LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 574 Park Jung-hwan? Interesting.

After the interviews ended, the competition continued until around 2 p.m., when the first round of 32 matches to advance to 16 came to a successful conclusion.

Half of the participants were eliminated in one go, and the eliminations continued proportionally the following day.

During her three-plus free hours, Lin Ruo did much more than the others at the competition venue.

For example, she could go to the cafeteria for a meal first, but considering the average quality of the food in the academy's cafeteria, Lin Ruo didn't waste much time on it.

Why can't we eat out? Yeah.

Wait, wasn't Comrade Yu Lijun eliminated? She's supposed to pack her things and leave before noon?

Lin Ruo finally came up with a pretty good suggestion: under the guise of seeing the opponent off, he would openly follow the opponent out, go out for a better meal first, and then return to the training institute after he was full.

Although the training institute has never mandated that athletes cannot eat out, it would be disrespectful to them to openly say that the food in the cafeteria is bad and insist on eating out.

Therefore, it would be best to go out under the guise of giving someone a gift.

I saw someone out and came back half an hour later. Is that okay? There really wasn't a problem.

So what's next? Of course, it's going back to the dorm to prepare for a nap.

No, I need to post a Weibo first to ensure it fits my persona.

[Guys, how was my performance today?]

Then came the unanimous negative reviews in the comments section.

【No way, you beat the weakest opponent, and you expect us to praise you? Why don't you beat a Korean player first?】

[All you ever do is bully our Yu-meimei. If you're so capable, try bullying me!]

[Wow, you're from Sichuan, right? That's a really interesting way to put it.]

[They can brag like this just because they beat a female contestant. Brothers, I can't even imagine what would happen if Lin Ruo beat a really strong one. He'd probably be Tarzan.]

【Isn't that obvious? We cheered so loudly when we won the championship six months ago, it was like the gibbons on both banks of the river couldn't stop their cries.】

[You think it was just Lin Gou barking? You were all barking too, otherwise how could it have been so loud?]

Yes, whenever Lin Ruo achieves a result, the loudest cheers come from the entertainment industry.

So why didn't they call out this time? Oh, it turns out they bullied their little sister Yu.

After all, opposites attract, and Lin Ruo can understand his true fans.

……

Later in the afternoon, while the other competitors finished their meals and returned to their dormitories, Lin Ruo had already completed her lunch break, a routine designed to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Liao Yuanhe looked exhausted, and seeing Lin Ruo's radiant face only made him look even more tired.

There's nothing we can do; our opponents are worlds apart.

The good news, however, is that he advanced.

"You advanced! That's great!" Lin Ruo exclaimed, giving a thumbs up.

Although he thought that since Liao Yuanhe was eliminated, he could justify eating all the snacks Liao Yuanhe had bought to prepare for the next round of competition.

However, advancing is a good thing; at least there's someone to talk to.

Liao Yuanhe scratched his head, letting out a huge sigh of relief: "Yeah, I didn't expect to advance today. I only won by a few points, I'm really exhausted."

It had indeed burned out; he no longer had the strength to think.

That's why I couldn't resist eating several large bowls of food in the cafeteria just now.

Lee Young-gu is a well-known veteran Go player in South Korea, and his strength is considerable. Liao Yuanhe's ability to defeat him shows that he has improved his skills.

Many other Chinese players also achieved victories in today's round of 32, just like him.

In this competition, 17 Chinese players participated in the main tournament, still more than half, followed by 10 from South Korea, 3 from Japan, and 1 each from Taiwan and France.

The China-South Korea rivalry remains the main theme of the competition. In the first round of the top 32, the China-South Korea match ended in a 6-4 score.

In the final list of 16 players, Chinese players still occupy the majority of ten spots, South Korea has five spots, and there is one additional player from Taiwan.

Japan and France, on the other hand, were both eliminated.

It was not unexpected that the French player was eliminated; he was practically just going through the motions anyway.

However, it was somewhat unexpected that all the Japanese players were eliminated in the first round.

After all, China is a major Go-playing country. During the Mengbaihe Cup, they at least had a quarterfinalist, but now they are lagging behind China and South Korea in every aspect.

Clearly, the future of Go is a contest between two countries, and South Korea is at a slight disadvantage.

In this round of 32, half of South Korea's teams were eliminated, but their top players, such as Park Jung-hwan and Shin Jin-soo, are still in the competition.

Yes.

In today's most anticipated match between China and South Korea, China's top player, Dang Yifei, was unable to stop the unstoppable advance of Park Jung-hwan.

This has led the South Korean media to still hold great hope for winning the championship after the match.

Although they eliminated many of their own players in the first round, they were all weaklings; the mainstays of the Korean Go world are still there.

Furthermore, Park Jung-hwan, as the main player, eliminated another main player, Dang Yi-fei.

Shin Jinseo was also unstoppable, easily defeating his opponent in the round of 32.

So no matter what, as long as Park Jung-hwan and Shin Jin-seo can make it into the round of 16, and then into the round of 8, no matter how many other Korean players are eliminated, the Korean media will not feel discouraged.

On the contrary, they will still maintain a great deal of self-confidence.

However, what they should be worried about next is that the quarterfinals are very likely to be another battle against Chinese players.

This scenario has occurred countless times in world Go tournaments. Because Chinese players have a higher average skill level and a larger number of participants, Korean players are easily besieged.

However, it's not like we haven't broken through the encirclement before.

South Korea remains very optimistic about this, but this optimism needs to be compared with the upcoming draw for the round of 16.

With a large number of participants, internal conflicts are likely to occur. If top Chinese players are likely to engage in internal competition, it would obviously be more advantageous for South Korean players.

Following the conclusion of the Round of 32, the draw for the Round of 16 will take place around 5 PM.

After the match, some players went back to rest, while others went with their coaches to the review room to replay the game.

For example, Ke Jie was pulled into the review room to review the game. Although he had just won the game, he actually made quite a few mistakes.

If they maintain this form, with the Samsung Cup schedule so close together and only one match to play, they might be unexpectedly eliminated.

Therefore, coaches must make every effort to adjust the players' condition.

This performance must not be allowed to continue into the next day. At the very least, a basic review should be conducted, and any mistakes that need to be noted should be pointed out.

At 5 p.m. sharp, the remaining 16 players gathered again in the reception hall to prepare for the draw for the next round of 16 to 8.

The drawing of lots was done very quickly.

Because the group was divided into upper and lower brackets when there were 32 teams, the range of teams that could be drawn was limited.

The most anticipated matchup by all reporters was naturally the one in the upper half of the bracket, which included Ke Jie, Lin Ruo, Park Jung-hwan, and even Shin Jin-seo.

After all, there are only eight people in the upper bracket now, so the probability of a clash between strong opponents is obviously higher than imagined. But if it's an internal battle, neither side will get what they want.

South Korean media hope that Lin Ruo will face Ke Jie and be eliminated before the quarterfinals, while Park Jung-hwan and Shin Jin-seo will face other opponents.

Even if things don't go well, as long as there's no civil war, you can draw whatever you want.

They remain very confident that Park Jung-hwan and Shin Jin-seo will defeat the Chinese players.

In any case, no one wants Park Jung-hwan or Shin Jin-seo to die in the civil war.

As they had hoped, the first match drawn in the upper bracket was a clash between China and South Korea, a truly epic showdown.

Lin Ruo 9-dan will face Park Jung-hwan 9-dan.

The signing caused great excitement among both the South Korean and Chinese media present.

Both sides felt that the advantage lay with me.

The two will face off again for the second time since the Mlily Cup final.

Because Lin Ruo had defeated Park Jung-hwan, Chinese media naturally assumed that Lin Ruo had an advantage in the second match and was much more likely to win.

Anyone who watched the Mengbaihe Cup final knows that Lin Ruo practically crushed Park Jung-hwan in that match, completely dominating him.

Therefore, whether from a rational or emotional perspective, Chinese media outlets believe they are more inclined to believe Lin Ruo will win the match.

Unlike the South Korean media, who tend to be more emotional.

They believe Park Jung-hwan will win because he has been in better form over the past six months, and this is South Korea's home ground.

Is it a home game?
Lin Ruo's favorite thing is to bully others on their home turf.

However, Park Jung-hwan was not aware of this at the time, and he looked very confident when he shook hands and took a photo with Lin Ruo on stage.

The implication was practically, "Just wait, this time we'll definitely get you into the top 16."

Park Jung-hwan had always wanted to take revenge on Lin Ruo, and now that he had run into her by chance, he naturally wouldn't do anything to let this opportunity slip by.

He just wanted to avenge himself.

"I told you you might run into each other, you're both in the upper half of the bracket, you're just too much of a supermodel."

Liao Yuanhe was quite excited down there, especially after seeing the draw, and he kept talking to Lin Ruo.

Lin Ruo's mood was quite normal, but her words were anything but: "Since we've run into each other, I can only reluctantly send him to the round of 16."

Almost forgot.

Not only was Park Jung-hwan confident that he could send Lin Ruo to the top 16, but Lin Ruo was also very confident that she could send Park Jung-hwan to the top 16 as well.

So it's just a matter of mutual understanding and reciprocity.

With the controversy surrounding the highly anticipated match over, many might speculate that Ke Jie could also face Shin Jinseo in the upcoming draw, resulting in two epic battles in one half of the bracket.

However, the result was not what they hoped for; the two avoided each other as usual.

Ke Jie faced an all-Chinese opponent, Tao Xinran, another Chinese player born in 93. Ke Jie seemed fine, but his coach next to him looked rather displeased.

Tao Xinran, a Go player, has a well-known nickname: Ke Jie Killer.

In a series of domestic competitions, Ke Jie has suffered many defeats at the hands of Tao Xinran.

The easygoing Ke Jie naturally doesn't believe in any mystical or superstitious methods, and he thinks he will easily defeat his opponent and advance to the quarterfinals without a doubt.

But the coach was a little unhappy, saying that Tao Xinran was a bit of a jinx to him.

So in the evening, the coach felt it was necessary to give Ke Jie a little reminder.

After the draw for the lower half of the bracket was completed, all matchups for the Round of 16 were finalized.

Liao Yuanhe was clearly not as unlucky as last time, as he actually drew the only surviving player from Taiwan Province, which almost guaranteed him a place in the quarterfinals.

To be honest, he was a bit pessimistic before the round of 32 even started, but this time, before the round of 16 even started, sorry, he's going to be optimistic to the end.

South Korean media have lost interest in the lower half of the draw, since their top players are mostly concentrated in the upper half.

As for the lower half of the bracket…

Even if all the medals were won by Chinese athletes, it wouldn't really matter; there's nothing we can do about it.

They are now only focusing on the upper half of the bracket, especially on the rematch between Lin Ruo and Park Jung-hwan.

The draw is over.

South Korean media promptly released several evening news reports.

Six months later, Park Jung-hwan and Lin Ruo, who just won the Mlily Cup, will face off again in a highly anticipated battle that could very well be a preview of the finals…

Various analyses and even preheating methods have emerged one after another.

Did we finally meet?

Park Jung-hwan, who firmly believes he can get revenge, also ignited the flames in front of the South Korean media: "This time I will definitely win, and I also hope to bring back the long-lost Samsung Cup for South Korea."

This confident demeanor quickly garnered support and excitement from Korean netizens.

After six months of training, Park Jung-hwan has clearly matured. I believe he will definitely be able to defeat that brat Lin Ruo this time.

What young people need most is setbacks. Let Park Jung-hwan teach that arrogant young man a lesson this time.

[Yeah, they dare to be so arrogant on our home turf in South Korea. Bullying a female Go player really makes them think they're above everyone else.]

This kind of person needs to be taught a lesson. Park Jung-hwan, please don't hold back! Go all out and meet Shin Jin-soo in the quarterfinals! This Samsung Cup title will definitely belong to Korea!

[Go! Go! Go! This time, we absolutely must keep the championship in South Korea. Even if we can't, please don't let Lin Ruo win.]

...

It's no wonder that some Korean netizens are being harsh. Lin Ruo had already won the League of Legends World Championship on Korean soil, so if he were to win the Go Samsung Cup on his home turf this time, it would be a different story.

Then what about South Korea? They've become Lin Ruo's stable pool of champions...

How can this be done?

Therefore, South Korean audiences are determined not to let Lin Ruo win the championship. It would be too much to humiliate South Korea across different fields.

Is there any connection between League of Legends and Go? Absolutely not. If you can be humiliated by something like that, how can you live your life?

Therefore, if a Chinese player were to win the championship, South Korean viewers would rather see Ke Jie win four consecutive championships than see someone from another field surpass them.

This is highly unrealistic, but if it actually happened, it would be as exaggerated as seeing an alien.

So nobody wants to lose this game.

After lunch, Lin Ruo rested as usual, even though she had already rested for a long time at noon because the competition had ended early.

If Liao Yuanhe hadn't been working so hard, Lin Ruo would have even wanted to call someone to play ping-pong.

However, Liao Yuanhe would definitely not allow it. He would not underestimate even the weakest opponents, let alone those who made it to the top 16.

Make the most of the time in the evening to study your opponent's moves. Whether it's last-minute cramming or early preparation, it will always be useful.

Unlike Lin Ruo's opponent, who is a well-known player like Park Jung-hwan, there is no need to study any specific tactics to counter him.

Since everyone knows what style this type of player has, it comes down to their own ability.

Therefore, Lin Ruo didn't study it at all. Of course, this definitely had nothing to do with Park Jung-hwan's style.

Unlike Park Jung-hwan, he seemed to know Lin Ruo's style, but on this night, he still didn't slack off and kept staring at the game of chess between Lin Ruo and Sister Yu.

He soon realized, well, there really wasn't much to see; the skill gap was just too big.

So Park Jung-hwan took out the video recordings of the games he played against Lin Ruo at the Mengbaihe Cup to watch.

Six months ago, after the Mlily Cup, Park Jung-hwan seriously reviewed why he lost so badly, and this time, he continued to learn from his mistakes.

We must strive to correct all the mistakes and errors we made in our last match against Lin Ruo, and ensure that we do not repeat the same mistakes in tomorrow's match.

If he makes another mistake or even suffers a crushing defeat against Lin Ruo, Park Jung-hwan cannot guarantee that his Dao heart will not be shattered as a result.

At least for now, he wants to defeat Lin Ruo more than anyone else to complete his revenge.

There's no particular reason.

If there is any reason, it's because the Mlily Cup loss was truly devastating; Park Jung-hwan never imagined he would be crushed to such an illogical degree.

This has seriously affected his mindset.

If this humiliation isn't avenged, it will undoubtedly become a lifelong shadow that will never be forgotten.

Nobody wants this.

...

The night passed quickly, and the Samsung Cup Round of 16 kicked off early the next morning.

Even though Lin Ruo was in the most relaxed state of mind, she still remembered to go to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Although the food at the training institute at other times is a bit hard to swallow, at least breakfast is normal, and you can at least have an egg or a sandwich, right?

That's good enough.

Lin Ruo's requirements weren't high; he just wanted some nutrition in the morning to wake him up. It's just that he got up a little late, so he had to eat while walking.

Therefore, many media outlets, including those from China and South Korea, captured images of Lin Ruo having breakfast outside the reception hall. He stood in the trash can, peeled the egg, swallowed it whole, clapped his hands, chewed, and walked into the competition venue.

"Ah, Lin Ruo is still very down-to-earth; she even eats an egg in the morning."

A reporter from WildFox made a casual remark, and the live stream chat went wild.

Because netizens have discovered a new source of amusement.

[Does Lin Gou want to do mukbang? If so, I'd definitely watch.]

[Yeah, from now on I don't want to watch Lin Gou play games on his streams anymore. I want to watch him eat on his streams instead. Look how much he enjoys eating an egg; he must enjoy other things even more.]

What's the point of saying this here? He can't see it anyway. Go to the Weibo comments section and flood the comments section.

[As long as Lin Gou knows that he can make money doing mukbang, he'll be the first to start his own mukbang. So, at this point, we need a brother to step forward and promise to send Lin Gou a thousand big swords as soon as he starts his mukbang.]

[No need to send gifts, everyone please comment more. If Lin Gou sees this buzz, he'll definitely start a mukbang.]

Ok.

If Lin Ruo saw these comments, he would admit that this was the most useful advice netizens had ever given, and it could even be described as a divine guidance.

It's just mukbang, no big deal.

Am I losing money? I can make money just by eating, so I can't lose any money at all, okay?

Moreover, Lin Ruo will open up a new track in the food broadcasting industry. Eating indiscriminately is out of the question. I'm not going to do the big eater type. I'm going to take the elegant route.

As long as it makes the audience's mouths water, that's all that matters. Someone as handsome as him will make anyone's appetite look good no matter how he eats, right? That's it, he's invincible.

Hmm, but that's a story for another time.

Lin Ruo entered the reception hall and sat down in her assigned seat according to the number. Looking at Park Jung-hwan, who had been waiting for a long time, she immediately picked up the mineral water bottle next to her, opened the cap, and took a sip.

When Park Jung-hwan looked puzzled, he had to explain, "Sorry, the egg yolk is a bit dry."

Forehead…

Park Jung-hwan was speechless.

The two sat facing each other without saying a word or exchanging any words. Lin Ruo could still glance at her opponent from time to time, while Park Jung-hwan, like the big boss on another track, had entered a state of rest with his eyes closed.

But there is still a difference.

Lee Ge closes his eyes to rest during crucial games, while Park Jung-hwan rests from the very beginning.

After all, in Go, if someone dares to close their eyes and rest during a match, it's either because they feel they have too much time to play, or because the referee might come up to check if they're dead or not.

Or rather, comrade, sleeping isn't allowed here.

Well, Lin Ruo also admitted that in a time-consuming and mentally taxing game like Go, it is indeed very important to close your eyes and calm your mind before the game.

For example, Park Jung-hwan isn't the only one doing this right now; there are many others.

Of course, there is another type, namely those who arrive late. Anyway, Lin Ruo felt that he had arrived late enough, but who knew there were others who arrived even later than him.

That's the great man Jaguar. He truly deserves to be called the first show-off in the history of Go, always showing up at the last minute.

However, looking at his opponent's resolute eyes, Lin Ruo knew that her idol might be in a bit of a mess today, whether he won or lost.

"The match time is up, and both sides can start guessing who goes first."

At 9:00 a.m. sharp, the stadium fell silent as the referee announced the start of the call.

Of course, it wasn't the contestants who remained calm, but rather the reporters and media on the sidelines. The contestants had maintained a very calm demeanor ever since they took their seats.

At table number eight, Lin Ruo and Park Jung-hwan stood up and bowed simultaneously. Then, the older Park Jung-hwan casually grabbed a handful of chess pieces from the chess box.

Lin Ruo also grabbed a few chess pieces as a countermeasure.

The guessing game has started.

(End of this chapter)