LOL: What is a concept player?

Chapter 349 A sweeping victory after MSI, another year of the Mount Hua Sword Tournament!

As it turns out, the performance of LPL teams has improved in this highly competitive environment, with the matches being far more exciting than those in other regions and attracting more viewers' attention than in the first half of the year.

The popularity of the LPL region is starting to recover, and more and more people are gradually willing to watch the games.

After winning the MSI championship, Chu Ran was also approached by Fujii, and the two sides made a deal.

Fujii offered a deal in exchange for not restricting Chu Ran's Panda TV platform and club players from streaming Tencent games for the next ten years, in which Chu Ran would reduce his starting appearances in the second half of the year.

Of course, the outside world is unaware of this inside story.

IG Club's official statement to the outside world is that Chu Ran will be focusing more on managing the club and the live streaming platform, while also giving more opportunities to youth training players. So, a few days after the MSI ended,

The hype surrounding IG's potential MSI victory on various forums had been waning, but this announcement from IG has reignited the interest.

IG Official Esports Club Weibo:
Due to Easy's busy schedule and to give other academy players opportunities, IG's starting lineup will change in the second half of this year. IG-Leyan will replace Easy as the starting jungler, and Easy will serve as a substitute.

This announcement caused an uproar in the LPL, which had finally calmed down, especially as Doinb, the self-proclaimed "LPL know-it-all," started revealing his insider information in his livestream.

"My God, you guys don't know, Ran Chu got beaten up by Iron Fist, you know? They won't let him continue to be so awesome in the LPL, so he temporarily stepped down. Do you think he wanted to step down?"

"Don't be fooled by the fact that he made a lot of money from winning the MSI championship this time, with endorsements and advertisements pouring in for the entire club. He still owes a mountain of debt. I can only say that he was 'forced' into it."

With Doinb stirring things up, the discussion on forums like Anti-Japanese War Bar and Hupu instantly reignited.

How should we evaluate the claim that "Monkey said Chu Shen was dealt a heavy blow by relevant departments"?

What are your thoughts on Chu Shen being relegated to a substitute role in the second half of the year? Was he really forced to compromise after being warned by Fujii?

Chu Shen's fans are furious. Fujii is truly inhuman. He used to be so eager for the championship, but now that he sees Chu Shen winning more and more, he starts to suppress him. Is he even human?

Such posts sprang up like mushrooms after rain on various online forums, with comments from all sides rushing to appear.

Do you believe I am Qin Shi Huang, or a monkey from Mount Emei?

[Seriously, you know-it-alls have exhausted all your humor. Who is Chu Shen? He's the kind of person who won't suffer even the slightest loss. If he disagrees, would Fujii dare target him? He'd shut down the entire LPL.]

[Do you think Chu Shen's mouth is just for eating? If Chu Shen is unhappy, he'll reveal all the inside stories of the LPL.]

Indeed, I don't know what these people are thinking. It's obvious that Fujii must have agreed to some conditions with Chu Shen, so that Chu Shen wouldn't play before the S-series, and the hype would go to other players.

[Let's be honest, this is a win-win situation, okay? Chu Shen really can't keep playing professionally all the time. If he continues like this, the LPL is really going to be finished. You can clearly see that the summer split, which just started a few days ago, has seen a significant increase in popularity without Chu Shen.]

That's obvious. IG played one match yesterday, and their popularity skyrocketed. There's something for everyone, from critics to haters, and even those just looking for fun.

[As soon as Chu Shen entered the game, only white pieces remained, and he won by crushing the opponent. I'm a fan of Chu Shen, but unless it's the World Championship, I basically don't watch his matches. I just check the results every day at the appointed time—wow, another shutout.]

[How could it not be exciting? With Chu Shen out of the game, all sorts of strange and wonderful people have emerged, from the world's best ADC to this year's biggest dark horse. GSL has been resurrected, and LCK is especially clamoring to revive its regional glory in its last Intercontinental Cup.]

The online discussion was quite fair, right after IG and Chu Ran released this announcement.

Back then, Uzi would be so excited that he would jump up from the club, wishing he could fly directly to the sun and stand shoulder to shoulder with it. He would then immediately post a Weibo, which didn't contain much content.

The main point is to express his ambition to win the Summer Split trophy this year.

Besides him, FPX, who had a great performance in the first half of the year, also stood up and started to make bold statements to dominate the LPL in the second half of the year.

They all believed that as long as Chu Ran wasn't around, the IG team was nothing to worry about.

But is that really the truth?

Time flew by, and inside the huge stadium, countless people were cheering with all their might, while the entire SKT team sat in their chairs, questioning their existence.

At that moment, a deafening roar erupted from the LPL commentary booth.

"If TheShy hadn't been born, the top lane would have been shrouded in eternal darkness!"

I remember being so excited that my face turned red and my whole body trembled as I raised my arms and shouted, "Let's congratulate IG! They fought for 35 minutes and defeated SKT, helping LPL to retain the Asian Intercontinental Championship title once again!"

"This is the last year of the Rift Rivals. The Rift Rivals has been held for three years, and our LPL has won the championship for three years. Our LPL is undoubtedly the world's number one region!!"

At this point, Ji De almost couldn't catch his breath, and Guan Zeyuan immediately followed up, "That's right, it's obvious that after last year's failure and this year's guidance from Chu Shen, as well as the careful instruction from Coach Daney, TheShy has grown a lot. His top lane Akali in this game shocked the whole world!"

"The real Flying Thunder God Technique! Even Hanzi was stunned!"

"Yes, let's congratulate IG and LPL!"

As Miller's impassioned words fell, the entire venue and the live broadcast room immediately erupted in excitement.

Originally, everyone thought that it was unwise to send IG out in the final do-or-die match of the Intercontinental Cup since Chu Ran didn't play in the second half of the year. But it turns out they were all wrong.

Even without Chu Ran, IG is still very strong!

[Hater!! Stop talking nonsense!!]

Do they really think that without Chu Shen, IG is invincible?

[They're incredible! Is this the transformed IG?]

Haha, after studying so hard every day, I'm bound to see some results eventually.

The Intercontinental Cup victory caused quite a stir in the LPL, but many people were also discussing another topic: where did Chu Ran go?

The intercontinental tournament is over, and they haven't heard from Chu Ran since.

Especially in Chu Ran's live stream room, people urge Chu Ran to start a live stream every day. Even if she doesn't stream, the gifts she receives are a level that most streamers can never reach in their entire lives.

"Congratulations! You said you believed in yourself, and you played well."

After the Intercontinental Cup ended, during IG's victory celebration, Meiko told Chu Ran the news via video.

"Holy crap, Ran-ge, where the hell did you go?"

"I am in Antarctica."

After Chu Ran finished speaking, he showed Meiko and the others the scenery of Antarctica, which immediately made Jackeylove groan, "No way, buddy, you're leaving us here to play the game while you go on a round-the-world trip, is that fair?"

"What's wrong with that? I've won so many championships, can't I enjoy myself? Anyway, if you guys don't win the Summer Split, your salaries and bonuses will be docked. You can decide what to do." "Alright, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going to play in Antarctica for a few days and then go somewhere else. I'll come back after you guys win the Summer Split."

The video call ended a second later.

Inside the private room, Rooike and the others suddenly lost their celebratory excitement. Compared to Chu Ran, winning an intercontinental championship seemed like nothing special to them.

Hearing that they would have their pay docked if they didn't win the Summer Split championship made Meiko immediately start cursing, "Damn it, Ran is becoming more and more like a capitalist. Deducting pay if you don't win the championship? How can that be?"

"Stop talking and eat quickly." The speaker was Leyan. He was full of motivation because on IG, as long as he performed well and achieved good results, he could make money, a lot of money.

This is something that other clubs can only envy.

Because Chu Ran naturally has a huge following, as long as his performance is decent, he can help club members get endorsements and advertisements, which means money, not to mention the support for live streaming.

There are too many people eyeing Leyan's position. If he doesn't perform well, some people are willing to take his place and prove themselves. Don't underestimate him just because he's only a temporary starter. Chu Ran promised that if they win the championship this year, he will secure the starting jungler position next year.

"That's right, let's hurry up and finish eating so we can get back to training. I don't want to get my pay docked. I also want to buy a big house, and when I retire, I want to travel around the world!" Jackeylove shouted.

Clearly, Chu Ran's life is their dream, and everyone takes Chu Ran as their role model, which does indeed align with the thoughts of these e-sports teenagers.

Playing competitions, winning championships, and doing live streams are all ultimately about making money. Once they've made enough money, they dream of being like Chu Ran, occasionally doing live streams and traveling all over the world. How wonderful that would be!

The Intercontinental Cup had just ended, and the LPL was still in a state of enthusiastic celebration. However, when countless clubs heard that the entire IG team had returned to China for training without stopping, they immediately felt a sense of urgency.

Not just LPL clubs, but also those in LCK.

Although they didn't win the Intercontinental Cup this time, without Chu Ran's participation, they clearly saw hope. If they work a little harder, who knows, they might be able to beat IG in the World Championship.

Although Chu Ran might play, then again, after not training or playing for more than half a year, as long as they keep getting stronger, Chu Ran might not be of much use when he comes back.

From then on, whenever the night was quiet, the high-elo games on the Korean server began a brutal and merciless battle. Many high-ranking Korean streamers felt immense pressure and would solo queue for a game.

Aside from himself, he could encounter nine professional players, most of whom were starting members of their respective clubs.

Previously, the ranks of many professional players, which were often criticized by netizens on the Anti-Fighting Bar, were no longer discussed much. People used to say that LPL professional players were lazy and bad, unable to even climb the ranks in Korean server ranked games.

TheShy is being called out.

But now, they're not discussing that anymore; they're discussing who is the number one Challenger player in the Korean server.

You might see a pro player reach the top of the Korean server rankings in the first ten minutes, but then the top spot changes hands, and this cycle repeats itself at an incredibly fast pace.

During this period, some young men who wanted to play professionally but didn't want to start from scratch quickly began to compete in the Korean server.

A few years ago, you might only get an invitation from a team or club if you reached the top rank in the Korean server. But things are different now. In the highly competitive Korean server, if a newcomer is of the right age, it's a different story.

If he can get into the top 50 or even the top 100 in the Korean server, clubs will consider extending trial invitations to him.

However, the difficulty has also increased exponentially. The starting lineups, second teams, and youth training teams of major clubs in LPL and LCK are almost constantly battling the Korean server. Entering the top 100 is no less difficult than reaching the top of the Korean server before.

This incident has been followed by countless netizens in both competition regions every day, and has also generated a large number of live broadcasts.

It involves adding a player's account as a friend, waiting for them to start playing ranked games on the Korean server, and then streaming and observing them. This is because most professional players don't stream when playing ranked games on the Korean server, such as when they are observing Faker's ranked games.

It also features TheShy, Uzi, and others, and the live stream's popularity reached number one across all platforms, with many netizens exclaiming that it was "exhilarating" to watch!
Meanwhile, in addition to the massive crowds on the Korean server, the popularity of the LPL and LCK competitions has also rebounded significantly, even surpassing previous years. Tickets for regular season matches for teams without any star players are almost sold out, not to mention those for popular teams.

In addition, the LPL's youth training system is getting better and better, and Chu Ran, who represents the "benchmark of Chinese e-sports", is a household name, appearing on the news and trending topics all year round. Some parents send their children to clubs if they find that their children are really talented.

Of course, the selection process is extremely competitive, with only one out of ten thousand people being chosen to become a youth training participant.

Esports is both brutal and pure.

He doesn't look at anything else, just talent and hard work.

Autumn winds swept across the land, and the long-running summer regular season came to an abrupt end. Soon the playoffs began. Although Chu Ran was not there, IG's strength was beyond doubt.

They successfully entered the playoffs with the highest points.

As soon as the playoffs began, it was like the autumn wind blowing and the war drums beating. Clubs and players were spewing out a barrage of harsh words and trash talk, all clamoring to pull IG down from their pedestal this year.

Then it was my turn to sit down.

Uzi, in particular, felt that his performance and form had reached their peak this year. Even though his teammates were all subpar, he still carried RNG all the way and achieved third place in the standings.

He believes that if his teammates just behave themselves in the upcoming playoffs, he can challenge IG and even win the World Championship!
He has matured completely this year!

This is GSL's assessment of him.

Of course, reality is still cruel. When the playoffs started, many teams' fans went from confidence to disappointment, but IG's fans were always smiling.

Because I've never lost!
At the Summer Split finals, countless people were cheering at the top of their lungs, and the big screen reflected the spirited appearance of the five IG players, making people sigh with emotion.

This is the real super team of LPL this year, and this is only a scaled-down version. They still beat FPX 3-1. They can't imagine if Chu Ran had participated, would FPX have been swept 3-0 again?

On the field, the FPX players looked grim. The dark horse, hailed as the strongest, had once again fallen to IG. Meanwhile, the resounding roars of the commentators echoed throughout the stadium!

"IG! IG won! Even though Chu Shen isn't on the competitive stage anymore, the players he nurtured still managed to win this year's LPL Summer Split championship through their own hard work!!"

"This team is just one step away from this year's Grand Slam!!! That is the World Championship title!!"

"And our Chu God won a championship while lying down. He only needs one more championship to complete an unprecedented three consecutive Grand Slams!!"

"IG—!!"

As Guan Zeyuan uttered these desperate words, countless LPL viewers were completely stunned.

Yes.

They only saw IG win the championship, but they didn't notice that Chu Ran won another championship, and was only one step away from achieving three Grand Slams.

Although Chu Ran didn't play in the Summer Split, everyone knows that IG's strength will be even more terrifying if Chu Ran plays, especially if IG wins the World Championship this year.

Then Chu Ran will completely surpass Li Xianghe!
It's not just about skill; there's also the most important aspect: honor!
Just thinking about this caused a huge uproar in all major competition areas around the world!
. . .

(End of this chapter)