Chapter 129: A Chaotic World Championship!

On September 20, 2022, the three LPL teams set off for the airport, preparing to board the same flight to the other side of the globe.

The reason there were only three teams is that the Play-In stage, starting on the 30th, was located in Mexico City, which was not on the way to the Group Stage in New York City; the fourth seed, RNG, had already left early to prepare.

"Everyone check your things, don't leave anything behind! Once we're on the plane, there's no coming back!"

"Masks, masks, masks!"

"From now on, as long as you've left the door and are in a place where you can breathe outdoor air, your masks must be welded to your faces!"

The sound of wheels clattering against the steps echoed through the base as the EDG members dragged their suitcases downstairs in a hurry.

Upon arriving at the airport, the other two teams had already gathered there.

"Look! There's a huge rambutan!?" Ye Bo saw a fuzzy red giant from far away.

"Damn, looks like Brother Shuizi!" Jiejie squinted as he approached, and the more he looked at that big head, the more it resembled him.

JackeyLove watched the person approaching stare at his head, and he proudly shook the bright red hair on his forehead.

"Brother Shuizi, when did you dye your hair this color? It's so red!" Meiko couldn't help but tease.

"For good luck, aiming for a flying start!"

"But isn't red in the League usually an unlucky color for failure?" Ye Bo muttered to himself, "Plus, red could also mean an ominous late life, a sign of being covered in red hair."

JackeyLove clearly didn't read many novels; hearing Ye Bo's muttering, he didn't take it to heart at all: "We don't advocate feudal superstition, Master Ye, that's impossible!"

"You haven't seen the draw we got; with this group stage, I don't even know how we could lose!"

"My favorite LPL family motto: we can already start studying our opponents for the knockout stage. How about it, Manager, I'm going to use this for my trash talk!"

Ming Kai, standing to the side, felt a shiver run through his body upon hearing this familiar phrase, but he couldn't bring himself to be happy.

Damn it, our EDG draw is the worst!

Is it our EDG family curse that we must play T1 whenever we enter the World Championship!

In fact, that was indeed the case.

Group C, where TES was located, was undoubtedly the luckiest; as the only "non-Korean group," the first seed they matched with was a European team, and it was basically an open secret that DRX would fight their way out of the Play-Ins to join them.

In current perception, DRX was undoubtedly the weakest among the four LCK representative teams.

Whether looking at historical records or playoff performance, they couldn't really be compared to the other three!

Although JDG drew the seemingly strongest Gen. , the other team was a bottom-tier North American team, whose threat level was clearly not as high as the G2 that had caused the LPL so much trouble in EDG's group.

As for RNG, it went without saying.

Not only because the first seed of Group D was the consistently underperforming North American C9.

But also because the founder of the "1020" that makes RNG fans tremble at the mere mention of it—had already been taken away by EDG!

Ye Bo stood in front of the plane, took a photo of himself and the big plane behind him, and sent it to the "Loving Family" group chat to let them know he was about to depart.

Soon, several long voice messages popped up in the group, mostly Ye Ying's nagging.

"You must wear your mask well, don't go out on the streets by yourself, don't go out at night, everyone there has guns, it's chaotic."

"Master Ye, time to board!"

The EDG members preparing to board shouted, and seeing Ye Bo standing there, they turned and waited together.

The thoughtful Flandre noticed Ye Bo was listening to voice messages and even jogged over to help him carry his small bag so he could reply to messages; Ye Bo cast a grateful look at him.

"Hey, no need, Mom. I'm going to New York, not some Indian savage jungle. It's not that dangerous, don't worry, don't worry."

After replying to the messages, Ye Bo followed his teammates into the cabin and found his seat.

He sat down and adjusted his breathing, his fingers unconsciously stroking the seatbelt at his waist.

This was his first time flying.

Before long, a slight sense of weightlessness arrived.

The next moment, looking out the window, the land of his motherland had begun to blur and shrink.

Fortunately, after adapting, the experience of flying didn't feel like much; it was even quieter than a high-speed train, and Ye Bo quickly adjusted.

He then closed his eyes, his consciousness entering another world.

The "Summer Champion" trophy clearly had higher value than the "Regular Season MVP" trophy, and it provided 【3 Legendary Essences】 that could be used to improve {Basic Physical Talent}.

After fully digesting and training with the previous 2 Legendary Essences, the physical talent displayed on Ye Bo's panel had gone from {32 years old} to {30 years old}.

And Ye Bo clearly already had some faint "feelings."

How to put it... it wasn't that very obvious improvement like faster reaction time.

More like having more energy? A healthier body? Stronger immunity?

Anyway, he really wasn't as out of breath when running in the morning.

There really was a feeling of becoming "younger"!

However, it was clear that this youthfulness didn't refer to a change in age.

After all, Ye Bo was only 18; if it were taken literally and he ended up becoming a dozen years younger... wouldn't he revert to an infant's physique!

This result confirmed his previous guess: due to the system's misalignment, the 【Repair】 originally intended for "Old Man Bo" would likely turn into an 【Evolution】 effect when applied to himself!

As for the specific effects, perhaps as the function description stated, he needed to wait for his physical talent to reach the maximum value before he could unlock the {Depth Limit of Specialized Abilities} improvement.

And the training method was quite simple—it was actually just the various fundamentals of League of Legends.

For example, Ye Bo's previous two training sessions were "Last-hitting 10, 00 minions with auto-attacks" and "Dodging 10, 00 skills using pure movement" in the special trial grounds.

The special trial ground was like a ping-pong machine; there was a constant stream of minion waves, and AI heroes that automatically switched were constantly casting skills from every angle...

The good news was that this training mode didn't consume {Trial Ground} time and could be paused and resumed at any time.

This was very convenient for Ye Bo.

The flight to New York would take a full dozen hours; the surrounding discussions were lively at first, but soon fell silent as everyone chose to pass the time by sleeping.

13 hours flew by in the blink of an eye.

When the timer Ye Bo set went off, the moment he automatically detached from the virtual space.

What caught his eyes were large heads staring at him from all sides.

"Damn, there's a monster!"

The red-haired monster JackeyLove opened his mouth and said: "Master Ye, I thought what was on the internet was made up, but you really do sleepwalk?"

"I told you, that's not sleepwalking, our Master Ye is training even while sleeping!" Jiejie laughed from the side.

"Believe, believe, I believe~"

Although the progress of the training mode wasn't as intense as the trial ground, and it wouldn't make Ye Bo suddenly shout "Twin Sword Slash!", slight hand twitches were unavoidable.

The EDG members were naturally used to it.

However, others found it very fresh and often came over to sightsee during the flight.

"Let's go, let's go, time to get off the plane."

"Everyone be careful, try not to have close contact with foreigners, especially those who aren't wearing masks."

Nowadays, the number of international flights had generally dropped to freezing point, but the number of passengers was still not small; many students still had to go to the US for their studies.

And the attitude toward prevention abroad was vastly different from that at home; those who could survive were basically all "Double-Yang Bodies" who no longer wore masks.

Fortunately, the LPL players were all in business class, so they could minimize contact when getting off the plane.

The group separated by team like they were running from poison and boarded buses marked with the Riot logo.

"You will need to quarantine after arriving at the hotel," the accompanying Riot staff member instructed: "We will deliver three meals a day to your room doors, and you need to be tested daily..."

After all, this World Championship was being held in the hometown of Riot Games, so the conditions were relatively complete, and the hotel was located in the center of New York City.

The moment Ye Bo landed, he took photos of the itinerary and sent them to the WeChat group to put his family at ease.

Afterwards, he opened the window a crack to let in some air, looking at the foreign scenery outside in a daze.

The World Championship journey he had been longing for.

From this moment on, he had finally officially embarked on the journey!

"Worlds! I'm here!"

"... ait, what is this smell? It's so stinky!"

"Damn, isn't the air in New York supposed to be sweet? I don't know, I thought this was India; it's even stinkier than Brother Xuanjun's feet!"

"Get lost! But it really is a bit stinky, what is it?"

Ye Bo quickly closed the window and waited for a long while before the strange smell dissipated.

It was Ming Kai, who had been to the United States before, who explained to everyone that it was because "leaves" had been legalized in New York State since 2021...

Ye Bo, who was leaving the country for the first time, only felt he had a new understanding of this place after asking what "leaves" were.

He had originally planned to go out for a stroll after the competition, but now he had completely abandoned that idea.

However, to keep his mother from worrying, Ye Bo specifically avoided those areas when filming the street scenes along the way.

Arriving at the official hotel, each player was separated for individual quarantine, and the team manager Ming Kai was responsible for sending everyone to their rooms one by one.

"This is the super account for the US server distributed by Riot. You can use this for training recently. Remember to adjust your jet lag and get some sleep to ensure your condition; that's the most important thing!"

"If you have any problems, call me; I'm right next door."

Ye Bo nodded, took the peripherals from the other party, and turned to enter the room to begin his 7-day quarantine.

The room wasn't small and had a computer with decent specs; other than that, there was nothing special, which was enough for an esports player.

However, Ye Bo wasn't planning on sleeping.

He had already replenished his sleep with the training mode on the plane, and he was full of energy, so he logged directly into the US server account provided by the officials, ready to play a few games to warm up.

And the "jet lag" problem that gave many players a headache was, for Ye Bo, a non-existent problem.

As long as he timed it right and entered the {Trial Ground} to trigger a bug at the right time, he could correct the jet lag...

The days of the World Championship were getting closer.

Before the Play-In stage started, fans could only search for news on social media to understand the preparation status and personal safety of each team.

Soon, the players' accounts were dug up by content creators and fans to observe their training status.

【The Snail Shell is still fierce! 79% win rate, 436 points in Grandmaster on the North American server; it's been only a few days and he's almost Challenger. Is he really "as bad as a Master"?】

【If we're talking about climbing, you have to look at my chinesekungfu, 80% win rate, 636 points in Challenger! Should be the highest-ranked among all the super accounts, right? Already 77th!】

【Heh, Ye Wen just relies on the number of games played. He's played dozens more than my Fei. If my Fei played that many, he would have reached Challenger long ago!】

【Never took a math class? High number of games with an even higher win rate—the quality is higher, can't you calculate that?】

【I can only say don't be too optimistic. Once Maokai lands, he can't move. EDG is missing a coach; I want to see how you play this tournament!】

【I reasonably suspect this is an excuse EDG prepared in advance for getting knocked out in the Round of 16 in the Group of Death. Otherwise, why isn't my Top Esports brother positive? Could it be because Brother dyed his hair red!】

【Heh, don't try to use the sheep as an excuse! Who hasn't had the sheep! I'll just see which B gets knocked out in the Round of 16 this year!】

Just on the second day after landing in the United States, coach Maokai confirmed he was positive, running a high fever of 39. degrees and becoming bedridden.

Fortunately, the rest of the EDG members were quarantined in time and did not get infected.

However, those who know, know.

Missing a coach doesn't have much impact on the current EDG.

Time came to the 30th, and all professional players' North American server accounts basically began to enter a dormant period.

The reason is none other than—because starting today, the 【Play-In Stage】 officially begins!

All players also began to arrange some tournament scrims, reducing ranked training.

And as the outpost of the World Championship.

Without a doubt, the Play-In Stage will be the place where all teams verify their understanding of the latest World Championship patch from afar!

"Xiao~hu~!"

"This solo kill is a huge disaster. Xiaohu's LeBlanc feels like he hasn't woken up yet."

"Zeka's Akali has something going for it."

The most noteworthy part of the Play-In Stage is undoubtedly DRX and RNG, the battle for the fourth seed between the Chinese and Korean regions.

Coincidentally, these two teams happened to be assigned to the same group, directly facing a head-to-head slaughter!

It's just a pity that RNG couldn't defeat their opponent. After a 42-minute grueling battle, DRX ultimately displayed a stronger competitive performance.

"Can't help but say, this patch seems quite suitable for Alpaca and the others," Meiko muttered to himself.

"Zeri was directly nerfed to the point of being unplayable, Kalista was also cut. Now Caitlyn and Ashe are very strong; these are all Alpaca's specialties."

In fact, in the patch following the playoff patch, Zeri had already received a major nerf, but it wasn't highlighted because the regional qualifiers used the previous patch.

And the final straw that truly caused Zeri's complete slump was that the Lulu she was paired with was also heavily nerfed, leaving only a Yuumi combo, which is very hard to pick in the draft.

Coupled with a series of buffs to heroes like Caitlyn, Ashe, Miss Fortune, and Ezreal.

Naturally, this led to Zeri's pick rate dropping infinitely.

"But looking at it this way, Wukong is indeed not doing well. Maokai is actually quite fierce after this small rework..." Jiejie paid more attention to the changes in the jungle position.

"Yeah, there are quite a lot of changes in every position. My mid lane changes look the smallest; besides Viktor, it seems to still be those few key ones."

With the coach absent, the coach of the neighboring TES, Crescent, took the initiative to volunteer to come over to EDG to help coach.

But he was immediately and decisively declined by the EDG members.

At this moment, Ye Bo, holding a small notebook, was recording draft matters.

Almost without passing any resolution, everyone seemed to take it for granted, naturally defaulting to this "substitute coach."

In the World Championship patch, Maokai received a small rework and has become a must-ban or must-pick choice.

On the contrary, Brother Wukong, who dominated the Summer Split, had many of his base stats cut. Coupled with major buffs to heroes like Graves, Lee Sin, and Hecarim, his pick rate plummeted just like Zeri's.

To no one's surprise, the changes on the eve of the World Championship indeed caused the environment to undergo earth-shaking changes!

And in the early stages of the patch.

Everyone's understanding of the patch clearly hadn't created too big of a gap yet.

"Actually, I feel that RNG having three people positive has a huge impact. I hope it won't affect them in the Group Stage."

Standing on the side assisting Ye Bo, acting as a "coach assistant," Clearlove couldn't help but break into a cold sweat for his old rivals.

After all, they heard that as soon as RNG landed in Mexico City, three people immediately tested positive on the spot.

Immediately after.

On October 5th, the National Day holiday, something even more terrifying happened.

This finally made everyone take the "Impact of the Positive" more seriously.

Because RNG actually lost a game to DFM in the Play-In Stage!

Successfully breaking the historical record of LPL against LJL, they had the honor of becoming the first LPL team in history to lose to the Japanese region!

This loss, which absolutely exceeded everyone's expectations, stirred up a wave of pessimism on the internet.

【It's over, it's over! Looking at it this way, the LPL is definitely finished this year!】

【Ah? I thought it was RNG 3-1? Why does it look like DFM 3-1?】

【Really have the nerve, losing even to the little days, who else can you lose to next? Are you going to lose to Vietnam too? Really don't even want your faces anymore!】

【Don't troll, RNG can only go to Group D, they can't lose to Vietnam, at most they lose to North America!】

【Report! Latest news, it seems someone on DK has also been hit. RNG's dog luck is too good, damn it!】

【Got it, got it! It's all strategy. Get positive first so you won't be positive later. By the time the game is halfway through, transform into the Roaring Heavenly Venerable and output directly to their faces. Guaranteed win method for the second round!】

Although there was the turmoil of losing to the Japanese team.

However, the competitiveness of the Play-In Stage was really not high, and it was obvious that there was a gap in strength between the two sides, so the final quota for entering the Group Stage was not affected.

The four teams that fought their way out of the Group Stage were also added to the four groups according to the regional avoidance principle.

The final grouping for the Group Stage was released one after another————

Group A: EDG, T1, G2, DFM

Group B: Gen. , JDG, 100T, FNC

Group C: RGE, TES, GAM, DRX

Group D: C9, CFO, DK, RNG

Three days later.

New York City, Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

"Audience friends from all over the world! Now please use the warmest applause to welcome the champions of the previous 2021 World Championship to return the trophy!"

"Let us shout their names together: Edward Gaming!"

The bearded host on the scene pulled his voice to the limit.

This is a reserved program for the opening ceremony every year, letting the previous champions return the trophy with their own hands.

The significance of the ceremony is perhaps to tell everyone: there is no eternal champion; only by constantly moving forward and improving, and becoming the strongest of each year, are you qualified to lift this trophy again or for the first time.

Of course, not all championship teams can perform this ceremony "with their own hands."

For example, S10's FPX, because they failed to make it to the World Championship, it was ultimately returned by staff members.

The five people standing in the player tunnel walked out together, Ye Bo standing in the middle, holding the base of the Summoner's Cup.

In the S12 season, the Summoner's Cup, which had been passed down for 11 years, also underwent a "rework," and its style and design had completely changed.

So, this was actually the first time everyone on EDG had seen this Summoner's Cup.

This brand-new Summoner's Cup also had a very fitting and profound slogan————

"Open, a new era!"

The spotlights of the venue flashed wantonly on the trophy, the silver light shining and extremely eye-catching!

The five members of EDG did not leave the stage after returning the Summoner's Cup, but stood quietly by the trophy and waited.

And Ye Bo, who was close at hand, just like all the players and spectators around him, was staring intently at this symbol of the highest honor in Summoner's Rift.

The other four were also unable to help but glance at the trophy from time to time.

Everyone's eyes were incomparably fiery.

"In the next month, top teams from all over the world will engage in fierce battles on Summoner's Rift. Only the final winner can succeed in chasing the stars and lift the throne!"

"Then let us wait and see which eight powerhouses will stand out in the Group Stage!"

"First to appear is our defending champion! EDG!"

(End of chapter)