The moment the base exploded, Ze Yuan announced loudly, "Congratulations to YM for taking down BLG with a score of 2-0!"
"After winning this match," Rita received a reminder from the backstage broadcast, "YM took their 11th win in the regular season, while BLG, who had 6 wins and 7 losses, was pushed down to fifth place in the Western Region by WE due to a small point disadvantage..."
Smile, who was at home, raised his arms and cheered.
"Nice!" he shouted, "Brother Ran, you're a real brother!"
"Victor, C!"
Smile was now considered a big streamer. After all, he was the only one without a partner in the WE 1.0 era, and he was still streaming every day. Many old 60E players treated this place as their home harbor.
In addition, after he was given the right to stream live commentary, he gained a lot of popularity with the effects of his program.
At this time, his live broadcast room was filled with comments.
[60E is ecstatic today!]
[This is ridiculous. If WE makes it to the playoffs, it's indeed better than BLG. Uncle's team is just dragging.]
[Dragging?
That's called soft, rotten, and cowardly!
Brother Ran saw through them in the end. Victor, who didn't have any displacement skills, stood in front of them and shot lasers. No one from BLG dared to team up.]
[In the last Primordius Dragon team battle, Brother Ran stood at the side and was disjointed, but he still held back the four players from BLG. If one of them dared to team up, Victor wouldn't have survived!]
[BLG is like this now. Little Northeast is all about mechanics and no brains. He doesn't know how to team up in a disadvantageous situation.]
Rita on the commentary platform continued, "In addition, YM only needs to win one more BO3 to secure a spot in the playoffs!"
If YM wanted to enter the playoffs, they only needed to suppress BLG, who was currently ranked fifth in the Western Region.
There were a total of 19 BO3 matches in the regular season. YM only needed to win one more match and lose the remaining seven BO3 matches 0-2, and BLG wouldn't be able to catch up.
Whether it was a small point or a win, BLG wouldn't be able to squeeze YM out.
Under the flickering spotlights on the stage, the five YM players had already taken off their headphones and stood up.
There was no doubt that they had heard Rita's words. In many ways, the team's playoff situation was great.
However, there was not a trace of a smile on their faces. Mongoose's signature smile was no longer raised. The five of them looked as if they had lost a competition. Their willpower was low and they were very depressed.
The YM fans were confused, their heads full of question marks.
What was going on?
Even when they shook hands, their faces were solemn. There was no interaction between them.
Many viewers had already imagined a 10,000-word drama about the internal conflict within the YM team.
Lin Yan and the other four teammates came to the center of the stage and thanked the audience.
"Hurry up, I'm going to live in Bengbu," Jack muttered as he bent over.
"If you dare to laugh out loud, you'll eat two less pieces of meat tonight," Lin Yan threatened from the side.
"What the f * ck …" Shiba Inu was very dissatisfied with this, but after straightening his body, he still used the facial management ability he had learned from the tearing wound to complete this crying performance.
It was not particularly perfect, but fortunately, he was mixed in with his teammates and no one noticed his slightly stiff expression.
Before he could get off the stage after rolling up his peripherals, a staff member stopped the YM players.
"Brother Ran and Mongoose, please stay for a post-match interview!"
Jack heard this and immediately let out a long sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he was not the one being interviewed. Otherwise, Shiba Inu would have been worried that he would reveal some flaws when he went on stage.
After all, it was easy to act as a poker face. However, if you added lines, the difficulty would be different.
This was the conclusion Jack had drawn from a bunch of movies and TV series.
"Watch and learn," Lin Yan took the microphone from the staff member and said to Shiba Inu, "I'll let you know what acting is."
…
"Welcome to the post-match interview, I'm Luo Xin!"
The energetic girl smiled. "Today, we have Brother Ran and Mongoose!"
"Let's say hello to everyone first."
The camera lens slowly pulled back and revealed YM's nakano standing next to the female host.
Listening to the deafening applause from the audience, Lin Yan's originally pursed lips trembled slightly. Then, they raised into an unnatural arc and revealed an extremely stiff smile.
It did not look like joy from the bottom of his heart. Instead, it looked like he was forced to smile during an interview when he was in a bad mood.
"Um … Hello everyone, I'm YM's midlaner, Ran."
His voice was low and emotionless.
However, from Lin Yan's words, it was obvious that he was in a slightly negative mood.
After returning to the backstage lounge to avoid the official cameraman, Shiba Inu, who had let loose, took a cup of Coca-Cola and was lying on the gaming chair. He took a sip of Coca-Cola and happily swung his hind legs while watching the post-match interview.
As a result, he witnessed Lin Yan's performance with his own eyes.
"WDNMD, is this for real?" Jack widened his eyes in shock and almost choked on his Coke.
Not a single flaw could be seen. If the audience did not know the inside story, they would have been fooled by Lin Yan!
Guo Hao crossed his arms in front of his chest and stood in front of the TV screen. "Wow, Brother Ran's acting is not bad!"
"This is a gift from God, just like my eloquence," he said with a complacent tone. "Even without League of Legends, the two of us can still make a name for ourselves."
Lin Weixiang nodded solemnly. "With Brother Ran's acting skills, he can just go to Hengdian Studios and get a job. There's no problem at all."
"His acting skills are way better than the average male lead in idol dramas!"
The YM members were still teasing the day after tomorrow. On the stage, Luo Xin obviously did not expect Lin Yan's reaction to the interview to be so different from usual.
Mongoose's reaction was even worse. His voice was originally as soft and weak as if he was wearing a Weak suit. Now that he was deliberately acting, he sounded even more depressed.
Luo Xin was stunned for two seconds before she calmed herself down.
She skipped the first question she had prepared, "How are the two of you feeling after winning the competition?"
She still had the most basic emotional intelligence. It was obvious that they were in a bad mood. Naturally, Luo Xin would not go up and ask for bad luck.
"First of all …" She quickly glanced at the card in her hand to prevent herself from making a mistake. "Today, YM used two completely new lineup systems. It was obvious that the team was slowing down their pace. May I ask if there was any special tactical arrangement?"
This question was exactly what Lin Yan wanted.
He was happy on the inside, but his expression remained calm. "It's mainly because the new version is on the competition server. This is the first time we're using version 8.14 in a professional match. There are too many changes to the heroes, so we need to get used to the rhythm."
"Today, we used two slower lineups. Although the competition was a little long, we had to do it to ensure victory."
After saying this, he even showed some helplessness.
It made the audience feel that he and YM were troubled by the changes to the version.
Mongoose didn't know what to say. He realized that his mid laner's desire to perform was very strong. He simply handed the stage to Lin Yan and nodded with a straight face. "Brother Ran is right."
Luo Xin was very interested in the topic of the version update. "Speaking of which, heroes like Sword Magician, Knife Lady, and Rock Sparrow have been hit repeatedly in the past two versions. The designer even said that he would remove the resurrection mechanism of Atokus. Just as Brother Ran said, today was the first time version 8.14 was used in a professional match. How was it?"
Lin Yan suspected that Guo Hao had given Luo Xin instructions in advance. Why were the interview questions exactly what he wanted?
He thought of the wording. "The changes are very big. The strength of these heroes in a professional match is likely to be lowered by two to three levels. Take Knife Lady for example. Little Northeast also used it in the second round. I think everyone saw the effect."
"Knife Lady, who has been weakened, can't beat Victor in the first few levels," Lin Yan said. "I didn't even use the armguard. If I had made armor the first time I returned to the city, Knife Lady wouldn't have been able to change her health at all."
Erilya's passive, Ionian's Zeal, now had to be stacked five times to trigger the effect of additional magic damage.
In the early game, without Vanguard's Blade, it was now very difficult for Knife Lady to stack five times in a short period of time.
In other words, most of Knife Lady's damage in the early game was physical damage. An Explorer's Armguard would definitely disgust her.
"The large-scale version update is also a severe test for YM. We haven't rested for the past few days and have been working hard to adapt to the changes … It may be difficult, but we will try to get back to our best state as soon as possible."
Lin Ran was just short of saying that he and his teammates were crying today because the version changes were too ridiculous. He wanted to put down the microphone, but he still wanted to say more. After thinking for a moment, he simply continued.
After thinking for a while, he continued, "I think the focus of a game's content update should be on the general players, not the professional matches. After all, we are not the only ones playing League of Legends. There are tens of millions of players all over the world fighting in ranked matches. That is the cornerstone of the game."
"A good update frequency can stimulate the game's vitality, but if a hero is remade in less than two months, this kind of behavior is also harmful to the players."
"The nature of our work is obvious. It is our job to adapt to the new version, but the players are different." Lin Yan paused. "They are only here to enjoy the game and have fun. Many people don't have the time and energy to carefully read the update content."
An YM fan holding a support banner in the audience suddenly shouted, "Brother Ran, well said!"
With someone taking the lead, the other supporters also echoed with righteous indignation. The sound wave went straight from the audience to the stage!
After all, YM was a team in their own division, and they had a lot of fans. People with discerning eyes knew who they were targeting, and the players were naturally very dissatisfied.
This time, Luo Xin didn't know how to do it.
Before the game, she thought it would be a good job for her to be in charge of today's interview. After all, everyone in YM was talented, and they spoke well. Wouldn't an interview be a piece of cake?
Moreover, YM's popularity swept the entire League. Luo Xin felt that it would be very helpful for her to be able to host an interview with such a team.
Maybe it could even increase her live broadcast popularity.
However, who knew that during the interview, Lin Yan would directly indicate that there was a problem with the update.
With his current position in the League, he had the confidence and capital to say such things. Moreover, it was his fists that were disgusting in the first place. His response was already gentle enough.
However, Luo Xin was not Lin Yan. She was just a small host, and her words carried little weight. Naturally, she didn't dare to speak up.
She secretly glanced at the card in her hand and quickly moved on to the next question. "… Today is Mongoose's birthday. Did the team organize any celebration before the game?"
Phyllostachys Pubescens blinked. "Everyone is preparing for this game. There's no extra time …"
"Pfft!"
Liu Qingsong, who was watching the interview backstage, laughed and scolded, "You're so good at lying. You've learned bad things!"
The YM lounge was filled with a happy atmosphere.
The staff of the competition department knew that the team didn't respond to BLG's tactics at all. They just discussed a strategy after arriving at the main square.
Mongoose added in the end, "When we go back to the base tonight, there should be cake to eat."
Luo Xin laughed and teased him. Then, she looked at Lin Yan.
"After the victory, does Brother Ran have any birthday wishes for Mongoose?"
Lin Yan pondered for two seconds. "The wishes are more simple. I hope he can live a healthy life."
As soon as he finished speaking, the audience burst into laughter.
Xiao Tian was already trying hard to hold back his laughter. In the end, he couldn't take it anymore. He could only pretend to cough to hide his expression.
Fortunately, this was Luo Xin's last question. After the routine fan interaction session, the YM team members finally returned backstage.
They pushed the door open and entered the lounge. The corners of their lips, which had been curled up, couldn't help but curl up. As soon as the door was closed, the sound of laughter from their successful scheme echoed in the enclosed space.
"Phew …" Phyllostachys Pubescens rubbed his cheeks.
Lin Yan's birthday wish almost made him laugh. Now, his facial muscles were a little sore.
"Did you see my acting?" Lin Yan hugged the Shiba Inu. "What do you mean by a veteran actor?"
Jack answered perfunctorily. He lowered his head and played with his phone, trying to surf the Internet.
Seeing that the Shiba Inu was having a lot of fun browsing on Tieba, Lin Yan leaned his head against Jack's.
Three seconds later.
"… Can you move your head to the side?" Lin Yan asked. "I can't see."
Jack obediently moved his head to the side.
"Still no, move your head …" Lin Yan paused for a moment before saying, "Oh, I forgot that you have a big head. That's fine."
"F * ck you." Jack gritted his teeth and grabbed the collar of his team's midlaner.
Then, he was horrified to find that the two of them were not on the same level at all. Other than his weight, he had no advantage at all.
In less than seven seconds, Lin Yan subdued the Shiba Inu.
He happily took out his phone.
The Tieba was in full swing. It was already a mess.
After skimming through a few posts about Xiaosu's birthday wishes, Lin Ran randomly clicked on a topic. "Let's talk about it. Brother Ran, are you angry because of the nerf?"
Openly bombarding Fist during an interview!
The number of replies below exceeded 200 in less than ten minutes.
[Finally, the case is solved. YM's expression is not right today. He's disgusted by Fist's updates.]
[Good job!
Fist is really a game made with feet. Sword Demon redid it twice in two months. Is this something a human can do?]
[Normal players can see that the nerfs of the heroes in these two versions are targeting YM. Last year, they still restrained themselves and changed the jungle and equipment. Now, Fist is furious. They nerfed all the heroes that YM is good at, regardless of whether it's reasonable or not.]
[Is this still a healthy and orderly game environment?
I suspect that the designer is using his position to avenge private grudges.]
[I've been annoyed by Fist for a long time. If you don't know how to update, then don't update. Learn from others and update!]
[If YM can't win three consecutive championships this year, the designer will be the main culprit!]
Without exception, the comments section was full of Fist's comments.
Normal players were affected by the frequent updates, YM fans were dissatisfied with their home team's nerfs, and the remaining LPL supporters were worried that without YM this year, the world championship would be taken away by other divisions.
Lin Yan looked at the chaos and laughed out loud.
"Let's go, let's go. Pack up your bags. We'll go back directly after the group interview!" Guo Hao clapped his hands to attract the attention of the team members.
Today's group interview session was still about two questions. The operation system used against BLG and the controversy caused by the post-match interview.
The YM team members still had professional ethics. They acted until the end. Everyone had a poker face, causing the entire interview room to be filled with low pressure.
After an hour and a half, the YM team finally arrived at the suburban base safely.
"I'm so tired!" Liu Qingsong slumped in his chair, not even wanting to move his fingers.
"Hurry up and get up," Guo Hao urged. "We still have to celebrate Mongoose's birthday."
While they were away for the competition, colleagues from other departments had helped to set up the training base and dormitory area. They had also prepared a lot of balloons and ribbons.
The TV screen was playing highlights of Mongoose's career made by the club's video team. There were also various gifts from fans and sponsors on the table.
The largest piece of cake was a double-layered cake with black and red as the main color. At the top, there were chocolate models of the two heroes, Blind Monk and Princes. It happened to be the skins of the two champions of Phyllostachys Pubescens. It looked exquisite and lifelike.
"Wow, you put in a lot of effort …" Jack was envious. "When can I have this kind of treatment?"
"It can't be helped," Mongoose said with a smile. "Who told you to be born at the wrong time?"
Shiba Inu's birthday was in mid-November, just in time for the off-season. At that time, he was in his hometown in Huanggang, and the club's training department was also on holiday. Naturally, there was no one to hold a birthday party for him. Basically, they would send some blessings and interact with each other on Weibo.
On the TV screen, the highlights had come to an end. Next, there were birthday wishes recorded by his old friends.
In addition to his friends in the same division, there were also many players in the LCK next door.
Among them was the unlucky old KZ. As soon as Khan's champion face appeared, the people in the room froze.
"Happy birthday to Gao Tianliang!"
What was even more shocking was that Khan's Chinese was fluent and sounded even more standard than when he played in the LSPL back in the day!
"Has he been practicing Chinese recently?" Lin Yan was quite curious.
He had been playing professionally in Korea for a few years, why would he still practice Chinese?
Jin Gong snorted on the side and didn't make a clear statement.
The next to appear was Little Peanut.
He was an old background.
He was always there when YM's results were released.
"Birthday card Hamida!"
Peanut said in Korean, then switched back to Chinese. "Soldering the sky, pig, your sun is about to set!"
It could only be said that there was no harm in comparison.
Little Peanut's Chinese was simply indescribable.
But it was okay, Sister Li.
After all, he wasn't in the LPL. If she could parrot his words for a birthday wish, she would have put in a lot of effort.
The last person to appear in the video was someone who had already left the eSports scene.
Su Cheng appeared in the middle of the screen with light makeup. She waved at the camera with a smile on her face and a clear and pleasant voice.
"I wish Gao Tianliang a happy life every day and shine brightly on the field!"
"When I return to Shanghai, I'll treat you to a meal!" She even made a promise.
Then, an old acquaintance who hadn't appeared in a long time appeared.
Goji berries in a thermos.
This was absolutely unique in the eSports scene back then.
When the old players saw this scene, they could guess the other person's identity.
An analyst who had won the championship with the S6 team.
"Say hello to the uncles …" His voice was soft.
He wasn't the only one who appeared in the video.
There was also a baby in his arms.
The baby stared at the screen with wide eyes, confusion written all over his face.
He clenched his fists and waved them around aimlessly. Then, he started laughing.
Everyone present had a motherly smile on their faces.
At the beginning of this year, the analyst who had returned to his hometown to get married had a son. When he was one month old, Lin Yan and the others were all competing, so he could only send two congratulatory videos and red packets to express his feelings.
Now, he relied on the money he earned in the professional scene to buy a car and a house in a small county. He even opened a franchise store in Honey Snow Ice City. His life was quite comfortable.
"Happy birthday, Gao Tianliang," he said sincerely. "I wish you a smoother journey in the future. I also hope that you can gain something in the professional scene this year as always."
Mongoose's eyes were slightly red.
"Hurry up and make a wish!" Guo Hao spoke at the right time. "Turn off the lights!"
The room instantly turned dark, leaving only the flash of the camera and the light of the candles on the cake.
The others spontaneously sang the birthday song.
It was ten different voices coming out of ten people's mouths, and it sounded very funny.
Phyllostachys Pubescens, who was wearing a birthday hat, put his hands together, closed his eyes, and blew out the candles after two seconds of silence.
"What wish did you make?" Jack was very curious.
"You can't say it!" Lin Yan stopped him. "If you say it, it won't come true!"
"I want … to live a healthy life." Phyllostachys Pubescens said with a smile.
"What?!" Lin Yan was dumbfounded.
"It's fake, it's fake! I'm just kidding!" Mongoose waved his hand. He took the knife from Guo Hao and cut the cake.
The two small models of the Blind Monk and Prince were given to Little Tian, while the rest of the team members were each given a piece of cake.
"I ordered hot pot, barbecue, and crayfish. It'll be delivered around 11 PM. You guys wait a bit, we'll eat together." Guo Hao reminded.
Lin Yan returned to his seat and began to practice. While waiting in line, he quickly stuffed the cake into his mouth.
"By the way," he suddenly remembered something. He turned around in his chair and faced his teammates. "Remember to tell us in the WeChat group when you're going to stream, so we don't have to be unprepared."
Lin Yan was worried that someone would let loose in the training room. If someone leaked the information during the stream, then today's performance would be ruined.
"Don't worry." Guo Hao came behind him with a bottle of iced cola. "Tomorrow I'll have my colleagues arrange the stream schedule and post it at the door of the training room. You guys just need to follow the schedule."
Shiba Inu suddenly raised his hand. "Didn't Brother Ran say that we should act until the end? I suggest we just don't stream. That way we can create the illusion that we're too busy to stream."
"I think you're just lazy dog who doesn't want to stream!" Guo Hao said angrily.
A large part of the club's revenue depended on the players' streams.
Excluding Lin Yan and Jack, the rest of the players were under YM's name and signed separately with Fighting Shark.
The annual contract amount was as high as eight figures.
In order to win the double championship, Fighting Shark's conditions were very lax. As long as the stream was long enough, they could get the money.
There was also a share of gifts, so they made a lot of money every year.
If they didn't stream the first half of the summer games, Guo Hao felt that the club's financial report this year would be unbearable.
"I think we can do this." Lin Yan proposed a compromise. "When everyone streams, don't turn on the mic or the camera."
"Isn't that good?"
Jack was very satisfied. "I think it's okay!"
He even put his hands on his hips. "I didn't think there would be a day when I could win both the stream time and stream time!"
Guo Hao naturally had no objections. As long as the club's money was in his hands, he had nothing to worry about.
…
When Lin Yan woke up the next day, it was already close to noon.
After eating supper last night, Mongoose chatted with his parents for an hour. Lin Yan was bored to death and could only chat with his girlfriend on the phone.
In the end, he fell asleep at two in the morning. For his daily routine, it was already considered an all-nighter.
When he got up and washed up, Lin Yan turned on his phone to watch the news.
He only walked out of the bathroom after understanding the domestic and international news.
On the way to the training room, he took another look at the eSports forum.
He didn't know if he didn't look, but when he did, he was shocked.
Things were getting out of hand.
His post-match interview yesterday had been fermenting overnight, and it was now a hot topic on Reddit.
[It's not unusual for Fist to change its version to weaken the strongest player. It's just that this time it's a little overboard.]
[Sword Magician reworked, Knife Girl nerfed, Rock Sparrow killed. What else is there to look forward to?]
A SKT fan from the barbeque stall agreed.
[That's right. S6 Fist changed the first blood tower's bounty and the bottom lane's defense tower's attributes to forcefully remove the lane swapping tactic. Otherwise, YM wouldn't have been the world champion that year.]
FNC hardcore added. [That's right, brother. SKT's lane swapping tactic in the S5 World Championship was pleasing to the eye. Marin was always ahead of his opponents by a level and 10 last hits. That's crazy.]
There was also a commenter who commented. [I don't think this kind of nerf is reasonable. I can still accept the 8.14 version, but the news of Sword Magician's rework is too ridiculous. This is blatant targeting.]
It was not just Reddit. Even the Underworld forum, PTT, was speaking up for YM.
Compared to last year, their attitudes were much gentler.
The main reason was that Gou Ba had joined YM.
The reactions on the major forums made Fist helpless. The designer team was pushed to the forefront of the storm.