Chapter 90: All The Blacks And Whites Are Here!
Li Fan truly didn’t know that Doinb had been repeatedly studying his recent match recordings, and even if he did know, he wouldn’t care at all.
Professional players being studied by others is the norm, especially those who perform outstandingly.
If you can’t win just because others target and study you, that only shows your own hard strength and adaptability are not up to par, and you can’t blame others.
The most typical player is Faker…
From S3 to S15, whether it’s teams in the league or from other regions, haven’t they all been studying him nonstop?
True top-tier powerhouses are ones where you know exactly how they’re going to play, but you just can’t stop them.
At this moment, he was sitting on the bed praying that the teammates in today’s Endless Tournament match would please give some normal performance…
Otherwise, he really couldn’t take it!
The new version of Galio, he had already started practicing it.
He successfully practiced it to three-star yesterday, and today he wanted to go straight to four-star in one step.
For a hero like this that’s more team-oriented, it really depends a lot on teammates.
Spending five hundred learning points…
Then lying on the bed, the scene changed in an instant.
Li Fan was already seated in the player seat.
First, check the teammates.
Top laner Saint Gun Brother, jungler Sofm, AD ahq, support Gang Zi.
Hmm…
Damn Snake Team lineup!
Li Fan couldn’t help but feel a shiver in his heart.
Damn, opponents better not bring out strong picks for me.
Grass!
About to get spun like a top again.
Top laner huni, jungler Xiao Hei, mid laner Faker, bot lane duo bang and wolf.
World Championship runner-up lineup.
Himself with a relegation lineup, how to play?
Taking a deep breath: “Sofm, play normally and don’t go off the rails.”
“No problem, no problem.”
Fortunately, communication wasn’t too difficult.
At least there was feedback after speaking.
What he’s afraid of is teammates who play while trembling and don’t even know what they’re doing—that’s real trouble.
Soon Li Fan realized just how absurd Sofm was.
First game… no idea why.
Controlling his Hecarim to run into SKT’s jungle, when seeing the enemy coming, the first reaction wasn’t to run but to mess around with Xiao Hei.
Once the enemies left…
Directly flashing Sprint to escape.
Awesome!
Sofm established his momentum at level 1, and Xiao Hei gained a Sprint.
Impressive, absurd enough.
Hard to understand how Saint Gun Brother could stay with such a bunch of absurd teammates for so long.
But then again, Saint Gun Brother is an ultimate veteran, with pretty strong tolerance.
Li Fan took a deep breath, deciding to delete the unrealistic fantasy of making Sofm play normally from his mind.
Instead of pinning hopes on Sofm’s Schrödinger’s nerves, better focus on his matchup with Faker—after all, this was an extremely valuable learning opportunity.
As laning started, Faker’s LeBlanc brought unprecedented pressure to Li Fan.
Every position was full of deception, every W active step precisely timed with his last hits.
Li Fan’s Galio, thanks to the hero’s traits, managed stable wave clear with passive heavy fists, but his health was constantly being poked down.
“Is this the laning detail of the five-time champion…” Li Fan thought with awe.
He had to stay fully focused; any lapse could let Faker land a combo, and if the jungler came, it would be over.
Xiao Hei was also very good at enabling!
He’d rush mid the moment an opportunity arose.
He gave up any unrealistic trading ideas, putting all energy into pushing the wave and positioning.
Finally, after building Mercury’s Treads, Galio’s mobility and magic resist got a qualitative upgrade, sharply reducing lane pressure.
“Can move now.” Li Fan perked up; Galio’s essence lies in roaming.
He quickly pushed the minion wave past the river, eyes scanning toward top lane.
Top lane, Huni’s Jayce was madly suppressing Saint Gun Brother’s Maokai, very arrogant.
Bot lane, ahq’s Ashe and Gang Zi’s Tahm Kench were being pressed under tower and rubbed by Bang and Wolf’s signature bot duo.
Losing is normal… if they could win, the two-time champion bot duo would have no face at all?
“Sofm, can you come bot? We can try to gank.” Li Fan tried communicating.
“Let me check top; after clearing upper jungle, I can gank top perfectly.”
“Alright, then I’ll go top too.”
Three-man gank…
Still easy to make plays.
When Li Fan arrived top, Sofm was still farming jungle.
He nearly choked; wasn’t it agreed to come top?
But the enemy Jayce already had retreat intentions.
Arrow on the string, had to release.
Cooperating with Saint Gun Brother to force the engage… but due to insufficient damage from Galio and Maokai, the low-health Jayce escaped.
Meanwhile, bad news from bot: Xiao Hei came bot to dive and kill with the duo, trading 1 for 2 and making bang super fed.
Once rhythm was lost, it was total collapse.
Completely no way to play.
The first match was lost quickly.
Sighing, the scene switched back to the start.
“Sofm… at level 1 going in to mess around!”
…
“Shui Jing Ge, listen to my commands, don’t randomly bring people to gank.”
“What’s the password? Why the fuck are you diving their jungle?”
Had to say, encountering certain teammates turns him into a certain personality; Li Fan, as Snake Team’s mid laner in Endless Tournament, went from nice guy to irritable guy.
Every step of the match was cursed out.
Interestingly, the other four didn’t dare say a word.
Going to Snake Team like this… actually pretty good, absolute boss.
But playing matches with them was really uncomfortable.
In this mode, maintaining a 20% win rate was actually impressive.
No idea how many games were played…
The player seat scene started slowly fragmenting.
Scene switched; he was back on the bed in the real world.
【Galio proficiency raised to four-star!】
The system prompt invigorated his fatigued spirit.
“Damn, winning with this group… truly a miracle.”
Worth it! Though the process was so tortuous it made him want to spit blood, the result was good.
Clashing with a player of Faker’s level, especially while carrying dead weight, was undoubtedly a huge boost for him.
Rubbing his temples, recalling those countless matches, perhaps how to find ways to win games in such extremely unstable teammate environments—this might be one of the things Endless Tournament wanted to teach him.
Anyway, champion pool gained another Galio.
Pretty good!
Learning points still in surplus, eighteen hundred points.
Before the next match starts, through live stream he should earn more to practice another hero.
Hoping for Lady Luck’s favor…
Good teammates in one go, otherwise it’s really tough.
Actually, maybe the system thought the matched teammates were too ridiculous; when practicing Viktor, teammates finally normalized.
Top laner 369, jungler Clearlove, AD iboy, support Xiao Ming.
Though opponents’ strength was also not low.
Top laner bin, jungler wei, mid laner Left Hand, bot duo elk and on.
But this match was still extremely satisfying to play.
Waking up refreshed.
【Viktor proficiency raised to four-star!】
That’s more like it.
No kid crying every day; going straight to four-star is right, slowly squeezing to four-star like constipation is real torment.
With numerous audience members in the live stream room accompanying him, days passed quickly, and before he knew it, it was April 14.
Today there were two matches: QG vs EDG, NB vs WE, scheduled at 5 PM and 7 PM.
Li Fan got up early today; the canteen auntie had breakfast ready.
Li Fan looked at the assorted boiled veggies and boiled meat, but chose old steamed buns, plus a boiled egg and a cup of soy milk.
The canteen auntie saw Li Fan only taking buns, egg, and soy milk, couldn’t help wiping her hands with her apron, asking caringly: “Xiao Li, matches today, not eating some meat to fill up? Just buns won’t do.”
Li Fan bit into a bun, smiling and shaking his head: “Auntie, no need, that chicken breast tastes like chewing wood; buns and soy milk are great, comfortable.”
Those fitness bloggers have to blend chicken breast with water and force it down; normal eating is impossible.
Because it’s truly too absurd, boiled flat and flavorless, purely chewing wood.
Auntie sighed: “You kids are so picky; alright, eat a couple more buns, fill up!”
“…”
If it were Top Esports’ food, watch me not be picky?
After breakfast, Li Fan returned to the training room; teammates came one by one shortly after.
The coaching staff called everyone for a brief pre-match meeting, mainly reviewing QG’s recent tactical style and emphasizing key points for today’s match.
“QG’s mid-jungle rhythm has been very strong lately, Doinb’s state is extremely hot; Li Fan, if you feel pressure, we can change tactics now, not clash head-on.” Kuaisu Xing said to Li Fan.
Doinb’s style hadn’t changed much yet.
He was still an assassin-type mid laner; ruthless against weaker opponents.
Next year he’d slowly abandon operation for tanky teamfight play.
Li Fan nodded at Kuaisu Xing’s words.
“I feel okay, should be worth trying.”
Kuaisu Xing trusted Li Fan greatly at this stage; since no issue, he continued.
The short meeting lasted nearly two hours; at 11 AM, everyone was told to warm up.
This way better facing the upcoming matches.
But lunch was at 2 PM.
Because eating then, by match time stomach wouldn’t be hungry yet, peak condition.
Eating too early might cause hunger, too late affects reaction due to digestion.
During matches if hungry, eat banana or small bread to tide over.
At 2:30 PM, everyone boarded the bus to the arena.
Li Fan sat by the window, planning to close eyes and rest, conserve energy; others were in the same state.
After all, full stomach plus bus starting, slight rocking made one drowsy.
Everyone closed eyes and fell asleep right away.
At 4 PM, the bus arrived on time outside the venue.
Through the window, he could already hear faint clamor from outside.
After last time various gaming group fans came to cheer him, Li Fan was expectant this time too; peering out the window to see the fan reception scale.
This look nearly broke his composure.
The crowd was indeed larger than last time, atmosphere super heated.
Many held high his support hand banners or printed photos; however… they all wore pitch-black T-shirts, front boldly printed with three big white letters “Haters Here!”
Some held Speed, Crossfire, CSGO badges, but fewer.
The two leaders at the front seemed arguing.
Looking closely, the other was his clipper Unreal’s little fanboy.
Li Fan was already deeply impressed by Yu Luo’s face.
Seeing EDG’s bus arrive, this group puffed chests and started shouting loudly.
The moment Li Fan stepped off the bus.
He heard two waves of voices trying to overpower each other…
But the “Haters Here!” shirt crowd was larger; even with the other side straining throats, they couldn’t overpower.
“Whites only this many? Couldn’t even snag tickets? Our haters are here! Into the arena, if they play poorly we’ll boo!” a loud-voiced “hater” leader shouted smugly; his crowd burst into laughter and louder cheers.
Yu Luo’s face flushed red, straining his neck leading his ten or twenty companions in counter: “Unreal jiayou! Crush QG!” But the voices were instantly drowned.
“Whites, speak up! Like you didn’t eat? Why can’t we hear you!?”
Venue security was on high alert; this was clearly more complex than last time.
Last time just fans from different games, lively but harmonious.
This time clearly split into opposing “black” and “white” camps, words full of gunpowder.
Veteran security captains quickly directed personnel, inserting between the two groups to form a loose human wall.
Had to act decisively, or trouble if fights broke out.
“Everyone calm down! Keep distance! Safety first! Stay restrained!” Security shouted maintaining order, “Supporting players is good, don’t cause conflict!”
Hatters though numerous, seemed mainly for memes and hype; under security, no real oversteps.
Just bigger smiles and jeers, flaunting numbers.
Clearly still sore from Yu Luo’s repeated close-up taunts last time; plotted this offline move to get even.
“Our haters really came, why unhappy again?”
Yu Luo’s side though fewer, eyes full of defiance; after all, they were purified true fans, absolute real ones, not here for League of Legends matches.
Li Fan was amused and bemused by this stark, dramatic scene…
Never expected such treatment for himself.
Abu quickly patted Li Fan: “Be careful entering the venue.”
Li Fan nodded; right as he got off the bus, a huge wave of boos hit.
Even entering the passage, clamor echoed from behind.
Li Fan touched his nose; beside him Clearlove smiled: “These fans… really know how to stir things up.”
meiko laughed too: “Fan Ge, your popularity has blacks and whites all here!”
