Chapter 654: As long as you support the LPL, we're one family

Wensen pushed the ashtray forward; the person sitting nearest to him, A Bu, stood up directly, silently reaching over to grab a paper ball.

Afterwards, Homme and FireFox also came over and each took one.

The three opened the paper balls in turn, each showing a different expression.

「Pfft! 」

A Bu re-rolled the paper ball into a lump and tossed it back into the ashtray, his face half proud, half sarcastic.

「Why go through all this trouble? If you had just listened to me earlier, it would have been over. 」

FireFox squeezed the paper ball hard, frowning; it was clear his mood wasn't good.

Homme also let out a light sigh, looking somewhat helpless.

But this result came about under Wensen's witness; the lot-drawing was done in front of everyone, and Wensen couldn't have tampered with it, so even if he was unwilling to accept it, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

Wensen spoke again: 「Alright, the starting lineup is now confirmed as EDG; next, we'll discuss based on the two possible scenarios after the first match. 」

「Don't worry, we'll definitely win the first game. 」 After securing the starting spot, A Bu's mood visibly improved; he directly interrupted Wensen's words and made the guarantee on the spot.

「Heh, so confident? Don't flip your car or it'll be funny. 」 The hot-tempered Malaxiangguo couldn't stand A Bu's smug face and couldn't help but retort.

But now A Bu is in a great mood, not provoked; he merely gave Malaxiangguo a sideways glance, then turned the tables on Malaxiangguo: 「We're all contributing to the LPL, Liushiyu—do you find saying that kind of thing interesting? 」

Malaxiangguo snorted and shut his mouth.

Wensen waved his hand: 「Alright, alright, we're all one team, we're all for the collective honor of the LPL; let's stop saying emotional things, let's not waste time, let's say something substantive. 」

As for the upcoming agenda, the VG members remained mere spectators.

EDG has been confirmed as tomorrow's starting lineup; therefore, unless tomorrow's Bo5 goes to a deciding game, the rest of the schedule has nothing to do with them, and under this premise, the only key point left for RNG and WE to compete over is——

Who will play JT or AHQ.

Who will go up against FW, M17.

Although we cannot completely determine how LMS will deploy their troops tomorrow, this can actually be inferred from the result of tomorrow's first game.

Nevertheless, that evening they only worked out a rough direction, without finalizing the order of appearance for tomorrow's second match onward, and eventually dispersed because it was too late.

In short, this meeting only set the starting lineup; the rest of the time was just idle chatter.

After the meeting adjourned, the VG members yawned as they left the conference room, returned to the training room and played two more practice matches; after reviewing the replays, the day ended.

Later that evening, VG's official Weibo announced the news that Liang Yan had been discharged from the hospital and returned to the team.

Fans howled in the comment section.

【Finally back! Want to see VG take on Lightning Wolves!】

【I think VG will hardly get a chance to face Lightning Wolves; the opponent will play Tian Ji's horse race.】

【Sigh, I originally thought we could still fight for first place and go straight to the finals, but I didn't expect WE to suddenly fall apart.】

【In the group stage, without Jiao Shen, LPL has no hope of contending for first against LCK; since we can't win first, we might as well save energy and prepare for the semifinals—it's obvious WE is hiding its strength.】

【I don't care about anything else; I just want to see Jiao Shen annihilate LMS!】

【Isn't Tainan all green? I see plenty of Jiao Shen and VG fans at the venue; now that Jiao Shen is back, tomorrow's VG appearance will surely be even more lively.】

【Because LMS is basically hopeless, while VG can now be said to be the only Chinese LoL team with a chance to win this year's S championship; if you don't support VG, are you supposed to support LCK?】

【Don't say that; there really are people who prefer to act like dogs rather than humans. I often hear some recording turtles shouting outrageous things at the venue—things that can't even be posted in the comment section.】

(Just casually throwing out a couple of sentences, don't take it seriously!)

In short, with Liang Yan's return, LPL viewers now have greater anticipation for tomorrow's semifinal against LMS.

……

The next day, it was still the Kaohsiung Exhibition Hall.

As the countdown ended, the LPL livestream officially began, and the three most popular LPL commentators appeared on camera.

It seemed the three had been chatting idly before, not knowing what funny topic they'd discussed, until the camera turned to them, at which point Wawa's face still bore a thick smile.

「Cough cough! 」

Wawa cleared his throat, puffed out his chest, sucked in his belly, stared straight into the camera, and spoke loudly:

「Greetings, summoner friends watching the screen, good afternoon! Welcome to the livestream of the 2017 League of Legends Intercontinental Tournament Asia Confrontation Tournament semifinals! I am Wawa! 」

「I am Miller, good afternoon. 」

「I am Ze Yuan, good afternoon! 」

The livestream switched to the venue; the camera panned over the audience seats, showing that the venue was almost full, and it could also be seen that many VG fans had come to the scene, with light sticks and placards bearing "VG" and "Firrrrrre" visible everywhere.

Cheers for various teams rose and fell.

In the LPL livestream, the commentators' voices continued to sound.

「Yes, then today's semifinal is between the host LMS region and our LPL region. Although we commentators are indeed not on site, through the director's camera we can actually feel that the atmosphere on site is very enthusiastic! 」

「Right, to be honest I'm a bit surprised; I never expected our LPL to receive so much support in their home turf! 」

「Actually, it's mainly VG's fans. 」

「Actually, they're all Jiao Shen's fans. 」

「Hahaha, but no matter whose fans they are, as long as you support the LPL, we're one family! Alright, let's stop the small talk and first look at today's unprecedented regional Bo5 schedule. 」

「Hmm, only the lineup for the first game has been decided: EDG vs AHQ; the later matches are still blank. 」

「That's right; the semifinal format will follow the group stage rules: the first match between the two regions must have its participants decided in advance, while the participants for subsequent matches will be determined on the spot! I personally really like this rule—whether it's fair or not aside, it will definitely make the matches more exciting! 」

「Deploying troops and scheming—this format indeed has its merits…」

……

On site, backstage, the LMS lounge.

The atmosphere was rather solemn.

Although the lineup for the first match had been decided the previous night, this had been kept strictly confidential until just a few minutes ago.

LMS found out about the LPL starting lineup at roughly the same time as the commentators did.