Farewell, Cage!

The clubs frantically searching for Chen,Yu would never have imagined it.

The man they had tried every possible way to contact, without success,

was busy... falling in love!

If they knew, quite a few club managers would probably have coughed up blood from sheer frustration!

Bro, you already climbed to number one on the Chinese server. Did you never think about contacting a pro team?

Instead of going pro and making a name for yourself, you were holed up here dating?

Have some ambition, man!

Meanwhile,

inside the IG club,

"Have you managed to contact him?"

In the training room, Su Xiaoluo looked utterly impatient.

The IG players seated around the room looked just as helpless.

Kid spread his hands, at a loss. "None of the friend requests we sent have been accepted."

He had even made a point of asking players he knew at other clubs. Not a single one of their friend requests had been accepted either...

Rookie sounded equally troubled. "And ever since he reached number one, he hasn't played a single Ranked game. There's no chance of getting matched with him."

As for West, he sat silently in the corner.

Honestly, he was starting to give up.

After all, their team already had Yu Wenbo. Once he was old enough, he would take the starting spot. That was already set in stone.

Now there was a Chen,Yu, too.

Beside the dazzling brilliance of those prodigies, he seemed painfully dim.

Once those gifted players arrived, he would have to give up his spot.

It was brutal.

But that was esports. Skill was all that mattered.

"Ugh." Su Xiaoluo looked worried. "The problem now is that there are fewer than ten days left in the transfer window... and the Summer Split starts in half a month."

If they could not sign Chen,Yu within those ten days,

they would have to wait until next year, S8, for him to join.

But by then, Yu Wenbo would be old enough to play directly.

And they would miss this year's all-important S7 World Championship in the process!

Ultimately, IG was in such a hurry because Yu Wenbo still could not play.

The ADC position was far too important in the current meta, and West could not carry that burden.

That was why they were so desperate for a top-tier ADC.

If they could not sign Chen,Yu during the summer transfer window, it would be meaningless for IG!

It was not just IG.

The managers of the other clubs were equally troubled.

This newly crowned solo queue king had reached number one with an unprecedented, terrifying win rate.

Yet he seemed to have no intention of going pro at all?

Had Lu Chen known, he would definitely have shouted, "You've got me all wrong!"

It's not that I don't want to talk to you guys.

The main problem is that I'm already a pro player...

Whatever we need to discuss has to wait until my contract ends.

The next day.

At the RNG club.

Dressed in an ordinary white T-shirt, Lu Chen drew no attention as he walked straight to the owner's office on the second floor.

The office door stood open.

Two people could be heard talking inside.

"Fire Fox, if we can't contact him, stop wasting time on it. RNG isn't short on ADCs."

The other man replied helplessly, "Boss, we've already assessed him. This new solo queue king, Chen,Yu, is different from every solo queue star we've seen before. His win rate..."

Before Coach Fire Fox could finish, the owner, Bai Xing, interrupted him.

"None of that matters! We already spent a huge amount of money signing Uzi. There's absolutely no need to spend that much on the ADC position again. Understand?"

Then Bai Xing sneered. "Or do you think some random guy who's only played Ranked could be stronger than Uzi?"

For a moment, Coach Fire Fox fell silent.

Over the years, plenty of so-called "solo queue kings" had delivered mediocre performances after joining professional teams.

Some could not adapt to the pace of competitive play.

Others had shallow champion pools-the so-called one-tricks. Once their signature champion was banned, they might as well retire on the spot.

No wonder Bai Xing did not take him seriously.

After all, they already had an ADC who had long since proven his strength on the professional stage-Uzi!

Even so, Fire Fox still wanted to make an effort.

He had carefully studied this newly emerged solo queue king, Chen,Yu.

Whether it was his laning details, movement, last-hitting, or teamfight decisions, his performance was almost impossibly perfect.

And his champion pool was staggeringly vast.

He was nothing like those one-tricks from before!

Knock, knock, knock-

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

Both Bai Xing and Fire Fox turned to look.

Lu Chen stood in the doorway, looking a little awkward. "Um, Coach, Boss, I'm here to discuss my contract."

The office door had been open.

Still, standing there "eavesdropping" on other people discussing him was a strange experience.

Fire Fox nodded. "Come in."

"...Ahem."

Bai Xing composed himself and glanced at Lu Chen. "Oh, it's you. If I remember correctly... you're that substitute on the second youth team, right?"

"Yes." Lu Chen nodded. "My contract expires today."

"Mm." Bai Xing did not beat around the bush. "I'm sure you understand that we have no intention of renewing it."

A player who had spent two years on the second youth team without producing any results.

Of course RNG would not renew his contract.

"I know." Lu Chen nodded matter-of-factly. "I came here today to end the contract."

Bai Xing gave him a surprised look. Usually, other professional players grew anxious and conflicted when faced with the end of their contracts.

This kid, though, knew his own limits and had the sense to accept it.

Bai Xing then smiled in satisfaction and offered a few pleasantries. "Well, you did spend two years at the club. Once your contract ends, I hope you find work that suits you better."

Beside him, Fire Fox's lips moved slightly, as though he wanted to

say something, but in the end, he remained silent.

Next came the full contract termination process.

RNG handled it readily enough, even giving him an extra month's salary-two thousand yuan.

They were nothing like the Contract God they would later become.

The entire process took less than half an hour.

As the saying went, RNG did not hold scrubs hostage.

A little while later,

with his contract finally terminated, Lu Chen breathed a sigh of relief. A relaxed smile spread across his face as he stepped through the club's gates into the sunlight.

Farewell, cage!

A while later,

inside the apartment,

"Your contract's over?"

Rita sat cross-legged on the sofa, hugging her shins, her upper body leaning against the young man beside her.

"It's over." Lu Chen nodded with a smile. "From now on, I'm a free agent. I can sign wherever I want!"

Rita rolled her eyes at him. "Free agent? More like unemployed."

Then she asked curiously, "But RNG is one of the LPL's Three Royal Houses right now. Why didn't you just play there?"

In the LPL at the time,

apart from the Red Miracle, WE, RNG was enjoying the most limelight.

In fact, the two teams were almost neck and neck.

As for EDG, after Clearlove kicked out that 4396 damage figure in that S6 match, he had kicked away quite a few fans along with it.

Compared with the other two, they had already fallen slightly behind.