How long had it been — —
Perhaps it had been so long that even Li Shiyi himself couldn't remember it clearly. It was as if the memories of him, Lin Feng, Ah Qiu, Ah Mo, and the others painstakingly fighting their way through the country's new Esports scene during the S1 season were already so distant that they were somewhat blurry.
But he could still remember the day when they defeated Old Thirteen's Taiwanese team and finally qualified for the S1 season World Finals.
He was the oldest among them, but even Lin Feng and Fatty, who were the youngest at the time, opened a large case of beer at the celebration party and drank until late into the night. They were all drunk and yelling at the empty streets and the night sky above their heads, swearing that they would definitely win the World Championships.
Who else was there at the time? Right, Steamed Bun was their team's team leader and coach, so naturally he was there. At that time, Lin Feng drank until he was about to vomit on someone's barbecue stand. It was Steamed Bun who anxiously and angrily helped him to a corner and scolded him while patting his back to help him breathe.
Old Thirteen was there too.
But that guy, who was already the number one jungler on the server, was sitting at the table with an ugly expression on his face. Their team had lost the match and missed the chance to qualify for the World Finals. That night, he had found Li Shiyi with a beer bottle and poured it down his throat, saying something like "I can't beat you on the stage, but I'll beat you to death on the table."
Yeah.
In that match, he had played against Old Thirteen in the jungler position and had beaten him on the stage. There weren't many people in the audience, but he had fought to his heart's content. It was truly satisfying. Now that he thought back to it, he felt incomparably nostalgic.
Right, that should also be considered the match that truly made him famous.
Back in the S1 season, Europe and America were the kings of the world. Even Korea's League of Legends had only just begun to take off. The pro players in the Asian region couldn't compare to the pro players in Europe and America. Only the jungler position could compete with the pro players in Europe and America.
Old Thirteen was one of them.
Li Shiyi was another.
After defeating Old Thirteen's team in that match, even the title of world's number one jungler fell on his head. They were just short of reaching the top of the World Finals to be crowned a god.
But they lost.
They swept through the European and American teams like a hot knife through butter. They even defeated Phoenix's Legend team with a score of 3: 2. But in the end, they met "that person"'s team.
The guy who had climbed to the top of the pyramid of the professional esports circle, the leader of the Four Emperors.
In terms of strength, even he had to admit that the player with the ID "F" was at the top of the world in terms of mid laning. He was the most dangerous and terrifying opponent they had ever encountered.
But even so, he still believed that Lin Feng's strength was definitely not inferior to that of Han Shihao.
In the end, they still lost, not because of their strength, but because of a little bit of luck. Even now, he dared to say this again in front of Han Shihao. 2: 2 was the final match point of a set of BO5 matches, and the chance of winning was 50: 50. If they didn't fight to the last moment, even Han Shihao would definitely break out in a cold sweat, wouldn't he?
But there was no chance.
A loss was a loss. In the esports arena, there were no two winners at the same time. Korea reached the top of the S1, and as the only representative team of China, they could only accept the runner-up trophy.
After that, everything changed.
Lin Feng firmly believed that it was his fault for missing out on the glory of the finals and the World Championship. He was not even willing to say goodbye before leaving the team and retiring.
Both Ah Qiu and Ah Mo were also disheartened and left.
Only he and Fatty were left.
Fatty went to King. Originally, he should have gone to King with him, but because the newly formed High Mountain Team offered him a higher contract price, he was worried about his sister's living expenses and school fees, so he reluctantly separated from Fatty.
Originally, he thought that even if he went to High Mountain Team, he could spend a year to lead the team back to its original height, and he almost did it in the S2 season. The team entered the top three of the LSPL and was only one step away from advancing to the LPL.
In the end, because of some mistakes in the game, High Mountain Team missed the opportunity to advance to the LPL.
When it came to the S3 season, his condition began to inexplicably decline. Although he was anxiously training hard every day, he did not know why he could not find his form when it came to the competition. The level he played at made him feel a little hopeless.
What was even more hopeless was that in the middle of the S3 season, the senior management of the High Mountain Team underwent a round of blood changes. The new manager and coach directly promoted a bunch of trusted players they had high hopes for, and he, the original main force of the team, was kicked out of the second team for the reason of poor performance in the season.
Then came the S4 season, the S5 season …
He gritted his teeth and trained hard in the second team of the High Mountain Team, wanting to at least return to the position of main force in the first team, but disappointingly could not find his form. Defeat after defeat in the team's training matches cast a faint shadow of despair in his heart, and under this vicious cycle, his strength level fell further.
By the time it came to the S6 season, he had completely become the lowliest substitute in the team. Even the new members of the second team could order him around, and no one remembered his past achievements and glory.
It was not that he had never thought of leaving the High Mountain Team after suffering the cold shoulder and ridicule in the club.
But he did not dare to leave.
With his current condition and level, if he left, which team or club would be willing to take him in? Now, although he was only a substitute in the High Mountain Team and had to do all kinds of chores, at least he could still receive a meager but stable salary.
This money, he lived frugally, and most of it was used to support his sister's living expenses.
His sister was already in the third year of middle school, and was about to take the college entrance examination. Her grades were good, and she was very sensible. Previously, when she cried and said that she did not want her brother to work so hard, she did not want to continue studying, and wanted to come out and work to help support the family, he had even scolded her harshly.
What a joke. His parents were no longer around, and the burden of the family was naturally shouldered by him as her brother. No matter how hard it was, he could not let his sister be wronged.
Fatty was now recognized as the number one top laner on the national server, and he even had the title of "Circle God". He was not jealous at all, and only sincerely felt happy for his former comrade and teammate. It was just that in the dead of the night, sleeping on a cold, hard bed, and thinking about his current situation, he still felt a little sad.
But he did not blame Lin Feng at all.
Everyone had their own fate, and they had to rely on themselves to fight for it.
He, Li Shiyi, could not blame anyone for falling to such a state. He could only blame himself for being useless and disappointing. However, he had always sincerely hoped that Lin Feng would one day walk out of the shadow of the past and return to the eSports arena.
After all, among the few of them back then, whether it was talent or skill, Lin Feng was definitely the strongest.
He looked forward to the day that he could once again see Lin Feng's name, "Maple", appear at the top of the world's professional eSports pyramid, and see that familiar figure stand on the stage of the S Series World Finals, and raise the championship trophy high up.
That would be able to make up for all of their regrets back then.
It was just that he could no longer participate in it. His current strength and state were tens of thousands of miles away from that time, and he could only be a substitute in a second-tier LSPL professional team. In such a situation, how could he have the qualifications and face to meet his companions again?
It was precisely because of this that when Fatty called him a few months ago with great excitement, after the same excitement and joy, he suddenly felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. It was incomparably cold, and he almost clenched his teeth tightly before he made up his mind to make that request to Fatty.
*****
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