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

"The blue team banned Jayce, Elise, and Syndra..."

In the commentary booth, Wawa's voice carried a subtle surprise: "OGN has changed their strategy. They're no longer blindly targeting E's mid lane. All three bans are for the top, mid, and jungle's signature champions, but they haven't banned any of the commonly used mid lane champions like Zed, Ahri, or LeBlanc."

"There's nothing we can do," Miller replied, speaking quickly but with clear logic. "Even if you ban all three mid-lane champions, what good will it do? The skill gap is there, and simply targeting it with bans isn't enough. If you ban all mid-lane champions, you're actually reducing your own players' champion pool. If Ambition can't get the champions he's comfortable with, he'll play more cautiously, which is like cutting off your own arm."

"Oh my!"

Wawa suddenly raised his voice, "Anbixin first-picked Gragas! Looks like OGN came prepared today. It's okay to get outplayed in the solo match, this time I'll just pick Gragas for mid lane. It's tanky enough, pushes the lane fast, and I'm not afraid of being solo-killed. It's clear that I'm going to play it safe and focus on farming to secure late-game team fights. That's a good strategy. Knowing I can't win, I'll just not fight you."

"But the problem is..."

Miller chuckled. "What if you try to play it safe and farm, but the enemy won't let you?"

"..."

Shanwei City, Guangdong Province.

In an old-style apartment building, the window of the third-floor left-hand unit was half-open, and the smell of cooking oil from the neighboring kitchen and the shouts of children chasing and playing downstairs drifted in.

A young man, around twenty years old, sat on the edge of the bed in the room, wearing a faded gray T-shirt and holding a bottle of iced tea. He tilted his head, looking at the boy staring intently at the computer screen, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Su Hanwei, are you really planning to try out for HWG? To be E-God's substitute?"

He placed the iced tea on his lap, leaned forward, and said with a hint of disappointment in his voice, "With E's skill level, if you were a substitute, you'd probably never get a chance to shine. He dominates every game in lane, while you sit on the bench and won't even get a cup of hot water. Even if you get a couple of games out there, with E's performance as a benchmark, if you play well, that's expected; if you play poorly, the pressure from the fans will drive you to retirement. You know how venomous those people on the forums are, right?"

Then he patted his younger brother on the shoulder: "Listen to your older brother, WE is the champion team, why don't you try out for them? Even if you play for the second team for two years first, it's better than sitting on the bench watching others play, right?"

My little brother is indeed very talented. He reached the highest rank in the server at only sixteen years old, and he's really good at playing assassins in ranked matches.

But what if you're the strongest champion at sixteen?

E God is only two years older than him, and the strongest players he has trampled under his feet are as numerous as carp crossing a river.

Your destination is, at best, just someone else's starting point;

It's just a ticket for a challenger.

The light from the computer screen shone on Su Hanwei's face, clearly illuminating the profile of the boy who still had a bit of baby fat.

From the speakers, the commentators were alternately announcing the lineups of both sides:

"OK, the lineups for both sides are now finalized."

"Blue side OGN: Top Ryze, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid Gragas, Bot Caitlyn + Alistar!"

"Red Team LPL: Top lane Renekton, Jungle Zac, Mid lane Zed, Bot lane Varus + Lulu!"

The game enters the loading screen, and the portraits of ten heroes light up one by one, while the progress bar climbs forward step by step.

Su Hanwei then turned his head.

He turned his gaming chair around so that his face was facing his cousin who was sitting by the bed.

"I know!"

"Being Emperor's substitute is not an easy thing...everyone knows that."

"but……"

Su Hanwei pointed to the computer, "Countless people are willing to try."

"Brother Yu'an, putting aside your identity as a WE team fan, don't tell me that you, a top student from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, don't know what it means to successfully try out for HWG's substitute mid laner?"

Su Yu'an was taken aback, and opened her mouth, "Well... well... didn't your brother think that it would be a waste for you to be a substitute with your talent?"

Su Hanwei shook his head. "It's not a waste of my talent. I've played against players from Emperor and HWG in ranked games, and I know exactly how big the gap is."

He turned his chair back a little, looked at the Zed icon on the loading screen, and continued, "Putting aside the fact that Emperor is getting more and more pressured by club management affairs, being his substitute will definitely guarantee him playing time. The key to the substitute position isn't whether you get to play or not."

"Even if there really isn't one, so what? I don't think that playing for another team's second team for a year or even two years would be as good as the progress I've made playing alongside Emperor."

Su Yu'an scratched the back of his head, his hair was all messed up from his rubbing, and after a few seconds of silence, he slowly nodded: "What you say makes sense... If you can really learn even a trick or two from E God, you won't have any problem getting a core position on other teams later."

His mind works very quickly.

As an e-sports enthusiast and college student, Su Yu'an was a little disappointed that his cousin insisted on not going to WE, but once the fan filter was removed, his rational side immediately took over.

He sat up straight and analyzed, "Let me think about it. From this perspective, E-God has the identity of a boss. He is both a player and a member of the management team. As his business expands, his playing time will definitely decrease. If you go to sit on the bench now, you may not be stuck there forever. Maybe in a year or two, you can become HWG's starting mid laner."

"That's right," Su Yu'an said, becoming more and more excited, the frustration in his voice completely gone. "The position of E-God's substitute inherently brings in a lot of attention. If you really succeed in the trial, once the news gets out, just based on that name alone, you can be known by millions of viewers overnight. This is a real benefit to your future career and commercial value. Even if you want to transfer to another team later, you'll be someone who brings your own buzz and fan base, and your market value is on a completely different level from ordinary youth training players."

Correct.

Yeah.

The more Su Yu'an thought about it, the brighter her eyes became.

After discarding his fan bias, he realized that his cousin's insistence on trying out for HWG was actually the smartest and best choice.

What WE? We're not familiar with them. Learning from the current best mid-laner, backed by a rapidly expanding commercial system, and gaining a celebrity status—which youth training camp can compare to that?

He reached out and patted Su Hanwei on the shoulder, pressing his hand firmly on the boy's shoulder: "Okay, I support you. When are you going for the tryouts? I'll go to Taicang with you."

"Brother, what about my mom...?"

"Leave my aunt's side to me!"

"Thanks, bro! You're awesome!"

"Speaking of which, what's your professional ID for your tryouts? You can't just use your random ranked ID again, can you?"

"Brother, can you get one for me?"

"How about naming him King? E is an emperor, and you, as his successor, would be a perfect fit as King."

"Ahem... I'd better not use this ID, it's too risky and I'll get attacked."

"So what do you want to call me?"

"Xiye, please."