LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 421, Page 419: Why is the chess academy full of fans?

[Is Lin Gengxin really going to win the world Go championship? That would be too outrageous.]

[This champagne is so over the top, they're already talking about winning before the competition even starts! Do they think this is League of Legends, where you can practically reserve the championship in advance?]

[I think it's a sure thing. Didn't you see Lin was on the bench at MSI, saving his energy? What does that mean? It means Lin is preparing with all his might, he's about to take off.]

[Don't overhype it. A 200 million prize wouldn't make Lin Gou hold back like this. Lin Gou was simply slacking off at MSI. Do you think it's a 2000 million prize that would make him work so hard?]

Indeed, I don't know if Lin will win the championship, but he's definitely guaranteed to reach the round of 32.

The following day, in the EDG training room, the chat on Lin Ruo's daily live stream was mostly filled with discussions about the upcoming Mlily Cup World Championship.

The hype surrounding MSI had barely died down when the immense popularity of the Mengbaihe Cup arrived, giving LPL viewers a first-ever sense of how rich their lives were, with fresh matches to watch every few days.

It's easy to imagine how little attention this Demacia Cup will receive, since most LPL viewers will be watching Go with Lin Ruo.

Immersed in training, Lin Ruo played five consecutive games of Go on Wild Fox in the morning.

Lin Ruo was not in good form in the first game and won by a narrow margin after more than 200 moves. She won the second game steadily and in an average manner. When the game came to the third game, Lin Ruo, who had completely regained her touch, quickly entered a fast-paced killing mode.

In the fourth and fifth games, against opponents of similar skill level, it was almost always a one-sided crushing victory from start to finish.

The audience has now witnessed what true form is. Without comparison, there is no difference. After watching the first game, you'll understand after watching the fifth game.

Calling it super evolution is nothing special.

So Lin Ruo hadn't played a single game of Go for almost two months since the Mengbaihe Cup qualifiers ended in early April, but she's regained her form in the last two days.

Kind of outrageous.

This isn't last-minute cramming; it's like reviewing and memorizing before an exam.

The screen was filled with "It's a sure thing" comments. Lin Ruo, as always, indicated that he should keep a low profile. He also felt that it was a sure thing, but it was better to be humble before the match.

The audience might have been joking, but he wasn't joking; he genuinely felt it was a sure thing.

The phrase "the hope of the whole village" is just polite talk. It's because of the Deep Blue skill point that he became stronger, even stronger than when he defeated Park Young-hoon.

...

Two days later, there is only one day left before the start of the main tournament of the Mengbaihe Cup.

Lin Ruo wasn't in a hurry to go to Beijing. The Mengbaihe Cup started on June 1st, and he bought a plane ticket to Beijing for May 31st.

They prioritize punctuality, never arriving early or scouting locations on match days.

The day before his departure, Lin Ruo got up early in the morning, washed up, and made a special trip to the Shanghai Chess Academy to visit Tian Bin, the team leader who had registered him, although he didn't know exactly what it was about.

It's not far from Lingshi Road to the Chess Academy, about a 20-minute taxi ride. Lin Ruo didn't even have time to doze off before arriving at her destination.

After getting off the car and tidying myself up, I walked to the reception area inside the chess academy's main gate.

As always, the receptionist, upon hearing footsteps, instinctively greeted the arriving guests before even looking up.

However, she stopped talking abruptly when she saw the person. The receptionist was stunned for a moment before exclaiming in surprise, "Oh, it's Lin Ruo, 1st Dan! You're here to visit Tian Bin, 7th Dan, right?"

She had a very deep impression of Lin Ruo, even though they had only met three times from September of last year to May of this year.

The first time was when Lin Ruo was invited to participate in the National Games. All the participants gathered at the chess academy for a send-off ceremony. At that time, no one knew who Lin Ruo was.

There's only one reason why the receptionist left such a deep impression: her looks were a huge plus.

The second time was in early April at the Rookie King Tournament, where Lin Ruo returned to the chess academy, but later chose to participate in the Mengbaihe Cup qualifiers.

Thus, a legend was born.

He defeated all the high-ranking professional players (six, seven, eight, and nine) in the preliminaries to advance, becoming a household name in the Go world as a professional first-dan player. In other words, most viewers don't know who the champion of this year's Rookie King Tournament is, but if you were to name the best rookie player of the year, Lin Ruo's name would undoubtedly come to mind.

This is the impact of defeating a 9-dan professional Go player; it's far more impressive than competing against a group of 3- or 4-dan kids for a championship.

And so, when the receptionist saw Lin Ruoke again, she no longer looked at him with the same admiring gaze as before, but rather with a sense of worship.

Such terrifying strength naturally inspires awe and admiration.

After greeting the receptionist, Lin Ruo made her way to the back hall alone, her sparse footsteps echoing in the corridor.

In each of the game rooms, many young Go players and aspiring professional players turned their attention to the game, and then they all became excited.

"Lin Ruo, a first-dan player, is here. Is there anything she needs to say about participating in the main tournament?"

"Maybe so. It's probably to tell the other 9-dan players in the main tournament not to play too hard like they did against Park Yeong-hun, making them question their existence."

"Terrifying! Now that you mention it, I'm reminded of how he defeated Park Young-hoon. If there were a vote for the championship, I would definitely vote for Lin Ruo, a first-dan player. He really has a chance."

"Indeed, although Park Young-hoon started from the qualifiers in this year's Dream Lily Cup, he is definitely a top-tier player. Who in the main tournament would dare to say they can beat him? But Lin Ruo, a first-dan player, won against him, and by a crushing margin."

"He's already so good at chess even though he started learning it halfway through his studies. I can't imagine how good he would be if he had been learning it since he was a child."

"I feel that he will definitely be the best chess player in Shanghai in the future."

"That's hard to say. Go has always been a side job for him. He just won the League of Legends MSI championship a few days ago."

"Still playing video games? You can still concentrate on participating in a Go competition? That's amazing."

"While you guys are discussing these things, I'm the only one thinking, can I go out and ask for an autograph? Maybe it'll be the world champion's autograph someday."

Watching Lin Ruo walk by so lightly, the young men in the rushing section were more or less eager to make a move.

Lin Ruotai was exactly as they imagined. After all, who wouldn't want to become famous at a young age and make a name for themselves in one battle, becoming a genius in everyone's eyes in the most unbelievable way?

However, such cases are ultimately rare. Since they cannot achieve the abilities of geniuses, they can only strive to be among them.

"Lin Ruo, first dan, can I get your autograph?" A first dan boy mustered up his courage and went out.

After all, it's rare for Lin Ruo to come to the chess academy, and who knows when we'll see him again.

“Sure, no problem.” Lin Ruoxin readily accepted and took the notebook to write down her name, which led to more and more people participating in the autograph session.

The not-so-large indoor corridor soon became crowded with people, gradually turning into a fan meeting venue, with swarms of young men crowding together, shouting for autographs.

However, it was a chess academy, not the main street where people came and went everywhere. There were only a few dozen young people aiming for professional ranks, far more than enough to keep him from walking for half a day.

And it's not necessary to get autographs. Smart people know to get photos, and even smarter people like mlxg want both.

However, Lin Ruoke didn't have time to give him both, making him feel like he was serving someone else.

After getting autographs and taking photos with the group of teenagers, Lin Ruo arrived at the office a little later and knocked on the door. The door seemed to open as soon as she touched it.

Lin Ruozao had sent a message to team leader Tian Bin when he arrived at the chess academy, but he didn't come to the office for more than ten minutes after he came in.

Tian Bin thought Lin Ruo was lost and was about to go out to meet her when he opened the door and bumped into Lin Ruo. He glanced at the situation in the corridor not far away and realized that she was lost.

Good guy.

It wasn't that they got lost, but rather that they were blocked by fans who had come to see them and couldn't move.

Lin Ruo, who defeated a 9-dan professional Go player to advance to the main tournament, has now become a superstar.

Tian Bin couldn't help but sigh. Defeating a 9-dan professional Go player was truly remarkable; it was something he had never accomplished in his entire life.

(End of this chapter)