You actually want me to...

Fusion: Chapter 8: There will always be some resentment, right?

The second match of the Summer Split was against JDG in the second week of the LPL.

There's not much to say; they're all old rivals. Based on previous discussions with White Crescent, it's acceptable to lose when facing strong teams. This means I can use JDG to practice some lineups that I want to try.

Of course, JDG was completely unaware of this, because they had never experienced this feeling.

"So which build should we practice tomorrow? Engage, poke, or jungle carry?"

"We'll see how it goes, and we also need to see what the opponent picks." During their pre-match meeting, the TES team chatted and boasted among themselves. As a rare moment of relaxation, they weren't going to put on a serious meeting-like act at this time.

Lie down when you feel like it, stretch when you feel like it.

Of course, this is the case if you win. If you lose, you'll naturally be treated like a model student. Fortunately, White Crescent is someone who values ​​results, so he doesn't care about these trivial matters.

"Ranked games have been tough lately. The top lane meta has changed a bit since crit items came out. I wonder if the next patch will buff the top laners I play." During a casual chat, Flandre also complained about the current top lane environment.

The top lane is terrifying right now.

Previously, there were only warriors, then a long-range top laner was added, and now even mages are coming to the top lane. God knows how desperate he feels when he plays a short-range top laner and sees the opponent pick Syndra.

"Do you top laners think this much? We AD players are much simpler; we're already thinking about the AD buffs for next season."

"Forget about it, even a dog wouldn't play ADC."

"Ah, that's true." Hearing Roland's added insult to injury, Ah Shui was too lazy to even argue.

The S10 version is so cruel to AD carries. They either have to use skills to poke or gain an early laning advantage and lane control. As for team fights, they can't even think about making plays.

It's not that it's impossible, it's just that the odds are too low. Even one in ten attempts would be considered a success.

After a few simple, rambling remarks, the meeting was over. Of course, what follows is the most important thing.

As the saying goes: hold big meetings for unimportant matters, small meetings for moderately important matters, and no meetings for extremely important matters.

A senior executive in a real estate company is a good example of this.

This time, Roland, acting as a tool, approached Casa through White Crescent's arrangement. Strictly speaking, Casa was in exceptionally good form recently, and Roland knew that his form might even last for a whole year, but the coach didn't know that.

Seeing how incredibly powerful you suddenly became, my first thought was whether this was the last vestige of your success or something. Anyway, I sent Roland to sound out what he was thinking.

"What's up? You even dragged me here for a meeting?" Casa chuckled and patted Roland on the shoulder, then frowned, his expression suddenly turning strange as he looked at him and said, "You're not going to discuss the boiling water tactic again, are you? Wasn't it supposed to be once a month, with the aim of making it reusable?"

"Oh, that's not true."

"Is that Ah Shou?"

"Not at all."

"It can't be me, can it?"

"What a coincidence, it's you, but it has nothing to do with selling you." He turned around, took two bottles of drinks from the freezer, and handed one to him. "To put it bluntly, you've been in too good form lately, and the coach is worried that you've already exhausted your potential, so he asked me to check if there's anything missing."

"It's that simple?"

"Yes, it's that simple."

To win with a tanky AD carry in the bot lane, and even win two games in a row, is a feat that would be extraordinary even for V5, a team struggling to win a single game. V5's coach would definitely scrutinize it and see if someone has actually time-traveled.

Looking at Casa in front of him, Roland felt a pang of sadness.

Although he has indeed had his share of scandals, considering the education system in that region, it's hard to say whether it was a slip of the tongue, since most professional gamers are indeed young people who haven't seen much of the world.

However, his experience was truly tragic.

Aside from Clearlove, he is the only jungler in the LPL who has consistently maintained a top-tier level across so many versions, and the only player who, apart from the World Championship trophy (Jakarta not included), has achieved a Grand Slam in the League of Legends professional scene.

Surprisingly, many people haven't noticed this.

He's neither a foreign player from South Korea, so he doesn't attract the attention of K-pop fans; nor is he a purely domestic player, so many viewers can't truly consider him one of their own. He's like a supporting character in a movie, always doing the supporting role, but never getting any attention.

He usually takes the blame for the team's losses because he is the team's only source of rhythm in the early game.

However, in the games the team wins, the standout performances often come from the two carries who dominate the battlefield.

What do you think?

“We can discuss that later. What I’m more interested in is whether your consciousness and reflexes have improved or declined.” Roland raised his head and stared directly into Casa’s eyes until he remained silent for a long time before finally sighing.

He was right, he rose in rank.

As a veteran professional player, his performance is inevitably declining, and even maintaining training can only slow down the decline. As for why he might be improving, it can only mean that this player has overused his remaining time.

For example...extra practice.

After the defeat in 18, Karsa evolved once in 19. He was no longer a pure map-controlling, farming jungler. He was more proactive and aggressive in invading and ganking, and his style became much tougher. He also initiated many team fights.

That time represented his unwillingness to accept defeat in the S8 World Championship.

This time, he evolved once again, but the reason may have changed.

"Did you actually spend all your time at the club during the holidays secretly playing ranked games?"

"Ah."

"Never left the house?"

"No."

"Your girlfriend hasn't broken up with you yet?"

"She can't come because of the pandemic."

Why push yourself so hard?

"Because I'm already 23." Casa said this very calmly.

Yes, he is already a 23-year-old "veteran".

Why has ShowMaker's Bible become a classic? It's not because of the line "It is our duty to rebuild the glory of LCK," but because of the line "I must consider whether this is the only opportunity I will ever have in my life."

In esports, we've seen too many veterans retire with regret. People may feel deeply for the days leading up to their retirement, but what about a few days later? Perhaps no one will even remember that such a person ever existed.

In professional esports, the idea of ​​smiling and laughing, winning without effort, and carrying your teammates against nine opponents is pure wish-fulfillment fiction; such a thing doesn't exist in reality.

For most people in reality, if you put yourself in Karsa's shoes: a version that suits you, incredibly talented teammates, another chance to make up for regrets in your career, and it just ends like this, wouldn't you be sad?

There's no such thing as "come again next year," that's just polite talk; he's almost out of next year.

Upon hearing this, Roland fell silent.

For Casa, he has already earned the money he deserves and gained the fame he deserves. The reason he still maintains a high level of training and condition is entirely for that dream that he may never be able to achieve.

In order to... achieve the glory that only one team could achieve that year.

Can it withstand it?

"There's definitely no problem, no need to worry too much. Besides, with veteran Saint Gun Bro by my side, I feel much more at ease."

"Really? Well, you'd better hold on, because dragging me along is quite tiring."

"It's alright, and besides, it's already much lighter, hasn't it?"

With a smile, he clinked his drinks together, checked the time, and then stood up and walked back to the training room. Too many words were just feigned melancholy; he didn't like such empty talk, preferring to play a few more ranked games.

As for the answer? He has already given it.

Roland stared at his departing figure without saying a word, just silently sipping his cola. Only after watching him disappear from his sight for a while did he take a new bottle of drink from the freezer and place it on the table, gently tapping the table with his right hand.

He sensed the resentment in Casa's heart, but at the same time, he also understood the core reason why the management arranged for him to come and provide guidance; he really couldn't escape this trip.

The veteran's persistence is a way to give it one last shot in the final years of his career.

If Flandre is like this, and Karsa is like this, then naturally, the rest of their team members are too.

"There will always be a sense of dissatisfaction, right?"

As he spoke, a door slowly opened.

Integration: Chapter Nine: All things in the world depend on...

The next day, when the TES team returned to the arena, White Crescent, observing their expressions, understood that the past was the past. It wasn't that he possessed a talent for divination, but rather that he had secretly shared resources in a small group chat the previous night, and this morning he saw the download count in the cloud drive backend—that meant everything was fine.

Everything in the world depends on a single hair.

If that doesn't work, try again.

As the double champions of the Spring Championship and the MSC Championship, the match between TES and JDG undoubtedly attracted a lot of attention. After all, if you win, I can praise your experience; if you lose, I can belittle your experience. No matter what, they can still talk about it. The whole match was a large-scale experience book for leveling up in the anti-TES forum.

There's nothing we can do; Uzi has retired, so we have to settle for a replacement.

The official live stream room was also filled with various bullet comments.

Today's match was exciting; hopefully it went to three games.

[The clash between Flandre and Duke, map control versus jungle carry, plus the showdown between Pingxiang's mid laner—today's matches are truly heavyweight.]

No matter how many times I watch it, I still feel that the JDG players are incredibly intimidating.

How could it not be strong? Just considering weight, one of them is equivalent to two TES teams.

Facing such a heavyweight team, TES naturally put in their best effort, and then spent the remaining 88 points in a daze.

Fortunately, the race didn't keep them waiting too long; it started in just a few minutes.

First round of bans:

JDG: Irelia, Jayce, Tahm Kench

TES: Karthus, Bard, Thief

In this game, in order to test their understanding, TES deliberately gave up the meta-strong AD Varus, intending to try to deal with this point head-on.

One round of PICK:

JDG: Varus, Mordekaiser, Lux

TES: Akali, Ezreal, Rakan

Compared to JDG's solid poke-style strategy, TES countered by picking three incomprehensible heroes, leaving the commentators bewildered.

"Is TES trying to break the Varus strategy?"

"It seems so, they almost all chose aggressive engages." As a commentator, although his gaming skills may not be high, he still has a good grasp of some basic concepts due to watching a lot of matches.