You've only been playing for half a year, and you've already reached the finals?

"The draw ceremony for the 2022 World Championship knockout stage has now concluded. Let's look forward to the exciting performances of the eight teams in the knockout stage!"

"Summoners, see you in Atlanta!"

Apart from the somewhat boring match between GEN and C9, the other matchups in this draw have generated various opinions.

The two internal matches in the lower bracket, T1 vs. DK and TES vs. RNG, are both continuations of regional disputes.

In the semifinals, the China-South Korea showdown in the lower half of the bracket is sure to be a feast for the eyes.

Not to mention the ultimate showdown in the upper bracket, EDG vs. DRX!

The atmosphere was thick with tension.

Looking at the upcoming matchup, Flandre scratched his head and said, "Why are we playing two Korean teams in a row again? The pressure must be too much."

Saint Gun remembers that last year, starting from the quarterfinals, he defeated three South Korean teams in a row to win the championship. Although he still felt pretty good about that experience, he doesn't want to go through it again.

"What's the big deal?" Ming Jing didn't seem to care. "DRX isn't strong either; they can't even beat Top Esports."

"That's true, but playing against C9 would definitely be more fun," Flandre muttered.

"That won't do!" Meiko was eager to try, rubbing her hands together. "We have to play against DRX and let Lee Ruichan crush us!"

It's fair to say that Flandre and Meiko have different feelings.

Flandre only joined EDG last year, and he and Scout only played together for half a spring. There was no real affection between them; they were just colleagues.

But Meiko is different; he watched Scout join the team and gradually grow into a top-tier mid laner.

Who would have thought that this guy would be ruined by his own people?
If Scout hadn't pulled that move, Mingjing might still be playing bot lane for EDG, partnering with Meiko!
Now that there's a rare opportunity to face off, Meiko is naturally going to teach Scout a lesson.

Mingjing and Holy Gun Bro exchanged a glance and both laughed.

The bus stopped at the hotel entrance, and the EDG team returned to their rooms to pack their luggage before heading back to the training room.

For everyone, tonight is the last night of rest.

Because tomorrow, everyone will take off for the next stop to prepare for the start of the quarterfinals.

Compared to last year's competition, which was held entirely in Reykjavik, this year's competition will be held in North America, which has somewhat delayed training time.

Fortunately, EDG isn't too worried.

EDG is well prepared and can't wait for the quarterfinals to start tomorrow!
The next day, the entire EDG team arrived at the airport, ready to fly to Atlanta.

The six best-of-five (BO5) matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals will be held at Atlanta State Agricultural Stadium.

This arena is the home court of the Atlanta Hawks, and it's currently the NBA offseason, so there's plenty of time to use it for League of Legends matches.

There were quite a few teams heading to the airport, including the remaining teams that had advanced to the quarterfinals, as well as teams that had been eliminated in the round of 16.

For example, JDG.

Due to pandemic control measures, the two sides did not meet in person, but JDG still sent a WeChat message.

"Good luck in the upcoming matches, and please be careful."

The toothpaste post was followed by a photo of the airport, in which the EDG team could be seen, including Mingjing, who was among them. The caption read, "Striving for a three-peat!"

If conditions permit, the JDG players wouldn't mind staying in the US to watch this year's World Championship.

Unfortunately, the conditions didn't allow it. Riot Games hadn't even arranged hotels for them. If they had to pay for everything themselves and follow along, it would be too much trouble. It would be better to watch the live stream from home.

Mingjing looked at the photo and followed the angle of the photo. Sure enough, he saw several chubby guys from JDG. They waved to each other from afar and then parted ways, heading in two different directions.

Wearing a full-face mask, Ming Jing boarded a first-class plane and flew directly to Atlanta.

Every long-distance trip is a challenge, as the virus continues to spread rampantly in North America, making it extremely difficult to stay safe during such journeys.

EDG has done its best in terms of epidemic prevention. All members have been upgraded to first class, which has fewer people, and have taken all possible disinfection measures.

As long as we do our best, there's really nothing we can do if the infection continues.

But bad news came unexpectedly.

The day after everyone landed in Atlanta and checked into their hotel, Viper woke up with a sudden, unbearable sore throat and a noticeable fever.

Viper didn't dare to delay and quickly reported the situation. EDG personnel also delivered nucleic acid testing tools very quickly.

The result was not good either; the two bright red stripes almost dragged EDG's fighting spirit to the bottom.

"We were still caught off guard, weren't we?"

During a video call in a WeChat group, Abu's expression and tone conveyed a sense of heaviness: "Why is it that I'm still in the center position?"

If only Viper is infected, the team might be able to hold on a bit.

The problem is that Mingjing and Viper live in the same room.

The two of them took no precautions whatsoever in the room, removing their masks to talk after the disinfection was completed.

If Viper suffers a severe blow, then Mingjing will also find it difficult to escape.

For EDG, what's the difference between two carries getting infected and the entire team getting infected?

Of course, based on the previous experiences of JDG and RNG, the remaining members of EDG should also be caught.

"The worst part is yet to come," Maokai sighed. "Of all the times, I got infected in the quarterfinals. If you ask me, I would have preferred to have tested positive in the group stage first."

From this perspective, it seems that RNG's decision to have their players infected in the second round of the group stage was indeed the right one. Currently, all the RNG players are alive and kicking, and with the development of antibodies, they don't need to worry too much about prevention and control. They are much more free to move around in their daily lives.

“There’s no point in saying that,” Abu shook his head. “It’s better to think more about what to do.”

A moment of silence fell over the chat room.

What can be done?
This isn't some ordinary cold or fever that can be cured with an injection. There's no time for the EDG players to get treatment, so they can only tough it out.

As for the actual impact of a positive result, we can clearly see it in the cases of JDG and RNG.

RNG, who won all their matches in the first round, almost got eliminated in the second round due to an infection! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that their strength dropped by two levels.

"Anyway, there are still three days until the quarterfinals, so Xian and Mingjing should stay in the isolation room first." Abu continued, "Mingjing must pay close attention to his condition at all times, and if anything unusual happens, be sure to tell us immediately."

"It's okay, it's not a big problem." Ming Jing wasn't too panicked at the moment. As a high-risk person, he was actually reassuring his teammates: "There are still three days left, maybe it will be fine before the game starts."

The same virus can have different effects on different people.

According to Mingjing's knowledge, RNG's top laner, Breathing Bro, recovered extremely quickly, almost completely recovering by the second day after his infection. Unfortunately, it was during the second round of the group stage, and the match was over on the same day, so Breathing Bro didn't get a chance to save the day.

"Yes, keep a calm mindset." Boss Ed Zhu also said softly, "The quarterfinal opponents are not strong. It's better to get infected at this time than to get infected in the semifinals. Brother, believe in yourselves. This little virus will not stop us from winning the championship."

The EDG members nodded in agreement.

It can only be the.

Over the next few days, Mingjing and Viper began training in their isolation room.

The news of Viper's infection quickly reached the other teams. RNG members, who had already been infected once, even sent over the testing kits and throat lozenges that were no longer needed.

EDG had ibuprofen and testing kits on hand, but throat lozenges are something only experienced teams would prepare, so it was a significant help. However, this couldn't stop the rampant spread of the virus.

Time flies, and it's now October 20th, known as Good Friday, the day before the quarterfinals.

After getting up, Mingjing suddenly felt a lump in his throat, and drinking a cup of hot water did not help at all.

Moreover, the groggy feeling in my head didn't disappear after I got up and moved around; instead, it got worse.

Ming Jing nearly lost his balance, but slowly sat back down on the edge of the bed.

Ming Jing slowly picked up the testing tools and thermometer from the bedside table. Although his expression didn't show much change, he already had an estimate in his mind.

As expected, there was no escaping it.

I slowly did a test, and sure enough, I got two lines.

Just then, a message popped up on his phone from EDG's training department. Abu was urging Mingjing to log in quickly and prepare for a practice match.

These past few days, because Viper had a fever, EDG has hardly played any scrims. They can only play when Viper is in relatively good condition, which can be considered as an early adaptation to this special high-difficulty mode.

It was only then that Ming Jing noticed that it was already noon; he had gotten up two hours late today.

Mingjing took a picture of the test results and sent it to the training department's group chat.

In the blink of an eye, several teammates asked a series of question marks.

"Holy crap, don't scare me!" Flandre was genuinely terrified. "Really? How are you feeling?"

"Not good." Ming Jing took out the thermometer, glanced at it, and then typed: "Thirty-nine degrees."

This really gave my teammates a bit of a shock.

Is it 39 degrees right off the bat?
The virus in Atlanta seems to have endless versions, hitting hard right from the start, with a starting point of thirty-nine.

Park Do-hyun's temperature has been hovering around 39 degrees Celsius for the past few days. Even if he takes medicine to lower it, it will quickly rise again.

Abu quickly made a video call and had all the team members join.

Both C's joined the video as requested, and both of them looked visibly tired.

Not only did Myung Kyung suffer a severe blow, but Park Do-hyun also showed no signs of recovery.

The teammates chatted amongst themselves, their words revealing their anxiety.

Why did he have to develop symptoms the day before the quarterfinals? Couldn't he have waited a couple of days?

With their two core carries running at a fever of 39 degrees Celsius, the EDG players felt like they had lost their backbone.

"Anyway, we definitely can't play the practice match today." Abu looked at the screen in front of him. "Someone will bring you ibuprofen and throat lozenges soon. Get some rest. As for tomorrow's match, we'll just have to take it one step at a time."

"Hmm." Ming Jing pursed his lips. He had already sat in front of the computer preparing for the training match, but he simply lay back down on the bed.

Because this was an isolation room, the doors and windows were forcibly closed and not allowed to be opened. With little air circulation, the room was already stuffy, and coupled with a high fever of 39 degrees Celsius, Ming Jing even felt a slight lack of oxygen.

Mingjing lay in bed, looking at the faint light filtering through the curtains, and took a few deep breaths before he finally felt a little better.

He took out his phone, thought for a moment, and then sent the test results to Song Xuan.

It was midnight in China, and Song Xuan, being a university student, was probably still awake at that time.

Song Xuan's reaction was very similar to that of his teammates. He first sent several question marks, and then bombarded them with questions.

"???"

"Positive?"

"how do you feel?"

"Do you have a fever? How high is it?"

Seemingly feeling that text messages were not very efficient, they simply made a video call instead.

Ming Jing chuckled and answered the call.

The girl was wearing pajamas and lying on her bed in the dormitory. Her face was smooth and fair, even without makeup. She was facing away from the wall to avoid taking pictures of her other roommates, but her face showed unconcealed worry.

"How are you feeling? Does your throat hurt?"

"A little pain."

Do you have a fever?

"Thirty-nine."

"what"

Song Xuan's expression grew increasingly grim with each question, eventually turning into a bitter face as she nearly burst into tears. "Why am I so unlucky?"

Although Song Xuan didn't think it was some kind of monster, wasn't it a bit too much to encounter such a crisis the day before the quarterfinals?
But seeing Ming Jing's silent demeanor, she realized that now was probably not the time for her to complain.

We can't expect Mingjing, the patient, to tell her "it's nothing serious," can we?

"It's alright, it's alright!" The girl clasped her hands together in front of her chest as if praying. "It will definitely be better tomorrow!"

Upon hearing this, Ming Jing finally smiled and asked, "Do you think we'll lose this time?"

"That's absolutely impossible!"

Song Xuan's words were resolute: "We beat DWG in S10, which was so difficult, so this is nothing!"

“That’s right.” Ming Jing’s voice was a little hoarse, but it carried an undeniable air. “We will win this time too.”

That same evening, EDG Club's official Weibo account also issued a formal announcement, stating that the team's two core players had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and that they would do everything in their power to protect the players and help them quickly return to competitive form.

The moment the official Weibo account posted this, the entire e-sports community went wild, and it instantly climbed to the top of the trending topics list!
Not only EDG fans, but even casual observers were a little frightened.

【Huh?! Spicy!!】

[Is this for real? Less than a day until the quarterfinals, and both carries are infected?]

[They're facing DRX in the quarterfinals again? What's the point? Will EDG get eliminated by Scout in the end?]

Don't disgust me! If this traitor wins, I'll be disgusted for the rest of my life!

The key question is whether the infection is caused by two Cs. If it's caused by a gun, then I'm not worried at all.

【It really is】

Please, get better!

Amidst the clamor of discussions, time flew by and it was now October 21st.

The quarterfinals have finally begun.

And EDG happens to be playing in the very first match! (End of Chapter)