Chapter 153: A Born Superstar on the Stage!

The Roaring Emperor listened to these words.

He looked again at the "1v5" seating arrangement on the player stage, and for a moment, he really couldn't find a response.

Even if DK truly still had some lingering aftereffects that hadn't fully healed, the other side had four people who didn't even come to the venue!

He could only pretend not to hear, wait a moment to barely adjust his tone, and avoid sensitive words that might tug at the audience's heartstrings as much as possible.

"GG!"

"Our third seed DK has unfortunately fallen, but congratulations to EDG. They have truly displayed the strength expected of the defending champions and the first seed of their region."

"Especially this young rookie Ye; I have to say, he is absolutely one of the most formidable players this year. The biggest difference between the two teams, perhaps, lies in their roster reinforcements for the new season."

The experienced Roaring Emperor tried to divert the focus and comfort the Korean audience by emphasizing the "defending champion" status, the "match between the first seed and the third seed," and the "roster reinforcements" for the new season.

He used this to mask the main point.

But the LPL commentary desk on the other side was not nearly as subtle.

"Three to zero! Three to zero!" Wang Duo shouted angrily: "EDG went all out to sweep DK, replicating the result of last year's final! They have successfully advanced to the semifinals!"

"Master Ye's performance in the quarterfinals can be called a miracle!!!"

"We are destined to see the LPL region on the stage of the semifinals!"

Rita kept clapping like a seal: "This quarterfinal match was truly spectacular; we witnessed an absolutely unforgettable performance!"

The data analyst Guan Zeyuan stepped up, his voice deep and resonant: "There is one thing that perhaps many viewers don't have a deep impression of."

"This is the first time in eight years that an LPL team has defeated an LCK representative team with a 3-0 record on the World Championship stage!"

"The last time, we have to go back to the match where the Star of the Planet OMG faced NaJin White Shield at S4!"

"EDG is creating new records at this World Championship! Breaking the top-seed curse in the group stage and writing a new historical chapter in the quarterfinals—I believe their journey will continue!"

The scorching spotlights of Madison Square Garden flashed crazily, focusing on the player stage on the left.

The large horizontal screen behind displayed the team photo, and the giant Victory logo and the black-and-white knight team emblem descended upon the venue with wings of victory!

The cheering was incessant, lingering in every corner of the arena!

However, because the other four positions only had four plush bears slumped over the empty gaming chairs, they could not respond to the shroud of light.

In the end, the five main spotlights that should have been distributed across the five positions could only converge on the seat in the middle of the player stage, completely swallowing that slender figure in a waterfall of light.

Ye Bo, who was still checking the post-game stats, suddenly "saw a bright light"!

He almost thought there was some special reward for this match and blinked his eyes repeatedly.

Only after a moment of daze did he realize it was light from reality.

But he did not avoid the beam of light; instead, he faced it and looked toward the audience, listening to the countless shouts of his ID from below.

This scene made his heart surge, and the passionate emotions he had suppressed for three games welled up in an instant.

Then, Ye Bo couldn't help but shout toward the audience, tearing at his vocal cords!

Of course, this shout of emotional release could not be heard at the venue.

But the clearly visible lip movements and actions were captured by the audience below, instantly triggering a passionate and crazy resonance from the Western fans.

"Oh~~~~"

"Ye! Ye! Ye!"

"Ye! Ye! Ye!"

The livestream was also ignited by this scene.

【He has such a great sense for the camera; Master Ye's personality is simply that of a born superstar on the stage.】

【This feeling of being both green and wild is really good. If I were on the opposing side, I'd be afraid of him before even playing!】

【A lone horse charging into the heavy encirclement, his heroic spirit makes the enemy tremble!】

【You can always trust Ye in a desperate situation!】

【As a fan of the school and a white monkey, I was originally a Ye-hater, but to be honest, this quarterfinal really convinced me. He's truly awesome.】

After interacting with the scene, Ye Bo, who was alone on stage for the first time, felt a bit unfamiliar with it.

After a while, he remembered that he was supposed to go for the post-game handshake.

With his feet feeling light from the rush of adrenaline, Ye Bo took light, bouncy steps, walking out of the player stage and crossing the center of the stage alone toward the opposite side.

Without the obstruction of noise-canceling headphones, he could hear the passionate voices of the English-language casters.

"EDG has not stopped their forward momentum due to the trouble of illness! Just as Ye is now striding forward to fist-bump his defeated opponents on the other side!"

"Today, led by this young Eastern rookie, EDG has once again defeated the strong enemy that once hindered their path to the top. They are continuing to write the legend of the knights!"

"One person present is worth a thousand troops!"

Although Ye Bo didn't understand much of it.

It didn't affect the contagion of the emotion; his excited cheeks were slightly flushed.

By comparison.

The expressions of the entire DK team were hard to look at.

ShowMaker sat slumped in his gaming chair, staring blankly at the red defeat screen, seemingly unable to recover for a long time.

Last year's final was 3-2; they were just one small step away from completing a back-to-back championship, becoming the true second-best mid-laner in history, and becoming the "next Faker."

But this year, they fell in the quarterfinals, and in such a manner.

ShowMaker knew best that in these three games, not only did he fail to suppress the opponent's most important core carry, but he was actually firmly suppressed by him for all three games!

Most importantly, if the opponent had been his old rival Scout, it would have been fine.

But the opponent was a pure rookie!

And, after being dazed for a long while, ShowMaker suddenly revealed a "relieved" smile for no reason.

Compared to the high-spirited boy from back then who saw the backstage camera and immediately took a big step forward to "make a face."

Today's ShowMaker seems to have "grown up."

Perhaps, just as he said last year, "Failure always runs through the entirety of life."

Until Ye Bo arrived at their player stage and was patted on the shoulder by a teammate, he woke up as if from a dream, took off his headphones, and stood up.

Ye Bo, who was facing them for the first time, didn't have any special feelings for these few, just going through the normal ritual of fist-bumping one by one.

But at this moment, he was thinking to himself.

If his teammates were here, they would probably be quite moved. If only he had asked them if they had any harsh words they wanted to say so he could say them for them!

The fist-bump was finished.

Ye Bo walked out of the player stage.

And the five DK members behind him watched his departure in unison, their eyes filled with complexity.

Although they hadn't played many scrims with EDG, they were rivals for two years, and they knew very well that today's EDG was definitely not in their complete state.

However, in such a state... they still beat them three to zero!

What the DK members knew even more clearly was—the reason for all this was really not because they were weak this year.

It was entirely because of this person in front of them!

Ye Bo returned to the center of the stage and bowed to the audience.

The international student fans and the domestic fans who traveled thousands of miles to North America seemed to be "competing" with the Westerners, both sides screaming crazily!

After every World Championship match.

Even Ye Bo himself could clearly feel the step-by-step increase in his popularity and fan base.

This was actually quite normal.

After all, Ye Bo's playstyle was really too easy to "attract fans."

Those high-risk operations and whimsical ideas were all bringing infinite visual impact and deep impressions to the audience!

Most League viewers watching League matches cannot necessarily empathize with the games within the undercurrents, nor can they necessarily feel the tactical collisions and operational gaps on and off the field.

The most direct feeling is the development of novel "strategies" by the players and experiencing the game content from a different perspective.

And the most direct, real-deal mechanical plays!

Ye Bo, who returned to the player stage, did not leave.

It was obvious that only he could accept the interview today.

He sat on the player stage waiting for the venue's process, putting his headphones back on.

"Hello? Is anyone still there?"

"Here, here, here!"

Unsurprisingly, four voices responded instantly.

Clearly, no one had left; everyone had grabbed their phones at the first opportunity and opened the livestream.

"So cool, Master Ye! You just... that picture of you under the lights, I saw that the Tieba forum has already exploded! Pure Tiga!" The surfing expert Jiejie naturally checked Tieba at the first opportunity.

"You're still coughing, hurry up and get some good rest later. I'll wait for you to carry me in the semifinals~" Ye Bo joked happily.

"Absolutely, I feel refreshed after winning this match!"

Meiko laughed: "I saw ShowMaker was stunned; he sat there staring blankly for a long time."

"Of course he'd be stunned; anyone who finishes laning against Master Ye has to be stunned for a while!" Flandre, who had experienced it, said so.

"Indeed." Viper remained as concise as ever.

However, it was clear that he felt like a huge weight had been lifted, and even his voice sounded more energetic.

The top laner's condition recovered the best, and the jungler could take better care of the mid-laner.

The support, relatively speaking, as long as they didn't want to "steal the spotlight," had a slightly lower probability of making mistakes.

Only the AD, as an important carry and also one of the positions most prone to sudden death, could bring fatal results to the team even with the slightest mistake.

It was obvious that in these few games, the tempo initiated or influenced by the bottom lane was quite significant, and several waves even nearly caused a disaster!

So compared to the others, Viper felt more of a "survivor's" relief, or perhaps a sense of fortune he had never experienced before.

It's so good to have someone to fall back on.

After chatting with his teammates for a while, the on-site staff walked over to notify them.

"Say no more, I'm going to the interview first!"

Ye Bo took off his headset again.

However, before he stepped back onto the stage, he did not walk straight up.

When Ye Bo returned to the center of the stage for the interview, his supporters in the audience once again created a massive wave of sound.

And it was right when the audience saw clearly the four "figurines" Ye Bo was holding in his arms.

The successive screams instantly echoed throughout the arena!

The familiar Sjokz was still waiting with a smile, and seeing this gesture from him, she also revealed a knowing smile.

Ye Bo leaned his head over and said something to the translator first, and the translator immediately went to relay it to Sjokz.

After listening, Sjokz showed an expression of surprise.

But she quickly regained her smile and nodded in acknowledgment.

Once the cheering from the audience gradually subsided, Sjokz began the interview.

"Hello viewers from around the world, welcome to the post-match interview segment!"

"We have invited today's quarterfinal winners—the entire EDG team! To come and accept the interview!"

Although Ye Bo could not fully understand the meaning.

But upon hearing Sjokz draw out the tail of her sentence while saying the team name EDG, he understood immediately.

Just like a mother kangaroo, he faced the camera and shook the four figurines in his arms vigorously.

The audience finally understood what Ye Bo had wanted to say just now, and even the hostility "arguing" in the live chat calmed down instantly.

"First of all, congratulations to EDG for winning this best-of-five! Also, congratulations to player Ye! You have won the MVP for this quarterfinal match again, this is your sixth MVP of this World Championship!"

"And in this match, you also successfully broke the record for damage share in a single game at the World Championship."

Ye Bo had just been on voice comms with his teammates and wearing noise-canceling headphones, so he hadn't heard the segment happening on site.

Hearing the interview question now, he realized it a bit late and turned his head to look at the big screen behind him.

His own portrait was prominently displayed there.

Just like with the Emperor in the first game, in a tactical system that was nearly four-protect-one, coupled with Ye Bo's extremely stable self-restraint and lack of risky plays, maintaining a high KDA made winning the MVP a matter of course.

The difference was—this match broke the record for {damage share}!

Damage dealt: 30, 72

Damage share: 59. 7%

It was exactly enough to break the record of 59. 9% held since the Season 4 championship by the world's number one Anivia player, North American mid-laner "Froggen"!

When the casting desks everywhere announced this, everyone was shocked.

After all, one must know, don't look at it as if the two percentages are very close, seemingly just "barely breaking" the record.

But the gap between an ancient season like Season 4 and the current version, which constantly emphasizes balance, is not just a little bit large!

To be able to put out such an exaggerated damage share in this version, truly dealing 60% of the damage by oneself, is absolutely outrageous and terrifying!

Of course, this also led to some "criticism."

Even Ye Bo could hear some implications from Sjokz's roundabout questioning.

Clearly, this match was not a single-core composition for the Emperor.

To be able to put up such data, besides the fact that the Emperor's power spike arrived too early in this game and Ye Bo was basically poking the entire opposing team by himself from the mid-game onwards...

It was obvious that someone on the team had underperformed, causing the damage output to be unevenly distributed.

The Kalista only dealt a measly 8, 92 damage, which was even lower than the Lucian on the opposing side who had been getting beaten the whole time; this is naturally unacceptable for a hero strong in the early-to-mid game.

"So, how would player Ye evaluate this best-of-five and the performance of your entire team?"

Ye Bo did not take the microphone handed to him—his hands were full.

The translator thoughtfully held up the microphone, and he answered directly without even thinking: "I think data really isn't important. I think no professional player considers data during a match; everyone is just thinking about how to win."

"As for the so-called damage share, the help provided by my teammates is definitely not something that can be measured by these numbers!"

"All I did was command the sand soldiers to go up and deal some damage; my teammates had to consider much more, like how to protect me, how to follow up with skills..."

The live chat, which had been extremely hostile, heard this interview.

It suddenly and miraculously calmed down.

It was just that for a moment, the chat felt as if oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar had been overturned—it was full of flavor.

Ye Bo leaned his head down again to find the microphone and said: "And I also hope everyone doesn't forget that my teammates were unwell during today's match; I think their performance was already very impressive!"

"Anyway, if it were me, I definitely couldn't do it~ When I got hit by the bug, I could mistake Sett for Ahri!"

This last sentence made the whole arena burst into laughter, and the sounds of attack quickly disappeared completely.

After all, it seemed that was indeed the case.

And after the translator fully relayed Ye Bo's words, there was a commotion on site as well.

Sjokz smiled and ignored this slightly provocative question, continuing to throw the next question at Ye Bo—which was also the question Ye Bo had "proposed" to her before he went on stage.

"Alright! Let's interview... top-laner Flandre!"

"Regarding winning this best-of-five, and achieving victory in your first encounter with player Nuguri, what are your thoughts?"

The translator held up the microphone again.

But this time, Ye Bo deliberately "pinched" his throat, and a slightly funny voice came out.

"Gah, this one."

"I can only say there is a gap even among champion top-laners!"

"Facts prove I haven't gotten old, gah! I can play until 2025!"

The more Ye Bo spoke, the thinner his voice became, and when he shouted, it even cracked, as if he were cosplaying Donald Duck.

But the isolated EDG members were actually all stunned when they saw Ye Bo holding the figurines on stage.

Because Ye Bo hadn't told them about this bit just now.

"Oh no, my carefully maintained humble persona has been broken!" Flandre laughed and cursed in the voice chat.

"And this guy, my voice isn't that shrill; he's imitating Xiaohu..."

But as he spoke, Flandre's voice was clearly moved.

"Huh? Flandre, wasn't that persona of yours... *cough cough*... already broken by Viper?" Jiejie laughed loudly, making the atmosphere cheerful again.

Sjokz on stage continued with the next question.

Since it was a "full team interview," one question per person was definitely necessary.

In order, the next was the jungler.

This time, Ye Bo specifically flicked his bangs, while deliberately making a clearly "fake deep" version of his voice and a cold, punchable expression.

"This, in terms of seniority, Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle are from the same generation!"

"Besides, who doesn't know that 【Four】 is bigger than 【Three】? Winning is only natural!"

"Normal performance, normal performance~"

Jiejie backstage watched Ye Bo's actions and couldn't hold it together himself.

"Ah no, does this guy usually act this cocky?"

Meiko nodded very affirmatively: "If Master Ye weren't a bit more handsome than you, I would have started to suspect if you two had some blood relation."

"??? Saying he's fiercer than me is fine, but saying he's more handsome is going too far!"

Sjokz continued the questioning.

The next one was Meiko.

Ye Bo's version of Meiko wasn't as similar; mainly because Meiko's linguistic characteristics weren't very obvious, and the questions regarding the support role were relatively simple—after all, the opposing support was also a newcomer.

Then there was the final one, Viper.

Ye Bo very meticulously used a slightly broken Chinese pronunciation, which sounded quite like the Xinjiang accent.

The answer was ridiculously short, only one sentence.

"I can win even when I'm red-hot!"

The translator, worried that foreigners wouldn't understand the imagery of "red-hot," translated it according to its true meaning of "having a fever."

But the domestic live chat instantly became lively.

【Bold!!!】

【Tears in my eyes, family, this live "four-protect-one" Monster Reborn is so full of life.】

【I just said Master Ye was born for this arena; the bigger the stage, the more it stimulates his potential! I can only say it's fortunate he came to EDG; if he had gone to some bottom-tier team, he might have been buried!】

【Impossible, how could such a mechanical monster be buried? Unless some idiot coach made him play some Karma wheelchair mid-laner, then even Faker would be buried! Faker also became famous for playing Zed!】

【This is our new team soul! Does your team have such a team soul?】

【We do, our team's soul is currently reporting this news.】

【Wrong, your team's soul should only have swum to the Yellow River by now, still a few steps away from home~】

Sjokz cooperatively completed this somewhat dramatic interview.

As a veteran League host with ten years of experience, she had interviewed countless players over the years.

But clearly, the person in front of her had left a deep impression on her, both inside and outside the game.

The interview reached the end, which was also that most common procedural question.

"The last quarterfinal match in the lower bracket is about to start tomorrow, and it's a battle between the number one seeds of two regions!"

"So, what are your expectations and outlook for your semifinal opponent in the next match?"

Ye Bo thought about the situation in the bottom half of the bracket and did not make any direct assumptions about the opponent.

Even though this match was a three-to-zero sweep, the tension it brought Ye Bo was not light in the slightest; the various offensives and strategies were all surprising and astonishing.

Especially in this final game, the several bizarre offensive designs from Kayn made him inexplicably excited!

Every team has its own specialty and trump card; one should not underestimate anyone.

However, the stronger the opponent, the more Ye Bo feels thrilled and pumped up.

"The results for the bottom half of the bracket haven't appeared yet, so let's look forward to our opponent emerging."

"But no matter who we are about to face, we have confidence!"

"I can only say"

"I also hope our opponent is already prepared to face the complete form of EDG!"

Without a doubt.

The last hope of the region had successfully achieved such a great victory in the quarterfinals.

When this news quickly spreads back home, it will inevitably stir up a frenzy of public opinion on all major forums!

(End of chapter)