LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 571 Was I heavy-handed enough?
So what happened?

Is Lin Ruo perhaps a little afraid of tomorrow's opponent, Taiwanese player Yu Lijun? Otherwise, why would she be resting so early, before dawn?

Isn't this all to prepare for the opponent in a better state?

Although this may be very unrealistic, if there is anything to be afraid of, it is probably that Lin Ruo is afraid that Yu Lijun will not come.

However, this did not stop people from sensing the business opportunity in using memes.

[This guy, who usually goes to bed around midnight, is now going to bed at 11 pm. Brothers, spread the word, Lin Gou is really afraid of Yu Lijun.]

[The fact that Lin Gou was forced to go to bed early shows that he has truly met a formidable opponent; clearly, Lin Gou and Yu Li are evenly matched.]

[Support Yu Lijun in defeating Lin Biao!]

[Before the battle even begins, it's clear that Yu Lijun has won against the brothers tomorrow.]

While netizens were still making fun of the memes, Lin Ruo had already gone to bed long ago after posting the Weibo.

You think I want to go to bed early? Well, someone's turned off the power, what can I do?

Do you know that using your phone at night in the dark is really harmful to your eyes?

Many people, even if they knew, could stay in bed for hours playing games, but Lin Ruo couldn't; he just didn't like wearing glasses.

Moreover, it was actually a bit chilly in Daejeon, South Korea at that time, and it even rained late at night.

The rain stopped and the sky cleared the next morning, and the Samsung Cup main tournament officially began.

Early in the morning, the reception hall of the training institute was already bustling with South Korean media, including Chinese media teams that had traveled to South Korea, such as WildFox.

"Hello, everyone watching the live stream, good morning. This is the Daejeon Training Institute, the venue for the Samsung Cup World Championship in South Korea. The main tournament of the Samsung Cup officially opens today."

In a corner outside the venue, a female reporter from WildFox Media accurately captured most of the Go players entering the venue for the viewers in the live broadcast room.

"As you can see, almost all the players have entered the venue. There are many familiar Chinese and Korean players, such as Ke Jie, Park Jung-hwan, and, oh, Lin Ruo, who recently won the Mengbaihe Cup."

At this point, the female reporter lost focus for a moment.

All she could see was Lin Ruo; why was he dressed in such an exaggeratedly handsome suit?

She didn't want to be a fangirl, but compared to the other Go players around her who wore glasses, were unkempt, and had messy hair, he was indeed ridiculously handsome.

Why is he playing Go instead of making a name for himself?

The female reporter shook her head, suddenly feeling it was a bit of a waste, but then she thought, Lin Ruo is already famous enough, isn't she?

The female reporter, who had just finished thinking, looked away when she saw Lin Ruo walk up to the camera, wave, and smile: "Good morning."

This will inevitably make my heart flutter again.

How polite! They even came in front of the camera to greet us when they saw the WildFox logo.

This immediately got the viewers who had just entered the live stream excited.

[Why is Lin Gengxin waving at the camera? Is he crazy for being so polite? Don't think that I'd betray Yu Lijun just because of this.]

[You guys are doomed. Lin was all smiles before the match; he's probably going to put on a terrible show.]

[Yeah, yeah, Lin is just that cunning. The brighter he smiles before the match, the more ruthless he plays during the match. Has he forgotten how he made that little Japanese girl cry at the Mengbaihe Cup?]

[Oh no, I'm starting to worry about poor Yu Lijun. Lin Gou, don't come any closer!]

[Brothers, look on the bright side. Actually, Yu Lijun's crying face must look really beautiful, don't you think?]

[Holy crap, that makes sense. I'm curious to see what's going on.]

[You guys are so perverted! You want to see her cry? Lin Gou, you absolutely mustn't make her cry! You absolutely mustn't make her cry! Even though she'll definitely look beautiful and touching when she cries, and it'll definitely break people's hearts, you absolutely mustn't make her cry!]

[You guys are all so talented! Don't think that a simple greeting will sway me. I will always support Yu Lijun.]

cough cough.

Male viewers might not be swayed, but female viewers are swayed much faster than usual.

The video of Lin Ruo greeting people went viral on Weibo in less than ten minutes, which led to a different situation in the Wild Fox live stream.

The screen was filled with female fans chanting "Lin Ruo, keep going!" and various slogans were shouted loudly. Lezi was completely overwhelmed by the crowd.

Now everyone is supporting Lin Ruo.

There's absolutely no support for Yu Lijun's sister.

...

In the reception hall of the training institute.

With only half an hour left before the first round of the main tournament was scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM, the leaders of the Korea Baduk Association delivered their final remarks for the Samsung Cup, which were largely the same as those given at yesterday's opening ceremony.

That's all I can say.

Welcome to all the players and journalists at this Samsung Cup World Championship. On behalf of the organizer, the Korea Baduk Association, I extend my sincere greetings to you all.

As everyone knows, the Samsung Cup has a long history…

Oh, and I'd also like to thank our sponsor for this competition, Samsung Group, for their positive contributions and support to the development of Go in South Korea.

In the very end...

The Samsung Cup is about to begin. I wish all the players the best of luck in showcasing their skills and demonstrating the unique style of Go players.

...

Listening to the speaker's eloquent speech, Lin Ruo almost couldn't help but yawn.

Fortunately, once those words were spoken, the opening remarks were over.

Next up is the official competition, the first round of the Samsung Cup main tournament, a single-elimination format, with 32 players advancing to 16.

"Keep it up," Liao Yuanhe said before heading to his seat, but Lin Ruo felt that his words were more like a message to himself.

After all, what kind of encouragement do I need? Don't you even know who I'm facing?

So Lin Ruo responded politely, "You need to work even harder."

All the matches in this round of 32 to 18 were held on this day, and all of them were concentrated in the reception hall. Because she had checked the seating arrangements beforehand, Lin Ruo quickly found her seat at table number seven.

It's truly a matter of fate, with seven intentions at play.

"Hello."

"Hello."

Lin Ruo calmly greeted her opponent Yu Lijun after sitting down. Yu Lijun was wearing a white top and a plain long skirt. As the only woman in this Samsung Cup, she naturally attracted a lot of attention from the cameras nearby.

After the competition starts, the camera will definitely focus more on the showdown between Dang Yifei and Park Jung-hwan at their table, but before the competition starts, the focus will be on the handsome man and beautiful woman pairing of number seven.

Even the South Korean media were snapping photos of this place.

If it were to be featured in the news, the two sides might not be placed in the most prominent position due to their relative strength and skill level, but they would certainly be able to occupy at least a prominent position.

There's nothing you can do about it; being good-looking is definitely an advantage.

Even viewers in the Korean online livestream were envious. [Wow, Lin Ruo is so handsome! I'm really curious what he lacks; he has both ability and good looks.]

[Come debut in Korea! Someone this handsome would definitely be fine in a boy group, and he's still quite young anyway.]

[Yeah, yeah, let him debut! I'll definitely vote for him, as long as he doesn't continue playing League of Legends and Go.]

[Siba is handsome and talented, which is great, but unfortunately his character is terrible. He acts like he doesn't respect anyone after winning a match.]

[This kid hasn't played Go in ages; I doubt he can even beat the female player on the other side.]

[His luck in drawing the only female contestant was truly extraordinary.]

With her attractive appearance, she has a love-hate relationship with Korean netizens.

Many even thought Lin Ruo would lose this match, since he hadn't played any formal Go games for half a year.

He didn't train for a month before the competition started; he just played CF (CrossFire) all the time.

If we really lose to a female professional fourth-dan player this time, it would be one of the greatest disgracees in the history of Go.

Unfortunately, Lin Ruo seems to have never let the Koreans have their way even once, so can he really do it this time?
If Lin Ruo heard this, she would only think, "What kind of pipe dream is he having?"

As all the media left, the match started at 9:00 AM. After the referee's announcement, the 32 players in the hall opened their chess boxes and began to coin toss.

Lin Ruo, who won the coin toss and got the black pieces, skillfully pressed the timer switch, and the competition at table seven officially began.

After Lin Ruo made her move, Yu Lijun's white piece followed immediately. The two sides opened with an identical two-star formation, with black occupying the upper and lower right sides of the board and white occupying the left side.

Next, both sides spread out at three-three points on their respective bottom left and right sides, thus forming the battle curtain.

On the fourteenth move, White pulls the stones out to the lower right.

On his fifteenth move, Lin Ruoyan employed a highly efficient move by splitting and clamping the lower left side of the board.

This move simultaneously achieves the dual objectives of expanding one's own position and launching a pincer attack on White's pieces, resulting in a move that balances offense and defense while maintaining efficient board shape.

Yu Lijun responded by making a move to expand her position in the lower right corner.

The black stones then continued to jump in the lower left area, putting pressure on the white stones on the side.

This forced White to play a move in the lower left corner, continuing to play defensively.

Having watched Lin Ruo play many matches in the Mengbaihe Cup, Yu Lijun knew that it would be difficult for her to have any initiative to attack against someone who was most skilled at offensive Go.

Moreover, in the early stages, the focus should be on strategic planning, so he believes that adapting to changing circumstances and taking a steady, methodical approach is the only way to have a chance of winning.

But Lin Ruo wouldn't let her have her way, and directly grew a face-hugging plant next to her.

White's only option is to fly out again.

On move 21, Black places a stone in the corner.

White chooses to play in the center, intending to reinforce its position while simultaneously suppressing Black's lower side.

Should we go this way?

Lin Ruo shook his head and smiled slightly. In his eyes, White's move was very flawed.

Yu Lijun, who was in the opposite position, immediately sensed something was wrong when she saw that smile.

She's not someone who doesn't surf the internet, so how could she not know some of the Go-related jokes about Lin Ruo? For example, if someone suddenly bursts into laughter during a match, it usually means that their opponent has made a very bad move.

This means that Lin Ruo has found a weakness and is about to wreak havoc, making the fate of his opponents uncertain.

So when Lin Ruoxiao smiled, Yu Lijun immediately looked down to see what was wrong with the step she had taken.

But if she could see the problem, then it wouldn't be her who made the decision.

This illustrates the principle that those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly.

Therefore, all that lay before Yu Lijun was distress, because Lin Ruo's smile had put immense psychological pressure on her.

Outside of the competition, she would find this smile very cool and sunny, but on the competition field, it's a bit embarrassing—it's pure devilish.

From Lin Ruo's perspective at this moment, the problem was that White had taken too big a step. Suddenly moving towards the center without any preparation left too much of a vacuum area from the center to the left.

This leaves Black with a way to play a move that allows them to penetrate the opponent's territory.

Given the right conditions, even fatal consequences are not impossible.

Not in a hurry, Lin Ruo then chose to slow down and replenish her own hand in the area near the lower right.

White plays at the upper right corner, and the two sides then formed a very simple joseki.

However, Lin Ruo was still one step ahead and gained the right to move first, placing her in the upper left corner.

At this point, Yu Lijun was somewhat overwhelmed.

She had some difficulty keeping up with Lin Ruo's thinking because the way he played chess changed too quickly.

She's just a girl; who can keep up with your blitzkrieg tactics?

Lin Ruo also saw this point, so he continued to play a roundabout game, mainly using guerrilla warfare.

Because by observing the vulnerability in the lower left corner, he could clearly determine that as the number of placement points increases, the opponent will experience various problems such as distraction and inability to keep up with the pace.

By attrition in this way, it is quite simple to subdue the enemy without fighting.

So at this point, Yu Lijun was already getting a little anxious, feeling that she hadn't drunk enough Six Walnuts.

However, she wasn't the most anxious, because the viewers in the live stream were the most anxious.

[What is Lin Gou doing? Is he really that disgusting? He's bullying people like this. Can we ask the referee to just declare him the loser? I'm reporting him for his serious lack of professional ethics.]

[Judging by Lin Gou's tactics, I reckon Yu Lijun's sister won't last 100 moves. No, I have to text Lin Gou and ask him to give his sister some leeway for my sake.]

[Lin Gou, don't be so ruthless, she's a delicate girl.]

That's just too much! Someone like Lin Gengxin will definitely stay single forever.

...

"Aqiu."

In the center of the arena, Lin Ruo couldn't help but yawn. He had a vague feeling that someone was talking badly about him behind his back.

Looking at Yu Lijun's expression on the other end, I understood. It must be the modeling fans in the live stream making fun of him.

Damn it.

There's nothing we can do about it.

Lin Ruo, who originally wanted to play slowly, felt she needed to apply more pressure.

He didn't want to see Yu Lijun cry; he just wanted to see the fans who abandoned him because of his looks break down every day.

All traitors must die.

As Lin Ruo thought about it, her gaze hardened considerably.

(End of this chapter)