Chapter 188: Wolf Extinction

If G2 really carried out the decision to replace a player, then is this match-fixing?

Theoretically speaking, no.

But any netizen who knows something about the grudge between RNG and G2, upon seeing G2 suddenly bench the in-form Firrrrrre in the second round and put an aging veteran on stage, will inevitably think of:

G2 is deliberately giving up first place, in order to draw RNG in the quarterfinals.

In terms of public opinion, the impact on G2 should be positive, because netizens from any region love to see this kind of passionate scene.

But what will Riot think?

"Are you not openly manipulating the match? Sure, you might be doing it with skill, but damn it, do you even have any regard for the spirit of fair and just competition?!"

Not match-fixing, but even worse than match-fixing!

So will Riot play dead, or will it unleash thunderous fury and harshly punish G2?

No one can guarantee.

After training ended and they returned to the dormitory, Lao Zhang asked Liang Yan with a worried face:

"Hey Liang Yan, you think... Riot probably won't directly disqualify us, right?"

"I'm not sure."

Liang Yan answered after thinking seriously.

He truly couldn't be certain.

Although such a case has never occurred in history, it is certain that Riot has always cracked down hard on match-fixing.

Lao Zhang didn't ask further, silently sitting on the sofa, pondering something alone.

After Liang Yan finished his shower and came out, he found Lao Zhang already lying in bed, suddenly feeling odd, so he asked:

"Lao Zhang, you're going to sleep without taking a shower?"

A muffled grunt came from the blankets; it looked like he was about to fall asleep.

Liang Yan found it strange, because Lao Zhang had previously said that sleeping without showering feels oily and makes it hard to sleep.

But Liang Yan didn't think much of it, took the hairdryer to the bathroom, closed the door, dried his hair, then turned off the lights and went to bed.

Then in the middle of the night he was awakened by a blast of cold wind.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw a figure standing by the window, the curtains being blown by the night wind and rustling continuously.

"Whoa……shit?"

Liang Yan was almost scared half to death.

Although he is an atheist, anyone who opens their eyes in the middle of the night to see such a scene would probably have their heart race up to 180.

But Liang Yan took a closer look and realized the figure was actually Lao Zhang; his fear instantly turned into endless bewilderment and doubt:

"Lao Zhang, what are you doing?"

Wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, with his hair still dripping water, standing at the open window having been blown by the wind for who knows how long, Lao Zhang crossed his arms and slowly turned around, his upper and lower teeth still chattering nonstop:

"I... I think... adding insurance is better."

……

Half an hour later, at the local hospital.

Liang Yan and Ka Lao Si sat by the bedside, watching Lao Zhang lying there receiving an IV; both were speechless.

"You……sigh……"

Ka Lao Si wanted to say something, but in the end everything boiled down to a single sigh.

Liang Yan knew Lao Zhang's condition wasn't serious—just a cold-induced fever; he figured a couple days of IV would fix it, so he wasn't overly anxious, though he was indeed speechless:

"I really don't know what to say to you; aren't you afraid of freezing yourself to death?"

In October, San Francisco has large temperature swings between day and night; one can wear short sleeves from noon to evening, but after midnight the temperature plummets to around 10 degrees.

Moreover, San Francisco is a coastal city; the wind at night is strong, and when shirtless, the perceived temperature drops to single digits.

What's more, Lao Zhang deliberately took a cold shower before exposing himself to the wind.

"That should be fine, right?"

Lao Zhang looked weak, but his face showed a cheerful grin as he foolishly smiled at the ceiling.

The two of them were again speechless.

Liang Yan glanced at Ka Lao Si, sighed, and said: "Since it's come to this, let's post on Weibo first."

Ka Lao Si immediately pulled out his phone and began editing on the team's official Weibo account.

……

Local time, 4 a. m.

Beijing time, 5 p. m.

The G2 team posted a bilingual announcement on both its official Twitter and Weibo accounts:

【To everyone:

【We have a sorrowful message to share with everyone: our team's pillar, top laner Island@jkzang, is sick.

【The good news is, it's not serious, just a common cold and fever.

【Diagnosis report. jpg

【Lao Zhang lying in bed. jpg

【The bad news is, Island will have to miss today's (tomorrow's) group stage match.

【Therefore, we will activate the emergency plan according to the stipulations in Riot's '2016 World Championship Match Rules', calling up the emergency substitute Expect, who had been preregistered before the tournament, and Expect will appear in today's (tomorrow's) match.

【Moreover, anyone familiar with our team knows that G2 has two player rosters with matching tactical systems; when our top laner is Island, the jungler is definitely Firrrrrre, but when the top laner is Expect, our jungler will switch to CyanideFI.

【The two top‑jungle duos have completely different laning styles, synergistic tactics, and levels of player chemistry; therefore, while activating the emergency substitute, we also decided that for G2's remaining group stage matches, CyanideFI will be the starting jungler.

【That's all.】

Riot's regulations stipulate that all S6 teams can only bring one substitute.

However, in addition to the regular substitute, teams can also register an emergency substitute to deal with possible extreme situations—for example, like G2, if a player suddenly falls ill and cannot play, the emergency substitute can be activated according to procedure.

At the same time, when a team activates an emergency substitute, the regular substitute can still rotate normally with the starting players.

In other words, a team can substitute two players at once, which is permitted by Riot.

In other words, theoretically, no one can find fault with G2.

Moreover, G2 has clearly explained why they substitute the jungler together, and the fact is indeed so; just by looking at G2's match records, one can easily see that they do this, with the two top‑jungle lineups essentially locked.

But the public isn't stupid either.

After all, the grudge between RNG and G2 is known to everyone online.

Damn it, RNG has just clinched first place to advance, and you, with a 3‑0 first‑round score, clearly likely to advance as first place G2, are now swapping the jungler—what do you mean?

Are you deliberately stirring up trouble or what!

Instantly, the entire internet exploded.