She chose the strategy with the most bullet comments.

The man wearing gold-rimmed glasses pushed up his glasses and nodded slightly.

"Hmm...he has great potential, but it's a pity he's a bit too old."

"Age isn't a problem, he's at most 20, which is the prime of his life."

"Compared to those who are sixteen or seventeen, they are still at a disadvantage. Nobody knows when the official competition will start. If they sign someone and there is no news for a long time, and they have to train for a year or even two years, do you think that won't be a problem then?"

"Hmm...you're the manager, so you make the decisions. Anyway, I'm quite optimistic about it."

"I'm not the one who can make the final decision. The boss made it clear that it's best to sign male players and we won't consider female players unless absolutely necessary. That's what's giving me the biggest headache."

"...Well, there's nothing we can do about it. He was bitten once and was afraid of ropes for ten years. Who knew that a female player would come into the Heroes of the Storm division and completely destroy the team..." The man without glasses rolled his eyes.

That was a complete breakup; they didn't even know whose child it was. Chaos and chaos were beyond description, especially since the child tested positive for HIV…

This incident caused quite a stir back then. If it hadn't happened to spark a lasting online meme about "electronic chicken plague," the PR team would have been in a terrible mess, and the entire club's reputation would have been severely damaged.

"Sigh, to be honest, I have a lot of faith in Xiao Mu. He can carry and support. It's rare to see such an all-around mid-laner who performs exceptionally well both online and offline. Missing out on him would be a huge loss."

Upon hearing this, the bespectacled man pushed up his nose and shook his head, saying, "So you're only talking about her?"

"Huh? What else?"

"Haven't you noticed that Xiaowei is similar? She can play both herbivorous and aggressive junglers, and her farming ability is extremely exaggerated. Although she has Xiaomu's excellent teamwork, that doesn't mean her strengths can be ignored."

"Although I'm a manager, don't forget I used to be a top-tier jungler in MOBA-like esports games; I can see a lot of subtle details."

"Isn't that even better? Anyway, the mid and jungle positions in the team haven't been finalized yet. Isn't our team working on those two positions for the national college tournament? I don't think the boss has that much to say about age. If he really disliked our age, why would he be paying attention to the college league?"

"Sigh... let's see. If they can make it to the top four..." The man with the gold-rimmed glasses sighed.

The fact that they can bring a relatively weak top laner to the Shanghai tournament already speaks volumes.

"Tsk tsk, if they really make it to the top four and get sidelined by a competitor, their value will probably skyrocket."

"...The dragon is about to be taken down. Let's see how Step by Step Wins uses its advantage to manage important resources."

"..."

The economic gap between the two sides has reached 7,000, and the commentators have even given a 90/10 win rate. Vayne with three items at 20 minutes can't understand how she could lose.

With such a huge gap in skill, the support hero, Blazing Mark, struggles to establish vision in a team composition against Yuumi, and even entering the jungle is fraught with anxiety.

92. To take it down in one fell swoop

Not entering the river leads to a slow death, while entering the river leads to a quick death; there's no better choice.

With all his teammates' vision-gathering abilities on cooldown, Twisted Fate could only use his ultimate. They discovered that everyone on the winning team wasn't in the river, but instead was farming resources in the jungle…

Oh my god...

Taking advantage of this opportunity, those with vision quickly entered the river to establish vision. Just before the Twisted Fate's ultimate ability's tail ended, they discovered that the player who was pushing forward had to give up the river vision.

There's no way around it; even if starting a team fight is difficult, their huge economic advantage makes it impossible for them to compete head-on.

Giving up the river channel means that all the wards that were painstakingly placed before, no matter how tricky they were, will be cleared out.

The jungle area returned to complete darkness.

Having lost the information that everyone was aware of while they were on the move, the members of the Blazing Inferno were finding it increasingly difficult to endure, and they were all speculating whether the dragon was about to start a fight.

The five enemy players have been gone for over ten seconds...

"Following the 'Step by Step to Victory' strategy is a sure thing!"

Someone in the team chat shouted, "Jhin should place a Vision Modifier in the Baron pit!" Everyone noticed that the Baron's health was almost at the Smite threshold, and Nocturne, as if triggering muscle memory, activated his ultimate to turn off the lights—

"I'm going!"

Wildfire dared not hesitate any longer and flew in with the determination to die in order to steal the dragon, but he felt something was wrong with the people in the dragon pit.

Something seems to be missing…

It's a person, but who was it again?

No, no, it's not a human...

Wildfire only realized what was wrong when he flew into the crowd and failed to steal Baron Nashor after using Smite. Galio was missing.

In the next instant, the karmic fire branded everyone's faces, making them look as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

"My God! Galio flashed and used his ultimate to taunt three people! Nocturne was instantly killed, Braum flashed and used his W to knock them up the moment Galio's taunt ended, and Yuumi used her ultimate but it was completely useless!"

"Karthus activated his ultimate and unleashed an AOE attack! Wow! That one ultimate wiped out half the health of all the squishy champions marked with Infernal Brand! Is this what jungle Karthus's 'Wape Throw' is all about?!"

"Shen is down. Without the only front-line tank, the Blazing Inferno, they're about to collapse. But the rest of them don't have any mobility skills. How can they escape Vayne's pursuit?"

The battle situation was not complicated, and the commentators summarized the team fight in the simplest way possible.

Double kill! Clothes

Triple kill! I

One by one, those branded with the karmic fire perished, and the last remaining cat gave up resistance, allowing the victorious one to finish it off.

Quadra kill! Lin

ACE! Umbrella

Losing the Baron and being wiped out, the situation is no longer one where Infernal Blade can turn the tide. (II)

"One wave shouldn't be enough; there's not enough time. We need to prepare step by step, getting back to base to regroup and upgrade our equipment. Let Garen solo a lane, while the rest of the team pushes as a group." (Order)

"The 'Infernal Brand' lineup isn't strong at defending lanes and can't stop a push with the Baron buff; they'll likely lose at least two lanes," Qinglu said. Qi

"Then it depends on whether you choose to take risks for riches or seek victory through stability." Si

"..."

Just like the commentator Qinglu said, when Yehuo Brand watched Garen transform into a tower-destroying maniac on the side lane, with four other people eyeing him from the other lane, his head was spinning several times over.

In the end, Shen had to deal with Garen's split push, while the rest of the team gathered at the base of the high ground tower, waiting for the victors to arrive.

"It's okay, I'll take the lead, you can dismantle it without worry."

Su Mu followed the minions to the enemy's defensive tower, her nonchalant demeanor suggesting she wasn't afraid of being attacked from a distance.

Just kidding, how could I be afraid?

The doctor Ling San Er Lin (7) Shi Ba She is not the core C of the team in this game. Her task is to attract firepower. She can't wait to be eaten up by all the enemy's key skills.

The four guards with the Infernal Brand on their tower twitched, their eyes twitching. They desperately wanted to crush Galio, but they had no choice but to endure it.

If you can't activate Vayne, everything else is pointless.

Nightmare can engage Vayne, and so can Twisted Fate, but Jhin can't follow up with damage. Galio's ultimate can block the entire high ground ladder.

What's the point of having core damage output if you can't keep up with initiation? Not to mention that Vayne has Braum protecting her, and she'll have to endure Karthus's constant damage when she goes in.

Neither advancing nor retreating is an option.

The announcement of the top lane tower's destruction rang out, and the observer gave a small window. Garen ignored Shen's taunt and used Demolish, attacking and then Q in a few quick moves to destroy the full-health tower, showing remarkable speed and ruthlessness.

Shen is a tank that can deal damage, but his disadvantages are too great and he can't really hurt Garen when the shipbreaker is triggered.

Zhang Xiaoyu's expressions became increasingly exaggerated, and the corners of her mouth were already wildly turned up in front of the camera.

"This is even more exciting than the Stone Golem! Demolishing his tower right in front of Shen, isn't that a kind of group flirting too?"

"Something's wrong with you."

"To be honest, it's like I was having sex with his wife right in front of him, and he didn't even have the strength to pull me away. Look at that helpless look on his face, it's so satisfying!"

"Xiao Mu, you still need to stay away from this guy. He's too abnormal."

"Zhou Xuemin! You're not allowed to speak ill of me in front of Brother Mu!"

"Is there even a need for slander..."

Su Mu did not stop his teammates from chatting.

The lineup with the Blazing Inferno is unlikely to turn the tide; she has absolute confidence that her teammates' bickering won't matter.

The bottom lane tower fell, and the two high ground towers of the Infernal Mark were lost just like that.

When Zhang Xiaoyu finished destroying the crystal in the top lane, her health was reduced to one-third by Shen. She rushed in and used her Q to quickly create distance, which infuriated Shen, who was internally roaring.

How can there be such a despicable person? Please stop attacking my tower and attack me instead.

Thankfully, Zhang Xiaoyu was unaware of the contestant's thoughts, otherwise she would have definitely been reminded of a famous scene from a certain drama, something like, "Please stop messing with Ranran, she's in pain, so go ahead and mess with me," etc.

Having had two roads split up, the person who thought he would stop while he was ahead was ruthlessly slapped in the face by reality.

With such a huge advantage, a lead of almost 12,000 economy points, why retreat?

Su Mu knows when to play it safe and when to be aggressive; he doesn't want to become like a certain LOL team from his previous life that was constantly getting reverse-swept.

She can't initiate a team fight without Flash, but she can force the opponent to do so.

When someone knocks out your front teeth, do you still want to cower?

The team had no choice but to engage, but they simply couldn't win. Vayne's three-hit combo could instantly kill squishy targets, and Guinsoo's Rageblade could trigger her passive twice to kill Shen. The speed at which they wiped out health bars was as fast as chalk erasing blackboard words.

With all members of the Blazing Inferno faction eliminated, Step by Step to Victory shattered their main crystal and won the match.

"Let's congratulate the Step by Step Win team for defeating their opponent and advancing to the quarterfinals, securing their ticket to Chengdu!"

"They played beautifully! They made almost no mistakes throughout the game, and the pace was tight and pleasing to the eye. Congratulations to them."

Su Mu stood up and gave Bai Wei a light high five, then went to the center of the stage and bowed to the audience.

The five people with the Blazing Fire Mark watched their retreating figures, their expressions filled with complex emotions.

The system we were so proud of was unexpectedly cracked so ruthlessly, and we lost so badly…

93. Interview

Su Mu didn't attend the post-match winners' interview, but Bai Wei stopped her, saying that the captain shouldn't be the one to give interviews every time.

"Hello everyone, I'm your host Yunyi. Today we have invited Xiaowei, a contestant from Step by Step to Victory. Please say hello to everyone in front of the camera."

"Hello everyone, I'm Xiaowei, the jungler for the Step by Step to Victory team."

A burst of cheers suddenly erupted from the crowd.

With her impeccable temperament and looks, how could she possibly lack popularity?

"Welcome, Xiao Wei, and congratulations on advancing to the next round of the competition. As the first formal LOL tournament, the National College League, what are your thoughts on reaching the quarterfinals, Xiao Wei?"

Although Bai Wei knew that the initial question was just a polite formality with no real substance, she still earnestly shared her feelings.

Su Mu watched from backstage with a helpless smile. She...

"Okay, next question. In this match, you picked Karthus jungle, Garen top, and even Galio mid. According to statistics, these three champions are making their debut in all current college league matches."

"You performed exceptionally well. Is this strategy specifically designed to counter the Karmic Fire Mark? Did you conduct thorough research and preparation beforehand?"

Bai Wei was taken aback, and habitually pushed up her glasses, pondering how to answer.

The players with the Blazing Insignia, who were packing up backstage to leave, all perked up their ears upon hearing this.

They were genuinely curious as to why a lineup with such excellent training results was beaten so badly.

“We do not underestimate any opponent. We must have studied the Inferno Mark for a long time for today’s match. However, we did not know that they had such a system before.”

"Oh?" Yunyi was taken aback, a curious expression on her face.

"So that means you stumbled upon a lineup that could counter, or rather, target, the Infernal Mark support system?"

"No, that's not it." Bai Wei shook her head, a hint of admiration flashing across her face. "We genuinely didn't know about this system in the Infernal Flame Imprint at first, but during the first round of banning and drafting, our captain, Xiao Mu, astutely discerned the opponent's intentions."

"She guessed that Infernal Brand might be hiding a strategy, planning to lock down Pantheon in the second round for a flexible lineup change, so she directly banned this hero in the first round of bans, preventing Infernal Brand from forming a strong related lineup;"

"Oh, by the way, Captain Xiao Mu calls this 'Infernal Brand' system a 'Global Flow' strategy. Seeing that the opponents still hadn't given up on using the Global Flow, she had us choose heroes we weren't very familiar with..."

"Among them, Karthus is a champion I've only played less than ten times in the jungle. Top laner Xiaoyu played Garen for the first time in a match, without even practicing it in scrims. The same goes for Xiaomu's Galio. In fact, I've never seen Xiaomu play Galio in private, not only in training."

As Bai Wei finished speaking, all the contestants with the Karmic Fire Mark were dumbfounded, their faces filled with confusion and disbelief.

It turns out it wasn't a coincidence... they actually saw right through them in the first round of banning.

Not only did they see through it, but they also dared to bring out a lineup they had never practiced before... And to make matters worse, they beat them so badly that they couldn't fight back?

Wow, is there really a professional player hidden in Step by Step to Victory?

"The reason for picking Karthus as a jungler is simply because he can clear jungle camps quickly and isn't afraid of being caught out. Actually, if you know how to play this champion, he's not weak in jungle skirmishes. His strategy is similar to Graves, but he doesn't have Graves' aggressive invasion capabilities. He's a rather unconventional mage jungler."

"As for Garen... Xiao Mu said that the task of the top lane is very simple, just carry, and there is basically no need to participate in team fights. So Garen, who is tanky enough, has W with tenacity so he is not afraid of being controlled, and has fast wave clear, was picked."