Guo Hao pushed open the training room door, hands fidgeting nonstop, slightly nervous.
It was trending on Weibo, so it didn't seem fake. And there was one very key point: both JDG and Weibo Gaming had their eyes on Knight.
On top of that, the offers from the two clubs were about the same, and JDG and TES had cooperated last season.
So TES leaned more toward JDG. In the first half of the month, the deal was finalized—Knight officially transferred to JDG.
It was obvious Weibo Gaming's demand for a mid laner was extremely high.
Since Knight had been "eliminated" by Lin Fan, going straight for the source and poaching him in one step wasn't impossible either.
"Where's that Weibo dog? Where's that little bastard? They dare poach our club's player? They can't even follow the basic bottom line?" Guo Hao panted as he came in, then immediately started unloading.
"Huh?" Zoom hurriedly finished gnawing the chicken drumstick in his hand.
Grilled chicken drumsticks and mixed fried chicken were completely different flavors. The meat was tender and juicy, and that spicy kick went straight to his head—only problem was there wasn't enough.
He didn't care that both sides of his mouth were covered in chili. He just wiped it with his hand, then finally asked, "What's going on?"
Meanwhile, JackeyLove and Mark were still immersed in laning.
"Come on, come on! You think I'm scared of you? Your mom's kiss—go down, go down, just go in, go in!"
"Okay…"
Judging by that, bot lane was fighting extremely hard.
Da Huang was curious and leaned over to take a look at the duo's scoreline.
One was 0–1, the other 0–2.
Both brothers were pinned under their turret…
Guo Hao took two or three quick steps to Lin Fan's side.
"Damn—did I hear Zeng Tao, that trash, is trying to poach Lin Fan?!" Luo Sheng, who got the news even later, kicked the training room door open and rushed in.
Seeing Guo Hao inside, he shouted it out.
"Is anyone trying to poach me?" Lin Fan asked.
"It's exploding on Weibo. They're saying a Weibo coach publicly tried to recruit you on your stream," Guo Hao said quickly.
"Mm… if you put it like that, you're not wrong. I just rejected him."
The coach from Weibo Gaming's Naraka: Bladepoint division really had tried to recruit him.
"I knew it—those Weibo guys are full of bad water. I just didn't think he'd go that hard. Cutting the ground out from under us, huh?"
"Zeng Tao was garbage back when he played League. Top lane, all he ever did was play 'snake.' Now he's a coach and can't even figure out Ban-Pick, and he still thinks he can poach people?"
"On stream, on stream…" Lin Fan saw how unfiltered the manager and coach were getting and quickly tried to stop them.
"Scared of what? Weibo isn't playing fair anymore. So what if it's on stream? I'm still gonna curse them out!"
This private poaching attempt was just a test, wasn't it?
This was perfect—on stream, they could make TES's stance crystal clear.
You can try all that useless nonsense. Lin Fan was discovered by TES. After proving his strength, the club had increased his salary twice. Privately, they'd also guaranteed extra rewards as long as they won Worlds.
Weibo Gaming had poured most of their money into TheShy. Even buying Knight, they were penny-pinching.
There was no way Weibo could offer Lin Fan a price that made sense.
No joke—once they won MSI, his value would be pushing twenty million…
And with a salary cap in Season 13, only a handful of teams next year would be able to afford ten-million players.
Most teams would have to tighten their belts and cut extra spending.
"Calm down, calm down… the one who tried to recruit me was a Weibo coach, but he's from their Naraka: Bladepoint division."
"What division it is doesn't matter! Naraka: Bladepoint division…?"
The livestream chat was scrolling like crazy.
"Hahaha, I'm dying—White Moon is way too real!"
"But Weibo's coach really is pretty bad. Back then when PDD retired, IG treated him like the successor, and the result was top lane playing 'snake' the whole time."
"I can only say two words: really bad. Whether as a pro or as a coach."
"But this whole thing is hilarious."
"Huge mix-up."
"If it were me, I'd rush over immediately too. Brother Infinite Borders is a treasure."
"Transfers between teams are normal, but privately poaching someone is disgusting."
"Yeah, especially the kind where they don't even say anything and just run off, leaving the club totally confused."
"You guys think it can happen the other way? Like right before the transfer window, the club suddenly says they're not signing?"
"Uzi's reputation got wrecked, IG's reputation got wrecked."
"Uzi's transfer was actually normal. Back then Royal and OMG had the same owner—there was a long warmup, it wasn't sudden."
"I remember that year there was even a rumor about a sky-high transfer fee—fifty million. Later it was confirmed it was the same person. It was all orchestrated by one guy."
"And because of that fifty-million transfer, QG later spent big money to buy Uzi."
"IG is the truly disgusting one. Right before the transfer window, they said they weren't signing. But V5's spring performance was actually okay—this year's Worlds should have hope."
…
Back at the base.
After Guo Hao and Luo Sheng figured out what was actually going on, they both scratched their heads awkwardly.
So that was the truth…
They'd been too nervous.
Lin Fan streamed every day. What coach would shout on his livestream? That would just put themselves on the fire.
Then the whole country would know Weibo loves little tricks, and that would be a net loss.
And Lin Fan wasn't going to Weibo under those circumstances anyway.
"Ahem. Got nervous, got nervous. It's fine, it's fine. Later I'll call Weibo's manager and have a chat."
"Yeah. If there's a chance, I should have a few drinks with Zeng Tao and catch up. Better yet, invite PDD too. We old guys haven't seen each other in ages," Luo Sheng said, swinging his hands as he slowly edged toward the door.
After the door closed, the two of them both broke into smiles.
"Hahaha~"
"Lin Fan really does have insane game talent. First that Honor of Kings mess, now Naraka: Bladepoint."
"He's always making trouble for me. Why can't he just train properly?"
"Honestly, I think keeping this state is fine. If Lin Fan trained like a normal pro, his level in matches might not even look like this," Luo Sheng shook his head.
It looked lazy, nothing like a pro player—yet as long as they kept winning, it was the best possible outcome.
At least for now, they had no intention of changing anything.
They'd had ideas before, but after getting this far, all those worries were completely wiped away.
The funny stuff that happened tonight also sparked a ton of discussion after midnight.
Especially among Weibo Gaming fans—many of them strongly agreed with what White Moon blurted out in his panic.
"The head coach's Ban-Pick is a pile of crap! So bad it's outrageous! Strongly demand the head coach step down and the assistant coach Hoye take over!"
Of course, some people's minds ran wild too, imagining what it would look like if Lin Fan went to Weibo Gaming.
"Honestly, that scene would be too beautiful. Get mid ahead, then help top snowball."
"JackeyLove's life is way too happy right now. When will TheShy get to experience that?"
"Weibo is rotten to the core—coach sandbagging, mid sandbagging, jungler sandbagging too."
"Didn't you watch the documentary Weibo released? What did the tycoon say? He'd never pick Sejuani and go help lanes."
"Bad and doesn't even realize it. If this were five or six years ago, playing like that would be fine. But now he hasn't had jungle dominance in forever."
"Look at Bin—playing like that is how you survive in that mid-jungle pairing."
"You have to play your own game. TheShy is way too team-oriented."
"I think Brother Infinite Borders going to Weibo would be terrifying. SofM wouldn't even care about him—how would mid tempo ever get started?"
"Tian might be bad, but watch the matches—within a thousand units of mid, he's always there, ready to support!"
"Yeah. SofM can't do that. He'll probably be jobless next split. Even if you play a carry jungle, you still have to accommodate lanes—how can you play like you don't even consider your laners?"
"TheShy's best solution is transferring to TES…"
"No—then would Brother Infinite Borders have to 'raise dads' in both top and bot? Zombie Sister and Water Ghost Sister charging together—who could handle that?"
"Hahaha, I can see the scene!"
After all this, the tension for tomorrow's match practically disappeared.
…
Early the next morning, Lin Fan pulled open the curtains. Sunlight poured in, warm on his body. It was a rare day of good weather.
His mood felt especially refreshed.
He opened his door. JackeyLove and Mark were rubbing their eyes as they headed toward the cafeteria.
"Morning, Fan-ge."
"Morning."
"This is it—the last MSI match. How's everyone feeling?" Luo Sheng had woken up early and was already waiting in the cafeteria.
"Pretty good. With weather this nice, I feel like something good is going to happen."
"I think so too."
They ate breakfast while talking about the match.
After breakfast, everyone went back to their stations to practice and warm up their hands.
Today, for once, Lin Fan didn't log into Infinite Borders or any other game.
He simply started his stream and rested with his eyes closed under the camera.
He didn't say a single word. The viewers in chat could all sense the heavy mood.
It looked like Brother Infinite Borders was taking the afternoon match very seriously.
A lot of League fans in the stream finally felt reassured.
"Looks like Brother Infinite Borders isn't completely carefree."
"Resting with eyes closed… you rarely see that before matches."
"Rare? It's never happened, okay? Even in the spring finals he was busy with early expansion. That scared the hell out of me."
"I'm used to it. Brother Infinite Borders must have a plan. He relaxes before matches because he's confident. But now there's a problem—he isn't playing League or anything else. Does that mean he's feeling pressure?"
"Damn, I thought I was the only one. I'm kind of scared too…"
"No way? Now you've got me nervous."
"Honestly, Brother Infinite Borders fans are the hardest to please. If he plays other games before a match, you flame him. If he doesn't, you still flame him."
"Are you getting mentally manipulated? You're not seriously getting mentally manipulated, right?"
Time passed little by little, and Lin Fan finally ended the stream from his seat.
Not playing any games all morning made everyone feel weird.
Some people started worrying—did something happen?
Weibo and Tieba were full of threads…
The closer it got to match time, the less confident everyone felt.
They could only squat nervously in the official broadcast.
Soon, the official stream switched to the live venue feed.
Under the host's introduction, SKT walked into the arena, heads held high.
You could feel their confidence.
It seemed that sweeping G2 3–0 had helped them regain a lot of faith.
And the cheering in the venue was maxed out.
Listening to it, Faker's lips slowly curved upward. The moment he stepped into the player booths, he glanced at the championship trophy displayed at center stage.
That trophy—he was determined to take it.
The Demon King had been quiet for too long. It was time to bare his fangs on the world stage again.
Dine had indeed performed very well earlier, but that was only because he hadn't gotten used to it yet—he simply hadn't adapted.
In the semifinals, he'd basically adapted already. Now was the time to truly show his real form.
At 3:30 p.m., the officials entered the training room, and everyone on TES logged into the tournament server.
Once the time came, the lobby was created and the referee began pulling players. Before long, the room was full.
Now they just had to wait for the match to begin.
LPL official caster stream.
"I'm sure everyone has been looking forward to today's match for a long time. Honestly, even last night I kept thinking about today," Wawa said. He wasn't wearing his usual playful grin today.
A final's importance was on a completely different level from earlier matches.
There was no room for jokes.
"Right. SKT's semifinal performance was already pretty outrageous. You can tell they've been working hard to adjust their form during MSI.
And they really did adjust well—they showed the depth of a true powerhouse," Miller said, pushing up his glasses.
"But TES has been extremely comfortable from start to finish. I'm not worried about TES's form at all. To put it bluntly, TES is in a state where they don't even know how to lose," Miller said with his usual confidence.
Ever since the S8 title, in global events like this, there was no such thing as never backing down.
The moment he said it, a ton of viewers agreed.
At least in MSI, TES had been ahead the entire time. In both matchups, they'd steamrolled SKT with ease.
In one game, they even ended it within eighteen minutes.
Compared to before, it had flipped. It wasn't about how to win anymore—it was about what scenario could possibly make them lose.
"Honestly, I think Miller's right."
"In this situation, unless jungle explodes and Tian hands them chances, TES is guaranteed to win!"
"Yeah, this is the first time I've had this much confidence in an international tournament."
"Damn it—weren't there all those narratives the last few days? Saying Brother Infinite Borders doesn't train, so he's doomed. Why is it all fans today? Where are the anti-fans?"
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup