You Call This Steady

As for everyone else.

One can only say that electronic sports clubs offer a clean environment, regular schedules, nutritionally balanced meals, a Leninist work system, timely exercise and relaxation, and income. It can be said to be an ideal life that everyone dreams of.

Of course, there's another lifestyle that's exactly the same as playing esports.

Colloquially known as: being imprisoned.

Chapter 36: The Most Important Thing for a Player

The next day, as the V5 team sat in front of the big screen, watching the semi-finals between TES and IG officially begin, Luo Zhen and the others were completely bewildered.

"Coach, we have to watch this too?"

According to Luo Zhen's understanding of professional play, shouldn't the coaches, assistant coaches, and analysts be the ones watching the games and then cutting out the key clips to show them? Why was everyone watching the live broadcast directly?

PPGOD was even quick on his feet, even pulling out chips and cola from his room.

"Work and rest balance. Watching live also helps you understand the opponents' current state more deeply."

Coach Homme's expression was very serious. Of course, he knew this approach was a bit of a waste of time, but he had no choice. Ever since their AD contacted his opponent LWX last night, these two guys had been non-stop feeding him tips and training like they were tireless.

Luo Zhen could still understand.

As a new AD, facing such a master's one-on-one guidance, he would naturally go all out, learning as much as he could.

That's how teaching works.

No matter how much a coach says, it's not as fast as being beaten by your opponent and having your weaknesses pointed out directly. LWX couldn't teach Luo Zhen anything about macro play, but he could pinpoint and correct many of Luo Zhen's small mistakes and inefficient movements.

Coach Homme didn't know why the other party was doing this. Was it just to get revenge on his old teammates?

Hmph, men, you really can't forget about your teammates.

But even so, you two... you didn't have to go at it all night!

When PPGOD knocked on Coach Homme's door in the morning and told him Luo Zhen hadn't returned to his room all night, Coach Homme thought he had gone out for a late-night snack and been killed offline by FPX fans. But when he searched the training room.

Good heavens.

The fans didn't kill you offline, but the player almost sent you away online?

Seeing the thick dark circles under Luo Zhen's eyes, Coach Homme felt very strange.

Watching the live broadcast was just an excuse to give them a break. At least watching the game wouldn't be as tiring as studying, and it would be even better if they could rest a little if they got sleepy.

But soon, Coach Homme realized he was wrong.

A 3-0 crushing victory, the nirvana of the new TES. Facing the former powerhouse IG, TES showed no mercy. Even Zhuo, who was jokingly called the team's weak link, didn't make any obvious mistakes in this Demacia Cup semi-final. On the contrary, his performance was quite commendable.

In fact.

In his previous life, Zhuo's "ship breaker" title was entirely due to his lack of progress in the regular season, which seriously dragged down the team's progress. However, for the Demacia Cup, Zhuo's strength was enough to deal with these non-LPL main teams. Don't forget that even TES had to try countless combinations in the S12 spring split to finally identify the real mole from the fans.

And TES at this point had almost invincible paper strength.

Top laner Qing Tian, the embodiment of the human Gragas, invincible below 200 jin, and could trade one for one above 200 jin. Just standing on the stage, his physique alone could put enough pressure on the opponent. Of course, his weakness was a limited champion pool, but at least he could initiate fights.

Jungler Gao Tiandi, a major achievement of TES in the transfer period. On the surface, it directly filled the team's jungler weakness, but in reality, it still depended on how much Gao Tiandi's state had recovered. For IG, it didn't seem like they could force out Gao Tiandi's full strength. Of course, at this time, he was purely a Viego specialist, relatively a champion pool specialist.

Mid laner Knight, occasionally invincible in domestic matches, occasionally made his presence felt in international matches. The number one domestic mid laner of the new generation, the ultimate earthbound spirit mid laner, with explosive laning pressure.

Bottom lane JKL, doesn't give small gifts, only big ones. Doesn't take any skills except Q skill. If he takes others, he coughs. Nicknamed the 100% engage ADC or war correspondent JKL. It is said that as long as someone initiates a team fight, JKL can always be found at the scene, moonlighting as the bottom lane CJB detector. Invincible against weaker opponents, simply put, he can carry and can feed.

As for Zhuo, Brother Zhuo doesn't like others to evaluate him, so we'll skip it.

Such a comprehensive lineup made even Karsa and Rookie frown, let alone Luo Zhen.

"No, where's 369? Aren't they playing 369?"

"He's been caught up in a transfer storm recently, so... we might have to meet him a bit later." Coach Homme seemed to hint at something but didn't answer directly.

At this time, 369 was being called out by everyone.

While S12 could be said to be the growth path of an esports novel protagonist, S11 was a real case of playing erratically and repeatedly ruining his teammates' advantages. Coupled with the previously exposed "rebellious" vlog and the "is it that hard to practice one Gnar for a whole season?" famous scene, 369's situation became even more difficult.

Seeing that his coach didn't seem inclined to elaborate, Luo Zhen decided not to delve deeper.

"Alright, get some good rest first. You haven't slept all night, your body won't be able to take it. I'll go over the review of TES and IG with you separately when you wake up."

"Okay, I'll go rest then."

Knowing he couldn't persuade his coach, Luo Zhen chose to comply. He carefully left the team's conference room, but as he stepped out, trying to follow his coach's instructions to return to his dorm to rest, his desire took control of his body's actions faster than his reason.

He once again returned to the door of the training room, and after a moment of thought, he opened the door and walked in.

[Finished watching the game? What do you think?]

[How did you know I just finished watching the game? Did you install cameras at my base?]

[Nonsense, you logged in as soon as the game ended. Do you think I'm blind? Still have the energy to continue?]

[Yeah, let's continue. Although they feel very strong, if it's just him, I think I can still battle it out with him.]

[...]

[Young people are brave. Come on, let me see how much you've learned from yesterday until now.]

On the other side of the screen, LWX was chuckling tiredly, but his hands were quick to click on the next custom game.

He didn't know why he was willing to spend so much time training with this new AD. Perhaps it was to get revenge through him? Or perhaps it was purely on a whim?

But none of that mattered anymore.

After personally feeling the terrifying talent the other person possessed, his goal had long since changed.

All he wanted to know now was:

How much more untapped potential did this newcomer on the other side of the screen still hide?

The clatter of keyboard typing echoed incessantly in the base's training room.

An hour later, unbeknownst to Luo Zhen, V5's other four players stood silently at the training room door, neither disturbing him nor speaking to each other.

Just then, Coach Homme, along with a group of assistant coaches and analysts, passed by.

There was no communication, no admonishment, not even a glance exchanged. He simply stood silently by, listening to the irregular keyboard sounds from within the room, maintaining the same silence as everyone else.

The atmosphere was heavy, and the will to fight was in despair.

The female analyst, one of them, felt this was wrong and was about to speak when she was timely stopped by the V5 manager beside her.

"Manager?"

The V5 manager shook his head and then turned his gaze back to Coach Homme, who was standing nearby. At this time and in this atmosphere, he trusted Coach Homme to handle and utilize the current environment.

Finally, Coach Homme spoke.

"For a newcomer, tomorrow's Demacia Cup might be the first championship of his career, and it might also be his last. Regardless of whether the teams win or lose, no one will die on the spot, and no one will be resurrected from the dead. Evil will not resurface, and the world will not be destroyed. We are not traversing some grand world; we are simply doing our best within this small Summoner's Rift to prevent our crystal from shattering."

Respect for one's opponents is never demonstrated through so-called strategy, but through action, through concrete action.

V5's weaknesses are synergy, form, and a lack of relentless momentum, not their champion pool. These are things that can be changed in a short period, and Coach Homme had been waiting for an opportunity.

Now, the time had come.

"A young player, younger than you, has stayed up all night. Of course, I don't personally support this kind of self-abusive mode, but putting myself in his shoes, his actions are to keep pace with you as much as possible and not drag the team down."

"Because he learned from the match against FPX that his efforts are still far from being able to compete with others based on talent."

Karsa and the others gradually clenched their fists.

As veterans, they had indeed failed to set a good example. While their new AD was practicing tirelessly all night, just to avoid being a weakness for the team, what had they been doing?

Nothing.

They had simply maintained their training volume from before the break, thinking that if they could regain their form from before the break, they might still be able to contend with TES tomorrow.

It was under this seemingly logical thought process that they had lost the most important thing for a professional player:

Reverence for victory and defeat.

"Consider it an excuse to change, it's never too late to mend the pen after the sheep is lost. If you readjust your state now, we still have a chance for an upset victory. Of course, if you can't think of any other reason, then just do it for young Zhen's sake these past two days."

"To those who revere victory and defeat, we offer victory."

Chapter 37: Our Future Selves

On December 16th, almost at the very end of 2021, the Demacia Cup finals were finally set to take place at the Hongqiao Tiandi Performing Arts Center in Magic City. The hype for this match was already far beyond that of the previous elimination rounds and semifinals. When a tournament reaches its final showdown, its popularity is often astonishing.

Led by Deyunse, the old IG, led by Zz1tai, the old RNG, and even many video creators, streamers, and commentators who relied on League of Legends for a living, all turned their attention to today's match.

Of course, there were plenty of talking points.

Karsa, having just left TES, was now facing them again. The mid-lane matchup of Rookie versus Knight had always been a highly anticipated duel between top mid-laners, and with two of the Incheon 3C now reunited, the buzz was immense.

And that included the bottom lane.

For most of the entertainment-seeking audience, as long as Luo Zhen could still make some noise against JKL, he would have officially passed the league's CJB law and transformed into a potential ADC.

As for beating JKL?

Sorry, they hadn't even considered it, because it was simply impossible to imagine.

[Here they come!]

[The Avengers versus the Hidden Leaf Village, we want excitement!]

[Fan Zhuo versus God's Whip, a War of the Two Cities in the support lane, right?]

[Coach Homme versus Bai Seyueya, the BP is going to be completely out-drafted, isn't it?]

The war had not yet begun, but the public opinion had already taken flight.

For the only entertainment event of the winter offseason, countless onlookers had already set their sights on the Demacia Cup finals live stream. Not only online, but even the offline tickets had been snapped up by local audiences long ago.

At this moment, Luo Zhen, stepping off the bus, had slightly blurry eyes.

Although he had managed to get some rest after a night of sleep, the after-effects of staying up all night lingered, making him feel like he hadn't fully woken up yet. However, it didn't affect him much, because as soon as he stepped back onto the battlefield, just hearing the cheers erupting from the stadium from time to time sent a surge of excitement through him.

This was the advantage of playing professionally: the ability to receive timely dopamine feedback from the audience's cheers.

Unlike a normal corporate slave.

A normal corporate slave might work for over a decade without any feedback, if they were unlucky. What did they have? They had the five social insurances and one housing fund.

Yes.

It's that risk of hair loss, risk of being single, risk of illness, risk of dismissal, and the frequent risk of overtime, all part of the five insurances.

Then there's also a heart dedicated like gold.

"I'm feeling a surge of fighting spirit, how about you all?"

"Ah, I'm a bit sleepy."

"Seconded."

"I suggest next time, Xiao Zhen, you should stick to your normal schedule for rest. Your yawning is really contagious," Karsa said, then couldn't help but chuckle.

If you're talking about sleep time, everyone actually got enough rest.

But somehow, it was like yawning was contagious. Ever since Luo Zhen started yawning on the bus, they all started yawning one after another, and now they were all in a state of not being fully awake.

"No way, it's just yawning, don't make me sound like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

"What are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?"

"Oh, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are Liu Yong, Dey, Bear Grylls, and Luobo Tou. And then there's a man closest to Satan. These are all my idols, but I only dare to watch them, I don't dare to imitate them at all."

The V5 members: ...

Coach Homme saw the state of the group. Although he knew this state was partly due to yesterday's overtraining, as a coach, he still had to speak up when necessary.

"Look at your physical condition. After the Demacia Cup is over, I must arrange for you all to go on morning runs to improve your mental state."

"Okay, morning runs!!!" X6

"We need to ensure a relatively healthy schedule."

"Okay, a relatively healthy schedule!!!" X6

"We need to start practicing appropriate abstinence from sex."