Honestly, Untara, Blank, and Pirean were truly miserable! After SKT lost to KDM today, probably no one was more miserable than those three!
After all the hardship, anxiety, gritted teeth, and desperate effort, they had fought for power within SKT, schemed against each other, and finally pushed Faker onto the bench.
They had thought that this way, they would no longer have to endure the pressure of being unable to keep up with Faker's pace in matches. Nor would they have to receive extra vicious greetings from SKT fans after losses because their own poor performances stood out so much.
But! But! Who the hell could have known?! Once Faker left, they could not even beat KDM. Who the fuck could have imagined that?!
Pirean's expression was especially awful.
He still remembered when he had first taken the stage for SKT at seven that evening. The atmosphere had not been very good, after all. SKT's superstar Faker had been benched, so naturally the SKT fans who had come to watch were unhappy.
At the players' seats, Bang and Wolf did not look much better. Even Blank and Untara only dared to be happy inside, putting on frowning expressions.
He alone had been genuinely excited, grinning wide enough to nearly bloom like a chrysanthemum.
He had thought, At last, it's my turn to show what I can do. Faker only benefited from being born in the right era. If I'd been born three years earlier, who knows who would be called the Unkillable Demon King now?
Fine, even setting the past aside and talking only about the present, Faker had grown old. It was time for SKT's mid lane to be taken over by a new genius mid laner like him!
He had fantasized countless times that all he needed was an opportunity to show his skills. He would immediately secure SKT's starting position and make a name for himself.
Now, he had gotten that precious opportunity! Yet KDM's mid laner Edge had beaten him into the ground, and then the entire team had been torn through 2-1 by the squad predicted to finish last in the LCK Spring Split!
Pirean was completely dazed. He had remained dazed all the way from the venue until now, with only one sentence endlessly echoing in his mind: This genius mid laner's debut went this badly? I got wrecked just like that?
Why?!
To get this opportunity—to suppress Faker and take SKT's starting mid position—who knew what he had gone through? How much suffering had he endured? He had crushed one unruly young mid laner from SKT's academy after another.
He was a genius rookie! A genius! He could not understand it!!
Xu Junyan's entrance affected the mood in the room. Faker was the first to look up and spot him, then gave Xu Junyan a slight nod.
Bang and Wolf followed soon after. The most interesting one was Untara. Perhaps he had truly suffered deeply from bullying culture as a child. After what had happened that afternoon, he was genuinely afraid of Xu Junyan, this senior older than him. He no longer had that outward bravado masking inner weakness; the moment Xu Junyan entered, he hurriedly pulled over a chair for him.
Xu Junyan had just been about to teasingly greet him with, "Brat, do you think I don't have hands? Can't I get a chair myself?"
As soon as the thought arose, Xu Junyan hurriedly snuffed out the frightening idea. That afternoon, he had only wanted to scare those rebellious, all bark and no bite guys. He had no desire to become accustomed to South Korea's bizarre bullying culture and turn himself into one of the bad guys.
"Thank you."
Xu Junyan smiled at Untara and politely accepted the chair.
Untara shuddered, his heart suddenly pounding in fear. No! This senior had thanked him? What was going on? Had Untara done something wrong and made this senior unhappy?
He did not dare accept those thanks at all!!
kkOma looked at Xu Junyan and said, "We lost again this afternoon, and we lost to KDM, the team universally regarded as the weakest before the Spring Split began. Junyan, you are part of SKT now too. Tell us what you think."
"What do I think? Let Sang-hyeok and me play together, simple as that. No matter who we face next match, I guarantee we'll win," Xu Junyan said.
"Guarantee a win?"
kkOma studied Xu Junyan meaningfully and said, "Do you know, Junyan, that your position is actually rather awkward right now? First, SKT is going through the most awkward start to a season since S3. This is the first time we have had such a record at the beginning of a season—two straight losses, drawing endless criticism from outside. Second, and more importantly, you are not an LCK domestic player. You are an import. Do you understand what that means? Activating an import in the LCK is unprecedented. It is already an extremely unusual move, and it will certainly be questioned by countless LCK viewers. Therefore... there is very little room for you to perform. You cannot freely take the stage and experiment like other domestic players. Once you play, you can only win, never lose. Even if you win, you and SKT will still face enormous public pressure. So, you need to keep winning, and every match must be won beautifully—very beautifully!"
It had to be said that kkOma's spoken English was truly excellent. As expected of an outstanding student who had attended and successfully graduated from university.
Xu Junyan listened to his long speech, his expression turning serious as he nodded. "I understand. I considered all that when I decided to accept Sang-hyeok's invitation, especially the last point. But I can responsibly tell you, Coach, that being a Chinese import in the LCK will not be that difficult for me."
The look in kkOma's eyes as he watched Xu Junyan became even more thoughtful.
Looking only at Xu Junyan's two performances for RNG at Worlds, they were not enough to convince him of much.
But if he added in Xu Junyan's ranked performances with Faker some time ago, that was different.
Certainly, ranked games could not represent everything. High rank did not mean someone could still dominate in actual matches. But as a professional coach—and a legendary LCK coach—what he could see in a ranked game was naturally different from what others saw.
Beyond Xu Junyan's mechanics, he had seen much more: this person's macro understanding, awareness, and other abilities were genuinely astonishing. What had truly delighted him and made him decide to take a gamble, however, was Xu Junyan's synergy with Faker!
When the two had played ranked together, Xu Junyan had been able to effortlessly understand what Faker wanted to do at every moment without communication, then respond and coordinate quickly.
Faker was the player he had discovered, and also the one he thought most highly of. In kkOma's eyes, as long as Faker remained the team's foundation, the team would always possess limitless possibilities.
Since that was the case, his requirements for SKT's other members had never been about how individually powerful they were. It was whether they could perfectly fit Faker, the strongest engine in the Rift! As long as they could mesh with him, what match could they not win?
Bengi had been able to do that before. Now, he felt that Xu Junyan might be worth trying as well.
Of course, until they officially played a match to see the results, he could not make any further judgment.
"You're very confident."
kkOma smiled and nodded, approval in his eyes as he comforted him. "But you still cannot be too hasty. Didn't you go study Korean this afternoon? How about this—once your Korean improves a little more in a month, I'll find a suitable opportunity for you to try playing."
"My Korean is actually not bad." Xu Junyan said that sentence in Korean. Although his pronunciation was a little strange and somewhat halting, there was no doubt that he had expressed himself accurately.
kkOma was startled. "Junyan, you..."
"Coach, trust me once. Let me play. I can make a military pledge, or agree to any other conditions. No matter what, I will bring you victory." Xu Junyan made himself even more direct and requested to play once again!
kkOma slowly lowered his head and fell silent for a long time—probably seven or eight minutes—as he continuously weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
The practice room was eerily quiet.
The others did not know what Xu Junyan and kkOma were talking about. They listened with bewildered expressions. Untara, Pirean, and the others felt uneasy, but they did not dare interrupt, so they could only watch quietly.
Faker seemed to have understood something. A trace of anticipation appeared deep in his eyes as he clenched his fist, as though ready to spring into action.
Suddenly, kkOma stood up, drawing everyone's attention. They all looked toward him, while he walked toward the door.
Xu Junyan gave a wry smile. He could not really call it disappointment. After all, to others, this matter did seem somewhat rushed.
"Sang-hyeok."
At the front, kkOma had already stepped out of the practice room when he suddenly stopped. With his back to everyone, he slowly said, "Starting today, you and Junyan will scrim together. You and Junyan are playing next match."
Faker abruptly raised his head.
Xu Junyan abruptly raised his head as well.
Bang and Wolf exchanged smiles.
Only Untara and Pirean, at the back, lowered their heads and clenched their fists. Their eyes were full of unwillingness, yet there was nothing they could do.
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