Chapter 293: Trio Queue

Rong Anyao smiled. “Not at all, Jiang. If you hadn’t been protecting me the whole time, there’s no way I could have played this well. There were several times you tanked the damage for me and saved my life.”

“My skills are nothing compared to yours. Didn’t you see our teammates praising you just now?”

Jiang Fan wasn’t exaggerating at all. Rong Anyao’s skill with Diao Chan was completely beyond his imagination. No wonder she cosplayed as Diao Chan; she was her main hero.

“Alright, Jiang, you don’t have to flatter me. Let’s just keep playing.”

Soon, the two of them started the next match.

This time, Rong Anyao chose to play Diao Chan again, while Jiang Fan picked Zhuang Zhou.

“Jiang, you could have actually picked someone with hard crowd control this match. The enemy team doesn’t have many control-type heroes, so Zhuang Zhou won’t be that useful.”

“What do you mean?”

Jiang Fan seemed a little confused.

“It’s nothing, let’s just keep playing!” Rong Anyao didn’t say anything more.

Soon, the second match began.

This match didn’t seem to be going as smoothly as the last one.

The game had only been going for two minutes, and before Jiang Fan could even react, the marksman in the bottom lane had already died twice.

“Jiang, maybe you shouldn’t follow me this match. The marksman in the bottom lane is a Hou Yi, and he can’t handle the enemy lane by himself.”

“It’s fine. I’ll just stick with you. We’ll do the same as last game.”

“Okay!”

Soon, five minutes had passed in the game.

Rong Anyao and Jiang Fan were coordinating well, and things were going smoothly for the two of them in the mid lane.

But the top and bottom lanes weren’t nearly as fortunate. Only five minutes in, the players in the top and bottom lanes had already been killed six or seven times combined.

Just then, the jungler, Zhao Yun, spoke up.

“How am I supposed to play like this? It’s only been a few minutes, and the towers in the top and bottom lanes are already gone. The enemy is already invading my jungle.”

The Hou Yi from the bottom lane said, “How is that my fault? I’m an immobile marksman, and this support won’t even come protect me! So annoying.”

“The bottom lane fell so fast that their support came to gank the top lane. It’s not easy for me up here either!”

Rong Anyao glanced at Jiang Fan, who looked completely focused.

But Jiang Fan stuck to his original plan: winning or losing didn’t matter. The important thing was to protect Rong Anyao.

The entire match dragged on for over twenty minutes. With Jiang Fan’s help, Rong Anyao got more than twenty kills and was only killed three times herself.

Unfortunately, their teammates were useless. After one team fight, Rong Anyao was the only one left. She defended the Nexus alone, and although she didn’t die, the enemy team still forced their way through and destroyed it.

“It’s okay, let’s keep going. That one was on me!” Jiang Fan said.

Rong Anyao pressed her lips together. “Jiang, it’s not your fault. Our teammates’ highest score was a 5.0. They were just impossible to carry!”

Even though they lost a match, neither of them was discouraged and they started another game.

But it was as if they were cursed; they played another three matches.

After those three games, during which Rong Anyao had played everything from mid-lane mage to bottom-lane marksman and even jungler, they still hadn’t won a single one. Rong Anyao was the MVP in every match—a testament to her skill even in defeat.

“What kind of teammates are these?!”

After several games, even Rong Anyao was starting to get discouraged.

Jiang Fan felt a little awkward. He thought he was the one dragging Rong Anyao down. Her stats were great in every match, but as a support, he could only coast along.

But just then, Jiang Fan suddenly saw that Wu Qiang was online in his friends list.

He felt like he’d just grabbed a lifeline.

“Qiang’s online! Let’s pull him in and do a three-person queue!”

Jiang Fan believed that with Wu Qiang on their team, his and Rong Anyao’s combined skills would be enough to take on five players by themselves.

Jiang Fan quickly invited Wu Qiang, who joined the lobby almost instantly.

“Jiang Fan, what a surprise! You’re actually playing the game without me!”

“Holy shit, there’s a girl here? Jiang Fan, you’re playing with a girl and you didn’t call me?”

Wu Qiang’s voice quickly came through the chat.

Jiang Fan gave a bitter smile. “Like hell I’m carrying her, she’s carrying me! It’s Rong Anyao, and she’s a Strongest King!”

“Qiang, it’s me!”

“Holy shit, you two are actually together? Where are you guys right now? How do you have time to play games?”

“Jiang is at my house. We didn’t have anything to do, so we decided to play some games!”

“At your house? Did I hear that right?” Wu Qiang’s gossipy voice came through.

“Jiang Fan, you move fast, kid! When did you end up at her place? And doing a sweet little duo queue, too. No wonder you were on the game all of a sudden!”

Jiang Fan felt his face flush and quickly said, “Sweet my ass! We’ve lost three in a row. That’s why I was hoping you’d come and save me.”

“No problem, let’s do it! My rank is too high, hold on, I’ll switch to my smurf account.” Wu Qiang was very straightforward.

Soon, Wu Qiang switched accounts and rejoined the lobby. This account was also at the Strongest King rank.

Jiang Fan, consistent as ever, still chose a support, while Wu Qiang immediately locked in the jungle role.

With Wu Qiang joining, the difficulty of the games instantly dropped by a lot.

Wu Qiang not only jungled but also constantly reported the opponents’ positions in voice chat, reminding the others to be careful.

And Rong Anyao’s game sense and mechanics were excellent as well. With Jiang Fan supporting her, the game went surprisingly smoothly.

Soon, they were on a four-game winning streak, with almost every match ending in under fifteen minutes.

Wu Qiang continued to shot-call, Rong Anyao and Jiang Fan continued to coordinate, and the wins kept coming: a five-game streak, then six, then seven…

“Damn, Rong Anyao, you’re amazing! I never thought a girl could play marksman and mage so well. You even got a pentakill!”

Wu Qiang couldn’t help but praise her.

“Not at all, Qiang. If it weren’t for one of you supporting me and the other carrying, I wouldn’t have stood a chance!”

“Girl, don’t be so humble. Not everyone can carry a noob like Jiang Fan. You’re definitely at the Glorious King level. You could totally be a streamer; you’d definitely pull in a lot of viewers.”

“Holy shit, Qiang, I’m not that bad, okay!”

“Alright, alright, let’s keep going, let’s keep going!” Wu Qiang said, quickly changing the subject.

“Qiang, why the hell are you so free today? Aren’t you supposed to be saving up for Tingting’s betrothal gifts?”

“Don’t even mention it. Tingting went out of town on a business trip for a few days. I was going to go with her, but we just bought a house and some parts still need decorating, so yeah, I’m free.”

“Business?”

“Yeah, we’re planning to open a small shop, start a little business. Then life won’t be so exhausting. Being a delivery driver is… you know!” Wu Qiang sighed.

“I’m so damn jealous of you, getting to live that shameless life of domestic bliss so soon!”

“Alright, stop talking about me. Aren’t you in the same boat?”