LOL: I just turned 18, let me fight back and be reborn

Chapter 279 The Journey of Fists! "Beat Up the Designer!" The Reset Hundred-Crack Netherhound! [Seeking Monthly Tickets at the Beginning of the Month]

The day after the Mid-Season Invitational ended, at No. 1 Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles.

The photographer followed behind, taking pictures, while Ye Bo walked into a long corridor with GLHF (good luck and have fun) engraved on the wall, looking at everything in front of him with curiosity.

The iconic mascot, a fist-shaped figure, is located in the very center of the lobby. It is a giant figurine of a little girl holding flames and a ferocious giant bear.

Further inside, there are hooded ice archers with bows drawn and arrows nocked, yellow-skinned minotaurs bound by chains, cowboys playing with playing cards, female warriors wielding cross-shaped throwing knives, and laughing raccoons puffing out their mouths and playing flutes.

"These are the original six champions in the League of Legends design plan, and they are the champions we have been reluctant to make major changes to to this day."

Riot Games president Tryndamere, acting like a tour guide, explained to the latter: "You'll find that they haven't changed much since thirteen years ago, right?"

Like a mouse that has fallen into a rice jar, Ye Bo excitedly looked around and just kept nodding.

He wears expensive smart glasses that can translate in real time, allowing him to communicate without a translator.

CT enthusiastically provided updates on various matters within the Riot Games park, making everything here feel both fresh and familiar to Ye Bo.

“Our headquarters has six campuses: Q, W, E, R, D, and F. Each campus has an outdoor courtyard with three paths leading up to it. For example, the D area where we are now is the main office area.”

Ye Bo chuckled and joked, "No wonder such an important skill as Flash is set on the D key. D Flash is the right thing to do!"

CT agreed earnestly, "Yes! What's that saying again? Great minds think alike!"

Ye Bo also saw a coffee bar called "Bilgewater," whose interior and exterior decorations were indeed distinctly harbor-style, making one momentarily think that they had actually arrived at the port of Bilgewater.

Even the office areas here are named after Freljord and Ionia.

Ye Bo was enthusiastically pulled by CT to tour his [Balance Cult] office, and Sanhuan could only helplessly follow behind. After a thorough tour, they headed to [Bandle City] to get down to business.

"Bandle City...it's actually an internet cafe?"

“When the boss isn’t around, we often come here to slack off, so we changed the name to this place.” CT explained proudly, “Usually when we disagree, we come here to ‘fight.’”

As he spoke, he turned around and loudly announced, "By the way, I'm going to be on the same team as YE today!"

This place is almost a 1:1 replica of a domestic internet cafe, and it's quite a fitting replica within the sizable internet cafe area of ​​Riot Games.

After all, Bandle City is a "miniature world" in the Alliance universe, a special realm exclusively for the Yordles, and a paradise that no one but the Yordles can discover or enter.
Since it's a trial of a new hero, it's impossible to only do it in training mode; it definitely needs to be tested in actual combat to be of more reference value.

However, the new hero is still a work in progress and has not yet been released on the test server, so they had to call on the nine designers to have an internal competition and use Riot's internal network server to test it.

The designers at Riot Games were naturally happy to play games with the world champions, and a dozen or twenty people came running as soon as they were called.

Those who didn't get a seat could only stand behind and watch, which for a moment really gave it a feel of a Chinese internet cafe.
A photographer accompanied the group, documenting the entire process.

"Go, Master Ye! Beat up Brother Sanhuan!" CT Bro sneakily peeked over from the loading screen, sneaking in his own message.

The guy on the opposite side, Sanhuan, also took a deep breath, looking quite serious.

As the designer, he naturally took charge of creating the new hero on the opposing side to face off against Ye Bo.

In his mind, he was a rare master-level player among designers, and he knew the hero he had designed by himself inside and out—his advantage was against Ye Bo, who hadn't even read the skill text!
Ye Bo quickly immersed himself in the game: "This new hero's name is pretty badass, Hundred-Crack Netherhound!"

Throw two daggers. Charge towards the enemy with the pack of dogs, roll to reposition, and summon more dog companions.

Ye Bo read the skill text, quickly trying to understand it.

Just as Brother Sanhuan had expected, Ye Bo had a firm advantage in the early stages of the match because it was his first time playing against Ye Bo!

Ye Bo even almost managed a solo kill at level six because he tested the skill mechanism a few times, but fortunately the damage was slightly less.

Brother Sanhuan is bursting with confidence!

Nine minutes into the game, the opposing jungler, former lead designer Ezreal, showed no sportsmanship and, controlling his self-created Juggernaut, ran to the mid lane and slashed Ye Bo.

After a major overhaul, "Brother Sanhuan" suddenly launched an attack!

The ultimate move, [Roar], is activated when you leap into the air to prepare for a hunt.

Summon a pack of three-headed dogs to enter a damage-increasing state!
Having learned from experience, Ye Bo responded calmly this time, first turning around and throwing out his Q skill, [Darkin Fang].

Q skill is the core damage-dealing skill of Hundred-Crack Hound.

If you can land two consecutive Qs, you'll not only have a terrifying burst of damage, but you'll also recover a lot of health. So, in previous trades, when two dogs were exchanging Qs, they would usually use the E skill's small dash to dodge.

But Ye Bo has already discovered it.

During the 1 second that R is released, you cannot use other minor skills!
Just now, during the level 6 wave, he was planning to use R followed by E to dodge, but he failed to use E and was almost killed in a solo kill.

But at this moment, Brother Sanhuan had already used W [Hound Bloodlust] to track and locate the enemy, and a line of blood condensed out, becoming the direction of guidance!
W is the new hero's signature skill.

Simply put, it's a lock, similar to Vivo's R.

The only difference is that Vi can use Flash to adjust her direction during her R spell. However, during the casting and execution of Uzi's W spell, he cannot use any skills, including Flash, and he also cannot interrupt himself!

After Ye Bo used Q, he also used R to accelerate and started running in the opposite direction.

Flash right into the tower!

While R cannot be cast using E, it can be cast using Flash.
More importantly, W's dash cannot be interrupted by himself, but Ye Bo has already rushed into his own tower in an instant under the double impact of R's acceleration and Flash!
Because of the increased distance, the flight time of W was extended, allowing Ye Bo to land first and immediately unleash a second Q2—once again utilizing the mechanism that the dog's W cannot be used during the dash, successfully hitting the target!

A double Q hit instantly reversed the health bar.

Brother Sanhuan was even dragged into the tower and took a tower hit!
"A generous gift."

Brother Sanhuan was so shocked that he landed and frantically used a teleportation ability to pull himself out.

However, Ye Bo's W lock has not yet been used.

Although Brother Sanhuan managed to land a Q during the opponent's W dash by copying the strategy, the short cooldown prevented him from instantly landing two Qs.

After landing, Ye Bo used his E skill to dash close to the enemy, dodged the second Q, and successfully chased down and secured a solo kill!

"Yoooooooooh!" CT immediately cheered, looking up at the other side and shouting, like a roaring deity: "Are you even up to it, Third Ring Road Bro!"

"I've practiced for three months, but it seems like I can't even play for nine minutes as well as others~~~"

The guy on the other end of the street ignored the jerk and just typed "{So cool}" in the chat box as a compliment.

He naturally didn't care, after all, Ye Bo was the newly crowned FMVP of MSI, so it wasn't shameful at all to lose to him.

But he soon realized something was wrong!

This version of the dog is definitely one of the easiest heroes to snowball with.

W (Headlock), a short-cooldown skill, can basically be used to kill enemies with mindless W once you have an advantage, just like what Brother Sanhuan just thought.

However, he didn't have any obvious advantage just now.

But Ye Bo's move was a solo kill combined with a double advantage of plating and level!

Furthermore, this type of hero, who is well-suited for roaming, is clearly Ye Bo's forte, and the side lanes were quickly torn apart by the weaknesses in the mid lane.

Most of Riot Games' designers are casual gamers, and this Master player, Sanhuan Ge, is already a super expert. The game quickly came to a standstill.

However, in team battles, it wasn't as overwhelming as expected.

Logically speaking.

Any assassin-type mid-laner with a 10-0 score or higher should be able to kill without even trying, and be able to go in and out of team fights seven times over.

The only way for the hero to enter the fray is with W—but not only can W be interrupted by all hard crowd control, it can even be blocked by the enemy's teammates standing in front of them with their own bodies!
More importantly, the Hundred-Crack Netherhound has no survival skills and is positioned as an assassin with pure damage output.

In this match, Ye Bo almost locked onto the AD carry with his W, but the opposing designer, Quesanti, stepped in to block it, nearly getting him instantly killed in a moment when Quesanti was about to show off his charm!

Of course.

If someone as well-developed as Ye Bo can face this situation, then the opposing Sanhuan Ge must be in an even worse predicament.

He found himself unable to instantly kill anyone, and dared not enter the fray, as if he could only become a short-range, scatterbrained monster.
Ye Bo, who ultimately racked up a score of 25-1-10, still took a full 35 minutes to forcefully tower dive and end the game with the help of the Double Dragons.

"Wow! That was awesome!" CT was still not satisfied.

"So this is what it feels like to be teammates with YE!"

Several designers belonging to Ye Bo's side also urged loudly, "Go go go, again!"

But the opposing team was clearly losing interest, and, dazed from the beating, they protested loudly, "No, no, no! Switch sides! Switch sides!"

Left with no other option, the two sides had to exchange teammates, except for the guy from the Third Ring Road.

By the second match, Ye Bo was clearly very skilled—mainly because the hero's design was just too "simple".

to be honest.

During the laning phase, you should only look at the hit rate of the Q skill.

If you can hit your target, you can't beat anyone; if you can't hit your target, you can't beat anyone.

Then, once you gain an advantage, you can mindlessly use W to rush in, and if the opponent happens to be the same hero and doesn't have the ability to interrupt, you will lose the right to lane as soon as you start playing at a slight disadvantage.

"Third Ring Road Bro, you're such a rip-off!"

"How dare you say that? Why didn't you pick the middle one! I told you this game was unrestricted!"

"How am I supposed to get there! The enemy mid laner keeps invading my jungle! I think it's time for Graves to get a buff!"

"CT, it proves that my Master Yi is the strongest!"

Ye Bo grinned from ear to ear as he watched the real-time translation on the translation glasses.

Who would have thought that designers are just like all gamers in their daily lives, even speaking almost identically?
Two trial sessions should be enough.

After all, the skill gap is still too large; the main thing is the feeling of trying out the hero.

Brother Sanhuan led Ye Bo to the side and got a cup of "Water Ghost Coffee" from a Bilgewater bar.

I took out my notebook and began to diligently record my work.

"So, what do you think of this new hero?" Brother Sanhuan stared at Ye Bo.

"Or rather, if it were you, would you consider using it on the field?"

To determine whether a new hero is successful, you simply need to look at its pick rate in ranked matches and competitive matches.

Sanhuan Ge firmly believes that his Hundred-Crack Netherhound, designed with a "simple and brutal" philosophy, will definitely be popular in ranked matches, but he is not good at anticipating the competition.

I'm worried that the strength might be too high, like the Zeli I designed last year.
But to everyone's surprise, Ye Bo shook his head and honestly admitted, "Not at all." "Why?"

Upon hearing such a definitive answer, Brother Sanhuan was visibly disappointed.

He wouldn't take other people's comments to heart; he would just mutter to himself that the other person simply didn't understand his design philosophy.

But the person on the other side is definitely the best {assassin} hero user right now, and one of the best mid-lane professional players.

The positioning and role of the Hundred-Crack Netherhound should be tailor-made for players like Ye Bo!

So if even he thinks so, the result is obvious.

"I actually really like this hero's mechanics, especially the {dog pack} mechanic, which is very fresh and should allow for a lot of gameplay possibilities. However, the hero's flaws are just too obvious."

"Oh, so you think it's too weak? Then we'll just increase the stats!"

Brother Sanhuan breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately raised it again.

"No, no, no, it's not a problem with the numbers, it's more a problem with the skill set's mechanics."

Even though he was at Riot Games headquarters, there were cameras recording him.

However, Ye Bo has always been uninhibited when discussing game content, focusing solely on the game itself, as evidenced by his pointing out the problems in the training matches when he first met Flandre.

He shared his feelings in detail: "Simply put, although this hero is positioned as an assassin, the skill set doesn't feel like an assassin at all to me."

"An assassin's needs are nothing more than three things: burst damage, ability to enter the fray, and mobility."

"The first point is the foundation, the second point is the foundation for dealing damage, and the third point is the survival ability that an assassin needs due to their fragile body."

"At the very least, one must excel in at least two of these abilities to be considered an assassin capable of competing on the field. However, the Hundred-Crack Hound only possesses the first ability at most, and even that ability is rendered ineffective due to the lack of the latter two."

Listening to Ye Bo's eloquent explanation, Sanhuan Ge was somewhat puzzled: "Isn't W's ability to engage strong enough? I was worried that this skill was too powerful, so I nerfed it a lot beforehand."

"It's just too strong!"

Ye Bo gave a somewhat puzzling reply, and then immediately began to explain.

In fact, when Ye Bo first used the W skill, he already vaguely sensed the designer's "inconsistency".

the reason is simple.

Vi's ultimate ability, the "lock-on" skill, has been a top-tier (T1) ability in League of Legends for many years, largely due to its lock-on feature.
— Vi's ultimate skill lasts for 140 seconds, but for Dog, it's just a small skill that lasts for a dozen seconds!
Therefore, in order to limit its strength, designers can only impose many restrictions on it.

This includes the pre-cast animation, the inability to interrupt or cancel the spell, the inability to undo the cast during the process, the use of other skills, and even the possibility of the spell being blocked by an enemy hero's body.
This makes maintaining the status quo extremely awkward, and there are countless ways to counter it.

But if it's strengthened even slightly, such as not being blocked, or even being invincible during a dash, then the strength of this "small skill" will immediately rival or even surpass that of other people's ultimate skills!

Brother Sanhuan seemed to be deep in thought.

But before Ye Bo could finish speaking...

"And this ultimate skill, I feel that this kind of {0 damage, pure buff to body enhancement} ultimate skill is not suitable for assassin heroes from the perspective of game logic, and it has never appeared on assassin heroes before."

Ye Bo counted on his fingers: "Look at Sivir, Aatrox, Jax, Olaf, Master Yi, Vayne, Zilean, Alistar, Bard, Ryze, Singed. Champions with ultimate abilities like these are either ADCs, melee fighters, or supports."

"The only one among them who can be considered somewhat of an assassin is Master Yi, who has the Q skill that can {refresh upon kill} and the W skill that reduces damage, among other survival methods."

"But what about the Hundred-Cracked Netherhound? Let's not even talk about whether W can successfully break in, even if he does, he definitely won't be able to get out."

"Besides, even the Sword Saint is a hero that nobody plays in competitive matches anymore~~~"

The translator's glasses were completely filled.

His expression grew increasingly surprised.

"Do you also know about these non-mid lane heroes?"

"Just a little bit... the core gameplay is the same, right?"

Some might think that if even ordinary players can think of it, how could a hero designer not have thought of it?

—But in fact, the numerous back-and-forths and reworks throughout history have long proven that designers also have many blind spots in their vision, and are just ordinary people.

In a daze, Brother Sanhuan was still stunned to realize that the other party's understanding of the game might actually be superior to his own!

At least in terms of logic, comparative cases, and perspective, these are all areas he overlooked.

"Thanks, your insights have been very helpful."

Brother Sanhuan closed his notebook, which was filled with dense notes, and his expression even became more respectful.

This is somewhat different from how I viewed a young player before.

Ye Bo, equally pleased, flashed a bright smile: "I was just saying it casually. It would be great if it could be helpful. I'd be happy to help with this kind of work in the future!"

“I’m curious, YE,” Sanhuan Ge took a sip of his water ghost coffee, his eyes fixed on Ye Bo: “How many games of League of Legends have you played? I really feel like you’d be perfect as a designer.”

Ye Bo seriously started counting on his fingers again: "Let me calculate... if we count fifty shows a night..."

"Pfft! Fifty shows in one night?!"

The guy from the Third Ring Road almost spat out his coffee.

"Um... this is actually a secret of our EDG, so I can't tell you. You can ask Klin'er Lawu7 player when you have the chance."

The man from the Third Ring Road wiped the coffee from the corner of his mouth, assuming the other person was quite humorous.

The demo content has ended, and the footage has been recorded in those two matches.

Ye Bo and CT walked to a quiet corner to prepare for recording an Akali tutorial video.

Meanwhile, Brother Sanhuan was still flipping through his notebook in the same spot.

Another designer, who had been eagerly waiting nearby, chimed in: "Did the boss make any progress?"

"Yeah, it's a shame YE isn't a designer. No wonder he was able to discover those mechanisms that none of us could."

"Hey, tell me, can I... hehe."

Sanhuan Ge glanced at him sideways and said, "Do your own job well. After all, he's a player. Are you really going to let a player do your job for you? Let me remind you, Quesanti still hasn't completely balanced himself up."

"If it's not the boss, then what about you! Didn't you just do that yourself?!"

"I am the chief."

"you are vicious"

The designer's name is Llama. He is a newcomer who has only been with Riot Games for a short time. He was the designer of Quesanti at the beginning of the year.

He currently has two main projects under his purview: the long-delayed Scorpion rework and the design of a new Dragon-themed ADC champion, expected to be released early next year.

Of course, Llama didn't really expect Ye Bo to help him find a direction.

I just wanted to find some "inspiration".

After all, this player is also the one who "brought Quesanti to fame," and even the Dragon King and Neeko have found some inspiration from each other, so they might have some special ideas.

But right now.

Suddenly, a warm and excited shout came from the side.

"mom!!!"

The MSI lasted a month, and after it ended, Ye Bo went directly to the US headquarters. He seemed a little excited when he received a video call from his mother.

He held up his phone and spun it around: "I'm at Riot Games headquarters. Do you want to chat with a designer? Oh, you want to buff Daji? Okay, I'll go find the Daji designer right now!"

Ye Bo, who possesses the "Advanced Techniques for Making Mom Happy," makes his mother extremely happy.

Fortunately, the people around her didn't understand what "Daji" meant in Chinese.

Meanwhile, Llama's eyes seemed to light up when she saw this.
As for someone who had just disembarked from a London-China flight, they suddenly felt an itch in their nose while walking up the gangway.

"Achoo!!!"

"Damn it, which kid is eyeing me again?"

Ye Bo then stayed at the Riot Games headquarters for three more days.

He also saw the final design that Brother Sanhuan made for the new hero—it wasn't much different from the original, except that the W and R skills were swapped, some minor mechanics were added, and some values ​​were slightly adjusted.

Ye Bo also believes that this version of the Hundred-Cracked Netherhound is more scientific!

The following day, accompanied by a special person arranged by the LPL region, he returned to China and went directly to his home in Huzhou for a short vacation.

With less than a week until the start of the Summer Split, Ye Bo will soon be heading to the Asian Games Village in Hangzhou for training, where he will be extremely busy and won't have time to go home.

In the past few days, he has spent time with his parents and maintained his daily training.

As a model worker, Ye Bo naturally often starts live streaming from home.

"Here we go! Today is the last day of broadcasting. See you in the Summer Split after this broadcast!"

"Let's play two ranked games first, then there will be videos to watch~~~"

[Oh? You brought a celebrity!]

[If you don't understand, just ask. What video?]

[Fake fans, huh? Of course, it's the new champion trailer and Akali tutorial videos!]

[Is there anyone who doesn't know about the streamer's glorious act of beating up all the designers at Riot Games headquarters? It was absolutely gratifying! A savior for the people!!]

[Someone on the internet claimed that the new hero was completely reworked because of Master Ye (a famous Chinese martial arts master). Is this true?]

[Seriously, several designers themselves posted group photos. Do they even know what it means to "attack Riot Games headquarters"?!]

Ye Bo skillfully interacted with the comments, casually selecting Pyke: "Let's play a few rounds of Pyke Lee Sin. I heard that Dark Claw is going to be reworked soon, so if we don't play now, we'll miss our chance. Wait, I guess I can't say that."

Suddenly, a comment caught his attention.

"The enemy bot laner is a Genshin Impact player!?"

(End of this chapter)