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

Chapter 334 Infection
Under the watchful eyes of the entire audience, EG Polar exploded with a deafening roar, turning into countless fragments.

The moment the game ended, the North American audience erupted in applause.

Although it was a North American team that lost this time, it didn't stop everyone from applauding EDG.

EDG deserved to win!

Are these two teams of the same caliber?
The North American region is far behind China and South Korea, and even compared to the European region, it has never had any hope of winning the championship.

So, from the audience to the players in the North American region, no one had any hope of winning the championship anymore; they just wanted to start the competition and be done with it!

If this is the case in North America, it goes without saying that it's even worse in the LPL.

Inside the LPL live stream, cheering comments filled the entire screen.

Of course, most of the praise was for EDG's performance, and not many people discussed their opponents.

"It can only be said that teams like EG are indeed difficult to put much pressure on EDG."

Colonel Guan bluntly stated, "After all, they are the defending champions."

The camera panned to the stage, where all five EDG players had stood up, laughing and giving each other fist bumps before heading towards EG's bench.

"To be honest, you went a bit too far today," Flandre said. "You should have given them another one in the top lane."

“There’s really nothing I can do.” Ming Jing shook his head. “I didn’t dodge any skills. It’s just that the opponent’s damage wasn’t enough.”

In that crucial team fight on the top lane where they secured the Baron, Mingjing wasn't really taking it seriously.

If you play seriously, after instantly killing the Sword Demon upon entering the fray, you can use Phase Boots to kite him for a while longer, and Mingjing might not even lose any health.

Walking to EG's bench, you can see that the EG players, who had just been thoroughly thrashed, had some bitterness on their faces.

However, after seeing the EDG players approaching, the smiles returned to their faces.

"Well played," said EG's mid laner, Jojo.

Ming Jing had no idea what the other person was thinking, and simply smiled and said, "You're the same."

Ming Jing's terror can only be truly felt when you actually face him in lane.

Mingjing's talent is evident in his last-hitting, positioning, distance control, and skill usage at all times.

The multifaceted performance that Mingjing displayed in this match greatly impressed the young Jojo.

At only 17 years old, Jojo is the youngest contestant in this year's World Championship, slightly younger than Mingjing by half a year.

But Mingjing already has two titles and is making a crucial push for the all-time number one ranking, while he can only rack his brains to advance to the quarterfinals from the third seeded North American team.

It just goes to show how cruel the gap in talent between people can be.
Jojo seemed to have more to say, but the time for the fist bump didn't allow for much conversation, and the two passed each other by.

Mingjing punched his way through the crowd, bowed to his teammates in the center of the stage, and then left the stage together amidst a tsunami of cheers from the North American audience.

I had just returned to the backstage area and put the equipment away when Jojo came looking for me.

"I'm your fan! Can we exchange team jerseys when we get back to the hotel?"

After Jojo finished speaking enthusiastically, she added, "As you know, the hotel has strict security measures, so I can't go to your floor. That's why I have to tell you here."

Hearing this, Meiko glanced at Mingkai.

Although Meiko's English is terrible, he could still understand the first sentence, "imyourfans".

Isn't this a classic reinterpretation?

But this time they didn't lose.
The factory manager noticed Meiko's gaze and couldn't help but glance at her sideways.

“No problem,” Ming Jing replied with a smile in English. “I’ll wait for you.”

"Thank you!" Jojo smiled and then quickly walked away.

At this moment, the European and American host Sjokz and translator Xiran came up again, indicating that Mingjing had an interview on the main stage today.

Mingjing nodded, put on his mask, and followed the two back onto the stage.

The MVP of this match once again went to Mingjing's Galio.

However, Galio isn't a champion that can easily rack up stats, and the game ended quickly, so his stats weren't particularly impressive.

"What's surprising is that 18-year-old Phi has already come to the World Championship stage for the third time."

Sjokz looked at the boy beside him and asked with a smile, "Compared to the previous two World Championships, is this one any different?"

Mingjing patiently waited for Xiran to finish translating before saying, "Of course, the biggest difference is that there are many more spectators in the audience, and the North American audience is very enthusiastic. I really enjoy this kind of competition atmosphere."

The danger was real, but the atmosphere was also fantastic.

You should know that last year in Reykjavik, during the group stage, there were no spectators in the stadium.
On one side were packed North American audiences, and on the other side were empty stadiums; the difference was self-evident.

Offstage, North American audiences also paid tribute to Ming Jing with enthusiastic applause and cheers.

After Myung Kyung swept the world championships for two consecutive years, audiences around the world, except for those in South Korea, have a great fondness for him.

Everyone is eagerly anticipating seeing Ming Jing win his third title.

Sjokz smiled and then continued asking questions:

"After winning this match, EDG is currently tied for first place in Group B with DK, with a score of 1-0. The real competition in the group stage has only just begun. Does Phi have confidence in winning the upcoming matches?"

"Of course!"

Mingjing answered without hesitation, "DK is a very strong opponent for me, but you should know that I have never lost a key match against DK. I believe it will be the same this time."

Standing to the side, Xi Ran couldn't help but purse her lips as she listened to Ming Jing's words.

How should this be translated?
Isn't that too aggressive?
After a moment's thought, Xi Ran decided to abandon any attempt at embellishment and instead express Ming Jing's aggression in its original form.

The cheers from North American audiences grew even louder upon hearing Ming Jing's answer!

The smell of gunpowder is starting to build, isn't it?
The interview session officially ended there. Ming Jing bowed slightly to the audience and then left amidst applause.

Backstage, Ming Jing looked around, glancing left and right.

Because he remembered that in their next match, JDG would face T1, a strong opponent in their group, which was a crucial battle in Group C.

Mingjing wanted to give his old teammates a pep talk.

Unfortunately, I didn't see any of my old teammates until I left the venue; all I saw was a bus with the JDG team logo in the parking lot.

This is normal, of course.

The connections are quite powerful. Right now, everyone is probably hiding in the lounge and not going out, so it's normal not to run into them.

Ming Jing didn't find it strange at all; he simply boarded the bus and returned to the hotel.

It was already 8 p.m. local time, and the EDG players hadn't eaten dinner in order to maintain their performance in the match, so they were starving.

Unfortunately, there was no chance to have a celebration banquet in the current environment. When Ming Jing returned to his hotel room, he was greeted by hamburgers and sandwiches delivered by the hotel staff.

Mingjing brought the food to the training room and started eating it all at the same time, while also turning on the live stream of the match.

The draft phase between T1 and JDG has ended.

JDG's choice of Sivir and Yuumi for the bot lane duo indicates they're destined to drag the game into the late game.

In contrast, T1 is much more aggressive, directly using the Kalibr combination to accelerate the dragon's tempo, which is a classic offense against defense, and early game against late game.

Mingjing is paying close attention to this match, after all, one side is his former teammates and the other side is T1 with Faker. He hopes his former teammates can win, and at the same time, he also hopes to see a stronger T1.

But as the match began, Ming Jing only watched two minutes of the laning phase before quickly shaking his head, losing interest. He remained silent.

They were completely crushed in the laning phase.

T1's laning ability is absolutely underestimated. The bot lane duo of Gumayusi and Keria is arguably the strongest laning duo in this year's World Championship.

In contrast, JDG's Hope+Missing combination is rather unappealing.

Five minutes into the laning phase, when the first dragon spawned, Hope's Sivir was already ten CS behind.

When the game reached the ten-minute mark, the CS difference quickly widened to a full thirty CS!

Because T1 took advantage of their bottom lane advantage, they not only controlled the dragon at will, but also killed Hope once.

Moreover, it wasn't just the bottom lane that was being crushed.

Zoom in the top lane was also completely outmatched by Zeus, falling behind by ten CS.

Only the mid-lane player, Yagao, managed to develop peacefully with Faker, but his impact was quite limited.

Kanavi was even worse; despite being at a disadvantage in all three lanes, he still insisted on invading the enemy's F6 camp, only to be kicked to death by Oner's Lee Sin.

In just ten minutes, the economic gap had widened to a full two thousand.

Ming Jing frowned more and more as he looked at it.

"How did they even play like this?" Flandre couldn't help but complain from the side, "JD.com seems a bit out of sorts."

“Indeed.” Meiko nodded. “They may not be good at laning, but they shouldn’t be this bad.”

EDG is already a team that excels in the early game, but in all the scrims EDG and JDG have played, there have been very few games where they have such a huge early advantage.

Is it because T1 is too strong?

“Something feels off.” Ming Jing shook his head. “They’re not usually like this.”

Anyway, with the game starting like this, it's definitely impossible to continue.

In the remainder of the game, JDG barely made a ripple, and was forced into team fights under T1's Dragon Soul rhythm, then lost the game like moths to a flame.

This game ended even faster than EDG's match against EG, with T1 pushing down the base in just 23 minutes.

Mingjing glanced down at his phone, and sure enough, the chatter on the anti-racism forum had already started to explode.

RNG and EDG were both pretty good, so why did you fall short?

While it's not shameful for the fourth seed to lose to the second seed, it shouldn't be this embarrassing, right?
Many netizens have even turned their criticism towards Hope in the bot lane, believing that it's already a result of his teammates' support that such a fundamentally bad AD can make it to the World Championship. They think that he will definitely become the team's weakness on the peak stage of high-level competition.

Of course, some people attribute it to a problem with their form. After all, JDG really played terribly today, failing to execute their signature teamwork and team fights. Perhaps they are simply not used to the local environment.

In fact, this discomfort with the change in environment continued into the next day.

October 9th, the second day of the group stage.

JDG played their second match against North America's number one seed, C9.

If the match against T1 was just about deciding first and second place, then the match against C9 was about deciding who would advance.

If JDG loses this match, their chances of advancing will be extremely slim.

Unfortunately, JDG still couldn't win this match.

Yesterday's disastrous performance has continued into today, with several players struggling in lane, poor coordination, and making numerous blunders in team fights.

Kanavi also lost his usual domineering style when he was crushing newbies, and he went back and forth with C9Blaber!

The two sides fought fiercely for forty minutes, but JDG lost the crucial Elder Dragon team fight due to Yagao's early loss of a point, resulting in a complete defeat!
Seeing this, domestic viewers became truly anxious, and the level of aggression within the anti-racism forum escalated several notches!
What on earth is going on here? Is the person watching the videos the same person who also participates in domestic competitions?

[What's so strange about that? In all these World Championships, which LPL team hasn't made it to the top 16 in every year?]

[It's true, every year there's always one team in the LPL that pulls a fast one. Last year, even Feng Yiqi showed up. This year, JD Gaming's roster is so weak, it's normal for them to only make it to the top 16.]

[Speechless. I heard JDG has been practicing with EDG every day, and this is what they've achieved? Stop being a burden to EDG.]

Seeing the insults on the forum, Ming Jing thought for a moment and decided to send a message to his old teammates to ask about the situation.

He still didn't believe that JDG could be so bad; there must be some reason.

Soon, JDG sent a reply, and Ming Jing was slightly taken aback when he saw the message.

Soon, not long after, with the release of an announcement from JDG, everyone understood the reason.

Tests have confirmed that all five JDG players and the Redmi coach have been infected with COVID-19. Their matches will be held in a closed environment at a hotel until they recover.

EDG's key player, who was just about to leave for the venue, saw the news and was at a loss for words.

"It really is positive." Meiko's tone revealed regret. "That's a bit bad."

JDG, as the fourth seed, already faced the greatest challenge in advancing from the group stage. Now, with such a significant impact, problems are clearly brewing.

"There's nothing we can do about it, after all, they started from the qualifying rounds." Abu shook his head, "They had to travel to one more place than us."

The qualifying rounds were held in Mexico City.

If even a developed country like the United States is in such a dangerous situation, then Mexico is even more so, second only to India in terms of virus incubation.

In a place like that, it's hard not to suffer.

It can only be said that, at this point, a positive outcome is already a relatively good result.

After all, the first round of the group stage is a spread-out schedule, with only three matches in four days, so the JDG players still have time to recover.

If JDG can recover before the start of the second round, they still have a chance to catch up.

However, having learned from this experience, the EDG team became even more cautious on their way to the venue, fearing that something might go wrong.

Of course, there was no pressure in today's match.

On the second day of the group stage, apart from JDG who were diagnosed with COVID-19, the other two LPL teams continued to report good news.

EDG took the stage first to face their second group stage opponent, G2.

This was also an easy and enjoyable point, with EDG once again displaying the same smooth rhythm they had against EG yesterday, starting with a suffocating dragon soul rhythm at the precise six-minute mark.

This time, G2 didn't wait for the final Dragon Soul fight before engaging in a team fight, but instead brought the team fight forward to just over ten minutes in.

However, the result did not change much. Mingjing's Taliyah secretly threw rocks from the side first, and then suddenly struck at the crucial moment, using Rock Slam to lift back both of G2's carries at the same time, sealing the victory.

This team fight by G2 actually made the game end even faster.

In just 23 minutes, EDG pushed forward and won the game!

Following that, TES, who did not play yesterday, will face GAM today.

This match was clearly a foregone conclusion; nobody thought Top Esports would lose to Vietnam.

And indeed, TES secured a solid opening victory in the group stage in just 35 minutes.

After watching these two matches, domestic viewers felt somewhat relieved.

Apart from JDG, whose performance was affected by the positive test, the other three teams have not suffered a single defeat so far.

This is just right!
Of course, the main event won't begin until tomorrow.

Tomorrow, on the third day of the group stage, both EDG and TES will face the strongest opponent in their group!
(End of this chapter)