Chapter 66

After losing a round, all sorts of demons and monsters jumped out.

After eight consecutive wins, QG has been in the spotlight these past few days.

This year's MSI is being held in Shanghai, the schedule is very friendly for domestic players, and the viewership and traffic are many times higher than last year's.

Last year's inaugural Mid-Season Invitational held in North America lasted only four days total, and many people didn't even get a chance to watch before it ended.

This MSI is, following the 2013 All-Star Game, the first time a world-level tournament has been held domestically.

Home advantage, a long schedule, many guests, the entire event held in a venue of ten thousand capacity.

The standard is so high it can rival the World Championship.

Many players first heard of the QG team through these few days of matches.

Such a level of traffic naturally arouses envy in many people.

It's worth noting that not only domestic forums have noise, but the Korean net also has many people speaking rudely.

【Xu Dongmen bro, is that it? Where's the promised world's strongest mid-jungle?】

【This so-called world's number one mid-jungle is really laughable, did this Lulu link even hit?】

【Actually playing Katarina in front of Li Xianghe, what an overconfident guy】

【Traitor Doinb, after beating SKT last time and throwing punches there, I knew he wasn't anything good】

【You who betrayed your country for RMB, don't go back to Korea】

【Xu Dongmen is indeed stronger than Blank; he should be MSI's top jungler, but how dare he say he and Jin Taixiang are the world's strongest mid-jungle?】

【Nonsense, I, Li Xianghe, am not dead yet】

【Thank heavens, SKT's form has finally returned; fortunately, this time Europe sent G2】

【Although the form has returned, there are still hidden dangers; Blank's Blind Monk, aside from snagging a dragon, made no sound at all】

【If the knockout stage really isn't working, just put Bengi in】

…………

QG's lounge.

Xu Dongmen and the others sat in front of the screen, watching the live interview.

SKT also knows how to put on a public execution; they sent the guy who was just lying there into the spotlight.

Of course, there's another interpretation: it boosts Blank's confidence.

"Winning mainly comes from my teammates playing well; I still made a lot of mistakes this game, I need to correct them when I get back; playing on such a big stage for the first time made me really excited…"

Faced with the sea of people in the audience, Xiao Hei was obviously nervous, speaking haltingly; a short sentence took him half a minute to get out.

The audience on site did not spare their cheers and applause.

After all, he is a player who once played in the LPL; each time his words are translated into Chinese, everyone tries to give feedback.

Three years ago, likewise in this city of Shanghai, the inaugural League of Legends All-Star Game was held.

Back then, the All-Star Game was not just an exhibition; the champion could earn a spot at the World Championship.

LPL, through voting, formed the all-star team of PDD, Changzhang, Misaya, Weixiao, and Sun Yarong.

The Korean team consisted of Shy, Insec, Ambition, Pray, and MadLife.

As expected, the final unfolded between China and Korea.

The result was the LPL All-Star team being mercilessly swept, unable to offer any resistance.

Insec flashed a spinning kick, MadLife showed various godly hooks, and the mid lane killing god from Ambition played cards.

The original Shy bro even brought out Jayce, giving the teacher who likes to visit prostitutes a one-shot four-fly.

All were surreal scenes!

This was also the first time the LPL suffered a crushing defeat to a Korean team in an international tournament, thereby opening the curtain on anti-Korean sentiment.

That match venue was the Shanghai Grand Stage ten li outside the city, and just as before, thousands of spectators showed up, mainly WE fans.

That was a day when the LPL's Dao heart was shattered.

"I will prove on this stage who is the world's number one jungler!"

Before the match, bold promises; after the match, dazed like a wooden chicken.

At the moment the LPL All-Star team was swept 2-0 in a speedrun, the entire Shanghai Grand Stage turned into a library.

Indeed, it was a library!

At the time, this was condemned by many foreign media and domestic public intellectuals, who obsessively criticized the LPL audience for lacking decorum.

Even many brainwashed domestic players blamed China's lack of a World Championship hosting up to Season 6 on this, giving rise to all sorts of nitpicking critics.

Even after being sold out, they're still helping count the money!

You have to understand that back then it was still Season 3, official international tournaments had only just begun, LPL viewers were hardly familiar with Korean players, and that OGN All-Star team only had MadLife with any domestic fame; the others, many people had never even heard of.

Under those circumstances, a dead crowd was also normal.

But in that environment where people constantly demanded reflection, this line of argument was actually quite popular.

In fact, not only in S3, even ten years later, international tournaments still have various libraries appearing.

By comparison, the domestic esports atmosphere has been steadily progressing, moving in a positive direction.

Take this year's MSI as an example; as long as there are brilliant plays and team fights, the venue will never lack cheers.

After this just-finished match, once QG showed signs of defeat, the audience below still maintained their enthusiasm.

Even fans supporting QG were clapping for SKT's performance.

Blank went on stage to accept the interview, and he also received a lot of applause and encouragement.

"Xu Dongmen is a very strong jungler; I want to learn from him."

"Thank you to Chinese fans for your support, thanks~"

As the interview ended, Blank stepped down.

Xu Dongmen and the others also turned off the on-site sound, and the team held a small meeting.

"Brothers, this game is mine, I shouldn't have taken the Enchantress!"

Da B stood at attention and admitted his mistake, his attitude was extremely proper.

"Dongmen, are you okay?"

Other teammates, including UZI, rushed to comfort Xu Dongmen, fearing his mindset might suffer.

After all, they were just-rookie newcomers; even with such a C, they still couldn't win, making it easy to doubt themselves.

This stain is the old understanding brother.

"It's just a group match, why are we making a fuss? We're still obviously first!"

Xu Dongmen spread his hands, basically not taking it to heart.

Even world champions can lose four straight; what's one loss for us, maybe just a drop in the Ganges?

Even comparing head-to-head records, it's only 1-1 so far; why does everyone act like it's the end of the world?

SKT should first think about how to surpass CLG and the Flash Wolves!

Hopefully the semifinals won't fall into my hands.

As resolute as Xu Dongmen is, there's also manager Lin Ke.

【A useless waste who only knows how to win by lying down, how dare he show up for an interview?】

【Just this Blind Monk, even my grandma could win playing it; has he ever pulled off a move to kick the carry back?】

【So bad and still not substituting him—this guy must have blocked a nuclear bomb for SKT's chairman!】

【I'm not exaggerating, Bengi, you should think about your future.】

From the moment the match ended, Lin Ke was frantically typing on KakaoTalk.

He's still outputting!

Time came to 7 PM in the evening, and the final group stage match began.

QG versus SUP!

One was an 8-1 group first place, the other a 1-8 last place.

SUP, hailing from Turkey, was the antithesis of QG.

As a team that came from the wild-card region, they were given the totem of the Giant Archer on this MSI, symbolizing the ability to fell strong opponents.

SUP lived up to that totem, firing a deadly arrow that struck the North American champions CLG, securing a win a day before G2 did.

But that arrow exhausted all of the Turks' strength, and thereafter they won no further matches.

Although they had no hope of advancing, in this final curtain‑call match SUP still strove to show a good face to the worldwide audience, bringing twelve‑percent earnestness from pick‑ban to gameplay.

Unfortunately, they were up against QG.

Having just suffered their first defeat, QG was in dire need of venting!

"Spider Queen."

"Ba Ge, my lifelong rival, has arrived!"

In the canyon, Xu Dongmen went on a frenzied spider‑killing spree and became a scholar in just over ten minutes.

Facing the blood‑thirsty QG, SUP couldn't even hold the lane, losing their high ground by the 17‑minute mark.

"Congratulations to QG, a perfect finish!"

On the match stage, after Xu Dongmen and company shook hands friendly with SUP, the big screen also displayed the group‑stage rankings.

Five days of competition, thirty peak showdowns, announced over with the explosion of SUP's base!

1st, QG (9-1)

2nd, CLG (6-4)

2nd, FW (6-4)

2nd, SKT (6-4)

5th, G2 (2-8)

6th, SUP (1-9)

The top four advance; the fifth and sixth are eliminated.

Besides SUP saying farewell to the stage, G2 also missed out on the knockout rounds.

Ah P and company didn't come to Shanghai for nothing; at least they brought home the title of G2‑8.

The group‑stage proper matches concluded.

After the match ended, Xu Dongmen, to everyone's expectation, appeared at center stage.

Same old place, same old host.

Ren Dong made an inviting gesture: "XDM, hello, come, let's first greet everyone."

"Hello everyone, I'm Xu Dongmen." Xu Dongmen greeted them using his real name for the first time.

The audience reacted enthusiastically, with male and female fans screaming.

After five days of group play, Xu Dongmen's popularity surged to an astonishing level.

To say he was the unrivaled talk of the town is no exaggeration!

Only after the crowd quieted a little did Ren Dong speak: "First, congratulations on finishing the MSI group stage with a 9‑1 record. How do you feel about that personally?"

"Satisfied; losing one game is within an acceptable range." Xu Dongmen spoke frankly.

"Then the question is, how many losses would be unacceptable?"

"More than one loss is unacceptable."

The audience below began to clamor.

This kid really loves to show off, and he always manages to pull it off.

"You personally earned six MVPs in this MSI group stage, ranking first among all participants; how is your performance so outstanding?"

Ren Dong asked the question that many people wanted to know.

How can a guy who's playing in his first international tournament and is still a rookie just starting out consistently be the team's main carry, almost always performing solidly as the C?

"I already answered this question for you once back in the LPL; I'm a big‑match player."

Xu Dongmen pointed at his own chest, and when he said "big‑match player" he especially emphasized his tone.

Before Ren Dong could interject, the audience below was already left speechless.

You might say he's full of humor cells, livening up the atmosphere with jokes, but when he said this Xu Dongmen was clearly serious, even his tone carried a hint of resentment, obviously complaining that Ren Dong has a bad memory.

How does this guy manage to say such flirtatious lines with a straight face? Isn't he afraid of being called out if he loses?

"Sorry, my question."

Ren Dong directly apologized, he decided to give this young rookie a little colorseesee: "In today's first match, you fought for 43 minutes but lost to SKT; during the game you once led by 6000 gold, why did you get reversed? Was it due to BP? Or did you just not play well?"

"I think our BP was advantageous; the lineup we got was meant to snowball, and we did indeed get the snowball rolling early on."

Standing beside the 1.9‑meter‑tall Ren Dong, Xu Dongmen radiated presence and spoke at length: "The reason we lost is that our snowball wasn't big enough; we didn't finish the game quickly enough, giving the opponent a chance to develop."

"If I were to score it, I'd say our performance deserves an 8.5; if we could reach a 9, winning this match would be no problem."

Xu Dongmen himself started scoring the team.

He won't be swayed by public opinion; one loss doesn't make him think everything is over.

In this match, when we were closest to victory, we were only one step away.

"It's indeed close; just one more win would give us a ten‑match winning streak in the group stage—what a pity."

Ren Dong seized the moment: "I know you publicly stated during a Korean‑language interview that you and Doinb are the world's strongest mid‑jungle duo; after today's match against SKT, do you have any doubts?"

"No."

Xu Dongmen answered firmly and succinctly: "I think that, worldwide, including teams that didn't come, there is no mid‑jungle pair stronger than ours."

Whoa~

The venue exploded; many had seen the news before, but seeing it in the news and hearing the person themselves admit it are two different things.

At this moment, Xu Dongmen's figure overlapped with his pledge from three years ago.

No wonder they're fans of the factory chief!

From this 17‑year‑old boy, the audience discovered something called 【confidence】.

Unlike others, when he talks about LCK teams he is always full of confidence; not a trace of nervousness or hesitation can be seen in him.

His style is completely different from that of current LPL players.

You should know that when the factory chief said this, Koreans had yet to win an official international tournament, Faker had just debuted, and SKT hadn't won a single title.

Times have changed; if you placed the rookie factory chief in this current era, he'd have to weigh his words carefully before speaking out.

Only Xu Dongmen treats it as nothing at all.

Naturally everyone feels a bit uneasy about this—doesn't he fear jinxing himself?

It seems he has never considered himself a challenger.

If Korean viewers saw this interview, they'd surely shout, "Hey, you're just a rookie, you bastard!"

"OK…"

Ren Dong was also shocked by this kid's toughness; he raised the mic and continued: "You've seen the current standings—you're first, and SKT, CLG, and the Flash Wolves are tied for second."

"According to the rules, these three teams will play two tie‑breaker matches to determine the final ranking."

"As the group‑stage first place, who would you most like to face in the semifinals?"

Ren Dong's question once again hit everyone right in the heart.

According to the format, the group‑stage first place faces the fourth place.

At this point the rankings aren't set yet, and everyone wants to hear the parties' opinions.

"I haven't thought about it; honestly they're all about the same, though SKT is a bit stronger."

Xu Dongmen said something surprising: "If it were up to me, I think any of them would do—anyway, whoever ends up fourth we'll just play them… I think the ones who should be considering this question aren't us, but them."

The audience below erupted in a chorus of howls.

Combining his match performance and several interviews, even a blind person could see that Xu Dongmen isn't just putting on a show—he really says what he thinks, without any pretense.

They just play for real!

"The 9‑1 says we should be wary of the three 6‑4s—what's wrong with that?"

"OK, OK…"

Facing Xu Dongmen's offensive, even Ren Dong felt a bit overwhelmed.

The interview ended amid a frenzy.

Xu Dongmen once again became the focus of public opinion.