Chapter 93: Travel Plan

After the match ended, Ka Lao Si stood at the door to welcome everyone back, enthusiastically hugging everyone except AP.

AP opened both arms to hug the air, then was bewilderedly pulled aside by Ka Lao Si.

Then Zven and Mithy walked over from the front and gave AP a "brother, you're on your own" expression.

AP started to panic, desperately trying to recall where they made a mistake.

Mithy was the last to enter the lounge, gently closed the door. Zven still dazed said to Mithy:

"The coach and Lu Ka haven't come in yet, why did you close the door?"

Outside the door.

Ka Lao Si turned to face AP, placing a hand on AP's shoulder.

"Come on, Lu Ka, let's go to the restroom for a quick chat."

No one knew what Ka Lao Si and AP talked about; anyway, by the time Liang Yan returned from the interview, the two had already gone back to the lounge.

Liang Yan glanced at AP, whose face was unusually red, and understood.

Ka Lao Si, on the other hand, looked excited and elated.

……

Not long after the match, Riot Games sent FNC a penalty notice; that night around 11 p. m., FNC posted a penalty announcement on its official Weibo.

【On the evening of June 30, our club's jungler Spirit, after losing the match against G2, lost emotional control and smashed his headset on stage, an extreme act that violated the "2016 League of Legends Professional Player Conduct Regulations." The club firmly upholds the stable and healthy development of the European esports industry; after discussion by club management, it decided to fine Spirit 1,000 euros as a warning, and hopes Spirit will take this to heart and be more mindful of his words and deeds in future matches.】

After the announcement was posted, it caused quite a stir on European online networks; netizens voiced their opinions, some started an "FNC potluck" in the comment section, some shouted for Spirit to get out of FNC, while many more were spamming:

【Feigning to be a professional player】

Ka Lao Si then posted a tweet on his personal Twitter:

【I asked our player; Firrrrrre didn't mean to look down on Spirit, he was simply confused because Spirit actually tried to dodge Rek'Sai's ultimate combo with Flash, which indeed looks very amateurish.】

Stemming from an offhand comment by Liang Yan in the post-match interview, this wave of drama completely exploded; in the short term it probably won't die down, and it could even become a classic meme in European esports history, forever circulating alongside Spirit's entire professional career.

But some people couldn't stand Ka Lao Si's petty triumph.

The conclusion of the G2 vs. FNC match announced the official end of the first round of the European summer regular season; a certain big streamer regarded by countless European viewers as an opinion leader, based on the first-round matchup results, came up with a team ranking:

OG > G2 > H2K > FNC > SPY > UOL > others

Some hardcore FNC fans kept spamming OG > G2 everywhere, trying to shift the blame.

Actually, given OG's performance in this round, they absolutely don't deserve to be ranked above all those strong teams, but they happened to win the season opener against G2, which had defeated the other teams, so this ranking puts OG at the top simply to spite G2.

But don't say that; some people actually believe it, thinking OG really is stronger than G2.

Before the G2 vs. OG match the next day, under the European esports official account's match preview, those spamming "Feigning to be a professional player" and "OG > G2" were basically split fifty-fifty.

Seeing this, Ka Lao Si got angry; he had originally planned to let Lao Li play today, but in a fit of rage he changed his mind and directly swapped in Liang Yan.

A one-sided 2-0 victory shut up everyone who had been spamming OG > G2.

G2 fans rejoiced, started digging up old posts, found every comment saying OG > G2, and left replies underneath:

【What now?】

All that can be said is that when it comes to filtering fans, Ka Lao Si really has a knack; even the team's fans have a temperament similar to his.

That night, Ka Lao Si led the group to a celebration banquet, where he announced a major travel plan:

After the regular season ends, the whole team will go to China for a trip, and on the side meet up with Snake, whom G2 had scrimmaged for half a month offline.

In an instant, the cheers erupting from the nine people almost lifted the ceiling of the private room (9 people = 5 starters + 3 substitutes + 1 team leader).

Later, returning to the base, Liang Yan and Lao Zhang lay on the beds in the dormitory chatting about this, both feeling it was a bit strange.

Lao Zhang wondered:

"What exactly is the reason? The schedule looks tight, and we haven't reached the point where we can ignore practicing the postseason patch and still easily win the championship, right?"

"I guess it's because of us."

Liang Yan thought for a moment, then said:

Lao Zhang was very surprised:

"What does that have to do with us?"

"Maybe they want to bring us back to visit our families."

"But you don't even have any family..."

"They don't know that."

"Huh?"

"I never said that. No need to mention it, right?"

"... Yeah. But is it really because of us? With so little time, to bring us back home to visit family... do we... does Ka Lao Si really care that much?"

"What do you think?"

Lao Zhang fell silent for a few seconds.

"I don't think it'll work. But you do."

……

Ka Lao Si's "China trip" plan was only announced within the team; outwardly he kept his lips sealed, not leaking a word to the public, not even anyone in the office knew.

One reason is fear of being stirred up again; another is worry that sponsors might overthink.

Although the summer regular season has only just passed the halfway point, while it currently looks like G2's championship odds are soaring, no one knows what direction future patches will take; if someday the patch environment becomes extremely hostile to G2—for example, if junglers are nerfed into supports—it's uncertain whether G2 can maintain this momentum.

However, this is merely a theoretical possibility; the actual chance of it happening is minuscule, after all Riot Games also has to consider the impact.

In the anticipation of G2 Zhong Ren, days passed one by one, and with time the number of remaining regular-season matches kept decreasing.

Meanwhile, G2's win streak count kept increasing.

After defeating OG, it was a 13-game winning streak (in small games); then, with each Bo2 match, it rose steadily: 15, 17, 19, 21, 23...

After the second crushing defeat of FNC on July 31, G2's regular-season winning streak finally came to a halt, permanently frozen at the terrifying number of 29 consecutive wins.

If only counting the big matches, it's a 14-win streak.

And Liang Yan also earned his 16th personal MVP after this match.