Chapter 45: The All-Chinese EDG, The Prestige Edition Galactic Fleet

Another 666 super rockets, 333 thousand RMB.

This Bai Chuxia had accumulated a terrifying total of 6.66 million RMB in tips on Lu Ziming's livestream.

Inside the broadcast room, the viewers' passion for gossip burned fiercely:

"Holy cow, is the falcon actually fancied by a wealthy sugar mummy?!"

"Isn't this too thrilling? I declare Sister Zhou instantly eliminated."

"Flat-chested has no competitive advantage."

"Which brother is giving me 6.6 million? This two-hundred-pound body of mine will belong to him."

"Jealousy makes me ugly. Wuwuwu-.-"

"Feeling like I just took ten thousand points of critical damage!"

"Lu Ziming, do I still have a chance? Ahhhhh, please let me win the 100-million jackpot so I can tip the streamer too."

Even top streamers like PDD and Zhou Shuyi felt their scalps tingle when they saw such gigantic tips.

You must know that Lu Ziming was merely a newcomer who had started streaming for just a week.

Sister Zhou: "Dense wood!!"

Immediately, "Bu2 Doesn't Call Zhou Shuyi" exited the livestream.

Lu Ziming was also completely baffled on his end, and said helplessly:

"Thanks to 'Bai Chuxia' for the 666 super rockets, thank you! But please don't imitate this. Although the streamer isn't exceptionally wealthy, I do have a small nest egg."

Aside from the money he had tipped to PDD, Lu Ziming could indeed now be considered a multi-millionaire.

The top contributor, Bai Chuxia, seemed rather aloof and had not spoken a single word besides tipping.

Lu Ziming switched to the chat window and sent a message to Jelly:

"Bai Chuxia tipped another 666 rockets."

Jelly: "Really? Don't put too much psychological pressure on yourself; maybe spare cash is nothing to someone like that."

Lu Ziming: "Mhm."

Jelly: "Still continuing? Both of our LP are already over 1700, ranked 19th and 20th respectively on the ladder. Currently, the rank one spot on the Korean server is 1981 LP. There's still some time before the season ends, so the upcoming rank games are probably going to be even more intense."

Jelly: "We'll probably need to reach over 2200 LP to secure the number one spot firmly before the season ends."

Lu Ziming: "Continue. Hidden MMR should be close to its peak anyway."

……

Overseas!

As the IDs of Lu Ziming and Jelly directly airdropped into the top 20 of the Korean server ladder, coupled with IG winning the championship and the massive surge in popularity of Lu Ziming's livestream,

His streaming content, including spectator videos, had already spread across overseas networks.

The accumulation of all these buffs directly provoked the entire high-tier Korean player base into fury. In their eyes, this was simply an utter humiliation!

First, the LCK didn't even make it to the finals, and second, they had to watch an LPL team win the championship on their own turf, which felt even worse than watching the LCS region win.

Furthermore, both Lu Ziming and Jelly were using Chinese Pinyin IDs, and their win rates had reached a terrifying 90%. What kind of behavior was this?

Were they treating South Korea as having no talents?

Keep in mind that countless Chinese high-tier players had loved coming to the Korean server over recent years to challenge Korea, taking pride in reaching rank one on the Korean server.

Players from both sides had long been fiercely locked in combat, competing intensely without a clear victor.

Led by Dopa, the famous Korean solo-q king who at his peak could rival Faker, a public declaration was made overseas: "In the S8 season, we will absolutely never let a Chinese player reach rank one on the Korean server! We swear to defend our dignity with our lives."

Subsequently, countless top-tier players responded to the call, declaring they would snipe Lu Ziming and Jelly!

Not only that, but even on the LPL side, countless professional players and top-tier gamers joined in.

This matter also generated considerable buzz in a short period, directly hitting the trending search lists both overseas and domestically.

It could be said to have added fuel to the fire regarding the hype of IG's championship victory tonight.

In South Korea, the Riot Games branch office, the CEO laughed from ear to ear as he looked at the skyrocketing number of Korean server players.

Undoubtedly, the biggest beneficiaries of tonight's championship victory were Riot Games and its backer, Penguin.

……

Lu Ziming had no idea that he had now become the target of snipes by top-tier Korean server players and LCK professional players alike.

The S8 World Championship had settled, and the LCK had lost very thoroughly.

However, the S8 season was not yet over, and the throne of Korean server rank one could absolutely not be yielded to the LPL again. Another war was quietly beginning.

随后。

Lu Ziming and Jelly played several more rank games in succession.

All of them were victories, and their LP broke through 1850, pushing their rankings directly into the top 10 of the ladder, sitting at 9th and 8th respectively.

Seeing that the time was about right, Lu Ziming ended his stream. His livestream's peak popularity value reached 120 million, and his follower count successfully broke through 5 million.

The task assigned by the system was already 1/2 completed; right now, only reaching rank one on the Korean server remained.

In the blink of an eye, several more days passed like this.

Although Lu Ziming had not yet stepped onto the LPL stage, he had already gained considerable popularity, even showing vague signs of breaking out into mainstream awareness.

All sorts of interview requests came pouring in, but Lu Ziming turned them all down; he hadn't even stepped outside the gates of the EDG clubhouse.

His daily life was the same as before, a three-point line: dormitory, cafeteria, and training room.

During the day, he partook in the club's routine training, which besides gaming techniques and fundamental skills training, also included physical fitness and psychological counseling.

In the evening, he would start streaming punctually on Douyu, continuing to play rank games on the Korean server with Jelly.

Because his LP was so high, the matchmaking time had lengthened, the game duration had grown longer, and the number of matches had decreased.

Currently, his LP had reached 2100 points, but his ranking had only moved up just a tiny bit.

For no other reason than—

Because of Lu Ziming, experts from all over the world were now gathering on the Korean server, grinding LP day and night. The high-tier segment of the Korean server had become insanely competitive.

In past years, 1600 points at this time could secure a Challenger spot on the Korean server.

This year, 1750 points couldn't even break into the top 200.

The overall average LP was rising crazily, and the LP margins between each rank were tightly contested.

Currently, the LP of the number one rank on the Korean server was approaching 2200 points.

Everyone was grinding their hearts out.

Lu Ziming wasn't in a hurry either; as long as he matched into the number one spot in rank and won, he could basically secure the throne of Korean server rank one!

This day marked 24 hours until the S8 season Korean server settlement.

That meant whoever could accumulate the highest LP ranking in the very final rank game before the Korean server settlement portal closed would truly be crowned the number one on the Korean server.

Because by that time, LP would no longer increase, and today was also the most scorching day of rank games in the entire Korean server's S8 season.

As evening approached, the EDG Esports Club welcomed three new players, and with this, EDG's roster for the S9 season was fully assembled.

Inside the training room, all EDG staff members and players were present.

General Manager Ahu introduced this brand-new EDG team one by one:

"A new season, a new atmosphere. Our EDG team can now be considered to have fulfilled our dream. For the S9 season, I am transforming into a purely all-Chinese roster!"

"Coach: Clearlove. Everyone is familiar with him by now! At the same time, he will also serve as the substitute jungler!"

"Data Analyst: Chen Dong. An EDG veteran, everyone knows him too."

"Top Laner: Bai Jiahao, professional ID: 369. Previously trained in the LGD youth camp, possessing super strong strength and a fierce playstyle, capable of both farming and carrying. I am very optimistic about him. In the S9 season, he is undoubtedly going to be the top lane overlord."

"Mid Laner: Zhuo Ding, professional ID: Knight, previously played for TES. Fierce beyond measure! The rank one player of the S7 Korean server! Everyone calls him Left Hand. A genius mid laner who came out of the YM youth camp!"

"Jungler: Gao Tianliang, professional ID: Tian, previously played for FPX. Also came out of the YM youth camp!"

At this point, Ahu paused slightly, then raised his volume and continued to announce:

"ADC: Lu Ziming. Professional ID: falcon. I suppose I don't need to introduce him anymore, right?"

Cheers suddenly erupted all around.

The applause was obviously much more enthusiastic than the previous times; there was no helping it, as Lu Ziming's popularity had been simply too high during this period.

"Support: Tian Ye, professional ID: meiko, an old-timer of EDG!"

"Alright, these are all the players representing the EDG team for the S9 season. Aside from meiko being a bit older, everyone else was born after the year 2000!"

"Finally, I believe that in the S9 season, this galactic battleship of ours will definitely sweep through everything and forge ahead relentlessly! Let's give everyone a round of applause to welcome them!!"

After a brief team-joining ceremony,

EDG's official Weibo account and various official social media pages simultaneously published the news.

As soon as this news came out, the entire esports circle was in an uproar; no one had anticipated that EDG would make the resolute decision to transform into a purely "all-Chinese roster."

LPL viewers were even more ecstatic. Although IG had already won an S-series championship trophy for the LPL, it was ultimately not achieved by an all-Chinese roster.

Within the esports circle, the reason RNG could become a traffic powerhouse and overshadow EDG to a large extent was precisely because of its all-Chinese roster attribute.

Although before RNG was called RNG (formerly known as Royal Club), it was the very first team in the LPL to import Korean players, they later maintained this tradition firmly after establishing an all-Chinese roster.

Now that IG had won the championship, their fan base had skyrocketed. EDG was now following in RNG's footsteps, and it could be foreseen that in the S9 season, EDG's popularity would reach even greater heights!

The old EDG had Clearlove, but now not only did they still have Clearlove, they also had an extra Lu Ziming.

As the news of EDG's all-Chinese roster was made public, it fermented within the LPL.

In the IG team's general manager's office, Su Xiaoluo became extremely angry upon learning about this:

"Well, well, Ji Xing, in order to pander to LPL viewers, you actually went and put together an all-Chinese roster right under my nose?! Damn it."

"It really does hit the viewers' pain points, though. I also think an all-Chinese roster is viable," his assistant said timidly.

"Absolute nonsense."

"Heh, you mean to tell me you want me to ship out Rookie and TheShy? These are all God-tier players of our IG. Even though we aren't an all-Chinese roster, we're better than an all-Chinese roster. Understand?"

Su Xiaoluo looked at EDG's roster and couldn't help sneering:

"Let's just sit back and watch the show. This year, if EDG even makes it to Worlds, let alone winning it, I'll consider them amazing. The absolute limit of an all-Chinese roster is winning MSI at best! They're nothing more than the next RNG."

The assistant didn't dare to talk back; Su Xiaoluo was the absolute authority who made all final decisions within the IG team.

Soon, IG, JDG, WE, LGD, FPX, OMG, LNG... and other LPL teams also successively sent their congratulations to the EDG team.

After all, this was the LPL region.

Besides them, another all-Chinese team—TES—also specially conveyed their congratulations to the EDG club!

As for the RNG team, they also announced their S9 season player roster today, which was identical to the S8 season.

Top Laner: Letme / Zzitai, Mid Laner: Xiaohu, Jungler: Mlxg / Karsa, Bot Lane: Uzi + Ming.

It faintly carried a tit-for-tat vibe, while the LPL viewers were overjoyed, spreading the news far and wide that EDG had transformed into an all-Chinese roster.

For many people, this was the fulfillment of a dream! RNG and EDG, the two veteran powerhouse teams of the LPL, had now both become all-Chinese rosters.

That night!

10:00 PM in China.
11:00 PM in South Korea.

Only one final hour remained until the settlement portal for the Korean server's S8 season closed.

That meant within the next hour, the ultimate Korean server rank one would be born...

Currently, Lu Ziming's LP had reached 2355.

Jelly's LP was at 2331, ranking 2nd and 5th on the Korean server ladder respectively.

The player in first place also had 2355 LP, currently tied with Lu Ziming for first place, but the outcome would be decided after their final rank game was played.

According to the Korean server's matchmaking mechanism, this ultimate showdown was almost 100% a confrontation between the top 10 players of the Korean server.

And the first and second place players would definitely never be matched onto the same team!

Judging by the LP,

Currently, any of the players ranked in the top five who won their match would have the possibility of claiming the number one spot!

As for players ranked 5th through 10th, winning would also give them a chance to reach rank one on the Korean server, though the probability was smaller.

After all, everyone's win rates were different, the LP gained upon winning was different, and the LP deducted upon failing was also different...