"Here, here!"
Just as Lin Mingdong and his two friends walked into the Olympic Park along with the crowd, they heard a clear female voice not far in front of them.
They followed the voice and saw Su Cheng standing not far from them. She was wearing a dark blue baseball cap that blocked the sun.
"Oh, you're wearing so little..." Su Cheng's mother couldn't help but nag when she saw her daughter.
Su Cheng greeted Lin Mingdong cautiously. She froze for two seconds when she saw the clothes on his upper body. She only relaxed when she saw the middle-aged man smile gently. She took her mother's hand and walked forward.
She had lived in the YM Club for the first half of the summer vacation and had returned to military training for the second half. She didn't even get a chance to rest during the National Day holiday. She hadn't seen her mother for half a year, so she naturally felt close to her and wouldn't let go.
"No, no, I'm wearing a down jacket," she said coquettishly.
Su Cheng's mother looked disgusted. Her eyes wandered over Su Cheng's light gray down jacket. "You're wearing a lot on your upper body, but what's wrong with your pants?"
Su Cheng looked down. The thin and loose black casual pants made her legs look thin and straight. She had just stood there for a while, and the bleak autumn wind in Beijing had passed through the fabric and reached her skin.
"Oh, it's okay..." She held her mother's hand and quickened her pace.
Lin Mingdong and Su Cheng's father walked behind them. The crowd was dense. Before they even entered the Bird's Nest, many of the audience members spontaneously shouted YM's team name.
"Win the championship!
Go, go, go! "
"Help RNG and WE take revenge!"
Young people were full of energy, especially those who had beaten the resellers to get the original price tickets. They were even more excited.
"How much did you pay for the tickets?"
“5500？
Or the top of the mountain?
Oh, I can sit next to the stage with 1280. Don't you think that's annoying? "
It was a miracle that he hadn't been beaten to death.
Lin Mingdong glanced at the front row tickets in his hand.
"Are the resellers so arrogant now?" He felt that he had entered a blind spot. "They can show off by buying the tickets at the original price?"
Su Yu's father had a sense of superiority over his friend's ignorance. "I've known that for a long time. When Jay Chou held a concert, we had to look for a scalper if we wanted to buy a single seat ticket. Our family of three spent a lot of money to get to the venue."
"You're still going to Jay Chou's concert?"
Lin Mingdong looked at the white hair on Father Su's head. No matter how he thought about it, he didn't think that his good friend would do such a thing.
"Chengzi liked it, so she dragged us there … September 2011, at the Suzhou Sports Center." Father Su had been waiting for him to ask this question, so he hit Lin Mingdong in the chest.
Lin Mingdong suddenly fell silent. He vaguely remembered that Lin Yan also liked to listen to Orange Jasmine at that time and even said that he wanted to go to the concert.
Of course, he didn't go in the end.
Father Su didn't say much. He just patted Lin Mingdong's shoulder and glanced at his friend's back.
The YMR Ran on the black and red team uniform was eye-catching and eye-catching.
The two of them strode forward and successfully caught up with the mother and daughter of the Su family at the security checkpoint.
Just like the train station, backpacks had to be checked, so the speed was much slower. The crowd gathered together, bustling with activity.
"Can YM win 3-0 today?
Can we? Can we? "
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"
"Of course not!
I spent 8,000 yuan to buy the tickets to the stadium. Won't I lose money if we finish the match in two hours? "
"Eight thousand yuan is just an online relationship. What's the big deal?"
Mother Su glanced at the long line in front of her and turned to look at her daughter. "Aren't you the team analyst? Don't you have to enter the stadium early?"
Su Cheng brushed the strands of hair behind her ear. "Analysts don't have much use on the spot. The only time they're really busy is the first two days. Analyzing data and thinking of tactical ideas. When it comes to the actual match, it's mainly up to the coach to adapt."
After waiting for ten minutes, the line slowly shortened, and the four of them arrived at the security checkpoint.
"Can't I bring water?" Lin Mingdong held a bottle of mineral water in his hand. "Can't I even take a sip?"
He was still sternly rejected by the security staff.
"The drinks brought by the audience in the stadium must be soft packs," Su Cheng explained. "The drinks sold in the Bird's Nest are also poured out of plastic bottles and put into soft pack cups."
"There's such a thing?" Lin Mingdong didn't understand. "Why?"
"Mainly because they're afraid the audience will throw Nongfu Spring at the players …" Su Cheng said faintly.
A few spectators beside him laughed out loud. Three middle-aged men who were close to fifty years old looked at each other, not knowing what was going on.
…
The backstage of the Bird's Nest was busy. The staff of Fist Entertainment were still hurriedly adjusting the equipment to ensure that the opening ceremony would go smoothly.
Their faces were filled with anxiety and uneasiness. Fist Entertainment had been established for many years, but this was the first time they held a final match in a stadium of this scale.
The Bird's Nest covered an area of more than 20 hectares and could accommodate 80,000 people. In order to build the stage and player seats for the opening ceremony, one of the stands was blocked. However, the remaining seats were still around 56,000.
Last year, the Staples Center in Los Angeles could hold less than 20,000 spectators. This year, the number of spectators at the Bird's Nest was 2.8 times that of the S6 final!
Finals involving LPL teams never lacked spectators. Other than the tickets distributed to the clubs and sponsors, the remaining tickets were all sold out.
Although the preparatory work had been going on for half a year and several rehearsals had been conducted, no one knew if there would be any problems until the actual broadcast.
In YM's lounge.
In the noisy backstage, the team's lounge was a rare quiet place.
"I'll emphasize again. Every time you return to the city, you must buy the Eye of Truth!"
White Crescent was still emphasizing the key tactical points before the match. "If you can buy two, don't buy one. You won't get any interest if you save your gold coins."
White Crescent looked at Phyllostachys Pubescens and then looked at Liu Qingsong. "Especially Xiao Tian. Your equipment can be bought later, but you must buy the Eye of Truth!"
"You too. You can buy the Eye of Truth after the Incense Burner and Eye Stone are out. It doesn't matter if Redemption comes out later. If we can establish a big enough advantage in the early stages, they won't be able to drag it out until the later stages."
He looked up and glanced at the time. "I've already explained the rest of the tactics last night. You guys just have to follow the steps step by step after you go on stage."
White Crescent looked at the Summoner's Canyon whiteboard in front of him and fell into a short silence. "Well … there's nothing else to emphasize."
Guo Hao saw his partner's silence and stood up to face the players.
"This is YM's last BO5 of the season. I hope everyone will take it seriously." He paused. "But there's no need to be too nervous. After all, it's not our first time participating in this kind of competition.
"Everyone's hard work this year is obvious to all. This last game is to test the results of our efforts. Whether it succeeds or fails, I hope you won't have any regrets."
The door to the lounge was slowly pushed open. Su Cheng, wearing a down jacket, came in.
"Time's up. Get ready to go." She brought the news from the Fist staff.
"Come, come, come, brothers." Lin Yan called all the staff of the training department to gather in a circle and put their right hands together. "Three, two, one …"
"Go, YM!"
Everyone shouted in unison.
The peripherals had passed Fist's anti-cheat test when they were put on makeup. The group of people walked through the long corridor to the backstage and placed the mouse and keyboard in a box specially prepared by Fist at the entrance.
The opening ceremony was coming up, so they definitely couldn't bring their peripherals to the stage. When the time came, there would be referees who would connect the peripherals with the players' ID nameplates to the host computers in their respective seats.
"The Bird's Nest is still as grand as ever."
Jack stood at the entrance of the passageway and stuck his head out to look around. When he saw the sea of people in the spectator stands in the distance, he couldn't help but praise them.
Lin Yan couldn't help but stick his head out to take a look as well. He had initially wanted to look for Lin Mingdong's position, but he gave up on the idea after a glance.
There were simply too many people. Moreover, the late autumn wind in Beijing was very strong. In addition to the glaring afternoon sun, he couldn't see clearly at first glance.
Immediately, Lin Yan heard the sound of the tens of thousands of spectators shouting the countdown in unison.
Winston, who was also guarding the entrance of the passageway, was wearing a black T-shirt issued by Fist. His tightly pursed lips revealed his nervousness.
When the crowd shouted '1', the big screen went dark, and the logo of Fist appeared in front of the spectators.
Virtuoso Ash's background music started playing again. Amidst the melodious violin melody, the group portraits of the 24 teams participating in the 2017 League of Legends International Finals appeared in front of everyone.
The high-spirited youths were frozen in the group photos, which then gradually turned yellow and disappeared. The background behind the group photos also changed from Yellow Crane Tower to Guangzhou Tower.
Dragonball, WE, MSF, and C9. The four teams that had been eliminated in the top eight appeared in a flashback. When the background changed to the Oriental Pearl Tower, only SKT and RNG were left.
Then, the camera flashed to the Bird's Nest. There was no group photo here, only a big question mark.
The violin stopped abruptly, and Jay Chou's big face appeared on the screen.
Screams erupted in the stadium!
Jay Chou's audience was very similar to that of League of Legends. In addition, he was a player who specialized in Silver Grand Swordmaster, so he decided to be the promotional ambassador. Naturally, he would be included in the opening ceremony of the Bird's Nest.
However, the song he wrote for LOL was quite crappy. In addition, the Bird's Nest was empty to begin with, and it couldn't compare to the acoustics of the enclosed stadium. As a result, the opening ceremony performance didn't receive much praise from the live audience and the livestream viewers.
There were even a lot of people who were spamming him with question marks, asking him to quickly get off the stage and switch to YM to compete in the competition.
After singing an unknown song, he sat next to the piano at the side of the stage. His fingers played the familiar melody again.
LegendsNeverDie
The female lead singer of the original band, Against the Current, went up the stage from the side. Due to the acoustics and venue, her performance wasn't as perfect as it was in the recording studio. However, her majestic aura didn't diminish at all.
Winston, who was standing next to Lin Yan, let out a sigh of relief. Although there was a slight mistake in the opening ceremony, the flaws didn't obscure the beauty of it. Overall, it was passable.
"It's time for you guys to go up on stage." He turned to look at the members of YM. "Remember to walk along the line from yesterday's rehearsal. Don't stray."
Jin Gong nodded and left the entrance under the staff's instructions.
"Legends Never Die, When the World Discalls Out Your Name …"
YM and SSG's players went on stage at the last minute. The tens of thousands of people in the stadium raised a huge commotion that instantly drowned out the singing!
At that moment, the live broadcast suddenly switched to the top of the bird's nest. The audience who didn't see the members of YM opened their mouths to curse, but before they could, they saw a shocking scene!
A huge and ferocious ancient dragon circled in the air, its sharp claws clawing at the top of the bird's nest. Its roar was so sharp that it seemed to pierce through the clouds!
It flapped its wings and swept around the stands, its shadow even blocking out the glaring sunlight.
Finally, it landed in the middle of the stage, crouched next to the Summoner's Trophy, and let out a terrifying roar.
At that moment, whether it was in China or abroad, the live broadcast was filled with question marks.
[What's going on?]
[How did this happen?]
[AR?
VR？
Can the audience really see it?]
[You're amazing. Just now, the ancient dragon ate two people in the audience to fill its stomach.]
"This AR technology is not bad." Lin Mingdong was not interested in Jay Chou and the theme song, but he was interested in the expensive ancient dragon. "Build a model of the dragon, then combine it with the lighting and movement of the scene, then insert it into the live broadcast …"
After that, it was a bunch of technical terms that were difficult to understand.
"Yes, yes, yes."
Su Cheng's father was in the marketing industry, so he didn't understand what his friend was saying. He just nodded perfunctorily.
The live audience was not too surprised by the appearance of the dragon. After all, AR technology could not be seen with the naked eye. It was only through the big screen that they could see the abrupt and huge dragon.
However, the majority of the audience were huddled in front of their mobile phones and computers. The opening ceremony of the match was enough to amaze them.
The ancient dragon flew into the sky, and disappeared from the bird's nest after a few seconds.
"This is the National Stadium in Beijing, China!"
Ren Dong, wearing a dark red suit, stepped onto the stage. His voice was transmitted to every corner of the bird's nest through the microphone. "Welcome to the 2017 League of Legends Global Finals!
"After five weeks of intense competition, only two teams remain out of the 24. Today, they will compete to determine the true king of the 2017 season!
"Let us welcome the teams to the stage!"
Ren Dong dragged out his words. The members of YM and Samsung lined up in two rows and walked towards their respective camps along the Summoner's Canyon map in the middle of the stage.
"First up, the third seed of the LCK division, Samsung Galaxy, making their first appearance in the League of Legends Global Finals!"
Even though Samsung had changed its name after S4, changing from the original Blue and White Heroes to the current SSG, the three teams were not really a team. They were just part of the same three-star club.
Just like how RNG should not have inherited SHR's two runners-up in S3 and S4, the real Royal Family was still messing around in the secondary league.
"Top laner, Cuvee!"
Fatty gave a classic smile and waved to the audience. The Chinese audience was quite virtuous in this regard. Even though it was the home game, they would not bully you. There were quite a few polite cheers during the welcome.
"Jungler, Ambition!"
This was Samsung's most popular player in China. He was a legend who had been beaten down by Li Xianghe from mid laner to jungler. In his early years, he was known as the Hero of Resistance. Now, he was the apostle of Samsung to clean up the traitors.
"Mid laner, Crown!"
Li Minhao looked at the Summoner's Trophy not far away. He did not hide his desire for the championship.
As he shifted his gaze forward, he could even see Lin Ran's calm and collected expression.
He gritted his teeth. The anger of revenge in his heart suppressed everything.
Crown wanted to be crowned king in the Bird's Nest.
Because he was the Crown. He should wear the Crown.
"Bottom laner, Ruler, and support, Corejj!" Every time Ren Dong introduced a player's name, the audience would burst into applause.
"As well as substitute Haru and head coach Edgar!
Let's welcome them again! "
Ren Dong put down his card and took a deep breath. The audience also got a moment of rest.
"Next, let us welcome the 2016 Global Finals Champion, 2017 Mid-Season Champion, LPL division's first seed … Young Miracles!" Ren Dong dragged out his words and waved in Lin Yan's direction.
"Top laner, Gimgoon!"
Although the Bird's Nest was empty, there were enough people in the audience. The eruption of cheers was still deafening!
"Jungler, Tian!"
Phyllostachys Pubescens originally wanted to pretend to be cold, but perhaps Ren Dong was too excited, causing his voice to break when he introduced him.
This time, he was stunned. He pursed his lips and snickered.
"Mid laner, Ran!"
Lin Yan finally understood what it meant to be a tsunami.
The cheers and applause from the audience of 56000 resounded through the sky. The majestic momentum made the souls of the audience watching the live broadcast tremble!
Lin Mingdong, who was sitting in the front row, looked at Lin Yan, who was standing on the stage and waving to the three sides of the stands. A gratified smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Relax. We're already here. Don't put on airs." Father Su elbowed Lin Mingdong and handed him the long banner in his hand. "Take it."
"What's this thing?"
Lin Mingdong asked subconsciously. He looked down and saw a cartoon character printed on the banner. Through the unparalleled handsome face, he could recognize that it was his son.
Lin Yan's flamboyant signature was at the bottom right corner of the banner. It was obvious that he had practiced. It was a clear stream of signatures among the celebrities in the esports circle.
"This is a limited edition support item with an autograph." Mother Su didn't know when the YM stickers had been pasted on her cheeks. "I asked Chengzi to get it."
Lin Mingdong fell silent. I had to ask for my son's autograph … Children's friend, right?
"Bottom laner, Jackeylove, support, Crisp!"
Ren Dong had been dragging his voice when introducing the team members. However, he was not the Roaring Emperor after all. He also realized that his vocal cords could not support it.
After a while, he continued to say loudly, "And the substitute player, LWX, and the head coach, Crescent!"
"Let's welcome them once again!"
Needless to say, the audience in the stadium had already proven their enthusiasm with the endless applause and cheers from the previous two minutes.
"Heroic Pursuit of Legend, the 2017 League of Legends global finals begins now!"
The caster switched the screen and played the previously recorded promotional video while the players entered the soundproof room to adjust the equipment.
At the foot of the Great Wall of Juyong Pass, Master An, who remembered to put his hands in his pockets when taking photos, slowly walked into the camera.
"Everyone thinks that this is a final without any suspense." His tone was calm and calm. "They think that we lost to YM in the quarterfinals last year and were double-killed in the group stage this year. They think that we will lose this time as well."
[Hahaha, the record of the two teams is 0-5. That's ridiculous!]
[They didn't even win a small game. Samsung is really bad.]
As soon as the audience typed out the bullet screen, they heard Master An continue, "However, we defeated two LPL teams, WE and RNG. This is enough to prove the strength of Samsung.
"Today, on this stage, I will prove that your pre-match predictions are all wrong. Contenders are still Contenders."
The camera slowly zoomed out. Cuvee, who was frowning and pretending to be cool, appeared in front of the audience. The autumn wind at the foot of the Great Wall rustled his team uniform, revealing his round belly.
"No one believes in Samsung. Everyone is used to it." His bitter expression made him look like a daughter-in-law who had been treated unfairly by her mother-in-law. "As long as we believe in ourselves, that's enough."
The tone of Samsung's promotional video was very dull. The five of them were not lively to begin with. Their playstyle was more strategic and they were not good at performing. There was a reason why they had so few fans.
The camera switched again. Jin Gong, who was wearing YM's team uniform, appeared on the stage. There were already people in the audience laughing.
"This year, Master An eliminated WE, who had Red Rice as their coach, and RNG, who had Heart as their assistant coach. He is known as Samsung's messenger to clean up the trash. I was also a member of Samsung back then. It seems a little metaphysical …" He brushed his drooping bangs.
"But I'm not too afraid. If there's a chance, I hope he chooses Praying Mantis. After all, Master An looked really handsome when he evolved his skills in front of Faker under the tower." The Siberian was disgusted halfway through his sentence.
Liu Qingsong licked his lips and said seriously, "That doesn't seem to work. After all, we don't have Q when we fight Wild Panther Lady."
The director gave Phyllostachys Pubescens a tilted shot.
Lin Yan reminded him in time, "It's okay. I'll fight Panther Lady in the mid laner."
There was a burst of good-natured laughter from the audience.
Big Head Inu, whose face was swollen like a bun, appeared on the screen. "It seems that everyone wants to know when our era will end. My answer is very simple —"
"Unless League of Legends is no more, we will be the strongest team in the world."
As soon as this sentence was said, the audience below the stage screamed and screamed!
[Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad!]
[Why do you want to fight six Mad Mad instead of five?
You're hinting at five words …]
[These five are really strong. Is there anyone who can calculate their total win rate?]
The screen went black again, and the three casters appeared in front of them.
It was still Doll, Mille, and Remember.
"What do you think about today's match?" Doll threw the question to his partner after introducing himself.
"YM is definitely aiming for the championship today. They might even break the record by winning all of their matches," Mille joked. "SSG's ultimate goal is definitely to be the champion …"
"But they lost all their matches against YM. Their goal is clear."
"It's their first time in the finals of the S League. Getting the first win is considered a success!"
Remember squinted his eyes and laughed.
The casters had to be confident to say something like this. After all, YM had defeated three stars in the group stage. There was no suspense in the finals.
"It's worth mentioning that YM is first in the group stage, and second is SSG. It's the first time in the history of League of Legends that the top two teams in the same group will meet in the finals."
As soon as Doll finished speaking, the music that symbolized BP began to play!
The audience in the Bird's Nest was excited. They were about to witness the birth of the champion!