LOL: Do I have to be a spinning top too?

December 21st, Shanghai Alliance Arena.

In the Demacia Cup quarterfinals, TES will face off against IG.

Half an hour before the match, the popularity of the live broadcast rooms on major live streaming platforms had already soared to eight million.

The barrage of comments was flying everywhere.

"Here he comes, Little Tiger's debut!"

"Glory? How do you pronounce that ID again, Glory?"

"No matter how they pronounce it, we're playing against IG today. Nenny on the other side isn't someone to be trifled with either. I'm just waiting for the newbie to get a lesson."

"Don't make baseless accusations. I heard this guy beat Qingtian in a practice match. He might actually have some skills."

"Beat up a sunny day?"

"Here's a joke: when Qingtian started in the LPL, he was repeatedly spun around by all the top laners."

Miller and Rita were already in position on the commentary stand.

Miller pushed up his glasses and flashed his signature smile:

"Welcome to the live broadcast of the 2022 Demacia Cup. Today's second quarterfinal match is between TES and IG."

"Rita, what do you think of today's match?"

Rita said in a calm tone, "Actually, both teams' Demacia Cup lineups are quite interesting."

"For TES, none of the main players from the first team came except for support Mark. The mid, jungle, and bot lane players are all from the second team and the youth training program."

  

"On the contrary, they brought two players to the top lane, one is Qingtian and the other is the rookie Glory, and Glory is starting today."

"It's similar on IG's side. Their mid and jungle players from the main team didn't come, but top laner Nenny is a familiar face in the LPL. He's played quite a few games in the LPL before."

Miller chimed in: "So the biggest highlight today is actually this rookie top laner on TES."

"His ID is Glory, his real name is Li Hu, he is eighteen years old, and he previously reached third place in the Chinese Super Server with a win rate of over 80%. It is said that he was recently promoted directly from the youth training program by TES."

"In a pre-match interview, TES manager Guo Hao spoke highly of this player, saying that he has a deep champion pool, a stable laning phase, and an excellent overall game sense."

Rita raised an eyebrow: "Such a high evaluation?"

"I'm actually looking forward to it."

"But to be honest, the third-ranked player in the Challenger tier is indeed very strong, but ranked games and competitive matches are two different things."

"Today, facing a top laner like Nene who has played as a starter in the LPL, I estimate that we might be pressured a bit in the early game."

"It all depends on whether this newcomer can withstand the pressure."

Miller glanced at the player tunnel screen that the director switched to:

"Both teams are ready. Let's take a look at today's starting lineups."

The director's view is switched out.

[TES Starting Lineup]

Top Laner: Glory, Jungler: xiaofang, Mid Laner: Wangxiao, ADC: JiaQi, Support: Mark

IG Starting Lineup

Top Laner: neny, Jungler: Tianzhen, Mid Laner: MG, ADC: Ahn, Support: Wink

Guan Zeyuan added, "For TES, Glory is starting, and Qingtian is on the bench."

"This choice is quite interesting, after all, Qingtian has played in the LPL, but he is being relegated to the bench by a complete rookie."

Rita smiled and said, "That shows that TES has a lot of confidence in this newcomer."

As soon as the list was released, the chat rooms of various live streams instantly became lively.

"TES's roster... is it all their second team? Where's the first team?"

"The first team is on vacation; they're just using the Demacia Cup as practice."

"Mark: I'm a support player on the main team, leading four youth trainees. Do you know how hard it is for me?"

"Glory? Is that the third-ranked player in the Rift that Red Tea revealed? Tiger General is so cute!"

"This ID is hilarious, Xiaohu will change his name overnight if he sees it."

"TES really has no one left. They just pulled a few people from the youth academy to make up the numbers."

"LPL is just lame!"

"There are no newcomers at all. Look at the ones next door, they're really annoying."

Li Hu stood at the entrance to the contestants' passage and glanced out through the gap in the curtain.

Crowds of people.

The glow sticks resembled a flowing galaxy, and the shouts of the fans made the ground tremble slightly.

This was his first time standing on the stage of an official competition.

Li Hu withdrew his gaze, returned to the lounge, and sat down to wait for his turn.

"Tiger, are you nervous?"

A rough, honest voice came from behind me.

He was a substitute today, but he stayed with the team the whole time, mainly playing a supporting role.

Li Hu turned around, his tone indifferent:

"fine."

"fine?"

"My legs were shaking the first time I went on stage, you little rascal..."

Li Hu smiled and said nothing more.

"Contestants, prepare to enter and test your equipment!"

The staff member's voice came from behind.

Li Hu gathered his thoughts, followed the others out of the dressing room and onto the stage, where the lights poured down from above, dazzlingly bright.

Sparse applause came from the audience, most of whom were busy taking photos and posting them on social media and didn't pay much attention to this unfamiliar face.

He walked to the machine station, sat down, and began to adjust the equipment.

Mouse speed, keyboard sensitivity, headphone volume—everything was adjusted to the most comfortable level.

The voice of their jungler, Xiao Fang, came from the side:

"Tiger, why aren't you nervous at all?"

"It's just a Demacia Cup, what's there to be nervous about?" Li Hu said without looking up.

Xiao Fang's lips twitched, thinking to himself that this person was really stubborn.

But after playing in the scrims these past few days, he's already completely convinced of the new top laner's abilities.

It's not because his skills are exceptionally good, but because his mentality is ridiculously stable even when he's at a disadvantage.

Even after being tower-dived and killed by three people, he could still laugh and say in voice chat, "It's okay, I won't lose experience, you guys push the tower in the bottom lane."

The worst thing about playing professionally isn't being bad, it's having a mental breakdown. You can salvage a bad game occasionally, but if your mentality collapses, it's truly over.

Li Hu, on the other hand, seems to never falter.

Miller and Rita on the commentary stand had already started warming up the audience.

Meanwhile, the Tiger Duck platform.

Four Dogs Live Stream Room.

Zita, Crystal, Letme, and AJ had already started a live stream together, and the live stream's popularity soared to over two million.

On the screen, the camera is focused on Li Hu's profile in the TES player seat.

Today, Zita was still dressed in his simple pink work clothes, leaning back in his gaming chair, and his signature eunuch-like voice had already started shouting:

"Say it your way, brothers."

"What's the story with today's match?"

Crystal replied sarcastically, "Yarei, look at you, so eager. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were going to go up and fight."

"Me, hit?"

"Back in the day, if I went up there, I would have given Neny a 100-CS lead, no exaggeration." Zita waved his hand dismissively.

"One hundred cuts?"

Letme said in a serious tone: "I acknowledge your top laner, you can make your own AD carry lose 100 CS in a minute, right?"

The live stream chat exploded instantly.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Letme is going on a killing spree!"

"When it comes to top laners, Yan Junze is the most qualified to speak on this topic."

His posture caught off guard, so he immediately changed the subject:

"Hey, hey, stop talking nonsense, let's get serious."

"Let me tell you, I got some inside information today!"

"What kind of inside information is this?" AJ asked, leaning closer to the screen in his Cantonese-accented Mandarin.

He leaned closer to the microphone, lowered his voice, and adopted a mysterious demeanor:

"This new top laner for TES, Glory, is the third-best in the Rift."

"I heard that during scrims, he played Malphite, Sett, and Camille and completely dominated a certain LPL team!"

"And this top laner is especially good at playing Nasus."

"I'm betting on a landmine, really?"

"Dog-Headed Stone Golem, is this really a champion that professional players can play?"

"brother."

Crystal's voice carried a hint of exaggeration:

"A certain LPL team? Which team?"

"Say it then!"

"I can't say, but anyway, they're very strong."

He leaned back, looking smug.

"Wait a moment."

Letme suddenly frowned: "Doghead and Thing? That sounds familiar..."

AJ reacted the fastest: "Isn't that Wang Muba, Brother Ba's champion pool?!"

Crystal slapped the table and laughed so hard he almost fell over:

"Yare! BaGe went to play professionally?!"

The chat in the live stream went completely crazy.

"Brother Ba: That's right, it's me!"

"TES's BaGe says it's a done deal!"

"Brother Ba: Has my amateur King of Glory game finally received professional recognition?"

"Dog-Headed Stone Golem Specialist, isn't that just like Brother Ba himself?"

"It's over, TES signed BaGe 2.0, the LPL is going to change next spring."

After laughing enough, Crystal Bro started to speak in a serious tone:

"Seriously, can Nasus (or Malphite) be played effectively in professional matches?"

"Won't they be targeted to death?"

He waved his hand dismissively: "You're an amateur when it comes to that."

"Let me tell you, I've studied this guy's stats on the Chinese Super Server."

"His Dog Head, Stone Golem, and Camille are all incredibly reliable."

"And do you know what's the most outrageous thing?"

"What?"

"His win rate at the top of the Rift is 81%."

The live stream went silent for a second.

Letme was the first to break the silence:

"Eighty-one percent? At the top of the canyon?"

"Are you sure you didn't see that wrong?"

"I saw it with my own eyes. You can check it yourself if you don't believe me."

Crystal gasped, "Yare... his win rate is even higher than a pro player's smurf account."

"That's why I said we need to watch this game carefully today."

He leaned back, a look of anticipation on his face:

"IG's lineup is not weak either, especially Neny, whose strength is not among the worst in the LPL."

"Let's see if Glory will pull out Malphite, and Nasus will get his head spun around by Neny's Aatrox..."

"Is Shi Tou fighting the Sword Demon?"

"That would be amazing," AJ chimed in.

"It seems like this match is either a god or a monster; there's no middle ground," Letme concluded.

"Alright, stop fooling around," Zitai said, his smile fading as he switched back to a serious explanation mode.

"BP is about to start, guys watch carefully."

"To be honest, the two sides are about the same on paper. It all comes down to which side's newcomer can step up."

Crystal chimed in, "On the IG side, Wink is probably the only veteran, right?"

"Everyone else was just promoted from LDL."

"Mark is a veteran on the TES side, and each side brings a veteran player, which is fair."

Letme added, "But to be honest, in this kind of Demacia Cup quarterfinals, winning or losing isn't that important."

"The important thing is whether the newcomers can perform well."

What do you think, AJ?

"I think it all depends on how you perform. It's normal for a newcomer to be nervous."

AJ said seriously:

"But if I can play well in the first game, it will be of great help to my future career."

"So, as LPL's number 007 top laner, I..."

"I'm really looking forward to Glory's performance today."

"Then let's see."

Leaning forward, staring at the BP interface on the screen:

"IG (blue side), TES (red side), the game begins!"

The game enters the BP (Ban/Pick) interface.

IG immediately banned Camille.

Li Hu raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on his lips.

IG definitely did their homework...

I know his Camille is his signature move.