Going viral yet again!

It was just as Su Xiaoluo had expected.

Once the qualifiers had settled the spots for this year's World Championship, the hype had skyrocketed and exploded before the tournament had even begun.

After the send-off ceremony that night, they practically took over the entire Weibo trending list!

Trending at number one, with over seven million in heat: #S7 World Championship#!

Trending at number two, with over five million in heat: #LPL send-off ceremony#!

Several more entries below were all about the three teams that had qualified for the World Championship.

EDG, RNG, and IG had each stormed onto the trending list before anyone could react!

There was even a trending topic about Lu Chen himself, ranked ninth with over a million in heat: #This shot from C God was worth a ticket to S7#.

Even more absurdly, WE, who had already been eliminated, also made the list: #Red Miracle WE eliminated, players shed tears onstage#.

It sat right behind Lu Chen's topic, rubbing salt into the wound.

Meanwhile, Kangba, the "birthplace of esports," had descended into outright revelry!

Countless people were furiously discussing this year's World Championship.

Memes were flying everywhere.

Several highlight moments from Lu Chen's Caitlyn had also been turned into GIFs and widely shared.

Especially that five-man dive against two.

The clip of Caitlyn killing Kassadin with a single ranged critical basic attack had been captioned: "This shot is called divine punishment!"

Of course.

The most popular image was still the screenshot of all fifteen players standing in a row at the send-off ceremony.

Lu Chen looked rather out of place among them.

Even funnier, the screenshot had caught several players around Lu Chen unable to resist looking at him.

So someone added a caption above their heads: "Bro, did you wander onto the wrong set?"

That image had practically supplied the biggest laugh of the night!

Among all the posts, the one bumped to the top was-

"Serious discussion: which team has the best shot at winning it all-EDG, RNG, or IG?"

The comments below shot past a thousand in barely an hour!

"EDG's the first seed, so aim for the final. RNG's the second seed, so aim for the semifinals. IG's the third seed. Let's see them get through play-ins first."

"Lmao, you don't seriously think this IG is still the old IG, do you?"

"With C God completing their lineup, I'd believe you if you called IG the secret first seed!"

"Honestly, sending an IG this strong into play-ins... holy shit, that scene's too beautiful. I can't even bear to watch~"

"C God shows absolutely no mercy against weaker players. He took Draven to their base in ten minutes in a Challenger ranked game. Play-ins will probably be much the same."

"Fun fact: C God hasn't lost since his debut."

"Gotta disagree with you there. Didn't C God lose to RNG a while back? They even sealed him away for two months."

"Lmao, RNG really is the strongest team in the LPL."

Of course, plenty of comments were simply people expressing their feelings.

"A Dog Sons fan here, tearing up. After two years, we finally get to see IG at the World Championship again."

"60E in tears. It's been five years since S2 without a World Championship appearance!"

"7777777!"

"Uzi, forever our god! Smash SKT and overcome your demons!"

"Our most promising year yet!"

"Waiting to lift the trophy at the Bird's Nest. We're all LPL fans!"

"My take: don't get too optimistic. The higher your hopes, the harder the disappointment."

"Exactly. Doubt first, doubt some more, then keep doubting."

"Every year's our most promising year, and every year ends up our most disappointing."

"It's the fucking Bird's Nest! If an LPL team wins and lifts the trophy there, I'll be their fan for life!"

"Who isn't thinking that?"

"So how long until play-ins start? I can't wait anymore!"

"Should be in the next few days."

Leaving the online discussions aside for now.

The following day, at IG's team facility.

"Holy shit! Chen, you're trending!"

JackeyLove's startled cry shattered the peace inside the facility.

Hearing him, Ning Wang turned around with a grin. "Bro, you've gone viral yet again."

Lu Chen replied in amusement, "Same thing I said before, bro. I was already famous."

JackeyLove was speechless. "..."

Ning Wang clutched his chest, looking wounded. "You can talk! You gained the most followers yesterday!"

It was mainly thanks to that screenshot of the players at the send-off ceremony.

Media platforms and netizens everywhere had cropped it to put Lu Chen front and center.

Everyone standing beside him had become mere background decoration!

A moment later.

As everyone laughed and chatted, Su Xiaoluo pushed open the door and walked in. "Everyone! Listen up!"

One look at the irrepressible smile on his face told them he had good news.

Sure enough.

A second later, Su Xiaoluo said with a smile, "Get ready. I've arranged the celebration dinner. Everyone's coming!"

"Nice!"

Everyone in the facility broke into smiles, with some even standing up to exchange high fives.

Another feast awaited them.

Whatever else you might say about IG, they were ridiculously generous when it came to this.

With the principal backing them, money was simply no object. In that respect, they left the other LPL clubs far behind!

"One more thing."

Su Xiaoluo clapped his hands. "The boss has heard the result, and he's delighted. He was going to come celebrate in person, but he's in Guangzhou right now, and it's too far away. So he'll be sending everyone cash gifts instead!"

"Long live the boss!"

Another round of cheers immediately rang through the facility.

When the money arrived, even Lu Chen couldn't help marveling at their deep pockets. Each person got 88,888.

Even Duke, JackeyLove, Kid, and the others who hadn't played got a share!

Of course, judging by the way Su Xiaoluo's grin nearly reached his ears, his bonus had definitely been even bigger.

After all, he was the one who had brought this IG team together.

These rewards might have seemed extravagant, but they were actually quite reasonable.

Securing a ticket to this all-important S7 World Championship was already a massive payoff.

After all, the hype surrounding this World Championship had swept across the entire internet like a torrent, reaching

an absurd level!

If they could make it to the Bird's Nest, or even win it all...

That scene was almost impossible to imagine!

A while later.

Everyone boarded the team bus and headed to a five-star hotel together.

Su Xiaoluo fully embraced the role of a filthy-rich big spender, ordering all kinds of giant lobsters and abalone.

Kid even shouted excitedly, "How about ordering a sturgeon first? Let's get a sturgeon."

He seemed to have completely forgotten how he'd gotten the nickname General Sturgeon.

All in all, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the celebration dinner.

There was, of course, one exception-JackeyLove.

He sat off to the side, chewing a steak that might as well have been cardboard, wistfully watching everyone else demolish the seafood on the table.

"You really are allergic to seafood, huh?" Lu Chen came over with a plate and sat down beside JackeyLove.

"Yeah." JackeyLove nodded helplessly. "It's not that serious, but eating it definitely makes me feel awful."

"I see." Lu Chen thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "I'll eat some extra, then. Watch me and imagine the taste. It'll be like you ate it too."

"..." The corner of JackeyLove's mouth twitched. Only after a long pause did he say earnestly, "Chen, sometimes I think you're a real bastard too."

Despite what he'd said.

That sense of being left out of the table's festivities had quietly disappeared.

(End of chapter)