"TOP's coordination between the three players is basically perfect… It's hard to imagine this is just a temporary squad. It feels more like a team that's been fighting together in a pro league for ages," Korgi praised while watching the highlight replay the director cut together.
"I knew I was forgetting something. Hearing Korgi say it gives me chills—TOP is literally a team hastily put together, yet their playstyle is already so mature," Lan-ge echoed.
"I used to think the talent gap between pro players wouldn't be that big. Whether you play well is mostly about how hard you work."
"But seeing Brother Infinite Borders makes me realize that idea was wrong. Talented players have always existed.
If you calculate it carefully, Brother Infinite Borders has only practiced Naraka for a little over a month, yet he can perform like this in high-level matches. That's terrifying."
The livestream chat scrolled like crazy too.
"I can understand him making solo finals. That was expected. We've already seen Brother Infinite Borders' dueling. In solo, as long as he doesn't get ganged up on, it's fine. But trio qualifying—*that* I didn't expect. There are so many pro squads…"
"Yeah, same. It's absurd—especially Wolves getting smashed until they were dizzy."
"Game one was the most classic. Landing into a spear skill drop was insane. Raging Waves carried like crazy! Is that drop rate rigged or what?"
"Damn Naraka. Brother Infinite Borders is a League pro, and you games are tricking him away."
"You deserve it! The craziest part is Naraka's officials. The pro league is still running, and you randomly shove an Elite Cup in the middle—why?"
"I strongly suspect the planners saw Brother Infinite Borders' heat. The game is good, but without heat you can't keep players. Now with heat, daily actives keep rising."
"Pretty smart, honestly. People in Brother Infinite Borders' stream all like games. If they see this tournament, they might actually get interested."
"Look at TFT—there might even be more people playing TFT than League now."
"When you put it that way, it really could be. What tournament schedule perfectly avoids the league schedule? It's like it's made to serve Brother Infinite Borders."
"Anyway, NetEase won hard today. Heat went up. Tomorrow the number of people buying tournament passes will explode. Daily actives will hold too—just don't feed players garbage. NetEase planners love doing disgusting stuff."
"Tencent games have one advantage: even if they're more lax on cheaters, overall impact isn't that big. If you pay, the experience feels comfortable."
…
The livestream was buzzing, and Tieba was the same.
Posts popped up one after another.
"How terrifying is Brother Infinite Borders' game talent?"
"At this pace, can Brother Infinite Borders maintain his form?"
These kinds of threads had been opened countless times already.
The earliest discussion thread had even reached over 11,000 replies. That alone proved it was a hot topic.
After all, a guy like Lin Fan who never grinds ranked, goofs around playing other games, and still wins a world championship—he's truly the first.
So people asked every day whether his form could hold.
But Brother Infinite Borders' pro league performance… not only had it not declined, it had become even more dominant.
Two words: absurd.
Why is there such an absurd player?
Even some haters were starting to despair. They'd been waiting for Dine's form to drop and for TES to start losing, so they could attack and mock him.
Weren't you "invincible"? Didn't your fans say "believe first, even before losing"? Now they should doubt and attack, criticize Brother Infinite Borders for lacking professionalism.
But watching Lin Fan mess around every day and still stomp in the league—unacceptable.
So after Naraka ended, another thread appeared.
"Discussion: LPL mid lane level?"
"If a mid who's 'unprofessional' like Brother Infinite Borders can still rank first in pro league, LPL mid is doomed."
"Feels like when Worlds comes, these mids will get stomped. The gap between LPL mids and other regions is growing."
"LPL's environment got worse because of players like Dine. Sure, he keeps winning, but it doesn't change my view. We've won MSI before. Worlds will definitely collapse!"
"Just like RNG in S8. They won everything before Worlds, and then they choked. Wait two more months and you'll see. Getting cocky never ends well."
"I don't get what kind of mentality you people have. Brother Infinite Borders never offended you. Why are you so obsessed with blackening him? It's weird!"
"Brain-dead fans are like that. We're analyzing from a league perspective, not a single team's gains and losses."
"It's exactly because of 'unprofessional' players like Brother Infinite Borders that the league environment got worse. Do you know how big the impact is? The culture changed. Before, everyone thought about grinding points. Now after every match, they think about what game to relax with. Compared to LCK, the pro attitude is way worse."
"I can understand being an American stan or a British stan. But I never expected people would be willing to be Korea-biased fans. What kind of beasts are these people?"
It's not that you can't support other countries or regions. Liking a team is your freedom.
But twisting yourself into double standards—putting down your own region to elevate your favorite team and players—was hard to understand. That brain circuit was weird.
None of that affected Lin Fan, who was back at base studying his new Go skill.
After all, he'd received a new skill—he had to test it.
He greeted Dai Laoliu and Yaya and exited the game.
Today's training volume was basically met. Five high-intensity matches. Winning proved their match thinking was correct.
And Dai Laoliu and Yaya were both fired up. After today's matches, it felt like they'd returned to the early days of the game—when they first started competing.
Just slaughtering.
They didn't need to think about how many people were nearby. They were the strongest squad.
Only other people avoided them. They never had to hide.
After this series, it felt like everything came back.
Especially Dai Laoliu—he suddenly had many new thoughts.
He planned to talk to Dabaotou tomorrow…
GBL had played in pro league for so long, yet they hadn't really gathered privately.
Honestly, playing these matches with Lin Fan made him feel that if he retired like this, he'd definitely regret it.
So he wanted to try again. They were all young. If they talked it out, the conflict wasn't unsolvable.
At the end of the day, it was mostly a pride issue.
They just needed a mediator.
Dai Laoliu felt this Elite Cup was an opportunity.
NetEase officials were helping this hard—they had to seize the chance.
Tonight he'd talk to Yaya first.
He believed Yaya felt the same.
Disbanding like this… would be a lifelong regret.
Even though it was already 11 p.m., Lin Fan's livestream chat was still intense.
"Brother Infinite Borders, tomorrow's V5 vs JDG match—what do you think?"
"Today you secured Tianren City City Lord with zero flaws. Feels like Tianren City will become your sponsored word."
"Strong strong strong. Watched all night, didn't disappoint."
"Any evening activity? Goose Goose Duck maybe? Brother Infinite Borders hasn't played Goose Goose Duck in a long time. Watching Gangzi and them now is just comedy."
"No, they play with peepers, and Xiaolou gets emotional. Not fun. Need Brother Infinite Borders to host the big picture. As the man with an exclusive skin, one hammer swing and it's invincible."
"I heard Goose Goose Duck company is preparing a skin for Uzi. That's actually nice. Didn't get a League skin, but after retiring got one in Goose Goose Duck. Fate."
"Uzi is still a pity. But if his teammates owed him a skin before, then in S8 he owed his teammates. Karma. Settled."
"In the end it's because the club was bad… too many traps, retribution."
Lin Fan glanced once and saw so much nonsense.
But that's just how it is. As a League pro, it's normal for drama viewers to flood in.
Tomorrow is V5 versus JDG?
He pulled out his phone and checked. Yep—21st, 7 p.m.
It was a small spotlight match.
He wondered who JDG would start.
Knight seemed to be a bit dazed after yesterday's beating.
But considering he was a former teammate, Lin Fan hadn't gone all-out to kill him.
Otherwise, how could he have stopped at "feeding streak" and not kept farming kills? He still valued the cultivation of former teammate relationships.
As for Knight… how to put it?
Better not get too close.
If that guy kept thinking about weird stuff, it would be troublesome.
As the saying goes: you're not afraid of a thief stealing, you're afraid of a thief thinking about stealing.
If you know, you know.
So feeding streak is enough.
"JDG vs V5… honestly I think they're about equal. The gap isn't big. It depends on performance. Let's play a little game instead, brothers—log in, log in. Fox Go, a few rounds."
"What? I can't play for shit? Come on, log in. I'll beat you or not, that's all."
"Tiandi Datong invincible? Go boy, huh?"
As he spoke, Lin Fan was already downloading the game.
"Hahaha, Brother Infinite Borders' act is maxed out."
"If I didn't see he's still downloading, I'd actually believe him."
"Bet he registers a new account the moment he enters."
"I absolutely believe…"
Sure enough, once the download finished and he entered, the registration page explained everything.
"Newbie… jump from level 18 to level 1? Joking. I'm this strong—I'm definitely level 1 master."
As he spoke, he switched it to level 1.
Then he created a room.
"I just don't use my computer for Go much, got it? That's why I didn't register. But my real level—those who know, know."
"Brother Infinite Borders is Brother Infinite Borders. He loves saying things that make people laugh."
"Brothers, log in. I truly can't play Go. With this many people, there have to be experts."
"Why not enter a Gomoku room instead? At least it'll look even and fun."
"I think that's a good suggestion. And Brother Infinite Borders can practice Gomoku too, so he won't lose to everyone."
Doing Go, the room didn't fill instantly anymore.
He waited about thirty seconds before someone finally entered.
"Viewer? Doesn't matter. I'll beat you first," Lin Fan said confidently.
The opponent didn't hesitate—black stone at 4-4 star point.
Lin Fan replied with a symmetric 4-4.
Star-point openings have speed advantage in modern Go—like right now.
Then they started building around the corners.
They played fast. In a blink, eight or nine stones were down.
Watching Lin Fan's expression, the livestream audience started changing their initial thoughts.
Could he actually play?
"Any experts explain? How are these moves?"
"I can't tell, but it looks like it's got something to it."
"Brother Infinite Borders is just acting confident. He's actually playing nonsense. Who sees the opponent go komoku and then runs toward the center?"
But as the board filled, people who understood Go began looking serious, no longer watching with a 'for laughs' attitude.
"The opponent is so bad. Why didn't he ladder? If it were me, Brother Infinite Borders would get stomped."
"Over. Black botched it. How do you ladder without checking whether the ladder works? Brother Infinite Borders saw black's placement and already knew, then used a ladder breaker with that contact. Black is too stupid."
"Pointing at someone, pointing at someone. Black is too stupid!"
As both sides went crazy toward the bottom star point, the stone-dropping speed got faster and faster…
Until they reached the corner.
Lin Fan dropped a white stone and couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Hahahaha. He accepted my Miao Dao invitation. He definitely thinks I'm an idiot. He didn't notice that after this contact-and-block exchange, the ladder situation has changed."
"Look how much he's losing here."
The crisp sound of stones stopped.
Silence spoke louder than sound…
Bilibili.
In Zhan Ying's livestream.
Her mouth hung open as she stared blankly at her screen.
She got careless.
The game turned into a ladder fight, and she got excited for a moment.
Another 'talkable' game, she thought. She'd just queued a casual match to relax before ending stream.
Then she got fooled by one contact and one block.
That little trick was way too slick.
Meanwhile, her chat spammed nonstop.
"Karma is real."
"LMAO. No idea who the opponent is, but this revenge for Assam is sweet!"
"I love Zhan Ying's line: 'No way, am I that strong?'"
"Zhan Ying can misread a ladder? Isn't she pro 2-dan? I already felt weird when it went that direction. I thought she got possessed."
"Hahaha. I can't hold it. Once it reaches the star point, she's awkwardly stuck. Do you play this stone or not?"
"Wait… is the opponent Brother Infinite Borders?"
"Huh? Who is Brother Infinite Borders? Never heard of him. Go scene doesn't have a nickname like that."
"No way. Is it really him?"
Zhan Ying was a Go streamer, and her skill was pro-level. Even though her record wasn't pretty, with that legendary 2–16 record, she still thrived as a big streamer.
She was a major creator on Bilibili.
So her fanbase included many Go people. Some genuinely didn't know Lin Fan.
But Lin Fan was the hottest pro player right now, so naturally some people recognized him.
"Brother Infinite Borders is TES's League mid. Not long ago he won MSI. But he's different from other pros—he can play any game and plays it well."
"He crushed two Honor of Kings pros, won TFT Worlds… and now he's competing in Naraka's Elite Cup. At this pace he looks like a lock for champion too."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Brother Infinite Borders won any game, since his talent is obvious. But Go… he can play? For real? A guy who gets stomped in Gomoku can play Go?"
"From that exchange just now, not only can he play, his fundamentals are pretty high."
"Is this person that ridiculous? Achievements everywhere? Does someone like this really exist?"
"I've studied Go for over ten years and still haven't qualified. Brother Infinite Borders can already beat Zhan Ying!"
"Male and female players at the same rank still differ in strength… but don't start a gender war."
"Equal rights! Why treat fairies differently?"
"Holy shit, it's really Brother Infinite Borders? I'm going to his stream. I literally just left his stream."
"Where is he streaming?"
"Honestly, Zhan Ying getting laddered like this is wild. I've never seen a pro player misread a ladder…"
"I think if Jaguar sees this game, he'll laugh for a whole day. No—whole month."
"It's not acceptable, but Zhan Ying means well—she's turning herself into a joke so we can learn. From now on, every time I ladder, I'll calculate carefully."
Zhan Ying's stream erupted in discussion, mostly curiosity about Lin Fan.
Because a person's energy is limited.
To achieve results in one field and become a world champion is already extremely hard.
And then you achieve results in other fields too? Like a god.
"The most outrageous part is… Brother Infinite Borders never trains League, so no one even knows how he won that championship."
"???"
Meanwhile, in Lin Fan's stream, question marks filled the chat.
Wait, Brother Infinite Borders, you're actually serious?
Everyone thought you were joking, but you actually can play Go?
"Strange. This is more terrifying than hearing TES won Worlds."
"I thought he was just playing nonsense. Turns out he can really play!"
"Damn. Xiaozao and K-god seeing this would faint. Do pros have to know this much now?"
"Honestly, black played so badly. If I went, I'd stomp. Brother Infinite Borders, one more game! I'm amateur 5-dan—basically pro level."
"That last game… was Zhan Ying playing."
"Huh? For real?"
"I just came from her stream. It's real. She's collapsed in her chair and can't believe it."
Professional 2-dan…
Nationally, that's still a known level.
Normally, you wouldn't see mistakes like that.
But if it's Zhan Ying… well, then it's reasonable.
After all, the one who posted that 2–16 record across the ages, she's the first.
Call her weak? She's beaten the former 'number one grandma' before.
So her strength is a big question mark.
Actually, LPL has a similar player too—top lane 'big daddy.'
In theory he should be strong, but he can randomly put up 1/7 or 0/6 statlines.
A whole absurd event.
Schrödinger's strength.
You never know what floor he's on.
But match results don't lie…
"Hahaha. Did anyone record that? Upload to Bilibili and it'll get huge traffic."
"Uh oh. Losing at Go is normal, but if the impact is too big, Zhan Ying might be ruined for a couple months. Brother Infinite Borders will press her down for months."
"Hahaha. The comedy is maxed out. A pro player losing at Go to a 'casual' player?"
"Wait—haven't you noticed the big problem? League, TFT, Naraka have some linkage—reaction skill transfers. But this is Go!"
That message silenced everyone.
It was correct.
In Go, if you don't study from childhood—memorize patterns, review records, and grind countless times—there's no way to get results.
But Brother Infinite Borders… that shouldn't be possible.
"No, no. I only know a little. I really didn't expect the opponent to be Zhan Ying," Lin Fan explained.
"I only know some basic rules. Stones need liberties, and you try to take territory. Just play around those two cores. As for patterns, watch some Bilibili teaching videos and remember a bit—it's about enough."
"Honestly, I think Go is pretty simple. Learning the basics isn't hard, but becoming strong is difficult. I'm only at the 'learned it' stage."
That casual answer made it sound like it was nothing.
And thinking about it… it did sound reasonable.
Isn't Go just those two things?
Take territory, manage liberties.
But the variations are so many—you can't learn it overnight…
Looking at the time, that game alone had taken nearly forty minutes.
Combined with playing Naraka all day, it was time to rest.
Lin Fan greeted the viewers and ended stream.
Even with the screen black, viewer count didn't drop—it rose.
"Where is he? Where is the streamer? I want to see what this legendary Brother Infinite Borders looks like. Is he like us—one head, two hands, two feet?"
"If you want to see that, that's troublesome. Brother Infinite Borders is the legendary Horse King. You know what I mean."
And Zhan Ying had already learned through her chat who beat her.
She pulled out her phone and searched him.
The more she read, the wider her eyes got. This guy's experience didn't look normal.
So strong. So many championships.
He's still competing in Naraka… could he carry me too?
Zhan Ying does play Naraka. She's just terrible. She plays privately to relax, running around. Lazy people don't exercise—they let their in-game avatar exercise.
Then she opens boxes to roll pretty outfits.
But in game, she basically starts the next match as soon as she meets someone.
She turned Naraka into a running simulator.
So if someone carried her, she could run two more laps.
While thinking, she searched for Lin Fan's photos.
"Mm…"
"His face is pretty handsome. Exactly my type."
"So strong. His Go is probably pretty good too. I didn't even see all his traps."
"Ahem. No—this is where I should reflect. Lately I only cared about streaming and didn't focus on Go. I shouldn't, I shouldn't. I didn't even see such an obvious trap. How do I face future matches?"
That game was low-level. She didn't even calculate at the start.
If her coach saw that during training, she'd get scolded all day—unless she won a beautiful game afterward.
She needed to train seriously for a while, then return.
Meanwhile, Weibo trending shifted again.
Brother Infinite Borders playing Go surged into the top ten.
"Brother Infinite Borders beats Zhan Ying" parachuted into third!
Everyone was confused.
Forty minutes ago, trending was "Brother Infinite Borders qualifies for Naraka finals."
How did it suddenly become Go?
What does League have to do with Go?
Nothing, right?
"Holy shit, I knew today wouldn't lack comedy."
"LMAO. Brother Infinite Borders slapped me in the face. He can actually play!"
"Some people might not know who Zhan Ying is, but 'professional Go 2-dan' tells you the strength, right?"
"Brother Infinite Borders is strong, but I don't think Go is that crazy. Zhan Ying probably played casually…"
"But think about it: if Brother Infinite Borders casually plays a game with you, are you sure you can win?"
"I watched that game. Brother Infinite Borders dug so many pits. He definitely has skill."
A huge line of ellipses followed.
A soul-question.
With baseline strength like that, even casually, the intensity is there.
Anyway, tonight, Weibo was destined to be lively.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup