After kkOma left, the practice room fell silent for a moment. Then Bang and Wolf were the first to lose it, leaping to their feet and howling in celebration.
The two of them were genuinely happy, but they were also deliberately making such a huge show of it purely to get back at Untara and the others for their earlier palace-intrigue antics.
Honestly, if they had not gradually realized that kkOma had been setting them up, the two of them would have started cursing long ago!
"Congratulations on returning to the starting lineup, Sang-hyeok hyung."
That fence-sitter Blank read the room and quickly stood up after Bang and Wolf. He did not forget to happily congratulate Xu Junyan as well. "Congratulations on securing a starting spot, Junyan hyung."
Xu Junyan's eye twitched.
This guy! His skin really was thick.
"Calm down, everyone. The next match will be a tough one too. We're facing Samsung—uh, KSV. Hurry up and use ranked games to get your form back."
Faker displayed the authority expected of a captain and directed Bang and Wolf, who looked as though they still wanted to celebrate properly.
KSV was actually last year's championship-winning Samsung SSG. They had changed their name in the new season due to a sponsorship change, but their roster was basically unchanged: CuVee in the top lane, Ambition in the jungle, Crown in mid, and Ruler plus Corejj in the bot lane.
They were an extremely troublesome team. After all, they had just proven at Worlds that they were the strongest team in the world—and they had done so by stepping over SKT!
This was exactly what kkOma had been struggling and hesitating over.
The conditions for SKT to field a Chinese import were truly demanding. Even he had to be exceedingly cautious and choose the right moment for Xu Junyan to play.
His original plan had been to wait until Xu Junyan had fully learned Korean and spent some time scrimming with the team, until they had more or less built up their synergy. Then they could test the waters against a lower-ranked team and make a steady debut.
Who could have expected that SKT, led by Untara and Pirean, would fail to beat even KDM, the team widely predicted to finish last? It left SKT in an extremely passive position. If they did not change things quickly and kept playing like this, they might not even make playoffs, let alone talk about winning the World Championship. Xu Junyan's proposal had made kkOma even more passive.
To change the lineup, was he really going to make Xu Junyan take on a hard bone like KSV in his very first match? If they lost, it would truly be over! Not only would Xu Junyan get flamed, but he, and SKT as well, would be predictably torn to pieces. Their reputations would truly hit rock bottom.
What finally made kkOma relent was neither Xu Junyan's persistence and promise of military accountability nor the persuasion of Faker and the others. It was simply his own heart softening.
If you doubt someone, do not use them. If you use someone, do not doubt them. Since he had decided to have Faker bring Xu Junyan to SKT in the first place, why did he now not dare to use him?
Five years ago, when he had boldly "tricked" Faker into joining SKT and put him straight into the lineup, who could have known that it would forge the greatest League of Legends player of all time, the invincible Demon King of the mid lane?
"Junyan, want to duo?"
Faker looked at Xu Junyan beside him.
Xu Junyan grinned and teased, "My Korean server rank-one account will have to wait in queue for a long time now."
"Just get a new super account. I'll carry you on my main," Faker said, treating it as no big deal. He swiftly logged into Kakaotalk and contacted Riot's LCK officials to request a new Korean server super account.
Faker truly was the number one figure in the LCK. Even though he was a substitute now, one message from him was enough for a new account to arrive before long.
Xu Junyan received it and smoothly began duo queueing with Faker's Korean server main, "Hide on bush."
Around them, Bang, Wolf, Blank, and the others all stared in shock, their mouths hanging so wide that they could practically fit an orange inside.
"Fuck! I'm not dreaming, right? Sang-hyeok hyung actually took the initiative to ask someone to duo with him?"
Bang swallowed and asked blankly.
Wolf, sitting beside him and watching the scene, had lost the light in his eyes. He said dejectedly, "Jun-sik, Jun-sik ah~, I'm so jealous! I was here first!"
That night, Xu Junyan did not duo with Faker for too long. They stopped right on time at one in the morning and returned to the dorm together.
The sight made everyone else envious again. Wolf and Bang went without saying, but Untara's expression was the most complicated.
If Faker had shown him such enthusiasm sooner, then no matter how much he had been flamed, he never would have pulled off that ridiculous palace intrigue from before.
At SKT, who did not want to have a good relationship with Faker?
It was just that Lee Sang-hyeok was a withdrawn, boring kid who always made people feel that he was difficult to truly befriend. For example, when drinking cola, he would only treat someone to one-fifth of a bottle! He never invited anyone to duo queue! And he clearly had a crush on Jo Eun-jung, the former LCK host, so why would he not share and discuss it with his good brothers?...
After returning to the dorm, brushing his teeth, and washing his face, Xu Junyan was about to browse Weibo and tease the Royal Hooligans for fun. But before logging in, an idea struck him, and he first checked the discussion on Korean Instagram about SKT's match against KDM today.
Faker's influence in the LCK was ultimately still immense. Today, with Faker on the bench, SKT had suffered a crushing defeat against KDM. As expected, the entire team had been flamed mercilessly.
Faker's fans were furious. They were furious over why SKT had put Faker on the bench, and even angrier because nearly everyone on SKT had seemed downcast before the match began. Only their substitute mid laner, Pirean, had been baring his teeth in a huge smile, looking utterly delighted. And what happened? KDM's mid laner directly schooled him and beat him like a dog.
"What exactly happened to SKT?"
"What's wrong with SKT? Are they sick?"
"If this keeps up, the three-time championship dynasty will no longer be something I can take pride in. Also, why is Faker on the bench? I don't understand!"
"Yeah, after Faker was benched, the entire team had to rely on Bang and Wolf to hold things together. As for people like Untara, just looking at them gives me a headache!"
"With such a terrible roster, can SKT still be saved this year?"
"..."
After reading all kinds of comments from SKT fans, Xu Junyan also took a look at what SKT antis and Faker haters had to say.
Faker being benched and SKT's crushing loss to KDM had undoubtedly sent those SKT antis and Faker haters into ecstasy.
They shrieked excitedly, sneering and mocking on Instagram. Their insults were exceptionally vicious, and they cursed SKT to definitely collapse this year. Faker? What the hell was Faker? Just a manufactured idol with nothing but appearances. They could do it too if they were put in his place.
So even a three-time champion was just a manufactured idol now? Xu Junyan shook his head slightly and laughed in disbelief.
The LCK's flamers were no pushovers either. If anything, the antis and trolls here were even harsher!
No wonder kkOma had hesitated for so long when he proposed playing immediately. It was not that kkOma did not want to do it; the risk was simply too great!
Ding-dong!
A message from kkOma suddenly arrived on Kakaotalk.
Xu Junyan opened it and saw kkOma's message: "Junyan, it's been settled. The club will officially announce your signing tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, we'll face KSV together. Good luck!"
The message was brief, but even through the screen, Xu Junyan could sense the heaviness and deep concern in kkOma's tone.
Xu Junyan smiled faintly, replied with an "ok," and put down his phone, preparing to sleep. Then, on a sudden whim, he remembered Weibo again.
He had not been on Weibo for more than a day. He wondered how Bai Lianhua's RNG and their impotently raging Royal Hooligans had handled being thoroughly toyed with and humiliated by him.
Curious, Xu Junyan logged into Weibo. He had not known until he looked—and after seeing it, he nearly laughed in anger.
Before you continue