Rise

“Come on, guys! You can do it!” Ren Rou shouted. She wanted to win this game! They were doing so great during the early game. What happened in the last few minutes, that was only a minor setback! Two kills and a Dragon, that’s all that happened! They could still win! There was still hope!

“YEAH! Come on, my bros! We can totally still win this!” Ouyang cheered. He punched up into the air. But it looked completely mismatched with the expression on his face. He was biting his lips and his eyes were wide open, full of worry. A trace of this worry slipped into his voice. “We can do this! Totally.”

Chen Ze didn’t say anything. He watched the players from High School 13 sitting behind their monitors. They looked lost, even from behind. He couldn’t explain why. Perhaps it was the way they were sitting in their chairs, or how they kept looking towards Lin Feng as if they were searching for his guidance. Their plays became less confident too. They hid further back. Whenever an opportunity did show up, they chose to retreat rather than engage. It looked like they’d lost the will to fight.

It made sense. This game was difficult. Tonji Affiliated High was simply better than High School 13. They were the semi finalists from last year. They had the stronger players in every role. They had everything going for them. Well, almost everything. Lin Feng was on High School 13’s team. He was the only reason the game wasn’t over yet. But how far can he carry us? Even with him, it looks like we still can’t win. We’re just not good enough. Chen Ze thought things would’ve been different if they just had more time. More time to practice. More time to learn from Lin Feng. Two weeks just wasn’t enough. It’s fine, though. Right? It's just one game. There’s nothing on the line here. We’ve already qualified. Yeah.... It’s fine.

However, the players from High School 13 hadn’t given up. Nor was their morale running low. They were just upset, that’s all. Not even upset, really. More like mildly miffed. They were mad at themselves, more than anything else. It was their mistakes that had led to them giving up two kills and a Dragon. They were annoyed that Tonji Affiliated High was back in the game because of their mistakes. But that annoyance was not the same as giving up. If anything, it made them want to fight even harder!

The usually quiet Wei Dong was the first to give voice to these emotions. “God dammit guys! I’m not gonna stand here and take this! We’re not going to let Mikey get to us! Not after that fantastic start we had! We’re going to win this damn game! We’re going to win! This is only one match, but we can make an explosion!”

“Heck yeah! What Wei Dong says! THEY SHALL NOT PASS!” Liu Yue said. He cleared the Wolf Camp on the top side of his Jungle, then added, “I’ll come help you guys in bot and mid. Screw that Elise and her shitty ganks! I’ll show them what a real gank looks like!”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses. “Come mid first. Syndra has no Flash. Should be an easy kill.” There was something more he wanted to say, but he hesitated. He had his Orianna walk into lane to last hit a minion, careful not to get caught out by the Syndra. He clicked his tongue and added, “Of course, this isn’t great right now. We’ve given away two kills. It’d be strange if any of us were happy. But being upset isn’t giving up. We’re not giving up. Our goal is the trophy. This is just one game towards that trophy. Let’s make sure we win it.”

Tang Bingyao bit down hard on her lips. Tonji Affiliated High had gotten a kill over her. Their ad-carry was ahead of her Draven now. But she was the better ad-carry. She knew she was the better player. It was time for her to prove that. Play time is over! Instead of making promises over voice chat or cheering with the others to fight, she just stared at her screen. She stared at Tonji Affiliated High’s ad-carry. I don’t care what it takes. Starting right now, I’m going to play on! I’m going to beat you. And I’m going to win this game.

Lin Feng looked over at his teammates and smiled. They’d made a few mistakes, and that was fine. Mistakes were a part of life. Lin Feng wasn’t upset that they’d died. They were trying their best and that was all he could ask of them. That was also why he was happy now. They were doing their best. Even after falling behind, they didn’t give up nor did they start blaming each other. Instead, they were supporting each other. Offering help and seeing what they could do to get their teammates back into the game. They came together as a unit and fought against a team they knew was much stronger than they were. For that reason alone, Lin Feng was proud of them.

Lin Feng took a deep breath, long and slow. He needed to play a perfect game with his Riven to help his team win. That was the singular point of his focus. He didn’t even join in for any of the discussions over voice chat. His teammates, his friends, could figure out their strategy on their own. He knew they could, and he trusted them. He knew they’d make the right call, and they did. They chose to fight! That was the right choice. He could feel his heart beating faster and the adrenaline pounding in his veins. There was a fire burning in his bones! He was going to win this game for them! His Riven was going to go in like a wrecking ball! He knew he needed to say something, he knew how one word could make a heart open. So he said, “You’re doing great, guys! Dontcha worry, leave the rest to me! I’ll bring this game home!”

✹

Determination was important when you decided to chase your dreams. You needed to be determined enough to constantly headbutt a brick wall until it broke down. You also needed courage to keep charging into it. Over and over again. Without the courage to recklessly charge forward against any obstacle in your path, determination meant nothing. There was a formula for it. Ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will, five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain. That’s what you needed to conquer your dream.

It didn’t matter how big or strong the guy standing in the way of your goal was or how tall and thick that brick wall was. As long as you laughed at the immovable object in front of you and charged forward heroically with all your might. You might fall a couple of times. You might need to take a breath. But even if you couldn’t move an immovable object despite becoming an unstoppable force, you could still hold your head up with pride. The journey alone transformed you into an unstoppable force, one that could charge forward again after stepping around the immovable obstacle. There was a hundred percent reason for everyone to remember your name. 

Just like Alonso Quixano in the novel, “Don Quixote”. A laughable knight-errant who attempted to revive chivalry by tilting at windmills. His actions were considered both comical and delusional by the post-chivalric society in the novel. But the Knight Don Quixote never gave up, and never backed down. He faced countless foes, albeit fictional, and eventually triumphed. 

In the face of an overwhelmingly powerful opponent, an immovable obstacle, all you needed was courage. The courage to turn into an unstoppable force and charge forward! But in League of Legends, you didn’t need to have that courage alone. You had teammates standing at your shoulders, pushing you forward. A League of Legends team was composed of five people!

Five people who could rely on each other! Five people who could depend on each other for courage! Five people who could band together to become an unstoppable force that could overcome any obstacle!

My power’s turned on, starting right now I’ll be strong!

Like how Riven’s unwavering voice rang out through the battlefield where she continued to fight alone until her blade was smashed to pieces, “My spirit is still not lost!”

I’ll play my fight song! And I don’t really care if nobody else believes, cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me!

Like how Tian Tian relentlessly pursued victory despite trembling and shaking at the edge of the abyss that was his anxiety!

Like a small boat, on the ocean, sending big waves into motion. Like how a single word can make a heart open. I might only have one match, but I can make an explosion!

Like how Lin Feng charged into this game with his spirit burning brighter and brighter, pushed forward by his teammates until he turned into an unstoppable force!

This is my fight song! Take back my life song! Prove I’m alright song! My power’s turned on! Starting right now, I’ll be strong! I’ll play my fight song! And I don’t really care if nobody else believes, cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me!

Know I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me.

✹

At 14 minutes into the game, the second Dragon spawned. The players from High School 13 and Tonji Affiliated High gravitated towards the Dragon pit in the bottom side river. Tonji Affiliated High took control of the river above the Dragon pit. They bullied the players from High School 13 away and back towards mid lane. The players from High School 13 weren’t just going to take this. They fired back with their skillshots and tried to get vision over the area, and then maybe control. All the while, Lin Feng had slipped away and pathed from mid lane down through his Jungle and around the Dragon pit. Then he walked through the tri brush near bot lane towards the river.

A few people in the crowd noticed the Riven’s icon showing up below Tonji Affiliated High’s team. They tapped or brushed against the people around them and pointed at the monitor.“Dude! Look there! The Riven!”“The Riven backdoor!”"Oh snap! This gonna be juicy!”

Ouyang looked around the cafe. The whispers weren’t whispered, they were more like muffled shouts. He put his finger to his lips and started shushing those who were the loudest. Ren Rou did the same, as did Chen Ze. Lin Feng was flanking Tonji Affiliated High! He tried to get into their backline and one shot the squishy carries hiding behind the tanks! This was a great plan! But it would fail the moment Tonji Affiliated High noticed him. So the three of them took it upon themselves to quiet the crowd, and make sure Tonji Affiliated High wouldn’t find out about it until it was already too late to do anything about it!

✹

The casters of the KG versus Legend game had full vision of the map. They saw where Legend was, even when KG couldn’t. Right now, KG had very few wards and had no clue where any of the players from Legend were. “NO! BACK! Don’t do that! Back! Not good! KG is going to get caught!” Stone cried out as the crowd in the Wembley Arena came to life. Everyone saw what was happening, except for the five players from KG.

KG’s Rek’Sai was trying to get some vision around their mid lane. He walked through his upper jungle until he arrived at the wall separating the jungle near mid lane and the river. On the other side of the wall was the river brush. That was where he wanted his ward. He got as close up to the wall as he could and then placed a ward over it into the brush. As he did, the dark magic of Morgana flew through the wall and locked him in place–Dark Binding!

The Xerath, KG’s Midlaner, saw the Dark Binding appear. He moved without thinking, ready to help his Jungler. Then Rek’Sai’s ward landed on the brush. It revealed all five members of Legend, waiting for a pick. “Crap!” the Xerath shouted. But he was already too close to his Jungler, and too far away from his outer tower. Nor was there any time to react.

Legend’s Sejuani flashed over the wall and then charged into the Rek’Sai and Xerath, knocking both of them up into the air–Arctic Assault! This was the moment that the Yasuo was waiting for. He activated his ultimate and blinked over to the two airborne Champions! Then he knocked them back down to the ground–Last Breath! The Sejuani came in right after with her own ultimate, a bola that froze and stunned the first Champion it struck–Glacial Prison!

KG’s Midlaner died. Before the other three members from Legend could walk around the wall and arrive to the fight, he was already dead. The combination of crowd control spells meant there was nothing he could do in return. He was basically perma-stunned until he died. As for the Rek’Sai. After the Last Breath knocked her back down to the ground, she flashed away and created enough of a gap to have some hope of survival. But the players from Legend were hot on her tail!

If Legend got the kill on the Jungler, then the second Dragon was within their grasp. They would get another buff on top of two kills. This would be the nail in the coffin for KG. There was no coming back after that happened. The Chinese casters and fans at home were biting their nails. Legend was too strong. The Sejuani could tank towers, while the rest finished off the Rek’Sai. It looked hopeless. Their only hope was God Roundy and his Riven. They looked towards the minimap, where they saw Riven’s icon moving down the river from top lane and towards the action.

✹

Lin Feng walked up towards the team from Tonji Affiliated High from behind, while Tian Tian did the same in his game against Legend. 10,000 kilometers separated the two, but they kept making the same plays. They played with the same conviction and came to the same conclusion. This fight was not lost! It didn’t matter how bad it looked, both of them believed they could turn the fight around and pull out a win for their team! The two friends slammed down on their R keys, an ocean apart but still bonded by fate.

Both Rivens empowered their weapons with green energy, reforging their broken blades–Blade of the Exile! Their attack damage and range rose sharply, and they gained the powerful ability Wind Slash! Their cold voices echoed through Summoner’s Rift, and across time and space itself, in unison, “I am awakened!”