Nirvana Top Laner, Reborn Tokyo Girl

Chapter 175, Section 172: Conversation with the Hat King
(Here's a notification about a content change. I forgot that if LCP wins, according to the rules, T1 would need to play in the Play-In Stage, meaning they wouldn't be matched against CFO in the first round. This is different from the actual schedule, which is a bug. I've already made the correction, and I apologize.)
During the World Championship, even the slightest disturbance can cause huge controversy in the media.

Because there are always people who want to use public opinion to gain popularity, and there are always people who want to earn traffic and build up their accounts by revealing information.

During this period, there were two most popular and widely circulated rumors.

First.

"CFO is invincible in scrims, going toe-to-toe with LCK and LPL teams, and utterly crushing BLG."

The specific source of this information is unknown, and it was not released by any authoritative whistleblower.

However, due to Shimamura Yuna's high level of discussion, it quickly made headlines and became the most popular rumor in the League of Legends community.

Considering Ueshima Yuna's performance on the ladder these past few days, netizens tend to believe that this is true.

[There's definitely a reason behind this. CFO won the Pioneer Tournament, and they were the only team in the tournament that wasn't eliminated by the current meta, but instead benefited from it. I think it's quite reasonable for them to perform well.]

[Is CFO really going to win the championship? I've seen Shimamura in such hot form these past few days; she seems to be the fastest climber on the North American server among all the professional players.]

[It's true, Shimamura-san herself played incredibly well. Her Shepherd of Souls was insane; once she picked it, it felt like a sure thing.]

[Actually, it's not very useful. There's no one who can't play Yorick, and he's already a popular hero in this version. Her skill only increases the hero's priority.]

[It's safe to say that in the future, when playing against Shimamura, the Yorick character will almost certainly be either banned or picked.]

I can't wait to see Bin get whipped by Shimamura!

Although the story itself isn't entirely untrue, it was probably indeed leaked by someone in the know.

Whether the CFO can hold his own against most LPL and LCK teams, or the CFO wins, these are all true pieces of information.

But the fact that a completely unreliable source can spread so widely online suggests that whether the message itself is true or not is irrelevant.

In effect, this has put even greater pressure on the CFO team from the public eye.

Last time, as a team that was generally not favored, everyone had very low expectations for them.

People will be more forgiving of their failures and more delighted by their successes.

As a result, the team members themselves will be relatively relaxed.

But this time, it's different.

The expectations from public opinion will put even more pressure on them.

People will no longer blindly tolerate their failures, nor will they excessively exaggerate their successes.

Everything they do will be judged more objectively.

No.
It may not even be objective, but rather a higher evaluation standard caused by excessively high expectations and excessive public pressure.

This is not a good thing, but it's not entirely a bad thing either.

To win a real championship and become a true star, you need to get used to this kind of pressure and bear it.

You should treat this pressure as a driving force to your desire to win, rather than a boulder that crushes you.

But these things are easier said than done.

can only say.
Turning pressure into motivation is something everyone wants to do, but not everyone can do.

Speaking of which, I have to mention another funny thing that happened in this competition.

This is the second piece of training match gossip to be hotly discussed online, besides the CFO.

Before the match, GenG's coach claimed in an interview, "We played scrims with AL, and from those scrims, they are the most terrifying."

This incident sparked a frenzy of online discussion that very day.

As the number one seed from this LCK, GENG is almost universally recognized as the strongest team in the world right now.

Even GENG's coach said AL is terrifying, so just how terrifying is AL?
Thinking about this, LPL viewers were thrilled.

If this is true, then LPL really has a chance this year, right?

AL is definitely a strong team now, that's great.

Wow, that's really impressive. If AL is truly that good, then LPL really might have a chance this year.

[Could this be a smokescreen?]

[I don’t think so. ]

However, just as everyone was discussing it, something dramatic happened.

At this point, AL's manager actually came out and said: 'GENG is spreading rumors! We weren't that awesome in scrims at all!!!'

Now, everyone is completely confused.

No, is GENG just throwing out a smokescreen?
Or what?
Then, what's even funnier is that GENG came out to clarify shortly afterward: "We didn't lie, but AL might not want to reveal their combat strength, so they said that, which we can understand."

Ultimately, it led to a complete Rashomon-like situation.

Who is lying, and who is telling the truth?

In short, AL and GENG each hold their own version of events.

They kept saying AL was really awesome.

AL himself emphasized that he was not really that great, and that GENG was just trying to flatter him.

The image was so abstract that it made the audience laugh.

but
Shimamura Yuna, however, felt that what GENG said was probably true.

AL is probably indeed very strong in practice matches.

They are probably the team that can put the most pressure on GENG in the entire series so far.

But why must they deny this?
Shimamura Yuna guessed that it was probably because she was escaping the pressure.

The top spot in the LPL is like a curse; everyone who sits in that position endures pressure far exceeding their own mental limits.

Moreover, the vast majority of teams ultimately cannot withstand this pressure.

After losing, they will face even more insults and attacks because of their status as the top team in the LPL.

If you are number one in the LPL, you need to win. You need to be number one. You need to be number one in the world. You need to be the one who defeats the LCK.

This pressure is simply too heavy and too terrible.

It was so terrible that it crushed many LPL's number one seed teams and many players who were full of potential.

AL's actions are essentially an attempt to escape this pressure.

'We are just a dark horse team. Winning is a surprise, losing is to be expected.'

'Don't put pressure on us with public opinion; we don't want to bear any pressure from public opinion at all.'

They tried their best to create this atmosphere.

They were just a caravan of elderly people.

They were just an underdog team that unexpectedly rose to the top of the LPL.

Their successes are all accidental, and their failures are all to be expected.

I want to experience less stress when I fail.

They want to enjoy more praise when they succeed.

Just like the CFO during the Vanguard tournament.

However, unlike the previous competition, the CFO of the Vanguard competition did not deliberately create an atmosphere where he was the challenger or the subordinate.

Rather, it's because they are in a subordinate position that the audience naturally perceives them that way.

But as LPL's number one seed, AL cannot escape this pressure no matter how they try to avoid it.

Actually, by this time, some people had already figured out what they were thinking.

[AL probably doesn't want too much public pressure.]

I feel that Geng had no reason to lie; it's probably just that AL didn't want the pressure. However, this approach is indeed a bit ridiculous.

Yuna Shimamura can understand AL's approach.

For a moment, she was even tempted to learn AL and release a message to dispel the rumors.

They wanted to say, "All that talk about how we crush BLG is fake. BLG is awesome, but our CFO can't beat BLG at all."

Lowering audience expectations reduces the pressure of failure.

But
After thinking about it, she felt...
"This really is a pointless act."

Objectively speaking, reducing public pressure is beneficial to the team.

However, this is something that cannot be done voluntarily by oneself, nor can such thoughts be voluntarily generated by oneself.

Because if you do that, it means you're afraid, it means you're looking for a way out.

The fact that AL had the team manager, not the player himself, do this makes it seem relatively okay.

However, when the contestant himself is doing this, the atmosphere becomes very strange.

It is unacceptable to intentionally withdraw psychologically.

If it's pressure, then let the pressure come head-on.

If there's a backlash, then use victory to stop it.

Even if you don't win in the end, you should accept and bear the consequences with equanimity.

We must not be afraid, nor should we be cowardly.

The more afraid you are of losing, the more pressure you will be to avoid losing, but the result of not daring to lose is often not winning.

Failures caused by pressure are temporary.

But cowardice that loses the will to win is eternal.

therefore
"No matter the pressure, no matter the fear, let it come straight at me."

Shimamura Yuna scrolled through her phone, looking at the various opinions circulating online, and muttered to herself.

At this moment, her eyes were more determined than ever before.

Compared to her first World Championship appearance, when she felt carefree and fearless with nothing to lose, she clearly carried more psychological burden this time.

However, no one can win all the time.

Even if she doesn't lose today, she will lose sooner or later.

Even if she wins today, there will be a day when she can't win.

Avoiding problems won't solve them; it will only delay the consequences.

Only by facing and solving problems can they truly disappear.

Losing isn't the problem; the biggest problem is not daring to lose.

They will not run away, are unwilling to run away, and cannot run away.

现在
She sees this as an inevitable challenge in her life.

Win or lose.
-
In fact, the competition officially started on June 27th.

However, this stage is the group stage, and there are no teams participating in the knockout stage, so the CFO is not involved.

Let me briefly explain the rules.

Simply put, apart from LCP, which is the first region to play in the pioneer tournament, the second seed from each region needs to play in the play-in stage.

In other words, the number one seed from each of the five major regions, plus GAM, the number two seed from LCP, will directly secure six of the eight spots in the quarterfinals.

The remaining four teams from the four major regions will compete in a Swiss-system tournament to determine the two quarterfinal spots.

In this format, GAM is the one who wins most easily.

Almost anyone could see that GAM was definitely not up to the top 8.

But there's nothing we can do. The CFO is awesome. He won the championship in the Pioneer Tournament and secured a spot in the quarterfinals for his team's second-best player.

The CFO's victory made the competition for a spot in the knockout stage extremely fierce.

In short, BLG, T1, Fur, and G2 are the four teams that need to advance to the knockout stage to compete for the only two spots available from the group stage.

If the timeline were based on either an LPL or LCK team winning the championship, then at this point only one of the LPL or LCK teams would need to play in the play-in stage.

So even if LPL and LCK teams consistently take one spot, the remaining three teams can still try to compete for the remaining spot.

But after LCP won the championship, the second seeds of LPL and LCK need to play in the play-in stage. There are only two spots in total. Who can get in?

It’s so hard to guess.

It couldn't possibly be that it was from Europe or America that got in, could it?

When they saw the group stage schedule, people in Europe and America were already crying out in despair, saying, "Holy crap, there's no way we can make it in!"

Meanwhile, Vietnam's GAM, as the LCP's second seed, made it into the quarterfinals, which is a testament to their gratitude to their CFO, who is the team's leader.

Vietnamese netizens expressed their gratitude online, saying things like "Thank you to the CFO" and "Thank you to Shimamura."

I was so relieved.

Everyone in the world knows that, given their strength, they shouldn't be the team that made it to the knockout stage.

But who can blame us when the CFO is so awesome?

In a word.

Our LCP is awesome!

In short, the Vietnamese audience members were all smiles.

In the end, after several days of intense group stage matches, the final result was indeed not surprising.

Fur from Europe and G2 from the Americas were both eliminated.

Ultimately, BLG and T1 advanced.

It can only be said that Fur and G2 are indeed the two relatively weaker teams among the four teams in this group stage.

However, on another timeline, even a team as weak as G2 managed to go the full five games against Vietnam, narrowly escaping defeat and making it into the World Championship.

It is indeed full of maggots, and it is indeed rubbish.

Legendary player Xiao Mao's performance in this World Championship was truly appalling.

But
They are definitely a team that deserves to be in the playoffs more than GAM.

Sometimes, that's just how fate is.

Ultimately, this legendary player left the MSI stage in a less-than-dignified manner amidst the scorn and abuse of European and American audiences.

On the day the BLG vs G2 match ended, Yuna Shimamura was sitting in the audience watching the game.

As she was leaving, she ran into Little Cap, the legendary mid-laner from Europe, outside the venue.

He looked a little sad at the time, with tears still on his face.

However, upon seeing Shimamura Yuna, he still managed a forced smile.

After a brief greeting, Caps spoke to Yuna Shimamura in English, saying, "You probably have a lot of time ahead of you. You're still young, and your potential is limitless."

"But actually, there isn't as much time as you think."

"I also won the MSI championship before, and I thought it was great at the time. I thought the future would only get better and better, but, well."

"so."

"Please cherish everything you have now, and strive to surpass your current self, so that the future will not be filled with regrets."

(End of this chapter)