Chapter Nineteen: The Master of the Cat Teaser

There’s something I forgot to tell everyone earlier—our protagonist, Du Gu Ming, is not only a top-tier hacker but also an extraordinary gamer. From the earliest days of StarCraft, to Red Alert, then World of Warcraft, and now League of Legends, he has grown up with these games, step by step. Once, he was the youngest professional gamer in America. Though he has now retired from the public eye, the world’s strongest League of Legends team, T**, was nurtured by Du Gu Ming himself. Their skills, their game sense—all were taught by him.

Even the company behind League of Legends consulted him during the initial design of the game’s characters. Yet, this clown on the other side actually dares to challenge Du Gu Ming to a match in League of Legends. Normally, Du Gu Ming would never bother with such a thing. After all, to play a match against him is the dream of every member of T**. They all wish for another chance to face him. To this day, they’ve only played against him once: a 1v5 match in which they were utterly crushed. Du Gu Ming completely shattered the notion that League of Legends is a team game, becoming a true king of solo play.

In that match, Du Gu Ming scored 20 kills in 10 minutes, was fully equipped by 25 minutes, while the opposing team had zero kills and had barely managed to buy a single major item each. With a ten-level difference, he wiped them out and destroyed their Nexus within twenty minutes. That match taught the members of T** a profound lesson, and from then on, they dubbed Du Gu Ming “lol god”—in translation, the “God of the Rift.”

Du Gu Ming took a deep breath and said to Jia Xiongfeng, “Alright, I accept your challenge.”

Jia Xiongfeng looked at him and replied, “Good. I have five people here. You have four. Just find one more. We’ll compete on the challenger server.”

Now, Du Gu Ming was in a bit of a bind. Not because he was afraid of losing—he could win even on his own. But he was by nature a low-key person; he couldn’t just show off. Still, where would he find the fifth person?

Zhang Liming walked over. “You really agreed to play them?”

“Of course. Why?” Du Gu Ming asked, puzzled.

Pulling him aside, Zhang Liming said, “I’ve never played LoL, but I’ve heard it’s a team game. Among us, only you and Bai Hanwen can play. Zhang Hongtao and I can’t. And we can’t possibly find someone else at this hour. Maybe we should just forfeit. I’ll cover the ten thousand yuan, okay?”

Du Gu Ming felt a twinge of displeasure but understood Zhang Liming was only looking out for them. He patted Zhang Liming on the shoulder and said, “Right now, we’re a team. Every member must trust each other. Let me ask you: do you trust me?” His voice was magnetic, his gaze captivating.

Zhang Liming’s wavering eyes gradually grew firm, and a spark seemed to flash within them. “I trust you,” he said resolutely.

“I think I know someone who might join us,” Zhang Liming continued.

“Who?”

“Wang Hongru. I got his number earlier today.”

“Great. Call him right now.”

After speaking, Du Gu Ming walked over to Jia Xiongfeng and said, “We found our last member. But there aren’t enough computers here. We’ll need to change locations.” Du Gu Ming was confident Wang Hongru would show up.

Jia Xiongfeng replied, “No problem. I saw a nice internet cafe at your school’s entrance earlier. Let’s compete there. It’s late, so it shouldn’t be crowded.”

“Du Gu Ming, Du Gu Ming,” Zhang Liming called.

“What is it?”

“I already called Wang Hongru. As soon as he heard your name, he agreed without hesitation. You don’t know how much he admires you.”

“Good. Tell him we’ll wait at the Lightspeed Internet Cafe by the school gate. Let’s head over now.”

“I’ll call him again to confirm.”

The group, including Zhang Hongtao, headed out. It was Zhang Hongtao’s first time in an internet cafe—he was the kind of person whose world revolved solely around studying. He only agreed to come after relentless persuasion from Zhang Liming and Bai Hanwen, but made it clear he was just there to fill out the numbers—don’t expect him to help them win, as he never played games.

By the time they arrived at the internet cafe, Wang Hongru was already there waiting.

Du Gu Ming gathered his team together. “Do you know what I’m about to say?”

Wang Hongru looked at him with firm resolve. “Yes. Believing in our own strength can change our fate.”

Du Gu Ming nodded approvingly. The five of them shouted together, “Believe in your own strength—it can change your destiny!”

They chose a row of empty VIP computers facing each other to prevent screen-peeking. Of course, Zhang Liming paid for the session—after all, he was the rich one who could afford several tea eggs a day.

Everyone logged into the tournament server. Under Du Gu Ming’s guidance, they chose their runes and masteries. The match began. Du Gu Ming picked “the Blind Monk”—an old champion, but his favorite. Even though he had been nerfed repeatedly, he remained a nightmare for opponents.

But the real reason for his choice was that this champion’s design was based on Du Gu Ming himself. His philosophy had always been: “Of all martial arts under heaven, speed and resilience reign supreme.”

The rest of the line-up: Bai Hanwen as Gragas mid, Wang Hongru as Malphite top, Zhang Hongtao as Volibear bot, and Zhang Liming as Darius bot. Du Gu Ming, of course, was the roaming jungler.

The enemy team fielded Annie mid, Riven top, Ezreal and Thresh bot, and Elise jungle.

As the match began, Du Gu Ming bought a longsword and a health potion, then set out. Thirty seconds later, he had claimed both the red and blue buffs. He instructed his teammates to stay under tower and just farm, not to give away kills.

To Zhang Hongtao, Zhang Liming, and Wang Hongru, he said only this: “When team fights start, just aim your mouse at the enemies and smash Q, W, E, R, and A as fast as you can.”

Now, you might wonder: how does one, at level one, without Smite, solo both red and blue buffs in thirty seconds? Let me explain. Every game has its bugs. Those who’ve played LoL know that when fighting jungle monsters, if you attack and then move away, they return to their camp and slowly regain health—not instantly. If you’re skilled enough, you can kite them and take little to no damage, even at level one. Once you have red buff, blue buff is easy.

You might also ask: “Blind Monk doesn’t use mana, so what’s the use of blue buff?” But don’t forget, blue buff also reduces cooldowns.

With both buffs, Du Gu Ming first ganked top, knowing that in a team game, the longer it drags on, the less advantageous for him. He had to end things quickly.

At top, he warded the brush, Q’d to Riven, unleashed a combo with Ignite for the kill, then ward-hopped out of tower range with practiced ease. He escaped with only 23 health, but everything was under control.

He called Malphite over to help push the tower, recalled to base, bought a Vampiric Scepter, and started saving for Hextech Gunblade. After shopping, he teleported to a ward in bot lane, pulled off a double kill with another combo, and had Volibear and Darius help take the dragon.

After grabbing the enemy blue buff, he roamed mid. The enemy jungler happened to be there, but Bai Hanwen, though not as skilled as Du Gu Ming, was at least Silver rank. Together, they took down Annie and Elise.

He then headed top again, stole the enemy red, and instantly killed Riven. His fleet-footed moves left Riven unable to land a single skill.

By now, a crowd had gathered around him, drawn by his dazzling play. “My god, that’s godlike positioning! Every sidestep is perfect—Riven can’t touch him at all. This is just a complete outplay.” The spectators were in awe.

Du Gu Ming ignored the crowd, focusing solely on the game. He and Malphite pushed top tower, then teleported to bot. After recalling and buying Hextech Gunblade, a Sapphire Crystal, and boots, he rejoined the fight. As Ezreal and Thresh emerged from under their tower, Malphite ulted in, Blind Monk unleashed a combo, Darius spun and pulled, Volibear feared, and they wiped the floor with them, taking bot tower.

At this point, only ten minutes had passed.

“Go home and buy items. Except for Bai Hanwen, everyone builds tank. Meet at mid.” Du Gu Ming typed, not speaking aloud in case the enemy overheard.

“Bro, what do we do? We can’t beat them—the Blind Monk’s too strong,” Riven whined to Jia Xiongfeng.

“What do you mean, what do we do? Even if we can’t win, we have to play!” Jia Xiongfeng snapped.

Du Gu Ming’s team grouped mid, catching the enemy off guard. Annie and Elise fell again, and the team pushed all the way to the inhibitor.

“Now go back, keep building tank. In the final fight, Malphite, Darius, and Volibear engage and hold the Nexus. Leave their team to me,” Du Gu Ming typed.

By now, only fifteen minutes had passed. Du Gu Ming returned to base, bought a Hexdrinker and a Youmuu’s Ghostblade, while everyone else built full tank.

People watching murmured, “Is that really the right item build? Not a single tank item?” But with his skill, the enemy couldn’t even touch him—only Master Yi’s Q could land due to its invulnerability. Against such mastery, who needs tankiness?

The whole team teleported to the brush near the enemy’s base. Jia Xiongfeng’s group cowered on the high ground, too scared to come out.

Du Gu Ming waited for his chance and told Malphite, “Go.” Malphite ulted, locking down the enemy; Blind Monk dived from behind, unleashing relentless damage. Malphite tanked the tower, Gragas barreled in, and as the enemy broke free, Volibear feared them again. Gragas and Blind Monk kept up the pressure in the fray.

Poor Malphite fell honorably, but his sacrifice secured a team wipe and the destruction of the inhibitor. Volibear followed, tanking the Nexus turret and falling, but not before the Nexus itself crumbled. Finally, the screen flashed with a big “VICTORY”—they had won.

Zhang Liming jumped up in delight. “We did it! We won! Did you see that?” The others were equally elated. Wang Hongru murmured, “I knew we would win.”

On the other side, Jia Xiongfeng and his team slumped in disbelief. How could they have lost? It made no sense.

Du Gu Ming stood and said to Jia Xiongfeng, “We’ve won. We’re leaving now.” He led his friends out of the internet cafe.

As they left, someone in the crowd pulled out a photo showing only the back of a head and asked, “Hey, doesn’t his head look like the guy in this picture?” He pointed after Du Gu Ming.

“You know, it really does. Who’s in your photo? Looks familiar.”

“The God of the Rift.”

Legend has it the God of the Rift never allowed his picture to be taken—only one shot of the back of his head exists.

P.S.: Did the last scene remind you of someone? That’s right—“The God of Gamblers.” If you liked it, please add this novel to your collection—just add it to your bookshelf and it counts. Seeing as it’s so late and Jiemuo is still coding away, please show your support. Thank you!