Chapter 156

The distance from Berlin to San Francisco isn't any shorter than the flight from Shanghai to Berlin; it's actually a bit farther. After chasing the sun across the sky for over ten hours, they landed at the C‑shaped bay on California's North America west coast, yet the date was still the 25th.

Although actually over ten hours had passed, the phones showed less than seven hours, giving everyone the illusion that time had slowed down.

Walking out of the airport, they immediately saw a bus bearing the Riot logo parked at the curb; two people stood by the door, one holding a pole to raise a pickup sign—likely the driver in casual clothes—and the other in a suit, sporting a conspicuous Riot company badge on his chest.

Ka Lao Si led the group forward to negotiate with that Riot employee, after which everyone boarded the bus.

The hotel booked by Riot was near the venue, i. e., downtown San Francisco, over twenty kilometers from the airport. The bus was spacious, giving everyone a window seat, and the scenery outside made the ride far from boring.

Everyone on board was visiting North America for the first time; the local customs differed greatly from those of China and Europe, leaving them all feeling fresh and novel.

Unfortunately, it was already night, so the distant scenery was too dark to make out clearly.

Ka Lao Si looked at the schedule just received from the Riot employee and said, "Tomorrow there's an outdoor shoot; just take a look then."

Everyone began to look forward to it.

After several dozen minutes, the bus drove into a district of skyscrapers; the coastal scenery vanished, replaced by a forest of buildings wrapped in glass curtain walls.

The round dome of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium came into view, and shortly afterward the bus pulled up in front of a hotel.

Before anyone could disembark, they saw a crowd gathered at the hotel entrance, mostly girls with East Asian features; many held flowers, carried gift bags, and wore headgear bearing team logos—clearly fans of LPL or LCK squads.

Fu Lan Duo glanced over and saw no sign of her own team; aside from LCK fans, almost everyone else was cheering for RNG or EDG, and she couldn't help but feel envious, clicking her tongue twice.

Liang Yan's voice sounded from beside her:

"Weren't the RNG and EDG people already here yesterday?"

Fu Lan Duo said, "Exactly."

Liang Yan asked, "So they're waiting here?"

Fu Lan Duo replied, "Waiting for them to come out."

Liang Yan was speechless, thinking that although people say European and American fans are more passionate, when it comes to fervor, you still have to look at the LPK female fans.

That's what fan‑circle flavor is all about.

Of course, the most authentic version comes from the LCK; those LPL girls originally learned it from there.

"Being young is really great."

Liang Yan sighed, following the crowd off the bus with his backpack on, walking toward the hotel entrance under the girls' gazes.

The girls stood in small groups, whispering among themselves:

"Who are they?"

"You don't recognize Snake? You're just an online viewer—you've never been to the venue, huh?"

"Uh… I know Snake; I mean the team behind him."

"G2!"

Another girl chimed in,

"They've even been to the LPL venue!"

"Which team is that from?"

"Then I don't know."

"Wow, that guy in the middle is kinda handsome."

"Tsk, compared to Mingkai he's nowhere near— if you think he's handsome, go ask for a photo~"

"If you had named anyone else I could barely agree, but you said Changzhang..."

"You're serious about those dead fish eyes?"

The girl who was looked down upon had low standing in her circle, didn't dare speak her mind outright, stood there hesitating for a moment, waiting until she finally mustered the courage to step forward and ask for a photo, when that handsome guy had already strode into the hotel entrance. She glanced at the four burly Hei Ge guards stationed left and right of the door, and sighed inwardly.

In the Chinese backpacker circle goes this rhyme: "Only steal, not rob, Italy; both steal and rob, France; delinquent youth, Britain; fire multiple shots, USA."

Whether true or not, anyway, for the several S tournaments organized by Riot, whenever held in Mei Guo, Riot's security requirements for the players' hotels are the highest.

Upon landing it was night, just in time to adjust to the time difference; the training room wouldn't open until tomorrow, and there was nothing to do at night, yet they received a notice from Ka Lao Si to get up early, saying the promotional video team needed to shoot a sunrise shot, so everyone assigned rooms and went straight to wash up and sleep.

Liang Yan lay in bed, not feeling particularly excited, yet tossed and turned, unable to sleep; after rolling around for half an hour he still couldn't sleep, so he gently got up, slipped on his soft-soled slippers, and went out.

Riot implements closed management for the hotels where players stay; players must report each time they leave the hotel, and unless there's an emergency, they cannot exit after 11 p. m.

Liang Yan didn't go downstairs either; he just walked slowly back and forth in the hallway, glancing at the few oil paintings hanging on the walls under the warm lighting, just to clear his mind.

Just as he passed a room door, a sudden click of a door opening came from behind him.

Liang Yan turned around and saw Fu Lan Duo, also wearing a pajama set, walking out.

The two stared at each other, startled.

Liang Yan spoke first:

"Why aren't you sleeping either?"

"I can't sleep."

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere, just came out for some fresh air. Want to sit downstairs in the lobby for a bit?"

"Sure."

So the two took the elevator downstairs together.

Of course, it wasn't just them who couldn't sleep; there were also a few other players in the lounge next to the hotel lobby, most from the Asia region—some knew each other, some didn't, and even those who knew each other had little rapport, at most nodding as a greeting.

The lounge was very quiet; most people were playing on their phones, and those who spoke did so in low voices, while the trickle of a small artificial mountain fountain in the center added to the hushed atmosphere.

The two chose a corner seat and sat down.

"You're a bit nervous, huh?"

After sitting down, Fu Lan Duo laughed and said:

Liang Yan gave a noncommittal smile and said:

"If we're talking about pressure, your B group is probably bigger than mine."

Fu Lan Duo stopped speaking.

Liang Yan guessed right, Fu Lan Duo was indeed under great pressure.

One SKT, one Lightning Wolf is already enough for Snake to bear.

There's also C9, said to be North America's third seed, actually not a pushover—a team that has made the S tournament four years in a row; if Snake isn't careful, it will capsize.

From Snake's perspective, this group already feels like a group of death.

Of course, Fu Lan Duo won't be afraid.

Snake is not weak to begin with, and after ten days of training with G2, this Snake team's strength deserves a fresh look.

But after all, this is their first World Championship, so some nervousness is inevitable.

Liang Yan knew Fu Lan Duo lacked not strength but confidence, so he planned to chat about some light topics:

"By the way, have you watched the 20th?"