A huge wave of domestic "neutral" viewers watched Renekton's pentakill and instantly became fans.
That scene was too shocking—pure adrenaline flooding the body.
Tu Bro scored a pentakill against SKT.
And SKT isn't some random team. For Chinese viewers, both the win and that pentakill Renekton carried enormous meaning.
LPL may have three Worlds titles now, but in a true sense, beating SKT—the nightmare team—had only been done by S5 EDG up to this day.
Now TES had double-killed them in rumble stage, and with a crushing scoreline too.
How could anyone not be hyped?
Chat spam rolled like a storm.
"He's gone crazy! Tu Bro has gone crazy!"
"13–0–2! SKT is going to be mentally broken!"
"Look at the player booths—those five didn't even move their butts. They still haven't recovered from the loss."
"Where are the 'know-it-alls' now? Didn't they say TES would be exposed the moment they met SKT? Why do they look stronger and stronger?"
"Korean fanboys, come out and yell! The internet is too peaceful—who am I supposed to fight?"
"What the hell—mid Renekton is this brutal? One W and full HP turns critical!"
"Honestly, Press the Attack Renekton is strong, but not *that* crazy—unless your ID is Dine. Two items at 14 minutes is how you get this effect."
"If they finish first seed, then it's the match the day after tomorrow, right? Wait—this schedule is weird. Semis, then finals the next day? That's back-to-back max intensity."
"Are they targeting like this again?"
"Not really… I think it was scheduled that way from the start."
"You're all fake fans. Isn't this perfect? Don't forget—tomorrow is the TFT China finals! If TES had a match tomorrow, Tu Bro couldn't play finals!"
"Holy crap, you didn't remind me and I would've forgotten. After Tu Bro made finals, I stopped paying attention to the rest of the bracket. Have all eight finalists been decided?"
…
At the Busan arena, the LCK casters finally spoke after a long pause.
"Once TES flexed Renekton into mid, it truly disrupted T1's setup… This was a tactical failure. TES simply prepared better."
"Our players need to adjust their form for the next matches. The coaching staff also needs a better plan—this is a test for them too."
"Yes. We're still second seed. That's not bad. First or second doesn't really matter as long as you advance. And the remaining opponents are weaker, so we can use this to adjust."
"You must take player Dine seriously. Don't give him too much room. Watching his match state, I almost see the shadow of Faker in his prime."
"LPL's changes in recent years are indeed big, and of course that's related to multiple Korean imports joining and greatly raising their level of play…"
"The three championship teams all won with the help of Korean imports… only then did they succeed."
They'd lost the game, but their mouths still wouldn't lose.
And seeing the international students cheering so hard, the two casters wanted to disgust them a little.
And to be fair, those lines did silence the students for a moment.
But they recovered quickly, because now they had hope.
And they even had the courage to clap back.
"TOP 2–0 T1!"
"TES just beat SKT!"
"Dine Renekton pentakill smashed SKT—solo kills on Faker and Zeus!"
That was the just-finished rumble-stage result.
Hearing it, the Korean crowd's teeth itched.
So they dumped their anger on the SKT players who had just lost.
You talk about the past—we talk about the present.
When regions argued on Twitter, LCK loved bringing up this topic too.
Of course, domestically some people also liked talking about "Korean double carries" in the past…
But from another angle: the champions were still Chinese teams, still LPL teams. That's still regional glory.
If LCK has the ability, then bring all the imports back—
or keep them and don't let them leave.
Most people domestically think this way.
Of course, if a full-Chinese roster could win Worlds, people would be even happier.
But truly strong full-Chinese rosters were rare.
RNG "points the sword" every year, and every year the sword breaks.
TES's roster looked fitting, but their best result had only been top four.
It was hard not to feel despair.
But this year, Tu Bro suddenly burst into the spotlight, and hope surged everywhere.
Maybe TES could truly fulfill the dream of a full-Chinese roster winning it all.
Premium JackeyLove—are you kidding?
Looking at Spring Split double-carry stats, they were absolutely the strongest domestic duo.
Because TES ended games fast, their average damage wasn't always the highest.
But the rest of their stats were still top three in their roles.
Especially Tu Bro—calling him a perfect hexagon warrior wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Domestic play is one thing; real proof comes internationally.
But MSI performance hadn't disappointed either.
They stormed into semifinals and left everyone else far behind.
They were dominating the entire tournament.
Optimists: the trophy is already in hand.
More cautious: there's an 80% chance TES wins MSI—
as long as they keep this form.
As for TES, the moment they won, everyone stood up and exchanged smiles.
"That pentakill was insane. Fan-ge, you're cracked!"
"So damn satisfying. I thought we could win, but I didn't expect it to be this clean."
"Not even fun. I barely killed anyone," JackeyLove complained.
Aphelios scales slowly, and the game only lasted seventeen minutes.
His items weren't even complete before they pushed straight in.
No satisfaction at all.
If he'd been on Draven, though—now *that* would feel good.
One crit, The Collector procs, that's a kill.
One axe, one kid.
That actually happened at MSI 2019.
And the opponent was SKT.
What JackeyLove remembered most was TheShy having a stomach issue—he kept yelling "Push, push!" in comms.
That match created the famous 1557 record.
Even now, when people want to blacken Faker, they bring up 1557.
Because compared to normal 20–30 minute games, it was simply too short.
You could tell it was a one-sided stomp.
"Is there an interview next? If not, I'm going to the cafeteria to grab something," JackeyLove said.
"Cafeteria? Let's go hotpot. Haven't had it in a while."
"Didn't we go as a group two days ago?"
"Hotpot is the kind of thing you eat and still want more. What do you say, Fan-ge?"
The moment the topic came up, everyone started drooling.
People in China are basically heavy hotpot addicts.
If there's conflict, there's nothing a Haidilao can't solve—if there is, then eat it twice.
TL: Haidilao is a big hotpot business
Of course, if Haidilao's service were slightly less enthusiastic, business might be even better.
Like Master Ma Baoguo said: stop at the right time—the intention is enough.
"Sure. I don't really want cafeteria food today. Let's eat more meat," Lin Fan said with a smile.
"Then call the coach and manager too."
TES from top to bottom had been assembled by Guo Hao himself.
So players and management had a good relationship—no weird twists and turns.
TES was also different from many teams.
With parent-company backing, profit pressure wasn't that high.
Worst case, they could ask for support.
After all, they even paid Knight a 45 million salary—hard not to see their financial strength (money and foolishness).
Of course, being willing to spend is necessary for a traffic club.
That salary news alone got discussed for two months.
Back in S4–S5, people said Uzi's transfer fee was 50 million, but that wasn't take-home salary—more like a penalty.
So how much a player really gets depends on the club's conscience.
But if the league office intervenes, these things become easy—if the price is right.
Like QG back then—rumor said they paid 20 million to buy Uzi back from OMG.
That was with LPL office involvement.
Otherwise it could've been even higher.
Sadly, that dream superteam fell apart due to mid-jungle breakup.
Otherwise, QG had a real chance to win it all that year.
…
At that moment, Luo Sheng hurriedly pushed open the training room door.
"LCK wants an interview. They invited Lin Fan. Sit and wait—video call will connect soon."
"Huh? LCK is interviewing us?"
They hadn't done interviews before. Why now?
"Our interpreter is here."
TES didn't have a Korean interpreter—there weren't any Koreans in the base.
LPL officials had considered this, so they kept Xia An with TES.
Xia An was the girl from last year's EDG title run who interpreted seamlessly in Chinese, English, and Korean.
They thought LCK wouldn't interview at all.
But after rumble ended, they decided to interview Lin Fan.
Probably because they didn't expect the losses to be so brutal.
Xia An was visibly excited when she saw Lin Fan.
"Yu Shuang was right—seeing Tu Bro up close, he's pretty handsome."
"Huh? I don't believe Yu Shuang would say that," Lin Fan shook his head.
"But 'Tu Bro' is too ridiculous. I still prefer 'Brother Infinite Borders.'"
After a few lines of small talk, the LCK interview feed connected.
"Annyeonghaseyo…"
Xia An immediately began interpreting.
"Hello everyone, I'm Lee Jeong-hyeon. First, thank you to player Dine for accepting our interview."
"Congratulations on finishing first in rumble stage and advancing to finals, with an amazing ten-game win streak. People say you have Faker's shadow—what's your evaluation?"
"Mm… first, Faker is truly a one-of-one legend in League. His three Worlds titles haven't been surpassed yet."
"In matches, he gave me a lot of pressure. He's a very strong opponent."
"Second, as an LPL mid, my style is very different from his."
"I'm a mid who relies more on teammates. Without their help, I wouldn't have had such smooth games."
"As for our current results—rumble first and so on—it's not really anything."
"The goal of everything is the final championship."
"Even if the process isn't smooth, if the result is good, looking back feels fine."
"But if the process is smooth and the result is bad, it becomes everyone's regret."
Lin Fan didn't answer the question head-on.
Instead, he complimented Faker first.
Korea didn't get the answer they wanted—
and got countered instead.
Getting crushed every game, and you still want to say Lin Fan has Faker's shadow?
Then Lin Fan denied it on "style" with logical reasoning.
"Tu Bro is really humble!"
"What kind of question is LCK even asking? So weird."
"The host girl is really pretty."
"Lee Jeong-hyeon is pretty, but I still like Kim Soo-hyun more. Bigger is justice!"
"Perspective opened up again."
Lee Jeong-hyeon didn't expect Lin Fan to answer like that.
She froze, then smiled and asked a few more questions.
Like why he kept picking Twisted Fate.
Lin Fan answered that he personally liked playing cards, and felt Twisted Fate had high 'gambling luck'—easy to bring good fortune.
Chat spam exploded instantly.
"Damn it, no wonder Tu Bro's luck is so good—turns out the Goddess of Luck is really smiling!"
"Got it. Before I gacha, I'm playing a Twisted Fate game."
"So TFT is under Twisted Fate's protection!"
"LPL's gambling addict was born—from Twisted Fate…"
At the end, Lee Jeong-hyeon asked about Lin Fan's next goal.
Lin Fan's expression tightened. He lifted the mic and thought for a moment.
"The goal is the championship."
"Humans are strange creatures. When your goal is clear enough, you can often unleash potential beyond imagination."
"But when you surrender mentally—when you give up—sometimes you can't even perform ten percent of your usual level."
"So I think what a person can do depends entirely on whether their heart is firm enough."
"And from the moment I became a pro player, my goal has always been the championship."
"Spring Split championship, MSI championship, Summer Split championship, Worlds championship…"
"Always. Never changed."
Xia An translated his words perfectly.
In that moment, the Busan arena went extremely quiet.
They didn't expect player Dine to have such a burning heart…
Damn it—why isn't someone this strong Korean?
Domestic viewers also stopped typing for a moment.
In their hearts, they made a decision:
No matter how Tu Bro performs later, that one line alone stands higher than many other LPL pros.
Especially compared to TES's previous mid, who considered "top four" a victory.
Seriously—can a pro player say that? The comparison makes Knight look even worse.
"Tu Bro gets six months of flame immunity from me."
"Perspective stays high."
"But honestly, if he quit Infinite Borders, those words would hit even harder!"
"I was feeling it, then you said that and I broke."
…
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup