LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 357 Find a Dota pro player to beat up
SKT, who let Kkoma go during last winter's transfer window and then bought championship coach Nofe for double the price, have had a rough year.

Seven league matches have passed so far, and they have only managed three wins and four losses, placing them outside the top five in the league. Their chances of making the playoffs are now extremely slim.

This is SKT's performance since Nofe took over as coach. Even in Season 4, when SKT failed to qualify for the World Championship, the team never worried about the possibility of missing the playoffs.

Not to mention the achievements of being either champion or runner-up in the following three years.

But now, SKT really has something to worry about.

Especially after sending away Huni and Peanut, the team's new top and jungle players are not enough to shoulder the responsibility of advancing in the league, which led to two games where Wolf switched to jungle.

With Nofe's brilliant assist in the draft, this SKT team performed even worse than the three-time champions of 18 that Lin Ruo remembered.

While EDG defeated Snake, the highly anticipated match between the struggling SKT and this year's Spring Split champions KZ continued.

This is SKT's eighth regular season game, a crucial stage in their journey to the playoffs that they cannot afford to lose.

Despite this, the fact remains that SKT was utterly crushed in the first game. Peanut, playing his signature champion Olaf, completely overwhelmed SKT, avenging his loss during the transfer period.

Before the BO3 was even over, Korean online forums were already in an uproar over SKT's crushing defeat in the first game, especially after someone uploaded news that EDG had just defeated Snake.

There is no harm without comparison.

SKT fans, not satisfied with simply blocking the entrance with two trucks, launched an indiscriminate attack on everyone in the club, especially Nofe, who had led the team to repeatedly break records since his arrival.

[Shiba, please bring Coach Kkoma back as soon as the Spring Split ends. I really can't stand Nofe, that idiot.]

Can you believe that SKT has had matches this year that lasted over 60 minutes and still ended up getting turned around?

[Hmph, this is SKT's only highlight this year, so cherish it while you can.]

[Can any kind SKT fan tell me how Nofe managed to achieve success with both ROX and EDG? This question is really bothering me.]

[ROX only focused on the top and jungle tempo in the early game; if the top and jungle couldn't get into a rhythm, they would concede. So the question is, was Nofe really useful?]

As for EDG... all I know is that they're still undefeated. I heard their club has a championship documentary, which I watched. Yeah, you know what I mean. Lin Ruo is EDG's real head coach.

Yes, Lin Ruo was EDG's MVP all along; Nofe was just a carry player.

[So why didn't EDG release this behind-the-scenes video sooner? They deliberately tricked us into buying Nofe, how disgusting!]

[Oh, wasn't it us who poached him? We even offered double salary. Back then, nobody could have imagined Nofe was a dud. When I found out EDG voluntarily gave up their 1+1 deal with Nofe and let him go, I knew things were going badly.]

I just sent Nofe some razor blades and a dead rat; I hope he receives them.

"Sister, that won't work. The club staff will check beforehand. If you're like me, right here at the scene, after the match, just pretend to be a fan and give Nofe something at the exit. He'll definitely accept it if he sees it."

...

The enraged SKT fans discussed their dissatisfaction with the team while also sharing their ideas on how to send dinner to Nofe.

They had completely forgotten how excited everyone was when they poached Nofe.

However, other LCK fans, especially SKT's arch-rivals SSG and KT, definitely remember these things clearly.

Therefore, the forum was also filled with other voices, namely, a strong sense of sarcasm.

Are these SKT fans? I remember they were already celebrating their Spring Split championship when they acquired Nofe.

I don't know, maybe it's a parallel universe.

[Haha, what a sucker SKT! They let Kkoma go and then spent double his salary to buy Nofe. No wonder they're the world's number one club.]

[SKT should just return him. It's okay, the termination fee is only Nofe's annual salary. I'm sure you guys who can offer him double his salary can afford it.]

[It is recommended that SKT bring in EDG's jungler, Lin Ruo, as he is EDG's actual head coach. His arrival would also bring jungle responsibilities, and his Korean language skills would facilitate smooth communication.]

Yes, SKT can use this as an excuse to protest: "We wanted to buy EDG's head coach, why did they send us an assistant coach? Ugh, those despicable Chinese!"

[Lin Ruo isn't expensive, just the annual salary of five Nofes. The great SKT club can definitely afford it. Let's prepare to welcome the first Chinese player in the LCK.]

For the first time in many years, Korean online forums have reached a level of discussion that rivals that of Chinese online forums, with such a lively and interactive atmosphere.

This also gave rise to a top-tier meme: "SKT wants to buy EDG's head coach Lin Ruo, what do you mean by sending me Nofe?"

In less than half a day, with SKT's crushing defeat to KZ and their complete elimination from the playoffs, the meme created by Korean online forums spread rapidly around the world.

It's not just popular on domestic online forums; it's also a hot topic of discussion in European and American regions.

Gossip expert Perkz immediately stepped forward to tweet to comfort SKT: "Don't worry too much, SKT actually made a profit because they successfully acquired Lin Ruo's assistant coach Nofe by cutting costs by more than half. Looking at it this way, they definitely made a profit."

"As for why SKT performed poorly, it's probably because the gap between Lin Ruo and Nofe can no longer be described by a difference in cost."

……

"Why does Ah P have to freeload on everything? He's badmouthing my Coach Nofe again."

After finishing the match and boarding the flight back to the EDG club, Lin Ruo was scrolling through his phone in the early hours of the morning, looking at Nofe's situation. As a former teammate who had been champions for a whole year, he felt it was necessary to say something for his brother.

So I edited it and joined the heated discussion on Twitter.

His point was simple: as the coach of both ROX and EDG, Nofe is truly a formidable coach, and SKT should continue to have faith in him and not give up easily.

Well, Lin Ruo felt that he had made a great effort to save Nofe's job, and it could be said that he had risked the credibility he had accumulated over the years.

Whether Nofe is grateful or not is unknown, but the European and American fans, and even SKT fans in the comments section, certainly won't feel the slightest bit grateful.

They only know how to use memes.

[My God, what does Lin Shen mean by that? Is there a top-notch translator? I feel it's more than just the literal meaning.]

[Let me translate, guys. It's common knowledge that using Nofe means SKT's decline. Lin wants SKT to continue believing in Nofe, which clearly means he hopes SKT will continue to decline.]

How could you think so badly of Lin Shen? That's too much, even though I think so too.

Anyway, I can tell that Lin might want to keep Nofe's job, but he definitely doesn't intend to help SKT see the light at the end of the tunnel.

SKT fans, just start criticizing! Lin doesn't need to save face.

Lin Ruo gave up struggling. Nofe wouldn't lose out no matter what, since who could get a severance package equivalent to a year's salary? Besides, Nofe was getting double his usual salary, which was a huge profit for him.

SKT is the only one who will suffer. Of course, they have poor judgment and think they've made a profit by snatching players right after the World Championship, so they can't blame anyone else.

Lin Ruo, who goes to bed early and gets up early, started his live stream as scheduled the day after the competition. Disliking that the computer was too obstructive to his view, he set up a separate table in the training room and set up a phone stand to play games.

Its main characteristic is its capriciousness.

As the head coach, Mingkai, who doesn't need to play ranked matches but can still get up early, glanced at the screen and didn't want to say anything. After several days of psychological counseling, he was able to accept the so-called "screen protector type" professional player in his training room.

People who enjoy watching live streams have gotten used to it.

This morning, Tengjing officially released a promotional video for their PUBG Mobile game, which is five minutes long and features Lin Ruo's immersive PUBG battlefield effects for three minutes.

Now the truth has finally come out.

[Holy crap, I was wondering why Lin Gou suddenly started playing PUBG and applying phone screen protectors. Turns out he's become a spokesperson now, damn it.]

It's not that Dota 2 isn't fun, nor that playing PUBG on PC is uninteresting; it's just that mobile PUBG offers better value for money.

Seeing Lin Gengxin make money is more painful than seeing everyone in the live stream become a billionaire! What should I do?

Laozi plays PUBG Mobile for fun, but he plays it for real money.

[I hereby announce that I am uninstalling PUBG Mobile starting today. That's all. Lin Gengxin made money playing the game, but I didn't. I'm sorry, I'm deeply hurt.]

[The official PUBG Mobile account posted overnight: Damn it, Lin Gou is playing PUBG Mobile, why did he uninstall PUBG Mobile?]

Lin Ruo looked at the comments and gave an embarrassed smile, deciding to send some lucky bags to her fans.

Oh, sorry, this isn't Douyin, so I can't post here. Never mind then.

Let's try our luck with a prize draw, but never mind, he's a law-abiding, exemplary socialist youth.

Can't do it.

It seems that no way of giving fans a treat is going to work, so Lin Ruo decided to just leave it at that. She felt that it was enough that she had the intention; the actual actions were not important.

The time passed quickly, and the fight lasted all morning. As a professional spokesperson, Lin Ruo used both her hands and her mouth.

The technical effects are top-notch, and the program effects are equally impressive, all in an effort to promote the beauty and charm of mobile battle royale games to the audience.

As we all know, a beating is a sign of affection, and scolding is a sign of love. So, PUBG Mobile is friendly in every way. It would be a shame not to play such a high-quality and heartwarming game.

He urged viewers to play the game frequently, and preferably download it via the link in the bottom left corner.

Lunchtime has arrived, and to avoid being tricked by the EDG cafeteria lady, Lin Ruo specially ordered takeout before the club opened for lunch.

What screen protector application livestream? Sorry, these days it's all about mukbang (eating broadcasts), a rare and unpredictable segment.

However, he is not Teacher Ma and cannot afford to eat from a big bowl. Because there was a training match in the afternoon, Lin Ruo simply ended his live broadcast of eating.

After all, it's a bit unethical to eat in the training room. This is a place that everyone uses together, and it's not even called a canteen.

Last night, they played ranked games until three or four in the morning. Jin Gong and the others, who had just gotten up around noon, had just finished eating and entered the training room to play a couple of games to warm up when Lin Ruo was already packing up to go back to the dormitory.

Since his teammates were all up, and the sun was undoubtedly high in the sky, it was time for him to go back and take a nap before coming to the training room.

The training match is at 2 PM, and there's no reason not to cherish this natural afternoon nap time.

Lin Ruo cherished it, but for the other teammates, they had no concept of taking a nap; they only had the concept of sleeping until the afternoon.

This lifestyle is very unhealthy, and Lin Ruo strongly condemns it.

"Damn it, I've been promoting healthy living concepts for so long, why haven't any related product advertisements come to me?" Lin Ruo thought about it briefly before resting and felt that this was unusually unreasonable.

In the afternoon, I arrived at the training room and quickly finished the training match with three easy wins.

Mingkai felt that the scrims were completely pointless, and he was thinking that it would be better to bring Haro up in future scrims, so that at least there would be room for review and discussion after the games.

Let Lin Ruo lead the team to fight, and they can disband and rest on the spot after the game. Since they won too quickly and smoothly, why would they need to do any post-game analysis? This made Ming Kai feel that his job was very idle.

He's getting a high salary and spending all day playing ranked matches and doing live streams of screen protector application, walking around behind his teammates. That's incredibly irresponsible.

Why not ask Abu to take over the club's psychological counselor job? That way, Mingkai could feel a little more at ease taking the salary.

Too lazy to guess what Kai was thinking, Lin Ruo checked the time after training and it was only 17 PM. So she rested for a bit, turned on her computer, and started a live stream. It was time to show off her Dota 2 skills.

Although he hasn't been playing much lately, it doesn't mean he's not playing. He still needs to slowly grind his way up to the top of the Chinese server.

"What rank are you at lately?" Scout, curious, couldn't help but ask after seeing Lin Ruo open Steam.

He was genuinely curious about this, and like many other people who were interested in entertainment, he wanted to see if Lin Ruo could reach the top of the national server.

"It should be around 8500 points by now," Lin Ruo casually replied, and upon logging in, her score was indeed within that range.

His judgment was correct.

There's not much to say, let's start ranked matches and see if we can find a pro player to beat.

8500 points is already considered a high-level match. You'd be shocked if you didn't encounter a professional player like Lin Ruo, but you wouldn't be surprised at all if you did.

However, the timing is bad; you're more likely to run into professional players in ranked matches at night.

At this point, everyone had just finished their training matches, and even the Dota 2 side was in a similar situation, either reviewing their games or taking a break to prepare for meals. It was still a bit of a stretch to log in and play immediately.

Perhaps for this reason, Lin Ruo's queue time was very slow, so slow that he could take out his phone and play a game of PUBG.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lin Ruo was about to go eat when she was finally assigned a match.

Upon entering the room, the first thing that caught my eye was Karl, who had been silenced.

Lin Ruo knew he was being targeted. He was playing mid lane, so if banning Karl wasn't aimed at him, was it also aimed at the position 4 or 5?

It seems someone on the other end recognizes his ID, or rather, knows him personally.

(End of this chapter)