By the time the plane landed, it was already evening in Shanghai. Clouds of fire spread across the skyline, and the setting sun shone through the clouds, dyeing the sky a gorgeous red.
The familiar Pudong International Airport once again appeared in front of Lin Yan's eyes.
As soon as they stepped out of the airport, they enjoyed the treatment of being surrounded.
The CEO of Tengjing Sports, Bobby, the person in charge of Fist China, and the managers of several participating clubs were all waiting outside. There were even two officials from the Shanghai Sports Bureau.
The standard was quite high.
Lin Yan and the rest of the team returned with a gold medal in the Asian Games. In recent years, Shanghai had also proposed to develop the emerging e-sports industry and develop into an e-sports capital. Now that the project had won the championship, it was understandable that the leaders of the Sports Bureau would come to welcome them.
However, since it was a public place, the welcome ceremony was not very grand.
Lin Yan dragged his suitcase and was tired of dealing with greetings from all sides. By the time he was done, it was already seven o 'clock in the evening.
They waved goodbye to Hanyi and Abu, then got into the YM club's BMW-sponsored car. They first sent Su Cheng to Tongji Beiyuan in the Five Corners Field, then rushed all the way back to the suburban base.
After Lin Yan said goodbye to his girlfriend, he sat in the car and began to take a nap.
The other teammates were also in a normal state of mind. Red Rice even rubbed his temples and complained that he had a headache.
The competition schedule was too tight, and they still had a game against EDG tomorrow. Lin Yan was a little regretful. If he had known, he would not have gone to the Ocean World on his last day in Jakarta. Wouldn't it have been better to have a good sleep in the Asian Games Village?
However, there was no way to go back in time now. Lin Yan could only pay the price for his mistake.
The YM base was brightly lit. Guo Hao, Jiang Chenglu, and Lin Weixiang were standing at the door.
"Quick, show me your medals!"
Lin Weixiang saw the gold medals of his four teammates in the WeChat group the night before when the CHN team had just won the championship. Now, he wanted to see the real thing.
"Hey, hey, hey, do you see it?" Jack took out the gold medal from his bag and threw it to Big Eyebrows.
Lin Weixiang did not know if it was because the surface of the gold medal flashed, but his eyes were shining. "Is this real gold?"
"… Do you think it's possible to give you pure gold?" Liu Qingsong was speechless.
Lin Weixiang pretended to take another bite to test its quality. Seeing this, the Shiba Inu quickly snatched it back.
He stuffed the gold medal back into the inner compartment of his backpack. "If you want to bite, take your own …"
Then Jack pretended to have a sudden realization. "Oh my bad memory, I forgot that you didn't go to the Asian Games."
"Tsk." After satisfying his desire to observe the gold medal, Lin Weixiang entered the sage mode. After listening to Jack's words, he immediately curled his lips. "Every dog has its day. This is called looking forward to the future. Do you understand?
I will definitely go to the Asian Games in four years! "
Big Eyebrows went crazy.
"Que," Jack retorted. "Let me remind you, I'm younger than you. Even if I become a future warrior, it won't be your turn."
Lin Weixiang thought for a moment and also realized the seriousness of the problem. His thick eyebrows knitted together into a line, looking very comical.
However, he immediately felt relieved.
"It's okay. I'm not the only one who doesn't have a gold medal." Big Eyebrows looked at Jin Gong, who was silent. "Don't you think so, Jin Gong?"
"Siba!" Jin Gong went up to teach him a lesson. Lin Weixiang ran away, faster than the reporters.
Lin Yan followed behind his teammates and dragged his suitcase back to his dormitory.
Because the cleaning staff often came to clean, the room was very clean and tidy. The quilt and other bedding were also changed today.
After taking a shower, he curled up on the bed, trying to get enough energy to prepare for the next game.
Turning the air conditioner to 26 degrees, Lin Yan hugged the quilt and smelled the fragrance of laundry detergent. He fell into a deep sleep.
He slept for more than ten hours. When he woke up again, it was already bright outside.
Xiao Tian in the bed next to him was also sleeping soundly under the quilt, only showing his head.
Lin Yan felt like he was sealed in the bed. He didn't want to get up at all.
He reached out his arm and picked up his phone from the bedside table.
He planned to surf the internet for a bit, then go back to sleep when he was sleepy.
After two days of not surfing Tieba, there were always new discoveries.
During this time, the Tieba netizens were still discussing the Asian Games that just ended. Lin Yan clicked on it, and the first thing he saw was a post about Li Xianghe.
[Faker's condition is so good. He can't be waiting for four years to be exempted from the military because of the official Hangzhou Asian Games, right?]
Lin Yan had learned from Jin Gong that this year's performance event was not included in the gold medal ranking, so it didn't match Korea's rule of "Asian Games champion will be exempted from military service." Regardless of whether the Korean players won or lost, their military service would not be affected.
However, it would be different in four years.
After it was included in the official event, there would definitely be a large group of Korean players who wanted to participate.
Whether Faker's condition could last four years was still unknown. Lin Yan didn't dwell on this issue and continued to read.
[Li Xianghe won't force Brother Ran to retire in the end, will he?
If he can't beat you in a head-on fight, then he'll fight longer than you?]
That was quite possible.
Lin Yan thought to himself.
Some people thought that YM's condition fluctuated before the Asian Games because they were preparing for the Asian Games and had hidden a bunch of big moves to deal with the Korean team.
However, netizens refuted this.
[Then how is YM going to prepare?
Jin Gong and Red Rice are from the Korean team, and Gouba is from the Taiwanese team. They're going to share a big move with all three teams in the Asian Games, right?]
[Don't be so awkward. The four YM players secretly discussed a big move under their blankets before going to bed at night. I saw it from the bed.]
[Good lord, there are ten people in YM's training department, including the manager and translator. They have to create a bunch of group chats, right?]
[Let's test everyone with a simple math question. There are ten people in YM's training department. How many group chats can they create?]
Lin Ran glanced at the replies on Tieba and was amused by the netizens' strange ideas.
At the same time, there was also his favorite link on the Korean network.
[Bastard, why did you lose to the China team again?!]
[Ruler is really good at this. I finally know why the Chinese call him 'Ruler Emperor.' The key is that he can really win games.]
[Is he worthy of Xiang He's hard work?
Why didn't he let Bang and Wolf come? Even if they're not in good condition, they can't be worse than Ruler, right?]
[They all chose Edgar. They can't not bring anyone from GEN, right?
It's just a game of dividing the cake.]
[Dividing the cake is unappetizing. You have to at least win the game!
I really don't care about the three-star team. This team is pure and disgusting.]
Lin Yan spent a quarter of an hour scrolling through the forum twice, going through all the popular posts from the past two days.
Then, he finally felt sleepy. He planned to sleep for a while and wake up in the afternoon.
Suddenly, there was a commotion outside.
Xiao Yu turned over and muttered something under his breath.
Lin Yan also frowned. He tried to hold it in for a while, but it didn't stop. Instead, the noise became louder and louder.
He finally couldn't take it anymore. He stepped on his slippers and opened the door to his dormitory.
"What are you doing? What are you doing?"
In the training area, which was only a corridor away from the dormitory area, a few workers were carrying computer desks in and out. Guo Hao was directing them with his hands on his hips.
The door opposite Lin Yan's dormitory was also pushed open. Jack poked his head out. "What the hell is Hao doing? Can't you let us rest for a while?"
Guo Hao heard the commotion from the dormitory area behind him and quickly walked over. He even raised his hand to look at the time. "It's ten o 'clock in the morning. Fourteen or fifteen hours of sleep is already a lot. If you sleep any longer, you won't be able to lift your spirits for the game in the afternoon."
Lin Yan yawned. "What's going on? Are there new people?"
Usually, this training room was only used by the six players and the coaching staff. It had been a long time since they had seen such a large group of people.
"There are new people," Guo Hao nodded. "They were arranged by Red Rice last night. You went to bed too early. It happened so suddenly that we didn't have time to inform you."
"Substitutes?" Jack was no longer sleepy. "Who are they?"
Guo Hao answered honestly, "Except for you, there are substitutes for the other four positions."
"Ah?" Lin Yan was stunned.
He couldn't understand why there were suddenly four more people after they came back from the Asian Games.
Guo Hao quickly explained. He whispered to the two of them, "According to Red Rice, the substitutes are mainly used for the last week of the regular season."
"He wants you to relax."
Hearing this, Lin Yan and Shiba Inu were overjoyed. "So we can have a holiday?"
"For today's game, everyone has to play as usual. After all, the list has been submitted, and the review of the substitutes is not over yet," Guo Hao said. "But for the three games in the last week, everyone can take a break."
Guo Hao continued to explain. Lin Yan and Shiba Inu finally understood the cause and effect of the matter.
Red Rice was exhausted last night. He had experienced the Asian Games himself, so he knew how exhausting the journey was.
Half a month of crazy training and competition, he was under a lot of pressure. He had no means of comfort in a foreign country. It could be said that he had endured it all with his willpower.
On the night before the final of the Asian Games, Red Rice felt a little nauseous looking at a pile of charts.
Naturally, he could feel the fatigue of the players.
Next, the players had to prepare for the LPL. Even an iron man couldn't endure it.
Therefore, Red Rice came up with a brilliant idea on his way back.
That was to select a bunch of substitutes to play in the game. Let the five starting players have a good rest and recharge their energy for the crucial playoffs.
Even the number of training matches in the next two weeks would be reduced. This was mainly because YM's starting players and coaches had participated in the Asian Games. So far, they had already familiarized themselves with the 8.15 version that was being used in the regular season.
Moreover, the playoffs would be using the 8.16 version, which had not yet been released. It wouldn't be too late to practice after the Korean server released the updated version.
During this time, Red Rice only wanted the players to maintain their familiarity with the game. When the time came, they couldn't pull their legs.
"This is a good thing!" Lin Yan couldn't wait for someone to help him play a few games so that he could rest and recuperate.
Jack chimed in. That was what the lazy dog thought too.
"You guys think this is a good thing?" Guo Hao couldn't help but complain. "I'm so tired!"
Due to the rules of the LPL, the officials would stop the registration, promotion, and relegation of players in the last week of the regular season.
In other words, in order to complete Red Rice's idea, the YM club had to submit the registration and promotion list of the substitutes before 24 o 'clock yesterday.
Guo Hao and Team Two's manager were busy all night. Before the deadline ended, they sent all the information of the players to the official mailbox.
Then, he hurriedly slept for a few hours. He had to get up again to adjust the equipment for the new players.
Because time was tight, if nothing unexpected happened, the substitutes would have their first training match in the afternoon.
Lin Yan instantly lost his sleepiness. He told the confused Phyllostachys Pubescens the good news.
Then, he put on his shorts and ran downstairs to exercise.
After taking a shower and eating a warm lunch, Lin Ran felt like he had come back to life.
At this time, the substitutes also walked into the training room on the third floor with their peripherals.
Lin Yan glanced at them and found that most of them were unfamiliar faces.
Because the secondary league was still preparing for the important playoffs, Guo Hao did not directly promote Team Two's starting lineup. Instead, he chose a group of young players who could not play yet.
This did not affect Team Two. Because the playoffs were approaching, Team Two's starting lineup was basically confirmed. The remaining youth players did not have much to do anyway. All they did was play ranked matches with the Korean server at the top of the canyon.
The substitutes were still looking at the training room. This was an unprecedented experience for them.
Yesterday morning, when they received the news from Team Two's manager, they thought that they were dreaming or that the manager had started to talk nonsense.
What a joke. Team Two's starting lineup did not even have the chance to be substitutes in Team One. How could it be their turn?
It was not until Guo Hao personally went to pick them up that the four of them realized that it was actually true.
For half a day, they digested the shock in their hearts. At the same time, they enjoyed the envious looks from Team Two's starting lineup.
What did it mean to go to YM Team One?
It was no exaggeration to say that this was the number one team in the world of League of Legends. The number of fans was innumerable.
As long as they could get the chance to be substitutes, their starting point would be much higher than the average LPL player. If they could perform well in a certain match, it would be like a carp jumping through the dragon's gate. They could instantly change the direction of their career.
When they chose to become youth players in YM, they harbored this dream.
However, while their dreams were plentiful, reality was cruel.
Before they became professional players, they thought that they were the best in the world and were not afraid of anyone. When it came to trials and mock competitions, they were trampled on by the nameless Team Two's starting players one after another.
In the end, after repeated failures, they recognized reality. If they could not even beat the LDL players, how could they win the world championship?
After accepting their fate, they felt that the talent they showed was not that strong. Or rather, it was not realized yet.
YM's starting players who stood at the top were their unattainable goals.
But now, they could actually move into YM Team One's training room.
This was unbelievable.
"Brother Ran, can I take a picture with you?" A handsome youth player asked nervously.
Lin Yan had just turned on his computer. After hearing the request, he did not feel that there was anything wrong with it. He simply raised his thumb again and made a classic pose for a group photo.
After the youth player saved it on his phone, he brought over a notepad and wanted him to sign it.
"… What's your name?" Lin Yan looked up and asked.
"Bruce Lee."
"Huh?" Lin Yan's facial expression could almost be made into a 'are you kidding me?' expression.
"My name is really Bruce Lee," the youth player repeated. He blushed and felt a little embarrassed. "My ID is xiaolongbao."
Lin Yan smiled and shook his head. He signed his name on the notepad.
The top laner was his old acquaintance, Bai Jiahao. It seemed more appropriate to call him by his ID '369'.
The support was a young man named Iwandy. He looked strong and strong.
The mid laner was called Jiang Chen. His ID was 9527.
"What the hell is 9527?"
Jack glanced at the other party's information and laughed. "You must have watched too many Stephen Chow movies, right?"
"Stop fooling around. I'm not 9527 anymore!"
Jiang Chen puffed out his chest and raised his head. "In order to distinguish myself from 369, I changed my numerical ID. I'm just waiting for the official review!"
"Okay, 9527 … What's your name now?" Lin Yan felt that this group of substitutes was quite interesting. He could not help but ask.
"My name is Teacherma now!" Jiang Chen felt that his naming skills were at the peak of perfection.
The name sounded very funny. It really made the other people in the room laugh.
"Okay, okay." Guo Hao signaled for them to quiet down. "Next, everyone who has just arrived in the training room should familiarize themselves with the surroundings. We can start the training match in the afternoon."
There were four more people in the training room. It was indeed a little more crowded than before, but it was still very quiet.
The new players of the youth training team were a little reserved. They could not move freely. 369 did not even dare to shout and celebrate after getting a pentakill in the ranking match.
At two o 'clock in the afternoon, Lin Yan and the others carried their bags and left YM's base. They went to the main square to prepare for the match against EDG later in the day.
The atmosphere in the training room became a little more lively.
The remaining youth training players and Lin Weixiang formed a team. They were ready to start the training match under the temporary command of the coach of Team Two.
The first team to find was WE.
White Crescent was ecstatic when he heard that his team could compete with YM in a training match.
He thought that Lin Yan and the others saw that he had worked too hard to supervise the Asian Games and specially gave him some comfort and compensation.
After all, with WE's record hovering around the edge of the playoffs, the probability of YM inviting them to a training match was very low.
However, when he checked the schedule, he realized that something was wrong. "Aren't you guys going to play EDG in the afternoon?
Why are you still playing in a training match? "
He even thought that these people from YM knew the Shadow Clone Technique.
It was not until YM sent him the news that he found out that his old team had formed a new lineup.
"Whoa, the big one is coming!" White Crescent was dumbfounded.
He boasted that he was an older generation esports player who had traveled extensively. However, he had never seen such a ridiculous playstyle.
Getting four youth training players to play in order to let the home team players rest?
Were they crazy?
However, when White Crescent thought about the other team's record, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it.
Currently, YM was far ahead in the western division. With only four games left in the regular season, it was not difficult for them to maintain their first place in the division.
In the end, he agreed to YM's request for a training match.
The main reason was to see the other team's strength.
Lin Yan, who was in Shanghai's main square, received the notification to go on stage with his teammates.
Everyone was very relaxed.
Just as Red Rice said before, they had completely grasped Version 8.15 after half a month of high-intensity training and competition in the Asian Games.
This kind of regular season was not difficult for them.
Abu came to supervise the match as usual. However, when he saw Red Rice and YM, he could not help but smile helplessly.
Red Rice looked calm on the surface, but his heart was in turmoil.
Two days ago, you used my players to beat me, didn't you?
Today, I must show you why the flowers are so red!
The other EDG players did not look too good either.
Although the YM players were tired from the long journey, they had just finished the Asian Games and were undoubtedly in high spirits.
Today was definitely going to be a tough battle.
"Everyone present and the summoners in front of the screen, welcome to the main square!"
Ze Yuan's unique voice was transmitted to every inch of the venue through the sound system.
"Today is the last day of the ninth week of the LPL," said his partner Rita. "After leaving the LPL for half a month, the YM players have finally returned to the league today!"
"Four of their players have just won the gold medal in the Asian Games," Ze Yuan said confidently. "Today is also their first show after winning the Asian Games!"
The audience below the stage had come for the gimmick of YM's first show after the Asian Games. Now, they were desperately waving their support sticks.
Most of them had not been to Jakarta to watch the Asian Games live.
But today, the YM fans wanted to send their late blessings to the players they supported.
"That's right, after defeating the Korean team 3: 1, I believe that all the previous discussions about YM's ups and downs in the second half of the regular season have been dispelled."
The audience who had watched the final knew how ridiculous the YM players' conditions were at that time.
The team had lost two regular season games in a row. If they were not practicing their lineup, then they were too careless.
Anyway, the results were good so far, so the fans were not that worried.
Ze Yuan nodded in agreement. "This game has also been officially recognized by Fist as a battle between two of the world's top midlaners. Neither side is giving way to the other, it's a bit like Ye Gu Cheng and Ximen Chuixue."
At this time, the director's announcement came from his ear and Ze Yuan finally focused on the field.
"In this game, YM has the priority to pick a side. They banned Troll from the blue side first!"
EDG's head coach, Nofe, sent Crow to the ban position first.
Then Red Rice sealed the Sword Demon and EDG's target was Akali.
In the last ban of the first round, Red Rice felt that he had no more heroes to ban, so he simply sent Haro's Blind Monk away.
YM had a lot of bans, but EDG was stretched thin. They had no choice but to ban Galio.
"The first pick of the first round, YM took the Ice Archer first!"
The Asian Games was like the international games, it was a cup system. All the teams were researching the 8.15 version.
This led to the Chinese and Korean teams constantly researching and evolving, finally finding a new version.
Eich's current bot lane version was perfect for the early game jungler's rhythm.
"EDG took the two heroes Zhao Xin and Hammer Stone, trying to limit YM's rhythm by taking the first ban."
Red Rice took the Bull's Head + Qing Gang Ying jungler support system, so his offensive ability was quite outstanding.
EDG's third pick of the first round was Captain for the top laner Ray.
In the second round, EDG aimed at Jin Gong and banned the two heroes Shen and Swordsister.
On the other hand, Red Rice targeted the iBoy and banned both Kesha and Lucian, leaving only Dusk, a character with average strength that was currently singlehandedly selected.
"YM's fourth pick ….. Ryze and Jess!"
Rita frowned, "Swinging from mid to top, YM deliberately doesn't want the other side to know their mid lane situation!"
Ze Yuan on the side was still guessing, "I think they should give Jess to Brother Ran. After all, this hero is very aggressive, so it's very suitable for his playstyle."
But Nofe didn't dare to guess. After carefully asking his junior's opinion, he chose Zooey for the other side to ensure the strength of the mid lane.
Twilight Starspirit was also one of the most confident heroes in Scout. He felt that if he got Zooey, he wouldn't lose.
"In the end, YM decided to give Jess to Jin Gong, and give Ryze to Brother Ran!"
Ze Yuan didn't expect that he would guess wrong, "They're going to raise Brother Gongzi … After all, they can't just let go of top laner Jess."
"We still have to see the effect of YM in this game," Rita added.
The lineups of both sides were confirmed.
Blue side YM: top laner Jess, jungler Qing Gang Ying, mid laner Ryze, bottom laner Ice + Bull's Head.
Red side EDG: top laner Captain, jungler Zhao Xin, mid laner Zooey, bottom laner Lu Xia + Hammer Stone.
"In terms of lineups alone," Ze Yuan continued without pausing for a moment, "I'm more optimistic about YM."
"Their lineups are very solid and stable, and they have a lot of early offensive points. In contrast, EDG's lineups are a bit different."
"But it's understandable," Ze Yuan also said a few words for Nofe, "After all, they're on the red side, and they're facing YM. BP will definitely be at a disadvantage …"
He wanted to say more, but the live audience had already interrupted him.
Summoner's Canyon had arrived!