LPL History

Chapter 256 Public Opinion Boils Over Team B as They Face a Strong Opponent; Commentators Turn Against Longhair, Putting Him in a Dire Situation

With WE.A eliminating Samsung Blue and successfully advancing to the final stage of the S4 World Championship, Chinese netizens were absolutely thrilled.

[WE's ten players may meet in the World Championship Finals; this is LPL's best chance yet!]

Headlines like these began to circulate widely on the internet.

Netizens are also full of hope for WE.B's upcoming matches.

In the view of most netizens, since the LPL's number one seed could crush the OGN's number one seed, then the B team, as the LPL's number two seed, should naturally be able to easily crush the OGN's number two seed as well.

Moreover, WE.B had defeated Samsung Blue in the group stage, while Samsung White had been consistently outmatched by Samsung Blue in the league.

Therefore, WE.B is clearly larger than Samsung White.

However, some people who are truly paying attention to the game are not very optimistic about the situation that Team B will face next.

This naturally includes the Zhou rites.

Because the strength of these teams cannot be determined by this kind of comparison method.

Even without considering the future, just looking at the current performance of the two Samsung teams, it's clear that while Samsung Blue is the number one seed in OGN, its competitiveness during the World Championship is definitely inferior to that of Samsung White.

It's worth noting that Samsung White has only lost one game so far in the finals, against OMG.

In the matches they won, they were mostly dominant victories by a large margin.

Furthermore, the current public opinion is not very favorable for Team B.

Although Samsung White is the only team from the Korean region still participating in the World Championship, they also face immense pressure from netizens.

However, the pressure on Team B is no less than that on Samsung White.

Based on the analysis of professional teams, Samsung White's current performance is stronger than WE.B.

Furthermore, in previous training matches, WE.B also lost more often than they won against Samsung White.

Tabe even believes that Samsung White did not demonstrate its true strength in the training matches.

Under these circumstances, the pressure faced by Team B players can be imagined!

They themselves knew that their strength was inferior to their opponents, but now, under the hype of the external environment, it seemed that WE.B had to win against Samsung White and Team A to take the championship and runner-up in the finals. If they lost the game, it would be an upset and a crime.

When your own strength is mismatched, but the outside world elevates you to an excessively high position, the public opinion impact faced by Team B is much greater than that faced by Samsung White in this do-or-die situation.

This is a case of using excessive praise to kill!

In fact, many fans who clearly recognize the true strength of Samsung White and support WE have chosen to stand up and remind netizens not to be overly optimistic. However, they are quickly labeled as pro-Korean fans and are relentlessly criticized.

This massive wave of public opinion has engulfed everyone, making many people afraid to say anything more on the internet.

To everyone's surprise, Bella, the official commentator for the LPL, posted a message on Weibo.

She provided a detailed comparison of the data from the group stage to the knockout stage for WE.B, Samsung White, and Samsung Blue. The conclusion she reached was that, based on the previous data comparison, Samsung Blue had the worst data among the three teams, while WE.B could only rank second, even with data that was quite close to Samsung Blue's. Samsung White, on the other hand, had a precipitous lead in data.

Although Bella expressed that she has always been a loyal fan of WE and hopes that WE.B can break through and defeat Samsung White in the semifinals, it is clear that at this point, if you dare to say that LPL teams are inferior to OGN teams, you are going against the will of the world!

Bella's Weibo account was quickly flooded with comments from WE fans.
-
Seoul.

Zhou Li looked at his call duration, his eyelids twitching wildly.

Every minute he spent on these international calls filled him with a sense of dread.

Hearing the sobbing on the phone, Zhou Li said helplessly:

"I warned you a long time ago not to get involved in this. This is the crucial moment for voting to elect the commentators for the finals, and you've caused this mess."

"I just don't want the B team players to be under too much pressure. Besides, given the current situation, if the B team loses the game, public opinion will definitely turn against them. After all, this is your own team..."

Bella kept sobbing on the phone.

To be honest, Wanwanmei already had a slightly affected, sweet voice, and now it sounded like she was about to cry. Even Zhou Li, a Sigma man, felt a little embarrassed to hang up the phone because of the bill.

"Even if Team B loses the game and gets purged, it'll only be a matter of a few days. Once we defeat Samsung White in the finals, public opinion will reverse. Didn't I tell you that before?"

As Zhou Li spoke, he opened the official website of League of Legends. After seeing the content on the page, he frowned in dissatisfaction.

The final battle of this World Championship is just around the corner, and the LPL official has launched a poll to select the commentators for the finals.

The final round featured a pairing of two men and one woman.

In the vote for male commentators, Miller is far ahead, while Wawa is currently in second place thanks to Miller's popularity.

It is certain that the two male commentators for this final will most likely be the Haier Brothers.

The competition among the female commentators was much fiercer.

However, due to Bella's outstanding commentary performance during this period, coupled with her close relationship with WE, she had consistently been in first place in the votes.

However, Bella's first place is not secure. Xiao Cang, who is in second place, has a very solid fan base because she entered the industry earlier, so she occasionally peeks out and overtakes Bella.

In this situation, if Zhou Li had just helped Bella build up her momentum, she should have been able to secure the spot as the female commentator in the finals.

But now that this has happened, Xiao Cang's votes have successfully surpassed Bella's on the voting page.

So Zhou Li called Bella early in the morning and gave her a thorough dressing-down.

Unexpectedly, the girl's resilience was so poor that she started crying as soon as he opened his mouth and hadn't even finished two sentences.

All that thick defense on the chest is really wasted.

Seeing Bella crying so pitifully, Zhou Li didn't say anything more.

You could say this woman is stupid, but she's not very smart.

However, unlike those women who only dragged things down, Bella's actions, although subjecting her to massive online bullying, did not bring negative publicity to WE in terms of online public opinion. On the contrary, they did bring some netizens who were initially swayed by public opinion to a clearer understanding.

If WE.B does lose the match, then perhaps because of Bella's contribution, everyone will receive less criticism.

It's like sacrificing yourself.

Bella was about to say something when a message popped up on Zhou Li's phone from Xiao Cang.

He ignored Bella's sobbing and muttering, and instead opened Xiao Cang's message to read it.

A few seconds later, a smile suddenly appeared on Zhou Li's face.

"Alright, stop talking to me. Changmao just contacted Xiaocang. Now that you're being criticized by netizens like this, Laobie San can't help but want to kick you when you're down."

Bella was taken aback by Zhou Li's words. What puzzled her was the undisguised joy and excitement in Zhou Li's tone when he said them.

This made Bella even more flustered.

Why is Zhou Li so happy that the Taiping rebels are trying to cause trouble for themselves?
Seemingly sensing Bella's thoughts, Zhou Li spoke up:

"That old turtle has been keeping a low profile lately, and I haven't been able to find an opportunity to mess with him. You've really set yourself up this time. I want to see what kind of trouble that beast Changmao can stir up this time. He better play hard and big!"

Bella, who was far away in China, couldn't help but start crying again when she heard Zhou Li's words.

Long Hair had always been at odds with her; it turned out that Brother Zhou had been keeping something about her all along.

This deeply moved Bella.

"Stop crying, it's so early in the morning, are you mourning?"

Zhou Li offered a few words of comfort, and Bella gradually calmed down her surging emotions.

"Alright, you don't need to worry about this. Just stay quiet for the next couple of days. I'll contact you if I need anything."

Just as Zhou Li finished speaking and was about to hang up the phone, Li Xianjing, perhaps woken up, lazily spoke up:

"You hit my hair."

"..."

"No, what the hell are you crying about again?!"
-
Just as Zhou Li had predicted, the long-haired rebels did not endure it for long.

The day after Bella was cyberbullied, Changmao published a long post on Weibo.

The article harshly criticized Bella as a "traitor to South Korea," accusing her of boosting the morale of others while diminishing her own, and even using the phrase "those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts," implying that Bella had political problems. Following this were various so-called "rumors" and "hearsay from friends," suggesting that Bella's ability to join PLU and commentate on LPL was due to the secret help of powerful figures, and that she rose to her position through sexual favors.

Finally, Long Hair stated that he would be the first to stand up on behalf of the commentators, uphold justice, and demand a complete ban on Bella.

Changmao's Weibo post, a lengthy and eloquent piece of writing, can be described as righteous and awe-inspiring.

At the end of his Weibo post, he tagged many of the current LPL commentators, including Miller, Wawa, and Xiaocang.

In fact, the fact that Changmao dared to tag several people at the end of his Weibo post meant that he had communicated with them privately beforehand.

According to Changmao's original plan, he was to be the first to stand up, and then the other commentators would join together to express their opinions. Regardless of who the big shot behind Bella was, given the current situation, Bella, who was already deeply embroiled in a public opinion storm, was doomed this time.

Even Jesus couldn't save her!
But what Longhair didn't foresee was that the mysterious person behind Bella wasn't some bigwig in the financial world, but Zhou Li!

In this kind of online propaganda war, Zhou Li has an absolute advantage.

Furthermore, due to Zhou Li's "triple buff," he enjoys an excellent reputation and network of connections within the professional community.

What Changmao didn't know was that at the same time he extended a cooperation invitation to Xiaocang, Xiaocang had already sold Changmao to Zhou Li.

Not to mention Miller and Wawa, these two have always been staunch supporters of the general. In fact, these two brothers have now changed their names and are referred to by netizens as Zhou Li's two henchmen.

Why were these commentators able to agree so readily to Long Mao's decision to take sides?

Changmao thought it was because he had cultivated good relationships in private, but little did he know that it was all a trap set for him by Zhou Li from the very beginning.

Perhaps Bella's baiting wasn't part of Zhou Li's plan, but a seasoned angler would still skillfully go over and fish a couple of times even if they didn't bait the spot themselves.

At this moment, Changmao was unaware that he had become a laughing stock that the entire commentary community was silently watching.

After posting on Weibo, he personally sent messages to Miller, Doll, Xiao Cang, and others, indicating that he had posted on Weibo and wanted everyone to join the group as soon as possible.

However, the message that Long Hair sent out seemed to sink without a trace, and no one replied to him.

At first, I didn't care much about the hair growing on it.

They simply watched the public opinion fester.

But half an hour passed, then an hour, and when public opinion was completely ignited, his phone still hadn't received a single message, and Changmao started to panic.

It's 2014 already, how can a normal person go an hour without looking at their phone?
Especially for these commentators, they don't have any work assignments right now.

Changmao nervously opened the chat window with Xiaocang and started typing.

[Xiao Cang? Are you there? Things have gotten out of hand now, reply to me as soon as you see this.]

Sorry, you are not yet friends with this person and cannot send a message.

His reply, however, was a huge red exclamation mark!
Longhair paused for a moment.

This unexpected turn of events left him staring at the red exclamation mark for a full ten seconds before he reacted.

A surge of blood pressure rushed straight to his brain!
He immediately opened his phone's contact list and found Xiao Cang's number.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently unanswered..."

"Holy crap! What's going on?!"

Longhair was completely panicked, and he reopened the chat interface with Miller Doll and others!

Sorry, you are not yet friends with this person and cannot send a message.

Long-haired man stood frozen in place, holding his phone like a statue.

After a full minute, his brain finally started working again.

Longhair realized that he was in big trouble!
He immediately reopened Weibo and saw several reposted messages.

Miller: [Retweeted Weibo post, @Longhair, I've never heard of what you're talking about, why are you tagging me?]

Doll: [Retweeted Weibo post @LongMao, knowing full well it's just a rumor, and as fellow commentators, we all know the truth, your malicious fabrication and attack is frankly a bit excessive.]

Xiao Cang: [Retweeted Weibo post @Changmao: Although Bella and I are currently competing for the commentary position in the finals, I hope this is a fair competition, where fans can vote for the commentators they truly like, rather than resorting to rumors and slander.]

Joker: [Retweeted Weibo post, @LongMao, ...After working together for so long, I never expected you to be this kind of person.]

Longhair felt a wave of dizziness.

He felt as if he had been set up by capital.

However, before he could react, someone else dealt him another blow.

Longhair never expected that the man would personally get involved.

Zhou Li posted on Weibo.

(End of this chapter)