He had just returned to the professional scene this season, but he had already led his team into the S Series World Championship.
In the group stage, he had been lucky enough to be placed in the Chosen One group. Compared to his two brother teams, he had a much easier time advancing to the quarterfinals.
Now that he was in the quarterfinals, and because KG and God had already qualified for the semifinals, he was able to relax even more when he faced Legend. Winning or losing was secondary. What mattered was experience and learning.
Even though he had lost to Legend with a score of 1: 3 in the first four matches, the first two matches in the middle lane had showcased his powerful maneuvering skills and astounded the world. Perhaps by the end of this season's finals, he would be officially ranked among the seven kings in the world.
From the looks of it —
Shi Hang's journey thus far could only be described as "smooth sailing."
The only problem was that he was a little too old. But in the current world of professional esports, although talented new players were constantly emerging, there were also many veteran players of his age, or even a little older than him.
Therefore, the word "sense of urgency" didn't seem to belong to him for the time being.
But when Shi Hang said those words to Lin Feng, his tone and expression were incomparably serious. He didn't sound like he was joking at all.
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, is that so?"
The two walked back to the entrance of the hotel and sat down by the stone steps of the fountain outside the lobby. Shi Hang nodded solemnly again.
"Really."
"Do you remember what I said two days ago? That's true. In any case, reaching the quarterfinals in this season's finals is already the best result Spear and I have ever achieved.
"That's why when we played against Legend, we didn't consider using the strategy that focused on the middle lane. Instead, we had me defend the middle lane while Phoenix fought in the lane. On one hand, it was to give Shadow and the others a better environment to develop. On the other hand, it was a chance for me to challenge myself.
"It's not a loss if I lose, but it's a huge gain if I win.
"I'm not exaggerating at all. In today's set of 'best-of-five' matches, I've gained far more than I've lost.
"Because —"
At this point, Shi Hang paused for a moment before he spoke again in a deep voice.
"I can see the difference."
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes.
"Oh."
…
The night wind blew across the surface of the fountain, bringing up some ripples.
Said Shi Hang again. He sounded calm and serene as if he was talking about a trivial matter. Lin Feng was calmly listening to him without interrupting or interrupting.
"Let's not talk about Thunderclap and the two wild card teams in the group stage. They are indeed a little weak. It's not a big deal even if they win."
"However, the two losses to MLG had already made me realize the problem."
“Spoon。”
"MLG's mid laner captain, Europe's second best mage."
"Tsk … He's really strong. He didn't even throw a tantrum when he lost two games. I'm just a little worse than him in terms of individual control. Not to mention reaction speed, I really can't compare to him in terms of handling the details."
"But at that time, I didn't think too much about it. After all, on the one hand, I was still preparing for the next match. On the other hand, I felt that I would definitely qualify for the group stage, so I was still quite relaxed. I wasn't completely forced to that point —"
"But today's four games with Legend really woke me up."
"If I didn't try, I wouldn't know. If I didn't try, I would feel that the gap between me and the top professional mid laners in the world wasn't that big. But when I put myself in that kind of 1v1 situation, the pressure was too strong and too deep."
"I gave it my all and squeezed out all of my potential. The first two games today were definitely the most perfect performances I've ever had in my professional career."
"Even so, I was barely able to match Phoenix. I won thanks to the strength of the shadow puppet in the bottom lane. But to be honest, you might not have felt it, but when I faced Phoenix directly on the field, I felt that perhaps he didn't really give it his all in the first two games."
"He was still doing it with ease."
"After two games, I really couldn't take it anymore in terms of stamina and energy. Phoenix's condition was still as stable as ever, and he won the last two games without any surprises. It was purely a head-on suppression in terms of pure strength."
"It was only then that I truly understood —"
At this point, Shi Hang looked up at the bright crescent moon in the distant night sky and sighed with a complicated tone.
"Oh."
"So this is the Yonkō."
"So I've been working hard to improve in the LPL for the past year, but I've still been a frog in the well. It turns out that the gap between me and the top professional mid laners is still so big."
Lin Feng nodded.
"It's not too late to see the gap now. It's a good thing to be able to see the gap and realize the problem."
Indeed, for Shi Hang and even Team Rapids, the past year seemed to have been too smooth sailing. While it was a good thing, it also had hidden dangers. The biggest taboo for a professional player was to fall into a comfortable and complacent state, unable to see the flaws and shortcomings in themselves, or even the gap between themselves and other stronger players.
Therefore, Shi Hang's emotional sigh from before was not wrong. To him, if such a defeat could help him understand himself a step further and once again stimulate an even more intense battle intent and fighting spirit, then his gains would be far greater than his losses.
Shi Hang also nodded in agreement with Lin Feng's evaluation. "It's not too late, but …" He paused for a moment, then shook his head. "But time is still very tight. He's standing at a higher level than me, and the effort he put in isn't any less than mine. If I want to catch up, I really have to seize every minute and second."
Lin Feng laughed. "So this is where your sense of urgency comes from. It looks like when you return to China, don't think about hotpot anymore. Hurry up and start training for the new season."
Shi Hang grunted. "You can eat hotpot anytime, but if you can wait until the real celebration party, it'll be even more delicious."
"But speaking of urgency."
After he said that, he turned his head and looked at Lin Feng again.
"Ah Xing is now …"
"You also seem to be in a hurry?"
The night wind stopped blowing.
The water in the fountain returned to calmness.
Lin Feng was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Shi Hang in front of him, who was looking at him with a completely different gaze. As if he finally came to a realization, he shook his head helplessly.
"Why are you and Thirteenth Brother the same? Did your observation skills suddenly become so sharp after a match …"
"Aiya, it's not like I suddenly have no pressure after a match. Now that I'm free, I have the time and energy to think about other things ~" Shi Hang replied with a cheeky smile. His expression became solemn again. "So, does Ah Xing know something, or … did you tell him something?"
Lin Feng was silent for a moment.
Then he shook his head.
"It's fine to talk to you now —"
"If you don't think there's enough pressure on you already."
*****
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