In the end, RNG posted a statement on their official account.
"IG's ChenYu is indeed the former RNG player Chen. We thank Chen for his two years of hard work on RNG's youth team. Furthermore, we parted ways normally upon the expiration of his contract. There were no disputes of the sort some people have speculated about, and we will not tolerate anyone spreading rumors."
The moment the statement came out, plenty of netizens perked up, as though the big story they had been waiting for had finally arrived.
For a while, both praise and hate poured in.
"So RNG's officially confirmed it?"
"Holy shit, you really let him go? You've got guts."
"I don't understand how RNG's management thinks. How could they let a player like C God go?"
"Has RNG's boss lost his mind?"
"LMAO, your C God spent two years on RNG's youth team without achieving anything. No wonder they kicked him out."
"Hit rank one on the Chinese server with an 85% win rate, but couldn't make the starting lineup after two years on the youth team. What does that tell you?"
"I don't know what's so special about this guy. He was just some scrub kept on bench duty by RNG's second-team players. Don't even think about comparing him to Uzi. Stop trying to ride his coattails."
Of course, even more people were just there for the entertainment. They supported neither side and simply enjoyed watching the drama.
"Whatever the truth is, all I want now is to watch RNG play IG in the summer split. Hurry up already!"
"Exactly. Will RNG purge a traitor, or will the Dragon King return to take revenge on his old team?"
"Come on, fight! Fight!"
"I have to quote Donquixote Doflamingo here: whoever wins is justice! I'll support whichever side wins!"
"I can't take the wait anymore. Why hasn't the summer split started yet?"
Meanwhile.
Naturally, the other clubs had seen all the commotion surrounding RNG.
At EDG's base.
Abu folded his arms, looking baffled. "What is RNG doing? They developed a top-tier player in their own youth program, then just handed him over?"
Clearlove pondered for a moment. "Because they have Uzi?"
Abu rolled his eyes at him. "Who would complain about having too many great players? Even if they only used him in a rotation, there's no way they should let him go."
Two top-tier AD carries with different styles would have allowed RNG to develop more tactical systems, while also making it harder for other teams to fully figure them out.
In the training room at IG's base.
No matter how much of a storm was raging outside, Lu Chen was still streaming.
He ignored all the commotion in chat and calmly queued for ranked on the Korean server, beginning this account's placement matches.
Soon, the first game ended.
Draven, with a score of 25-0-3. Just over ten minutes in, he was already standing in the enemy base, single-handedly hacking away at all five terrified opponents. They barely endured until fifteen minutes before finally surrendering.
After that match, the messages discussing RNG began to dwindle.
Plenty of viewers started remarking that games at this level were nothing but noob-stomping for C God.
Then came the second game.
Caitlyn, with a score of 15-0-5. With a fast-push strategy, he flattened the enemy base before they could even last fifteen minutes.
The third game, the fourth, the fifth...
As the games went on, chat gradually quieted down. Even the persistent haters fell silent for once.
In just over an hour, Lu Chen had completed five outright massacres!
Yes, massacres!
Not one of those five games lasted longer than twenty minutes, and he racked up at least a dozen kills in every one!
Even in games where his teammates were bad, they could never feed kills as fast as Lu Chen could rack them up!
By this point, all the messages discussing RNG had vanished, replaced entirely by amazement at those games.
"Holy shit... this is a straight-up massacre."
"I feel bad for the Koreans on the other side. How unlucky do you have to be to get matched against C God?"
"At first, I thought C God was having a blast getting all those kills. Now I just feel sorry for his opponents. This is brutal."
"Just imagining myself in their shoes is enough to make me feel hopeless."
"If I were on the other team, I'd quit the game afterward."
"Wow, helping Koreans kick their gaming addiction?"
"I admit you get kills fast, but even you can only play against me for fifteen minutes!"
"Fifteen? Ha. I'd just disconnect."
Only then did Lu Chen finally stop queuing. He slowly stretched and said with a relaxed smile, "Five games left. I'll take a break before continuing."
Just then, he noticed a message in chat. "C God doesn't even thank people for gifts? So aloof?"
"Uh..." Realization dawned on Lu Chen, and he tapped his forehead. "Sorry, sorry. This is my first time getting gifts. I forgot to check."
Only then did he look at chat and begin reading them out one by one.
"Thanks to 'C God Turn On Your Camera' for the airplane. Um... I'm using new equipment, so I don't have a camera yet."
"Thanks to 'Deyun Se' for the rocket. Thank you, thank you."
"Thanks to 'C God Aren't You Going to Appoint Mods' for the airplane. That's... definitely necessary."
With Lu Chen's rock-solid composure, he really couldn't care less about the haters' messages.
But some people were genuinely unhinged, posting utterly outrageous comments that could have a negative impact.
So those who needed banning still had to be banned.
Just then.
"Meow~"
A soft meow came from near his feet.
Lu Chen looked down. A white Ragdoll cat stood beside his feet, gazing up at him curiously, not at all shy around strangers.
"That's Nuomi." Not far away, Rookie entered the training room after washing up and called over with a smile, "Lu Chen, you're streaming?"
"Yeah." Lu Chen nodded. "Playing on the Korean server."
As he spoke, he reached down and stroked Nuomi's head.
As though already used to it, Nuomi not only stayed put but also tilted its head and rubbed against Lu Chen's hand.
"Want to duo?" Rookie sat down at his own station. "I can send some viewers your way, too."
To be honest, Rookie's own stream wasn't drawing much attention at the moment.
After all, IG's following was tiny compared with that of the Three Royal Houses above them.
But compared with a "newcomer" like Lu Chen, his viewership was certainly many times larger.
"No need." Lu Chen smiled and shook his head. "
I'm doing placements, so we definitely can't queue together."
"Oh, I see." Rookie nodded thoughtfully.
A moment later.
Several gift notifications suddenly floated across Lu Chen's stream.
[IG Rookie sent Super Rocket ×1!] [IG Rookie sent Super Rocket ×2!] [...] [IG Rookie sent Super Rocket ×5!]
"Uh, wow." Lu Chen froze, then waved his hand, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "You really don't have to do this."
Those things were expensive-two thousand yuan each.
In other words, in just those few seconds, Rookie had sent him ten thousand yuan's worth of gifts!
"It's fine." Rookie smiled, completely unconcerned. "It's nothing. If you're touched, just carry me to a few more wins in the summer split."
Lu Chen smacked his lips. In the end, he could only say helplessly, "All right. I'll do my best."
Super Rockets triggered platform-wide announcements.
As those five Super Rockets landed, even more viewers flooded into Lu Chen's stream.
Before you continue