Chapter 383: Facing off against

The night the first day of the knockout stage ended.

An entertainment program titled "S13 Night" on the official LCK streaming channel aired as scheduled.

As the host region for the World Championship, the Korean officials, already adept at producing various entertainment programs, naturally wouldn't let such traffic go to waste; they had been hosting this pre-match preview-style show since the quarterfinals, similar to the LPL's "Dining Hall."

"Alright, everyone! Today, our guests for 'S13 Night' are the S10 World Champion top laner Nuguri and last year's S12 World Runner-up jungler Pyosik, here to bring you a preview of tomorrow's match!"

Nuguri, who retired this year, and Pyosik, who had just been eliminated in the Round of 16, appeared on screen.

In fact, the organizers had originally wanted to invite ShowMaker as well.

Unfortunately, after just being knocked out in the Round of 16, ShowMaker really felt he didn't have the face to come in person—Pyosik, on the other hand, was playing for an overseas team, and TL wasn't even the North American first seed, so the impact of the Round of 16 exit wasn't as significant.

Moreover, after earning US dollars for a year, Pyosik discovered that money wasn't so easy to make, and he was very eager to return to the LCK next season.

"So, both sides facing off tomorrow have many of your former teammates, and both of you have played against some of them last year. Who are you two favoring?"

The microphone was first handed to Pyosik.

Pyosik said almost without hesitation: "I think V5 will beat HLE three to one!"

"The way we lost with DRX last year is how HLE will lose this year—after all, Deft and BeryL are no less skilled than Viper and Meiko, and while Canyon is definitely stronger than me, the key mid and top lanes are exactly the same matchups as last year."

"Especially the mid lane!"

"In case you've forgotten, in last year's finals, Ye solo killed the mid laner six times in three games. Six times!!!"

"So, even counting the factor that Canyon is stronger than me, I think three to one is the absolute best they can do!"

Hearing the guest go as far as belittling himself to subtly remind everyone who the "culprit" of last year's World Championship was, the host struggled to hold back a smile.

However, they weren't too surprised by Pyosik's answer.

After all, it was common knowledge that after S12, the DRX "palace intrigue" incident occurred; even Deft had heard from Doinb across the ocean that his own mid and top laners looked down on their jungler and insisted on forcing management to replace him.

It could be said that if not for that incident, V5 might not have its current roster, and Pyosik, a dignified World Championship runner-up jungler, wouldn't have been reduced to having no job and being forced to work in North America.

The microphone was then passed to Nuguri.

Hanwha had Canyon, who left DK this year, and V5 had BeryL; all were his long-time former teammates, so it was like choosing between the palm and the back of his hand.

"Actually, anyone who has followed HLE's matches this year knows that since Canyon joined Hanwha, his help has indeed been significant."

"Zeka and Kingen are both players known for their laning, and Canyon's addition allowed them to form the LCK's most iconic aggressive team, also known as 'the team least like the LCK,' displaying very strong chemistry."

"And this 'full-attack top-mid-jungle' configuration, which is rare in history, is unique among all teams at this year's World Championship; even V5 and Gen.G don't possess it, as their top laners aren't the type who excel at laning."

Nuguri analyzed for a while, and it sounded like he favored HLE.

But under the host's hopeful gaze.

He suddenly changed his tone.

"But I think they will likely be 3-0'd."

"..." The host was clearly very surprised by his answer, their smile stiffening: "But HLE hasn't played against V5 once this year, and the matchups are completely unknown. Is there a possibility?"

Nuguri shook his head.

His voice and tone seemed to recall that final World Championship match before his retirement.

"Last year, I also met EDG in the quarterfinals; at that time, their entire team had tested positive, and only Ye was standing on stage."

"You haven't stood in the same Summoner's Rift as him, so you won't know this person's terror, nor will you know the feeling of having your entire tactical plan punctured by one person."

"Unless Hanwha has some new way to restrict Ye, but DK, T1, and G2 in the Swiss Stage have already tried 1-on-1 marking, lane swapping, and target-banning champions, yet none succeeded."

"And if they can't do that, then the result should be 3-0."

The host was struggling to keep it together.

Although they were an entertainment program and it was meant to be for fun—it still didn't look good for two home-region guests to be so pessimistic about their own team!

Fortunately, the clever organizers had a backup plan.

"So, besides the two of you, our S13 Night has also invited a mysterious guest to join us via online connection... Please welcome S10 World Champion mid laner ShowMaker!"

ShowMaker's face appeared on the broadcast screen.

Although he had declined to come to the venue, it was hard to refuse an online appearance, and he looked somewhat embarrassed.

"ShowMaker, you should have just heard the two players' evaluations. Regarding your old teammates and old rivals on both teams, which side do you support more?"

Fortunately, the embarrassed ShowMaker had already recovered his composure with his thick skin and chuckled.

"Then I definitely support HLE, after all, V5 just sent us home! Especially that guy BeryL, he even mocked me after it ended! Canyon, you must avenge me!"

"As for the score, I won't predict it."

"Hoping both sides bring us a wonderful match is the most important thing!"

ShowMaker's support finally saved some face for the program.

The host followed the lead: "That's right, just as our home commentators said, since Gen.G lost their touch after resting for so many days and performed poorly, V5 will likely be the same."

This program was quickly relayed in real-time to the domestic forums, sparking quite a bit of discussion.

[No prediction? No need to predict!]

[You should learn from Brother Show's emotional intelligence, but he's right to favor Zeka; like attracts like, this is the 'recognition between regions'!]

[Heh, all of you who look down on HLE, just wait for me. Do you really think my {BLG Second Team} is just playing around with you!]

[Don't even say it, HLE really is the BLG Second Team! Kingen, Zeka, and Aiming are all BLG veterans. So Hanwha is also 'Hua'!]

[This is great, if HLE really makes the quarterfinals tomorrow, give half the honor to the main team BLG. It wouldn't be too much to count this as a Round of 16 for BLG, right? — Even without going to the World Championship, they can still get a Round of 16! This is the strength of our BLG, win!!]

[Brothers, did anyone manage to get tickets for tomorrow's quarterfinals? I'm damn near offering ten times the price to scalpers and still can't buy any! I feel like the LCK officials are pulling some strings!]

November 3rd, the second day of the quarterfinals.

However, the ticket checkpoint today looked the same as yesterday, still exclusively Koreans—a considerable number of domestic and Western viewers who didn't manage to get tickets could only look for the must-respawning NPC scalpers near the entrance.

Yet, the scalpers on-site seemed to have received some "death order" from the higher-ups that they dared not disobey.

As soon as they heard a non-Korean accent, they would turn around and run!

The angry domestic viewers could only watch anxiously as Korean students approached the scalpers, verified their identities with fluent, standard Korean, and bought tickets.

"Oppa, oppa, can you sell all these tickets to us? Our university's esports club didn't manage to get any..."

"You guys are Korean, right?"

"Aniyo, of course! We are all LCK fans! This is my student ID—HLE! Fight!"

"Okay, then I'll sell them to you for 20,000 won more per ticket. Scan the code to add me as a friend and I'll send you the ticket codes. Hey, which historical drama is this avatar from? I've never seen it?"

The venue was already starting to warm up.

But the viewers who had traveled from afar from China, unable to get tickets, could only stand at the entrance helplessly, holding their phones and watching the upcoming event through the fence.

Just then, someone wearing a baseball cap and black sunglasses, acting suspiciously, walked toward them.

"Friends, friends, want tickets? Want tickets?"