You've only been playing for half a year, and you've already reached the finals?

Chapter 257: The most humorous episode

As the HLE base exploded, the lights in the competition venue blazed on, and spotlights, along with cheers, rushed toward the EDG players' seats, creating quite a lively scene!

"wonderful performance!"

In the commentary booth, Wawa, beaming with joy, shouted loudly: "Congratulations to EDG! They swept LCK's fourth seed, Hanwha, 3-0, becoming the first team to advance to the semifinals!"

"Before the match, many viewers were worried about the so-called quarterfinal curse, but the results of the match prove that there is no curse, only invincible strength!"

As a team that consistently reaches the quarterfinals of the World Championship every year, even though EDG is undoubtedly the favorite to win the title, many viewers still express concern about their chances.

What if there really is some kind of mystical force at play?

When it comes to LPL teams in the quarterfinals, you really have to believe in this kind of thing.

The last team to dominate the entire year like EDG also failed in the quarterfinals.

But with a score of 3-0, all the mystique vanished!

"Wow, Mingjing is awesome." Zoom looked at Mingjing on stage, celebrating with his teammates by punching each other, and a hint of wistfulness appeared in his eyes. "He's so dominant, it feels like he's going to win the championship again."

"Is that even a question?" Green Hair laughed. "Ming Jing deserves to win the championship."

No one in the world understands Ming Jing's existence better than Green Hair, after all, he was the one who personally helped Ming Jing win the FMVP.

Mingjing's talent is something you can immediately sense with your own eyes just by watching him play a game.

After watching him play games for a long time, only one sentence will keep repeating in your mind.

"This game can be played like this?"

With such talent, no matter how many championships Ming Jing wins, Green Hair wouldn't be surprised.

At this moment, countless comments were scrolling through the live stream.

[Advanced! Victory!]

[I told you there was no pressure. Anyone who thinks EDG will lose to Hanwha needs to see a psychiatrist.]

[That's true. Hanwha is clearly inferior to other Korean teams. They can't beat LNG or RNG. I don't know how they could possibly beat EDG.]

Now it's all up to RNG, can we have a final showdown?

That's a bit of a pipe dream. Even if you can clear T1, you still can't beat DK.

【really】

The camera switched back to the live stream, and the EDG players had already stood up and were exchanging fist bumps.

Meiko looked at the surging cheers from below the stage and felt a pang of emotion.

They finally made it to the semifinals! That must have been a long time coming, right?

"Let's go, let's get a fist bump first!"

Saint Gun urged him on from the front, and Meiko nodded as he stood at the head of the team and headed towards the HLE players' bench.

Chovy managed to stand up with difficulty. The three consecutive crushing defeats were still reeling from the blows, leaving him somewhat dazed and confused.

Recalling his performance in those three games, Chovy felt immense pressure coming from all directions, making it hard for him to breathe.

They played terribly.

If he had performed better, perhaps he could have won the third game?

That's how it is in the elimination stage.

Under the brutal single-elimination format, no team has any room for error; a single misstep could lead to irreparable consequences.

Ming Jing, however, could not empathize with Chovy. He lightly bumped fists with Chovy, said "Good luck," and then continued forward.

Ahead, Deft is gently embracing Meiko.

The two didn't actually play together for very long, only two years, during Seasons 5 and 6.

But for both of them, these two years have undoubtedly been the most memorable two years of their professional careers.

"Go for it!" Deft said sincerely. "May you win the championship!"

Meiko smiled and said, "I'll try my best."

Seeing the two embracing gently, countless fans were moved to tears.

This is my youth!

In the LPL commentary booth, Wawa sighed and said, "Deft is also a respectable player. From S3 to S11, he has been working hard. I hope his efforts will not be in vain."

Deft has a good reputation in the LPL, after all, he has shed blood for the LPL.

The biggest problems are nothing more than that he gave away too much food and that he said Chinese food was bad after returning to LCK.

The former has helped the LPL a lot in the past two years, just recently assisting EDG in a small comeback game, so his contributions are 50/50. The latter's problems are probably more related to EDG, which means he has virtually no flaws.
Since we've already won, there's not much more to say. Let's send Mr. Dai off happily!
Compared to the jubilant atmosphere at the LPL, the scene at the LCK commentary booth was completely different.

Looking at the EDG team's boisterous celebration, the Roaring Emperor felt his heart bleed, but he still said, "Congratulations again to EDG, they have become the first team to reach the semifinals of this year's World Championship."

"Although HLE's story ends here, LCK's story has just begun! Behind them are T1, GENG, and DK! I believe this championship will definitely belong to our Great Korea!"

The Roaring Emperor's voice grew louder and louder, and his tone became more and more impassioned, which inspired countless LCK viewers to be full of fighting spirit.

that's the truth.

Before the match began, even the most loyal LCK supporters found it hard to believe that HLE could beat EDG; this loss was entirely expected.

But EDG shouldn't expect things to be so easy from now on!

After the handshake ended, the EDG members bowed to the audience and then turned to leave.

At the entrance to the lounge, the boss, manager, cousin, and others were waiting as usual to welcome the athletes' triumphant return.

"Let's go through all the interview procedures," the boss said with a smile. "Tonight it's my treat, I'll take you out for a good meal."

Upon hearing this, everyone in EDG perked up.

The boss never spends a small amount of money!

European presenter Sjokz had been waiting for a long time and invited Mingjing to participate in today's post-match interview.

Mingjing nodded, put away his peripherals, and then followed Sjokz and translator Xia An to the stage entrance to wait.

At this moment, the MVP of the game is being announced on the stage.

Unfortunately, Ming Jing was not the MVP of this match.

Although Mingjing had a crucial solo kill in the early game and played a key control role in every team fight, he was ultimately playing a grasshopper, so his impact was destined to be limited.

Whether it's KD or damage output, Mingjing is far behind Viper, so it's normal that he can't get MVP.

Ming Jing didn't care about any of that; he simply followed the host onto the stage after the MVP award ceremony.

When Mingjing took the stage, the Icelandic audience below the stage gave him a lot of face and immediately burst into cheers!
Mingjing waved to the audience, seemingly expecting this. The cheers from Sjokz and the other audience members gradually subsided before she finally posed her question: "Congratulations to EDG on advancing to the semifinals! This seems to be your second time winning a quarterfinal match. How do you feel?"

Ming Jing had anticipated this question, so he immediately and calmly replied: "I have always believed that EDG is the strongest team in the World Championship. Today's victory was something we expected, so I don't have any special feelings about it."

Hearing Ming Jing's answer, Xia An smiled and spread the word throughout the room.

The cheers from the audience rose again, and countless European spectators cheered wildly!
Of course, they did not agree with Mingjing's words.

The strongest team in this year's knockout stage is definitely MAD from the European region!
As for the weakest team, it can only be C9. What strength can a North American team have?
Sjokz smiled at the answer and then asked the second question, "After advancing to the semifinals, your opponents will be chosen from GEN and C9. What are your expectations for your semifinal opponents?"

Mingjing glanced at the European audience below the stage and smiled, "From my personal perspective, I think C9 has almost no chance of advancing. EDG's opponent in the semifinals can only be GEN, but no matter who the opponent is, I believe EDG can win in the end."

Upon hearing this, the European audience in the audience erupted in cheers once again!

Yes, yes, that makes sense! The North American team is just not good enough; they should just make it to the quarterfinals.

Sjokz then asked many more questions, which Mingjing answered patiently one by one, bringing the interview to a perfect close.

After waving to the audience, Ming Jing turned and left.

Back in the lounge, his teammates, as usual, had all packed their bags and were waiting for Mingjing to return.

"Let's go, let's go celebrate." Saint Gun couldn't wait to eat, so he helped Ming Jing pick up his backpack and headed straight out.

Mingjing inquired and found out that the boss had specially booked a very famous and expensive local specialty restaurant today. It wasn't just a trendy restaurant, nor was it the kind of Western restaurant where you could eat but not get full. In any case, it was definitely going to satisfy your stomach.

Ming Jing didn't actually like Icelandic food, but he didn't have much to complain about. He boarded the bus with the group and then looked down at his phone.

Numerous messages flooded in on various chat apps, but they mostly came from a few of my closest friends and family.

After all, this was just a quarterfinal victory. It might be very significant for EDG and Meiko, but for Mingjing, it's just routine. After all, his first BO5 win since his debut was in the quarterfinals.

For a competition that has little meaning, people who aren't particularly close to each other won't bother sending congratulatory messages.

Ming Jing briefly replied to the messages from his parents, Song Xuan, Wang Hao, and others, and then opened the forum to see the reactions of the other users.

The match had just ended, and the forum was at its most popular, with countless new posts appearing with every refresh!
As soon as Ming Jing entered, he saw a rating post with over three thousand replies. Clicking into the default time sorting, he could see that many forum members were freely posting their opinions.

【Korean talk! 】

Where are the people who said the four LCK champions were invincible? Now there are only three left?

[I just don't understand, what's the use of having more people? This isn't a brawl. Even if the other seven teams are all Korean, it's useless if they can't beat EDG.]

Whether DK can win or not is another matter, but expecting Hanwha's bunch of idiots to beat EDG is the most ridiculous thing ever.

【really】

Ming Jing looked at the comments with a smile, then clicked to sort by popularity and saw that his own makeup photo was at the top.

[God among gods! The most foolish of all!]

The biggest difference today is in the mid lane! If the mid laners were swapped, HLE would probably have a 3-0 lead.

[It felt like they went a bit too far; they knocked Da Chao unconscious, and he almost couldn't stand up.]

[Why go too far when you've already chosen grasshoppers? That doesn't make sense. This is Xiao Fei's last act of kindness.]

Indeed, if Xiaofei picks a strong laner, wouldn't Dachao be forced to lane under the second tower?

Mingjing's performance today was impeccable. Even when playing as a grasshopper, he managed to get a solo kill. Even if the forum members wanted to find fault, they couldn't.

On the contrary, in Viper's thread, many netizens were showing aggression, believing that Viper's performance in the third game was not good.

The team's collapse in the laning phase at the start of the third game still caused considerable damage.

Although a fight eventually broke out, and the damage output was the highest among all players, it was clear to discerning observers that there was an element of opportunism involved.

With Malzahar and Nami constantly guarding the area, LeBlanc gets immediately suppressed as soon as she comes in. What's so difficult about dealing damage with her?
To put it bluntly, the MVP award should rightfully go to Malzahar!
This is also thanks to the fact that they were playing against Hanwha.

If it were against DK, they would most likely have lost this game!
Nobody wants Viper to make the same mistake again against DK.

Of course, Viper understands this on his own without needing anyone to explain it.

On the way back, Viper was still watching the replay of the last game's laning phase, and he blamed himself more than anyone else for the collapse at the start.

Mingjing continued scrolling down and then saw Chovy's photo.

On Viper's thread, the forum members were just testing the waters, but on Chovy's thread, their aggression was truly on full display.

You become a completely different person every time you go to the World Championship, that's something else!

[This is a true tournament loser. Every time we reach the quarterfinals, he becomes the team's weak link and gets crushed. I don't think this guy can dream of winning a championship again.]

[I'll eat anyone who can take my food. Mr. Dai finally had a chance to perform well in the third round, but you just fed him away.]

[This is the Douyin No. 1 Middle School that Douyin users love! What happened to being invincible in lane? In the end, all you're left with is invincible last-hitting, huh?]

Do I even need to question the discerning taste of Douyin users? They still think TheShy is the best top laner!

Chovy is a decent mid-laner; he has solid last-hitting skills and meticulous laning maneuvers, making his style truly unique. While Mingjing is also strong in laning, he has been focusing on roaming since the Summer Split, so he has had fewer opportunities to showcase that aspect.

This is why many people edit Chovy's highlight reels, which often get a lot of likes.

Over time, Chovy's reputation on Douyin improved, and many people even called him a top mid-laner who was on par with Xiaofei in lane.

However, anyone who has watched the game would not agree with this assessment, which is why many people call Chovy "the most shaky player in the game".

In addition, there is Faker from Shi Yizhong and Mingjing from Shi Yizhong.

But looking at it today, the result is quite humorous.

Douyi Middle School is indeed far inferior to Shiyi Middle School.
In addition, there is Deft's floor.

Although Mr. Dai was the loser today, the comments from netizens were relatively much better.

After all, Mr. Dai did try his best today. Although he eventually revealed his true nature and took off, this is only human nature and can be understood.

The forum users still expressed respect for this veteran who is nearing the end of his career.

Mingjing read through the ratings from ten people, then browsed the homepage again, and then came across a classic old anime—a post reposted from a Korean website.

The Koreans' aggression was no less than that of the anti-HLE forum members; everyone was attacking HLE!

[Holy crap! What on earth is Chovy doing? Does he live up to our expectations?]

[I was only good at laning, but today I couldn't even play the laning phase properly. I got slaughtered by Phi. Is he even human?]

[You don't actually have high hopes for HLE, do you? Isn't it enough for this team to just reach the quarterfinals?]

[Indeed, isn't it normal that HLE can't beat EDG? If you ask me, we should have our GEN team play them!]

[The most humorous episode]

(End of this chapter)