148. Going Professional
Yun Ling was born into a poor family and was instilled with the idea of 'frugality' from a young age.
This fostered a timid and submissive personality in Yun Ling.
When he didn't have enough money in his pocket, he would walk to the corner store.
When passing a toy store, he would run straight past, not daring to glance at it.
The phrase Yun Ling heard most often as a child was, "You have to be sensible. Our family is poor; we don't have that much money to waste."
Of course, Yun Ling was still content with his life; at least he had a peaceful and warm family.
Occasionally, he would hear his father, drunk, boast about his past glories. Their family was, after all, a prestigious clan.
But a global disaster had devastated most cities. His father, who was in the real estate business, lost everything overnight and never recovered.
Helpless, his mother scrimped and saved, bringing the then-young Yun Ling to this place.
Of course, Yun Ling's memories of these things were hazy.
Upon entering junior high, his parents' words shifted from "frugality" to "hard work."
"You must study hard so you can make something of yourself in the future. Your father and I can support ourselves; you just need to take care of yourself."
They didn't expect Yun Ling to bring them wealth; they only hoped he would succeed, have a family of his own, have a child, and continue this ordinary life.
This...is the thinking of most ordinary people.
However, Yun Ling's grades were never excellent, perhaps because he was not suited for studying...
During school, he made a few friends—or perhaps it was the mutual attraction between academic underachievers?
They quickly became inseparable.
Until one weekend, his friends invited him to an internet cafe.
Yun Ling's first thought was fear. Visiting an internet cafe meant spending money, and his allowance was definitely not enough for such an extravagance.
His second thought was curiosity about the unknown. He had never played computer games before, let alone been to an internet cafe, so he was drawn to this unfamiliar place.
After several rounds of persuasion, Yun Ling finally succumbed.
The group arrived at an internet cafe. Although it was a legitimate one, as long as no one checked, there shouldn't be any major problems.
Here, Yun Ling saw many people his age, even some elementary school students...
However, Yun Ling didn't join in; he just watched from the sidelines.
They were playing a currently popular MOBA tower defense game. Although Yun Ling didn't join, they still found someone to play with in a random match.
Yun Ling's gaze lingered on the screen. In just a short time, he had already grasped the basics of the game.
"Ouch...damn...my stomach hurts, Yun Ling, can you hold it for me?"
One of them hurriedly patted Yun Ling's shoulder and ran to the restroom.
"I...I've never played this before." Yun Ling scratched his head, then put on his headphones and sat down.
"It's okay, top lane is hopeless. Just play defensively under the tower. When you see a minion low on health, just need to auto-attack it; that's called last-hitting," his friend instructed.
Yun Ling was currently in the top lane. Looking at his score, it was 0-3-0...
Their only advantage was the jungler provided by their jungler, but that jungler was primarily ganking bot lane, giving them a significant advantage.
As for the mid and top, they were being completely dominated by their opponents.
Yun Ling was currently only at half health. The best course of action was to recall, but it was clear the enemy top laner wouldn't give him that chance.
The enemy had amassed a wave of minions and was pushing forward. If Yun Ling went back now, the wave would reach the tower, and the game would be over.
"Top lane looks like they're about to get tower-dived. Can you go help?" The jungler, currently on the bottom side of the map, glanced at the situation in the top lane and asked.
"No, I'm being pushed too. If I go up, I'll lose two waves of minions…" the mid laner said helplessly.
At this moment, the enemy jungler also appeared in the top lane vision, completely focusing on the top lane as their point of attack.
Now, everyone had given up hope.
"Sigh, this top lane is collapsing too much. Oh well, it's okay, Yun Ling, if you die, you die."
His mid laner friend, who was 0-2-0, patted him on the shoulder.
Yun Ling didn't answer, but focused intently on the screen.
A large wave of minions entered the tower, and the enemy top laner and jungler were already itching to engage.
Yun Ling moved forward slightly, and the jungler instantly pounced.
The instant the jungler's damage hit him, Yun Ling used his only crowd control skill.
But it was a short-lived stun, completely ineffective in stopping it.
The top laner was already charging towards him.
Yun Ling dodged the fatal crowd control with a flash, then frantically clicked the ground with his mouse.
A 90-degree turn deflected a swift non-targeted skill.
"Holy crap, what incredible luck!" The enemy top laner was stunned. Although it was a non-targeted skill, its range was huge and its speed ridiculously fast, rarely missing.
The jungler's crowd control was removed. Although he took some tower damage, it wasn't important, and he continued towards Yun Ling's location.
Yun Ling remained under the tower, employing a pincer-walking maneuver.
"Stop fucking tower-bashing!" The top laner was nearly driven to despair, watching the jungler auto-attack the tower three times in a row.
"You think I want to? I can't even touch this bastard!"
The jungler was also furious. Every time he auto-attacked, either the distance was too far, or the tower's model was completely obscured.
"No, I can't hold on any longer. I have to get out."
Just as the jungler was about to retreat, Yun Ling suddenly jumped in and finished him off with a basic attack.
The jungler wanted to counter-attack and trade kills but was surprised to find Yun Ling retreating again, perfectly positioned outside his auto-attack range.
This back-and-forth was incredibly frustrating.
However, in that brief moment of turning around, a minion blocked his retreating position, allowing him to tank an extra hit from the tower. Combined with the auto-attack damage, he secured the kill.
In other words, if Yun Ling hadn't jumped in, he wouldn't have died even with that extra hit.
"Damn it!" The jungler stared at the black screen, his face gradually turning red.
But Yun Ling's recklessness had also exposed him to the enemy top laner's attack range.
However, facing the close-range Yun Ling, his skill was once again dodged at a 90-degree angle.
"Damn it, did he use it?" the top laner couldn't help but curse.
Then the splash damage at the end of the skill hit Yun Ling, barely scratching him.
But this immediately made him the target of the tower.
The serious damage killed him in two hits.
"You've defeated one enemy hero!"
"Double kill!"
"???" His friend beside him looked completely bewildered.
"How did you get a double kill?"
"I don't know, their skills didn't seem to hit me." Yun Ling shook his head.
"It must have been luck."
After finishing off the minion wave, Yun Ling took the bounty and returned to the fountain.
"What should I buy?" Yun Ling asked.
"Buy something defensive, something to make you more tanky later," the jungler said to Yun Ling.
He clearly hadn't expected Yun Ling to get a double kill and escape unscathed.
However, things seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Yun Ling had two kills, while the enemy top laner was losing both lane and kills, making him unplayable.
The roles were reversed, and this time Yun Ling was on the offensive.
Fortunately, the enemy still had a long-range skill that he could use to harass them a bit.
After several minutes and over ten attempts, he hadn't landed a single hit, and instead, Yun Ling had ambushed him several times, bringing his health to a dangerous low.
"It's activated! It's definitely activated!" The top laner was completely red-hot.
"Don't worry, I'll gank again," the jungler reassured him.
"My ultimate is ready, I can teleport," the mid laner also offered to help.
Hearing this, the top laner moved slightly forward, but Yun Ling didn't hesitate, jumping in and landing two skills on him, leaving him with only a sliver of health.
"I can kite this!" the top laner said confidently.
The opponent was a short-ranged hero, and his only dash was already used, while he still had Sprint.
The top laner attacked Yun Ling once, then quickly retreated, trying to kite him.
Then, to his surprise, Yun Ling didn't continue chasing but instead finished off a cannon minion and began to retreat.
Suddenly, the top laner's screen went black.
"Damn it, I got killed by a minion!" The top laner couldn't help but slam his fist on the table.
"What kind of luck is that? How could that position attract the minion's aggro?"
"He retreated before you even auto-attacked. You only moved forward a small amount of time before the minion hit you," the mid-laner explained, clearly more skilled than the top-laner.
"Luck or skill?" the top-laner asked, bewildered.
"I don't know, but he probably can't escape."
An eye icon appeared above Yun Ling's character's head, and then the enemy mid-laner appeared in front of him.
A precise targeted crowd control hit Yun Ling, followed by a basic attack and a ranged skill.
Just before the attack hit, Yun Ling dodged.
"He used a crowd control immunity?" Seeing the effect appear on Yun Ling, the mid-laner didn't panic but began to kite and auto-attack.
Behind Yun Ling, the enemy jungler followed again.
A crowd control skill came, and a similar scene unfolded: Yun Ling flashed away.
But the enemy mid-laner's damage was simply too high; even basic attacks took away a significant amount of Yun Ling's health.
"Dive!" With the mid-laner's command, the jungler charged in without hesitation, chasing Yun Ling despite the turret's damage.
"Damn it, let's see if you die this time!"
However, the jungler's positioning allowed him to land a few turret attacks, but he couldn't reach Yun Ling.
But the enemy mid-laner wasn't so naive; he kept attacking Yun Ling, and his health quickly dwindled.
"Come out." The mid-laner stylishly unleashed a targeted crowd control skill, then turned around.
A true man never looks back.
Suddenly, a clear, golden sound stunned him.
"There's invincibility?!"
Yun Ling had just seen a cheap item in the shop that granted invincibility, so he bought it, not expecting it to work.
Seeing Yun Ling with a sliver of health, the jungler impulsively tried to trade kills again.
"Double kill!"
"...Once could be a coincidence, but what about twice?" The jungler glanced at the top lane.
Already 4-3-0, are they really that easy prey?
But he could tell from his matchup that the enemy jungler's skill level was definitely not low!
After two consecutive losses, Yun Ling, a late-game hero, had completed his build. Even the enemy mid laner was powerless to turn the tide, single-handedly chasing down three opponents.
As the crystal exploded, the others couldn't help but gather around.
"Holy crap, Yun Ling, you're amazing! Have you really never played this game before?" Several friends surrounded him.
This comeback was definitely largely due to Yun Ling's two plays.
"Uh...this should be considered my first time playing on a computer," Yun Ling scratched his head.
At this moment, his friend, who had just gone to the bathroom, returned.
"Your big daddy's back! I bet you guys would have gotten destroyed without me, right?!"
He took off Yun Ling's headphones and put them on his own head.
Yun Ling also got up at the opportune moment, making room for him.
Although he still wanted to continue playing, it was clear that it was too late.
"Tch, you played worse than a newbie like Yun Ling. After you left, we went straight for the win!" his teammate scoffed.
"Impossible?" He looked at the scoreboard; his score had gone from 0-3-0 to 9-3-5, and he couldn't believe it.
At this moment, everyone was immersed in the joy of the comeback, except for the jungler, who started analyzing the game.
He clicked on the replay, carefully watching every move Yun Ling made.
Those two plays in the top lane were hard to believe came from a newbie's judgment and positioning.
Even he could only have traded one kill at most, and that was under ideal circumstances.
The opposing top laner was Platinum, but the jungler was at least Diamond level, and the mid laner was even higher...
It was clearly a five-man premade team stomping a noob.
"Hey, here, take my computer. Play a few more games and let me see." The jungler suddenly sat up and patted Yun Ling on the shoulder.
"Huh?" Yun Ling scratched his head, somewhat confused.
However, he couldn't suppress his excitement and placed his right hand on the mouse.
In the following games, Yun Ling's performance repeatedly shattered the other man's expectations.
That terrifying awareness, hand speed, positioning, and unique understanding of the game...
A prodigy! An absolute esports prodigy!
"Is this really your first time playing this game?" he asked.
This wasn't just a question he wanted to ask, but also one his friends wanted to ask.
Watching him dominate every match, achieve godlike status, and become MVP, they all suspected Yun Ling might have come from some youth training team.
"Yes." Yun Ling nodded.
He was completely immersed in the joy of the game.
"...Little brother, interested in playing professionally?" the man suddenly asked.
"I'm the jungler for the 'BRN' team. You can call me Soldier. I think you have a lot of talent, provided you're not lying about 'first time playing'."
"Huh?" Yun Ling's friends all gaped in astonishment.
The BRN team, champions of the third league, however, they consistently failed to reach the semifinals in the fourth and fifth leagues, possibly due to internal reasons.
"We can all vouch for him, this guy can't even turn on a computer in computer class!" his friend exclaimed.
"Professional? Is it a professional esports player?" Yun Ling didn't know much about it.
"Yun Ling, that's the very top tier of gamers! Putting everything else aside, if he really became a professional player, his income alone would be at least a million, maybe even tens of millions!" his friends explained excitedly.
"Ah…" Yun Ling was indeed a little tempted.
"But Yun Ling's parents are quite old-fashioned; they probably won't agree." One of them poured cold water on Yun Ling and the other three.
They all knew Yun Ling's family situation; they would definitely be absolutely opposed to him playing professionally!
"If you're interested, I can arrange a test for you, right here." Soldier asked the internet cafe manager to set up another computer.
"Want to try it?" Soldier's tone was inquiring.
"…Yes!" Yun Ling nodded.
The so-called test was actually a 1v1 solo match, and the soldiers would score Yun Ling based on his performance.
Yun Ling's thoughts drifted back into the game.
When he got home, he still had a dreamlike feeling.
He...was chosen!
...