The moment the match ended, everyone on IW slumped in their chairs, eyes lifeless.
It was obvious they'd been beaten into psychological trauma.
They came just to see the world, only to have their Dao hearts shattered.
Whether they could even keep competing back in the Turkish league was now a question—especially for their mid laner.
A perfectly good match had turned into a mid-lane respawn simulator.
Black-and-white screens from start to finish…
They sat there for a long while before realizing that the opposing side had no players seated there at all.
So there was no need to wait for handshakes.
What they should do now was hurry back to the players' lounge.
Otherwise they'd just keep embarrassing themselves under the lights.
So the Turkish players quickly packed up their gear and hurried down the player tunnel.
"Beautiful play. Looks like all the recent controversy didn't affect TES at all. Even playing online, they still showed their trademark style."
"Especially player Dine. His Zed truly became a top-tier assassin—Naruto Zed! And the post-game stats were outrageous: 17–0–6!"
"The last time we saw such a top-level Zed performance, we'd have to go back eight or nine years…"
Guan Zeyuan's words resonated with many viewers.
Zed had been nerfed and reworked repeatedly, and teams favored stability over risk.
As a result, mid-lane Zed appearances had become exceedingly rare.
Even after recent buffs, he was more often seen in the jungle.
Of course, there were very few players who could actually make jungle Zed work.
SofM, for all his antics, did get decent results with jungle Zed.
That was just his style—he'd never pick Sejuani or Gragas to play safe for top lane.
He wanted flashy picks to carry.
If he couldn't carry, it meant he had no job.
This year, you could see him trying to carry hard—but the ability just wasn't there…
Back to the point.
No matter what the Korean side thought, Lin Fan's Zed this game was incredibly appealing to fans.
The North American casters were completely conquered.
"Player Dine has broken the MSI kill record that stood untouched for seven years!"
"Fifteen solo kills in official matches—now rewritten to seventeen! What a crazy day. This performance was absolutely beautiful!"
"After casting today's games, I'm definitely staying up late to rewatch TES's Spring Split matches."
"Since Faker, I've once again seen a mid laner with this level of talent. There's no doubt the LPL's overall strength has risen even further."
Of course, there was a hint of envy in those words.
The North American region might stay optimistic, but year after year they watched their teams exit Worlds in the first round.
It didn't feel great.
"If TSM has ideas, I think they could try going for Dine. Offer three million a year—I think that'd be very tempting."
The Black caster said quietly at the desk.
After all, North America paid in USD.
If they were willing to offer high salaries, their competitiveness was still strong.
There was once an outrageous rumor that NA had offered Faker fifty million dollars.
It was later confirmed that there was indeed an offer—but not fifty million.
Still, it exceeded twenty million dollars…
Converted to RMB, that was a small fortune.
At this point, the referees uploaded the match recordings.
Only after confirming there were no issues did they sign off on the match sheet.
Since TES was playing online, Riot officials would rewatch the players' first-person perspectives and analyze match data to ensure everything was legitimate.
Once the process ended, Luo Sheng finally pushed open the base door.
"Thank you, referees, thank you. You've worked hard. Stay and eat with us?"
The referees smiled and declined.
They were here to supervise—staying for a meal would be inappropriate.
Seeing them refuse, Luo Sheng didn't insist.
After all the referees left, he turned to everyone and said:
"Beautiful. That first game was really good. Everyone's in great form."
"Yeah, the group stage doesn't really feel pressured," JackeyLove said. "Maybe semifinals will be where it gets intense."
"The only pressure was our bot lane feeding," Lin Fan joked.
"I knew you were unstoppable mid. The moment I saw you with five kills, I knew the game was over. Easy win."
"I honestly don't understand their draft," Mark added. "Seeing our Zed and still picking Varus—that's basically walking over to get killed, right?"
When a game is lost, besides player performance, draft matters a lot.
Some compositions are just hard to play even if you're stronger individually.
That's why a coach's understanding of the meta is crucial.
Not just sticking to the same three tricks over and over.
Luo Sheng was considered one of the better domestic coaches.
People often said he was bad, but compared to the rest, he was leagues ahead.
At least he wouldn't draft lineups that made players miserable.
Previously, 369 had been limited by his champion pool, which also constrained draft options.
Coach and player influenced each other.
Luo Sheng's drafts had been good lately precisely because mid lane had a champion ocean.
Every pick was hard to deal with, forcing opponents to spend huge effort just to find counters.
Yet even when they let Twisted Fate through—a weak laner—their mid still couldn't handle it.
Where was the logic in that?
"Since we're playing online, there won't be post-game interviews, right?"
"I think there is—remote interviews?" Mark said.
"With seventeen kills in the first game, I feel like they'll definitely want to interview Fan-ge." JackeyLove added.
"Korea says remote interviews waste time. They want to stick to match flow, so no interview," Luo Sheng said after checking his phone.
"Tch. Whatever. It's not like we're dying to be interviewed," Tian muttered. "Didn't think even post-game interviews would get differential treatment."
"They didn't care about schedule when interviewing Faker earlier."
"Doesn't matter. Interviews just waste my time anyway. If Korea wanted to interview me, I'd still have to find an excuse to refuse."
Those interviews were all fake smiles—inside they wished you dead.
Much more fun chatting with Auntie Yu Shuang.
Or learning a few new 'moves' from Luo Xin—that was way more interesting.
"Let's eat. We've waited forever and haven't eaten yet," Zoom rubbed his stomach.
"But… the LPL officials will interview us. Lin Fan, get ready."
"Huh?"
At that moment, the familiar Auntie Yu Shuang walked in.
"Hahaha, first of all, congratulations on your opening win."
"Tu Bro really played out of his mind today," Yu Shuang said with a grin, looking at Lin Fan.
Among LoL fans, the nickname 'Brother Infinite Borders' carried some negativity.
So quite a few people disliked it.
But it had stuck deeply and was hard to change.
Using a homophone was the only gradual solution.
And since Lin Fan's damage numbers were always outstanding, 'Tu Bro' was born.
TL: 突出 was what stood for outstanding, the pinyin is tu chu, so "Tu Bro" is a play on the name.
It circulated mainly among LoL fans.
Pro players having five or six nicknames was normal.
For example, Yu Wenbo—best known as JackeyLove.
Later came Bingbing, Jackie Love, Shui-ge.
The less flattering ones included Q-spicy Dance, Sudden Death AD, Song Wenbo, Pee Emperor…
Call him whatever you like—people still knew who you meant.
Now 'Tu Bro' had become Lin Fan's second nickname.
Some even called him 'Invincible Bro.'
Simple reason—Photic was Esports Xiao Yan, so Lin Fan was Esports Lin Fan.
Same name, same invincibility.
After Photic's image collapsed, though, 'Tiny Sausage' became his exclusive title.
Netizens were truly masters of nicknames.
Yu Shuang's teasing was obvious.
Her eyes even drifted downward.
Tu—
"Hello, Auntie Yu Shuang, hello, Auntie Yu Shuang," Lin Fan replied immediately.
"JackeyLove calling me Auntie is fine… but you and I are both post-90s."
"Xiao Ming's my age. If he calls you Auntie, that's acceptable."
The livestream chat exploded.
"It's over, she's rolling her eyes."
"Invincible Bro really has something."
"Guan Zeyuan is already sharpening his knife."
"Honestly, Brother Infinite Borders is pretty goofy. He looks cold but he's actually a clown."
"True. Especially when he streams I Wanna—he even tortures pro players."
TL: "I Wanna Be The Guy" (commonly shortened to "IWANNA") is a notoriously difficult freeware trap platformer game known for its extreme difficulty and absurd death traps.
The game is famous for:
Instant death from touching almost anything
Unpredictable traps and fake-outs
Requiring pixel-perfect precision and quick reactions
Being incredibly frustrating even for skilled players
"Isn't that just pure reaction speed? With his reactions, that game's easy."
"That's the 'looking for death' version of I Wanna. It's pretty fun."
Back in the training room, after some jokes, they got to the interview proper.
"First, congratulations on TES's opening win. How are you all feeling?"
"Pretty good. I think we adjusted well," Tian said.
"Very happy."
"It's been a long time since we played an international event. Winning the first game feels great."
These face-to-face interviews were always fun.
A few back-and-forth jokes kept the audience entertained.
But they were time-consuming.
Outside of big finals, regular matches usually only interviewed one or two players.
Otherwise, just the interview took ten minutes.
"With such a packed schedule, time's really tight."
"I have a question for Tu Bro," Yu Shuang said.
"You've been back in mid lane for over three months now. After so many matches, how do you feel about your teammates? Give a few words for each."
Everyone perked up.
They all wanted to hear Lin Fan's impressions.
"Zoom—he just gives a strong sense of security. In teamfights he's always on the front line. Trains late every day. A very reliable teammate."
"Security. Very steady," Yu Shuang nodded.
"And Tian?"
"He doesn't talk much in games, but he's extremely dependable. If I call for a dive, he comes immediately. Very trustworthy."
"Really? Hard to tell he talks little."
"Hehe…" Tian scratched his head shyly.
He was just a bit sarcastic—not talkative.
"Next is JackeyLove. You even supported him before, so you should have strong impressions."
JackeyLove stared at Lin Fan.
A bad feeling crept in.
"JackeyLove… when I supported him, I already knew—he's way too flashy. Always charging in alone, then getting caught by a bunch of people."
"Chain reaction. Makes the support suffer and die too. I got flamed a lot because of that."
The chat exploded.
"Flash King Yu Wenbo has no rivals!"
"Asset police warning!"
"But Tu Bro's actually right. JackeyLove loves to show off. Didn't he just int earlier?"
"Look at Mark's face… he's holding it in."
The cameraman panned to the players.
Tian burst out laughing first.
Then Zoom.
Mark, as JackeyLove's support mom, tried to hold the line—but couldn't help laughing in the end.
It was just too accurate.
JackeyLove rolled his eyes, already plotting his comeback.
"Well, JackeyLove's persona has always been like this," Yu Shuang said. "Yu Wenbo showing off has even trended before. Tu Bro, as mid laner, definitely described it best."
…
"As for Mark, he's very active—the team's mood maker. His synergy with JackeyLove is great. I think he's doing much better than I did back then."
"Mm…" JackeyLove nodded.
That was true.
Early Spring Split bot lane had been suffering.
Sometimes one went in while the other didn't.
Mark had really improved things.
Though after duo-queueing with Fan-ge twice, he realized Lin Fan's support wasn't bad either.
Blitzcrank and Heimerdinger—absolute pocket picks.
Why didn't he say that earlier?
"I suspect Fan-ge intentionally trolled me in earlier matches!" JackeyLove seized his counterattack.
Soon, laughter filled the training room.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup