After witnessing Lin Fan claim both the solo and trio championships, and then move on to challenging a professional Go player, audiences still hadn't fully recovered from everything that had happened.
The atmosphere on Weibo was abnormally heated. No one had expected so many explosive events to happen in a single day.
The looping GIFs circulating online showed Lin Fan's monk playing at an absurdly high level. At the most critical moment for the team, he stepped up and successfully saved the match.
Just like TES in the Spring Split.
No wonder Brother Infinite Borders chose the name TOP—so he had already foreseen how things would unfold.
"Today, everyone witnessed another miracle! I'll say it right here—across the entire league, only Brother Infinite Borders could pull this off."
"Don't be so absolute. Brother Infinite Borders has his own style. Other players might also be amazing at different games. Take Wayward from the same club—he's pretty good at CS:GO. He's got pro potential."
"You're not wrong, but the question is: in the entire LPL, who else has Brother Infinite Borders' status? Doing whatever he wants, running wild. He joined the TFT World Championship, faced massive pressure through the club from fans—what was the result? And then there's the Naraka Bladepoint Elite Cup, where he directly participated during the league season… that kind of standing!"
…
"Can't you tell what status Brother Infinite Borders has by now? Ultimate team tyrant! I've never seen a jungler give up river crab early game before. TES is the first team I've ever seen do that."
"When you put it that way, it's true. Other than Brother Infinite Borders, no one else could mess around in other games like this. First, they couldn't maintain form. Second, they don't have the status. They'd be packing their bags the next day."
"No, actually there's one more person in the LPL with similar status. Also barely trains, or trains randomly, plays on his Diamond account farming weaker players. Performs terribly in matches, yet the blame always goes to jungle, mid, or ADC. His reputation is legendary, but people don't dare mention him—afraid of corpse poison."
"Why be so roundabout? Just say 'Broken Hand.'"
"We're talking about Brother Infinite Borders here. You people are disgusting—dragging other players into it. Joking about Song Jiang is one thing, but calling him Broken Hand is just low."
"Haha, Zombie Sister's mad. Mad, mad. I really don't get what kind of magic Broken Hand has that makes you people so obsessed. You know this is a Brother Infinite Borders discussion post, right? You just had to come out and get flamed—lonely much?"
"I seriously don't understand why so many people try to stir drama here. Sure, he's popular, but there's no need to force controversy."
"Let's talk about Brother Infinite Borders vs. Zhan Ying tomorrow."
"There's nothing to discuss. He won by luck last time. This is clearly a face-reclaiming match—he's getting destroyed."
"Professional vs. amateur. Once you put those identities out there, everyone knows who'll win before it even starts."
"This is emotional intelligence, you know? Giving Zhan Ying a chance to reclaim face. That loss spread everywhere. Let her win one back—save some dignity and boost hype. I checked—her follower count is skyrocketing. A blessing in disguise."
"Exactly. Brother Infinite Borders even told his viewers to go to Zhan Ying's stream before ending his own. In that short time, her viewer count hit Bilibili #1. Absolutely insane."
"Uzi's stream had just over ten thousand viewers, while Zhan Ying broke fifteen thousand. Brother Infinite Borders' influence is terrifying."
"If he only played League, his popularity wouldn't be this high. Maybe a spike after winning Worlds, but that's it."
"But his trait is so distinctive—slacking off at work to play other games, yet still doing his main job perfectly. I can only say he's unbeatable. Truly enviable."
"Even worse, he's amazing at other games too. TFT World Champion, now crushing pros in Naraka Bladepoint and taking the title by force."
"After winning, Dai Laoliu announced they'd keep playing pro matches and the team wouldn't disband… honestly, Brother Infinite Borders saved a top-tier wind boy."
…
Discussion threads popped up one after another on Weibo.
Everything under the sun was being talked about.
The most outrageous even involved 'selling films.' Somehow, any topic related to Lin Fan made things sell easily.
Maybe it was timing. When discussion reached a certain point, people couldn't control their hands anymore.
Single, young, hot-blooded—it was understandable. But moderation mattered.
A face full of acne was one thing; the real danger was hollowing out your body.
When the real thing finally came, you'd understand exactly what DogHead meant when he shouted about weakness.
Early the next morning, Lin Fan checked his system tasks as usual.
Nothing special this time—no overlapping champions. He just filled out Master Yi proficiency.
Mid-lane Master Yi could work with the right comp.
Pair him with Taric, add a Morgana support, maybe even a cat if needed.
But even thinking about it made the lineup absurd.
Even with confidence, it was too resource-hungry.
If there were other ways to win, there was no need to go full four-protect-one.
Unless it was old Royal Club, where the entire team relied on Uzi alone.
In that case, four-protect-one was normal—their only way to win.
But that demanded extremely high performance from the carry.
Four-protect-one also meant easy targeting. Kill the one, and the rest posed no threat.
Naturally, win probability dropped.
That year, Royal Club's results were terrible. Surviving relegation honestly came down to Uzi's blood-and-sweat effort.
Had they been eliminated, there would've been no later signings, no second Worlds finals.
Overall, it was still a success—results gave people hope for LPL's future.
But higher expectations led to greater disappointment.
Thus S5, S6, and S7 were truly LPL's darkest years.
Then IG's S8 championship—how could anyone not cry?
The end of one era, the start of another. LPL's esports year one had arrived.
Looking back at that championship run, not all five players were the best at their positions, but they were the most fitting.
After breakfast, Lin Fan returned to stream.
Many viewers immediately asked about tonight's match with Zhan Ying.
"There's nothing to this match. If I can win once, I can win again. I've got no pressure. She's the one under pressure—after all, she lost badly to me before."
Still half-asleep in bed, Zhan Ying's eyes went wide when she heard that.
"Do you even know what you're saying?" Her fists clenched.
…
She'd originally planned to go easy tonight.
But waking up to this kind of trash talk?
"Fine. Then I won't hold back."
Seeing chat full of people calling Lin Fan arrogant, she narrowed her eyes.
See? The masses still had sharp eyes.
"Zhan Ying might be abstract, but her skill is real. Eight years of grinding for one moment. Brother Infinite Borders has Go fundamentals—maybe amateur level, at best 1–2 kyu. Against Zhan Ying, outside of stealing a win, there's no other way."
"Agreed. Clip this and send it to Zhan Ying. Brother Infinite Borders is going to suffer tonight."
"I actually trust Brother Infinite Borders. His flags have never failed."
"If it were Worlds, I'd believe him. But Go? I'm not confident. Against a pro, I still trust the pro—especially after losing once, she'll go all out."
"Sigh, why does no one believe me when I tell the truth?" Lin Fan spread his hands helplessly.
"Alright, morning routine. Farm artifacts, do Genshin dailies. Infinite Borders—I don't even feel like logging in. Capture one city and call it a win. Next season I'll join Yonggan Guanguan for the World Cup. The group's already set—high-intensity 1v1s. Victory Heaven and New Alliance—whoever wins becomes the #1 alliance."
"Doesn't that sound interesting?"
"I think so too. You need an organization to enjoy this game. Solo play just isn't motivating."
"Next season, I'll go full firepower."
"This season… the opponent's alliance leader planned well, plus our allies weren't human. Otherwise we could've fought."
"Eh? How do you guys know I pulled Hu Tao? Haha, I didn't even tell anyone."
"Good thing I saved primogems for so long. Soft pity got one, hard pity got another. C1 Hu Tao—feels great."
"So today I'll farm artifacts and level her. Still missing stuff—like Silk Flowers. Forty-five of them. Where am I supposed to steal those?"
"Maybe I'll co-op with Uzi tonight and grab some from his world. He barely plays anyway."
"Haha, seriously—my E skill lighting me on fire looks sick."
Viewers were completely baffled.
"What the hell? How does Brother Infinite Borders suddenly have Hu Tao?"
"What did I miss lately? Something's off."
"Isn't Hu Tao stuck with Xingqiu?"
"You guys always miss the point. Shouldn't the focus be how Brother Infinite Borders secretly got Hu Tao?"
"Clearly you don't watch his Genshin streams much. He's had Hu Tao for ages—just low level before. Now she's finally 70."
"But seriously, his luck is insane. My soft pity gives nothing, hard pity goes off-banner."
"Idiot. Guess why it's called hard pity."
"Human luck gap is unreal. Some people pass the cutoff by one point, others miss it by one."
Time flew as chat grew lively.
In a blink, it was 8 p.m.
Calls to start the Go match filled chat.
Thanks to Weibo hype, over 70% of netizens were watching.
The intent was clear—Lin Fan had been too smooth lately.
Time for a professional to humble him.
Undefeated in games was one thing, but against a professional Go player? Surely not.
Everyone expected a different outcome this time.
"Brother Infinite Borders is actually quite strong. He has many small tricks," Zhan Ying said on stream.
"So tonight, I'll go all out."
"Good!"
"Teach Brother Infinite Borders a lesson—he's getting cocky."
"Go, go, go! Don't be abstract today."
"This is a match betting your career! Though I don't think you'll lose… I still have a bad feeling."
"Haha, as long as there's drama, it's worth it."
Zhan Ying smiled reading chat.
This was absolutely worth it.
Win or lose, traffic would explode.
Jaguar and Lian Xiaofen went live to commentate.
But as more stones were placed, expressions grew serious.
Zhan Ying was getting completely suppressed.
Lin Fan kept capturing stones.
"Fourteen to thirteen, atari!" Jaguar clapped when Lin Fan played exactly what he'd predicted.
"Beautiful. After this move, Sister Ying is done. Both stones are captured. Bottom left is gone—all Brother Infinite Borders' territory!"
"So clean, so clean. No suspense now."
"Center's taken early too. Whatever Zhan Ying plays next will just get eaten…"
"It's over. Brother Infinite Borders is strong—already at pro level."
When Ko Jie said that, everyone was stunned.
…
Wait—was Brother Infinite Borders really this strong?
Zhan Ying's expression changed completely.
From smug at the start to utterly miserable—on the verge of tears.
Her hand hovered over the board.
Then she clicked resign.
Brother Infinite Borders won!
There was no way to turn it around.
In that situation, resignation was the only choice.
And in that moment, the entire internet exploded.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup