Entering the hero draft phase, Lin Linya and Picky were placed on the first and second pick slots, neither of them able to ban any heroes.
Lin Linya wanted to play support, but he didn’t know who to pick. He sent a signal asking someone to snatch a hero for him, but no one responded. He had no choice but to check the other three players’ pre-selected heroes and then locked in Anana.
Once both sides had finished their four picks, only the fifth slot remained for the Clash Laner. Lin Linya’s face filled with worry. “Our team comp is way too squishy. I hope he can pick a slightly tankier Tank.”
Unfortunately, the fifth slot didn’t hear his prayer and picked a squishy, high-burst Fighter, Shadow.
Lin Linya was a bit flustered, but knowing his game knowledge was nowhere near as deep as others’, he sought Picky’s opinion. “Do you think our team comp…”
If it had been Little Yu, he would’ve cheerfully consoled him and told him they could still fight. Song Yu could never be tactful or coaxing with his words. His assessment was direct and razor-sharp. “We’re five ranks behind from the start. In teamfights, whoever runs slowest is our frontline.”
Lin Linya, “…”
He really was speechless.
After picking heroes, Lin Linya waited idly for the game to load. Suddenly, he spotted the fifth slot’s ID—the Clash Lane player—and frowned.
Because he was streaming and afraid of stirring up drama, he didn’t say anything, only feeling deeply uncomfortable. It was the danmaku who noticed and brought it up.
[This fifth slot’s ID is “surrender if soft support or woman”. Is he misogynistic or what.]
[Makes me sick. Can Glory’s ID system get any worse? They allow IDs like this. I reported a similar misogynistic ID last time, and it didn’t go through.]
[Seems like he’s got some serious issues. Playing games for years, I’ve run into these types a lot. They’re basically all trash players with huge egos.]
At the start, Lin Linya first helped the Mid Laner clear their wave since they were slow at it, then went to the enemy Jungle to check which buff the enemy Jungler was starting. He’d just pinged the signal when the top lane brought news of their own Clash Laner giving up First Blood.
It turned out the guy hadn’t noticed the enemy Mage rotating up to gank and got caught and killed.
[Shadow: Mid lane both dead? Can’t ping?]
Their Mage wasn’t a pushover either, with a fiery temper. He immediately typed back. [I pinged you and you didn’t hear. You donate your ears or something?]
[Shadow: You’re a Master and can’t out-shove the enemy? They know to roam, you bought a house in mid lane?]
Seeing them starting to argue only three minutes in, Lin Linya had a splitting headache. Song Yu often solo queued and was used to teammates fighting. He glanced at the chat and said to him, “Ignore them. Go follow the Marksman.”
Lin Linya did as he was told and went to the Farm Lane. However, their Marksman was also a blockhead. In less than ten minutes, he’d racked up a 0-3 KDA. Lin Linya couldn’t save him even if he tried.
Their gold was already 2000 lower than the enemy Marksman; they were completely suppressed in lane. Meanwhile, the other lanes couldn’t create any tempo either.
Picky directly muted his mic and farmed for gold.
The third time the Marksman died, he was also a bit speechless. He turned on his mic. “Follow me for ganks. Following him is useless now. He’s still trying to fight the enemy even with a Support. If he hung back a little, he’d at least know to farm.”
After clearing his jungle, Picky panned his camera to the Clash Lane. The enemy was pushed up deep, and if their Clash Lane’s Tier 1 turret fell, his jungle would suffer, too. So he pinged Lin Linya, preparing to gank the Clash Lane.
Lin Linya stealthily followed behind him and looped around into a Clash Lane brush. At that moment, Shadow and Heavy Sword were passionately 1v1-ing.
Lin Linya felt he could never play Jungler in his life. His mental fortitude was terrible. Every time he hid in a bush for a gank, he was even more nervous than the Jungler.
Unconsciously, he lowered his voice to a whisper. “Aren’t we going in yet?”
Picky was waiting for Heavy Sword to use his Skill 2, which had CC immunity, before engaging. He almost didn’t catch what Lin Linya said. Confused, he glanced at him. “Why are you talking like that? They can’t hear you.”
Lin Linya, “…”
He abruptly raised his voice. “I know! I’m not an idiot!”
Picky: “…Oh. Going in.”
Lin Linya quickly threw his skills on both of them to heal.
The enemy Heavy Sword hadn’t expected Song Yu to gank him from this spot. Knowing he couldn’t escape, he decided to trade. He completely ignored the full-health Support and Jungler and, with a Flash, took down their Clash Laner, Shadow.
Song Yu clicked his tongue. “Trash. Low health and still moving up. Mind so full of kills he went crazy?”
Lin Linya didn’t dare speak. Based on his current understanding of this Clash Laner with questionable decency, he guessed the guy was bound to have something to say.
Sure enough, the moment Shadow died, he started typing to curse them. [What exactly were you two waiting for in that bush? Couldn’t you come out and gank sooner? He would’ve been dead ages ago.]
Song Yu frowned and typed back. [Stop barking. With that KDA, do you even have the right to bark?]
Shadow exchanged a few more insults with him before realizing he couldn’t win. Suddenly, he turned his guns on the innocent Lin Linya standing off to the side. [So annoying, you women. Only know how to play soft supports and get carried.]
[You must be climbing ranks by selling yourself, huh? Otherwise, you’d never reach dozens of stars on your own. The Jungler must’ve screwed you rotten.]
Lin Linya had never been cursed at so directly and viciously like this. He was completely stunned, his reaction delayed by half a beat before he typed back. [Are you mentally ill? Go to a hospital, okay?]
He rolled his eyes. “Seriously, is this guy sick? Talking so disgustingly.”
The danmaku also flew by rapidly. [Fits perfectly with my stereotype of some Clash Lane players.]
[The sister in front is truly a prophet. Really, just a trash-talking guy with no skill. Watch, once nobody responds to him, he’ll start inting.]
[Friendly reminder, sisters: the one playing now is Yaya Baby, and the one getting cursed at is Streamer. Don’t take it personally and imagine how you’d fight back in this situation.]
[I’m dying of laughter. Can you remove the surveillance camera you installed in my house?]
This was originally his promotion match, and he didn’t want to curse anyone. But Shadow’s words were getting more and more out of line. Unable to bear it, he turned on all-chat. “Can you shut up? I’m a guy.”
“And what do you mean ‘women only know how to play soft supports and get carried’? Is your brain still stuck in the Qing Dynasty? I know girls who solo queue over 50 stars and play way better than you. What I play is none of your business. I picked Support in the first slot. You didn’t fill with a Tank, messed up the draft, and now you’re blaming me?”
Just thinking about it made him angry. Lin Linya turned off all-chat and complained to Picky. “I seriously don’t know what his problem is with soft supports. It’s not like I can’t fill other roles. He plays badly himself and can only blame others.”
Song Yu looked down on people like that, too. But listening to Lin Linya’s cursing voice, his focus immediately veered off.
Even cursing, he was so delicate, completely lacking any lethal power. When he complained, it really sounded like a girl whining to her little boyfriend.
Lin Linya found it odd why he wasn’t saying anything. “Why aren’t you talking? Why aren’t you helping me curse him out?”
Song Yu stiffly echoed, “…You’re right.”
[Damn it. Who else gets this? My mouth is snarling while the corners keep curling up.]
[Hahaha. Yaya: Husband, say something.]
[Old rule: whichever guy Yaya Baby duos with, that’s the ship. Today it’s spoiled little darling x younger puppy.]
[Well said. Every time I run into this situation, I never know how to curse back. Only afterward do I replay the clapbacks in my head and regret why I didn’t think of it then. TVT.]
The foul-mouthed Clash Laner bullied the weak and feared the strong. Unable to out-curse the two of them, he mentally broke and started trolling. He stopped defending his lane. Everywhere Song Yu went, he followed, even trying to steal his buffs.
Song Yu kept Smite ready. Shadow attacked the buff for a long time, and Song Yu simply Smited it away. Looking at the furious Shadow, who hadn’t expected the buff to be stolen, Song Yu sneered. “Clown.”
In teamfights, he wouldn’t come either. He’d go to a side lane alone to push waves, then int to the tower, letting the defense turret kill him.
And even then, he had to throw shade at Lin Linya. [A guy playing this kind of support, you have no shame? You must be gay. So disgusting.]
Lin Linya was about to faint from anger. “Get lost!”
The entire match, it was because their four teammates never gave up. At 20 minutes, they took the Shadow Tyrant, fought a 4v5 teamfight, and won. They pushed all the way to the high ground, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
But even after winning, Lin Linya wasn’t very happy. On the post-game screen, the Clash Laner Shadow had a score of just over 4. Sullenly, he exited the game. “Why does a guy like that deserve to get a star?”
He reported him, but all that happened was a deduction of 6 credit score points and a 24-hour mute.
Seeing he was unhappy, Song Yu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Don’t be mad. You can actually report him directly to the game’s official customer service. With a platform streamer verification, the customer service handles it really fast.”
“Really?” Lin Linya instantly perked up.
Once he knew how to report, he filled the report page with a long, impassioned letter to customer service. After clicking submit, he instantly felt invigorated.
“Hope they’ll mute him and force his ID to be harmonized, too.”
The danmaku was saying this was the first time they’d seen him so angry. He said seriously, “He ran into me and Picky in a duo, and couldn’t out-curse us. But what if a solo queue girl ran into him, someone more introverted and not used to talking in-game? She’d just have to let him bully her!”
Seeing that many people were still shipping him and Picky, he hurriedly tried to stop it.
“Don’t say such outrageous things! He’s a high schooler. Even though he’s really handsome, he might not even be of age yet.”
He lectured on and on until his mouth went dry. He chugged a few gulps of water and finally gave a definitive conclusion. “Shipping everything will only harm you!”
“…”
Song Yu’s face flushed red, then redder. After listening to him ramble for so long, he couldn’t help but speak up. “Your mic is still on.”
Lin Linya, who had been making a long speech, instantly shut his mouth. His panicked gaze dropped down to the still-blinking mic icon on his screen.
“And,” Song Yu’s voice sounded a bit muffled, “I am of age already. Do you need to see my ID?”
