Rebirth is fine, but I get eight hundred dollars right from the start?

I'll beat your mother to a pulp!

SAOZ glanced at the equipment panel—Clockwork Spirit, over 1500 health, level 5, with Barrier and Weakness.

As for himself, he was a level 5 Irelia with just over 900 health, a pitiful Sheen in his item bar, and Ignite and Flash as his summoner spells.

With this numerical comparison staring him in the face, sOAZ knew clearly that he only had one breath left.

He gritted his teeth and survived two more waves of minions, enduring Orianna's poke damage under the tower until he finally reached level six.

The instant his experience bar was full, his fingers moved faster than his brain – he unleashed his ultimate, Supreme Blade, directly at the minion wave. A blade flew forward, reducing the minion's health, while his Q skill, Blade Impact, followed up, using the displacement refreshed by killing a minion to dash forward two segments.

"Level 6! sOAZ uses his ultimate to clear minions, then Qs a minion to dash, then Qs another minion to dash—he's charging in! This is a desperate last-ditch effort!"

The clockwork remained stationary.

When the Irelia's three-stage Q dashed right in his face, confirming that her W [Flying Stance] was active, Zhang Hai then used his E skill, casting a shield on himself and simultaneously applying Exhaust.

As soon as the red aura around Irelia disappeared, her basic attack damage instantly decreased by half.

Immediately afterward, Zhang Hai slid his fingers across the keyboard, activated W to accelerate himself, made a lateral movement to create distance, and then threw out a Q magic ball, which accurately hit the Irelia in the face.

sOAZ wanted to chase, so he used his E skill to try and control Orianna. However, after Orianna's shield broke, her actual health percentage was lower than her own because she had taken damage from his ultimate and QA combo first.

[Balanced Strike] is judged as - Slowing Down!

At this point, Irelia had used all her skills and they were on cooldown. Her auto-attacks were being reduced to nothing by Exhaust, while Orianna's health bar stood there steadily like a small mountain.

The minion wave is gone.

Irelia can't use her Q on minions anymore.

Zhang Hai waited until all of the opponent's skills were off cooldown before finally turning around—while continuously performing basic attacks, he retracted the magic ball to his side and pressed the R key.

Command: Shockwave!

Orianna's magic orb exploded at Irelia's feet, creating a silver-white gravitational field that violently pulled sOAZ towards the center, causing him to stagger back.

Zhang Hai's hand speed finally showed its edge at this moment - the QW combo, which had just cooled down again, was completed almost in the same frame. The magic ball went out, the W acceleration field exploded under Irelia's feet, and a basic attack followed up with passive magic damage.

The Irelia's health bar dropped from one-third to one-quarter, and then to almost zero.

sOAZ instinctively used Flash to run towards the tower, but Zhang Hai had already taken a step forward. He followed Zhang Hai and took two steps forward. While using a basic attack, his Q skill's cooldown was ready, and he fired the final magic orb.

"bite--"

When the kill notification popped up, Irelia's body was lying less than two steps in front of her own turret.

First Blood!

sOAZ took his hands off the keyboard, leaned back, looked up at the ceiling, and moved his lips, but no sound came out.

The redness on his face had mostly faded, replaced by a look of bewilderment. Since Season 1, he had played professionally for so many years, experiencing countless ways of losing, from being crushed to death in lane, from having his mentality shattered, from being pushed to level six and then having his health used to withstand an all-in attack only to be counter-killed. But he had never experienced anything so "frustrating".

There were no spectacular comebacks, no incredible maneuvers, and no escapes with low health.

The opponent just stands there, using shields, positioning, basic attacks, and skills. Their health bar drops slower than yours; it's that simple.

The camera cuts to Zhang Hai, who is taking off his headphones, casually smoothing his hair which has been pressed into a mark, and his gaze passes through the stage lights, landing precisely on the two figures in the audience seats.

Applause erupted in the stadium, a buzzing sound filled the air, some people whistled, and others shouted "Brother Ta is awesome!"

But when the sound reached Zhang Hai's ears, it seemed as if there was a layer between them. He saw his father slowly stand up in the audience with the others—he didn't wave or give a thumbs up, he just stood up, his hands hanging at his sides, his back straight, quietly watching him from thousands of people away.

Zhang Hai felt a lump in his throat, but he held it in.

He nodded slightly in that direction.

Then he turned around, pushed the keyboard back, and got up to walk towards the rest area.

The solo match is a best-of-three (BO3) format, so he needs to win the second match to truly secure victory.

……

Zhang Hai had just reached the door of the lounge, and before he had even fully stepped over the threshold, a dark shadow darted out—

Xiaoxiao's cheeky face loomed right in front of him, and her right fist landed a light but firm punch on his left chest. "Holy crap, that's awesome!"

"You, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, always just go all out in practice matches, and today you're actually pulling off some fancy tricks?"

"You're trying to show off your basics by grinding down your opponent in a solo match, huh? You've been hiding your true skills!"

As he spoke, he reached out to rub Zhang Hai's head again, but Zhang Hai turned his head away. Facing Xiao Xiao's teasing, he twitched his lips as a way of dealing with it, but his gaze swept past Xiao Xiao's shoulder and into the room.

He wanted to say something, "Well, the reason I chose this person is because..."

"That was a beautiful play!"

Lin Shu perfectly demonstrated the reaction of the world's number one player, starting with zero frames and interrupting his own top laner's explanation.

Solo matches are not official competitions; strictly speaking, they are individual performances by the players themselves, and there is no need to explain to them what heroes they choose.

Since Zhang Hai chose Clockwork, it means he is confident that he can win, and even if he loses, it's just his personal choice.

"Your basic skills have improved a lot."

Lin Shu was also generous with his praise.

Hehe~

"You performed exceptionally well in the first game!"

Seeing that his boss didn't seem to blame him for randomly choosing people, Zhang Hai stood at the door, scratched the back of his head, chuckled twice, and his ears visibly turned red.

Xiaoxiao didn't give him a chance to be modest at all. She raised an eyebrow, leaned closer, and lowered her voice: "Hey—wait a minute, I'm thinking, you were so amazing today, is there someone special sitting in the audience? Like... a little sister you like? Hmm?"

He nudged Zhang Hai with his shoulder, his expression exaggerated: "I get it, I get it! This is the legendary—divine power of love! It directly pushed Brother Ta to his limits, transforming him into the all-star steady guy!"

Zhang Hai rolled his eyes, and before he could retort, Xiao Xiao waved his hand again: "But that's not right," he frowned, tapping his chin with his finger as if thinking, "If your crush is watching from below, you should definitely choose Riven—she's so cool to fight, and her comebacks from near-death are so amazing. Girls wouldn't understand Orianna's wriggling, aimless playstyle, would they?"

He laughed halfway through his sentence, patted Zhang Hai on the shoulder, and said, "It's okay, it's okay. The solo match is a best-of-three series. If you play it safe in the first game, you can still pick Riven in the second game, right? I'll sit in the front row and shout 'Ta Zi is awesome!' for you!"

Mingkai, who was standing next to him, finally couldn't help but interject: "What are you shouting about backstage when they're playing a game? Security will kick you out."

"I'll shout it too!"

Xiaoxiao, striking a pose, said, "The Riven pro's World Championship debut with Riven, a classic scene from a novel, what's wrong with me shouting it out a couple of times?"

"Hahaha!"

Upon hearing this, the people in the room burst into laughter.

(One chapter is owed. It seems like I'm experiencing the aftereffects of not adapting to the environment in Shanghai; my head is throbbing.)