"It wasn't all me." Lu Chen smiled faintly and shook his head. "In that last fight, Ning Wang's Jarvan IV got a good engage, and Rookie and TheShy both unloaded all their damage."
"Don't be modest. You were a beast this game. We didn't have much to do with it," Rookie said with a chuckle, shaking his head.
TheShy took off his headset and gave Lu Chen a thumbs-up. "Well played, Chen!"
The practice room filled with laughter.
Standing behind them, Su Xiaoluo and Coach Mafa exchanged a glance. They both saw the same thought in each other's eyes-they had to sign this guy!
There was no helping it. Lu Chen's performance in those two scrims had been almost absurdly good.
Their opponents weren't some bottom-tier team, either. They were EDG, one of the LPL's Three Royal Houses!
Shining that brightly against EDG was already enough to prove Lu Chen's skill.
"Honestly, I still haven't quite processed it," Su Xiaoluo said, licking his lips. "We just won? That easily?"
Whenever IG scrimmed against EDG in the past, they lost most of their games.
Even their wins had been hard-fought.
When had they ever won as easily as they had today?
Mafa wrote in his notebook as he spoke. "This player handled everything perfectly, whether in lane or in teamfights. I can't find a single weakness."
He raised his head and fixed Su Xiaoluo with an intense gaze. "Do you know what's most frightening?"
"Wh-what...?" Su Xiaoluo was a little bewildered by his stare.
"No mistakes!" Mafa said excitedly. "Two scrims, and from start to finish, I didn't see him make a single mechanical mistake! Do you realize how incredible that is?"
Any player could pull off a highlight play if given the chance.
After all, who among the pros wasn't a prodigy?
The truly difficult part was keeping up that level of play!
What player could guarantee that they would stay completely focused throughout an entire game without making a single mistake?
Mafa's eyes shone. "If Lu Chen can keep playing like this onstage... never mind qualifying for Worlds. Even this year's world championship..."
Su Xiaoluo's pupils contracted slightly. Understanding what Mafa meant, he drew a breath. Then his gaze sharpened, as though he had made up his mind, and he stepped forward and called out:
"Lu Chen, your tryout is over. Come to my office. Let's discuss your contract."
"Sure." Lu Chen took off his headset, rose calmly, and followed him.
The remaining IG players stayed in their seats, exchanging glances.
"Man..." Ning Wang rubbed his chin. "How much do you think C God's contract will be worth?"
Baolan joked, "No idea, but definitely more than mine."
Ning Wang chuckled. "It can't be more than Rookie's, right?"
Everyone knew that Rookie was treated like a favorite son at IG.
Of course, he deserved it. Everyone had seen his performances for IG over the past two years. Calling him the lone carry would hardly be an exaggeration.
People had even joked that whether IG won depended on whether Rookie could rack up kills faster than his teammates could feed them.
There was no getting around it. Before S7, IG genuinely hadn't had a single player worth bragging about besides Rookie.
Rookie scratched his head and was about to speak when he noticed a friend-message notification on the game screen of the computer Lu Chen had been using.
"Huh? Who's this?"
They used special accounts for scrims, and nearly everyone on their friend lists was a pro.
Ning Wang and Baolan looked over too.
"Let me see. Could they be looking for West?" Baolan reached over and opened the message.
[EDG iBoy: Who are you?]
"Uh..."
They exchanged glances, all feeling a little awkward.
Ning Wang recovered first and started grinning. "Well, they figured out our AD wasn't West."
Rookie fell silent for a moment before offering a tactful response. "Lu Chen and West have different styles, after all. It's only natural they noticed."
Baolan rubbed his nose without saying anything, while Ning Wang spread his hands.
They all knew the truth. The gap in skill was simply too big. Their opponents had realized it wasn't West as soon as they played against him.
Meanwhile.
In the manager's office on the club's second floor.
"Lu Chen, I'm sure you understand how sincere we are. This is the highest figure I'm authorized to offer."
Sitting behind his desk, Su Xiaoluo slid a contract across to Lu Chen. "Take a look first. If you have any concerns, we can discuss them."
Lu Chen sat across from him and picked up the contract. His eyebrows rose slightly at the first glance.
Sure enough, IG's owner lived up to his reputation as the Principal. He really was generous.
Even for a rookie like him, who had never played professionally, they had offered an annual salary of five million yuan right off the bat!
Bonuses, a signing fee, streaming income, and the like would all be calculated separately.
That was by no means a small amount.
This was S7, well before the later era when the esports industry had matured and signing fees routinely reached tens of millions.
Across the entire LPL, aside from a handful of championship-winning Korean imports, superstars like Uzi and Clearlove were probably the only players earning annual salaries in the tens of millions.
For a rookie just joining the LPL, an annual salary of one million was already excellent.
Five million was an astronomical sum for a rookie!
It showed just how boldly IG was willing to act.
Lu Chen slowly set the contract on the desk and said, "I actually only have one concern."
"Go ahead." Su Xiaoluo leaned forward slightly.
"The contract term." Lu Chen pointed to a clause in the contract, a light seeming to kindle in his eyes. "Two years is too long. How about we sign for six months first? Once S7 is over, we can renew based on my results."
Su Xiaoluo looked at the young man across from him in surprise. "Six months?"
He seemed to see immense ambition and confidence in Lu Chen's eyes.
Normally, when pro players had the chance to sign a high-paying contract, they wanted it to last as long as possible.
After all, no one dared to
guarantee that their form wouldn't decline later.
If that happened, signing another lucrative contract would be difficult.
Yet the young man before him seemed to have extraordinary confidence in himself!
"Give me a moment." After some thought, Su Xiaoluo picked up his phone and headed for the door. "I'll ask the boss and get back to you."
"Sure." Lu Chen was in no hurry.
A little while later.
Su Xiaoluo returned with a somewhat complicated expression. "The boss agreed. He said he's willing to make an exception for you, but if you don't deliver results, you can't blame him when the time comes."
"Of course." Lu Chen nodded.
"Then..." Su Xiaoluo extended his hand with a smile. "Welcome to IG, Lu Chen."
Lu Chen paused briefly, then extended his own hand and grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. "Thank you."
Half an hour later.
A new post appeared on IG's official Weibo account.
"Welcome, our new player Chen Yu! Let's move forward hand in hand and work hard to build a new future! @IG Chen Yu."
Before you continue