LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 486 Sorry, I need to get the gold medal.

Preparations for the Asian Games cannot be taken lightly. From the moment the team arrived at the Asian Games Village in Shenzhen, Lin Ruo felt a strong sense of tension.

Here he saw many national-level athletes he would never have seen before, such as Su Bingtian, Gong Lijiao and other industry leaders.

However, in Lin Ruo's memory, the Asian Games was never a very important thing.

After all, even in the Olympics, which involves the whole world, China has consistently ranked among the top three, not to mention the Asian Games, which are limited to the Asian region.

The probability of the Chinese team winning gold medals is undoubtedly comparable to the probability of failing to qualify for the World Cup in football.

This sometimes puzzled Lin Ruo, who was good at so many sports, yet was always constrained in the popular fields of football and basketball.

Even securing a place in Asia is a significant challenge.

However, this was not something Lin Ruo should be concerned about. After checking in, the team quickly gathered in their rooms, settled their belongings in advance, and rested for the night to prepare for training.

Lin Ruo wanted to go out and see the world, but later realized that it seemed like a very difficult thing to do.

It wasn't that he wasn't allowed to go out, but rather that he simply didn't have time to go out at all. His assumption about the eight-hour workday proved to be wishful thinking.

Damn, this is a 12-hour workday…

Aside from eating and sleeping, you have to sit in front of the computer all the time. Although it's not like you're playing games for 12 hours straight, after finishing a game you review it, and then you continue playing. It doesn't seem much better in comparison.

Sure enough, anything that can be called a training camp is no easy task.

Over the course of seven days, they simply found other LPL league teams, such as IG and other strong teams with complete rosters, and played scrims with them. Once they felt they were ready, they switched teams to continue playing with them.

Until the mistakes decrease and until the team's condition doesn't seem to have any obvious problems.

Apart from that, when I occasionally have time to relax, I can only walk around and look at things.

This is what makes the Asian Games special; there are strict requirements regarding diet. Before participating in the official Asian Games, participants are absolutely prohibited from consuming any food other than that provided by the staff within the Asian Games Village.

It would be bad if something went wrong.

As an esports player participating in the Asian Games for the first time, whether or not they are considered athletes is one thing, but there shouldn't be any possibility of them being tested for doping.

After all, doping in esports seems to be a side effect...

Lin Ruo thought about how troublesome the Asian Games were, and then she thought about the environment in Jakarta. Wouldn't it be even more troublesome if the network was not good?

The South Korean team complained a lot back then.

Fortunately, having the ability is an advantage; Lin Ruo managed to avoid the possibility of working non-stop for seven days.

The team might not have played very well in the first two days of practice, but starting from the third day, once they were able to follow Lin Ruo's ideas, the team rarely had any obvious problems.

They also won more scrimmages than lost against several LPL teams, demonstrating excellent form in practice.

So if you perform well from the start, there's no need for such difficult training later on; it's perfectly fine to relax a bit.

Anyway, the coach is Abu, so starting from the fourth day of training, Lin Ruo was able to log into CF from time to time, or check the battle situation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition.

Everyone turned a blind eye.

Others might be singled out for individual lessons after their performance review, but Lin Ruoke, whose performance has always been fine, won't be in that situation.

During the last two days of training for the Asian Games, the team finally had some free time, which was to sit in front of the computer and watch the draw ceremony for this year's League of Legends tournament.

There was no rule of "no two teams should be drawn against each other" in this draw. Instead, all eight participating national teams were randomly drawn into groups, and once they were drawn into a group, they were in that group.

Even if China, South Korea, and Taiwan are drawn into the same group, it can only be said that they are unlucky.

After two rounds of group stage matches, only the top two teams from each group will advance; there will be no third team advancing.

The final result wasn't quite that dramatic, but it wasn't much better either. Fate had other plans, sending China and South Korea into Group A one after the other, making a group match to determine the group leader inevitable.

In addition, Group A also includes Kazakhstan and Vietnam. The latter might be able to pull off an upset.

As for Kazakhstan, it's undoubtedly just something we're passing through to take a look.

As for Group B, it consists of four teams, led by Taiwan Province. As for the other three teams, let alone whether they have the ability to upset the LMS region, it's questionable whether they will even play League of Legends at all.

A country without a league can't possibly field a professional national team.

"Playing against an LCK representative in the group stage, what a twist of fate." Mouse muttered after watching the draw ceremony, showing no fear whatsoever, but rather a cheerful tone.

In the past, they would have been scared, but things are different now. The LPL region is the real number one region, and it is obviously the LCK that should be afraid.

Although the league and the national team are two different things, after being sidelined for almost two years, LCK will inevitably bear enormous pressure if it wants to redeem itself.

The situation in LCK is far more complex than that in LPL.

When the draw results and the schedule were announced, while the Korean fans weren't exactly pessimistic, the subtle pressure they were putting on the field was palpable to everyone.

[Siba, you have to win! It's one thing to lose to LPL, but if five more Chinese players win the championship, we're completely finished.]

Yes, we have to win. I really can't accept losing.

If we lose, we'll never be able to hold our heads up again. We used to be able to mock LPL for having our foreign players, but if we lose the Asian Games, we'll be humiliated for the rest of our lives.

Come on, if you lose again, I'm speechless...

Unlike the LPL, which remains calm and uneventful, news just broke that the Asian Games team has thrashed IG and JDG in a training match.

Is it really that strong after just over a week of practice? Well, sorry, no one would be nervous in this situation. It would be good enough if we didn't start celebrating prematurely.

It's understandable that the LCK representative team next door lost nine out of ten times in scrims against KZ. This situation is quite normal for a newly formed team, and Korean netizens didn't pay much attention to it at first.

But the situation is reversed in the LPL.

The Chinese Asian Games team beat a top team from their own league, but the LCK team couldn't. So what's going on?

Korean netizens soon erupted in lamentation again, and even many Korean media outlets issued warnings.

In the past, they would have thought that LPL was bluffing and deliberately engaging in some kind of psychological warfare, but given LPL's current performance, this is no longer a psychological war.

It's the stark reality... What can we do? There's nothing we can do. All the LCK teams can do is train even harder.

Scout, who had enjoyed many good years in the LPL, was experiencing the fervent expectations of LCK netizens for the first time.

Among the six LCK representatives, Scout is the only one who plays for EDG and is in top form. Given the obvious contrast, it's hard for LCK fans not to place all their hopes on Scout.

Whether it will work or not is another matter.

As the long period of time passed, the more than one-week training camp for the Asian Games finally came to an end on August 23. Relieved, Lin Ru packed her things early and left Shenzhen with the others that afternoon.

There were very few people left in the training village at this time, because the Jakarta Asian Games had already started on the 19th, and most of the athletes participating in the Asian Games had already landed in Jakarta.

Their League of Legends project, however, was scheduled for much later in the season, so there was no need to go so early. That's why they decided to depart on the 25th.

After all, the game has high network requirements, and Abu doesn't want to suffer from network problems too early. To be on the safe side, it's better to go two days before the competition to ensure sufficient training time.

Therefore, before heading to Jakarta for the Asian Games, the team will return to Shanghai for a day of rest to make final preparations.

What could Lin Ruo do upon returning to the club? Of course, he would start a live stream to comfort his devoted fans, as the thought of not having a live stream for a week was painful.

However, it will be closed for at least four more days, and these days are getting harder and harder.

It's okay, at least I have a good excuse. This time, Lin Ruomiao said righteously during the live stream: "Brothers, I went to participate in the Asian Games training camp, I'm not slacking off."

He then added a little boast: "Actually, I didn't want to go either. I just wanted to do a live stream for you guys from the base, but I couldn't. The Asian Games staff said that the jungler position was definitely mine, so there was nothing I could do."

If Lin Ruo didn't go live one day, she would be bombarded with insults by her die-hard fans as soon as she went online. But now it's better, her die-hard fans don't dare to be so mean anymore.

The Asian Games—it's about bringing glory to the country! Who would dare to object?

Even if Lin Ruo tries to show off in front of them, they still have to applaud and cheer.

[Yes, yes, Lin Shen is right. I don't mind not coming back for a month of training.]

[There won't be as many live streams as before because of the Asian Games; I can just watch the replays.]

[Lin Gou, you're a sure thing to win the Asian Games this time, right? Don't let us down. We don't even need to stream for a month after you win.]

[Stop barking like a dog, Lin Gou, and when you come back from Jakarta you'll be a gold medalist.]

Hmm, Lin Ruo looked at the surprisingly harmonious comments on the screen. Is this the power of red?

Some netizens even said that as long as you win the championship, you can stop streaming for a month. How can that be allowed? Lin Ruo sighed and said righteously, "A month without streaming after winning the championship is too short. Let's do three months."

Alright, now the comments section finally couldn't hold back anymore, and before we knew it, we were back to the familiar rhythm.

[Lin Gou, is this your home? You're really giving me too much credit.]

[I never wanted to stream when I was a professional player. I can't imagine if Lin Gou would have to take time off every few days when he retires and becomes a streamer.]

[It's like Lin Gou is still active, I haven't seen him play in an LPL match for over two weeks, and I only see him in post-match interviews once every six months.]

True fans are clearly dissatisfied with Lin Ruo's attendance, but what can they do? When playing against most LPL teams, EDG can still win even without Lin Ruo.

This brings up another topic: why is the LPL so bad that Lin Ruo can still comfortably tank?

If things continue like this, once Haro matures, Lin Ruo might not even get to play against top teams like RNG.

The audience couldn't even imagine it.

Only Lin Ruo dares to dream like this; he likes to collect his salary without even playing a match. But Haro doesn't seem to be able to grow to that stage.

Then he'll have to give her a little help. If all else fails, he can just promote Jiejie next year. With some training, she'll definitely have much more potential than Haro.

After chatting with his die-hard fans, Lin Ruo ended his live stream early, before midnight. He definitely wouldn't have dared to do this before, but he was sorry.

I'm going to the Asian Games the day after tomorrow.

As for why going the day after tomorrow has nothing to do with going to bed early today, don't ask. The answer is that I'm going to participate in the Asian Games to win glory for the country, so what's wrong with resting a day early?

If I can start training a week early, can't I at least get a day off earlier?

Yes, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Not only that, Lin Ruo also decided not to start a live stream at all tomorrow. She only has a short time to be arrogant, and if she doesn't act arrogantly now, she won't have another chance.

Time really does fly by.

I hadn't even felt anything after a comfortable day of rest after the Asian Games when August 25th arrived as scheduled.

Early in the morning, Lin Ruo had to get into a business car with Abu, Tian Ye, and the club staff to meet up with the others at Pudong Airport.

The group, dressed in special Asian Games uniforms made by the General Administration of Sport of China, waited at the airport to board their plane. As the League of Legends Asian Games representative team, the most important thing to do before departing for Jakarta was to take a group photo.

Of course, the photo itself is not the point; rather, the people in the photo must prominently embrace the five-star red flag, signifying their determination to fight with all their might for the glory of the nation.

Only after taking the photos did we actually board the flight to Jakarta.

Lin Ruoke didn't want to know what Jakarta was like. In fact, his only impression of Indonesia was that Bali, the world-famous tourist destination, was located in this place.

That's true. It would be great if I could stay for a few days after winning the championship, but considering I have to rush back to participate in the last two rounds of the regular season, it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to win.

On the other hand, when this group photo was circulated online, most LPL viewers were first stunned, and then deeply moved.

Because don't forget that seven or eight years ago, games were considered like drugs; they were not something that could be openly discussed, and were probably only despised in the sewers.

Back then, who would have imagined that the gaming industry could one day rise to the national level and become a sport that the country values ​​from the inside out?
These gamers could one day become athletes and have the opportunity to win glory for their country, striving for the highest honor in sports – the gold medal.

All of this has obviously changed too quickly.

There is no doubt that esports is growing rapidly and playing an increasingly important role.

Although this was just an exhibition match and the gold medals won will not be counted in the total, it does not diminish the fact that esports has taken a big step forward.

(End of this chapter)