Chapter 13: Spotted Live on Shark Stream!

With Lu Ziang’s skill level, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to find time to climb the ranked ladder and reach the top of the Korean server, especially since he had already achieved that feat two years ago.

Back then was an era teeming with gods—whether on the Korean or Chinese servers, masters were as numerous as stars. It wasn’t like today, when many describe the current era as the Twilight of the Gods.

But that wasn’t quite the case. In Lu Ziang’s view, legendary professional players like Faker, Uzi, and others still possessed formidable strength.

The difference was that their mindset had shifted significantly—they no longer had the youthful, ambitious drive they once did.

The system’s challenge required a 90% win rate, meaning he couldn’t afford too many losses. Ranked matches were filled with all sorts of unpredictable opponents, but knowing that Jelly would duo with him, his chances of winning would increase by at least 50%.

Of course, with over five million followers also watching, the pressure was considerable.

Two years ago, Lu Ziang had stormed through the Korean server with reckless abandon, beating down opponents until many Korean players were crying foul. This led to a wave of players ganging up to counter him, which made it harder to maintain his win rate as time went on.

In the end, he only managed a 75% win rate to top the Korean server.

There was no helping it—League of Legends is a five-player game, and there were always those who would simply go AFK or troll when they got matched with him.

And then there were those who would deliberately throw the game. In short, all kinds of people existed. That one experience was how Lu Ziang truly learned how united—and shameless—the Korean players could be.

“My strength now is incomparable to two years ago; I’ve improved several times over. It shouldn’t be so difficult anymore. Besides, the system never said I couldn’t duo…”

A name surfaced in Lu Ziang’s mind. Two years ago, it was with this person duo queuing that he had managed to top the Korean server with a 75% win rate despite all the obstacles.

Logging into Penguin, Lu Ziang quickly found this player’s avatar. They had known each other for about three years, and the avatar had never changed—a lemon icon.

Lu Ziang: “Jelly, are you there? Got time to help me storm through the Korean server one more time?”

After a few seconds, the lemon avatar replied.

Energetic Jelly: “Ahhh! (panicked) Ziang, have you been offline for almost half a year? Sure thing! (obedient) Funny you mention it—I recently broke my leg skateboarding (crying). The doctor says it’ll take six months to heal (wronged), but now I’m better and ready to play! (happy)”

Lu Ziang: “You’re mostly recovered now, right?”

Energetic Jelly: “Wow, Ziang actually cares now? (smirk) Nothing serious. Just a couple more months of rest and I’ll be fully healed, but I’m not supposed to go out and move around yet. (wronged) On the bright side, I can hang out and help you dominate the Korean server! (flirtatious)”

The two had never met in person nor spoken over voice chat, and they didn’t know much about each other’s lives. Their main communication was always in the game.

Lu Ziang didn’t even know whether Jelly was male or female, but it didn’t matter to him.

In any case, this player was incredibly talented—not inferior to Lu Ziang himself—and could handle any position on the team.

Between two masters, there seemed to be an unspoken, indescribable tacit understanding. Lu Ziang didn’t hold back and quickly typed back:

“We’ll need to register a smurf account.”

“No problem, I’m ready anytime. My big knife is starving! (flirtatious)”

“OK.”

They agreed to start in twenty minutes.

Lu Ziang then began preparing his streaming setup. Though he had never streamed before, he had seen others do it.

To reach five million followers, he needed to pick the biggest platform. Among the major game streaming platforms, Shark Live had the largest traffic.

He bought a level-one Korean server account through a channel, logged into the Korean client, set up his streaming account, adjusted the webcam, and got everything ready.

He gave his stream a highly provocative title: “Bloodbath in Korean Server, Smashing Through Ranked! — EDG. War Hawk.” It was both insulting and catchy.

With everything set, Lu Ziang clicked “Start Streaming,” marking his streaming debut.

He and Jelly had already added each other as friends. Both were straightforward people who never talked about their real lives, focusing solely on the game.

Energetic Jelly: “You’ve been MIA for half a year, didn’t reply to messages—I thought you quit the game! (pitiful) Glad you didn’t, or I wouldn’t have a duo partner. Those others aren’t worthy of duoing with me. (proud)”

Lu Ziang: “-_-|| No, I was just busy. If I were quitting, I’d tell you.”

Energetic Jelly: “(*￣︶￣) I already guessed—you must be a pro player.”

By now, they had matched into a game.

In League of Legends, whether on the Korean or Chinese servers, ranked rules were the same: players had to be level 30 and own at least 16 champions.

So they had to start with normal matchmaking first. Matchmaking win rates factor in hidden MMR scores—the higher the win rate, the more LP gained during promotion series.

Globally, Korean server players had the highest average skill level. Korean Silver was roughly equivalent to Chinese Gold or even Platinum.

Though the Korean player base was smaller, it was full of hidden talents. Professional players from all major regions often played ranked on the Korean server to hone their skills.

In the high elo Korean ranked scene, almost everyone was a pro player or nearly as skilled.

Most clubs scouted youth trainees from high-level Korean ranked matches. Korean server rankings had become a recognized standard for measuring skill.

…

Shark Live headquarters, Jiangcheng.

At the department overseeing stream room inspections, someone hurried into the office of the League of Legends business director.

“Director Xu! Look, the ADC who quietly joined EDG this evening has started streaming on our platform… I think it’s a personal decision.”

“I believe this Sun has the potential to become a major streamer. And he’s already bringing heat.”

Director Xu, dozing in his chair, instantly snapped awake upon hearing this, his expression turning stern:

“What are you waiting for? Didn’t you see how massive RNG’s viewership was last night? He’s clearly trying to capitalize on this momentum!”

“This wave of popularity—we have to ride it. Arrange staff to sign him at EDG headquarters immediately, and push all our recommendations to him.”

“This guy really understands the internet and monetization—smart. Since last night, he hasn’t dropped off any trending lists.”

“If he wants to keep this fire burning and chooses Shark Live to do it, then we should help him keep it blazing.”

Watching Lu Ziang on the stream, Director Xu’s own enthusiasm flared. The eSports scene’s heat was tremendous; every streaming platform wanted a slice of the pie.

Especially in the past two years, the competition among streaming platforms was fierce—almost a final showdown: it’s either you or me.

As long as this guy didn’t go to the rival Wolf Fang Live, Shark Live stood to gain big with nothing to lose.

…