"So what about now? Haven't things already changed drastically? Has your goal never changed?" Karsa suddenly asked.
"Of course not. Right now, I can only say I have a contract, but I still want a bigger one. After all, you can only make money playing professionally for so many years. Winning a World Championship would obviously be best. That way, I'd have money, fame, and honor."
Everyone had dreams.
But the most important thing while chasing dreams was filling your stomach first. Otherwise, people online would not keep suggesting that wealthy second-generation kids should be guided into scientific research. They genuinely had little pressure in life. As long as their values were properly cultivated, they could devote themselves wholeheartedly to research. But he could not.
"I really want to become a rich man, but I heard rich people have a strange quirk too."
"Oh? Go on."
"I heard this from someone else. Apparently, there's some foreign tycoon who doesn't sleep at night. He puts on a bat costume and runs around scaring people. I don't get why, but supposedly he's from Gotham."
The V5 members in the room: ...
On the night after the match ended, countless Amusement Seekers immediately began analyzing the records of the teams that had played during the first week.
Because V5's bargain-hunting strategy had been a massive success this year, and because they had brought in a meme-filled existence like 369, discussion around V5 remained incredibly heated and polarized.
One side was pessimistic about 369's performance and the team's high average age, believing they would definitely run into trouble in the Playoffs.
The other side was optimistic about V5's new roster and Hong Mi, feeling that this new V5 might achieve Nirvana Rebirth.
But regardless of which side they were on, their evaluations of Luo Zhen were quite positive.
LPL AD carries were like this: if all you did was play aggressively, fight lane matchups, and then suffer all kinds of Sudden Deaths, they would compare you to JKL. Then the more they compared you, the worse you looked, because you did not have a championship.
If you played conservatively, acted as a team-oriented ADC, and had no Famous Scenes, then the only conclusion would be that your future was promising. In reality, though, they would not give you the slightest bit of attention or hype.
Yet Luo Zhen happened to have the perfect combination.
He was steady early and fierce late, possessing both qualities. It was like practicing a melee mage who had to fight at both close and long range, and he performed quite well at both.
Then came the most crucial part.
LWX let something slip during a stream, revealing that after losing to V5, he had given Luo Zhen an intensive lesson that lasted a full day and night. Public opinion instantly exploded.
Well damn, just well damn.
No wonder this New AD had become more and more ferocious throughout the Demacia Cup. So a champion ADC had been secretly passing down his power overnight.
Other people played Three Kingdoms and picked generals, while you opened Dragon King and picked Xu Zhu?
What, slay Xiao Tian to repay the sect, Xiang Zhangmen's number one disciple?
Everyone was laughing themselves crazy.
Back during the Demacia Cup, people had found it a little regrettable that Xiang Zhangmen had not butchered the FPX traitors one by one for Show Effect. Looking at it now, how was this a lack of Show Effect? He had clearly pulled off something even bigger in secret.
Luo Zhen became popular again, completely unexpectedly.
Chapter 12: Launch an Internal Competition Against V5!
During the early stages of his LPL career, Luo Zhen was being flooded with countless new pieces of knowledge.
In terms of Laning Phase strength, his current ability was temporarily sufficient. The ADCs with stronger laning had yet to recover their form, so they could not break through his tower-style development. The weaker ADCs posed no threat to him at all; their fundamentals were even weaker than his.
Simply put, there seemed to be some issues, but they were not major issues in the short term.
As for Kiting, he was still practicing it continuously. He needed time to become more familiar with it.
The good news was that his fundamentals were extremely solid. He did not have bad habits like rebinding keys, and he had never played those games with bizarre key layouts. Do not underestimate that sort of thing—playing too many different games could have a major impact on a Player's keyboard inputs.
For example:
CEWD was probably Qifan.
WERF was Meng San.
QWER was obvious.
If it had everything from WBVFHZCDIL onward, there was no need to think about it. Dota 1.
Hong Mi's training focused on broader concepts.
How to determine ward placements based on the enemy's movements, how to decide his next move through the Minimap's flow, how to Create Advantage with small actions coordinated with teammates in different lanes, and how to appear in the most suitable location at the most appropriate time.
Two words: macro.
Or rather, what Hong Mi was doing more than anything was teaching Luo Zhen how to watch a match.
First understand it, then know how to win it.
As for everything else... just like 369, he obediently endured the brainwashing attacks of every faction within the club.
"Brother Jiu, whenever I close my eyes now, I can hallucinate countless people whispering in my ears that I'm the Number One AD. What should I do?" Luo Zhen was already numb. He had even taken the initiative to ask 369 how to avoid being hypnotized.
Upon hearing that, 369 sighed and waved a hand, looking as though there was nothing he could do either. "Just endure it. I've been listening to this level of hypnosis for two years already. Eventually, you'll go numb."
"But I'm even having trouble falling asleep at night now."
"Of course you are. Have you looked at what you've been drinking at night? Are those things meant to be mixed together?"
Luo Zhen's occasional nighttime recipe for boosting his energy made even the other professional players uneasy: Red Bull mixed with flour, tea leaves used as filling, everything boiled in coffee, and dumpling soup washed down alongside it—original broth dissolving the original food.
The fact that he had not been rushed to the hospital on the spot could only mean his stomach was absurdly powerful.
"I can't help it. The coach's stuff sounds like he's chanting spells. The moment I listen to it, I want to sleep."
"Sigh, me too..."
With that, the two of them tacitly picked up their colas and clinked cups. Both of them carried the sorrowful feeling of fellow wanderers at the ends of the earth.
Why did this profession feel even more exhausting than going to school?
"You're doing fine, at least your future is promising. I saw you secretly browsing Hupu for three days straight."
"You're not bad either. Going by the Protagonist formula from novels, your emotions are already in place, and you've already shouted 'thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.' Now all that's left is for you to return through Nirvana and storm the Yunlan Sect. If that script comes true, wouldn't you instantly become a top star?"
Luo Zhen understood 369's situation all too well.
The number of people hating on him now meant he was extremely popular. The batch of people who had made their fortunes through self-media all knew that if you wanted to establish yourself, the first thing you needed was fans. It did not matter whether they were haters, regular fans, or casual fans. Build the fanbase first, then clean things up later.
369's current path was somewhat like that. If Hong Mi really managed to train him up, would that not turn into a Dragon King script in minutes?
These days, the popularity of professional top laners was incredibly valuable.
"If only it were that simple."
369 sounded somewhat emotional upon hearing that. He knew exactly how much attention he was receiving. After all... among professional players, how many could truly resist the temptation to browse Hupu?
"The most glorious day in a person's life is not the day they achieve success and fame, but the day they step out of sorrow with courage and toward their will. Relax, everyone believes in you." Shaking the little cola left in his hand, he was already starting to want to leave.
"Nice line. Where did you copy it from?"
"Forgot. I saw it back then, thought it sounded pretentious enough, and saved it."
"Then it's fine. Send me a copy later. If I ever really make a comeback, I'll use it for a post."
"No problem!"
His chat with 369 was merely a small interlude in his professional career. After returning to the training room, Luo Zhen and the others continued attending lessons, training, and receiving psychological counseling as they should.
Of course, he played desperately too.
Having lived through the era of Compulsive Workers, he deeply understood that if he wanted to survive in this society, he had to grasp workplace rules. In his words: "I'd rather exhaust myself to death than let my peers outwork me. Watch me become one man below and ten thousand above!"
Then... he dragged the entirety of V5 into internal competition.
"Alright, alright. Those who haven't started a game, stop for now. Those who have can listen a little. It's not anything that important anyway." Seeing that everyone was present and that it was almost mealtime, Hong Mi decided to briefly discuss their next opponent.
In truth, after they beat RA, they had also beaten WE.
However, WE had already sold off the team's three pillars by then, so they had no real strength to speak of. It had simply been a Rookie Match, swept away in one wave, and thus did not attract much attention.
But their next opponent was interesting.
WBG, formerly SN.
The reason it was worth bringing up specifically was simple: there was another one of Rookie's former teammates there—Theshy.
One could only say that WBG truly deserved to be called a traffic-chasing organization. When they let Bin go, people thought they could only watch Sofm create Show Effect. Yet they somehow brought back an even bigger attention magnet, directly raising WBG's popularity to heights it did not deserve.
Top laner Xiu Nan, LPL's number one swinger, an inventor in the top lane. His strength was that he liked playing for pressure; his weakness was also that he liked playing for pressure.
Jungler Sofm, LPL's number one gambler, an inventor in the jungle. His strength was that he liked farming camps; his weakness was also that he liked farming camps.
Mid laner Angle, LPL's number one prisoner, an earthbound spirit in mid. His strength was being Immovable as a Mountain; his weakness was also being Immovable as a Mountain.
As for Huan Feng and ON in the bottom lane, all that could be said was that they were completely out of place with their own top-mid-jungle trio. Or rather, ON was the team's face, while Huan Feng was the team's balls. Their functions were different.
And this was the next opponent they were about to face.
Chapter 13: I Have a Plan to Turn the Enemy Against Themselves
The next day.
A few hours before heading to the venue, the V5 group was still eating at the base.
For professional players, if they had a match at night, they could not eat until they were completely full beforehand. Feeling full not only stirred up lustful thoughts, but also slightly reduced one's thinking and reaction speed. But they could not eat nothing either. If the match dragged into a BO3, then there were interviews and all sorts of other things, they would not finish until after ten at night, which was bad for their health.
With the Snake Team's past example before them, they would always give the players something to fill their stomachs.
But...
"No, I'm not eating this. What even is this? It's so weird, I've never seen anything like it." Faced with the incomprehensible soup that had been forcibly ladled into his bowl, Luo Zhen immediately put on a look of refusal.
Since V5's home venue was in Guangdong Province, the chef traveling with the team was also from Guangdong Province. The direct result was that he had to drink all sorts of strange soups every day.
It might have been good stuff. At the very least, he was much sturdier than when he had first joined the team.
But the appearance... occasionally, there would be pitch-black soups that scared him just by looking at them.
"It's good stuff. You're the only one on the whole team getting this treatment. Everyone's doing it for your own good." The V5 manager held a spoon out before Luo Zhen, coaxing him to drink like he was tricking a child.
"But it's completely black! What is this? I'm not drinking it."
"Drink up. It's Black Chicken and Abalone Soup. It's very nourishing and good for your body. Be good, even half a bowl is fine."
"No, I refuse!"
Seeing Luo Zhen's guarded expression, the accompanying chef could not stand it anymore. She had seen plenty of picky young people like this. Of course, precisely because he was young, she had a way to deal with him.
She lightly walked over to the manager, took the fork from him, then plunged it into the bowl of soup on the table. "Listen to Auntie and drink. This is a fine soup Auntie spent hours simmering. It's very nourishing."
"No!"
"Fine, you don't have to drink it. It's just a shame that this fine soup Auntie spent half the day simmering can strengthen virility and kidneys, delay aging, and strengthen muscles and bones. Since you won't drink it, I'll take it away." With that, she made as if to carry the bowl away.
"Wait!" Luo Zhen suddenly reached out to stop her, then asked solemnly, "Could you repeat what you just said?"
"I said if you won't drink it, I'll take the soup away."
"No, the sentence before that."
"Oh, this soup can strengthen virility and kidneys, dela—"
"Enough." With that, Luo Zhen abruptly picked up the bowl of soup and drained it in one go. His bold manner and decisive action were so sudden that none of the other teammates watching the show in the room could react.
Then came...
"Auntie, another bowl! No, three bowls!"
"Uh..."
Auntie was a little unable to handle this. She looked toward the manager beside her for guidance. The soup was good, but the better the soup, the smaller the amount that could be made. If he drank it all, there would not be enough left for everyone else.
The manager, however, was generous. He patted his chest and told Auntie, "Only three bowls? Who's that enough for? If the club next door hears this, they'll think we can't afford to drink it! Go! Tell logistics to buy ingredients from the market. Auntie, work a little harder. Tonight, one pot per person! Everyone gets some!"
"Wuhu! Long live!"
When they had refreshed themselves and appeared at the venue, they happened to run into WBG, who had just arrived as well. The two sides greeted each other from afar, which counted as a show of courtesy.
After all, when Chinese people crushed rookies, they valued Courtesy Before Force.
It was precisely because they were former teammates that they wanted to completely crush each other's teams. It was not that their feelings were shallow... on the contrary, it was because their feelings were so deep that they did this, all to prove to one another that they had found better teammates.
"Rookie, what do you think? Your old teammate is on the other side."
Karsa grinned as he teased Rookie. After all, when they played TES in the Demacia Cup, he had already enjoyed himself once. And he only needed to face TES, while Rookie was different—he had only enjoyed three-ninths of it.
Before you continue