This year's qualifiers were held at the Wuhan Sports Center, which was 5km away from the Peninsula Hotel. Even though there were no LPL teams in the competition, the Wuhan Sports Center was filled to the brim with spectators who had not watched any matches in the past month.
The competition had nothing to do with YM, but Lin Yan could clearly feel the change in the atmosphere in the hotel.
Previously, the big breasts from the wild card division were still chatting and laughing when they arrived at the luxurious hotel in Wuhan. However, as soon as the qualifier began, the atmosphere in the hotel corridor became heavy.
No team came all the way to China just for a vacation, especially the wild card teams. They were the champions of their respective divisions and were considered big brothers in the league. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if they couldn't even make it through the qualifier?
How was he going to tell the story of the S7 to his little brothers when he got back?
The wild card brothers knew that there was a difference in strength between them and the five divisions, but they didn't have a clear idea of what this difference was.
Because the qualifier was a new competition system that was set up this year, the wild card division and the five divisions didn't have many opportunities to communicate. It was like a closed world between each other.
Even though there were wild card teams participating in the international competition every year, the sample size was too small to convince them.
Moreover, last year's world-shaking Russian wild card, ANX, had single-handedly broken through the encirclement of G2 and CLG and made it to the knockout stage. This gave the wild card division a lot of confidence.
Russian wild card ANX = top eight, LPL second seed EDG = top eight, Russian wild card = LPL second seed.
See, the equation was laid out in an instant. It was reasonable.
A Russian wild card's strength was similar to the LPL second seed that won the S Tournament. Then it was reasonable for the Brazilian wild card to defeat the North American third seed that had never won the S Tournament, right?
However, dreams were beautiful, but reality was cruel.
The third seeds of C9, FNC, and SSG were like hot fish in the qualifier stage. They were like tigers that came down the mountain, crushing the confidence that the wild card division had just built up.
Defeat after defeat followed. The five divisions didn't hold back at all and beat them to death.
A heavy pressure weighed down on every wild card team. Their goal had changed from breaking through to the main competition stage to obtaining the first victory. It was acceptable for them to tear off a piece of meat from the hands of the five regions and use it as their spoils of war when they returned home.
Training, training, and endless training. They wanted to fight for their lives in the wild card area and successfully share the pressure with the other teams in the hotel.
On the evening of September 29th, Lin Yan and his teammates went downstairs for dinner as usual. A tall and sturdy Russian with a ferocious appearance suddenly burst into tears, startling all the players present.
It was only after Lin Yan understood that the Russian's team was already at the bottom of the group with 0 wins and 3 losses that Lin Yan understood.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would be on the plane back to Moscow by this time tomorrow.
He had been in Wuhan for less than 10 days. The speed of elimination was so fast that no one could react to it. It was a warning to everyone.
The overwhelming pressure caused many people to lose their minds.
The next morning, Lin Yan and Meiko, who were planning to have breakfast, actually ran into the Dragon Ball team in the restaurant.
Lin Yan also strangely looked at the time.
This wasn't right. Most of the professional players' schedules tended to be late to bed and late to rise. Lin Yan was a weirdo. Meiko, on the other hand, had stayed up all night and didn't sleep at all. She planned to go back to sleep after breakfast.
Lin Yan had only seen the LCK team eat breakfast on the second morning after they entered Wuhan. He hadn't seen them at all in the mornings for the other days.
What was going on today?
Lin Yan was puzzled. He nodded and said hello to Gera, who looked up and met his gaze.
He noticed that Gera's expression was a bit gloomy. There were rare dark circles under his eyes. Beside him, the Rat King Pray's expression was even worse. His brows were furrowed like a small mountain, and he didn't look as cheerful as before.
The Dragon Ball team's mood was very negative. Lin Yan was even more curious.
What's going on?
It couldn't be that group of people from IG, could it?
Before he could figure it out, Rascal, Dragon Ball's substitute top laner, passed by with a tray in his hand.
The 1.9 meter tall Rat King was so big that the chair couldn't fit him. His elbow was forced out of the table.
As Rascal passed by, his waist accidentally bumped into Rat King's elbow. The porridge on the tray spilled onto his body and flowed down his uniform into Rat King's bowl.
In Lin Yan's opinion, both of them were at fault. They should just apologize to each other.
But Pray, who was already depressed, found a target to vent his anger.
"F * ck …" Rat King's tone was rhythmic, as if he was singing a rap. It was a bit like Jin Gong's style of scolding people in his native language. He spoke so fast that Lin Yan could only understand the first swear word.
But it didn't matter. He had the Korean master Meiko beside him.
"What are they talking about?"
The gossipy Meiko had already turned into a black cat sheriff. Her ears stood up like antennas.
"The general meaning is … are you blind?
Hurry up and give me another bowl. "
Lin Yan glanced at Meiko with disdain. He didn't expect Meiko to be a master of abbreviations. Just now, Rat King's rap was estimated to have taken half a minute. How could it only say these two sentences?
But the meaning should be like this. Rascal, as the little brother in the team, was far behind Rat King in terms of achievement and age.
Rascal, who was deeply influenced by the Korean culture of seniority, didn't care about his clothes. He could only nod and go back to get another bowl of porridge.
Rat King took a sip and raised his voice again.
"Are you brainless?
Don't you know that I need to add sugar to my porridge?
Do you not put me in your eyes? "
Lin Yan knew that heong was a unique culture in Korea, but he didn't expect there to be such bullying.
The Dragon Ball team on the side was accustomed to it. They watched Rascal respectfully bow and apologize with porridge stains all over his body, and then obediently add sugar to the porridge bowl.
"It's normal. The culture in their circle is like this," Meiko explained to Lin Yan in a low voice. "Rat King's people are very good. Usually, he and Gerella Khan take good care of the newcomers. It's probably because he encountered something today that didn't go his way."
Lin Yan nodded and then felt that something was wrong.
Are you a member of the Dragon Ball team?
How come you know so much?
Meiko was right. After a while, Rat King realized that his reaction was a bit excessive. He quickly went to find Rascal to chat.
Although his tone was amiable, Rascal didn't even dare to look at his senior. The communication between the two felt awkward.
This small episode didn't make Lin Yan relax. On the contrary, it made him more nervous.
As the training matches ended, Lin Yan even felt that the oppressive air was exuding the smell of rust. The strong smell of blood filled the air, stimulating his nose.
"Is your nose okay?" Guo Hao asked with concern, holding a bag of cotton balls in his hand.
Lin Yan came back to his senses. He was having a nosebleed. No wonder there was a smell of blood.
He raised his neck and rested his head on the chair pillow. He took the cotton ball and cleaned his nose. After his nose was blocked, his voice became muffled. "It's nothing serious. I guess I've been a bit heaty these past two days."
"Don't give yourself too much pressure," Guo Hao said, trying to appease his team members. "It's not your first time playing in an international tournament."
"I know, but the significance of this year's international tournament is different. Even if we don't win the championship, we have to at least enter the Bird's Nest." Lin Yan stopped the nosebleed, sat up straight, and continued to practice with Broiler.
…
On the evening of September 30th, Su Cheng, wearing a loose white sweater and black trousers, walked out of Wuhan Tianhe International Airport with a silver suitcase in hand.
From afar, she saw Guo Hao and two YM staff members waiting on the side of the road. She immediately walked forward.
"Is everyone okay?" She put the suitcase in the trunk and asked with concern.
"From the players to the coach, the strings are getting tighter and tighter." Guo Hao sighed. "I didn't expect that the pressure in the second year's international tournament would be even greater than last year."
The YM manager also had dark circles under his eyes. He didn't seem to be in a good mental state. It looked like he had been possessed by Kandi.
Su Cheng understood. An hour later, she successfully arrived at the Peninsula Hotel. She took her suitcase and went directly to the YM training room on the seventh floor.
When she opened the door, she saw the seven players sitting in their respective chairs, facing the center of the room and staring at the screen. No one noticed her.
The screen was playing the last game of the qualifiers, which would determine the last person to enter the final stage of the tournament.
The e-sports team invested in by the Turkish football giant, Fenerbahçe, was facing the Brazilian wild card, ONE. The game was in the final stage. Fenerbahçe's Big Mouth and Wind Lady were about to level the opponent's base.
"HKA lost today?" Su Cheng asked.
"They lost miserably. Three to zero. I really can't do it," Jack answered subconsciously. Then he heard something wrong with the voice and turned his head.
"Cheng …" Shiba Inu was about to say something when he remembered the military boxing that the girl had punched him heavily on the day they left Shanghai. He immediately changed his tone and put on a smile. "Sister Su, you're here."
Su Cheng greeted several players and sat down next to Lin Yan. "I know HKA is pretty bad, but I didn't expect them to be this bad."
In the six-day qualifiers, there were traitors in the five divisions.
The third seed of the Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan division, HKA.
The team coached by Tabe was unfortunately assigned to 1907 Fenerbahçe, the strongest wild card in the qualifiers.
As soon as they met, HKA's underwear was ripped off by the Turks and they were beaten black and blue.
Anyone could see that the LMS division was in the twilight. Other than AHQ and Lightning Wolves, they couldn't even find another team that could compete.
In the end, HKA was placed in second place in the qualifiers. They faced FNC, the winner of another group, in the last best-of-five match before the main competition.
Europe's Gao Xuecheng was never soft-hearted. Together with Caps, who was known as a genius in his rookie season, he led his team to sweep HKA with a score of 3: 0. HKA was engraved on the pillar of shame in history. They were the first team in the five divisions to not make it through the qualifiers.
YM didn't watch the live broadcast today to witness this piece of history. They wanted to see the draw after the qualifiers.
Once again, a glass basin with four round black balls was placed on the stage. This year's transfer to Snake was the guest of honor for the draw ceremony.
Wearing a black suit, he looked slimmer than before. Like Lin Weixiang and Liu Qingsong, he had lost a lot of weight.
"The four teams that made it through the qualifiers, FNC, C9, SSG, and 1907 Fenerbahçe, will be assigned to the four main groups, A, B, C, and CD …"
Amidst the applause of the audience, Poise took out the first black ball. This would determine the last member of YM in Group A.
The black ball opened, revealing a light blue colored paper.
SSG！
The audience let out a sigh of regret. Poise unfolded the paper with a helpless expression.
Even though they were only the third seed of LCK, they were undoubtedly the strongest team in the qualifiers.
A huge three-star blue and white shield appeared on the big screen behind them. With a loud bang, it slammed down and embedded itself into the bottom of Group A.
In the three-star lounge downstairs of YM, Crown clenched his fists. His fingernails, which had been trimmed to extremely short, pierced his palms.
Coach Edgar pursed his lips. All the three-star members next to him were in high spirits.
They would take revenge for last year's quarterfinals!
The four black balls were drawn. The groups of the S7 International Finals were completely determined!
Group A: YM, TSM, GAM (Vietnam's first seed), SSG
Group B: LZ, IMT, RNG, FNC
Group C: G2, AHQ, WE, C9
Group D: FW, MSF, SKT, FB (1907 Fenerbahçe)
"Everyone, get ready." White Crescent clapped her hands. "We'll take it one step at a time and set a small goal."
"Earn a hundred million?" Jack joked.
"First place in the group stage." White Crescent ignored the Shiba Inu. "A year's worth of hard work will depend on the next month. I hope everyone can seize this opportunity."
"Now, I'll announce the roster for this international competition …" White Crescent pulled out a piece of A4 paper from her folder.
Lin Weixiang, Liu Qingsong, and the Prophet tensed up. Out of the five positions in YM, only the bottom lane duo had substitutes. Based on their participation in the mock competition, Jack was the designated starting ADC. Unless he was allergic to seafood, there was no need to worry about his starting position.
There was no doubt that the top three positions had no substitutes. When it was the bottom lane duo's turn, White Crescent paused for a moment before continuing.
"Bottom lane Jack. Support Liu Qingsong. Substitute Lin Weixiang. Emergency substitute Prophet."
The Prophet curled up his body. His feet, which were on the cushion, shrunk even tighter.
He had participated in two mock competitions the day before yesterday. Luo's performance had been terrible. He could not seem to pick up this agile starting hero no matter how hard he tried.
He had really worked hard.
Lin Weixiang, who knew that he was the sixth player, wanted to laugh.
Although he was naive, he could understand the Prophet's feelings. It was obviously inappropriate to laugh out loud.
The training room fell into a short and awkward silence.
Lin Yan turned around and started the ranking match at the top of the canyon.
Su Cheng took out her notebook from her bag and went to have a meeting with White Crescent and Doom. They discussed the group stage opponents and the version of the international competition for an hour before coming up with a final plan.
Su Cheng's task was very clear. She had to dig out the video and data of YM's match against Samsung. She wanted to find valuable information.
However, it would take some time to download the video. Su Cheng did not disturb Lin Yan, who was playing hand speed games while waiting in line. Instead, she curled up in her chair and read the news on her phone.
Who would have thought that he would really find a big piece of news?
After the S7 global finals were settled, Fist World's official website announced the annual top 20 players of the international competition.
Su Cheng glanced at the title. YM's starting five players, except for the inexperienced Crisp, are all on the list!
She glanced at Liu Qingsong, who had just secured his starting position and was seriously asking Incense Burner for advice on how to survive in a team battle. She continued to scroll down and read the entire list.
Unlike last year, YM's four players were ranked very high on the list.
As usual, the North American commentator assigned the position of the top 20 goalkeeper to the Big Senior Brother. This was a routine program every year. After all, there were not many strong players in North America.
The following players were ranked in reverse order: Lightning Wolf support Snake Snake, G2 archer Zevn, Samsung's jungler Sect Leader An, and Jin Gong.
The 16th place was the lowest among YM's players. Jack was ranked 13th. Ouze and Samsung's top laner Cuvee were slightly higher than him.
Starting from the 10th place, the rest of the players were all well-known players in international competitions.
Wolf was ranked ninth. The sixth and eighth places were taken by the Dragon Ball team. The Xuanming Elders and BDD's performance this summer was indisputable.
The fifth place was Phyllostachys Pubescens. The official comment given by the team was very pertinent. As a rhythm jungler who stood out in last year's global finals, he maintained his condition better than his competitor Peanut this year. Tian relied on his keen sense of the battle to become the team's rhythm engine.
His fist sent the fourth place to a bang.
Due to the failure in last year's global finals and this year's mid-season competition, Bang did not receive enough glory. He did not have the mood to meditate and continued to maintain his high-intensity training. Furthermore, his performance in this year's summer competition was still eye-catching.
LCK's English commentator, Papa Smithy, gave this comment. Even though his mechanics have slightly declined compared to last year, he's still one of the best ADC players in the world. Bang fulfills all our expectations and requirements for an ADC. He's the template of an ADC.
Currently, there were still three players who had not appeared on the list. Su Cheng knew that the top three spots were most likely occupied by the three of them. However, the positions would change.
Even though it had nothing to do with her directly, Su Cheng was still very nervous.
Her slender, white fingers slowly swiped the screen of her phone and saw the third place.
LZ Khan, a rather comical looking boy who bared his teeth and made a V sign at the camera. The first impression he gave was that he was a simple-minded person. It would probably be very good if he were to do a live broadcast.
LCS's official commentator, Jatt, gave his own comment. It was concise and clear. "The undisputed number one top laner in the global finals. His Jayz and soloing ability are enough to make SKT tremble in fear!"
Su Cheng saw Khan appear in the third place. Her breathing stopped for a moment. Her palms were sweaty and her fingers were trembling.
The girl laughed at herself. It was just a ranking list. It would not determine any actual awards. Why was she as nervous as if she were looking at her college entrance exam results?
Su Cheng calmed herself down. She calmly moved her finger and saw the second place on the official list.
SKT.Faker
Two years ago, I thought that Faker was the best professional League of Legends player on the planet. Now, I have to add 'one of the best'. However, this does not affect his frightening strength. — EU.LEC commentator, Deficio
Su Cheng was satisfied. The stone in her heart had been lifted. She quickly scrolled down the page and saw the first place on the list.
YM.Ran
The photo was of Lin Ran holding the mid-season championship trophy high up in the air. The side of the young man's face was especially handsome under the spotlight. His eyes really seemed to be hiding a brilliant light, as if he was quietly blooming after his dream had been fulfilled.
Su Cheng looked at Lin Yan kissing the trophy on her phone screen. Her fingers gently stroked the boy's eyes. Her own eyes seemed to be stained with scattered rays of light.
She did not know who had captured the photo of Lin Yan holding the trophy. She could only silently type 666 and press the photo to save it on her phone.
Below Lin Yan's photo was a comment from the person who recommended it.
"If Faker represents the past, then Ran represents the present and the future. He added 'one of the best professional players in the League' to Faker's title.
No one knows the limits of YM's mainstay. Last year, he destroyed SKT's dynasty with his ingenious Flag of Command. This year, he doesn't seem to need 'black technology'. From the mid-season championship, YM, led by him, is the favorite to win this year. I don't even want to use the euphemistic title of 'one of the best'. "— PapaSmithy
'Good advice, big brother.'
Su Cheng cursed in her heart. She looked up and saw that Lin Yan had already reached the other nine players. The screen was still on the BP interface. However, in his hands, he was still holding the research on the competition data that he had compiled in Shanghai over the past two days.
The recording of Samsung's competition in the qualifiers had been downloaded. Su Cheng put away her other thoughts, put on her headphones, and prepared to work seriously.
…
"Hi brothers, I'm your old friend, Little Batch."
In a livestream on Dousha platform, a male voice skillfully greeted the viewers who had just entered the livestream.
The male voice ignored the chatter on the bullet screen and continued, "Today, we've OB'd a celebrity …"
"A Koga Ninja Frog who knows how to use water cannon, a member of the Peak of the Canyon Pokémon family. It's said that they're all YM players." Pizza, who was in charge of OB, was proud of himself. "Now, I'm the only YM player on the whole network, right?"
[666, how did he do it?]
[Didn't they say that YM doesn't add people as friends?
How can you OB'd this?]
[Strong Pizza!]
The bullet screen was overjoyed. Ever since Lin Yan explained the reason for the intensive commercial shoot on the night of September 11th, YM's entire team had disappeared without a trace.
If it weren't for the fact that the official Weibo posted pictures of the players' training every day, fans would have thought that they had completely disappeared.
Pizza snorted twice. "That's all thanks to the streamer's studio. There are many high-level fighters and streamers in there. As long as they're in the Pokémon family, they'll notify me and I'll just OB'd them."
"Little Pizza, it's no exaggeration to say that the studio is full of capable people. Brothers, if you're interested, you can add Wechat 5526765 in the upper left corner. If you can't make it to the next round, you can also call Pizza on Wechat …"
The male voice was like a hypnotic demon's whisper, very much like the video blogger JY.
"In this round, 'A Koga Ninja Frog who knows how to use water cannon' is using the mid laner Sindra. I've checked his record, all of them are mid laners. If I'm not mistaken, it should be Brother Ran. You guys are in for a treat."
Pizza locked his vision on Sindera, and while waiting for the minions to be handed over, he continued, "Now, Brother Ran's super account has 43 wins and 15 losses, a win rate of 74%. His rank has reached 550 points, and he's one of the players with the highest score among the S7 players."
Due to the delay in the OB view of the unofficial competition, Lin Yan had already completed a single kill.
He wasn't sure if it was because his hands were hot or because the opponent was too weak. The mid laners at the top of the canyon couldn't withstand the pressure he gave them. Unless they used Grasshopper Galio, it would be difficult for them to survive until level 6.
Lin Yan had been training day and night for half a month. In addition to the constant internal and external pressure, he had a stomach full of pent-up frustration. He had never been so eager for an official competition.
He went back to the city to buy the Killer Ring and went online to continue his crazy suppression. His positioning was so arrogant that he almost had two big moles on his cheeks.
This kind of extreme suppression was a pure local server characteristic. The opponent, Zerath, was now being suppressed to the point that he couldn't breathe.
However, Zerath was smart. If he couldn't win, he would hide. After his last death, he bought the Killer Ring and was ready to level up to level 6 and use long-range skills to increase the ring's level.
Zerath's range was one of the longest in the entire Alliance. If Lin Yan stayed online, he would just waste his opponent's mana and miss a few last hits.
This obviously didn't benefit him much. Lin Yan quickly changed his mind and controlled Sindra to wander around. He used W [Psychokinesis] to catch wild monsters to annoy the opponent's jungler.
In 10 minutes, the psychological defense of the level 5 Blind Monk on the opposing side was completely destroyed. He decisively quit the game and shut himself in. There was no need to continue fighting in a 4v5 situation. Lin Yan followed the opponent's thoughts and destroyed the base with his teammates.
A dull + 36 points. As the base Crystal shattered, the game sound in the headset completely disappeared. The sound of the outside world that was previously blocked faintly came in.
The sound of the keyboard clacking, the clicking of the mouse, and Jin Gong's uncontrollable moaning all entered Lin Ran's ears at the same time.
He didn't know if the recent emotional loss of control by the Russian brother and Rat King had affected him. Lin Yan's heart inexplicably surged with irritation, and the evil fire in his heart kept rolling.
This was a rare thing in his career, but Lin Yan also knew that he wasn't a saint. It was impossible for him to be in a state of calm all the time.
He tried hard to suppress this emotion and didn't want to affect his teammates. He simply quit the game and planned to watch a video and sleep early.
Suddenly, his shoulder was pinched twice. Lin Yan turned his head and looked over.
"Let's talk outside?" Su Cheng looked at the gloomy expression on her boyfriend's face and asked.
The two left the closed training room and went straight to the end of the corridor.
"I heard from Guo Hao that you guys have been feeling a lot of pressure recently?"
Su Cheng opened the window a crack. The warm autumn evening wind in Wuhan blew on her and Lin Yan's faces.
"It is indeed a lot of pressure," Lin Yan admitted frankly. "Maybe I'm thinking too much …"
"You are thinking too much." Su Cheng looked directly into her boyfriend's eyes. She found that Lin Yan's eyes, which were full of light when he held the mid-season trophy, were now dim. "Ever since you went to Beijing, whether it was an interview or a meet-and-greet, you always talk about 'See you in the Bird's Nest'."
"It's good to have a goal, but it won't work." Su Cheng was very serious. "Your goal is too far away. The semi-finals are at the end of October. Do you want to carry this goal of entering the Bird's Nest for another month?"
She brought up her field of study. "Do you remember in high school Chinese class, the teacher made us memorize essay material?"
"Something like Sima Qian's all-purpose material?
The Song of the Historian, Li Sao Without Rhyme? "Lin Yan's long-buried memory was awakened, and he opened his mouth.
For someone like him who had difficulty writing essays, he could only rely on these materials to survive the nightmarish questions in Jiangsu.
"Yes, but I'm not talking about him." Su Cheng continued. "I'm talking about a marathon runner named Yamada Honichi. He was originally unknown, but he won the Tokyo International Marathon Invitational Championship in 1984."
Lin Yan tried hard to recall in his mind. "The one who divided the marathon into segments?"
"You have a good memory." Su Cheng pretended to pat Lin Yan's arm and praised him. "He divided the marathon into countless segments, and the end of each segment was a small goal."
Lin Yan suddenly remembered the Wanda chairman's joke about earning a small goal first.
"He could see the end and hope in each segment, and naturally, he had the motivation to run. It was much easier than running forty kilometers."
Su Cheng said a long paragraph in one breath. "Marathon and e-sports are very different, but I think this principle is universal. You can break down the big goals of entering the Bird's Nest one by one. For example, the first small goal is to get out of the group stage, the second is to get into the semifinals, and the third is to get into the finals …"
Lin Yan pondered for two seconds, trying to clear his mind. His mind was filled with the small goals that he had broken down. He did feel the weight on his back relax. "So for me now … getting into the semifinals is considered a success?"
"…" Su Cheng did not say anything. She took out a box of cooling ointment from her pocket and stuffed it into Lin Yan's palm. "Apply the ointment to your temples after your shower tonight. Get a good night's sleep. If you still feel pressured tomorrow morning, go see a counselor. I'm not a professional."
"As long as you understand …" Lin Yan stuffed the cooling ointment into his pocket, took two deep breaths, and smiled. "How about eating hot and dry noodles tomorrow morning?"
"Okay," Su Cheng nodded and agreed. She held Lin Yan's arm and shook it. She said cheerfully, "I've checked a few hot and dry noodles shops before, but I don't know if they're good or not. Some people say hot and dry noodles are like Tianjin pancakes. Everyone has their own taste."
…
On October 5th, it started to drizzle in Wuhan early in the morning. There was a hint of sadness in the fresh air, as if it was seeing someone off.
The eight teams that did not make it into the group stage had already left Wuhan. If they met a rich boss, he would extend the stay for two or three days so that they could visit the scenic spots in Wuhan.
However, most of the teams would fly back to their home countries the day after they were eliminated. This short trip to the global finals might be the only chance they would have in their careers.
However, this did not spoil Lin Yan's good mood.
Two days ago, he had gone to talk with a counselor for an entire afternoon. He had removed most of the pressure from his heart and mind.
Sure enough, there were specialists in the field. A professional's ability to calm his emotions was much better than Su Cheng's.
Lin Yan woke up early and played two ranked matches full of energy. He pushed his score to 800 points in King of Glory. By the time he finished warming up, it was already noon.
In order to maintain their reaction speed, the team members did not eat a proper lunch. They ate some biscuits to fill their stomachs and then set off for the Wuhan Sports Center five kilometers away.
Makeup, tactics, pre-match interviews …
Everything was in order. Other than Brainless and Unhappy, the rest of the six YM players were participating in the international competition for the second time. This was not Hailan House. Every time they wandered around, they would discover something new. Everyone was very calm.
After receiving instructions from the staff, Lin Yan led his team members out of the lounge.
Today was the opening day of the global finals. All sixteen teams were gathered together, filling up the backstage area.
The familiar players greeted each other and cracked jokes until the live host, Ren Dong, walked onto the stage.
"Good afternoon to the Summoners present and in front of the screen!"
He was full of energy. "After the fierce battles of the qualifiers, from today onwards, the group stage of the global finals will officially begin!"
The Wuhan Sports Center was packed with people. Everyone waved the support sticks they had been given to make noise. The audience's impatient cheers traveled through the curtain wall into the ears of the 16 teams!
"Let us welcome the teams onto the stage!
"First of all, we welcome the 2016 global finals champion, Team YM, to return the Summoner's Trophy!"
Ren Dong's loud voice rang out. The two tall players, Lin Yan and Jin Gong, lifted the heavy Summoner's Trophy and led their teammates onto the stage through the tunnel!
What greeted them in front was deafening applause and cheers!
Their journey to the international competition began at this moment!