You actually want me to...

With Zoe on the team, FNC had no one left in the front line who could escape the pursuit. When Hylissang saw all his teammates die in the river, he sighed silently, then released his mouse and pressed recall.

There's no need to continue.

This pseudo-team wipe was enough for TES to take Baron. As mentioned before, if FNC takes Baron, TES will be unable to stop their attack, and vice versa.

Faced with a massive wave of super minions to clear, FNC players were bound to lower their guard against Zoe's sneak attacks. And when Knight, who was given an opportunity by the opposing team, lived up to expectations and seized the chance to instantly kill the opposing Kindred.

The game is now over.

With the devastating explosion of FNC's main crystal, the first game of the first match of the TES knockout stage was firmly in the hands of Roland and his teammates.

1:0

The advantage lies with me.

"We won, brothers!" If you ask who was the happiest when the game was won, it would definitely be Roland, who was the first to take off his headphones and cheer.

Although on the surface it may seem that the auxiliary game between the two sides is just so-so, only the two auxiliary parties involved truly understand the real situation.

The other side is too strong!

Unlike traditional supports within their respective regions, in the LPL, although supports like Meiko, Ming, and LQS have been famous for a long time, they are relatively conservative compared to those in other regions. You know how they will initiate team fights, but you just can't predict when they will do it.

But Hylissang is different.

He, like himself, was a lawless tyrant.

Joining a group tour was not my intention; organizing a group tour is my true goal.

Once a fight is decided, Hylissang will frantically look for opportunities to initiate team fights and hold enemies in place, even at the cost of his own life. He will do everything he can to keep you alive, completely disregarding whether his teammates can keep up.

A complete madman.

Of course, Hylissang on the other side thought the same thing.

The two players' matchup, just from the very first sentence, allowed them to understand each other's personalities. Compared to today's intensity, the previous training matches between the two sides were more like two acting masters competing in acting skills, and the intensity was simply incomparable.

"Don't get too excited, this is only the first game." JKL was one of the more nervous ones. Although he understood that AD carries were not very useful in this version, being alone in the bottom lane all the time did feel a bit like playing a single-player game.

"You don't understand. This kind of competition between chefs of the same type when it comes to stomachs is almost comparable to Knight facing off against the Great Demon King."

"Don't even mention it, it makes me angry. We finally made it to the World Championship, and Faker just stood us up."

Get angry when you think about it.

Despite Knight's current accolades, he hasn't defeated any well-known mid laners from other regions in the World Championship so far, nor has he achieved a solid ranking. Furthermore, his performance in the group stage has been less than satisfactory, which is frustrating for him.

Although most professional players don't read the Anti-Fighting Forum, those who do are almost all at least level 11, and they remember all the posts that either criticize or question them.

During halftime, the team doctor would also take the opportunity to spray and apply various ointments to relieve muscle stress.

Yes, that's the difference between a profession and a game.

Roland has only been in the industry for a short time, and after high-intensity training, his arms often sweat and even hurt. Numbness is also a frequent occurrence. Fortunately, he is young enough and has maintained a certain level of exercise, so he seems to be in relatively good condition.

But for veterans like Flandre and Karsa, they really unleash every trick in the book. Only at times like this does Roland remember just how terrifying the man who attacks the ground four times after each minion attack is.

That must be an alien.

Meanwhile, coach White Crescent and team leader Lao Guo were constantly giving the team members motivational speeches. Although they weren't as effective as EDG's "World's Best Soup" due to their personalities, they were still pretty good. At least the atmosphere in the room was quite okay.

only...

In the second game, FNC should start to exert their strength, right?

-------------------------------------

As expected, after FNC discovered in the first game that Alchemist was not performing as expected, both sides made decisive changes to their draft picks.

In the second game, FNC deliberately let Senna play to lure TES into letting Roland pick Tahm Kench. White Crescent initially thought that he would use Aban's rich experience in making mistakes to force Hylissang to be on the same level as him, and then use Aban's rich experience in making mistakes to defeat him.

However, White Crescent did not expect that Hylissang had actually mastered defensive support skills.

With neither support able to initiate a team fight against Flandre, who was playing Gangplank, TES seemed to have returned to the bizarre team that had no one to initiate team fights. Even Roland's frantic stomping in his seat couldn't change the situation.

FNC tied the game 1-1, winning the second game.

As soon as he returned to the lounge, Roland couldn't sit still.

What are you thinking about?

"If they can't even get past FNC, how can they talk about winning the World Championship?"

"How were the practice matches conducted?"

"Is this how you play in practice matches?"

He only picked a support champion, and the team's problems were exposed so obviously. Apart from the top and support, the mid and jungle couldn't initiate team fights, right? In the mid-game, JackeyLove was practically shoving his gun into people's mouths when he was at the front with Senna, but no one in the mid and jungle dared to engage.

What's the point of fighting now?

It's true that reaching the semi-finals is a respectable achievement, and finishing as runner-up is a perfect ending; winning just one game in the final would be a success!

The loss in the match, the pressure from DWG, and the performance of his teammates since the group stage all combined at this moment, making Roland's anger burn even more fiercely.

Unlike LCK teams, strong European and American teams launch continuous and aggressive attacks. If TES doesn't realize this in time, FNC's playstyle could very well allow them to seize the opportunity and quickly win two games in a row, taking them down.

Don't be surprised, mindset is everything on the field.

With morale low, even wildcard teams can easily defeat seeded teams from the four major regions.

Having witnessed DWG's peak, Roland naturally knew how terrifying DWG was. But it was precisely because he understood that he realized if the team still had the same weakness as six months ago when they reached the quarterfinals, were they looking down on DWG's players or their coaching staff?

Seeing Roland suddenly erupt in anger in the room, the TES team members were unusually speechless and even dared not speak.

Roland usually plays the role of a carefree clown, but when he truly breaks down, Kasa and the others suddenly remember his responsibilities as captain.

Watching the figure slam the door and leave, Knight shrank back and looked pitifully at JKL in the corner.

"Don't look at me. Although I'm quite familiar with him, I really don't dare to touch his forehead when he's angry. But his anger comes and goes quickly, and he'll definitely come back before the match as if nothing happened." Faced with his teammates' pleading looks, JKL used the "bear shrug" gesture to indicate that he had no solution.

Okay, actually he was angry too.

Because they are the same type of player, he couldn't understand why the jungler and jungler didn't dare to initiate a team fight during the previous match.

It was just one wave of events.

If you seize the opportunity, you can go straight to match point. Even if you don't seize it, you will at least lose convincingly. What was that situation like the one just now where you wanted to go in but didn't dare to?

Are we just going to play a game of cat and mouse with the other side?

In the same room, everyone is either a veteran who has been playing for many years or a rising star who has won special honors right after their debut. It is easy to get them to cooperate and work, but it is really hard to get them to admit their mistakes.

While Knight was still struggling with whether or not to admit his mistake, Karsa stood up first and came to JKL, taking the initiative to take responsibility: "It's my fault. I'm willing to accept the review and take full responsibility after the game, but... could you put in a good word for us and persuade him to come back?"

Although his cheeks were still burning as he spoke, Kasa knew that he had to choose to give up something at this moment, otherwise, he might lose that thing that was so close at hand, just like S8.

Seeing that someone had taken the lead, Knight breathed a sigh of relief and then immediately stepped forward to admit his mistake.

A single small-scale defeat could not possibly provoke such a great deal of anger from Roland.

It was precisely because he had won all his matches in the group stage so far, but had not been able to perform at the level of the team's practice matches, that his temper finally exploded under various circumstances.

On this point, Knight understood that he was at least 70% credited.

Since both Jungle and Nakamaru had backed down, even Flandre, who hadn't done anything wrong, made up an excuse to join in, hoping to get a triple combo. Looking at the three "I'm sorry" expressions on their faces, JKL wanted to laugh out loud, but outwardly he calmly nodded.

"Alright, I'll go out and talk to him. You guys get ready for your turn. We probably won't have much time to rest when we get back." With that, JKL calmly opened the door and walked out. Sure enough, the moment he opened the door, he saw Roland eavesdropping by the door.

With a gesture, the two of them, as if on cue, slipped to a window seat further away.

"So? Have they backed down yet?"

"I admit it, but why did you go through all that trouble? You even got angry?"

"You don't understand, they're in terrible form. It looks like we're on a winning streak, but you don't even look at the trash we've been playing against. Even if we were to face SN right now, I think we'd have a tough time advancing."

For severe cases, strong medications are necessary.

If there were no other way, Roland wouldn't have wanted to make a fuss over this. From the perspective of the original world, DWG is not actually invincible.

If Haiwang had been able to hold back before the match, SN might have won the S10 championship.

If JDG didn't have Debeff in international matches, then with JDG's champion pool and Redmi's drafting ability, it wouldn't be impossible for them to compete for the championship.

The most regrettable team was TES. They had a chance to compete for the championship, and even surpassed DWG. However, due to an inexplicable drop in performance, as if they were possessed, the team ultimately suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the semifinals.

"Alright, whatever you say. But I can't guarantee how things will be when we get back. You know, slamming the door and leaving is actually quite embarrassing."

"I know, but there's really no other way." After saying that, the two fell silent.

The halftime break was short; they estimated that in another minute or two, they would have to go back to the locker room to prepare for their turn. Although they hadn't heard any of the draft picks from the coach before this third game, JKL felt that after Roland's outburst, FNC was really nothing special.

After standing there for a while and glancing at the time, the two realized they had to go back now.

“A-Ban.”

"what?"

"Actually, people have never really accepted your role as captain. Whether it's your strength, experience, or ability, you're not qualified to be the captain of a team like ours."

"I know."

Just because Roland didn't explicitly state something doesn't mean it won't happen in reality.

For a newcomer who was parachuted in and rose to prominence over them in just six months, Roland might not have been able to endure as much as they had if he were in other people's positions.

We're all young people; it's not so easy for us to let things go.

"Although you have neither achievements nor qualifications, and you often squander your advantages by getting carried away, and you often leave me alone in the bottom lane without any regard for me." Looking at Roland in front of him, JKL's eyes were devoid of arrogance for the first time.

A ray of light shone through the windowsill, like a morning breaking free from the shackles of night, blooming a long-lost smile from a corner of the mountain. JKL stretched out his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and placed it directly in front of Roland.

"But I accept you."

Sublimation: Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Night of the Quarterfinals, the Pinnacle of Ambiguity

When they returned to the queue, Kasa and Knight were still a little nervous and didn't dare to speak. After all, it was a rare sight to see an honest person lose their temper, and they had just stumbled upon it, so they were naturally a little scared.

"Alright, why are you standing so far away? No matter how I tried to persuade you, you wouldn't listen. Can't I even vent my anger? Being a captain is so frustrating." Hearing Roland's resentful words, the slight tension that Kasa and the others had felt instantly vanished.

"It won't happen again... I just had a problem with my thinking." Seeing that Roland had given her a way out, Casa naturally wouldn't be so ungrateful, and she smiled and hooked up with him again.

His condition is indeed not good, and he deserves it.

Their attitude was also problematic and deserves criticism.