Just as Lu Chen and the others headed out in high spirits for a feast...
The storm online finally erupted in full!
First came Kangba.
A thread in the most time-honored Kangba tradition shot to the top.
"Summer regular season, week one, day two: IG vs. WE player ratings thread. All other ratings threads will be deleted."
Everyone on IG had a rating above nine!
The comments under every player were full of praise, perfectly capturing Kangba's essence-hype them when they win, flame them when they lose.
Then came Lu Chen's section.
Player: Chen Yu. Rating: 9.9!
"Holy shit, C!"
"A god among gods! All I can say is, he's invincible."
"The perfect debut. Zero deaths, legendary, and a pentakill!"
"An ADC flanking for a pentakill. I'm tearing up. I thought we'd never see an ADC like this again after Uzi."
"Welcome the birth of another superstar ADC in the LPL!"
"Now this is a real god! Two flawless games without a single mistake!"
"Pure ADC gap. Mystic got absolutely shell-shocked."
"Forget Mystic. Which of WE's five players looked normal?"
"You're insane, bro. Is this really your first time playing professionally???"
"The worst bot lane stomp I've seen in the past year. Even playing wildcard teams at last year's World Championship wasn't this ridiculous!"
"One word: stunning. I couldn't believe it after watching, so I watched the replay again. His mechanics were fucking terrifying. I couldn't even count all the abilities he dodged."
Countless comments and threads flooded the screen.
Yet among all those threads, one unrelated to the match stood out.
"What do you think of player ChenYu, Lu Chen's looks?"
The thread also included Lu Chen's MVP photo.
"He's so handsome! Seriously, it's a waste that he isn't an idol."
"C God could clearly get by on his looks, but he insists on relying on skill. Honestly, I'm crying."
"I'm just going to say it-hi, hubby!"
"Get lost, person above. That's obviously my husband!"
"All you gay guys, get lost! C God belongs to us female fans!"
"Bullshit! Since when does IG have female fans?"
Beyond Kangba...
The follower counts on both IG's official Weibo and Lu Chen's personal account skyrocketed!
Every iconic moment, one could say, brought with it enduring popularity!
Just as the Zed-versus-Zed duel had made Faker famous overnight.
Lu Chen's flanking pentakill on Twitch had likewise earned him an incredible surge of popularity!
That very night, countless kill montages appeared across the major video platforms.
Bilibili, Douyin, and the rest were flooded with them!
This wave of hype wasn't going to die down anytime soon.
But none of that affected IG's players yet.
No matter how wildly the fans celebrated online...
At nine that evening, IG's players returned to their base after finishing their feast.
Lu Chen got his things sorted, took a shower, and went to his seat in the training room wearing his pajamas.
"Bzz-"
The phone on his desk vibrated.
Lu Chen picked it up and saw a message from Rita: Little Chen, you played pretty well today. Keep it up. Your big sis was the one casting this match, you know~
A smile tugged at his lips as he typed back: Sure, Little Yu. Just wait until you're casting me in the World Championship final at the Bird's Nest.
Two days later.
IG faced IM.
All three members of their trident delivered steady performances, crushing their opponents 2-0.
In week two, IG faced EDG and repeated the outcome of that very first scrim.
Lu Chen schooled iBoy on both sides of the matchup, securing an easy 2-0 victory.
In week three, they faced Snake Esports.
It was another 2-0. Afterward, Crystal slumped in his chair looking utterly broken, then insisted on adding Lu Chen on WeChat during the handshake.
He declared that he wouldn't let go until Lu Chen agreed.
Left with no choice, Lu Chen promised to add him in a moment.
Also in week three, IG faced DAN and once again won an easy 2-0.
Then, in week four, they took down SNG to complete a six-match winning streak!
Throughout it all, Lu Chen's performance in every match remained as dazzling as ever. He barely died, and his KDA was frighteningly high!
One phrase summed it up-like a knife through butter.
Naturally, his popularity continued to soar.
That state of affairs lasted until week five.
IG was about to face RNG.
This match could practically be called the center of everyone's attention!
After all, RNG had a superstar ADC: Uzi.
And IG had C God, the recent rising star who had swept through the LPL with unstoppable force!
Countless viewers wanted to see which of the two would come out on top when they clashed!
Would the god of the old era uphold his majesty?
Or would the god of the new era step over the old god's bones and ascend to a higher throne?
Some fans had even started jokingly calling the match a clash of two gods!
In short, before the match had even begun, ticket prices were already being driven to absurd heights online.
Meanwhile.
At RNG's club, in the owner's office.
"Uh..." The team manager stood before the desk, looking stunned. "Are we really not going to get into trouble for doing this?"
Coach Fire Fox's brow was deeply furrowed. "Surely this isn't necessary?"
Bai Xing sat in his chair with an indifferent expression, his hands clasped in front of him. "Uzi cannot lose, and neither can we. Or do you have some other way to guarantee victory?"
Fire Fox's expression stiffened. In the end, he could only shake his head slightly.
He thought highly of the team he had coached.
He also had great confidence in the abilities of Uzi, Xiaohu, Mlxg, and the others.
But they were facing ChenYu, who had swept through every opponent since his debut without anyone even coming close to matching him.
No one in the current LPL would dare guarantee a win against him!
That man was simply a monster!
The coaches and analysts of every team had already watched the footage from these past few weeks over and over again.
But all of them had discovered one terrifying problem.
He never made mistakes!
Even for a professional player, that was absolutely unbelievable!
Unprecedented, even!
The manager wiped at the cold sweat on his forehead.
"But if the officials investigate and find nothing wrong, we could face penalties."
"They're only penalties," Bai Xing said dismissively. "How much have we already spent building hype for the team and Uzi? What's a little penalty compared to that?"
As he spoke, his eyes turned cold again. "You understand, don't you? Once we lose, all our previous efforts will go down the drain! Can you bear that loss?!"
Losing to a Korean ADC was one thing.
But Lu Chen was a homegrown LPL player!
Hadn't their whole marketing strategy always revolved around being an all-Chinese roster?
If they lost, especially if Lu Chen earned MVP against Uzi, the consequences would be unthinkable!
The manager stood there with a conflicted expression, seemingly hesitating.
In the end, however, he gave a reluctant nod. "All right. I'll make the arrangements."
And so.
At eight that evening.
TJ Sports suddenly released an official announcement:
Player Chen Yu was temporarily suspended from all competition while officials investigated potential match-fixing during his time in the LSPL.
Of course, the officials weren't stupid. They knew just how popular Lu Chen was now.
But they had no choice. With league competition becoming increasingly regulated, their stated stance had always been zero tolerance for match-fixing.
When something like this suddenly surfaced, they couldn't possibly ignore it.
Thus, they had thoughtfully added the following beneath the announcement:
"Following a report from RNG club manager XX concerning abnormal performances in two appearances by player Chen Yu during his time with RNG's youth team, the above measures have been taken."
"This is a routine investigation and will be conducted rigorously. If the allegations are found to be defamatory, player Chen Yu's eligibility to compete will be restored immediately, and strict action will be taken against the reporting party."
The moment the news broke, the entire League of Legends community erupted!
(End of chapter)
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