LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 374 First Round Match of the Dream Lily Cup: Old Deng's Doom
Yu Zhiying stood there stunned for a long time before finally coming to her senses with her eyes lowered.

She and Lin Ruo made initial contact in the upper right corner. Perhaps due to her strong fighting spirit, she chose to cut off one of the white stones with a small knight's move, and then built a large moyo on the right side, extending it to the center.

However, in the battle in the upper left corner, after more than forty moves, White swallowed 16 of Black's stones, establishing a considerable advantage.

By move 144, White had secured all its territory very well, and seeing that there was no way to fight back, Yu Zhiying resigned.

She really didn't expect Lin Ruo's attack to be more overwhelming than a tidal wave. Although she had seen it in the National Games, that was against young players.

Unexpectedly, they now share a remarkably consistent style when facing her, and their extreme offensive tactics are truly eye-opening.

Yu Zhiying took a deep breath, calming herself down slightly. Suddenly, she understood what Lin Ruo meant when she said during the day that it was difficult for them to meet. Perhaps it was…

Yu Zhiying, born in 97, is only about three years older than Lin Ruo. The reason she is called "senior sister" is simply because she has been playing chess for a longer time.

However, after tonight, it seems that nothing can be praised anymore. Yu Zhiying no longer dares to regard Lin Ruo as a naive young man.

Because this is a complete devil.

"Senior sister, I'm coming in." Wu Yiming, who had been lingering outside the door, greeted the half-closed door and walked in with practiced ease.

Seeing Yu Zhiying still reviewing the game, Wu Yiming, who had come out of curiosity, couldn't help but ask, "Senior sister, I heard you just played chess with Lin Ruo?"

She found out quickly, and the reason was naturally told to her by Zhang Ruo, who was close to Lin Ruo. After the Newcomer King Competition, the two of them became quite familiar with each other.

Although Lin Ruo made the move, she did not reveal who won or lost. Therefore, Wu Yiming, who had a strong desire to explore, wanted to find out the truth. He wanted to know the result firstly, and watch the game secondly.

She didn't believe Lin Ruo could defeat her senior sister, so she was more interested in learning the details of their game, hoping to gain some valuable insights and benefits.

"Senior sister, are you the white side?" Seeing that Yu Zhiying was holding a white piece, Wu Yiming seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Although she didn't believe it, she really didn't dare to underestimate Lin Ruo's potential. After all, the only game in which she, who considered herself a genius, was tricked was played against Lin Ruo.

"No, I was trying to put myself in Lin Ruo's shoes," Yu Zhiying replied coldly, feeling that she had been unintentionally insulted again.

However, she did not notice the terror revealed in Wu Yiming's dilated pupils.

"Lin Ruo beat Senior Sister? How is that possible?" Wu Yiming thought about it for a while but still didn't believe it. However, Yu Zhiying's serious expression meant she was definitely not interested in joking with her.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Wu Yiming could only leave dejectedly, thinking that he probably wouldn't be able to go back with Lin Ruo tomorrow.

And from now on, she really has to call him "brother" from the bottom of her heart. She wouldn't believe that someone like that wouldn't become a legend in the world of Go.

……

The first round of the Men's Group preliminary competition of the Mengbaihe Cup officially started early the next morning.

Lin Ruo got up at eight o'clock, washed up, went out for breakfast, and was ready. Fifteen minutes before the match, she walked into the match venue of the Chinese Chess Academy.

Just as Lin Ruo stepped inside, still outside the venue, a burly man with a fierce expression swiftly blocked her way.

"So your name is Lin Ruo?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ruo was startled. The way the other party started the sentence made their intentions very clear. "Uncle, don't be impulsive. It's not convenient to do this in broad daylight. How about you find a dark corner to ambush me next time?" Lin Ruo said solemnly.

He was thinking of the older man, and also of himself. In any case, after saying that, Lin Ruo would never go to dark corners again.

Lin Ruo, who hadn't made any enemies in the year and a half since becoming famous, could only deduce one thing: the uncle was most likely one of the people who had yelled in the live stream that if he continued to act arrogantly, they would come and beat him up through the internet.

"What's inconvenient about it? It's all the same." The uncle, listening to Lin Ruo's words, forced out his cutest smile, then reached behind his back and, to Lin Ruo's horrified gaze, pulled a miniature notebook from his back pocket.

"I'm a fan of yours in the League of Legends community. Can you sign an autograph for me? Is it okay? Why are you sweating so much?"

Lin Ruo: ...

"Uncle, if you really need autographs in the future, you don't have to come in person. Also, please don't use that opening sentence structure anymore," Lin Ruo suggested tactfully.

These words touched the uncle deeply. He never expected that Lin Ruo, who seemed carefree and thoughtless in the live stream, would actually be such a caring and high-quality idol in real life. He was even worried that it would be troublesome for Lin Ruo to come in person.

At that moment, the uncle realized that he hadn't made a mistake in supporting the wrong person.

Unable to imagine what would happen next, Lin Ruo forced herself to sign the papers and quickly walked into the venue. She went to the restroom to wash her face before searching for her seat among the long list of seat numbers.

It wasn't that he was timid; it was just that this uncle's appearance and manner were truly intimidating. In comparison, his opponent, Huang Yizhong, who was already 37 years old in the Go world, had a much more amiable appearance.

Under the media's spotlight, the scene of Lin Ruo and Huang Yizhong, both professional 7-dan players, exchanging greetings was fully captured on CCTV's live broadcast.

This immediately caused quite a stir, with both casual viewers and existing Go players discussing it.

[It's finally starting, but why aren't there any individual shots? And it's just dozens of tables set up together in the hall again; it's making me dizzy.]

Don't panic. If Lin Shen can make it to the third round, he'll get a private battle room.

Don't be ridiculous. If Lin can make it to the third round, I'll still say the same thing: he'll eat his words clean.

[Everyone, watch closely and don't blink! This is both Lin Shen's opening and closing battle, since the next stop is the high-speed rail station.]

Indeed, Huang Yizhong is a veteran; with so many years of experience, it will be very difficult for Lin Ruo to defeat him.

[So why didn't the organizers arrange for Lin Shen to play a third or fourth dan level competitor first? It doesn't create any suspense at all.]

[There's something fishy going on, absolutely something fishy going on. Putting my only professional first-dan player in this 'group of death' like this, are the organizers some kind of anti-fan organization?]

[The people in charge of the group assignments were probably RNG fans; they're really happy about it.]

[It's okay, it's good that you're back to streaming early. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to watch all day. I can't help it, out of all the streamers, I only like Lin Gou.]

[It's started, it's started.]

When the noise at the scene suddenly stopped, everyone knew that the first round of the Mengbaihe preliminary competition was finally about to begin.

(End of this chapter)