Chapter 28: Fastest Championship Record, Youngest LPL Champion! (Please keep reading)

Congratulations, QG!

3-1, QG won two straight games to become the 2016 LPL Spring Season champion!

LPL has created another new champion!

Let us welcome the new king's ascension; we can see Jin Gu Gu already excitedly practicing Wing Chun on site.

Yes, at the same time we should also give applause to RNG, who only had one spring of practice and got runner-up, which is already amazing.

In front of the camera, the RNG members hung their heads in dejection, their spirits low.

Mata and Looper could barely hold on; Xiaohu and spicy hot pot one covered their face with their head, the other almost paralyzed on the gaming chair.

As for the beef noodles ad who played in the final game, after the match he kept scratching his head; his already thin hair became a mess, and at his young age he was already heading toward the look of a Shaolin monk.

On the other side, QG presented a completely opposite scene.

Ying Bi Ge, stop jumping, it's time to shake hands.

Xu Dongmen led his team to the RNG players' bench, shaking hands with each opponent one by one.

There wasn't much talk; he just nodded, at most patting their shoulders and saying 'keep it up'.

After the handshake, he walked to the center of the stage.

Under the witness of tens of thousands of spectators at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center, Xu Dongmen, Doinb, UZI, V, and the five members of Heavenly Disaster Apocalypse jointly raised the Silver Dragon Cup.

Not long after, Lin Ke brought the coaching staff and other teammates onto the stage, and the championship trophy was raised again.

We did it, they did it, congratulations QG!

Duan Xuan, holding a microphone, appeared before the camera to conduct the post-match interview as the host.

This is actually inappropriate; he is a football show host, doesn't play LOL, doesn't understand LPL, and today he was purely invited by the organizer's Banana Plan to fill the slot.

Among so many players and coaches on stage, before today Duan Xuan could only name one person: UZI.

This caused a serious problem: his on-site interview questions were superficial, always leading to awkward silence, prompting the barrage to frequently complain.

After the first few interviews, only V's off-the-cuff remark, 'It's only natural we could win; the champion is definitely better than the runner-up,' became a little meme.

I feel quite lucky.

The microphone was passed to Xu Dongmen, who was asked, 'What does it feel like to break the LPL record by going from debut to championship in less than a month?' He calmly replied, 'Just rely on good luck; I happened to run into it.'

The audience below burst into laughter.

The host may not understand, but the crowd's eyes are sharp.

In one sentence, if the junglers of both sides were swapped in today's BO5, the odds are that the one standing here now would be RNG.

In the three games they won, Xu Dongmen's performance was MVP-level.

He shone so brilliantly on the field that even the superstar UZI looked somewhat dimmed today, reduced to a supporting role.

I know you're only 17; before coming up I specifically asked the organizers for data, and after my calculations I found that, XDM, you are not only the fastest to win a championship, but you also broke the record to become the youngest champion in LPL history.

Duan Xuan looked at Xu Dongmen with admiration, his face full of 'the younger generation is formidable'.

People in the football industry seem to always be especially sensitive about age…

Huh? Is that so?

Xu Dongmen raised his eyebrows, momentarily doubtful, then suddenly seemed to realize something, and had an epiphany.

Yes, I'm quite sure; before you, this record was held by EDG's support player Meiko, who was 17 years, 3 months, and 20 days old when he won the 2015 Spring Championship, whereas you are 17 years and 3 days old, a difference of over three months.

After Duan Xuan finished reading from his cue card, he looked at Xu Dongmen and said, 'XDM player, you must have just turned 17, right?'

Ah?

As soon as he said that, not only Xu Dongmen was a bit dazed, but Doinb and the others beside him also looked puzzled.

Dongmen had his birthday three days ago? How come we didn't know!

At the crucial moment, Xu Dongmen broke the awkwardness with one sentence: 'I celebrated my lunar birthday.'

The misunderstanding was cleared!

The reason he didn't react right away was because he was thinking about something else.

Duan Xuan's data was wrong; when later generations tallied champions, Meiko was the only player to have won an international tournament at age 16, namely the 2015 MSI championship.

This isn't Duan Xuan's fault; the error came because, when EDG participated in MSI last year, they inflated Tian Ye's age by half a year for safety.

June 6 was changed to January 6!

Winning MSI at 16, let alone winning the Spring Championship.

Of course, these are trivial details; players like Xu Dongmen usually don't care about them—what difference does a few days early or late make?

Moreover, if we really talk about it, I'm already past thirty……

On the other side, Duan Xuan continued: 'Next, let's interview UZI. May I ask what your current mood is?'

Just really excited, especially happy.

UZI took the microphone, his chubby little face steaming.

UZI being UZI, as soon as he spoke the crowd's cheers rose wave after wave, quickly reaching a climax.

After four years competing in the LPL, today he finally got his hands on the Silver Dragon Cup.

This is also his first major championship in his professional career.

Xu Dongmen lifted the trophy after just one month since his debut.

But UZI took nearly four years!

In such a stark contrast, how could the audience not feel happy for him?

UZI also didn't disappoint; his subsequent remarks were mature and proper, making one involuntarily recall the scene of him a year ago, when playing for OMG, he sat limp in his chair, weeping bitterly.

Is this really the same person?

Come to QG, you've come to the right place!

Alright, finally we'll pass the microphone to the coaching staff; may I ask if you have anything to say?

Duan Xuan looked around casually; seeing the interview about to end, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Each to their own specialty; although he could hold his own, he had to admit he couldn't form an emotional rapport with the players on stage or the audience below, which would inevitably ruin the interview's effect.

Still the same old saying: it's awesome!

Lin Ke stepped forward, speaking for the coaching staff: "As a veteran esports player who's been grinding since TGA, I just want to say one thing: I once had a chance to win a championship and didn't cherish it, but today we seized it—the championship belongs to QG. Thank you, everyone!"

The response from the audience was lukewarm.

The QG players on stage gave face and clapped loudly, especially those who knew the inside story, like Ai She Jiayi and others.

What a teammate—RNG's final game was utterly helpless!

When a team member appears who is disloyal and divisive, winning becomes extremely difficult.

The simplest example: QG won 10–1 in the first round of the regular season and led the pack, but as soon as Da B fell out with his teammates, they could even lose to the Dark Four Heavenly Kings, stuck in a losing streak.

Today's RNG encountered the same problem.

After Chris, another epic-level tragic fool was born.

No one outside knew what happened; at that moment the forum was full of sympathy for his beef noodles, feeling sorry for him being thrown in on the last game to take the blame, wildly denouncing MLXG's tyranny.

Look, he still has to thank us!

Lin Ke's inner monologue: "I have no other virtues—I just can't stand seeing friends bullied, and I've always liked to intervene when I see injustice."

Having a monologue naturally means there's also a public response.

After the salary incident eight months ago, this guy had once posted a response to the controversy.

First, I advised Chris to stay with LGD.

Second, Chris asked me about QG's coaching salary; I initially refused, merely telling him that the industry's rates have risen somewhat this year.

Third, whether you believe it or not, I never tried to drive a wedge between Chris and LGD.

In short: I dislike such pointless attacks, but I can face them calmly.

Put simply, you can spray all you want—it's all meaningless.

…………

At the venue, golden rain fell.

Xu Dongmen, Da B, Uzi and others lined up, one by one taking individual photos with the trophy in front of the camera.

The final segment was the Rising Competition leadership taking the stage to award the MSI pass.

The Mid-Season Championship will be held in 11 days.

The venue: Shanghai!

Almost at the same moment Xu Dongmen and others received their MSI passes, the LCK finals far away had a result.

After a series of battles, SKT defeated ROX 3–2, achieving an unprecedented LCK three-peat.

After the match, in a group interview, Li Xianghe showed off his broken Chinese.

"Shanghai, I'm here."