Chapter 16 — Middle Road Rules

"Scratch."

The dry sound came from Hải Đăng's right wrist when he just clicked to choose the last champion for Game 3 (Blind Pick). Châu stood behind him, startled, about to reach out to stop him, but Đăng gently shook his head. His eyes were glued to the screen, his black pupils reflecting the cold blue light from the countdown interface.

"This game we will play a mobile team," Đăng announced briefly. "Tuấn, choose the Jungle Assassin. Hùng, choose the Fighter with the ability to split push. I will take 'Kael' - Shadow Assassin."

The whole team widened their eyes. Kael was an extremely difficult champion to play, with huge single-target damage but blood thinner than paper, requiring terrible hand speed (APM). Was Đăng planning to use a highly mobile assassin champion while his wrist was injured?

On the other side of the battle line, Lê Hoàng patted Alpha's Jungler on the shoulder, smirked and whispered: "Shadow will definitely try to carry the team. Bring the entire squad to the Mid lane to camp for me. Smash it right from the beginning of the game. Show it that it's just an abandoned bitch."

The match began.

Sure enough, right from the second minute, the Alpha squad did not follow the usual rules. Their Junglers, Supports, and Top Laners all left their paths open, leading a long line straight toward the Mid Lane grass, forming a 4-on-1 pincer position aimed straight at Hải Đăng.

"They intend to arrest Mr. Đăng to death! Please retreat to your headquarters!" Tuấn 'Compass' shouted in panic when he detected the enemy's movement on the mini-map.

But Đăng did not back down. Kael still stood calmly in the middle of the river, slashing soldiers as if nothing happened.

"Catch it!" Lê Hoàng shouted from outside.

Four Alpha members immediately rushed out from all directions, unleashing all their control moves on Kael. The audience roared. With that amount of damage, Kael would surely evaporate without a shred remaining.

But right in the tenth of a second before the skills hit him, Đăng activated his ultimate move "Shadow Clone". Kael split into three shadows that rushed in three different directions. Team Alpha was confused and launched an attack that hit two virtual shadows. Kael's real shadow glided smoothly, weaving through gaps in the terrain, deep into the enemy's forest area.

"Chase it! Catch it!" Mid Alpha angrily gave orders.

The four of them were like moths, caught up in the pursuit of a provocative Assassin in the dark forest. Đăng moves extremely mischievously. He deliberately showed sight in hidden corners, then used his wall-gliding skill, making the Alpha team run around like idiots.

"Đăng! Your blood is gone!" Châu shouted.

"I know," Đăng replied, his voice chillingly calm. Sweat dripped down his chin. His right wrist was in sharp pain, but he still held the mouse tightly. "Hùng, Kiên! Push the tower!"

At this moment, the Alpha team was startled to realize their fatal mistake. They were engrossed in chasing a bloody Kael for three minutes on the top of the map, completely ignoring the Bottom and Top Lanes.

Hùng 'Gaur' had destroyed tower 1 and was knocking down tower 2 in the top lane. In the bottom lane, Kiên '3G', under Nam 'Coward's health buff, had also cleared the guard tower, and the minions were heading straight toward the main base.

"Return to home defense! They are playing diversionary tactics!" Captain Alpha shouted, pressing the Return button.

"Tuấn! Stop them!" Đăng ordered.

Tuấn 'Compass' - who had been hiding in the nearby grass - rushed straight out, launching a wide-area attack that interrupted the Recall process of the three Alpha members. Tuấn was immediately taken down, but those five seconds of baiting were more than enough.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!*

The two Inhibitors of the Alpha team continuously exploded. Đăng also collapsed in the forest after being surrounded, but his mission "Absorb Pressure" was completed in the most brilliant and tragic way.

Ten minutes later, with superior minion advantage in both lanes, HD E-sports easily suffocated the Alpha team. The final fight took place quickly. Team Alpha, with their panic and extreme inhibition, completely lost the game.

"VICTORY!"

The word Victory appeared, marking a 2-1 victory in favor of the "defensive" Hoàng Diệu team. They officially reached the Semifinals of the National Championship.

The entire stadium was immersed in surprise, then burst into resounding applause. No one believed that an unknown esports team could use such top-notch tactics to defeat the defending champion.

On the competition seats, Hùng, Kiên, Nam and Tuấn jumped up and hugged each other in celebration.

Only Hải Đăng sat motionless. His right hand hung loose from the mouse, shaking violently, his knuckles turning white.

Bảo Châu rushed forward, disregarding the rules, pulling up her hoodie. Đăng's wrist was swollen, red, and the blue veins were visibly tired. He exhausted the last bit of strength from his disabled wrist to perform the "Dance" of Assassin to lure the enemy.

"You're crazy! Crazy!" Châu scolded and cried, quickly applying a cold ice pack to her hand.

Đăng grimaced slightly, but looked to the other side of the stage and saw Lê Hoàng's purple face, pale with anger, the corner of his lips curled up in a satisfied smile.

You won this game. But the real storm was only beginning.

On the way out of the Gymnasium, Bảo Châu kept grumbling, half scolding, half worried, carrying an ice box and a roll of spare medical tape. The remaining four members walked behind, still ecstatic in the spirit of victory, taking turns recounting Đăng's miraculous "splitting" to anyone willing to listen.

"Mr. Đăng, when you separated the three balls, the audience screamed so loudly that I thought the roof of the stadium would collapse," Kiên walked and re-enacted the movements, almost hitting a street light pole.

"Be careful," Đăng reminded, but the corners of his lips still curled up a bit.

At the intersection near the school, the group stopped and waited for the red light. Hùng suddenly turned around, rarely serious. "Mr. Đăng, just now when Mr. Lê Hoàng stood staring at you, I felt scared for you. He looked like he wanted to eat you alive."

Đăng was silent for a moment, watching the traffic pass in front of him. "There are people who are only strong when they stand on the shoulders of others. Once you stop kneeling in front of them, they are no longer scary."

The green light turned on. The group walked across the street together, a unified mass amidst a stream of strangers, and in that moment, Đăng felt that the fear that had haunted him for the past eight months had eased to a large extent.

At the turn into the alley leading to his house, Bảo Châu stopped and turned to the group. "One day off from practice tomorrow. Everyone needs to catch up on sleep, including our grumpy Captain."

"I don't need—" Đăng was about to protest out of habit, but Châu raised her hand to stop him.

"No argument. I'm the manager, my decisions are ultimate, just like what you said to the other four the first day." She smirked triumphantly, knowing that she had just used Đăng's words to silence him.

Hùng, Tuấn, Kiên and Nam all applauded and cheered in support of this rare decision. Đăng looked around, saw that he was completely overwhelmed by the entire group, and had to raise his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay. Just one day. Come back the next day and practice twice as much to make up for it."

"I knew right away that I couldn't let you take a full day off without any conditions," Châu shook her head, but the corner of her mouth still curled up in a helpless smile. The group parted ways at the intersection, each going home, carrying in their hearts the sweet afterglow of an unbelievable victory and the promise of a rare day of rest in the midst of a stressful season.

Returning home, Đăng lay down on the bed, his body exhausted but his mind unusually alert. He took out his phone, reviewed the video of his split that an audience member had recorded and posted online, and analyzed each frame himself like a professional coach evaluating his students. Not to be complacent, but to find areas for further improvement before the upcoming Semi-Finals. Even in the joy of victory, the former top player's habit of being strict with himself had not faded.

He typed into his electronic notepad three things he needed to improve before the Semifinals: reaction speed when his wrist hurt, how to allocate vision in the mid-game, and a backup plan if the next opponent used the same camping strategy as Alpha did. He saved the notes, put the phone down on the table, and finally fell asleep with a rare peace that he had not felt since leaving the professional world, as if the burden of the past had eased a little more.