After the interview, the IG team left in a car.
As the team representing LPL in this MSI finals, the road here was filled with thorns and ridicules, but the road to leave was filled with flowers and applause.
It was only a hundred meters from the waiting room to the parking lot, and Li Fu and others were stopped at the turning of the passage more than once, and the fans waiting outside the guardrail cheered.
“IG is awesome!”
"Fu Huang Fu Huang! Can you give me a tutorial on how to use a male gun?"
"Please take a photo with me!"
“…”
Faced with the enthusiastic fans, everyone on IG responded by smiling and saying hello.
As for the fans who asked for photos, since they were not in a hurry and it was not easy to come to the scene, everyone basically satisfied their requests.
However, after Zizi took a photo with a male fan, he came over to Axun and Rookie and said sourly, "Why are the people who approach us all men, while Dufu Ge takes photos with girls? Is it because I look too cool?"
After hearing this, A Xun was stunned for two seconds and didn't know how to respond. Don't you have any idea of the situation?
At the same time, A Xun was also feeling that Zizi's attitude towards mourning was really good.
Duke beat him up so hard today that he almost threw up. He thought this guy would be depressed all day. Since they sleep in the same dorm, maybe he would crawl into bed with him and play online depression music at night.
Unexpectedly, just after the game, when he saw Li Fu's Graves beating him up hard, Zizi immediately smiled. When Li Fu came back, he even gave him a bear hug.
At this moment, when the female fan standing last in line was taking a group photo, she, who was standing next to Li Fu, suddenly raised her left hand with a blushing face and made a half-heart gesture towards the camera.
According to the plot, at this time Li Fu raised his right hand and made half a heart shape, which would be a complete heart shape.
This scene immediately attracted the attention of other fans around. The male fans couldn't help but burst into laughter, while the female fans were secretly annoyed as to why they didn't think of this gesture. They just stupidly stood aside and took a photo and that was it. What a loss!
As for the IG team, they are really envious this time.
Even Rookie, who was taking a group photo, turned his head to look at the smiling male fan next to him. He suddenly felt bored and a formulaic smile appeared on his face.
"grass!"
"Why is it that Brother Fu has more and more female fans?"
"Brother Fu has to treat us to a meal at Haidilao tonight."
“…”
Unexpectedly, the next second,
Facing the enthusiastic and proactive female fans, Li Fu did not make a heart shape with his hands. Instead, he put a thumbs up next to the half heart shape and clicked a like button to the camera.
Snap!
The picture freezes!
Everyone's mouth corners twitched slightly!
The female fans whose cheeks were originally flushed were also dumbfounded.
The other female fans were all grinning!
Hahaha!
You scheming bitch, you still want to take advantage of my brother Fu!
You can't have what we don't have .
Coach Chris on the side was very pleased.
Beauty is a disaster.
This is true for the e-sports community.
I don't know how many young players, at the age when they should be working hard to improve their skills, have encountered various temptations and lost control of their original intentions.
Finally, the fried noodles went downhill.
This is true for both technology and people.
Not to mention veterans like Li Fu.
From Chris's personal perspective, although he felt that the past six months might have been the peak of Li Fu's career, since the other party had already created so many impossibilities, he secretly hoped that Li Fu could bring more surprises.
In the process of pursuing dreams, if the operational reaction really declines due to personal age, then Chris can only express regret and sorrow.
But if it was caused by his chaotic personal life, then Chris would be angry and sad. Fortunately, Li Fu didn't seem to show much interest in female fans.
To be honest, Chris was a little surprised by the thumbs-up next to the half-heart shape.
In the professional circle for so many years, he has seen countless young players blushing when they meet female fans due to the secretion of youthful hormones. It cannot be said that it is rare to see someone like Li Fu who is so unyielding. It is simply non-existent.
Strange! It's really strange!
…
Return to IG club base at night.
After dinner, Li Fu sat in front of the computer and looked at his attribute points.
[Position details: 80]
【Hand speed reaction: 97 (93.9 + 3.1)】
【Overall Awareness: 80】
【Competition mentality: 80】
【Version understanding: 80】
[Command and Operation: 80]
Li Fu couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile on his face. He had gained a lot from today's BO5. He was only 3 points away from maxing out his [Hand Speed Reaction] attribute.
This year, his hand speed will reach its peak in his career, and under the reverse growth effect of [Time Injection], he does not need to worry about the natural decline in his hand speed reaction as he gets older in the short term.
You know, for many older professional players, the decline in form is non-linear... Sometimes it may just be a collapse in a game, or eating a bowl of beef noodles that you shouldn't have, and your form will suddenly plummet.
However, the existence of [Time Injection] allows Li Fu to not worry about the natural decline of his aging attributes in the short term.
However, correspondingly, once his hand speed and reaction are maximized, he will not be able to become a powerful hexagonal warrior relying on only one attribute. At that time, Li Fu will have to improve other attributes.
Thinking of this, he became even more excited for the upcoming finals.
After training at night,
Before going to bed, Li Fu surfed the Internet and saw that many netizens were predicting tomorrow's second round of semi-finals.
——That is, the game between Flash Wolves from the Taiwanese LMS region and CLG from the North American LCS region.
The winner advances.
We will meet IG in the finals the day after tomorrow!
Li Fu read the comments.
I found that maybe IG's victory over SKT this year boosted morale so much that many people felt that no matter whether it is CLG or FW, IG can beat them in the finals tomorrow.
The atmosphere was harmonious.
It's like two completely different worlds compared to yesterday's match against SKT.
Li Fu couldn't help but think of a saying: When you achieve success, you will find that everyone around you is a good person.
Similarly, when a team wins, pleasant sounds surround your ears.
Therefore, Li Fu just took a look at these flattering and even critical comments. He knew clearly that if IG lost the game the day after tomorrow despite being favored by countless people.
SKT today,
It is the day after tomorrow of IG.
Although LPL audiences do not have the traditional Korean e-sports skills of parasitizing rats, the Chinese language is profound and the combat effectiveness of the trolls is much stronger than that of Korean netizens.
The main theme is a weird one.
Once you lose the game,
No matter they lose to CLG from Europe and America or FW from Taiwan, they will probably be criticized and become autistic in minutes.
Everyone on IG seemed to be very clear about this, so even after defeating SKT in the semifinals and advancing to the finals, they were only one step away from becoming the world champion.
But everyone was holding their breath, and instead of relaxing during the evening training, they became even more intense, vowing to take this final step.
…
The next day, May 14th.
At 1:30 p.m., the semi-final between North American CLG and Wanwan Flash Wolves arrived as scheduled.
In the Jianghai Oriental Sports Center, compared to yesterday's packed house when host IG faced SKT, about half of today's tickets are still unsold.
After all, whether it is CLG or Flash Wolves, the popularity of these two teams among LPL audiences is relatively average, and most viewers choose to watch the game online.
It's not that I can't afford the tickets.
It’s just more cost-effective online.
Originally everyone thought that today's semi-final might be another full BO5.
Let alone CLG, which fought five games this season and defeated TSM, a veteran North American powerhouse that had the "first ADC in North America" Doublefift join, and won the North American LCS Spring Championship.
Flash Wolves FW also won the championship with a score of 3-0 against AHQ, the team where Wanwan's No. 1 mid laner Ximen belonged, and they are a strong team representing LMS.
The two teams were drawn together in the semifinals. Everyone felt that they were evenly matched opponents and that a BO5 would be played to the maximum extent possible, which would be a good opportunity for Flash Wolves to scout the way forward.
Because generally speaking, every team in the World Series has to prepare some trump cards, and these things will not be taken out until the fifth game or the life-and-death game.
The LPL audiences were all smiling and waiting for Flash Wolves to reveal CLG’s underwear, no, their trump cards.
However, unexpectedly, the afternoon game started at 1:30 and ended before 4:00.
CLG won three games in a row.
Directly defeated the provincial team Flash Wolves 3-0!
This sudden scene caught many LPL viewers off guard.
"Fuck! Did you get it already?"
"10% off water bottles for the provincial team? At least we won a game."
“Could it be that CLG is too strong?”
"Not too strong. I feel like European and American teams are pretty nervous."
"It's over! In the semifinals, IG and SKT were completely exposed in the fifth game, but CLG won three consecutive games and advanced. This finals doesn't look good."
“Trivia: Last year, IG was beaten badly by European and American teams in the S-League and didn’t even make it out of the group stage.”
“…”
The live broadcast room was filled with comments.
Audiences and netizens were discussing today's semi-finals.
At the same time, IG coach Chris was also a little disappointed. He had been following the game since the afternoon and had hoped that no matter which team won, they would be forced to reveal their trump cards.
As a result, CLG came up and won 3-0 without any tricks, and FW fell.
This means IG has to face it all.
Not only that, in the post-match interview, CLG's jungler Xmithie was asked what he thought about defeating SKT's opponent IG in tomorrow's finals.
Xmithie once again demonstrated the rebellious and arrogant character of European and American teams before the game.
He smiled and answered the reporter on the spot that he was very sorry that they did not play against SKT in the semi-final draw, otherwise they might not have to play all five games.
The subtext is self-evident.
If they were drawn against SKT in the semifinals, they would defeat them in less than five games.
I have to say, this statement is a bit like adding insult to injury.
After all, SKT in this MSI was eliminated in the semifinals. Even if CLG made harsh remarks at this time, SKT, as the loser, would definitely not have any positive response.
Even when interviewing the team's Korean mid laner Huhi, Huhi shamelessly shouted to Faker - I thought you should be stronger, but now it seems that I overestimated your ability. It's a pity that I can't play against SKT.
The pretentious words of the mid and jungle pair naturally attracted cheers and attention from European and American commentators and audiences, but many LPL viewers could not stand it.
"Fuck! Is this CLG jungler jumping like this?"
"It's so funny, this Huhi came to North America because he couldn't make it in Korea? Why does it seem like he is very dissatisfied with Faker?"
"You still regret not being able to play against SKT, as if you beat Faker in the group stage laning match."
"Although SKT performed poorly in this MSI, not everyone can step on them, right?"
"Can IG give me some strength tomorrow? I want to see this CLG mid and jungle switch to Sima Face."
"Emperor Fu: I'm good at this!"
“…”
The North American team that LPL audiences are most familiar with is still TSM - after all, they have star players like Bjergsen and North America's No. 1 ADC, DoubleStrike. However, CLG, a mixed American and Korean team, had such a strong front-end output before the game that it immediately caused dissatisfaction and disgust among many LPL audiences.
For a while, the fans of the LPL teams, who were originally scattered, were so angry that they actually tended to stick together, and they all expected IG to teach this European and American team a lesson tomorrow.
More and more people came, and in the evening, Weibo even launched a super topic #IG加油#.
A lot of fans flocked to the topic to cheer for IG, and Li Fu's Weibo also gained a small number of followers.
Now his number of Weibo followers has made a leap from 2,000 to 100,000 since he won the Spring Championship and then defeated SKT in the semi-finals with a pentakill on Graves.
The next day, May 15th.
In the morning, IG woke up early for once, as they had to go to the venue to cooperate with Riot Games to shoot a promotional video for the MSI finals.
It was similar to the situation before the LPL Spring Finals, mainly just trash talking.
Because the MSI schedule was quite tight, with two semi-finals and one finals spread out over three days, the filming was rather rushed - Zzitai once again regretted not having enough time to prepare properly, and felt that the words he said in front of the camera were not powerful enough.
But there was no way, he couldn't let the director wait for him to think about it.
I guess by the time he figures it out, the finals will be over.
…
After shooting the promotional video on the road, they returned to the base for a quick lunch at noon, and then the group drove directly to the MSI finals venue.
The boss Xiao Wang was traveling with the car.
Because he was also playing games during this period, and perhaps in order to get closer to the players, Xiao Wang kept bragging about his achievements in the Canyon of Heroes in the car.
Zzitai and Rookie were still very sensible and gave their boss a lot of face, giving expressions of surprise from time to time.
It even made Xiao Wang a little inflated. He lost himself and even said that he wanted to play in a game if he had the chance in the future to satisfy his desire to be a professional player.
Zzitai and Rookie choked suddenly!
The two looked at each other.
They really couldn't accept this.
Xiao Wang saw that his attitude of flattering for a long time and Rookie suddenly became speechless after hearing him say that he wanted to experience the thrill of being a professional player, and he immediately became angry and said, "Hey, hey, you two, don't be silent. This makes me very embarrassed. Say something."
While saying this, Xiao Wang kept glancing at Li Fu.
He has probably been following IG's recent games, knowing that IG is no longer a one-man show like Rookie, but is largely dominated by Li Fu, a veteran who is living a second life.
Li Fu noticed Xiao Wang's gaze and smiled slightly. He, who had not said much, suddenly said, "How about... you play in the afternoon's game? I can be your substitute."
Xiao Wang: ...
Now it was his turn to be unable to respond.
He said that if he wanted to have fun, the best he could do was to register in advance and go through the procedures during the LPL regular season to have fun. He also had to choose a game against the bottom team, where the win or loss would not have much impact on the regular season ranking.
But what day is today?
The finals of the MSI Mid-Season Championship.
Li Fu told him to go ahead.
Xiao Wang really didn't know how to respond to this.
After choking for a while, he smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Fu, don't be like this when you are with us. I am just bragging."
In the front seat of the nanny car, Su Xiaoluo felt very uncomfortable and a little alert when she heard the team boss suddenly become so close to Li Fu.
It's probably similar to the situation where one of your employees suddenly has a one-on-one connection with his immediate superior.
In football parlance,
Someone is offside.
Li Fu, however, kept smiling.
Although Su Xiaoluo glanced back from time to time to try to discover something by making eye contact with Li Fu, the latter never even looked at her from beginning to end, which made Su Xiaoluo feel annoyed again.
…
A group of people arrived at the venue.
Unlike the match against SKT the day before, as soon as IG got off the car and walked into the player channel, a large number of fans gathered outside the guardrail, raising their hands and shouting "Come on!".
"IG, charge!"
"Come on IG, show some color to the European and American guys!"
"Come on, Emperor Fu! Dominate the jungle!"
“…”
After bidding farewell to the enthusiastic audience and heading to the waiting room, Zizhi said with a smile, "Why do I feel like we have more fans all of a sudden?"
"Of course."
Li Fu also smiled and said, "Once we win the finals, we will have even more fans!"
"Then win!"
"Win!"
"come on!"
As the competition approached, several people in the team encouraged each other again.
At the same time, when the Sea Crown competition venue was once again full and all the spectators who had bought tickets lined up in an orderly manner to enter and take their seats, the director's camera also turned to the commentary seat.
"Hello everyone, welcome to the MSI Mid-Season Invitational Finals. I am the commentator, Wawa."
"Hello everyone, I am the commentator Miller."
"I'm Ze Yuan."
After the usual opening, Wawa and Miller looked at each other and smiled.
The doll asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"What are you laughing at?" Miller asked back with a smile.
"Well, I think we are all laughing at the same thing." Wawa said with a smile, "IG finally made it to the finals stage today after going through so many hardships. It feels incredible, right?"
"Yes, it's incredible." Miller pushed his glasses down and said with some emotion, "Because I remember very clearly that at the beginning of the spring season this year, IG's performance was not ideal, and it even fell to the bottom at one point."
"Yes, but everything changed because of a man."
Guan Zeyuan also praised him generously at this moment, "That is Padre6, a man whose ID means 'priest'. His comeback has made the IG team more complete, or in other words, it has organically integrated the IG team into one."
Hearing Guan Zeyuan's words, Miller couldn't help but laugh and teased, "Why? When SKT lost to IG the day before yesterday, you must have felt a little heavy."
"I'm actually fine." Guan Zeyuan shrugged and said frankly, "After all, as an LPL commentator, I definitely hope that the team in my own region can win. It's just that SKT is a legend to me and many of us League players. Many people hope that SKT can have an MSI trophy and achieve a Grand Slam. It would be a pity if they didn't get it."
"Then I'm actually fine."
Wawa smiled and said, "It's a pity that SKT didn't win the Grand Slam, but I hope to see IG, this new era team, go further and climb higher on our world championship stage, all the way to the top of the world."
"Yeah, I hope so."
Miller suddenly analyzed calmly, "But I think today's game between IG and CLG was not very friendly to IG from an objective point of view, because SKT is too strong. Although IG won with difficulty, they were forced to use all their trump cards, including the last card of changing the formation and letting Fu Ge play top lane. In contrast, CLG easily defeated Flash Wolves in three games, so they have more cards to play today."
The commentators from various regions were analyzing today's final MSI match. Soon, the music on the scene suddenly changed. The floor of the stage was rendered in ink, and then turned into highlight images of each player from the IG and CLG teams since the group stage of this MSI.
Li Fu's pentakill Graves made a last appearance in the semi-final against SKT, coupled with the exciting electronic music rhythm, which once again accelerated the blood flow and made people feel a boiling blood in their bodies.
The next second, the scene changed and the surface buildings of Jianghai City emerged.
The finals promotion video has begun.
CLG mid laner Huhi: When I was in Korea, Faker was the idol of all e-sports players, including myself. I have always wanted to be a player like him, but today, I will become a player who surpasses him because I will defeat the opponents he failed to defeat.
CLG jungler Xmithie: I have been longing for a championship since I started competing in the North American arena in S1. However, for six years, I have never had the opportunity to step onto the world stage. It was not until this year that I was sure that I only needed one opportunity, and I have already felt the warmth of the trophy.
Next it was IG’s turn.
After the screen of Rookie Zizi and others ended, the screen turned to Li Fu.
Li Fu sat on a chair, under the light, his profile was half shadow and half light.
"Faker is an opponent I respect very much."
"After the semi-finals, when he left the stage and looked back at the championship trophy, the look in his eyes made me feel mixed emotions and made me think of a lot."
"We are all veterans, and retirement may come tomorrow. So I want to burn everything out today."
"Win or lose."
The scene paused here, and Li Fu's last words were heard slowly.
"Let's give our heartfelt applause to the final winner."
The voice fell,
The scene suddenly became quiet.
Compared to the arrogant and arrogant European and American players...
Li Fu, from the host region, just sat there. He didn't say anything arrogant, but he gave people an inexplicable fierce momentum that no one could compete with him!
And the last sentence,
It also opened up the [pattern] all at once.
"Emperor Fu is awesome!"
After a brief silence, the next second, the barrage at the scene and in the live broadcast room was boiling again.