CNHOOK2s 5th game, where he was playing Zed in the Midlane. CNHOOK2s opponent was a Korean player named Clue, who was playing LeBlanc. The viewers on Lightless stream immediately recognized the name and chat went into an uproar over it.

Its Clue!I cant believe it! Is Hook2 gonna be able to win this!?Korea bringing out the bgi guns to stop hook2!!!!!!!!!they doin our boi hook dirrtyyy!crap, such bad timing too!is there really a good time to get cockblocked????Hook gonna cuck ClueYesyesyesyesyesy! Hook gonna give Clue a clue!

Lightless was just as stunned as his viewers that Clue was playing against CNHOOK2. Yeah this is definitely going to be a tough game, guys! Or maybe not! Lets see what CNHOOK2 can pull out against Clue!

Clue was currently ranked 15th on the Korea Challenger Ladder, which already made him a great player. But he was far more well-known for being the Midlaner on a professional NLB team. Not only was he a professional player, he was one of the top-rated Midlaners in the NLB and considered to be good enough to hold his own against some of the OGN Midlaners.

Lightless Heart shook his head and slapped his cheeks to get himself back into a streamer mindset. Yeah, thats right guys. Clue is ranked 15th on the Korean Challenger Ladder. But hes also a professional player on an NLB team. For those of you that have no idea how the Korean League scene works out, theyve got two divisions. NLB stands for NiceGame League of Legends Battle, which is a tournament hosted by NicegameTV Company. Its considered the 2nd division or minor league for the professional scene.

OGN, on the other hand, is the OnGameNet Champions League. This is another tournament hosted by OnGameNet, and its considered to be the 1st division or premier League for teams to play in. This is also the tournament where teams compete to win tickets for the League of Legends World Championships! Theres two ways for teams to get into the OGN. The first is to qualify for the league during the two qualifier rounds. The second is to win in the NLB and automatically receive a ticket for the next OGN. It also gets a lot more complicated with sub-tournaments hosted within the NLB, but thats not really important for now. What you guys need to know is that Clue is a professional player, and one thats good enough to fight for one of Koreas spots in the World Championships! This is going to be a true test of CNHOOK2s abilities!

Back in Team Rapids gaming house, Aurous frowned. Shit! Your boy Lin Feng pulled a bad straw this time. Hes up against Clue. This isnt going to be an easy game for him to win.

Clue? Never heard of that dude. How do you know who he is? Shi Hang asked while looking straight at Aurous.

Aurous nodded, his expression grave and tone serious. I definitely know him. Light Dynasty played a few scrims against some of the NLB teams. Clue was one of the Midlaners we faced.

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And? Howd it go? Or are you going to keep playing up the suspense for the imaginary audience in your head? Shi Hang asked.

Aurous wryly smiled. Alright, alright. Clue was pretty good. Our midlaner was getting pushed back more. During the laning phase at least.

Shi Hang cocked an eyebrow. Hes that good? On an NLB team? Light Dynastys Midlaner is somewhere at the bottom as far as LPL Midlane players go but even then. Hes still an LPL player. Beating him in lane isnt a small accomplishment. Neither is an NLB team pushing an LPL team around. What is happening over in Korea, Aurous?

Aurous sighed. The Korean competitive scene is intense. Theyve gotten stronger than ever. Honestly, its a little scary. The NLB is supposed to be their secondary league for amateurs and players looking to gain enough experience to break into the primary division, but their standards are insanely high. Underestimating a team from the NLB these days is a mistake. Some of the NLB teams regularly beat OGN teams... His voice contained hints of helplessness and melancholy as he trailed off.

Shi Hang narrowed his eyes, focusing his attention back on the stream. He slowly opened his mouth and said, Hes strong. But I doubt this Clue will be able to get any sort of advantage in this game.

Back in Team Shanghais hotel in Beijing, Lin Fengs expression was still calm and his eyes were still shining brightly as he heard the announcers voice ring through his headphones.

Welcome to Summoners Rift!

That small audio clip and the words it contained flipped a switch. Lin Fengs eyes blazed with intensity and fighting spirit! Tonight, nothing would get in the way of his climb.

The game started. Lin Fengs Zed was on the Blue Team, up against Clues LeBlanc on the Red Team. The laning phase started with a few pokes back and forth between LeBlanc and Zed as Lin Feng and Clue felt each other out. And then the pokes grew into progressively more intense fights as both Champions pushed for an early advantage.

4 minutes after the start of the game, the Red Teams Jungler, Lee Sin decided it was time to roam into the Midlane to gank Zed and secure an early roll for his teammate LeBlanc. By the time he arrived, Zed and LeBlanc were already deep into a heated tussle to claim first blood.

Lin Fengs Zed brought forth a Living Shadow, a clone formed entirely of shadows. The Living Shadow was in front of LeBlanc, and Zed was behind her. A perfect pincer! Then Zed used Razor Shuriken! Both Zed and the Living Shadow sent a shuriken out that sliced through LeBlanc and tore through her health.

Then Lin Feng tapped the W key to recast Living Shadow, which allowed his Zed to switch places instantly with the Living Shadow! His Zed was now directly in front of the LeBlanc. Zed stabbed into LeBlanc with a quick auto attack, then slashed out in a wide circle with his metal clawsShadow Slice!

Just as the attack animation for Shadow Slice ended, Lin Feng used Ignite on the LeBlanc. The fires from the Summoner Spell ticked away the last few drops of LeBlancs health!

First Blood!

The viewers on Lightless stream held their breath as they watched the fight between Zed and LeBlanc unfold, and then they all cheered as CNHOOK2 managed to secure first blood by killing LeBlanc. But their joy was very short-lived.

In all the excitement, no one noticed Red Teams Lee Sin creeping up into midlane and then pouncing on the dangerously low-health Zed just as LeBlanc died. CNHOOK2 had no chance of survival, and his Zed was killed in short order by Lee Sin.

Alright guys, that was a 1 for 1 exchange between the two teams. Zed died to Lee Sin, but CNHOOK2 still came out ahead despite the 1 for 1. Lightless explained to his stream. Zed got the kill and First Blood. LeBlanc only managed to get an assist because Lee Sin did the cleanup there. This means that Zed got more gold. Its a small advantage, but CNHOOK2 is still in danger. Both Zed and LeBlanc burned their Flash in that last exchange, which is a neutral change. But Zed is now more vulnerable to another gank, and the Lee Sin also got gold for that kill. Lee Sin is probably going to roam into mid again!

Lightless was either a prophet or an extremely skilled analyst. 6 minutes had elapsed since the start of the game. Both Zed and LeBlanc had respawned at the fountain and gotten back to their lanes to dance the dance of death once again. Which is when Lee Sin decided it was time to scurry over to the midlane for another gank, just as Lightless predicted.

Now, this was probably not the smartest decision that Lee Sin had made. Hed just finished clearing out a few monster camps, and his health had taken a bit of a beating. But for some unknowable reason, Lee Sin had enough confidence in his ability to successfully gank Zed that he still roamed over to the midlane. He flew out of the top side river brush where hed been hiding and dashed in with Safeguard.

Lee Sins dash placed him right in front of Zed. And then he sent a Sonic Wave flying out!

Back in Beijing, Lin Feng watched Lee Sin fly out of the brush with middling health and smiled a small smile. Then he watched the Lee Sin dash over and throw out a Sonic Wave, and his smile widened. Just before the projectile of waves connected with his Zed, Lin Feng pushed down on the R key to activate Zeds UltimateDeath Mark!

Zeds Ultimate, Death Mark, was an interesting ability. It rendered Zed untargetable for a brief instant and then caused Zed to dash over to the closest enemy champion. Right before the dash, four Living Shadows would converge on the enemy champion in question and place a Death Mark on them. Three seconds later, the mark would trigger and repeat a portion of the damage Zed had dealt to that enemy champion.

And since Zed was now untargetable, Lee Sins Sonic Wave missed entirely. And four blood-red Living Shadows converged onto Lee Sin to place a Death Mark on him from all four cardinal directions!

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A bright red mark appeared over Lee Sins head just as Zed dashed up to his face. But Lin Fengs situational awareness tingled. Instead of attacking Lee Sin, he pressed down on his R key again. His Zed dashed back to his original position, just barely avoiding the Ethereal Chains snaking towards him from Clue's LeBlanc!

Now that the danger from LeBlanc was narrowly avoided, Zed threw a Living Shadow out that dashed over to Lee Sin. Then both the Living Shadow and Zed threw out Razor Shurikens that sliced the air as they whirled towards Lee sin! But before they could connect, LeBlanc jumped at Zed using Distortion.

Lin Feng, now so focused that it appeared that the LeBlanc was moving in slow-motion, languidly tapped the W key to recast Living Shadow. The Razor Shurikens sliced through Lee Sin, and his Zed switched places with the Living Shadow. Zed had avoided the splash damage and pin-down by LeBlanc while also positioning himself in front of Lee Sin!

Zed stabbed Lee Sin with an auto attack, then slashed out in a circle with Shadow Slash. He continued the combo with a second auto attack, and then a third. All of this had taken place in the three seconds since the Death Mark was placed on Lee Sin. Now that three seconds had expired, the Death Mark triggered and repeated a portion of all of the damage Zed had done to Lee Sin. Which, coincidentally enough, just happened to be enough damage to whisk away the last of Lee Sins health.

You have slain an enemy!