CHAPTER 25: CHAPTER 20 GAME

Poor me, I still have to endure half an hour or an hour of electricity every time. Considering how pathetic yet hardworking I am, do you really have the heart not to vote for me?

Soon, both sides selected their lineups. On Xiao Lin’s side, the lineup consists of Sniper, Sword Wanderer, Phoenix, Firearms, and Sand King, while the opposing lineup has Treant, Dragon Rider, Murloc, Spirit of Vengeance, and Ice Soul.

Both lineups are well-chosen, with potential for first blood on both sides. However, in terms of lineups, if it weren’t for Phoenix on Xiao Lin’s side, there would barely be a fight, because Phoenix is extremely powerful in crowd control or saving people, being nearly invincible in the early game. Especially when facing Treant’s ultimate, Treant basically does no damage to Phoenix.

Then, Xiao Lin started directing, saying the Innocent Little Sister shouldn’t be expected to do much early game. Let her quietly farm in mid lane, while Steel Torrent takes Sand King solo top, and Phoenix along with Sword Wanderer and Sniper go bottom to grab first blood.

If the opposing lineup is as expected, it should be Treant solo bottom, while the top lane is aiming for first blood. Thus, Sand King carried wards to block camps and should avoid crossing the river; just getting levels is enough.

Having Xiao Lin as a backbone, Steel Torrent, and Lonely and Moon were quite reassured, Lonely even typed out: Innocent Little Sister, we don’t expect you to carry late game, but please don’t be the sixth person. We don’t want a 4v6.

The Innocent Little Sister knew how bad her skills were. Although she often had a cocky tone in group chats, she was quite humble about this game, saying: "Don’t worry, it’s not my first time playing, I’ve been mixing with you guys for over a week now. Although I don’t know how to kill, I can still farm creeps. If someone comes, I’ll run, definitely won’t stay on the battlefield!"

Xiao Lin casually moved the mouse. With the three heroes, Phoenix, Sword Wanderer, and Sniper, they could definitely get first blood. Sword Wanderer’s first skill stuns, Sniper’s third skill slows, and Phoenix’s first skill increases chase damage. With this combo, Treant wouldn’t have a chance to escape.

Three minutes passed, and the creeps from both sides spawned. Sniper led the line, Phoenix got lucky and found a double damage rune in the river. He hid with Sword Wanderer in the top lane’s forest, ready to strike as soon as Treant appeared in view.

The opposing heroes appeared, but not as Xiao Lin expected. Instead, Dragon Rider and Spirit of Vengeance showed up.

"Double kill, anything less would be a waste with such foolish lane opponents!" Xiao Lin quickly typed and Lonely, controlling the Sword Wanderer, made his move.

With one hammer, he stunned both the Dragon Rider and Spirit of Vengeance. Phoenix attacked twice, leaving the Spirit of Vengeance with half health. Sword Wanderer didn’t attack but blocked their retreat.

Under Xiao Lin’s control, Sniper didn’t even need to use the slow. The Spirit of Vengeance offered the first blood, and Sniper’s slow hit Dragon Rider, leading Xiao Lin to claim the second blood.

Soon after, the third blood appeared. Xiao Lin peeked at the mini-map and noticed the blue dot in mid lane was missing. The Innocent Little Sister remained the sixth person as usual, unexpectedly dying once again.

"You guys roam mid, even if the Dwarf doesn’t get up. We can’t let the opposing Ice Soul get too good of gear!" Xiao Lin quickly typed, then gently secured a creep kill. He hit six last-hits and three denies, quite the impressive score.

The opposing Dragon Rider and Spirit of Vengeance went down the lane again, which Xiao Lin wasn’t worried about. He focused on farming.

In the bottom lane, Xiao Lin farmed smoothly. Under six minutes, he already had his Hand of Midas. Meanwhile, mid lane had three deaths already, giving Xiao Lin a first-hand experience of what being the sixth person meant.

"Little Sister, why don’t you stay home and soak in the hot springs? Wouldn’t that be better?" Xiao Lin typed helplessly.

"No way! You guys are out there fighting hard. How can I, with no sense of loyalty, stay home and soak?!" Innocent Little Sister typed back. Mid lane, six minutes in, level four!

By now, Xiao Lin’s Sniper was level six, Sand King top solo was also level six, and even the roaming Phoenix and Sword Wanderer reached level four. This sixth person title was well earned; even with two people roaming mid, she managed to die three times, her starting equipment unchanged, and even less one branch, leaving Xiao Lin at a loss.

Yet fortunately, Xiao Lin’s growth was smooth. The opposing Spirit of Vengeance roamed away, leaving just Dragon Rider. In early lane matchups, how could Dragon Rider be a match for Sniper? Especially with poor play, the Sniper, only equipped with a Hand of Midas, managed a kill.

With such smooth farming, Xiao Lin decided to rush the Crystalis, even skipping the Power Treads for now.

When Xiao Lin got the Crystalis, Power Treads, and Excitement Gem, the game was only eighteen minutes in. At that time, a message popped up, with Innocent Little Sister excitedly saying: "Haha, my Power Treads are out, not easy!"

"..." Xiao Lin was speechless; eighteen minutes, mid-lane dwarf, just a Power Treads? And she’s even proud about it?

However, Steel Torrent chimed in: "Not bad, making progress!"

"How is it progress?" Xiao Lin asked.

"Last game, it took half an hour just for Boots of Speed. This time, eighteen minutes for Power Treads, isn’t that progress?" Steel Torrent said cheerfully.

The eighteen-minute Sniper, with such equipment, was basically a killing machine. With Phoenix, Sword Wanderer, and Sand King all providing control.

The other side had no counterattack ability. The first game finished in just twenty-two minutes with a conceded game.

This made Innocent Little Sister shout: "Don’t quit, why quit? At least let me kill one for fun!"

In the next two games, Innocent Little Sister finally shed the sixth person claim, even scoring a kill in the last game, making her squeal with excitement.

Xiao Lin didn’t say much in-game, but Innocent Little Sister often sought chances to talk to him. After three games, Xiao Lin checked the time. It was already past half-past five. He’d been busy all day and only had a little breakfast, leaving his stomach already protesting.

"Not playing anymore, going out for dinner!" Xiao Lin typed in the QQ group chat.

"Military Doctor, where are you? Can I follow you from now on, okay?" Having played a week of DOTA, Innocent Little Sister finally experienced some excitement and even scored a kill for the first time ever.

"No problem!" Xiao Lin replied.

"Military Doctor, eating so early today? Don’t you usually eat at six thirty?" Steel Torrent remarked.

"I forgot to tell you guys, I’m no longer a military doctor. I’ve moved to Yanjing University’s school hospital as a doctor. If any of you are in Yanjing, let’s find some time to hang out!" Xiao Lin still trusted his guild brothers quite a lot, having played this game together for three or four years. Although they may not know each other fully, they would chat in the group when they met in real life, getting a good sense about the guild members.