Su Cheng stomped her feet on the ground and moved the entire ergonomic chair to Lin Yan's side.
"What's wrong?" She was curious about Lin Yan's reaction just now.
Lin Yan just pointed at his monitor.
Following her boyfriend's gaze, Su Cheng, who had not played games for a long time, also saw the full picture of the version update.
The changes in this mid-season match were unexpected.
First of all, Doran's Ring. After the change, the king of cost-performance ratio no longer provided the basic mana regeneration, and killing minions would not replenish the hero's mana.
Instead, it dealt an additional 5 points of damage when attacking minions, as well as 5 points of mana regeneration every 5 seconds.
Su Cheng knew that the 5 mana regeneration in 5 seconds was useless. The basic mana regeneration of a Mage was 8 mana regeneration every 5 seconds. Previously, when Doran's Ring had 50% of the basic mana regeneration, it could restore 4 mana every 5 seconds.
The change of Doran's Ring was equivalent to cutting off the mana regeneration of minions and giving a buff that increased damage to minions.
If it was a late game match, the mana regeneration of minions might not be useful. After all, the average player would lose a lot of mana. However, if it was a professional match where the minimum damage was 90 damage per 10 minutes, it would be completely different.
Originally, each minion would restore 4 mana, and 90 damage would restore 360 mana, which could be used 9 Ryze's Q [Overload].
For outfits, this was an attribute that was worth quite a lot.
"This is the death of traditional Mages."
The reduction of Doran's Ring and the increase in the price of mana equipment such as the Goddess' Tear were the first to suffer, followed by Clockwork Spring, a mid-laner who resembled an Earthbound Spirit.
The weakening of mana equipment had reduced the status of Mages in the mid lane, which would greatly increase the appearance of heroes such as Enchantress and Zooey.
"Dual cultivation with EZ is gone?" Su Cheng swallowed the seedless watermelon in her mouth and couldn't hide her astonishment when she saw the next change.
[In the previous version, we have informed you that you might need to weaken Azriel, and we believe that rather than weakening Azriel himself, targeting the Twin Tears is a better solution. It seems like a good idea.]
[New]: If you own one of the [Demon Ancestor] ([Demon Cutter]) or the [Archangel's Staff] ([Blazing Angel's Embrace]), you cannot purchase the other (or the other [Goddess' Tear]).
His fist was truly ruthless. He couldn't even be bothered to weaken it and directly cut off the dual cultivation playstyle.
Other than that, the other ADC, Kesha, who had been favored in the mid-season tournament, was also killed. Q [Akashic Rainstorm]'s Void Bullet count had been reduced from 12 to 10, but this was just a small change. The heaviest hit was [Luana's Hurricane]'s additional arrow damage, which couldn't reduce the cooldown of E [Extreme Overload].
Similarly, it was a combination of cutting off Kesha's Goat Saber and Hurricane Saber.
Lin Yan skimmed through the updates. So far, he had seen less than half of the mid-season update.
The update of Canyon Vanguard took up a lot of space.
The more Lin Yan read, the more shocked he became.
The respawn time had been reduced from 10 minutes to 8 minutes, and there was a new respawn attribute. Six minutes after killing Canyon Vanguard, as long as it wasn't 19: 30, Canyon Vanguard would respawn again.
[Eye of the Vanguard]'s channeling time had also been reduced from 4 seconds to 1 second. Now, there wouldn't be an awkward situation where Ancestor Savon's Big Tree was blown up by a Wine Barrel when he released Canyon Vanguard.
At the same time, the attributes of Canyon Vanguard had been significantly reduced. Whether it was the one crouching in the Dragon Pit or the summoned Purple Garlic, their HP had been reduced to a certain extent, making it easier for the team to capture and kill them.
As for the Canyon Vanguard summoned by the Eye of the Vanguard, when it used Rocket Hammer on the defense tower, the damage it dealt to itself had been reduced from 25% to 66% of its HP. Based on this HP consumption, after the update, Canyon Vanguard could only ram its head into the defense tower once.
In short, Canyon Vanguard's influence on the entire game had been increased by a level. With the respawn attribute, it would inevitably cause the red and blue teams to compete against each other in the Dragon Pit in the early stages.
"The designers are still emphasizing on the early stages of the game, using Canyon Vanguard to cause the two teams to constantly clash." Su Cheng finally understood. "Why do I feel like LCK is going to be finished?"
Ever since S7's deformed Censer version, LCK seemed to have been possessed, constantly emphasizing on development and playing with operations. However, this had deviated from the designers' direction in recent years.
In order to increase the viewing value of the game, the fists were constantly increasing the bloody degree, forcing the professional teams to explode, giving the audience a more direct visual stimulation.
KZ was already considered an anomaly in the league. However, other than that, SKT and Samsung's renamed Gen. G were standard late-game operations teams, and their main tactics were defensive counterattacks.
Lin Yan could imagine that this mid-season update would cause the competitiveness of most of the LCK teams to plummet.
"The Dragon has also been changed." He moved the scroll wheel to the next update. He picked up a metal spoon and scooped up a large piece of watermelon, letting the crisp and sweet taste burst out in his mouth. "Increased health, reduced damage …"
Su Cheng guessed at the side. "This way, the speed at which the team with the advantage fights against Baron Nash will be slower, giving the team with the disadvantage enough time to rush to the Dragon Pit and increase their chances of making a comeback?"
Although she had been away from the professional scene for a period of time, her sensitivity towards the changes in the game's version did not decrease by much.
Lin Yan proposed another guess. "The Dragon's attack has decreased. If the team starts on time in 20 minutes, there shouldn't be a need for tanks to tank …"
Originally, in order to ensure that the team's condition would not be affected too much, they would usually choose a champion with good tankiness to tank Baron Nash's damage.
However, Lin Yan felt that after this update, the times had changed.
"You're saying that it's the turn of the Warrior Top Laner?" Su Cheng followed his train of thought and came to a conclusion.
"My personal feeling." Lin Yan did not dare to make any promises. "Let's wait and see what Red Rice has to say."
Thinking of this, his originally frowning eyebrows suddenly relaxed. "Aiya, this is the benefit of having a top coach. You don't have to worry about this kind of thing, unlike before …"
Before he could finish his sentence, Su Cheng pounced on him and bit him.
"What did I do to displease you last year?" The girl said fiercely. "What else are you worried about?"
"I didn't, I didn't, you're talking nonsense!" Lin Yan denied. "I'm talking about the year before last."
"I was there the year before last too!"
Su Cheng did not let him go. Her two hands kept scratching Lin Yan's back. The engineering chair could not bear the burden and made creaking sounds.
Not long after, Lin Yan used one hand to grab both of Su Cheng's wrists and successfully turned the tables.
In reality, he did not use much strength as he was afraid of hurting his girlfriend. Su Cheng was not weak either, it was not that difficult for her to break free. However, she still obediently let Lin Yan grab her.
Professional players relied on their hands to make a living. If she used too much strength to break free, she might hurt Lin Yan.
The two were messing around, but gradually, the atmosphere changed.
Su Cheng, who was lying on top of her boyfriend, could clearly feel that something was wrong below.
"… Let go of me first."
Lin Yan coughed lightly and quickly let go of her wrists, allowing her soft body to move away from him.
"I'll play two rounds of ranked and check out the environment." He scooped a big mouthful of watermelon and let the cold flesh suppress the heat in his heart.
Lin Yan was very serious about the game. Now that there was a big change, even though it was the off-season, he still had to find a suitable strong hero. Otherwise, it would be too late to train when the holidays came.
Su Cheng went to the bathroom without saying a word.
When she came back, her eyes were sly as she stared at her boyfriend's back. She even hummed a song.
After four rounds of ranked, Lin Yan won two and lost two. He only increased his win points by ten thanks to the super high hidden score of his super account.
Even though his win rate was not high, he still got a feel for the new version. He just needed to pick a strong hero in the middle lane.
Even in the Korean ranked matches, which were known for their stability and low number of kills, it was extremely easy to snowball in this version. Once the two vanguards were controlled in the early game and the defense tower was destroyed, the team's vision advantage in the mid-game would be infinitely expanded.
Lin Yan looked at the time. It was already ten at night, but there was still half of the watermelon left. He was determined to catch up on sleep during the off-season and did not want to stay up late. He quickly used a metal spoon to cut off the light pink flesh around the edge of the watermelon skin.
He could not waste it. He bought it for fifty yuan. It was enough to buy two cups of milk tea in Shanghai.
Suddenly, he felt something soft rubbing against his calf.
"What?"
Lin Yan was focused on cutting the watermelon. He did not need to think to know that Su Cheng was causing trouble. He thought it was a revenge prank and did not look sideways.
His girlfriend did not reply. This gentle and numb touch spread all the way up, as if it was going to enter his blood and reach his heart through his skin.
Lin Yan looked down and saw Su Cheng's fair and smooth feet rubbing against his calf. Her five toes were like a cat's claws gently scratching his heart.
"What are you trying to do?" Lin Yan reached out his right hand and grabbed his girlfriend's leg.
"Guess?" Su Cheng snorted. There was a hint of charm in her voice.
It was obvious that she was faking it. Su Cheng's voice was worlds apart from her usual voice.
However, Lin Yan fell for it.
The strong contrast between the original clear voice and the pretentious charm ignited the little flame that he had suppressed in the bottom of his heart.
Lin Yan's right fingertip gently scratched his girlfriend's calf. His voice was full of confidence.
"Guess if I'll guess?"
"Huh?"
Su Cheng did not expect the script to develop like this. She blurted out, "Guess if I'll guess if you'll guess?"
After saying that, she frowned. "Eh, so childish."
Lin Yan looked at her eyes. Her eyes seemed to be filled with clear spring water, sparkling. Perhaps it was the chandelier above her head that left a little light in Su Cheng's eyes.
Her watery eyes, the strong contrast between her voice and her soft touch made Lin Yan put down the iron spoon used to dig watermelons.
"Let's go." He hurriedly pulled his girlfriend to the bedroom.
"You haven't finished your watermelon yet." Su Cheng looked back at the watermelon on the table. "Eat it later. You'll have to stay up late tonight."
Even if he wanted to stay up late, he couldn't stop Lin Yan. He ran to take a shower, then turned off the lights and prepared to sleep.
Su Cheng was full of anticipation. She even chuckled.
"What are you laughing at?" Lin Yan finally realized that something was wrong with his girlfriend tonight.
"… Nothing."
Su Cheng almost couldn't control the smile on her face. She had to suppress her voice and try to make herself sound normal.
Lin Yan didn't suspect anything. There was a rustling sound.
Then there was no movement. The dim room was filled with an awkward atmosphere.
Su Cheng froze. She held her stomach and arched her body like a cooked shrimp. Her shoulders were still twitching.
Seducing Cheng Kun!
"When did you come?" Lin Yan felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him. His whole person was awake.
"When you played ranking games last night." Su Cheng's face was red from laughing. "You also have a day like this …"
She was playing a big game of chess.
Lin Yan had been tricked from the moment she used her toes to scratch her boyfriend's calf.
Su Cheng insisted on making her boyfriend suffer.
However, after laughing for a while, she stopped talking and clutched her stomach with a pale face.
Lin Ran sighed and patted Su Cheng's forehead. He found that there was a thin layer of cold sweat on her forehead. It was probably a chain reaction caused by eating iced watermelon tonight. "I remember that I bought brown sugar before, and there's still some ginger left …"
"It's not a big deal." Su Cheng didn't think it was a big deal. "I'll just wrap myself in the quilt and sleep."
Lin Yan didn't listen to her. He ran to the kitchen and poured cold water into the pot. He added brown sugar and ginger, boiled it on high heat, and scooped it into a bowl.
"I raised the temperature of the air conditioner to 27 degrees. You don't have to wrap yourself in the quilt too tightly." He was afraid that Su Cheng would kick the quilt when she slept in the middle of the night. It was better to raise the temperature to her stomach.
"Don't drink too much of this brown sugar water." Lin Yan looked at his girlfriend who was blowing air into the bowl. There was a hint of a smile in his voice as he said, "Otherwise, you'll have to stay up all night."
Su Cheng's ears turned red.
She didn't expect that sentence to be returned to her.
Lin Yan turned off the computer in the study while she drank the water. He finished eating the watermelon, brushed his teeth, and washed his face. It took him ten minutes to lie down.
"I'll rub it for you?" He held his girlfriend's body and gently stroked his palm on her soft and flat stomach.
Su Cheng narrowed her eyes in satisfaction. The scorching heat of her boyfriend's palm passed through her pajamas and the brown sugar water she just drank. It merged into a warm current that quietly flowed in her heart.
…
"Did you have a good vacation?"
Guo Hao, who was waiting downstairs, saw Lin Yan come downstairs. He quickly opened the front passenger door for him and casually greeted him.
Lin Yan was full of smiles. "It was pretty good. Did you have breakfast?"
"No."
As the manager of the competition department, Guo Hao's daily routine matched that of a professional player. He didn't have the habit of eating breakfast all year round.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yan handed him a bag of steaming buns that emitted the aroma of pork.
"Oh, this is …" Guo Hao opened it to take a look. The shape of the buns wasn't so regular. The rich soup soaked into the dough and left a dark mark.
"We made it at home last night." Lin Yan took one out of the bag. "I mixed the filling and rolled the dough. Chengzi wrapped it herself. It might look a little different, but the taste is really good."
Seeing him leaning against the car door and eating the bun with a relaxed expression, Guo Hao couldn't help but take out a bun and eat it.
Just as Lin Yan said, the taste of the buns was really good. The saltiness was just right, and the thin dough was seeping with the taste of the pork filling. The juices overflowed in one bite and it was very satisfying.
Lin Yan brought two more buns, but he and Guo Hao were both big men with strong appetites. The bag of buns was finished in less than fifteen minutes.
"Let's go, let's go!"
Guo Hao sat in the driver's seat after eating and drinking. He took out a bag of breakfast milk from the glove box and handed it to his midlaner.
Because Lin Yan had just gotten his driver's license and couldn't get on the highway, Guo Hao could only come to Jibei Yuan to pick him up and go to Taicang together. However, Hao was also an experienced driver. Driving the club car sponsored by BMW was fast and stable. They arrived at the youth training camp in less than an hour on the Hujia Highway.
Unlike the slightly perfunctory training program in 2016, Teng Jing was serious this time.
They rented a three-story office building in Taicang with accommodation, meetings, and a cafeteria. They wanted to provide as comfortable a training environment as possible for the youth training camp members participating in the selection.
Two staff members at the front desk and several coaches were already outside the gate. They warmly welcomed the arrival of the two, especially Lin Yan. Several youth training coaches excitedly came forward to take photos and autographs. They gave Lin Yan the treatment of a star.
"Brother Ran, I'm your fan!"
"No, no!" Lin Yan heard this and waved his hand. "I still want to extend my career for two more years."
The room was filled with laughter. The atmosphere inside and outside the room was cheerful.
After a short welcome ceremony, a group of people escorted Lin Yan and Guo Hao into the main hall. There were staff members next to them to introduce the specific situation of the youth training camp.
"We've gone through three rounds of online auditions that lasted one and a half months. Through the comparison of Rank and Win Rate, we've selected 60 players for five positions out of 1,757 applicants from the local server's Suburban King, ED1, and Korean server's Diamond One and above …
"Your application age is 16-20 years old?" Lin Yan had seen the information sent by Guo Hao before. He looked around as he asked.
There were rooms on both sides of the corridor. They could see the whole room through the floor-to-ceiling transparent glass.
Seven or eight computers filled the room. All kinds of keyboards, mice, and computer cases emitted colorful lights. Teenagers with messy hair who looked like they hadn't washed for a few days had their backs to them. They were operating the peripherals non-stop.
Some of them picked up a drink and glanced at the monitor of the person next to them. Judging from their expressions, they were probably very popular. Some of them were furiously typing on the keyboard. Their mouths were moving as if they were cursing under their breath. They probably lost the game again and started to play the keyboard.
"That's right. Players between 16 and 20 years old who haven't had any experience in professional competitions are our main candidates," a youth training coach answered Lin Yan's question. "The main reason is that this group of people has more potential."
Lin Yan nodded to show that he understood.
Those who were too young were still in school. Now, Fist Club had made it clear that they had to be at least 17 years old to enter the top professional leagues in the major divisions.
If the selection range was expanded for another year, even if a 15-year-old child was selected, the club would have to spend money to support him for two years. Not to mention whether there would be any sudden drop in level or family opposition during these two years, just the cost and salary investment alone was not a small number.
If the selection range was expanded for another year, it would be even more unnecessary.
There were very few 21-year-old e-sports players who entered the industry. 957 was already considered an oddity among oddities. His ability was one of the best in S7, but now, his standard had fallen off a cliff. His excessive age made it difficult for 957 to keep up with the team's high-intensity training. The frequent changes in versions made it difficult for him to pick out a strong hero in the first place.
If a 21-year-old player had no experience in professional competitions before this, no LPL club would want him even if he performed well and passed the youth training camp's selection.
This was because exceptions did not represent the whole. No club would spend tens of thousands of yuan a month hoping that a 21-year-old e-sports player would suddenly burst into a small universe.
Instead of choosing him, it would be better to take a step back and choose a moldable talent who was not that strong but was only 16 or 17 years old. That way, the success rate of the draw would be much higher.
This was not the ancient era of PDD Sun Yeyou. The development of League of Legends competitions was becoming more and more systematic. The various selection systems were also gradually maturing. Being older meant that there was a disadvantage.
Lin Yan randomly walked into a room. The layout was a little like a pocket-sized version of the team's training room. There was a computer and a projector in the middle, probably used for review.
A few young people were wearing headphones and focused on dealing with the enemies in Summoner's Canyon. They did not have time to look up.
There was only a dispirited youth training coach in the room. He was reviewing videos with nothing else to do.
The moment he saw Lin Ran walk in with his men, he jumped three feet into the air and immediately sobered up a lot.
"I see that you guys have to play at least 10 ranked games every day, plus five practice games and review games?" Lin Yan was amiable.
"That's right, that's the minimum requirement. You can also add more. For example, the kid in the room now …" The youth training coach knew that Lin Yan and Guo Hao were coming, but he did not expect to be the first to win the lottery.
He quickly organized his thoughts. "Every morning, we'll update each player's score based on the real-time ranking at the top of the canyon. Then, we'll weight it with the practice game performance and finally get a total score."
Lin Yan looked at the score recorded on the whiteboard.
The 60 players had the same prefix — 2018 LYA. 2018 was the year, and LYA was the abbreviation of LOLYOU Academy.
The capital letters and serial numbers represented the position and the player's identity.
Among them, T stood for TOP, J stood for Jungle, M stood for Mid, B stood for Bottom, and S stood for Support.
For example, 2018 LYAT09 was the top laner No. 09 of the 2018 LOL Youth Training Camp.
It was the highest score that Lin Yan saw in the youth training camp. The Canyon King was 1369 and ranked 22nd.
After that, the player's score was halved.
Masters could squeeze into the top ten of the youth training camp with 300 to 400 points. The difference in standards was huge.
The most important thing was the number of matches.
The camp was about to be set up and would last for a month. The average ranking of the players was around 400 matches, and some of them could reach 600 matches.
In comparison, the score was frighteningly low.
Lin Yan was not boasting. When he first debuted, he started from zero and could reach the top of the canyon with 1,500 points in 300 matches.
The staff beside him saw Lin Yan frowning slightly and quickly explained in a low voice,
"The youth training camp's requirement is for players who have no professional experience before. It's normal for the quality to be lower."
"Many of them are Suburban Kings and Diamond Ones. There are very few Korean Masters. There are only two Kings among the 60 people."
Lin Yan and Guo Hao looked at each other. They had wanted to take the opportunity to try and pick up some scraps. Now, it seemed like they could only rely on luck.
The requirements for participating in the audition were there. There were not many good seedlings that could be found in the youth training camp.
This was because most of the talented young people had been recruited by the independent youth training system of the major clubs.
For example, Jack, the chosen one, had a good face in the eSports circle at a young age. In addition to his high EQ and the fans that came with his career as a live streamer, Shiba Inu had a lot of commercial value even though he had not debuted yet.
The managers of the various clubs would queue up to knock on Shiba Inu's door with seven-digit contracts in hopes of winning his favor.
Geniuses like him would not enter the current youth training camp and would be intercepted in advance.
It was the same for Lin Yan and Xiao Tian. They were discovered and signed by PDD early on, so they would not test the waters at such a place.
Nevertheless, now that he thought about it, he was indeed a little reckless when he signed YM.
If he had obtained the first place in the canyon and visited a few more clubs, it would not have been difficult for him to get a contract that was a few times higher than YM's.
However, judging from the results, Lin Yan had won too many times.
He had won two S +, two MSI, and four league championships. Although he was strong, these were real results and honors that he had achieved through hard work with his teammates. If he had chosen to debut in another club, his career path would not have been so smooth.
As the saying went, teammates were the key to becoming the world's number one super soldier.
In the early stages of his career, he had earned less than ten Gundam points, which was not enough in Lin Yan's eyes.
He came back to his senses and walked behind a bespectacled player to watch the battle.
When Lin Yan saw the player's ID, he could not help but raise his eyebrows.
2018LYAT09。
It was the top player in the youth training camp who had 1,369 points, the Canyon King's top laner.
While he stood behind and observed, the few staff members who followed him dared not leave rashly. Someone even handed him a bottle of Nongfu Spring.
Lin Ran unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip. He saw that Swordmistress had made a mistake and was killed by Nuo, who had the ID of "Shang Wei _ Fan Bu", after dodging the Match Like Twin Blades.
"What do you think?" Guo Hao asked softly.
"… Her laning ability is average." Lin Yan subconsciously used the LPL standard to measure it, but he immediately corrected himself. "I think it's barely okay."
Lin Yan stood behind and watched for a while. He realized that Swordmaiden was indeed ridiculous.
He did not know if it was a problem of proficiency, but the number of times that Swordmaiden had pulled the trigger could be counted on one hand. Her laning was almost destroyed by Nuo.
Fortunately, the timing was good. She repeatedly killed the opponent's archer and led the team to turn the tables.
He touched the back of his head and looked at the 24 points added on the post-match data panel. He laughed foolishly.
Through the reflection of the monitor, he, who had been focused on the game, finally saw Lin Yan standing behind him.
He stood up quickly. His face was red and he looked a little uneasy.
After all, Lin Yan was a well-deserved star in League of Legends esports. He felt like he had met Kobe Bryant in basketball or Messi in football.
It would be unrealistic to not be excited.
Seeing Lin Yan greet him, top laner No. 09 wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and reached out to shake his hand.
"You played well. Keep it up." Lin Yan admired this kid's team battle ability. However, laning really needed to be polished.
The boy, who looked quite funny, scratched his head. He smiled contentedly after receiving encouragement from his idol.
However, Lin Yan did not stay in front of him for long. He ran off to observe the other players' ranked matches.
At noon, after having lunch at the youth training camp cafeteria, Lin Yan received a request to review the mock matches.
Although he was not a full-time reviewer, his ability to analyze the match and study the details was enough to crush many coaches. After all, he had a lot of experience.
Lin Yan found a room to take a nap. After a short lunch break, he walked to the training room.
On the way, he heard an argument erupting from one of the rooms.
"You really don't take what I said yesterday seriously. When did you pull the trigger?" A coach was exasperated.
"I really pulled the trigger. You can watch the video," another voice said.
"We're watching the video!"