Lin Yan said goodbye to Grace backstage and returned to YM's lounge alone.
The cheerful atmosphere in the lounge was shattered by the results of the draw. White Crescent was sorting out the information about Dragon Ball, and the team members were frowning as they discussed in low voices.
"Let's go, let's go."
Guo Hao stood up and said loudly, "Have a good rest tonight, we'll be leaving for Guangzhou tomorrow!"
A few of the team members agreed and walked out.
Lin Yan took his backpack from Su Cheng and followed his teammates out of the Wuhan Sports Center.
It was already 10 o 'clock at night, and the stadium was brightly lit under the night sky, emitting a warm and comfortable orange glow.
He looked back at the stadium for the last time. During the journey of half a month, this place carried the excitement of many players when they got what they wanted, and the loneliness of leaving dejectedly.
However, with the end of the group stage, everything was a thing of the past. The disappointed players left with regrets, and the other eight teams would head to Guangzhou with this sad or sweet memory.
Lin Yan closed the car door, and the black car window slowly rolled up. The Wuhan Sports Center slowly disappeared from his sight.
Su Cheng was still talking to White Crescent about the Dragon Ball video. Lin Yan could not find anyone to chat with, so he took out his phone and continued to look at the forum.
[Let's be honest, this year's draw is really good!]
[Prediction post, RNG swept the rabbit team 3: 0, WE defeated Samsung 3: 2, SKT defeated Baidu Cloud easily, YM crushed Dragon Ball!]
[Top 4, 3 LPL?
Are you dreaming or am I crazy?]
YM's complete victory did not cause much of a stir in the forum, which was in line with everyone's expectations. Naturally, there was no way for them to post about their experience.
To be honest, their 6 consecutive wins in the group stage did not cause as much discussion on the forum as their 5 wins and 1 loss. Once they lost, the forum was filled with posts like "Rational discussion, did JKL's thinking have a problem? If it was Ouze, he would have won easily."
Now, everyone was discussing the results of the draw, looking forward to the top 8, and even the finals and who the champion would be.
[Let's not talk about other things, the first half will definitely be RNG. What kind of rotten fish is Samsung?]
[Why can't it be WE?
Bullying 60e fans, right?
Have you forgotten how I tortured you in the spring semi-finals?]
[I think the results of this draw are really average. The YM in the second half is very difficult. Both Dragon Ball and SKT are not easy to fight. Will they really fall halfway?]
[Lousy draw?
'Hehe, why would I say it's a good draw? I just hope that YM will be able to get SKT and Dragon Ball's items to clear some obstacles for RNG. Of course, it would be better if they won.
If they lost and RNG won the championship, then YM would have a third of the credit. As for WE, it was up to fate.
I'm a RNG fan, a rational fan.]
On the five-kilometer drive to the Peninsula Hotel, Lin Yan roughly browsed through the posts in the forum.
The audience generally believed that there was no suspense in the top half. RNG would definitely enter the top four, while WE and Samsung were the third seeds in their respective regions. They would have a tough battle, but in the end, they all believed that the two teams in the top half of the LPL would lock in a spot in the finals.
On the other hand, YM, who was seen as the favorite to win the championship before the competition, had a harder time advancing.
The reason was simple. The teams in the same half as them were Dragon Ball, SKT, and C9.
Dragon Ball did not need to be mentioned. As the champions of the LCK Summer League, their strength was obvious. Even though they had advanced as second place in their group, no one would underestimate them.
In the eyes of many, SKT, whose results had been up and down this year, was the world's top team, second only to YM.
Never underestimate the heart of a champion. This saying was not only applicable to basketball, but also to esports.
SKT was no doubt a terrifying opponent. Li Xianghe had entered the international competition three times in his career. His achievements as a team leader with two championships and one second place were enough to look down on the heroes.
No one knew how far SKT, known for their solid offense and defense, would develop their version in the one-month journey to the finals.
YM, SKT, and LZ were three sharks swimming in the bottom half of the LPL, fighting for a spot in the finals. One could imagine the cruelty of the competition.
Lin Yan thought so too. It was indeed a little ridiculous for Dragon Ball to be their opponent in the top eight.
Before the start of the finals, everyone in YM thought that they would at least have to wait until the semifinals before they would face teams like Dragon Ball and SKT.
However, facing the Korean team in the top eight and top four was really too difficult.
This was also the reason why everyone in YM looked so serious after the lot-drawing ceremony. This year's battle was not going to be easy.
It was already past the evening rush hour. With no traffic jams, the YM team's BMW arrived at the hotel in less than fifteen minutes.
"After you guys shower tonight, pack your bags before you go to bed, especially Jack and Lin Weixiang … We're going to catch tomorrow afternoon's flight. You two set your alarms in advance, don't miss the important matters."
There were not many night owls in the team. Lin Yan was used to sleeping early and waking up early. Even his roommate, Xiao Tian, had a much earlier schedule. With Liu Qingsong, who wore a face mask and slept for beauty, YM only had Lin Weixiang and Jack, the two monsters with a reversed schedule.
When they reached the lobby of the hotel, the team was temporarily disbanded. Jack, who was hungry again, brought the Prophet and Jin Gong to the hotel restaurant. Lin Weixiang handed his backpack to Liu Qingsong and planned to jog around the hotel.
When they reached the seventh floor, everyone in YM left the elevator and went back to their rooms. Lin Yan hooked his arm around Su Cheng's soft hand and went to the corner of the corridor to enjoy the few moments they had together.
"Don't you guys have a meeting tonight?" Lin Yan asked in a low voice.
"No, only a routine meeting before we leave tomorrow afternoon." Su Cheng did not know why Lin Yan lowered his voice, but she still whispered in his ear, "I don't have anything to do tonight."
Her voice was too low, and her breath mixed with her warm breath hit Lin Yan's ear.
Even though Lin Yan knew that Su Cheng simply wanted to express that she had a lot of time tonight, he could not help but misunderstand. No matter how he thought about it, it still carried a bit of charm.
Lin Yan leaned over and touched her cheek. He saw that the white skin his lips touched was stained with a bit of red plum blossoms. Not only did the charm in his heart not disappear, but it burned even more fiercely.
The girl huddled in the corner felt her legs go weak. Her fingers tightly grasped the corner of his uniform, and the red plum blossoms on her cheeks slowly spread.
In a moment, Su Cheng's cheeks were burning.
Lin Yan saw this scene and his heart was in a mess. Su Cheng's crescent-shaped eyebrows were cute in his eyes.
He saw the girl's thin eyelashes tremble slightly and knew that the girl's heart was in a mess. The two of them were so close that they could hear each other's heartbeats.
Lin Yan desperately suppressed the restlessness in his heart.
This was the World Championship. He could not think about other things … Su Cheng was standing there, and no one could take her away, but the Summoner's Trophy would not wait for him.
Abstinence was necessary at this time. Lin Yan did not want to play with dark circles every day like Kandi. If he did something before the game, it would definitely affect his competitive state.
Lin Yan closed his eyes and took two deep breaths. When he looked at Su Cheng again, his eyes were clear.
He reached out and rubbed his girlfriend's small and delicate earlobe. He did not let go until Su Cheng's ears were as red as her cheeks.
Su Cheng's self-control was also quite strong. She put her hand on Lin Yan's chest to keep a certain distance from her boyfriend. Her watery eyes regained their calmness.
"What are we eating tomorrow morning?"
She glanced at Lin Yan's face and immediately looked away, afraid that she would fall into it again and not be able to extricate herself.
"Hot dry noodles?"
Lin Yan blurted out and changed the topic, "Eating one more meal before leaving is also very reasonable, right?"
Su Cheng's arm that was supporting Lin Yan's chest loosened. She took her boyfriend's hand and left the corner of the corridor.
"Go to bed early tonight. You don't have to look at the video. We'll talk about the tactics against the dragon balls when we go to Guangzhou …" Su Cheng changed the topic back to work. This time, the remaining charming atmosphere between the two completely disappeared without a trace.
Lin Yan nodded to show that he understood. He went to his room and said goodbye to Su Cheng. He put the room card in his backpack. Lin Yan could only lower his head and grope around. Suddenly, he felt something heavy on his neck.
Lin Yan's first reaction was that Jin Gong had come.
He subconsciously shrank his head and realized that something was wrong.
The arm hanging around his neck was warm and white like jade. It was clearly Su Cheng.
Lin Yan just turned his head and bumped into Su Cheng's face.
The touch was softer and warmer than his cheek.
As soon as he touched her, he blushed for a moment, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to ask you," Su Cheng blushed, "I just want to touch the bone below your neck …"
"Just touch?" Lin Yan corrected her mistake, "Your lips are …"
"Aiyaya, go back and rest!"
Su Cheng's face was red. She was flustered and exasperated. She grabbed his room card and opened the door. Then, she slapped Lin Yan and pushed him inside.
The door was slammed shut. Lin Yan looked at the closed wooden door and subconsciously reached out to touch the protruding bone below his neck.
He seemed to have discovered Su Cheng's little hobby.
But what kind of weird hobby is kissing his spine?
Is my girlfriend really a normal person?
Lin Yan thought about it again. His hobby seemed to be a bit weird too. His heart suddenly calmed down.
Not a family would not enter the same house!
"What's going on?" Mongoose, who had returned to the room earlier, stood next to him and asked gloomily.
From his perspective, Lin Yan hadn't moved since he entered the room. His face was facing the door as he reached out to touch his spine. There was also a strange laughter coming from his mouth.
He looked like he was possessed.
Lin Yan first looked at the dressing mirror at the door. Su Cheng, who didn't like to wear makeup, didn't wear lipstick today. So, he couldn't see anything wrong with his face.
"… What's going on?" Lin Yan cut the classic three sentences, "We're discussing what to eat tomorrow morning."
Xiao Tian glanced at Lin Yan suspiciously. Discussing breakfast for a quarter of an hour?
Where are you going to name the dishes?
However, Phyllostachys Pubescens, who was a jungler, was also very meticulous.
If they were out for a quarter of an hour, discussing breakfast would only take two to three minutes. The remaining ten minutes would be indescribable.
He imitated his old teammate Shi Senming and giggled a few times. Then, he took a bath towel and went straight to the bathroom.
Lin Yan always felt that Mongoose's laughter was strange. However, he didn't have any evidence and couldn't do anything about it.
Lin Yan cleared his mind of all other thoughts. He picked up the tablet and sat on the chair to watch the video of Dragon Ball.
Su Cheng previously said that there was no need to watch the video of Dragon Ball and that the team would decide on their strategy when they arrived in Guangzhou. However, Lin Yan wanted to find the details — Dragon Ball's mid laner BDD's laning skills.
Dragon Ball dominated the entire LCK in the past summer. Other than the top laner Khan, BDD was the only one who performed well.
He suppressed almost all his opponents and was known as one of the strongest mid laners in the international tournament. During the group stage, he suppressed Xiao Hu in all aspects.
In order to stabilize his laning skills, Lin Yan had to study the details of BDD's laning in advance. He obtained a lot of analysis of BDD's ranking from another YM analyst, Doom.
He planned to use it together with the video of the match.
Currently, the match was still using God's perspective. Although Fist had the intention to provide first-person perspective videos of the players, it was limited to the intention. There was still a long time before the project was completed.
However, without the first-person perspective, the director would not always aim the OB camera at the middle lane during the match. Lin Yan could not obtain many details of BDD's laning from the match.
After fast-forwarding through the seven videos of Dragon Ball's group stage, Lin Yan did not obtain much valuable information. He shook his head helplessly and could only flip through BDD's ranking video.
…
Early morning of October 16th.
Lin Yan and Su Cheng woke up early in the morning and ran around the hotel building for four kilometers before taking a taxi to eat hot dry noodles.
The noodles were chewy and refreshing. The color was yellow and oily. The aroma of sesame filled the mouth. The pickled radish and pickled beans were refreshing and delicious. Paired with a bowl of fragrant and delicious eggnog, it left a lasting aftertaste.
On the way, he received a message from his old acquaintance, Cass, who said that he had something important to discuss with him.
It was almost 10 o 'clock in the morning when he returned to the hotel. Lin Yan saw Wolf King in the Lightning Wolves' uniform in the lobby bar.
Cass also noticed Lin Yan and Su Cheng who walked in and waved at them.
"What would you like to drink?" He sat in the booth and asked while holding the menu.
"Two glasses of iced lemonade." Lin Yan and Su Cheng had just finished their breakfast not long ago. "Just enough to relieve the boredom."
Cass glanced at the couple opposite him twice. He felt that this b * stard was hinting for lemons.
There were not many customers in the hotel bar in the morning. Soon, two glasses of lemonade and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice were delivered.
Lin Yan was just about to ask Cass why he asked him out when he saw the faint dark circles under Cass' eyes. His heart skipped a beat as he thought about his interaction with Su Cheng last night. "No way …"
"No way?" Cass, who could not sleep after thinking about it last night, took a sip of juice and looked up with a blank face.
Under the table, Su Cheng seemed to have inadvertently touched Lin Yan's leg with her knee.
Lin Yan quickly changed the topic. "Why did you ask me out?"
Cass' fingers subconsciously moved on his own book. "There are some things that can't be explained over the phone …"
He thought for a moment and continued, "I plan to leave LMS next season."
Last night, Karsa had made a very difficult decision, which was to follow James' example and bring his talent to other divisions to challenge his limits.
This year, three teams from LMS had participated in the global finals. HKA had lost in the qualifiers and was the only team in the five divisions that did not advance to the finals. AHQ had suffered a humiliating 0-6 defeat. The Lightning Wolves had a slightly better record, but their only victory was against the Turkish wild card team.
As a professional player, Cass knew very well that the decline of the Battle Emperor bloodline was inevitable.
Were the five members of the Lightning Wolves too weak?
Cass did not think it was a big deal. With his and his teammates' talent, even if they were not the best in the other divisions, they were more than enough to be first-rate goalkeepers.
In fact, LMS was similar to North America in this regard. They were facing an awkward situation where the overall standard of the league was declining. There was not much local fresh blood, and the foreign aid that came to help the poor was not very strong.
It should be known that professional teams spent most of their time competing against other teams in the league. The decline of the overall standard of the division would inevitably drag down the top teams. The Lightning Wolves had always been winning, and they had lost too few matches. They could not even find room to improve.
North America's decline was not as exaggerated as LMS ', and the reason was very simple — money. Although money could not solve all problems, it could solve most problems. If a player wanted to retire, a seven-figure annual salary contract would immediately be offered.
The LMS division, on the other hand, clearly did not have the courage to do so due to the shrinking market and economic decline in recent years.
Cass could not help but want to leave. Money and glory, he had to take one. Otherwise, wouldn't it be embarrassing if he could not even afford to buy a house after staying in LMS for so many years?
"That's good." Lin Ran's eyes lit up. Due to various reasons, he had long disliked the LMS division. The name 'Green Hat' was quite ridiculous. "Are you interested in joining the LPL?"
"I'm planning to." Cass nodded. "Last night, I received the contact permit from the club. I wanted to talk to you about it."
Hearing this, Lin Yan put down his lemonade and looked more serious.
Access to the permit was very important.
Originally, in Fist's transfer rules, players were prohibited from privately transferring or negotiating deals before the transfer window opened. Violators would be fined, banned, and other punishments.
The transfer window opened twice a year, from mid-to-late November to mid-to-late December after the end of the World Championship, and from early to late May after the end of the Spring Season.
What if a player with a contract at other times wanted to contact another team?
That would require a contact permit. The club would issue it, and after being approved by the local league, it would be issued to players who wanted to transfer or whose contract was about to expire.
With the endorsement of the document, the player would be able to privately contact other clubs before the transfer window opened.
During the mid-season competition, Lin Yan could only use various methods to hint at Cass to transfer because Cass did not have the contact permit.
Now, he could finally openly discuss this topic. "Do you have any teams you want to join?
I can be responsible for pulling the strings. "
"Of course, we're only talking about intentions. I'm not in charge of player transfers, and I can't make any decisions." Lin Yan looked at the time displayed on his phone. "I can only give you some suggestions."
Cass hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Is there a place for me in YM?"
Lin Yan and Su Cheng were stunned for a moment. They did not expect Cass to join their own team in the new season.
Lin Yan was in a dilemma.
He knew Cass's strength very well. He was a real father level player in the Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan region. He was a powerful jungler that could be plugged in and used. No matter which team he joined, he would be a reinforcement.
More importantly, Cass's contract was about to expire. The team could save a lot of transfer fees if they signed him!
From all aspects, Cass's cost-performance ratio was quite high.
However, it was only then that Lin Ran realized how much burden he had to bear in order to drink this iced lemonade.
A pro player's golden period was at most three to five years. During this period, there was a high probability that they could sign two contracts. If he did not handle this carefully, it would delay the second half of Cass's career.
To put it bluntly, except for some top players and a few live streaming geniuses, most pro players had to rely on their golden period salary to live for the rest of their lives.
If Cass was delayed, Lin Yan would inevitably feel guilty. Jiang Lai would definitely be punished.
He did not intend to deceive others. After a moment of consideration, he replied, "I'll be honest. If you come to YM, you'll have to rotate with Xiao Tian, and I can't guarantee the results of the rotation. After all, Xiao Tian and I have been partners for two years. We have a good rapport …"
"In other words, YM can't guarantee your starting position and the number of times you play."
It was Cass's turn to fall silent.
It was not the most critical moment of the transfer period yet. His goal during this period of observation was very big. He wanted both money and glory.
YM might be rich and could give him enough money, but the glory column was much worse. After all, even if a substitute won the championship, there was no way it could be compared to a starter.
Born in 1997, Cass did not think that he was old. He could continue to shine in the position of jungler for three or four years without any problems. Being a substitute was a bit like retirement. Naturally, it was not his first choice.
At the same time, Cass also found out another piece of news. YM's starting jungler, Xiao Tian, had no intention of transferring next season. This pair of junglers would most likely be tied together for the most glorious period of their careers.
"But I can talk about the general situation of these LPL teams. You can use it as a reference."
Lin Yan was a very kind person. He did not drink the glass of lemonade for free. He took the pen and paper and spoke as he wrote.
"There are currently a total of 12 teams in the LPL. Excluding us, there are 11 teams left. Among them, EDG has Ancestor Savin. You can basically give up …"
Lin Yan crossed out EDG on the paper and continued, "RNG's treatment is very good. I heard that if you don't pass the trial, you can buy milk tea for 50 RMB. However, they have Saucepan. Do you think you can compete?"
Cass hesitated for a moment and shook his head. "Saucepan is too strong this year. RNG will definitely not give up on him and choose me."
"WE's strength is also not bad. The team atmosphere is also very good …" Lin Yan changed the topic. "The problem is that they have two Korean helpers in the bottom lane. However, I heard that they have a very good domestic helper called Missing in their youth training."
Cass's eyes lit up. In his opinion, this team's composition was very good. Moreover, his competitor, Kandi's condition had declined at the speed of light after reaching the peak of the spring competition. His current strength was quite average.
If he competed with Kandi fairly, Cass was confident that he could push him to the bench.
"The club is not poor, but their biggest problem is that they are a little stingy." Lin Yan looked at Cass's hopeful face and added another sentence.
This was his evaluation of WE. They were stingy, but they were not poor.
Pei Le and the others founded WE as one of the first professional esports clubs in China. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were an ancient powerhouse. More importantly, WE had been making profits in recent years. Their mature youth training system had produced famous players like The Shy, Khan, and Old Thief Sima. Every year, they made a lot of money just by selling their youth training players.
Moreover, they had always maintained a self-sufficient player training model, so they did not spend much money on anything.
957 was promoted by their own third team, WE.F. Kandi was originally a member of M3 (WE's second team). Xi Ye debuted from WE.A.
As for the remaining two Korean helpers, Brother-in-law had led a team in the Korean OGN League to 0 wins and 6 losses. His KDA was as high as 102718. He was basically at the level of "I didn't retire because no one wanted me." His salary was not high because he did not have a domestic account.
As for the starting support, Ben, he had exchanged his own youth training with IG.
This group of people might not even be able to afford Lin Ran's salary, so how could WE be poor?
But the problem was, how much money could they offer Cass?
Cass put this option aside. "Let's talk about something else first. If it doesn't work out, I'll consider WE."
Lin Yan crossed out another name. "You definitely won't be able to go to IG. The top and middle Korean helpers have already filled up the slots. Moreover, it's easy to take the blame if you lose in the jungle."
"Old Godfather claimed to be able to rob the rich and give to the poor. He even won against RNG and EDG. When he went to the outer division to look for helpers, he would always show them the recordings of those two matches. He bragged that he was the best player in the LPL. But don't believe the nonsense of their manager. You'll cry when they fall to the relegation zone …"
"OMG likes to draw flowers. You should be suitable. But I heard that Old Thief Sima does not intend to renew his contract this year. The strength of the team is in question …"
"IM, Snakes, Suning, and Jingdong are all below the league. You won't consider them, right?"
"Now that you mention it, how can I choose a team?" Cass used his famous stare. His gaze was locked on Lin Yan.
At this time, he noticed that there was another team on Lin Yan's list.
TOP, Tao Bo Sports.
"Ah, this … I heard that this team was just formed this summer. Is it reliable?" Cass took out his phone to check the team's information.
"Don't worry about this. TOP's parent company used to be our investor. It's definitely reliable." Su Cheng, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up.
"That's right, and the team members have a lot of potential. The oldest top laner, Zoom, is from '97, just like you. The rest are all from' 00. The average age is very young." Lin Yan strongly recommended. "The mid laner, Zhuo Ding, and the bottom laner, Old Dream + ppgod are also very strong. The jungler, Sorrow, is talented but lacks experience."
"If you go there, it won't be a problem to get a starting spot. You can also help the rookies grow quickly." Lin Yan looked at Cass. "What do you think?"
Cass was a little tempted. The players in the team had not made a name for themselves in the international arena. This meant that if he joined, his position in the team would be quite high. Moreover, there were many geniuses in the team, so the possibility of future results was very high …
Moreover, Qian Duo had the ability to make money.
It seemed like a perfect choice for him.
However, Cass did not make a decision immediately. This kind of thing needed to be considered more or less for two days. He could only feel at ease after investigating from various angles.
Finally, he found a suitable club. Cass relaxed and took a sip of orange juice. "Let me relax a little … How are your preparations for the quarterfinals going?"
The three of them chatted until noon before parting ways. Cass would also leave Wuhan in the afternoon and return to the island with his teammates.
Lin Yan and the others packed their bags and took a flight to Guangzhou with the other two brother teams and the sparring group.
It was already 6 in the evening when they landed. The moment they left Baiyun Airport, everyone felt a rolling heat wave in their faces!
The group of people stood outside to take a group photo. Their backs were already drenched in sweat. They quickly got into the car and sped toward the hotel.
Promotional posters for the S7 International Finals could be seen everywhere on the bus stops and billboards on both sides of the street. Lin Yan also saw his own stylized photo more than once.
Everything reminded them that an even more intense elimination round was coming!