Jiang Yuan sensed the kindness from Su Heng and smiled as he held her hand: “Hello, now I can finally see the true face of Lushan.”

Su Heng couldn’t help but feel puzzled. The man in front of her seemed polite and should evoke goodwill; how could he change his demeanor when it came to Zhou Lingxing?

Jiang Yuan seemed to understand Su Heng’s expression and didn’t let go, slowly leaning closer to her: “Do you want to know about me and A-Ling?”

Su Heng regained her composure, gave Jiang Yuan a faint glance, and gently pulled her hand away from his grip.

Jiang Yuan took her withdrawal as embarrassment and spoke again: “If you can beat me once, I’ll tell you.”

Su Heng felt he had misunderstood her intentions and didn’t want to get tangled up. She shook her head: “If I beat you, it will only be because I want to, nothing else.”

Jiang Yuan was taken aback, seemingly surprised by the coldness in Su Heng’s words.

After a moment, he adjusted his slightly wrinkled jacket and took on a dominant role.

“Let’s go, let me see how Sleeping can beat me.”

Su Heng sneered; she was starting to understand why Zhou Lingxing didn’t give him a good face.

Beneath Jiang Yuan’s kind demeanor lay a proud and arrogant personality, which was truly annoying.

What bothered her more was that this personality was somewhat similar to hers, making her inexplicably displeased.

The two were taken to a spare practice room by Sun He. Before leaving, Sun He, feeling uneasy, asked Su Heng: “Aren’t you taking a break from live streaming today?”

Su Heng shook her head: “Not yet,” she said, pulling out her phone. “I’ll do it now.”

She only finished posting her leave notice on Weibo after Sun He had left, allowing him to leave with peace of mind.

Once Sun He was gone, the silence between Su Heng and Jiang Yuan felt somewhat abrupt.

Jiang Yuan didn’t bother with pleasantries and directly sat down at one of the computers, taking off his jacket and powering it on to enter the game.

His series of actions were smooth and natural.

From the gap in the computer, Jiang Yuan could see that Su Heng had also sat down in front of her computer, silently booting it up.

It was a bit strange; even though they had no communication, there was no awkwardness between them at all.

It felt like it was meant to be.

Jiang Yuan shook his head, secretly laughing at his unnecessary thoughts.

For him, coming specifically to guide a novice at LOL in the opponent’s base felt absurd.

But after so many years, when Zhou Lingxing was the first to reach out to him for help, he could no longer say no.

He shifted his gaze to the folder Zhou Lingxing had tossed to him earlier, feeling bitter in his heart. He came here solely because it was Zhou Lingxing’s request; he didn’t care about anything else.

Zhou Lingxing surely knew his thoughts; this must have been done just to help him let go completely.

As for the past… he still hadn’t forgiven himself.

“What’s your ID? I’ll add you,” Su Heng suddenly spoke, interrupting Jiang Yuan’s thoughts.

He rubbed his hair irritably and said, “I’ll add you.” With that, he clicked the mouse with his right hand and typed a few more words.

On Su Heng’s side, a friend request popped up on the interface. She silently clicked to accept, waiting for Jiang Yuan’s next instructions. Although she didn’t understand why the promised guidance suddenly changed to “if you win against him, I’ll tell you the past between the two of us.”

Everyone has their own weaknesses, just like hers is that person. She had no desire to delve into the story between Jiang Yuan and Zhou Lingxing, and she wasn’t very interested either. But if it came as a bonus for beating Jiang Yuan, it wouldn’t be unacceptable.

It would be rather meaningless without a little incentive. Jiang Yuan had already entered the custom interface, locked a private room, and pulled Su Heng in. His emotions had slowly calmed down, and he smiled at the girl, saying, “Use the hero you plan to use for tomorrow’s match,” then suddenly blinked, “Oh, I’m using Jarvan.”

Su Heng was taken aback, clearly not expecting him to tell her the hero he planned to play. After thinking about it, she felt it made sense; with his pride, he wouldn’t consider being countered at all.

Before long, Su Heng locked in Master Yi. The game entered the buffering stage, and Jiang Yuan spoke again: “Even though it’s just the two of us, let’s treat it as a normal match. That means play as you usually do in ranked or competitive games. Also, no farming minions to level up, do you understand what I mean?”

Su Heng nodded, then realized the person on the other side might not see her actions, so she softly said, “Okay.”

Not sure if it was a network issue, the two were stuck on the buffering screen for a long time, unable to enter the game. Feeling a bit bored, Su Heng turned her head to observe the man across from her.

Jiang Yuan’s expression had lost its previous nonchalance. Even though they were still on the buffering screen, his hands never left the mouse and keyboard, and he looked particularly serious.

Su Heng was somewhat mesmerized and found it hard to look away. It felt like he had become a different person.

After an indeterminate amount of time, they finally entered the game. Su Heng quickly regained her focus, leisurely bought her equipment, and rushed towards the F6 camp. Although Jiang Yuan said to play as they would in a normal match, she still chose the less challenging F6 as her starting point since there was no one to help her.

In the early game, both of them were farming the jungle, and Su Heng appeared a bit cautious when facing Jiang Yuan. Every time she returned to base to buy items, she made sure to place a ward.

In contrast, Jiang Yuan seemed much more casual. He farmed and leveled up methodically, appearing to completely ignore Su Heng.

Su Heng felt somewhat passive; on one hand, she had to ensure her development was on par with Jiang Yuan, and on the other, she needed to guard against his ganks. While farming the blue buff, her mind raced as she silently calculated the feasibility of several plans.

In the end, she decided to take the initiative; rather than waiting to be attacked, it was better to strike first. With a plan in mind, Su Heng didn’t act impulsively but continued to farm the jungle cautiously as before.

After finishing the red buff, she finally reached level 3. Timing her actions, she began to move. On the screen, Master Yi started to advance into the enemy jungle.

The jungle was shrouded in darkness; without overthinking, Su Heng headed straight for the enemy’s three wolves. Having watched many FHL matches before Jiang Yuan came along, she gradually understood Jiang Yuan’s jungle habits.

If Jiang Yuan was playing according to formal match standards, he was likely either fighting the three wolves or on his way to do so.

As she crossed mountains and rivers and finally approached the position of the enemy’s three wolves, she saw the banner of Jarvan not far from her. Jiang Yuan was indeed fighting the three wolves!

Su Heng didn’t want to expose her position too early, so she cautiously circled around from the other side. The moment she revealed herself, she saw Jarvan’s health was not in a good state. Her brows relaxed slightly, and she immediately used her Q ability to engage.

At the moment Master Yi’s Q ability was activated, Jarvan was still leisurely finishing off the last jungle monster with his smite. Su Heng watched Jarvan’s actions and felt something was off for some reason.

Sure enough, the instant Master Yi finished his Q and revealed himself, Jarvan quickly placed his banner behind Master Yi, executing an EQ combo that launched him and followed up with two basic attacks. Master Yi’s health was already critical.

Su Heng was quick to react; the moment she landed, she activated her E ability and charged toward Jarvan.

Both players’ health points were low, but the Sword Saint had W to regenerate health. Su Heng felt there was still a chance of winning and did not plan to retreat.

Seeing the Sword Saint approach, the Prince pressed W to cast a shield and took a few steps back in the opposite direction, appearing to want to escape.

Su Heng would not let him go; she followed up with a basic attack, and the red buff stuck to the Prince. The Prince sidestepped and flashed to the other side.

The Sword Saint immediately followed up with a flash of his own.

In the first second of appearing out of thin air, the Prince’s skills refreshed, and he turned back to connect EQ and a basic attack again.

Su Heng’s screen turned gray and white. It was only when the cold kill notification sound came through her headphones that she realized what had happened.

It turned out that Jiang Yuan had been trading basic attacks with her for so long just to stall for time until his cooldowns were over.

Her skills had also refreshed at that time. Jiang Yuan had flashed to create distance as his skills came off cooldown, avoiding the Sword Saint’s Q and taking the opportunity to occupy the visual blind spot for his next move.

Su Heng had always been confident in her calculation skills but overlooked the fact that her opponent had dozens or even hundreds of times more experience in the competitive arena.

Control over the hero and timing didn’t require the same level of computational ability she had; the sheer amount of practice time and experience was Jiang Yuan’s greatest advantage.

She quietly exited the game, her hands, which had been resting on the keyboard, gradually tightened, and she could even feel a slight sweat in her palms.

After a moment, Su Heng raised her eyes: “Let’s play again.”

Jiang Yuan shrugged, indicating he had no objections.

The match began again.

Ten minutes later, Su Heng rubbed her chin: “Let’s do it again.”

Jiang Yuan nodded, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Another ten minutes later, Su Heng’s mouse moved quickly, her eyes never lifting: “Again.”

Jiang Yuan looked at her, his expression gradually changing, silently clicking into the game.

The training room was very quiet, so quiet that one could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall,

the game sounds coming from their headphones,

and also, Su Heng’s voice.

“Again.”

“Let’s play again.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

…

Jiang Yuan shook his aching hands, feeling a sharp pain in his left hand.

He glanced at Su Heng; she looked no better than he did, yet she was still asking for rematches again and again.

He seemed to see the shadow of another person in her.

After a while, Jiang Yuan’s brows slightly lowered, and he smiled gently at Su Heng, saying, “No more; if I don’t return to base soon, the coach will say something again.”

Su Heng looked at the time when she heard this and realized it was already late at night: “Sorry, I didn’t notice the time.”

Jiang Yuan stood up, putting on his jacket as he said, “It’s fine; I’ll head out first.”

Su Heng also stood up, preparing to see Jiang Yuan off.

But Jiang Yuan waved his hand: “No need to see me off.” He smiled at Su Heng, “The agreement to beat me still stands; I’m always available. You have me on your friend list.”

For some reason, Su Heng felt a faint trace of schadenfreude in Jiang Yuan’s tone.

She nodded slightly toward the man without saying anything further, then turned back to her computer and closed the program.

Listening to Jiang Yuan’s footsteps fade into the distance, Su Heng finally dropped her facade, her whole body collapsing.

The match against Jiang Yuan had kept her nerves on edge the entire time. She hadn’t felt it earlier, but the moment she stood up, a wave of dizziness hit her, making her realize just how exhausted she was.

Barely two seconds later, a head suddenly peeked through the door—it was Jiang Yuan, back again.

Su Heng stared at him, stunned, unable to find words.

Jiang Yuan gave her a quick glance, the same casual smile still hanging on his face. “I forgot to tell you, if you’re playing in tomorrow’s match, don’t use Master Yi,” he said, his smile gradually fading. “You’re still far from ready.”

With that, Jiang Yuan disappeared from her sight again. This time, he didn’t look back.

His voice felt unusually sharp in the quiet of the night. Su Heng sat there, gazing at the now-empty metal door, lost in thought.

After a whole night of solo games, the enormous gap between her and Jiang Yuan became painfully clear.

This gap wasn’t about damage calculations, positioning, or predicting abilities—it lay in overall game control, solid fundamentals, and the ability to adapt to unexpected situations.

Tonight, she began to understand why Jiang Yuan had said what he did.

He wasn’t really telling her not to play Master Yi.

He was telling her not to obsess over dealing damage, but to do what a jungler is truly meant to do.

Just a few days ago, she had dreamed of charging fearlessly through the match, adrenaline pumping.

But now, sitting in the same spot, before the same computer, her hands cold and body drained, she reflected on the insight Jiang Yuan had given her.

A good jungler doesn’t have to focus on output—they just need to perform their role effectively.

That was the real message Jiang Yuan wanted to convey, and the realization that finally dawned on her.

Victory for GI meant winning the match. For Sun He, it meant carrying the team’s banner. For Zhou Lingxing and Wave, it was about dealing damage. For Lao Yu, it was protecting Wave. And for her, victory lay in setting the pace and controlling the game.

Thinking this through, a self-deprecating smile spread across Su Heng’s face.

How could it have taken her so long to understand something so simple?

She shut down her computer and slowly walked out of the training room, her throbbing headache intensifying.

Looking up at the night sky, where the moonlight was dimmed by drifting clouds, she let her thoughts gradually settle.