Chapter 9: I am watching you, watching you, without blinking an eye.
Chapter 9: I’m Watching You, Watching You, Unblinking
S-tier Curse?
When it comes to the art of jinxing, there was Huang Xudong before, and then Colonel Guan after him.
Their mastery was so profound that everyone trembled at the mere mention of their names.
Especially in the Alliance scene, teams praised by Colonel Guan almost inevitably fell under the curse of doom.
But within the game itself, Cheng Xuan still harbored doubts about the effectiveness of such jinxing.
For example, at the very start of the match, he silently muttered to himself that the enemy base would not explode within five seconds.
Logic would dictate that the enemy base should crumble to smoke within that time, and the word “Victory” would flash boldly across the screen for the five IG players.
But even thinking about such a thing happening was absurd.
Even if it did happen, it would surely be dismissed as a bug, necessitating a rematch.
Sure enough, after five seconds, there was still no sign of any explosion.
“So it seems this kind of jinx carries inherent limitations—perhaps it only triggers reversals for events that are immediately about to happen. But what exactly qualifies as something about to happen?” Cheng Xuan pondered the strategic use of this state while guiding Thresh directly toward his own blue buff in the jungle.
Damn, is this curse really that powerful?
Meanwhile, the WE squad’s voice chat buzzed.
“No way, it’s just raw healing? They actually managed to keep him alive.” Cheng Xuan finally tasted the bitter-sweetness of an S-tier curse, or rather, *the curse*.
One after another, they burst out from the brush with grim expressions.
Elk’s hand trembled inexplicably, and his attack missed.
“Wake up! This is a playoff qualifying match!”
“This is textbook-level play! It sounds simple, but at such a critical moment, very few in the entire LPL could react this quickly...”
“Super, Brother Xuan, you’re not serious, right?”
One ward was dropped sharply into the brush upon entry.
He ran while wondering why the five fierce opponents from before had vanished without a trace.
“They gave First Blood and even handed over our blue buff.”
As their mid laner Orianna rushed over, she auto-attacked just as Thresh stepped on an explosive fruit.
Ezreal missed a minion +1.
Nearby, the cannon minion was also heavily wounded.
A level one burst from five players could instantly kill any hero—any one of them.
Changing pants, and I’m ready to fight again!
Suddenly, all five lurking men lit up.
Added a ward with no one inside—so they sent five guys for me?
After a moment’s thought, his eyes brightened as he stared at the blue buff brush ahead.
WE’s top laner Gwen had respawned too late and had no choice but to teleport back to the top lane.
He roamed everywhere, annoying and dealing high damage—there was no counter to him yet.
Suddenly, Thresh, standing still like a scripted character, nimbly flicked his backside and twisted to dodge Ezreal and Braum’s skill shots.
But then, in the very next moment—
“Brothers! Attack!!”
They had to give him a proper beating now, right?
---
On IG’s side, there was no vision in the blue buff brush, and the rest of the team was scattered across the map.
Not only the commentators praised Cheng Xuan highly.
He immediately used his E skill, Death Sentence, to push Gwen and Sylas back a bit, then without hesitation headed toward the explosive fruit behind the blue buff.
“Good! Nice minion last hit!”
Cheng Xuan tentatively pressed the ward key.
The audience and commentators had no idea what Cheng Xuan was zoning out about.
“How did he run? My goodness! Shaqima survived what should have been a certain death... I didn’t expect this at all...” The commentator’s gaze flashed with surprise, then he praised loudly, “I have to say, Shaqima’s detail work here was like a flawless computer—stepping out of vision, repositioning, twisting to dodge both Ezreal and Braum’s skill shots. Most importantly, Braum’s Q slows if it connects, which would have been fatal.”
The opposing support had been deeply hated by almost the entire WE team in the previous match.
Seeing this scene, everyone sighed helplessly.
They were already at a huge advantage.
Suddenly, Shaqima staggered back toward his own side.
So then, could it be—
Missed minion +1.
Soon another wounded minion appeared; Ezreal was about to last hit.
“Whoa!!” Cheng Xuan was startled, nearly throwing his mouse.
He shouted inside,
“I thought he was dead for sure. I was ready to jungle top and play safe early on.”
“Xuan, when there’s a chance, come top to farm. It’s all yours.”
What was happening before his eyes?
The usually fiery chat suddenly went silent.
Lost in thought, Cheng Xuan barely paid attention to the screen, randomly clicking somewhere—typical of a Bronze-level casual match.
Cheng Xuan: “As expected from Elk, that was a beautiful minion last hit!”
“Brothers! The fish is here! Let’s focus fire and kill him!!” Elk shouted in team chat, instantly getting agreement from everyone else.
This was bad. How could he run now?
Even with the curse, this wouldn’t save him...
The five big men, angered by losing vision, stopped pretending.
Before the game had even properly started, WE’s top laner had already wasted a teleport.
“From the director’s close-up, Shaqima seems to be zoning out! His expression is blank as he stares at his screen. No idea what he’s thinking.”
“First Blood is about to be handed over. How do you run from blind vision? He’s still standing there.”
“Not sure if this always works, but let’s try.” Returning to the bot lane, Cheng Xuan’s drifting gaze slowly settled on Elk.
“Kill this bastard!! Let’s snowball!!”
There’s definitely no one in that brush, right?
At that moment, just as a wounded minion was about to die, Elk controlling Ezreal was about to secure the last hit.
Just a moment ago, he had healed himself once, but he was definitely not getting away this time.
“Uh...”
“If he survives this, I’ll slide tackle live for the audience after the match,” Cheng Xuan thought without hesitation.
Yet somehow, he inexplicably escaped...
---
Meanwhile, the five WE players grouped up early game, sneaking from bot lane into IG’s jungle to set up vision and hunt for any lone enemies.
They instantly sprang into motion, leaving the danger zone.
“Charge, charge, charge!!!”
But from the top-down view, all the viewers and commentators held their breath.
He was just contemplating how to use the curse.
Had the arena’s air conditioning been turned up too high? There was an eerie chill in the air...
Snap!
“Got trapped. Is this support playing some kind of troll? First game was aggressive C, now he’s ready to feed?”
WE’s five players were collectively dumbfounded.
“Why is Shaqima standing still here like a casual player? Camping the blue buff brush, waiting to help the jungler take the blue.”
“Can Shaqima’s senses be any sharper? WE’s five men are just across this wall, all hiding in the brush! They can kill him instantly if they focus fire!”
Thresh’s extraordinary small step dance saved him, but it also disrupted WE’s attack rhythm.
As the five WE players crept into the blue buff brush, they saw Thresh standing alone, exposing just a corner of his cloak.
“This little sidestep is ridiculously skilled...”
...
“I’m super...”
“Then instantly using E to push Sylas and Gwen back was crucial, preventing them from touching his health and keeping a good HP pool so he could safely return to lane without losing experience.”
“Bot lane is 369, right?”
Just when they thought no one was there, someone appeared.
This troll, isn’t this a joke!
And then, for no clear reason, he started randomly clicking mouse and keyboard.
Because of that casual click, he ended up behind a wall in the blue buff brush.
Well, what’s done is done.
Gwen and Sylas simultaneously used E to cross the wall, Braum and Ezreal threw Qs from afar, and Graves was just a bit slower, circling out from the brush.
An electrifying moment worthy of the whole crowd’s roar unfolded!
Even IG’s four teammates were completely stunned.
And our protagonist Cheng Xuan was utterly baffled the entire time.
Elk shivered inexplicably.
They actually managed to run?
Elk gritted his teeth.
Damn it! This time I’m just going to use Q to secure the last hit!
“This cannon minion, with your skill, Elk, there’s no way you’d miss it, right?” Cheng Xuan thought just as the Q skill grazed the corpse of the cannon minion.
Minus one cannon minion.
“I’m done for! I didn’t get a single minion last hit this wave!” Elk’s mentality collapsed.
(End of chapter)