League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 489 The Thorn of Seclusion

The DOTA2 tournament was practically halfway over by TI.

The DOTA2 team just needs to prepare to win an Asian Games gold medal, and then they can go on vacation.

So Chen Dongqing can finally return to the LOL division.

He could have easily continued to rest, skipped the entire regular season, and returned for the playoffs, but he ultimately didn't do that.

The main issue is that he hasn't played League of Legends for a long time. He doesn't seem to mind; his performance will definitely still be top-notch. However, his teammates have been playing with Letme a lot, so they might not be used to him.

So you always need to practice teamwork with your teammates and help them think outside the box.

This way, we can ensure that nothing goes wrong in the upcoming Asian Games.

Of course, the regular season won't last much longer.

With only half a month left until the Asian Games, and only half a month left in the regular season, the competition is also nearing its end.

Furthermore, the league specially helped QG adjust their schedule, allowing them to finish the regular season a week early so they could focus on preparing for the Asian Games.

All things considered, there are only three games left.

On August 14th, QG will face off against VG.

VG is not a strong opponent; in fact, they could be considered somewhat weak, currently ranking in the lower half of the league. Logically speaking, this match shouldn't attract much attention.

Unfortunately, this was Chen Dongqing's first LPL match after winning the TI championship.

Yes, it's a bit strange, but that's really the case.

On the eve of the match, QG's official Weibo account announced Chen Dongqing's return to the team, which instantly went viral on Weibo. The hashtag "#ilexreturns" even topped the Weibo trending list!

In this era where e-sports and the internet are gradually becoming integrated into the mainstream, Chen Dongqing is undoubtedly the king of traffic.

Countless fans of Chen Dongqing opened their arms and cheered on various social media platforms, exclaiming that the eternal god had returned!

Amidst the heated discussions, tickets for today's QG vs. VG match were instantly in short supply, with scalpers driving prices up to four figures for a time!

When both contestants took the stage, almost all the spectators held up light boards for Chen Dongqing and shouted his ID, which surprised Chen Dongqing a little.

Isn't this a bit crazy?

He hasn't played a match in just a few months, so why is the audience completely different from before?

Of course, upon closer examination, it's not entirely incomprehensible.

The main reason is that Chen Dongqing has not played since winning the MSI championship.

One reason is the popularity gained from MSI's undefeated record and three-peat.

The popularity gained from winning the TI championship is the second reason.

The third reason is that fans haven't seen Chen Dongqing compete for two months. This is also the most important point.

With multiple boosts, a huge momentum was created for Chen Dongqing's first match back!

Chen Dongqing had no way to repay the fans' enthusiastic welcome, so he could only do his best to deliver exciting matches.

In today's match against VG, Chen Dongqing played a Sword Demon and an Irelia, dominating both opponents and easily winning two MVP awards!

Countless spectators waved flags and cheered excitedly.

It has to be said that QG really needs a top laner to carry the team to truly shine!

Is it possible to rely solely on the bottom lane to exert pressure while the top lane constantly endures the pressure? It's possible, but unnecessary.

8 month 16 day.

QG vs. BLG.

The audience was a little calmer today, not as enthusiastic as yesterday, but the cheers from the crowd were still loud.

The schedule for this match was still easy, with Chen Dongqing and Uzi each winning an MVP award and securing an easy victory.

After the game, Uzi, who won the first MVP, looked at the huge crowd chanting "ilex" and was momentarily speechless.

It has to be said that this QG team is indeed Chen Dongqing's team.

He was ultimately just a second father.

On August 19th, QG faced JDG on the last day of their regular season.

This match was a bit more dramatic than before, after all, JDG is a strong team, currently ranked among the top six in the league, and still quite competitive.

In this series, Xiaohu in the mid lane was out of form, failing to establish a roaming rhythm in both games, and was even ganked twice by the opposing team's Yagao.

Fortunately, QG's two top laners remained stable in lane. While Xiaohu was being pressured in the mid lane, they quickly realized that both top and bottom lanes had already gained a 20-CS lead.

Xiangguo exclaimed how comfortable he felt about the situation, and then ran to the top lane to tower dive, easily crushing Zoom!

It must be said that there is a fundamental difference between having an advantage on two fronts and having an advantage on one front.

In the first two months of the regular season, everyone knew that Xiangguo was going to gank bot lane, so everyone would try to defend against him, which made it very difficult for Xiangguo to succeed in his ganks.

Now that Chen Dongqing has returned, he has given Xiangguo another option and added some uncertainty to the opposing team, which will make the game much smoother!

Two to zero, an easy win!

"Damn, these past two months of competition have been torture!" Xiangguo couldn't help but complain. "Why didn't you come back sooner?"

Chen Dongqing laughed and scolded, "Are you talking nonsense? The TI tournament schedule is there, is it something I can decide? I came back the day after TI."

"Alright, alright, at least he's back," Linko chuckled. "To be honest, Chen Dongqing has been incredibly loyal. Considering how much glory he's brought to our club, no one would have said anything if he hadn't played in the entire summer season!"

"Indeed!" Chen Dongqing nodded repeatedly. "I should have rested for another week. There was really no need to play these few regular season games."

"It's okay, it's always good to be back early," Linko added. "Getting back with the teammates beforehand is also a way to prepare for the Asian Games! There are only eight days left until the Asian Games!"

Chen Dongqing then asked, "When are we flying to Jakarta?"

Linko smiled slightly: "Tomorrow."

Chen Dongqing understood.

I don't know why, but I feel like the pace of life has quickened recently.

On August 20, Chen Dongqing boarded a plane again and headed straight for Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

China and Indonesia are actually quite close, but Shanghai is located in the easternmost part of China, which resulted in the flight taking nearly seven hours.

Chen Dongqing rubbed his lower back as he got off the plane, sighing that he really needed to rest properly next year. All this flying around was taking a toll on him.

Chen Dongqing and his teammates walked forward and saw Abu and Meiko at the arrival gate.

EDG's schedule ended a day earlier, so the two EDG players arrived in Jakarta yesterday.

"Sure, the plane will be on time!" Abu laughed. "Let's go, the bus's air conditioning is all turned on, let's get on the bus first."

It's the height of summer at the end of August. Indonesia is notoriously hot, sometimes unbearably so.

Chen Dongqing had only walked a hundred meters to the bus door when he was already sweating profusely.

Chen Dongqing sat down, placed his hands on his small suitcase, and then smiled, "So, what's the schedule for today?"

Although the five main players are from QG, the coaching staff are from EDG and Snake, so Chen Dongqing still has to listen to the coaching staff's opinions.

Abu laughed and said, "What other arrangements could there be? Let's talk about the versions first!"

The bus slowly came to a stop in front of the hotel; this was the Asian Games Village.

Of course, if this can be called a hotel.

Looking at the short, stout building in front of him, Chen Dongqing felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he were back in his elementary school days.

He couldn't help but frown and ask, "Are you serious?"

This isn't even as good as the hotels they usually stay in when they travel. Calling this a guesthouse is more accurate.

Making athletes sleep in hotels? That doesn't make sense.

"There's nothing we can do, we have to ask Sister Li for a favor," Abu said cryptically. "She's really helpless too."

Chen Dongqing immediately understood.

Actually, this Asian Games was not originally held in Jakarta. In the 31st Olympic Council of Asia in 2012, the representatives of Hanoi, Vietnam, proudly wearing their national flag, ultimately defeated their competitors from Surabaya, Indonesia, to win this precious opportunity!

In 2014, after two years of research, Vietnam decided not to hold the event.

It doesn't matter whether we do it or not.

Ultimately, the opportunity to host the Asian Games had to be temporarily transferred to Indonesia.

With this back and forth, the preparation time is reduced.

Even now, there is still one Olympic venue that has not been completed.

It can only be said that their execution was already lacking, and you even gave them two years less, so you can't blame them for not doing things well.

Chen Dongqing sighed and walked into the Asian Games Village with his teammates. After verifying the athletes' information, they quickly found their rooms.

It's still two people per room, the room is very small, each person has a single bed, which is about 1.2*2 meters.

Chen Dongqing was fine with it; he was a good sleeper, and the bed was perfectly adequate for him.

But Chen Dongqing really wanted to know how tall basketball players like him could sleep on this bed.

Chen Dongqing didn't think too much about it, put on his backpack, and then turned to head to the training room.

The training room wasn't large, just a medium-sized room. The walls around it had peeling paint, but it was very sturdy.

While everyone was choosing their seats, Abu also fiddled with the coach's computer and quickly created a PowerPoint presentation.

After the embarrassing experience of the last Asian Games qualifiers, Abu and Zhu Kai have become much more professional and can now create new versions of PowerPoint presentations.

"Today, the LPL Summer Regular Season has officially updated to version 8.15." Abu said this while playing the game, adding, "Although our regular season is over, we still need to familiarize ourselves with this version, because the Asian Games also used this version, and there are many changes in this version!"

The PowerPoint presentation flips to the title page and then to the main content.

"First, there's a hero rework."

A female hero appears in the picture.

The female hero is dressed in green, wearing ninja attire, holding a scythe in both hands, and facing away from the camera. Her large tattoos on her upper body are quite eye-catching, and the whole picture is very dynamic!

Akali, the lone assassin!

Chen Dongqing opened his eyes slightly and saw something incredible.

"As before, Akali's role in this version is mid and top lane. This champion has been on the live server for a while now, and her win rate reflects that."

As you flip through the slides, a win rate trend chart appears.

Before Akali's rework in patch 8.14, the champion had a 49% win rate. Then, on the first day after the rework, her win rate plummeted to 41%, a dramatic reversal that saw her rise to the top of the leaderboard.

Of course, the win rate of a new hero in ranked matches is not very meaningful.

After all, when Aatrox was reworked in the previous Intercontinental Cup version, his win rate was abysmal, almost fooling everyone in the LPL.

In the end, Chen Dongqing defied all opposition and used the Sword Demon to become a godlike figure, making this hero a secret weapon for the LPL region and a key factor in winning the Intercontinental Cup.

"I specifically asked EDG's analysts and players about Akali's skill mechanics, and they all agree that it's a very suitable champion for competitive play. I believe this champion will play a crucial role in the Asian Games," Abu continued. "Xiaohu, Shuge, how's your champion proficiency?"

Xiao Hu scratched his head, looking embarrassed: "Uh, so-so."

It's not that Xiaohu is lazy, it's just that he's really not into Akali. He's practiced her in ranked games dozens of times, and both his win rate and his record are abysmal.

It can only be said that Xiaohu is in this state for most mage assassin heroes; his playstyle is not really suited to playing aggressive assassins.

"Well, you'd better practice a lot lately," Abu said. "I checked the match history, and Faker's Akali on the other side is really good! And you, Tree Bro? Have you practiced Akali since you came back from TI?"

Chen Dongqing remained expressionless and said, "I haven't practiced. But my Akali is fine."

Abu nodded: "OK, very good!"

I haven't practiced, but it's no problem.

This statement may seem a bit abstract, but it makes perfect sense when applied to Brother Tree.

Abu has now gotten used to Chen Dongqing's eccentricities, so he's not surprised at all.

"Of course, there are other hero changes as well." Abu continued to turn the pages of the PPT.

"Aatrox has been heavily nerfed. His base health has been reduced, his Q damage has been reduced, his early game minion damage has been reduced, his E early game charge time has been reduced, and his ultimate's attack damage scaling has been increased. The main nerf is in the early game, reducing Aatrox's laning strength, and then there is a slight buff in the late game."

This hero change is reasonable, after all, Aatrox can basically be played as a long-range mage in the laning phase, and he can deal with tanks like a spinning top, so nerfing his laning phase is also reasonable.

Abu said, "Of course, if only the laning phase is weakened, I don't think it will affect Aatrox's strength on the field, and he will still have a high pick priority."

"Then, Irelia also received a minor change. She is the opposite of Aatrox. Irelia's base attack damage and base health have been increased, and her passive damage has been increased, but the values ​​of Q and W have been slightly reduced, and the range of E and R has also been reduced."

"The purpose of this change is very clear: to enhance Irelia's laning ability in the top lane, but to weaken Irelia's dominance in the mid lane."

Irelia is a typical champion who bullies the weak and fears the strong. She is timid and hesitant against various warriors in the top lane, but she attacks mages in the mid lane with heavy blows. The designers obviously want to balance this extreme situation this time.

"Like I said before, the changes to Irelia are minor and there's still a lot of room for picks, but the focus will shift from mid lane to top lane. Hmm, Tree's Irelia should be fine," Abu said confidently, then continued turning the pages of the PPT.

"In addition, Syndra's changes should not be overlooked."

"Q [Dark Orb]'s level 1 damage has been increased by 20 points. That's a terrifying increase, instantly elevating Syndra to T0 status in the Korean server. Xiaohu should be fine now, right?"

Xiao Hu patted his chest reassuredly, "Don't worry about that, there's absolutely no problem!"

"OK!" Abu nodded. "Apart from that, there shouldn't be anything else worth noting. We can figure out the rest gradually in practice matches. Alright, enough talk, it's getting late, everyone get some rest, training starts tomorrow!"

"OK!"

The athletes scattered like birds and beasts, and Xiao Hu, dragging Xiang Guo along, planned to explore the surrounding area.

Chen Dongqing then patted down one floor and arrived at the DOTA2 room.

In the room, he saw the DOTA2 athletes who were also having a meeting.

It still mainly consists of members from their QG team.

"Brother Shu is here?" Coach Xiao Ba said with a smile, "Let's start the meeting now that you're here. Let's talk about next week's game."

There were no version updates for DOTA2, and the focus of their meeting was not on game content, but on gameplay.

After all, the point guard position has been changed, so the playing style needs to be redesigned.

Of course, the strategy is simple—just listen to Brother Tree and let him kill them.

Here's an 8,000-word update.

As the story nears its end, and the protagonist has become completely invincible, it wouldn't be appropriate to force a dramatic plot twist, so the story will progress relatively quickly.

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A veteran author of science fiction romance novels; those who like rich women and don't want to work hard can check this out.

(End of this chapter)