After deciding on SKT, aside from continuing to grind ranked games and feud with the Royal Hooligans, Xu Junyan had also made a systematic assessment of SKT.
For example, this SKT power struggle.
Why did people like Untara and Blank dare to mock Faker so blatantly in post-match interviews? At most, they were just two rookies. As for raw skill, they did not have much to boast about either. What gave them the right?
After going over it again and again, while kkOma's calculations had certainly played a part, the main reason was that Faker was simply too good-natured. Otherwise, how could something like this have happened in the LCK?
If you did not believe it, replace Faker with Ambition and see what happened. Forget barking in post-match interviews or stirring up internal power struggles—if Untara and Blank made some trivial mistake like forgetting their keys when they went out, and he told them to kneel, would they dare refuse? With Ambition's temper, the baseball bat would have been swinging the next second. Ruler probably understood that better than anyone.
Of course, this kind of toxic atmosphere, where veterans bullied juniors, was not a good thing. Xu Junyan was not praising that Korean cultural environment, much less did he want to promote such a foul atmosphere.
But since he was living and working in Korea, he did not have to do such things himself, yet he absolutely could not let people think he was too soft-hearted. Everyone understood that kind people were easily bullied. Therefore, Xu Junyan had drawn up a plan early on.
To ensure he could play comfortably at SKT in the future, with everyone getting along harmoniously and improving together, the first thing he had to do after arriving was put people like Untara in their place!
Xu Junyan had already given kkOma a heads-up about this in the lobby downstairs. Otherwise, how could the two of them have had so much to talk about during their first meeting?
kkOma strongly agreed with his proposal. Later, while they were eating in the dorm, he also mentioned it to Faker so that Faker would not misunderstand. Faker hesitated somewhat, but when Xu Junyan explained that it was for the team to become more harmonious and improve together, he ultimately agreed.
And so, the scene before them unfolded. Xu Junyan's opening show of force had indeed silenced Untara and the other two, who were all bark and no bite.
Untara in particular looked almost pitiful, using his toughest tone to say the most cowardly words.
Bang and Wolf stared at the scene in astonishment, secretly thrilled. Damn! They had wanted to do this for ages!
Faker had originally wanted to explain things to Bang and Wolf, but seeing how delighted they looked, their eyes shining as if they were one step away from applauding, his face darkened.
Untara gave up his seat, and Xu Junyan really did plop down into it. He opened a browser, found a Chinese-Korean translation page, and typed in a line:
Xu Junyan, game ID Silence, is currently locked in a fierce battle with RNG. If you want to know more about me, search for more news on LPL Weibo.
Untara, Blank, and Pirean stood together on the same side with awkward smiles, repeatedly nodding at Xu Junyan while groaning inwardly.
What was this?! Was even the last pure land of the LCK gone now? Was SKT finally going to have bullying too?
Tragic!
Untara especially was nearly losing his mind. He had worked so hard to use the internal power struggle to suppress Faker, and it had felt like he was about to take off.
But now this guy had arrived, shattering all his soaring ambitions. He could neither advance nor retreat, and felt like he was riding a tiger with no way down.
And this guy was obviously on Faker's side. There was no way he would stand with Untara...
No, I need to find a way to get him out of here. He's just a Chinese import. What gives him the right?!
In an instant, Untara came up with countless plans. He wanted to make an issue of Xu Junyan being a Chinese import, spread it around, stir up backlash among LCK fans, and pressure the club. If that happened, SKT should terminate his contract, right?
Before that, though, he was rather curious. What did Xu Junyan mean by telling him to look up LPL news?
Silence... For a moment, he could not recall that this ID had appeared when they faced RNG at the S7 World Championship. After all, he had been a substitute back then—Huni's substitute.
So this was just some completely unheard-of nobody, right? Then why was this guy so confident about telling him to search for it?
Seeing Xu Junyan actually sit in his seat and queue up for a ranked match, Untara's mouth twitched again. He did not dare say anything, merely stepped back two paces, took out his phone, and began searching with a frown.
He downloaded Weibo and searched for the LPL... then deleted it and changed the search to Silence. The next instant, countless dazzling posts filled his screen, and Untara froze.
Damn it!
Untara cursed in shock.
What was going on?!
Among the Korean-translated Weibo posts, he clearly saw the entire process of Xu Junyan's battle against RNG.
He was so fierce!
Calling them little Royal Hooligans and little animals at every turn, he had not only held his own against millions of RNG fans, but had even gained the upper hand?
For instance, in the most recent clash, Xu Junyan seemed to have won a resounding victory, making RNG and its fans embarrass themselves badly!
Untara stared in utter disbelief, almost unable to believe that such a savage person existed in this world.
When everyone worked under a club, should they not hold that club in utmost reverence? After all, it was their boss! If they told you to kneel, you had to kneel.
Besides, RNG was a hugely influential club in the LPL, with countless fans.
Yet this guy had actually confronted them head-on without the slightest fear?!
Untara's eyes went wide. He did not know why, but seeing the RNG fans rage helplessly one after another, unable to do anything except vent beneath Xu Junyan's Weibo posts, gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.
A real man should be like this!
Compared to this guy directly confronting a massively influential club and its millions of fans, his little power struggle at SKT was simply too embarrassing to even mention! It was even clumsy! What the hell did he amount to?
All of a sudden, he felt fortunate. Damn! Luckily, he had reacted quickly earlier and given up his seat to this guy. Otherwise, would he not have ended up getting ruthlessly bullied by this tough guy?
"Phew! Phew! Phew!"
Untara let out three long breaths, then wiped his forehead and discovered that it was covered in cold sweat.
Blank and Pirean quietly moved closer. Neither of them looked very happy. Blank whispered, "Untara, think of something. Let's get rid of him together!"
Naturally, he meant Xu Junyan.
"Bullshit!"
Untara glared furiously, grabbed Blank by the collar, and cursed, "Fuuuuck! You little punk, are you trying to get rid of my bro?"
Blank was completely dumbfounded, while three question marks practically appeared over Pirean's head.
At three in the afternoon, Xu Junyan left the training room. Although he had signed today, he still could not immediately take the stage. At the very least, he had to wait for SKT's official announcement.
Besides, kkOma had only said in the previous interview that Faker would be benched and a newcomer would be put on the roster. They had to wait until after SKT played a match and see how it went.
Faker left the training room with Xu Junyan. Since he was not playing, he had nothing else to do.
"Thank you."
As they neared the entrance to the first-floor lobby, Faker spoke sincerely.
Xu Junyan paused and looked at Faker in confusion. Faker lightly punched Xu Junyan on the shoulder and said something in English that was incredibly extravagant for him: "I'll treat you to a Coke when we get back!"
Before you continue