LOL: What is a concept player?

Chapter 319 I wanted to see the building collapse, but instead I saw a tall building standing tall!

Chu Ran's Weibo post can be described as a major earthquake in the already turbulent LPL, stirring up a huge wave.

The IG operations team was completely taken aback, especially the operations manager, who simply asked Chu Ran to reduce the current public pressure, since they were under tremendous pressure.

But he hadn't expected Chu Ran to deal with stress in this way.

"You're telling me your operations department has less pressure, and now everyone's criticizing me. Your operations department has far less pressure."

Upon hearing Chu Ran's words, the head of IG's operations department froze in shock.

That seems to make some sense.

That’s not right!

The operations manager suddenly realized that openly blatantly antagonizing the contestants' fans would be tantamount to losing their own core support base.

This problem is far more serious than the online controversy caused by IG's extremely intensive training.

At that very moment, in the IG training room, Jackeylove and the others heard Meiko's reminder and quickly opened Chu Ran's Weibo, seeing Chu Ran's Weibo post the instant they saw it.

They were all dumbfounded.

It's only been posted for a few minutes, but the number of comments has already grown exponentially.

refresh.

The number of comments quickly jumped from several thousand to over ten thousand.

Refresh the page again.

It has already reached tens of thousands, and is still increasing at an extremely rapid rate.

"Holy crap, Ran-ge has gone mad!" Meiko was stunned for a while before she finally came to her senses and jumped up from her gaming chair.

"No, buddy, am I still dreaming?" Jackeylove slapped himself a few times. He felt like he was dreaming. Otherwise, who would dare to stand up to a club player's fan?

Don't you know that LPL is now basically a fan culture?

Fans can elevate a club and its players, but they can also easily bring them down. Without their core supporters, a club can easily fade into obscurity.

Just like RNG now, without Xiaohu and Uzi, this team's popularity will instantly drop to third-rate.

Rooike clicked his tongue. "Either the world has gone mad, or I have gone mad."

Chu Ran's actions truly shattered everyone's expectations in the LPL, leaving everyone stunned. All the clubs felt that Chu Ran had really become arrogant, and his Weibo posts were filled with insults about his family lineage.

Uzi and Ning were laughing so hard.

【RNM, you beast, are you out of your mind? We, as fans of the player, are complaining about your unreasonable training plan, so what?】

[Damn it, you bastard, are you just trying to prevent us from supporting IG's players? Fine, then I'm not supporting them anymore, I'm turning against them.]

[I'm seriously disgusted. I used to really like TheShy as a player, but because of this bastard, I've decided to stop being a fan of IG and TheShy.]

[+1, Jackeylove will forever lose me as a true fan. If he thinks he has too many followers on Instagram, then he should reduce his.]

[Damn it, you're incredibly arrogant! Without us fans, would you be where you are today? Now you're putting down your chopsticks and cursing us, huh?]

Some of the fans criticized by Chu Ran mingled with his haters, suddenly forming a vast torrent that swept towards Chu Ran, with the overwhelming insults almost never ceasing.

Moreover, IG's official accounts and players' accounts are facing a massive loss of followers and a barrage of criticism.

This incident quickly became a trending topic on various forums, sparking heated discussions on platforms such as Anti-Japanese War Bar and Hupu.

Of course, aside from the insults, there were still many people who supported Chu Ran.

[Hilarious! These fangirls completely lost their nerve when they realized they couldn't handle Chu Shen.]

Although I'm a hater of Ranchu, I genuinely support him this time. I'm voting for him. Fan culture and fan-driven teams should be kicked out of the LPL.

[Now when you see people criticizing Chu Shen and click through to find out they're female, you'll understand.]

[Haha, that feels so good! I've been wanting to criticize the LPL's rotten environment for ages. All sorts of fans control the teams, and some players just coast along, relying on their fans to get paid and basically tank. Chu Shen is awesome!]

[It has to be Chu Shen; when he gets ruthless, he'll even dare to criticize his own club's fans.]

Some people say that without fans, Chu Shen wouldn't be where he is today. I really disagree with that. As long as Chu Shen has the talent, he'll have fans.

[Let LPL return to its most fundamental competitive spirit, where the winner takes all; Sima is a team whose marketing hype is a powerful force.]

Upon seeing these rebuttals, many critics were furious, and immediately launched another silent war online.

However, Chu Ran had no interest in these things.

Just do your own thing and let these netizens make a fuss.

He entered the training room and, seeing the puzzled looks on Jackeylove's and the others' faces, slowly explained, "What's the point of keeping these fandom fans? As long as you play well, you'll never have to worry about not having fans, and these fans will be more loyal than these fandom fans."

"So don't worry about these things on the internet. Just focus on practicing now. If you win the championship, the traffic will come naturally."

Jackeylove and the others nodded in agreement with Chu Ran's words. It was indeed true. However, at this moment, most netizens were hoping that IG would die as soon as possible.

It's happening right now at the upcoming Demacia Cup.

[Damn it, the Demacia Cup needs to start already! All I want to see right now is see IG and Ran die! Immediately!]

I want to see if this kind of high-intensity training will be effective. It would be hilarious if they got crushed by some trash teams.

[Bro, they got completely crushed, and then this bastard changed the players' long-standing style right away, paired them with a coach they dug up from who-knows-where. I'm convinced IG can continue their World Championship success this year.]

Even if he were to fight in the wild, he probably wouldn't be as good as Ning Mazi.

Amidst this heated discussion, time flew by. Chu Ran and the others spent their days training, with almost no other life. They paid no attention to the online opinions and focused all their efforts on preparing for the upcoming Demacia Cup.

Soon, the day before the Demacia Cup arrived, December 13th, but the major LPL forums were still discussing Chu Ran and IG. At present, their team has become the latest traffic magnet.

Various prediction posts and analysis videos made by bloggers are flying around, entertaining both haters and supporters, and everyone has something to watch.

"Holy crap, Ran-ge, these haters are really brainless and making baseless accusations now. Look at this video made by a Bilibili up-master, he said you play jungle like a Silver player, not even as good as Gao Zhenning."

Inside the training room, Meiko was overjoyed and gave the video a like, saying, "I strongly suspect that RNG paid someone to deliberately sabotage you."

"Damn it, I hate Ran so much, and now he's openly criticizing Ran in RNG without any attempt to hide it," Jackeylove laughed.

Who would have thought that former teammates are now practically enemies?

He really hadn't offended Ning Mazi, but during these days when Ning Mazi was doing live streams, he not only attacked Chu Ran, but also the other members of IG.

Various scandals and negative information have been exposed.

Originally, they didn't want to get involved in the conflict between Chu Ran and Ning Mazi, but now they have no choice but to stand on Chu Ran's side.

"He's just a attention-seeking clown. Does he even have the ability to become famous through controversy?"

Chu Ran sneered and immediately opened Ning Mazi's live stream on Douyu. He found that Ning Mazi's live stream had gathered quite a few viewers. As Chu Ran's biggest hater, he had absorbed most of Chu Ran's haters.

Putting everything else aside, Ning Mazi was somewhat grateful to Chu Ran for kicking him out of IG. Otherwise, how could his career have reached the next level? Before, when he was on IG, the popularity of his live stream was less than a third of what it is now.

Not only did he not expect it, but even RNG did not expect it.

They originally just wanted to rotate two junglers to give the team more options, but it turned out that Ning Mazi became a cash cow for their RNG club.

"Brothers, please follow us. Those with money can get a streamer fan badge. There are daily giveaways in the live stream, and we also have a daily 'Kai Ran Mini-Theater' where you can submit your work and speak freely."

Ning Mazi grinned from ear to ear, completely unconcerned by the comments criticizing him for riding on Chu Ran's coattails. He then mimicked Chu Ran's earlier words, saying, "Me, riding on Ran's coattails? Ask Ran what temperature his bathwater was today."

"I'm so happy. What is Ran Chu? If it weren't for good luck, could he have won two championships? If I were a little luckier, I would still be a double champion. Ran Chu is just a shockwave. This year he even switched to the jungle position. Just wait and see how I beat the crap out of him."

Upon hearing Ning Mazi's words, Chu Ran's fans were immediately furious. It has to be said that Ning Mazi's black-and-red strategy was indeed effective, perfectly replicating Chu Ran's actions back then, which made Uzi grin from ear to ear.

"Damn it, even beasts get to this day, it's so comfortable."

Back then, Chu Ran would constantly criticize him in his livestream, just like Ning Mazi is now. He was disgusted to the point of exploding back then, and Uzi still remembers Chu Ran's disgusted expression when he thought about Ning Mazi.

He couldn't help but want to burst into laughter. Those who do many evil deeds will surely perish.

Uzi is waiting for the day when Chu Ran is disgraced, and he believes that day is not far away. It will be at the Demacia Cup. As long as they crush IG at the Demacia Cup, a large number of Chu Ran's fans will probably leave.

It's not just Uzi; many others share this sentiment and are eagerly anticipating the start of the Demacia Cup.

But once the Demacia Cup actually starts, these people don't want to see it anymore.

It's almost the end of December, the year-end is approaching.

Inside the venue for the 2018 Demacia Cup, the venue and various live streaming rooms were filled with countless viewers, and many haters wanted to see Chu Ran's tall building collapse.

Then they saw another skyscraper rising from the ground!

Looking at Chu Ran and his group on the stage, illuminated by the spotlight, the entire venue was filled with loud cheers and shouts, constantly stimulating everyone's auditory nerves.

Five spirited young men were raising their hands to welcome the fans' enthusiasm, while on the other side next to them, Uzi was sitting in front of a computer screen.

The chubby face turned red again and again, his fingernails were almost bitten to pieces, and his eyes flashed with murderous intent as he stared intently at Ning Mazi, who was pounding the table in a fit of rage.

They promised to crush Chu Ran at the Demacia Cup, and were so confident before the tournament. Everyone online was saying that Chu Ran would definitely struggle to adapt after switching from mid lane to jungle. But look what happened.

He was swept 3-0 in a BO5 series, with an absolutely luxurious stat line of MVP in three games. He was even 23 kills ahead of Ning Mazi in their matchup, which was Ning Mazi's so-called "clean crushing".

It turns out that he was being crushed by Chu Ran.

At this moment, the scene was shaken like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down. In the commentary booth, Miller and the others were all shouting at the top of their lungs.

"My goodness, let's congratulate Chu Shen and IG! After they completed their restructuring this year, especially with Chu Shen switching to the jungle position, many people thought that Chu Shen's dominance would no longer exist!"

"But in this year's Demacia Cup, in today's BO5 final, Chu Shen once again proved himself with his strength. Even though he switched from mid lane to jungle, he is still invincible in the LPL!"

"Chu Shen is the champion again! He has won the Demacia Cup once more, achieving an unprecedented double Grand Slam! In just two years since his debut, he has won every championship he could get, without missing a single one!"

Miller was so excited that his face turned red and he was almost out of breath.

Like many viewers, he was completely stunned. At the beginning of the Demacia Cup, IG's situation was worrying.

The inexperienced coach had only a superficial understanding of draft picks, and the new roster struggled throughout the start of the season in a major competition, especially since Chu Ran was not playing in the top or mid lane positions.

This led many viewers to be pessimistic about the chances.

Because of his skill and achievements in the top and mid lanes, Chu Ran proved himself in both. As long as he is in these lanes, he will definitely gain an advantage in the laning phase, which will then benefit the entire team.

But jungling is different; jungling relies too much on teammates.

For example, if your mid laner doesn't have lane priority, even if Chu Ran is incredibly skilled, he can't defend his jungle. The enemy mid laner will keep invading, and you, as a jungler, can only watch helplessly. Gradually, the enemy jungler will widen the gap in gold and level.

If you can't do anything online, then you can say that there's no jungler for the whole game. This position requires skill, but it relies even more on teammates.

So no one expected IG to win the Demacia Cup. Even most of the haters had already prepared their revenge quotes and were just waiting to start their northern expedition against Chu Ran.

Before the finals began today, Uzi and Ning made a bold statement, saying they would take down IG 3-0. At that time, many people were extremely excited, but now they are ashamed and angry.

[Stop talking! Where are all those haters from before the match? Why aren't you saying anything?]

[I'm laughing so hard. Is this RNG? Weren't they going to beat Chu Shen 3-0? How come they ended up getting beaten 3-0 themselves?]

[Ning Mazi, that clown! Still trying to go the black-and-red route? If you don't have the ability, what are you even doing trying?]

[Haha, this is the funniest thing! Can you check if there are a few suns on the RNG team's bench? Do they have enough bathwater for their needs right now?]

That's definitely enough. RNG may not have much else, but they have plenty of bathwater!

[Wow, who was it that said IG's rigorous training was useless? This year's IG is terrifying, they're getting stronger as they play. At first they were still adjusting, but once they were in sync, they just crushed everyone!]

Another galactic warship!

Immediately, the chat rooms on various live streaming platforms exploded with activity. Chu Ran and IG's fans began to retaliate against those who had predicted the match's failure, adhering to the principle of not letting a single one go.

Rivers of blood!
Seeing their words, many haters could only rage helplessly, watching as Chu Ran and his team lifted the Demacia Cup championship trophy on stage.

"Wow! Congratulations again to Chu Shen and IG! Nobody expected that IG would win a championship at the beginning of the S9 season, breaking their record of never winning a championship. And our Uzi player once again missed out on the championship!"

"This is Chu Shen!" Guan Zeyuan shouted, raising his arms. "No matter where he is, no matter what position he plays, he is still that unshakeable god!"

As his loud and clear voice faded, the scene and the live broadcast room descended into chaos once again.

Not only that, other regions are also paying attention to this match. It can be said that they have been following it since the beginning of the Demacia Cup, especially the LCK, who thought they had a chance to win the championship in the new season.

As a result, when they looked at Chu Ran's handsome face on the screen, their eyes were filled with despair.

[Holy crap! How do you even play this? This guy can jungle too?]

Putting aside his jungling skills, who exactly helped coach Daney secure a spot in the LPL?

What is our LCK region doing? Not only can we not beat the LPL, we can't even retain our own region's talent!

Many Korean fans were furious. They knew that Daney had proven himself capable of coaching at this year's Demacia Cup, giving a resounding slap in the face to those who had previously said he was no good.

On stage, Chu Ran and the others wore radiant smiles as they raised the trophy high. At that moment, the sound of camera shutters and flashes erupted once again as countless e-sports media reporters began to capture this instant.

"Ran-ge is awesome!"

Jcakeylove, Meiko, and others roared with joy. Rooike was filled with emotion. He hadn't expected that Chu Ran, who had only been with IG for a short time, would lead them to victory.

If things continue like this, winning the championship doesn't seem like a problem at all.

Thinking about this, Rooike felt that the training he had received from the previous days was justified.

All the hard work comes!

As for TheShy, he didn't seem to feel much. At this point in time, he still wasn't taking his profession seriously; he was just enjoying the atmosphere of the game. However, under Chu Ran's suppression, he put away his old bad habits.

However, TheShy was happy to see Rooike happy, and couldn't help but shout "Awesome!" loudly, even though his Mandarin was very poor.

"Win the championship? That's easy! This is just the beginning. We'll win many more championships in the future!"

Hearing Chu Ran's resounding words, everyone nodded excitedly.

indeed.

The Demacia Cup is just a minor honor; the real challenges are yet to come. But they believe that no one can stop IG's rise to prominence next year.

Soon, the host, Xi Ran, began interviewing Chu Ran and the others. After briefly asking Rooike and the others, she walked to Chu Ran's side and asked with a smile:
"Okay, Chu Shen, congratulations on winning the Demacia Cup again. This time it's a little different from before, because you won it as a jungler and with a new team. So how do you feel now? Is it different from when you won the championship before?"

Chu Ran pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "There's no difference. The Demacia Cup is just telling the world that I, Chu Ran, will lead a new team and continue to strive for that supreme glory."

"No fluctuations, huh? You've won too many championships."

"I kind of feel that way. It's mainly because my opponents are too weak, so I don't feel much sense of accomplishment."

Chu Ran's voice wasn't loud, but it reached the ears of every audience member.

In an instant, countless fans of Royal Club and GSL were furious. Ning Mazi and Uzi, who were still packing up their things at the competition venue, stared at Chu Ran with hateful eyes.

[Hahaha, Chu Shen's mouth! A knife that wounds!]

[Royal fans and GSL are still not convinced? What? You guys aren't bad? A 3-0 loss is still a close defeat, huh?]

[I can't laugh anymore! A narrow 3-0 defeat, IG and Chu Shen have a slight edge.]

Upon hearing Chu Ran's words, Xi Ran was taken aback. She thought to herself that although Chu Ran had changed teams, she was still the same as before. Then she immediately asked her last question.

"Okay, it seems that God Chu also hopes to face more strong opponents in the new season next year. Now that you have achieved a double Grand Slam again, God Chu, is there anything you would like to say to your fans?"

"There are some."

Chu Ran smiled and nodded, looking straight ahead, and calmly said, "I can only say that in the LPL, you should rely on your strength, not on those so-called marketing and fans."

“If he can’t handle the job, I suggest he go home and raise pigs.”

(End of this chapter)