LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 433 The Great Battle with Shin Jinseo, the War Begins

Therefore, the number of players doesn't determine anything. When you see Park Jung-hwan, the current number one player in South Korea, eliminate Ke Jie, the current number one player in China, no matter how many other Chinese players advance, you will only feel a sense of despair.

Whether this despair can be largely dispelled depends on the final round of the 16-to-8 competition, with the showdown between Lin Ruo and Shin Jinseo becoming the final suspense.

South Korean viewers were naturally hoping for Lin Ruo's elimination, thus sealing the controversy surrounding his victory in the Mengbaihe Cup. Chinese Go fans were also eagerly hoping that Lin Ruo could become the savior.

Among the current Chinese players who are predominantly younger, a number of those with world championship experience, including Ke Jie, Shi Yue, and Fan Tingyu, have already been eliminated.

This also makes Lin Ruo, who has the greatest potential, seem like the only hope at present.

It's understandable that Li Weiqing would say such a thing; indeed, in his opinion, the only person who can rival the number one player in South Korea is Lin Ruo.

This time it's truly a lone survivor in a certain sense, well, a lone survivor from the alliance region in Go.

"Hey kid, you're not really going to make it to the finals, are you?" The fixed NPC Mingkai also called to congratulate him after the match, thinking to himself that it was good that he hadn't bet anything with Lin Ruo this time.

Last time, I bet on advancing in the qualifiers. If it weren't for the money, I would have called him my brother for life.

However, Mingkai's call came a bit too early this time.

"I haven't even made it to the quarterfinals yet. Tomorrow I have to play against Shin Jinseo, who is ranked second in Korea. If I lose, I'll have to come back and prepare for the summer season."

It's obvious that it would be more appropriate for Mingkai to call after tomorrow's game. Calling now, does it mean he's that confident in him?

Obviously not.

Mingkai had just finished dealing with the training match preparations when he turned around and saw a note from Lin Ruo hanging at the top of Weibo's trending topics.

This led him to believe that Lin Ruo had already finished the match and had unbelievably advanced to the quarterfinals.

Actually, that's not the case. The Weibo post was only pushed to the top because Lin Ruo is Ke Jie's biggest hope after losing the match.

If you had just clicked in and looked at the entry, you would never have thought that Mingkai would call you on a day when there was no game.

Mingkai, who understood the reason, also felt offended, and then heard what confidence was: "Kai, since you've said so, then I guarantee you'll win, okay? You don't need to call tomorrow, I'll take it as you already congratulated me in advance."

"Could it be... that I gave this kid confidence?" Ming Kai felt very abrupt after hanging up the phone. He had just said that after playing against Shin Jinseo, he might come back to prepare for the Summer Split.

Unexpectedly, his sudden and out-of-the-box congratulations led to a champagne rush and an early advancement.

No, are his words really that persuasive? Mingkai, who is usually the one Lin Ruo makes fun of, never felt that he held such a heavy place in Lin Ruo's heart.

Well, Mingkai thought that he, as the older brother, was quite charismatic; just a few words from him had given Lin Ruo confidence.

Actually, that's not the case. Dealing with Shin Jinseo at this stage is something Lin Ruo can easily accomplish without needing confidence.

The difference between a person's transformation and their previous state can be unimaginably large on some levels.

Unlike the current online landscape, where 99% of people support Lin Ruo but 66% believe he has little chance of advancing, this is not the case here.

However, it's normal for viewers without the foresight to worry, firstly because he's the only one who can fight right now, and the less hope there is, the more worried they become.

Secondly, Shin Jinseo is indeed very strong. Even though he has won almost no high-profile championships in recent years, he has maintained a top ranking in most tournaments. His strength is undeniable. He just needs a breakthrough opportunity.

Viewers might be losing sleep because they're worried about tomorrow's match, but once they know what Lin Ruo's condition is, they'll realize that their worries were completely unnecessary.

Lin Ruo wasn't worried at all. After watching the game, she went back to catch up on her sleep, and in the afternoon, she even had time to go out and have fun with Zhang Ruo and Li Weiqing, who had already been eliminated and needed to relax.

Not only that.

That evening, Lin Ruo started a live stream at the hotel using a laptop and other rudimentary equipment.

Lin Ruo, who hadn't done a live stream in a long time, really missed this feeling. How to put it? The feeling of giving gifts is called the rotten smell of money.

no way.

Lin Ruo was also worried that if his die-hard fans got bored after not doing a live stream for more than a week, what would happen?

So he could only reluctantly do a short live stream the night before the match, just to let his fans know that he was still alive.

What was the title of the live stream again?

"I'll be under a lot of pressure in tomorrow's match, so I'll chat with the audience."

[Feeling stressed? You're under so much pressure! You just started your livestream and you're already saying you miss them terribly. Send some gifts to prove you're a true fan?]

Brothers, don't be fooled by Lin Gou. I just saw him wandering around Beijing today. Yes, I'm the one who took him around in my taxi.

I can vouch for myself; I was the cushion Lin Gou sat on, and he even made a loud noise about it.

【You're all liars! I'm a ticket collector at the scenic area. I saw him bring a man and a woman in with my own eyes, and they spent ages watching a monkey.】

I can attest that I was the monkey that Lin Gou was watching. Lin Gou is disgusting; he won't even feed me bananas and he spits at me.

Well, seeing so many people making fun of memes, Lin Ruo knew that these people hadn't gone crazy during the days he wasn't streaming.

Sure enough, people who can talk trash will find their own sources of happiness even if they don't have them.

Just like the intellectuals on Baidu Tieba, they can create buzz by posting all sorts of inflammatory threads even when there's nothing interesting to talk about.

These viewers who frequently watch his live streams not only spontaneously discuss tomorrow's matches in the anti-pressure section, but they can even earn a reputation in the Go forum.

Lin Ruo, who usually streams until around midnight, ended her broadcast on time, unlike Shin Jinseo next door who had been researching all day and went to bed early around 22 p.m.

In contrast, Lin Ruo, who had been playing all day, was still able to sleep peacefully, but the Go spectators who were watching everything closely had some trouble falling asleep.

We pinned our only hope on Lin Ruo, and you tell me he spends his days playing around and then goes live until the early hours of the morning.

Immediately, a sense of indignant anger permeated many Go spectator groups, after all, no Go player would dare to cause trouble around the day before a competition.

Isn't this ruining the game? They're not sure if they still want to win, but they certainly have a good chance of losing.

This caused a frenzy among viewers on Korean websites, who engaged in lively discussions on forums overnight.

[Damn it, did Lin Ruo know he couldn't possibly be a match for Shin Jinseo 9-dan, so he gave up? Even if he's sleeping in a hotel, he shouldn't be running around all day.]

[The Korean reporter who accompanied me said Shin Jinseo has been preparing all day. I don't know how he's going to lose tomorrow.] [I feel like Shin Jinseo 9-dan can relax a bit. Lin Ruozhen isn't that scary. If it weren't for a good draw, he probably would have been eliminated long ago. Making it through the preliminaries and defeating our Park Young-hoon 9-dan is probably his peak.]

Anyway, seeing Lin Ruo handle things this way puts my mind at ease. After all the commotion the day before, how could she possibly explode again tomorrow?

[Their ages aren't that different, but one is a 9th dan and the other is only a 1st dan, which speaks volumes.]

I admit Lin Ruo is very talented, but he really doesn't seem to care at all. I don't believe someone who isn't fully committed can achieve anything significant in the future.

That makes sense, but this person is Lin Ruo...

Whenever they saw other Korean viewers on the forum brimming with confidence, the viewers who were suffering in the League of Legends arena began to feel uneasy.

There's a formula I know how to apply.

Before the Spring Split finals last year, Lin Ruo was playing Overwatch; before the Mid-Season Invitational finals last year, Lin Ruo was playing PUBG; before the World Championship last year, Lin Ruo was preparing for his Go professional qualification exam…

So it seems that Lin Ruo, who is not preparing for the upcoming competition, is the strongest... On the contrary, Lin Ruo who is preparing for the competition may not be so frightening to them.

Regardless, it's unthinkable for Korean viewers who have been under immense pressure from Lin Ruo in the league to not be worried about tomorrow's game.

Unlike other Korean viewers, they weren't taking things so seriously. They could only hope that the formula wouldn't work outside of League of Legends, which was the best outcome they could think of.

Tomorrow's match will not be easy; it cannot be determined simply by comparing the two players' preparation status the day before.

If that's the case.

Lin Ruo would not become the most terrifying enemy in their alliance territory.

……

The second day of the chess academy competition was, as usual, a day with an explosive crowd and extremely high attendance.

Lin Ruo and Shin Jinseo both arrived at the venue about an hour before the start of the match.

According to the chess academy's arrangements, there will be a short media interview session before the start of the competition. It will be a warm-up activity, but no harsh words will be made.

Lin Ruo could only say that she was very happy to participate in today's competition and was looking forward to the match against Shin Jinseo 9-dan.

It's not that he's trying to build up good karma, but Shin Jinseo didn't say anything radical; on the contrary, he was always humble and polite.

Lin Ruo certainly wouldn't say he was going to beat someone up; it was simply a matter of who spoke first and who came first. Shin Jinseo's speech determined what he would say next.

Shin Jinseo is indeed much more flawless than most Korean Go players.

Therefore, Lin Ruo also expressed absolute respect, focusing intently on resting with his eyes closed before the start of the match, remaining serious and waiting for the match to begin.

Many reporters outside the venue rarely saw Lin Ruo sitting so upright before the start of the match, and they thought he was under tremendous pressure and was preparing to devote himself to the game.

Actually, it's not like that.
Finally, the media took a few photos and then left the arena, leaving the two players to prepare for the match for the next half hour.

In the WildFox livestream room.

The commentators in charge of today's event also started their comprehensive pre-match introductions early on.

Regardless of the type of competition, providing detailed introductions to both players before the match is always of utmost importance. This not only allows the audience to understand both sides but also serves as an important preparatory process.

"Good morning, everyone. We are currently at the Mengbaihe Cup tournament at BJ Go Academy. We will be broadcasting the round of 16 match between Lin Ruo 1-dan and Shin Jinseo 9-dan shortly."

"However, before the match started, we invited Cao Dayuan 9-dan to give a professional commentary on today's game."

After the commentator finished speaking, Cao Dayuan, a nearly 60-year-old Chinese professional Go player, waved to the viewers in the live broadcast room with practiced ease.

"Hello fellow chess players, it's your old friend Cao Dayuan again today."

Here it comes again, that voice sounds so familiar.

[Is Coach Cao Dayuan here too? Hopefully, the Chinese players on the field today won't disappoint him.]

I really enjoy listening to Coach Cao's commentary; I'm definitely going to watch the match closely later.

The viewers in the live stream were not surprised to see Cao Dayuan, a veteran Go player they were very familiar with, as he was a guest commentator specially invited by WildFox.

Because Cao Dayuan has been active in attending events and serving as a commentator in various Go competitions over the years, he has become familiar with the process over time, so there is nothing surprising about it.

Having mastered the entire process, Cao Dayuan quickly began interacting with the viewers in the live stream.

"Dear viewers, please don't worry too much. I think Lin Ruo has a good chance today. After all, being able to defeat Park Young-hoon 9-dan means that he is definitely capable of fighting today."

"Although Lin Ruo's opponent was a young first-dan player, we could still see from the game that Lin Ruo was in top form, so there was nothing wrong with her in every aspect."

"Just remember that no matter the outcome, today's game will be incredibly exciting."

With just a few casual words, Cao Dayuan dispelled the concerns of many viewers.

As the match began, the commentator responsible for creating a lively atmosphere chimed in: "The match has started. Let's take a look at the footage. The two players are already guessing who will go first."

Hearing the word "guess who goes first," many viewers tensed up again, because Ke Jie's loss yesterday was largely due to his failure to predict the first move.

Therefore, today's prediction is obviously an extremely important change.

However, it seems that fate was not on their side this time. In the footage of the competition, Lin Ruo finally got the black pieces as the opening move.

Is it going to be another match-fixing incident? The audience couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.

Lin Ruo, on the other hand, remained extremely calm. Following the procedure, she exchanged chess boxes with Shin Jinseo, wiped the table, and then began the match.

Black is the only option.

Only when the strength of the opponents is roughly equal does the distinction between black and white become important.

However, in the eyes of an opponent with a significant difference in strength, the distinction between black and white is naturally not so important.

Lin Ruo thought so too; Shin Jinseo wasn't at the stage where he should worry about the outcome of the game.

(End of this chapter)