Douyu Streaming Platform.
The chubby OB streamer, Pangpang, was browsing through matches on the site, looking for a suitable game to spectate.
Lately, the hottest name by far was Uzi. Even though Uzi was streaming himself, many viewers still didn't want to watch his channel directly.
Some people simply don't like first-person POV streams. Instead, they prefer the third-person "god view," where they can see the whole map and follow the overall flow of the game more comfortably.
That's why OB streams had always had a solid audience.
As a veteran OB streamer with a distinctive voice and a slightly comedic casting style, Pangpang had long become one of a kind on Douyu. His viewer count stayed consistently high.
He had just finished spectating JackeyLove and Mark's duo queue, and his viewership instantly dropped by a third. Now, he urgently needed another match worth watching.
"Since you guys want to watch Uzi's ranked games, this one's pretty interesting," Pangpang said. "Uzi queued into TES's support, Dine. What do you think, gentlemen?"
Even as he spoke, he had already opened the match page and started downloading the replay.
Uzi had traffic, and Dine had been trending on Weibo nonstop lately. Put the two together, and it was the perfect combo.
There was no doubt this match would pull in viewers.
"I'm watching. I just want to see who's actually griefing bot lane."
"The god is fake!"
"He's a locust, a skin thief!"
"Crouching dragon, hidden phoenix in the same game—if you don't watch this, you'll be cursed."
"I just came from the stream. Uzi won…"
"Idiot fanboy upstairs, go back to the stream and stop being disgusting here."
"Why is there so much hostility toward Uzi? He's just an old esports veteran chasing his dream. Why not let him?"
"Because Uzi's comeback touched too many people's interests. The whole environment is mocking him now. But once he gets on stage, he'll slap the haters in the face."
"I came here for laughs and somehow ran into GSLs. I can only say this is pure backlash. Watching this now just feels good."
TL: GSLs is high level gameplay.
Pangpang ignored the arguments entirely.
He was a traffic-based streamer. The louder the fights, the faster the chat scrolled, the happier he was.
His focus stayed on the replay.
Then he noticed something.
The match was only sixteen minutes long.
"So short?"
People had said Uzi won, but he hadn't expected the game to end this fast.
Once the replay started, the chat noticeably quieted down.
Because the bot lane advantage was overwhelming.
No normal player could output damage while that far behind.
This was exactly why champions changed every year—and why fanbases shifted too.
Nobody wins from pure disadvantage.
"LMAO, people still saying Uzi is washed? Bot lane just casually smashed them."
"Isn't this the support being insane? Put that Heimer on me and I'd die too."
"Anyone with eyes can see Dine didn't even want to play seriously. Uzi just tanked all the pressure."
"Oh? Weren't you guys saying Dine was the worst support in the league? Now suddenly it's 'Heimer is strong'? You really can say anything."
Between Lin Fan and Uzi, people still preferred to step on Uzi.
After all, Lin Fan was just a nobody. Aside from being a scapegoat, he hadn't really offended anyone.
"I honestly think their synergy looks pretty good. If BLG's support were Dine, Uzi might actually get stage time."
Before the Spring Split even started, Uzi had already signed his contract. BLG's base was in Shanghai, where Uzi lived—he could go to the club anytime.
Yet five matches into the season, he still hadn't joined officially. It was obvious BLG never truly planned to field him.
It felt more like they'd paid for traffic.
And to be fair, it paid off massively.
They got the exposure. Uncle Big Profit made a killing.
Before every BLG match, people kept asking if Uzi would play.
As the replay continued, the bot lane advantage spread across the entire blue side.
The enemy jungler, Jarvan, went AFK.
Honestly, if it were him, he probably would've AFKed too.
The enemy bot lane played it horribly—eating every Heimer skill. That single fight completely decided the game.
That was the turning point.
"Dine's Heimer support is actually pretty interesting," Pangpang said. "Let's see if they queue again. If they do, we'll spectate another one."
As a closet Uzi fan, Pangpang was thrilled to see Uzi win so comfortably. He was hoping the two would duo more and gain some serious LP.
Everyone knew Uzi was about to join the club. LP didn't mean everything, but higher rank always carried more weight internally.
At least it helped with scrims and stage consideration.
After all, two years of retirement was deadly for a pro player.
Esports is a young man's game.
Once you age, maintaining form becomes extremely difficult.
"No need to wait. They didn't queue again. Dine said he went to play Rise of Kingdoms. I just came from Uzi's stream."
"I swear, Uzi's expression was pure confusion. Totally stunned."
"Honestly, I'd be confused too. JackeyLove already played eight ranked games today and might keep going tonight. Meanwhile the support logs in late, plays one game, and disappears."
"Wait, what even is Rise of Kingdoms? Why have I never heard of it?"
"A Three Kingdoms strategy game. Honestly, it's pretty fun."
"As a League pro, ditching your main game to play something else—isn't that basically throwing?"
"Feels like it. TES just signed Mark today, and he's already duoing sweetly with JackeyLove. Eight-game win streak right out the gate."
"With that, TES might finally be worth expecting something from. At least they should stop the losing streak."
While Lin Fan was completely absorbed in grinding Rise of Kingdoms, discussions across all major platforms kept growing.
With Uzi's popularity added in, Lin Fan unsurprisingly trended again.
#DineRiseOfKingdoms
Even people who didn't follow League of Legends—or only recognized top-tier stars—felt the name looked familiar when they saw the trending topic.
After all, the ID "Dine" seemed to appear on trending lists every few days.
It was like he'd mastered the algorithm.
Along with that, Rise of Kingdoms downloads spiked.
Many people were genuinely curious—what kind of game could make a pro player abandon his main job to play it instead?
Meanwhile, Lin Fan was still fully focused on figuring out how to catch up to first and second place, completely unaware that he'd gone trending yet again.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup