At seven o 'clock in the morning, the twelve members of the CHN team gathered at the entrance of the Asian Games Village's cafeteria.
From the players to the coaches, everyone's expression was very serious.
As they ate, only the sound of cutlery could be heard on the long table.
Letme looked very nervous and reserved. He kept pouring water into his mouth.
Abu was the first to speak. "Everyone, eat more today. Our competition will start in the afternoon. If you're hungry, you can only eat bananas. It's best not to eat rice. It will affect your brain's reaction."
No one was a newcomer. They understood this and nodded in agreement.
Abu saw that Yan Junze was still a little nervous, so he comforted him. "Don't be nervous. Just treat it as a normal competition. It's just a BO5. It'll be over soon."
This sentence sounded pale and powerless to Letme. It didn't have any comforting effect at all.
He just nodded politely and replied weakly.
Fortunately, the Korean players next to them were also restless.
Although it was called an exhibition game, none of the athletes had defined the nature of the game as just a "performance" when it came to the final.
It was the 'first time'.
It could be said that this esports event was dispensable for the Asian Games. It didn't even count in the medal rankings.
However, for esports itself, it had a very strong symbolic meaning.
China didn't even have an official live broadcast. However, the Korean officials attached great importance to this esports event.
SBS, one of the three major TV stations in China, would even broadcast the final live. Who knew how many people would watch it.
In comparison, the South Korean team naturally faced more pressure.
Chi Emperor, the youngest player in the team, looked at the kimchi and rice in front of him. He held his chopsticks motionlessly. His eyes were dull.
Abu looked around and felt that his team didn't lose in terms of mentality. Only then did he feel relieved.
Other than the two long tables occupied by the Chinese and Korean teams, the other places in the cafeteria were in full swing.
Because the League of Legends competition was too long, they started the qualifiers first. However, it was also the last esports event to compete for the gold medal.
Most of the other competitions had already ended.
It wasn't just traditional sports. Even the international players of King of Glory had won a gold medal yesterday.
This caused the atmosphere in the Asian Games Village to be very relaxed and happy.
Many players from different countries were wearing different colors and styles of award receiving uniforms. They held the medals they had just won and shared their joy with their teammates.
After filling his stomach, Lin Yan went back to the dormitory and packed his backpack. He checked the keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he picked up his backpack and boarded the bus.
Makah Square was located in the northern part of Jakarta, and it took about 40 minutes to drive there. Coincidentally, it was the morning rush hour, and the road was extremely crowded.
Sitting in the bus, Lin Yan could hear the sirens outside, which disturbed him.
He simply put on his headphones and listened to some music. He also browsed through the domestic and foreign news to relieve his mood.
Lin Ran wanted to see if there were any new ways to post in the forum.
There were still six to seven hours before the start of the finals, but the activity in the forum was extremely high.
At a glance, he saw a hot post at the top: "How do you rate the Asian Games final that will be held this afternoon?"
The accompanying picture was actually from the official Twitter account of League of Legends: [Who will win in this epic battle?]
In the picture, Lin Yan and Lee Xianghyeok stood opposite each other. They looked at each other with incomparable determination.
The official League of Legends tweet had 5 million followers. As soon as the tweet was sent, the number of replies instantly increased.
He had to admit that the original poster did a lot of homework. He even thoughtfully provided a sincere and elegant translation.
[My friend asked me to ask what this competition is. He also wants to play.]
[The Asian Games is a variant of the European Games.]
[Okay, here comes the second question. What is the European Games?
I have never heard of it.]
[Good lord, there is actually a League of Legends competition in this kind of competition?]
[Is the village connected to the internet?
These days, the Mousepost has been occupied by Chinese people.]
[It doesn't matter who wins. I just hope to play all five games.]
Lin Yan glanced at the comments posted by the original poster and found that the Europeans and Americans did not care much about the result of this competition.
After all, this was a battle between China and Korea. It had nothing to do with their interests, so naturally, they would not have a subjective position.
However, from the replies below, Lin Yan could feel the confidence of the Chinese audience.
[No matter how you look at it on paper, we are stronger. We have seven world champions, while the Korean team only has four.]
[How can this be considered as a battle strength?
I am calling them experts.]
[I don't care. We must take down Korea today!]
After winning two global finals and two mid-season championships in a row, the LPL audience was now very confident. They firmly believed that the CHN team was unbeatable.
Lin Yan had been with Shiba Inu for a long time now, and his personality was a little similar. When he saw all the flattering and supportive comments, he still felt that it was not enough.
He scrolled down the replies and finally found a translated post from the Korean website.
He immediately understood what it meant when he read it.
[The Republic of Korea will win!]
[As long as Lee Xianghyeok can stall the opponent in the mid lane, I think we have a good chance!]
[The key is how to stall. I saw Brother Ran in the recent Asian Games and found that his condition is simply ridiculous.]
[Lee Xianghyeok can stall Ran?
Very blue.]
[The traitor above, get out of here. You Xiba bastard, are you trying to shake the morale of the team?]
[Speaking of which, it is really strange. The YM four-man team was clearly struggling in the previous LPL regular season, and their results were also very unstable. Why did their condition suddenly improve in the Asian Games?]
[I say, have you guys forgotten the most important factor? Our strongest is not the players, but the coaches. Kkoma + Edgar + Homme is invincible!]
Lin Yan watched with great interest, and the bus finally drove through the congested road.
The northern part of Jakarta was an important historical and cultural area. Various churches and historical sites were distributed here.
The modern building of Makah Square was particularly eye-catching here.
The bus slowly stopped. Lin Yan picked up his backpack and followed behind his teammates. They got off the bus and went backstage.
Due to the traffic jam, the Korean team, who had set off a little late, also rushed over.
Along the way, they were greeted by all kinds of cameras. Due to the competition format, there were no special events in the Asian Games today. Therefore, Makah Square became a disaster area for reporters.
Many of the Indonesian media saw Lin Yan and Lee Xianghyeok, the two stars of League of Legends. They hurriedly went up to them and asked for their opinions on today's third place match.
The two of them looked at each other with a slightly awkward expression.
All the pro players knew how strong the Indonesian team was. They didn't have their own independent region, and it was difficult to even find a player who had participated in a secondary league.
Although the Taipei team was known as the King of Fighters, they were still the stars of the local league. Plus, they had a strong coaching team. It was unreasonable to say that they couldn't beat the Indonesian team.
Lin Ran pondered for a moment before replying, "That's not the right way to show respect to the host.
"I can only say that they have a chance, but whether or not they can grasp it depends on today's situation."
After saying some ambiguous words, Lin Yan finally changed the topic. He hurriedly went backstage to the dressing room.
The four teams were all in the dressing room.
Although the Indonesian reporters still thought that their home team had a chance of winning a medal, the players were undoubtedly very clear-headed.
Win my ass!
Getting into the top four is already considered a success. What's the point?
The Taipei team also thought the same. They believed that there was no doubt that they would win third place today.
The two teams threw away the burdens on their backs. Today, they were simply here to participate in the competition.
This filled the dressing room with a cheerful atmosphere.
Casa and his old Lightning Wolf teammate were laughing and joking around. They were even discussing what to eat that night.
Hearing these people chattering non-stop, Letme and Ruler's eyebrows slightly relaxed.
However, the good times didn't last long. The two teams left one after another to prepare for the third place match.
This time, the atmosphere in the room froze again. Now, it was Letme's turn to be in a daze. Ruler began to drink water nonstop.
Everyone had their own thoughts. Some were excited, some were nervous, and some were worried. Everyone silently digested their own emotions. The dressing room was completely silent.
Lin Yan lowered his head and wiped his glasses with a tissue.
Suddenly, a hand reached over and grabbed his forearm.
"Hmm?" He looked up and saw that it was his girlfriend.
"Are you okay?" Su Cheng looked worried.
She saw that Lin Yan hadn't said anything during this time. She was afraid that her boyfriend would be emotionally unstable.
"I'm fine." Lin Yan put on his gold-rimmed glasses and smiled.
Su Cheng's heart fell to the ground.
Lin Yan wasn't lying.
His heart was as calm as water. He wasn't nervous at all.
Unlike last year's international competition, he didn't need anyone to comfort him in this kind of competition.
It wasn't like he was forced to the last step in the international competition. He was confident that this Asian Games wouldn't cause him much pressure.
This was because he was already standing at the top of the game's professional circle.
His way of thinking and perspective was different. He was more mature and steady.
At ten o 'clock, the players finally received a notice to go to the dressing room.
There was an unexpected person waiting for them in the dressing room.
That person's height and physique made everyone in China recognize him.
The president of the Chinese Basketball Association, Yao Ming.
Compared to when he was playing basketball, he was two times fatter. He looked like a fatty who didn't understand basketball.
Yao Ming was wearing a large dark blue training uniform. He even had an admission card around his neck.
There was a circle of staff around him. When they saw Lin Yan and the others enter the dressing room, they hurriedly introduced him.
"President Yao is here to meet everyone. He's also very interested in eSports."
Lin Yan wasn't surprised to hear this.
When he was in America, Yao Ming was also an internet addict. Sometimes, he would go to Azeroth to play after playing.
Yao Ming lowered his head and greeted them.
Maybe it was because of his height, but Yao Ming's voice was muffled. He sounded like a subwoofer.
After they talked for a while, Lin Yan found out that the finals of the men's basketball competition hadn't started yet.
As the president of the Chinese Basketball Association, Yao Ming naturally wouldn't leave Jakarta. He would stay here to supervise the competition.
The men's basketball training was in the afternoon. Yao Ming didn't have anything to do in the morning, so he went to the various stadiums.
It was the same reason that he mentioned before. Since most of the competitions were over, he had his eyes on eSports. He came to Makah Square to meet the new faces of the Asian Games.
Abu and Lin Yan were the representatives of the coaches and players. They chatted and laughed with President Yao.
Yao Ming knew that they were preparing for the finals. It wasn't good for him to stay here. Therefore, he said goodbye after half an hour.
Before he left, everyone took a group photo.
Lin Yan was 1.85 meters tall. He was definitely tall in the eSports circle. However, his head couldn't even reach Yao Ming's shoulders, let alone the difference in shoulder width.
The difference in size between the two was huge.
The others were even more exaggerated.
Gao Tianliang, who was 169.5 meters tall, was like a little chick in front of Yao Ming. He could be lifted up with one hand.
After the group photo, Lin Yan looked at Yao Ming's smile in the photo. He felt that it wasn't the same as when he made emojis.
Not long after Yao Ming left, the semi-finals began.
Team Taipei used their pride and joy to completely destroy Team Indonesia.
The entire best-of-five match only took 77 minutes.
Even with the BP and rest time.
It was less than two hours.
At one o 'clock in the afternoon, the third place of the Asian Games was decided.
"Get ready." Mrs. Yang held a schedule and pushed open the door to the lounge. "We'll be on the court in about 15 minutes."
This sentence made Letme, who was in the break room, even more nervous. He could feel his hands shaking.
He turned his head to get feedback from his teammates. However, he obviously didn't succeed.
The players from Club YM didn't look nervous at all. Instead, they were very excited.
Ouze was quite nervous. He was still chewing on his fingernails.
However, he was a substitute today. He couldn't compare to letme, who was a starting top laner.
After looking at the expressions of his teammates, Yan Junze felt that there was a lamentably thick barrier between him and them.
"Get ready to put away your phones!"
A staff member came to the lounge with a basket for the players to put their phones in.
Lin Yan took his phone out of his backpack. He realized that the signal light was on.
He opened it and saw that it was full of messages.
Lin Mingdong, Su Cheng's parents, and his friends from high school were all cheering him on.
There were even messages from the pro scene. His account even joked that he would lend him a tactical eyepiece so that he could see who was weaker.
Lin Yan didn't have time to reply to them one by one.
He only sent a message to his friends to inform them.
Then, he turned off his phone and handed it to the staff member.
"Get ready to go through security. Check if you have any contraband on you!"
Mrs. Yang reminded him.
Lin Yan passed the security check with his peripherals. The staff member went on stage to adjust the equipment.
Su Cheng started her stream as usual. However, she wasn't alone this time.
There was a group of casters and commentators around her. Everyone opened their own channel.
However, Su Cheng had accumulated quite a number of loyal viewers since the preliminaries. In addition to the brand of Lin Ran's live broadcast, her popularity was still the highest.
The finals were the center of attention. The number of viewers in the channel was increasing rapidly. Even the bullet screen was lagging.
The spotlights above the stage were flashing non-stop.
The male host stepped onto the stage. His deep voice spread to every corner of the stadium through the speakers.
"After five days of competition from the qualifiers to the group stage, there are only two teams left. The winner will be decided soon!
"First, let's welcome the Champions of Korea!"
The lights above the stadium were focused on the entrance of the stage.
"Top laner GimGoon, jungler Score, mid laner Faker, bottom laner Ruler, support Corejj, head coach Kkoma, and substitute Peanut!"
Every person who appeared was greeted with cheers from the audience.
Meanwhile, Li Xianghe's appearance made the audience even more excited.
No matter what, he was an epoch-making superstar of the game. He was even one of the representatives of Korean eSports.
Although the South Koreans did not have many players, they were united. They waved their Taiji flags and cheered for their home team.
The LED screen at the back of the player area also began to play highlights of the Korean team from the qualifiers until now.
The host paused for a moment and then said, "Next, let's welcome … the People's Champions of China!"
He waved his arm and looked to his right.
The red flag on the big screen fluttered. The six players and head coach Abu entered the audience's line of sight. They stood in a row.
"Top laner Letme, jungler Tian, mid laner Ran, bottom laner Jackeylove, support Crisp, head coach Aaron, and substitute Uzi!"
This time, when the players were introduced, the cheers that greeted them could only be described as terrifying.
All the people who came to watch the competition used their loudest voices to let the contestants feel their enthusiasm.
Lin Yan enjoyed the grandest welcome in the stadium.
He waved to the audience. When he looked up, he saw a sea of eye-catching red.
Many familiar faces were there. Most of them were eSports commentators, and there was no lack of older eSports players.
They were so loud that they easily suppressed the cheers of the Korean supporters.
The host was very satisfied with the audience's reaction.
"I now announce the start of the 2018 Asian Games' League of Legends finals!"
Everyone went to the players' seats and put on their headphones. Since the staff had helped them adjust their equipment, the players only needed to organize their customization settings.
Lin Yan entered his account again and logged into the game server.
He saw the summoner's ID in the upper right corner of the information bar.
He realized that this might be the last time he used the prefix CHN in a game.
Lin Yan did not have time to feel sad. He entered the customization game and checked his settings. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he exited and waited for the staff to pull them into the game room.
"You're still nervous?" Xiao Tian noticed that letme's hands were shaking like a Parkinson's patient.
"You guys didn't give me any feedback!" letme felt wronged.
"How would we know if you don't tell us?"
Liu Qingsong licked his lips. "I thought you would have adjusted your mentality after Abu's speech at breakfast."
"Also … Big brother, how many years have you been playing professionally?"
Jack also joked. "You're shaking your hands for this?"
"Aren't you guys nervous?" letme had wanted to ask this question for a long time. Now he finally had the chance.
"What's there to be nervous about?" Lin Yan asked.
"We don't know anything about the Korean team. We can't tell anything from the mock competition. They haven't revealed any tactics since the qualifiers!"
Yan Junze stated his reason.
Now that he heard it, it was understandable.
After all, most people's fear came from the unknown.
Letme was not sure what kind of trump card the Korean team would use in this game. That was why he was nervous.
If he knew his enemy, his attitude would probably be the same as during the mock competition.
"We don't know anything about our opponents. That's how the Korean team sees us!"
Lin Ran didn't understand. "Then tell me. Since the qualifiers until now, have we revealed any tactics?"
"Ah, this …" Yan Junze thought for a while. "I don't think so."
Realizing that he had walked into the wrong place, his tone became cheerful.
"Have you been infected by the cancellation of your account?" Xiao Tian scolded jokingly. "You're quite fierce, aren't you?"
This was a teasing evaluation of Xiao Hu in many eSports forums.
It was mainly because the cancellation of accounts often acted very cowardly in foreign wars, and the internal war was like a tiger coming down the mountain.
Lin Yan also felt that he was a little similar to the current letme.
Facing teams and players that they were not familiar with, their performance would be very slow.
Letme wanted to explain further, but Lin Yan said, "It's okay, you'll definitely get feedback today!"
"All players, please enter the custom room."
The referee's voice appeared in the team's voice chat.
The five players did not care about chatting. They quickly accepted the invitation and appeared on the right side of the custom room.
In the first round, the Korean team had the initiative to choose the side, so they were forced to choose the red side.
"Abu, your guessing skills are not good either!" Liu Qingsong mocked.
Jack prepared the pot first. "Abu, do you know how much of an advantage the blue side has in BP?"
"Whoever gets the blue side wins. If you lose in the final round …" Shiba Inu laughed. "Then you'll have to take at least one-third of the responsibility."
"Not bad, Shiba Inu. You're so smart. I didn't think of that before!" Lin Yan laughed.
Abu, who had just put on his headphones, also laughed when he heard this.
When letme saw that everyone was laughing, he, who was originally nervous, also laughed in harmony.
On the other side, Jin Gong, who was sitting in the Korean players' seats, looked at the four familiar IDs on the right side of the room. He took a deep breath and adjusted his state of mind.
They used to be comrades, but today they were serving different masters!
It was still unknown who would win.
"Contestant Jin Gong, you can start the game."
The referee's order came from behind.
This meant that the players and coaches were ready.
He pressed the start button.
With a clang, the ten contestants entered the BP segment!
"The blue side's Korean team has banned Dark Sword Demon first!"
Su Cheng analyzed to the audience. "It's obvious that they're still wary of Lin Ran. They're afraid that he'll dominate the team battle again."
"We've banned Akali's version of the OP hero."
Since Abu saw how incredible Lin Yan's Akali was, he was filled with fear towards Stray Thorn.
He felt that Li Xianghe could also do the same thing.
The key was that there wasn't a suitable hero that could counter her.
Fengtang's Malzahar had already been proven to have no effect.
If it was a normal group match, Abu might have given it a try.
But today was the most important finals and without any room for error, he didn't dare take the risk.
"Korea then blocked the trolls. This is a strategy that everyone on the blue side likes to use," Su Cheng explained. "They can force the red side to ban the trolls and make use of their advantage of being the first to ban the trolls."
Abu didn't hesitate at all as he banned Swain.
"For the last ban in the first round, the Koreans have chosen Galio. They've successfully dismantled the system that allows them to do whatever they want."
"Our last ban is Shiloh, it seems like they want to dismantle Shiloh."
Kkoma wasn't too surprised by this.
"The Koreans have taken Shen first!"
Twilight Eye's current strength was indeed very high.
It was mainly because it was strong in the early game and could support the jungle. It was also good at controlling fights, so it was favoured by the pro teams.
"We've chosen Crocodile and Wine Barrel ….. This is the middle jungle!"
Letme's role was here. If Xiao Tian didn't help him, he wouldn't have chosen a hero like Crocodile.
Moreover, AD + AP was very suitable for the middle jungle. The combination of damage was very scientific, maximizing the benefits.
The Koreans had clearly seen through this matter.
They weren't in a rush to pick, rather they chose Zhao Xin and Bull's Head as supports.
"Our last pick for the first round is Hammer Stone. There's no problem with the strength of the hero."
In the next round, Abu targeted the opponent's ADC, Ruler Emperor.
He blocked Dusk and Verus, who was outstanding in the mid lane.
The Korean team's thinking was very simple.
They blocked Draven and Kalista, who were very strong ADCs with Hammer Stone.
"Our fourth pick for the red team has taken Kesha first. This way, there won't be many characters left for Ruler Emperor!"
Abu was prepared for this. He and the other members of the coaching team had analyzed Ruler Emperor's hero pool.
In the end, they found that this person rarely played as a mage. Not only did he not choose to play in the pro matches, but he also rarely practiced in the ranked matches.
In the summer, when the mage core heroes were the most popular, Ruler Emperor said in an interview that he would protect the glory of the AD and wouldn't choose a mage hero.
Regardless of whether the protection of the glory was true or not, the fact of the hero pool was there. It couldn't be faked.
If it was banned, it would be difficult for Ruler Emperor to choose which hero to pave the way.
Moreover, Abu found that Ruler was very nervous before the game.
Hit the snake by three inches.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If they could break Ruler Emperor's mentality in the first round, the rest would be much easier!
Ruler Emperor and Kkoma discussed for a moment. In the end, they nodded and chose a hero that they were good at.
"Ice's Assistant!"
One of the representatives of the functional ADCs, Empress Eich.
"Faker's last mid laner is Zooey. Our last counter position is reserved for the top laner, letme. He didn't think much and directly chose Aoun!"
With the appearance of Blacksmith Sheep, the lineups of the two teams were determined as follows.
The blue team KOR team: top laner Shen, jungler Zhao Xin, mid laner Zooey, bottom laner Ice + Bull's Head.
The red team CHN team: top laner Aoun, jungler Wine Barrel, mid laner Crocodile, bottom laner Kesha + Hammer Stone.
The atmosphere in the Makah Square became hot and dry. The audience wantonly shouted the names of the teams and players they supported.
When the Summoner's Canyon appeared, the cheers reached the peak!