When everyone on the Dawn team had given up hope, having already anticipated the online backlash and even suspecting they would be pelted with rotten vegetables in public when the match ended, Xu Qing appeared.
It was almost like an angel descending from heaven. That might sound a bit dramatic, but for the rest of the Dawn team, Xu Qing probably looked like a little angel with wings and a halo hovering over his head.
Wan Yi let out a low, excited roar, “Xu Qing! Are you my god?”
Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, “I am your god? Then you should kneel on one knee in the center of the stage to show your devotion.”
A few teasing words pulled the others back into the zone.
Wan Li stammered, “How, how did you manage that?”
As Xu Qing adjusted his in-game settings, he replied, “Well, that is a long story.”
Pei Shiyu interjected, “Save it for after the match.”
Xu Qing immediately responded, “Got it.”
Wan Li looked resentful, “Were you just waiting for the Captain to say that?”
During the hero selection phase:
Pei Shiyu asked, “Xu Qing, which support heroes can you play?”
In their daily training with Lu Xinyu in the support role, they had honed several different team compositions. However, their support was now Xu Qing. Never mind team compositions; this was their first time playing as a five-man unit. Xu Qing’s support capability remained an unknown.
At the provincial KOL tournament venue:
Xu Qing’s fingers swiped through the list of support heroes. “No rush, just pick whatever you are comfortable with.”
Pei Shiyu paused and could not help but glance sideways at Xu Qing. Generally, a statement like that hides two different meanings. Either: Pick whatever, I can play all of them and carry you to victory; or the exact opposite: Nothing works anyway, so it does not matter who you pick.
Pei Shiyu curled his fingers, hoping deep down for the former. After all, he remembered Xu Qing using Wan Yi’s account to play against the Leiwu second-string team and winning decisively with a carry performance. So, support should not be an issue, right? He held a subtle anticipation.
The next second, he heard Xu Qing say with absolute sincerity, “I have never played support.”
Pei Shiyu: .
The entire Dawn team: .
Watching the others turn to look at him in unison, each gaze conveying a thousand unspoken words, Xu Qing felt immense pressure. He reiterated in absolute innocence to prove he was not lying, “I really have not played it.”
Back when he helped test data at the Heavenly Rankings headquarters, he had played Eternity using his Red Hair account ID. But he had only ever played jungle, mid, marksman, and top lane heroes. He had never touched the support role. It was not that he disliked it; it was simply that most support heroes required another person to test coordination, and Xu Qing did not want to collaborate with others, so he had avoided playing support heroes entirely.
Pei Shiyu rubbed his brow and let out a long breath, continuously soothing his own nerves. Xu Qing being able to play at all and letting them scrape together five people so they would not end the match in the most pathetic state possible was already a blessing in disguise.
Pei Shiyu’s voice returned to its usual calm. “Just play the hero you are best at.”
“The hero I am best at?” Xu Qing repeated, his fingers swiping over to the jungle heroes.
Pei Shiyu continued, “If there are not any you are best at, then Sun Bin…”
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw that Xu Qing had already locked in a hero—normally a jungler—Lanling.
Pei Shiyu was forced to swallow the rest of his sentence.
Seeing the hero Xu Qing had chosen, Wan Yi’s eyes widened, and he could not help but raise his voice, “Bro?! Why did you pick him? Even if we are going to tank the match, you do not have to be so blatant about it! You cannot even play support, and you pick a Lanling?!”
Xu Qing was baffled. Did he not say to play what he was best at? What he was best at was jungling. Even though he had not played the support role, Lanling was the hero in his “best at” list that was currently most compatible with the Dawn team.
“Welcome to Endless Eternity.”
The opening game audio interrupted Wan Yi’s continuous screaming. Since they were already playing Lanling, a hero known for being a dirty player in the jungle, there was no reason not to go and harass the enemy’s jungle.
Xu Qing steered his hero halfway across the map, suddenly remembering this was not his private Heavenly Rankings session, so he politely asked, “Captain Pei, can I go invade the enemy jungle?”
Pei Shiyu pursed his lips and said in a deep voice, “Do not get caught and killed.”
Even though Xu Qing claimed he had not played support, he had effectively been acting as a part-time coach for the Dawn team. Every time they did a post-game review, he could pinpoint the problems with pinpoint accuracy. Since they were now on the same battlefield, he chose to trust Xu Qing’s judgment.
When Xu Qing appeared in their jungle, the Mori Hawk team was stunned, “He actually dared to come here?”
When they saw Xu Qing lock in Lanling during the selection phase, the Mori Hawk team had already discussed it in their team chat. Because they entered the arena almost at the same time as Dawn, they did not actually know the Dawn team had changed their support. The data they had before the match started was still the version where Lu Xinyu was the support.
Mori Hawk mid-laner: “Never heard of this; have they ever played Lanling support before?”
Mori Hawk support: “Hardly any support plays Lanling in this version.”
Mori Hawk top-laner: “Is this some new tactic that has become popular? A new version meta?”
Mori Hawk support: “Never heard of it!”
The Mori Hawk captain interrupted them, his voice cold, “If they dare to come and invade, send them back to the lobby!”
Xu Qing strolled through the Mori Hawk jungle as if it were his own private orchard, walking with ease and stealing monsters as if he were just picking up fruit. By the time the Mori Hawk mid-laner and support arrived, Xu Qing had already stolen their Red Buff. The small scissor icon unique to Lanling was already hungrily targeting the wild boars in their jungle.
“Do not let him run!”
When the Mori Hawk jungler finally arrived after clearing his blue zone, he saw his Red Buff under Xu Qing’s feet and his eyes turned bloodshot. He activated his skills and charged in, stunning Xu Qing and dropping his health by a third.
When the Mori Hawk jungler tried to strike again, he found himself being dragged in the opposite direction. Wan Li steered his hero over to rescue him.
Once the stun wore off, Xu Qing dodged the Mori Hawk support’s crowd control in the chaos, slashed the boars a few times, earned some gold, and ran away.
Who does not have teammates?!
Normally, a support’s role for the majority of a match is to coordinate with and protect the marksman. However, Xu Qing had never played support, and the hero he picked was not a support hero to begin with.
Just as the enemy thought Xu Qing had retreated from the jungle and would return to find Wan Yi, the small stealth icon unique to Lanling appeared above the Mori Hawk top-laner.
The Mori Hawk top-laner was stunned. Why did he come for me? Also, who could tell him why Xu Qing, who had only eaten one Red Buff, was already level 4, even faster than him while he had been farming minions?
That was, of course, because Xu Qing was a former number one on the Heavenly Rankings who played as a jungle king; farming and hitting level 4 was second nature to him.
In Eternity, you need gold to upgrade skills and buy equipment, and the most effective ways to earn gold are jungling, killing minions, and getting kills. Because Xu Qing did not plan on sticking with the marksman, he never bought support equipment.
So, how could he develop his character without support equipment and without stealing his teammates’ economy? Naturally, by getting kills!
Xu Qing took advantage of the split second the enemy top-laner was stunned and unleashed a smooth combo. However, top-laners have thick health bars, and Xu Qing could not take the kill with just one level-4 combo.
Just as the enemy top-laner breathed a sigh of relief and tried to retreat to his defensive tower, a large heavy sword leaped overhead. The next second, his screen went black.
White Crow was playing a dashing, heroic female top-laner. On the screen, the female warrior’s armor fluttered as if in the wind.
“FIRST KILL”
White Crow said expressionlessly, “Did you forget there is someone else here?”
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, giving the Mori Hawk team no time to provide support. The Mori Hawk captain gritted his teeth and made a decisive decision, “Kill the marksman!”
Since the support was not protecting the marksman, that meant Wan Yi was facing a 2v1 situation against the Mori Hawk marksman and support.
Wan Yi screamed over the team voice chat, “How can you pin this on me?! Help! Help!”
Though he was screaming, his fingers never stopped moving. Thanks to the defensive tower protection mechanism in the first 4 minutes of Eternity, Wan Yi huddled under the tower, and the enemy duo did not have the stomach to try a tower-dive kill. Wan Yi stayed under the tower with only one-third of his health left, struggling to survive. It was relatively peaceful, living life on the edge.
For the rest of the game, Xu Qing, acting as support, did not deliberately stick by Wan Yi’s side. Instead, whenever the opportunity arose, he went into the enemy jungle to steal monsters or find a chance to get a kill. Even if he failed to get a kill or steal a camp, the goal of harassing the enemy and messing with their mentality was completely achieved. Plus, with Xu Qing’s mechanics and occasional coordination with Wan Li and Pei Shiyu, he had a success rate of about 70-80%.
It could be said that he utilized Lanling’s troll potential to the absolute limit, at 200% efficiency.
By the end of the match, Dawn team won, and the Mori Hawk team lost in absolute frustration.
The viewers in the game live stream were stunned:
Haters: How can they play so disgustingly? How are they as disgusting as the Dawn team’s captain? Is this their team’s inherited tradition?
Rational bystander: Is this support’s skill level almost on par with the KOL Leiwu support? Since when was Lanling support this strong? Can this really be counted as support strength? He has been playing like an assassin the whole time!
Others: Does no one else notice the Dawn team’s new support is so handsome?!
The Eternity provincial tournament format was a BO5 (best of 5). The team to win 3 games first would take the victory. The current score was 1–0.
After a short break, the second game began.