LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 565 Samsung Cup

Less than half a month after the World Championship ended.

The transfer season is in full swing across all major regions. Whether it's the LCK region, hoping to learn from its mistakes and strive for improvement, or the LPL region, which is well-rested and ready to play, both hope to achieve significant results during this transfer season.

This transfer will undoubtedly be the most focused and invested in the history of the two regions' fierce competition.

However, this obviously has nothing to do with EDG, because EDG will still have the same roster next year.

Lin Ruo still has a year left on his contract. Even if someone wants to buy him, they have to negotiate with EDG. And EDG only needs to say no, and no matter what price the buyer offers, there's no room for negotiation.

The same applies to Kim Gong, Tian Ye, and iBoy; their contracts all far exceed the single-year term.

Scout is the only one whose contract has expired and who has the option to add one more to his own account.

However, Scout did not hesitate to choose the extension option to renew his contract for another year.

So while other teams were just starting their transfer window, EDG's transfer window had already ended in style and glory.

From now on, no news during the transfer period will be related to EDG.

The EDG members, upon returning to China, promptly announced their disbandment and began a vacation of more than a month and a half.

That's right, a little over a month and a half.

EDG's starting five will not participate in the Demacia Cup in late December, so they can rest from mid-November to the end of December at least, and then regroup in early January to prepare for the Spring Split.

The timing might be a bit tight, but for EDG, who have already won two championships, this is not a problem.

During the off-season.

Scout and GimGoon did not choose to return to their home countries, but instead stayed in South Korea for a vacation.

On the other hand, Tianye and the others who returned also chose to go back to their hometown to reunite with their parents.

This time, Lin Ruo was truly alone at the EDG club for live streaming. Although there were commercial activities every few days that required her to make appearances, she spent most of her time at the EDG club base.

Let's start a live stream.

Viewers may not know how long it has been since you last streamed. Although you did one during the World Championship, it couldn't hide the fact that you were being lazy.

However, this time it won't be easy for Lin Ruo to steal it.

After all, do they understand the significance of live streaming right after winning a championship? Putting aside whether the popularity is high or not, do they even need to ask whether there are many gifts?

This year's finals, an all-LPL showdown, was a huge treat for LPL viewers from start to finish. Even when the runners-up IG members returned to stream, they received just as much welcome as anyone else.

Not to mention Lin Ruo.

This broadcast was another day that turned the Zhanqi platform upside down.

It's quite popular; it seems to be overloaded.

The gifts were a bit too many; it seems like we went over budget.

Backstage, please hold on! We can't let the audience be forced to turn back because of the large crowd at this time.

Just as her livestreaming career was flourishing, after receiving that phone call, Lin Ruo knew that she probably wouldn't be spending the rest of her time just with Nice at the EDG club base, and she might even need to buy a plane ticket to go back to South Korea.

"Lin Ruo, I heard you won the championship. That's amazing! Do you want to win more championships? I'll arrange it for you right now."

cough cough.

"Team leader, wait a minute!"

Upon hearing the phone call from team leader Tian Bin, whom she hadn't contacted in a long time, Lin Ruo immediately used one hand to search on her computer for recent Go tournaments.

There seems to be one.

The Samsung Cup qualifiers have begun.

Yes, it is one of the most famous large-scale international Go tournaments. The reason it is called the Samsung Cup is because the sponsor is Samsung, a well-known South Korean company.

The Samsung Cup is considered one of the most prestigious Go tournaments in South Korea.

However, this does not mean that the Samsung Cup is among the top in the world. On the contrary, the Samsung Go Cup is definitely not among the top five Go tournaments in the world.

It's not that the level is low, nor that it lacks history; the reason is simply this: the Samsung Cup is held annually.

In a world Go tournament that is typically held every four or two years, the sudden appearance of a world tournament held annually seems rather abrupt.

Therefore, the Samsung Cup is not considered the most prestigious event in the world of Go.

However, the Samsung Cup remains one of the most coveted tournaments for all Go players.

Because the Samsung Cup is fast and efficient.

Other world Go tournaments either span several months or even a year, but the Samsung Cup is the complete opposite, being held annually.

The qualifiers were completed in half a month, and the main tournament was completed in less than seven days. That was the entire schedule for the Samsung Cup. The final was not a best-of-five series, but a very straightforward best-of-three series.

Its main focus is on speed and efficiency.

If it's not over within a month, I'll admit defeat.

"Oh, you're going to participate in the Samsung Cup, right?" Lin Ruo replied slowly after finishing the search.

Team leader Tian Bin on the other end of the phone didn't say anything more, but instead asked Lin Ruo to come to the chess academy. After all, it's only been half a year since they last met, so it's only right that they get together.

Also.

This left Lin Ruo with absolutely no reason to refuse.

So Lin Ruo went.

Since I had nothing else to do, I quickly packed up and took a taxi to the chess academy.

Team leader Tian Bin originally hoped that Lin Ruo would come tomorrow morning, but he did not expect that Lin Ruo would be so free and able to come whenever he was called.

The Go academy remains the same as always, still a place brimming with youthful energy, where you can always see batches of energetic young players aiming for professional ranks.

This time, the young players who were aiming for the top rank didn't know that Lin Ruo had arrived, because he was wearing a baseball cap.

Lin Ruo still clearly remembers the scene when she last came to the chess academy. There were at least twenty or thirty people who wanted autographs, and it was quite tiring to deal with them all.

And it's noisy.

Therefore, Lin Ruo was well prepared this time.

It wasn't something I started preparing after I arrived; I began preparing on the way to the chess academy.

Now that they're getting more and more famous, the EDG base has become a tourist attraction, and you're bound to run into a bunch of fans taking pictures as soon as you step outside.

Lin Ruo then bought a baseball cap before getting on the bus to the chess academy.

The effect was obvious; no one had such good eyesight that they could recognize him even while he was wearing a hat.

The same applies to the chess academy. The young people are usually quite focused when playing chess. Although they might notice pedestrians passing by in the corridor, they can't see their faces clearly at first glance, so they naturally won't put down their chess pieces to spend more time looking.

Isn't that putting the cart before the horse? It's not like people in the entertainment industry love gossip as much as we do.

So Lin Ruo walked into the familiar office without any obstacles.

There was hardly anyone in the office.

Tian Bin led the team out. Knowing that Lin Ruo had arrived at the chess academy so quickly, he was actually also on his way there.

Therefore, it was only natural for the two to meet outside.

Knowing that Lin Ruo had already arrived at the chess academy, Tian Bin called her again and invited her to meet at a nearby restaurant to talk over a meal. At the hot pot restaurant...

The tall and strong figures were very conspicuous sitting in the corner, and had been noticed by some people ever since Lin Ruo took off her hat.

However, Lin Ruo didn't care much. This was a restaurant, and everyone here was there to eat. It was none of her business who was bothering whom.

"Lin Ruo, do you want a championship? To be honest, one world championship doesn't seem to fit your image as a Go genius. After all, you already have two world championships in League of Legends."

It was that familiar, overly flattering opening line.

Asking about winning the championship right off the bat—does that mean you're guaranteed to win it just by going?
Lin Ruo could only sigh, "Team leader, you've changed."

It has become quite large.

After all, Tian Bin knew that Lin Ruo was a genius six months ago. However, no matter what opponent Lin Ruo encountered at that time, he would be pessimistic, thinking that it would be difficult to defeat him.

However, Lin Ruo won the Mengbaihe Cup despite his consistently poor performance.

Now, team leader Tian Bin has completely changed his rhetoric.

You think I wanted to change? You're the one who forced me to change.

After all, which professional novice can defeat former world champions, current world champions, and a host of professional novice dans all the way to win the championship?

This is the result.

If he doesn't change his mind, Tian Bin feels he should lie in a coffin and cosplay as a zombie.

Therefore, he believed that his changes were completely without any problems. As the saying goes, a wise man submits to circumstances. He was one of the people who should be happiest and benefit the most from Lin Ruo winning the world championship. So, wouldn't it be natural for him to greet the champion when they met again?

and so…

“I haven’t changed, you have,” Tian Bin replied very seriously.

Lin Ruo said "oh" and didn't want to continue the discussion.

Tian Bin quickly listed the reasons why Lin Ruo had to participate in this Samsung Cup.

First of all, it does not affect the so-called next LPL season, because it will only be held for less than a week, and it happens to be during Lin Ruo's off-season.

Secondly, it's much easier than the Dream Lily Cup. Lin Ruo doesn't need to participate in any preliminary rounds and can climb all the way up from the bottom.

Since winning the Mengbaihe Cup six months ago and becoming a world champion, Lin Ruo has become a top seed player in the Chinese Go world overnight.

Logically speaking, as a seeded player, one should be able to directly enter the main tournament, which is indeed much easier. At least one can sit back and wait for opponents to fight for a month before taking the stage, which is equivalent to skipping most of the tournament.

Of course, these were not the things Lin Ruo wanted to hear.

Oh, so the prize money is 220 million? That's not bad, that's what Lin Ruo really wanted to hear.

If the prize money is over 200 million, and the actual competition lasts for less than a week, and it won't even affect the later LPL Spring Split, wouldn't that be like a vacation?

cough cough.

Although he has already swum in South Korea.

However, for a League of Legends player, earning some extra money during the off-season shouldn't be a problem, right?

indeed.

"Go ahead, with your abilities you will definitely win the championship, and then you will be able to contribute to the further development of Chinese Go."

Team leader Tian Bin continued to patiently persuade, and at the end, he couldn't help but mention: "Of course, if you win the championship, maybe I can get promoted or something."

Lin Ruo is, after all, a member of the Shanghai Go team, while Tian Bin is the team leader of most of the players. Obviously, the better the results of the players who come from Shanghai, the brighter his future will be.

Who knows, if Lin Ruo wins the championship again this time, he might become the director the next time we meet.

"So, my participation in the competition can actually help you, Team Leader Tian Bin? Okay, I'll go then."

After listening, Lin Ruo decisively agreed.

Tian Bin was taken aback: "You're only willing to go because it can help me?"

He was somewhat moved. He had remained unmoved by all the benefits of participating in the competition that Lin Ruo had told him, but in the end, he decided to participate because his former team leader could also benefit from it.

This...this is so touching.

However, team leader Tian Bin was quickly brought back to reality.

Lin Ruo smiled again, then spoke frankly: "Didn't they say the champion's prize money is 220 million? That's quite considerable."

Tian Bin: ...

Okay, he knew Lin Ruo wasn't the kind of person who was blinded by love, but rather someone who was blinded by money.

Although the two idioms differ by only one character, their concepts are completely different.

However, once this task is completed, it is considered a success.

The two talked about other things as well, just like catching up. During this time, as expected, photos of the two meeting were quickly circulated on Weibo by many people.

Clever Weibo users immediately connected the dots and figured out the cause and effect.

Why did I need to see Tian Bin? Oh, it must be related to the Go competition.

So what kind of Go tournament was being held at that time? It's quite easy to deduce.

After all, many netizens were already discussing whether Lin Ruo might also participate in the Samsung Cup Go tournament held in South Korea a few days before the tournament started.

Isn't this solid proof?

It's not exactly solid evidence, but once the list of seeded players for the Samsung Cup is released in a couple of days, if Lin Ruo is on it, then it will be solid evidence.

If not, then Lin Ruo basically won't participate.

As a seeded player who has won a world championship, he doesn't need to play any qualifying rounds if he wants to participate.

After all the calculations, Lin Ruo's probability of participating in the Samsung Cup is still as high as 99%.

Well, sorry, we're about to reach our climax.

Go fans simply couldn't contain their emotions. Had they forgotten how Lin Ruo dealt with the Koreans at the Mengbaihe Cup? No.

Then they have no choice but to be excited.

When the Forest God goes to war, not a blade of grass will grow.

So if they have to deal with this again on their home turf, the Koreans are really in trouble.

After all, everyone knows that League of Legends just got thrashed and is now facing another blow from the Samsung Cup World Championship in Go. Sorry, it's a wonder he doesn't suffer from depression.

However, upon closer reflection, the Koreans also suffered quite a few setbacks in the Samsung Cup.

After all, the champions for the previous three consecutive years all seemed to be that man.

That's right, it's that man who loves to shovel, and also the creator of Jaguar's three-peat in the Samsung Cup.

With Lin Ruo added to the mix, Chinese netizens can hardly imagine how easy it must be to win the championship.

South Korean netizens, on the other hand, have to show their pain at the right time.

The man who slaughtered them six months ago is coming back. Wait, didn't he just leave?
What's wrong? Did you forget your ID card? Do you have to go back to South Korea again?

P.S.: I won't be writing about League of Legends anymore. I'll finish writing about the Samsung Cup first to lay the groundwork, then introduce the AI ​​vs. human battle, and that will be the end of this novel. I expect it to take about a month.

(End of this chapter)