Chapter 115: I will prove who is the number one mid laner!

Just before the LPL finals, the teams representing each major region had basically been decided.

Due to JDG's loss in the losers' bracket semifinals, TES surged into the finals with a guaranteed runner-up finish; combined with their points from being the Spring Split runners-up, TES became the second team after EDG to confirm their spot at the World Championship early.

On the contrary, JDG, as the first-place team in the regular season, actually had to go play in the regional qualifiers.

It is worth mentioning the changes in the competitive scene during this period.

It is quite obvious that ever since the LPL winners' bracket semifinals, the regional qualifiers in the LCS, LEC, and even the LCK have suddenly seen the appearance of many "Mid Gragas" picks!

You must know that throughout the entire summer before this, Mid Gragas had only been picked once or twice, and no one was playing it at all during the start of the playoffs.

It was entirely after that one EDG match that it suddenly became a hot pick overnight, influencing and affecting many draft decisions.

As everyone knows, the professional scene is the "Canyon Barometer."

Many heroes and playstyles that are usually extremely unpopular, once they appear on the professional stage or have a highlight performance by a star player, immediately become all the rage.

For example, the S5 CJ top laner, the S7 Ardent Censer meta, the final flash of the old Aatrox before his rework, the overnight explosion of the new river-roaming Aatrox, the Blade of the Ruined King Renekton considered a "cult" build, and Galio, which is only played when one wants to get carried.

But in fact, professional teams and players are also constantly learning and exploring, always trying and practicing new understandings that emerge.

After all, the version changes in League of Legends are so fast that even the longest World Championship patch only lasts for a little over a month; no one dares to say they have developed it to 100%.

It is not just Mid Gragas.

There is also Mid Pyke, Akshan, the bot lane Yasuo system, and so on.

Things that were originally very unpopular are now being played in the finals and regional qualifiers of major regions around the world.

And Ye Bo does not yet know that among foreign players on the internet, he has already earned the nickname "Doctor Ye."

It is not just because of the few unpopular heroes he used on the stage.

More so, it is because those "magical plays" he researched, after being spread to foreign websites, immediately stunned foreign players, who just exclaimed, "This is magic!"

As for the few days waiting for the finals to arrive, the EDG members were quite relaxed.

But this clearly did not count as a good thing.

Ever since the LPL reformed to the double-elimination format, the fact that the winners' bracket final winner has little advantage has been widely criticized.

The "resurrection armor" (extra life) was not used, and the actual benefit gained was almost non-existent; it was just an extra choice of side priority.

On the contrary, their opponents, TES, went from losing to JDG in the semifinals → beating BLG in the losers' bracket → beating JDG in the losers' bracket semifinals.

They played three best-of-five series in about a week!

By the day of the finals, EDG had not played a match for nearly a week, while TES was in red-hot form.

And it was on the eve of the finals that the EDG members went out on a field trip to record the pre-match trash talk.

They even held a rehearsal for the "Opening Ceremony."

It was Ye Bo's first time trying such a segment since he grew up, and his first time facing a camera without sitting in front of a computer screen, so his curiosity was exceptionally strong.

The photography director stood in front of him to instruct: "On the day of the finals, there will be special effects added in the background. You need to look at the markers on the ground, otherwise, it might affect the stage effect..."

September 1, 2022, the day of the LPL Summer Finals arrived!

Ten o'clock in the morning.

The official LPL account released the "2022 LPL Summer Finals Pre-match Trash Talk" video simultaneously across major platforms to warm up for today's match.

At the beginning of the video, light and cheerful background music played.

Ye Bo and Yu Wenbo appeared on screen separately, standing in front of a door and looking at each other—a large finals poster was visible between their gazes.

Just with the appearance of the two at the beginning, the chat was already very lively.

【Bing Bing Bing】

【Ye Ye Ye】

【The big one is coming! I predict TES 3: EDG!】

【3-1 is considered a failure, and you say 3-2? Just wait for me to kick the Governor to the roadside with one kick!】

Ye Bo and Yu Wenbo pushed the door and entered; the other team members were already sitting face-to-face inside, looking like it was a "last supper."

After the two sat down, Guan Zeyuan and Jide, dressed in waiter uniforms, handed them "menus" respectively.

Yu Wenbo opened the menu, pointed at the "Goose Egg Custard" on it, and asked in confusion: "Just this? It's been a year, it must be stale by now, can this even count as a big meal?"

Ye Bo also opened the menu and pointed his finger to order quickly: "For the appetizer, let's have the 'Golden Pig Trotters' first, and I remember Bobo Milk Tea comes with it, right? Remember, no ice!"

The two flipped through the pages quickly, simultaneously turning to the page printed with the "Silver Dragon Cup."

The two faces looked at each other diagonally, then shouted firmly at the same time: "I want this!"

Guan Zeyuan chuckled, shook his head with his hands behind his back to apologize: "Sorry, this is a limited edition, there is only one."

Under the subtitle of the last sentence.

It was also accompanied by the translation of "One and Only."

The scene shifted, the background music became more dynamic, and the two sides began a direct dialogue after ordering.

Yu Wenbo looked away from the camera with a pretentious indifference, his round face seemingly full of determination: "I have already played many finals; this time it's just a normal state of mind. We were one step away from the Northern Expedition in the Spring Split, I hope we can finish the Northern Expedition in the summer and win the championship!"

The corresponding voice from EDG was a sincere-looking Meiko: "This is already my sixth time recording trash talk for the finals. I feel very experienced, but... this seems to be the first time I've met TES in the finals~"

The camera turned to the scruffy-looking Left Hand; everyone was looking forward to what harsh words he would say!

After all, someone had just ordered food, saying they wanted to eat Golden Pig Trotters.

As a result, Left Hand avoided the laning phase and just changed the subject with a cheeky smile: "It's not that, buddy #@ is it! % haven't woken up yet, it's dawn."

The camera shifted to Tian next to him; his statement was clearly much more violent.

"I also played against EDG in the summer finals last year. I remember I always had the advantage in the jungle; Jiejie, your teammates were just too strong."

"But I have changed teammates this year too."

"And to be honest, I feel our mid laner is better than the opponent's now. Changing mid laners also depends on the opponent."

【The sky! Has brightened!】

【Golden Jade Relationship? Too Depressed Relationship!】

【Don't say it, these two are quite a match. One was greened by the ink-haired turtle, the other is the friend of the green, an internal digestion closed loop, heh】

【Xiaotian is worthy of being a master of small essays, 'changing mid laners also depends on the opponent' is a double entendre!】

Amidst the climax of the chat, the camera turned back to Left Hand.

"I feel Ye is just like that, if the jungler doesn't come # I wouldn't be solo-killed &*."

With the help of subtitled translations, the chat immediately understood and filled with comments of 【Coward】.

And the camera flipped to the EDG side.

Jiejie patted his chest and said: "Last year, Brother Tian gave us the Summer Split championship. It just so happens they are also the runners-up this spring, so let him take another runner-up spot and let Brother Tian become the LPL's number one four-time runner-up king!"

Viper scratched his head in confusion and pointed at Left Hand: "What is he saying? I don't understand, it feels like his Chinese is not as good as mine."

Meiko, who was next to him, leaned over to act as a translator, and then Viper looked enlightened.

"Oh, then that's fine."

"Anyway, our mid laner has already crushed all LPL mid laners, one more doesn't matter, let's just go together."

The camera focused on Ye Bo's solo shot.

He made a timely gesture of spreading one hand and beckoning with four fingers.

It was as if he was saying—"Come here"!

The part with the top laners from both sides changed style.

Qing Tian on the opposite side was cosplaying Gragas, patting his belly, while Huang was cosplaying Lucian, holding two toy guns.

Then Lucian was bumped off the chair by Gragas's belly.

Saint Gun Brother revealed his honest upper and lower teeth: "Other things don't matter, but I hope the guys on the other side will give me a birthday gift. I didn't receive any for my birthday two days ago. How about the Silver Dragon Cup~"

Finally, the scene returned to the two people who had just entered the door.

Yu Wenbo crossed his arms, looking indifferent and confident: "We have been on a Northern Expedition all year, and we have successfully reached the end. TES is best at losing a few games first and then winning, giving the opponent some hope!"

"I feel Ye is still too young... like 'peaking at debut,' I already did that four years ago~"

"Let's finish quickly, I can't wait to see my old friends from the World Championship."

Support Mark clapped like a seal next to him, leaving Yu Wenbo with a round, pretentious profile.

The scene came to Ye Bo.

He first faced the camera with his usual sunny smile.

"Before coming here, Factory Manager said there's no need to hold back this time, let me say whatever I want to say."

"He also said that the current players are all no good! Everyone is timid when talking trash, they don't even have one percent of his previous skill! It's simply boring!"

"So, I stayed up all night digging out all of Factory Manager's past interview footage and reviewed them ten times."

Ye Bo slowly stood up, pulled open his upper garment to the camera, revealing the EDG team logo inside.

He made a gesture that looked vaguely familiar.

While recording this segment, the other four members of EDG and the five members of TES on the opposite side broke into laughter at least a dozen times.

And even looking at this repeatedly re-shot footage, everyone still had a look of trying hard to hold back laughter.

Only Ye Bo looked extremely serious, and precisely because of this, it made people think of a certain bowl-cut face even more.

Ye Bo didn't care about that; his eyes stared straight into the center of the camera.

"I will prove on this finals stage today... who! Is the number one mid laner in the LPL!"

"And after today."

"Welcome back to the era ruled by EDG."

The chat for the previous sentence had already completely exploded.

And with the final closing sentence, the screen gradually slowed down, presenting the 2022 "Fearless to the Peak" season theme.

It instantly pushed the atmosphere to a climax.

【Holy crap, Ye!】

【So handsome, truth be told, EDG really does have that vibe of the domestic dominance from the S5 and S6 era now!】

【Picking up Ye Wen this year was definitely a stroke of insane luck. Damn, if he had gone to RNG back then, wouldn't we have easily taken the S-Championship this year? Even Uzi would have come running back!】

【Master Ye has truly inherited the teachings of the Factory Manager, I for one love this flavor!】

【Trash talk really needs the Factory Manager; isn't the essence of trash talk just making predictions and calling the opponents losers? Everyone else is too scared of being held accountable, so they're cowardly as hell, fearing defeat before the match even starts! Cowards!】

Once the trash talk video was released, it immediately ignited a frenzy online!

Topics discussing this match could be seen everywhere on major forums.

And among them, the most common was naturally the discussion of the two teams' strength and who would win.

【Rational discussion, what are the odds between EDG and TES?】

【Seven-three, I'd say. As long as Knight can hold his own against Ye Wen, it feels like TES is clearly in better form.】

【Damn, the guy above, stop trolling. Even I, a TES fan, wouldn't dare say that so loudly. You must be a JDG fan... no, you're a 369 fan!】

【Seven-three is indeed excessive, but five-five is still possible. Don't forget, before Ye Wen arrived, EDG hadn't won a single match against TES for many years~】

【Anyway, Ye is truly the future. As far as I can see, he's the most stunning rookie mid-laner to debut. Even if they only take second place, his performance in the regular season and the previous few best-of-fives is enough to prove himself.】

【I feel like it's three-seven at most. EDG can slaughter the pigs of JDG, while your TES goes to five games every single time. Does that even need to be said?】

Most of the discussion content was clearly more optimistic about EDG.

This was also normal; after all, EDG's performance in the playoffs was plain for all to see, whereas TES seemed quite bumpy.

But some also believed that the reason JDG lost so miserably was entirely because their main carry was the jungler, and the mid-lane, acting as the third carry or even a utility role sacrificing for the jungler, naturally became the breakthrough point.

It was a bit like being "countered by the team composition."

Looking at TES, they definitely count as having a proper mid-bottom dual-carry setup. First of all, the team characteristics are different, so they absolutely cannot be compared horizontally.

Of course, regardless of how the discussions go off the field.

Ultimately, the truth must be settled on the arena floor!

At five in the afternoon, the crowd was already surging in front of the Hongqiao stadium in Shanghai.

Because the lockdown had just been lifted, everyone had been feeling a bit stifled at home. Although ticket sales were limited, there were still many people outside the venue checking in and taking photos.

Ming Kai, wearing a mask, carefully led two middle-aged people who were also wearing masks through the queue to the entrance, showed his credentials, and went straight through the staff entrance.

Hearing that Ye Bo's parents were coming to watch the match in person, Ming Kai immediately offered to help host and take on the responsibility of a tour guide.

Ye Bo felt very embarrassed, but Ming Kai said that as long as he didn't tell his master about the trash talk recording, it would be fine.

"Um, Uncle and Auntie, this water cannot be brought inside."

Ming Kai smiled and gestured to the two, letting them place the mineral water bottles in their hands into the locker at the door.

After putting them down, Ye Ying couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled: "Why is water not allowed inside the venue?"

Before Ming Kai could answer, Ye Xiong, standing beside him, actually took the initiative to whisper: "I remember seeing it yesterday, I think. There was an League of Legends match before where some 'Egyptian team' beat 'our team,' and as a result, a spectator in the audience threw a mineral water bottle at the players..."

"Ah!? There's such a thing?" Ye Ying widened her eyes, feeling very surprised at first.

But suddenly she felt something was wrong: "Wait, why would you search for this?"

Ye Xiong answered as a matter of course: "It's my first time watching this kind of match, how would I understand it without looking up some information?"

"There's me, I'll provide the commentary for you."

Ming Kai, standing to the side, watched the two bickering and felt a bit awkward standing there.

How the hell did this end up pointing at me?

But he couldn't exactly say that he was the one standing on stage when it was thrown, and he almost got a snake thrown back at him by that fat guy on the other side.

Ming Kai hurriedly spoke up to explain: "Ah, no, Uncle and Auntie, that's just an internet rumor!"

"I'm not very clear on the specific reasons, but it's definitely not because of that. The management system for matches back then was indeed imperfect, but now, things like throwing mineral water bottles at the stage are impossible to happen again!"

Ming Kai had taken the initiative to be their guide today, naturally because of Ye Bo.

Ye Bo was now the apple of the eye for EDG's top brass. The Factory Manager not only liked this player very much, but as a manager, he naturally wanted to build a good relationship with the other party.

And he had once heard the other party mention that his father did not support him playing professionally.

If he left a bad impression on them, and they really thought this competition was still like the amateur setup of the ancient times, that wouldn't be good.

Ming Kai acted as a well-behaved guide the whole way, introducing the various layouts of the League arena to the two, trying his best to highlight the professionalism and weight of today's grand final venue.

Born in '93, Ming Kai was turning 30 this year, and he was quite mature and at ease when dealing with elders.

He was also still efficiently executing his tactical philosophy of protecting the mid-lane.

"Wow! Auntie, you're a Gold-ranked player? That's very impressive to reach Gold at your age!" Ming Kai said with genuine admiration upon hearing their casual chat.

"This Gold rank is something I got myself. Ye Bo's Ahri was actually taught by me!" When Ye Ying talked about this, she didn't look like a person in her forties or fifties at all: "I'm still practicing that... that, what's it called?"

"It's the one Ye Bo plays best. My memory isn't what it used to be, what's it called?"

The Factory Manager smiled, wanting to give the other party a hint.

But on second thought, Ye Bo was good at too many things now; even the so-called "best" one seemed to be one of many.

Ye Ying frowned and tried hard to recall, then a name suddenly popped into her head.

"Li Bai!"

Ming Kai was walking along fine when he suddenly stumbled violently.

What the hell!

Fortunately, EDG also had a Honor of Kings division, and Ming Kai had been exposed to it a little, so he vaguely guessed what she meant.

"I understand, Auntie. It should be Akali or LeBlanc, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes! That's the two!"

"Auntie is truly amazing. Even these heroes are in your champion pool. No wonder you could give birth to such a talented player like little Ye Bo."

Ming Kai chatted with the two all the way to their seats, while Ye Xiong kept frowning and scrolling through his phone, not knowing what he was looking at.

Six in the evening.

The League arena was already packed, and even though only one-third of the seats were open, the atmosphere was still incredibly enthusiastic.

"Uncle and Auntie, the opening ceremony is about to start. We've really spent a lot on this opening ceremony..."

Ming Kai whispered his introduction, confident that this opening ceremony would definitely leave a good impression on the two and present a high-end performance.

After all, he had heard that this opening ceremony spent millions on special effects, so it should be very spectacular.

The main lights went out, and the grand music of the grand final opening ceremony began to play.

A VR visual giant screen projection appeared on the ground, and ten clear screens stood up, as if corresponding to the ten battle positions of Summoner's Rift.

But just at this moment.

In the center of those ten giant screens—a huge "three-pointed star emblem" suddenly condensed!

Immediately following that, each giant screen showed a piece of a streamlined car body, which finally condensed into a sedan that drove forward, as if breaking through the bridge of reality to penetrate into the scene with a cool drift.

"..."

Ming Kai looked at the cool opening that looked like a car commercial and awkwardly glanced at the side.

Fortunately, the two next to him seemed to be watching with great interest, as if they were indeed shocked by the stunning special effects.

The lighting shifted, and it began to enter the main topic.

A vivid, huge image of Ornn appeared, waving the rock hammer in his hand to smash at the screen. The sound of shattering and the vibrating images gathered together, as if he really wanted to smash the barrier between reality and virtuality.

Along with every strike of Ornn.

The screens also presented the team emblems of the past Summer Split champions.

From PE to EDG, from LGD to EDG, then RNG, FPX, TES...

Until the S11 Summer Split, after going around in a circle, the Silver Dragon Cup returned to EDG's control!

With the final heavy hammer strike, the blank space at the end of 2022 waited in suspense.

The scene also instantly arrived at the volcanic lava land of Ornn, the Fire under the Mountain.

A resounding sheep bleat echoed through the air, and Ornn carried his heavy hammer and smashed it hard against the series of champion emblems, throwing them into the furnace!

With a crisp clang, a divine artifact waiting to be forged flew out first!

It was the long-handled sickle blade used by a ninja. The camera focused on it, and the ignored background music switched inadvertently.

"Ye lures the enemy into the trap! Ye charges into the battlefield! R3 draws out four 777s! He wants to pierce the opponent's heart with his own strength!" Jiejie's voice shouted wantonly: "This is player Ye's Akali! You cannot let this Akali out!"

The screen turned back to Ornn, and when the heavy hammer struck again, the forged artifact turned into a green-glowing firearm blooming with electric light.

"JKL uses his ultimate to flash over the mountain and enter the field! His electric burst damage is extremely explosive! He wants to force the JDG formation to disperse; this team fight might overturn the outcome!" Guan Zeyuan roared with all his might: "Ninety-two thousand damage! This Zeri has broken the record!"

Ornn, standing in the center of the lava, constantly changed the style of the divine artifacts he forged.

Finally, it turned into the famous scenes that the ten finalists had played in this Summer Split, and along the way, it let the audience review the strong enemies they had defeated along the way.

The realistic and exquisite images, combined with the exciting and magnificent background music.

Although there was a slight difference between the effect on site and on the live stream screen, the perfect coordination of the sound effects and visuals still left Ye's parents, who were in the front row, feeling surprised.

They had never imagined that the opening ceremony of just a competition would have such an effect.

Shouldn't it just be ten computers set up for people to play games face-to-face...

Even if Ye Xiong didn't understand the meaning of the images at all, just feeling this atmosphere was enough to make his blood boil.

Finally, Ornn took out a horn, blew it, and pushed the ten divine artifacts into the furnace.

When the molten flames dissipated, all the special effects disappeared.

Only the shimmering Silver Dragon Cup remained in the center of the stage!

The passionate voice of the host, Liu Hang, rang out at the right time: "After a month of fierce fighting in 11 best-of-fives, only two teams have finally emerged from the double-elimination format!"

"They are Top Esports and Edward Gaming!"

"Top laners, wayward Huang Renxing and Flandre Li Xuanjun, junglers."

Liu Hang waved his hand to point, and the director used a split-screen technique to provide close-ups of the players' matchups, introducing them one by one.

"Next are the mid laners, knight Zhuo Ding and Ye Bo!"

Seeing her son appear, Ye Ying in the front row of the audience immediately clapped excitedly, dutifully playing the role of a fan club member.

Ye Xiong looked at Ye Bo, who was bathed in the spotlight and radiating an aura of confidence, and the commotion that suddenly broke out in the venue beside him.

At this moment, he felt something different.

He had never seen Ye Bo in such a state anywhere else before.

"Today, let us see if TES will continue to write the glory of 2020 and lift the Silver Dragon Cup again, or if EDG will defend their honor, occupy the Silver Dragon Cup, and recast their golden body!"

"Let us wait and see together!"

The simple opening ceremony ended, and the live broadcast room for the match was packed.

【The opening ceremony was actually quite good, except for that B-grade start. I'm thinking, why not give Ornn a Mercedes skin? He could drive a Mercedes for his ultimate and ram the opponents to death!】

【This opening ceremony isn't good enough? Be content, it's not bad that they didn't fish out a divine artifact—a Mercedes—from Ornn's forge for you!】

【Welcome to the 12th QQ Speed Summer Finals. First to appear is the number one mid laner—Mercedes-Benz!】

【EDG, charge, charge, charge!】

【Can TES show some strength? Don't let the match be less exciting than this opening ceremony. The Sailor Galaxy Battleship that's been hyped for a year, do something useful!】

【Laughed, to use that line from my Master Ye, with him here, welcome back to the era of LPL being ruled by EDG!】

Tens of thousands of netizens flooded in, wanting to watch the dialogue between the strongest teams in the LPL.

The screen of the commentary desk appeared.

And with a crisp sound, the pick-and-ban screen was presented!

The final battle of the LPL Summer Finals has been unveiled!

(End of this chapter)