"Let's all congratulate TES!" Wawa shouted loudly.
"Facing LNG, they kept the tempo firmly in their hands across all three games—another dominant 3–0, and they've successfully advanced into the top four."
"That's right. Their next opponent will be V5, who've had a long rest. The pressure on Fangfang's boys won't be as big."
"Because of the double-elimination format, the losing side still has a chance to revive. TES has really surprised us this year.
Especially Brother Infinite Borders…" Mao Mao couldn't help but sigh as he watched Lin Fan, already standing up and heading over to LNG for the handshake.
"His regular season performance was already outrageous. I didn't expect him to keep that highlight-reel form in playoffs too. I honestly don't know who can stop Brother Infinite Borders from moving forward."
"As for that, I don't know either—maybe only Infinite Borders can," Wawa joked.
But the joke struck a chord with a lot of people.
If no one on stage could stop Brother Infinite Borders, then what Wawa said really wasn't impossible…
Because if Infinite Borders went badly, it could affect his mentality, and then his match form.
If it really ended up like that… the scene would be hilarious to imagine.
"Hahaha, I suggest TES fans should play more Infinite Borders and spend more money—make NetEase act human for once."
"True. If NetEase stops acting human and starts disgusting Brother Infinite Borders, TES's Worlds championship dream might be over."
"Holy crap, we should suggest Boss He just buy Infinite Borders. Then Round 4 of playoffs is guaranteed."
"But hearing Wawa say that is still kind of absurd… a League pro getting controlled by Infinite Borders."
"This is the pig-farm's victory! Tencent, why aren't you making a move and scamming Brother Infinite Borders back?"
"So it's over—Three Kingdoms Strategy Edition and Hongtu Zhixia can't even beat a single Infinite Borders?"
"Anyway, you can tell Brother Infinite Borders is a real Infinite Borders veteran. His game understanding isn't something those clout-chasing streamers can compare to."
"Alright, we'll turn our expectations to TES vs V5 next. Thanks to everyone for watching today—now we'll hand the interview segment over to Luo Xin."
Compared to the regular season, playoff preparation was more thorough, and the schedule wasn't as tight—every team had plenty of time to rest.
Those perks came from doing well in the regular season, which was perfectly normal.
Still, Wawa had successfully shifted everyone's attention to the upcoming bracket.
Brother Infinite Borders facing Rookie again—just thinking about it felt interesting.
In their regular-season match, Brother Infinite Borders came out on top. Playoffs would be best-of-five, and that was where true strength showed.
Best-of-three was just a warm-up. Best-of-five was the real duel.
Otherwise people wouldn't hype SKT up so much.
Stuff like: "In a finals BO5, they've never lost a series to an LPL team."
Of course, in international events they did lose to EDG—dropping the first MSI title.
But honestly, an MSI title, compared to Worlds, was more like a top-four finish. Even making Worlds finals was worth more. And a Worlds trophy? Don't even try to compare.
It had value—but not that much.
After thanking the audience for their support, TES picked up their gear and headed into the player tunnel.
At that moment, a staffer called out:
"Brother Infinite Borders, your interview is over here."
"Me today?"
"It's about time they interviewed you. You played like a monster in all three games. If nothing unexpected happens, Game 3 MVP is still yours—if they don't interview you, it wouldn't make sense." JackeyLove reached over and took Lin Fan's keyboard.
"Save yourself the extra walking. Just go straight to the interview area. It's not that old lady interviewing me today, so I'm not too worried. Auntie Yu Shuang is fierce—I'm afraid you won't be able to handle her."
"Bullshit. Would you dare say that to her face? If you do, I'll admit you're a real warrior."
"Actually, 'Camel Sis' is under a lot of pressure too. Too many… poses. I'm worried Brother Infinite Borders can't take it."
"Get lost." Lin Fan kicked Tian in the butt.
Since when was "your Brother Infinite Borders" something you could joke about?
Tian had been getting a little cocky lately.
Under the staffer's guidance, Lin Fan arrived at the interview area.
The first thing that hit his eyes was Luo Xin, dressed in a bright red short robe, with two bun braids tied up.
She blinked her eyes rapidly, and Lin Fan suddenly remembered the classic "counter-charge fighter" Zhou Shuyi's opinion of Camel Sis:
"She's so slutty!"
Lin Fan silently nodded in agreement.
Sometimes it really was hard to tell—Camel Sis was constantly hopping back and forth between "idiot" and "bitch."
"First of all, congratulations to Brother Infinite Borders for winning today's match against LNG 3–0."
"Now you've successfully obtained a revival life. For this Spring Split, do you have any deeper goals or expectations?"
"For Spring Split, of course I have deeper goals."
"Oh?"
The previous times he'd been asked, Brother Infinite Borders either answered modestly or dodged the question.
But this time he stated it directly?
Two straight playoff wins clearly had them brimming with confidence.
The audience was full of anticipation, waiting to hear what Lin Fan would say.
"I hope that after Spring Split ends, my Genshin Impact account will be above level thirty-five. I'm only in the twenties right now. With matches, I really don't have much time to play."
"Huh?"
"What did you just say?" Luo Xin's expression became extremely exaggerated—she honestly thought she'd misheard.
Shouldn't he be talking about winning the title?
Or about MSI, and trying to get a good result?
How did it turn into "Genshin Impact, try to hit level thirty"?
"Mm. I'm saying that because I don't have much time to play Genshin Impact while competing. The game is pretty fun—really interesting. So I set a small goal for Spring Split: I hope I can reach level thirty-five. I know it's extremely hard, but I still want to try."
"Heh heh heh…" Luo Xin forced out a smile.
No wonder Yu Shuang said interviewing Brother Infinite Borders was the hardest job.
It really was.
His thinking jumped tracks so easily.
As soon as the interview aired, the livestream chat scrolled like crazy.
"Brother Infinite Borders has moved on."
"Holy shit, miHoYo is going to make a move. Infinite Borders is a bottomless pit."
"Holy shit—Genshin!"
"Honestly, Brother Infinite Borders is such a clown. The past two days with no matches, he's been streaming Genshin every day. I've been scared to death—worried Monkey would smash him today."
"Sigh… if he trained properly instead of losing himself in games, I don't even dare imagine how strong he'd be…"
Backstage, Luo Sheng covered his face.
Oh boy. I have absolutely no coaching authority left.
But a player like this—who wouldn't treat him like a treasure?
Whatever. As long as we keep winning, that's what matters.
Playing other games during downtime was normal.
A pro's life should be like that.
If you put your whole mind on League of Legends, you just get exhausted, start to hate playing, and then your mechanics deform.
Luo Sheng quickly talked himself into it.
Still, this was the first time he'd heard "Genshin Impact" from Lin Fan's own mouth.
So in this period where he hadn't been paying attention, Lin Fan had found yet another game?
The interview continued, but Luo Xin had taken a direct crit right at the start.
She looked at her prepared questions like her soul had left her body.
For her, it was suffering…
By the end, she didn't even know what she was asking anymore. She hurriedly thanked Lin Fan for accepting the interview.
After the interview, Lin Fan returned to the lounge.
Just like before, the three-game series ended too quickly.
The match started at five. It wasn't even eight yet.
But there was no celebratory feast today.
Luo Sheng had just called the base—telling the auntie to cook now, so when they got back they could eat immediately.
Dinner shouldn't be too greasy. Keep it simple, rest a bit, then review today's matches.
They won, but there were still some points that weren't done well—and he wanted to mention them.
Since the coach arranged it, nobody objected.
They packed up the lounge and boarded the team bus. From the venue to the base took about an hour.
Even though the series wasn't long, the intensity was still high—especially since LNG's Game 3 draft was a do-or-die lineup.
Everyone was tired.
Once they sat down, they all closed their eyes for a quick nap.
But then…
"TIMI~"
"Fan-ge, you're not resting?"
"Isn't this rest time? Work's done. I'm gonna play a couple games and climb a bit. I'm already at 2,000 points—starting to run into pro players. Let's test their strength."
"Sure… Fan-ge is Fan-ge. Which hero are you practicing today? Lao Fuzi is pretty good—go in and help chop people." JackeyLove said as he quietly put on his eye mask.
This was Lin Fan's happy time. He didn't want to join.
Three games was exhausting. He genuinely didn't understand how Fan-ge still had this much energy.
Time-management master—confirmed.
Grinding this many games alone was already insane.
What was even crazier was that he could reach top-tier in every one of them.
In Naraka: Bladepoint he was already in Asura. His combos were terrifyingly fast.
Fans weren't exaggerating—if he couldn't make it in League of Legends, he could easily transfer to Naraka: Bladepoint.
He wouldn't even need to find a team. The club could just build a Naraka division—TES didn't have one anyway…
Fan-ge would be the core, and he'd have championship potential the moment he joined.
After three enjoyable games of Honor of Kings, the bus arrived at the base.
They ate a little, then followed Luo Sheng into the tactics room.
Today's review was simple—just enough to point out problems.
"Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with today's match. Everyone executed the plan strictly. But some details weren't done well…" Luo Sheng began pointing at the map on screen.
"I already said: when mid-top-jungle are making plays, bot lane cannot give openings. But you bot lane still played extremely aggressive. If Fan-ge hadn't stalled Tarzan earlier, he definitely would've come down. Then our advantage would've been gone."
"That tiny lead didn't need to be forced bigger. Stability first! JackeyLove, I've told you a thousand times—stabilize. If you don't give them chances, it's basically impossible for them to comeback."
As playoffs moved into the next stage, Luo Sheng was in high spirits too.
Even his voice was louder in the practice room.
The team was on a win streak—that was confidence. As long as there weren't major problems, he could keep his position.
Companies worked like that. They didn't swap management lightly.
JackeyLove nodded repeatedly. Looking back in review, it really had been dangerous…
If Fan-ge hadn't pinned the jungler, that gank would've blown up bot lane on the spot.
"Mm. Luo-ge is right. I'll pay attention next time. In matches I definitely won't give them chances to catch me."
Seeing JackeyLove admit it so directly—and with a good attitude—Luo Sheng nodded with satisfaction.
"Today's win was pretty clean. Next, keep it up. V5 is definitely stronger than LNG. Against them, you can't be careless. In practice, you still have to train properly."
Luo Sheng gave a bit more of a talk.
After all that, it was already past ten.
On their usual schedule, in a little over an hour Lin Fan would go back to the dorm to rest.
But Genshin Impact was too fun, and Lin Fan's hands were itching.
On top of that, he'd already planted the flag—try to reach level thirty-five by the end of Spring Split.
So the timeline was tight.
As a refugee player, even though he had Qiqi and Diluc, those two didn't pair perfectly. To build a real team, he'd have to spend—and wait for banners to rerun.
While Lin Fan played, the chat argued about how long he could stay free-to-play.
If he truly got hooked, he'd probably start spending next patch.
"Think again. Let me show you how my C0 Diluc carries!"
"???"
"Carry my ass, bro! I thought you were playing League of Legends?"
"Looks like Brother Infinite Borders treats everything like League—still drunk on the joy of winning."
"I actually love Brother Infinite Borders' confidence!"
"Am I the only one curious whether we're killing tonight?"
"There probably won't be any stream-sniping tonight. Uzi isn't streaming, and K God went to an event."
"Then tonight we can only watch Brother Infinite Borders stream Genshin? I don't understand this game—it's kinda boring."
"When are you switching it up and playing League of Legends? Ten-thousand-person petition: stream League."
"During the interview, I genuinely didn't expect him to say that… this is going on the best interview highlight reel."
"Hahahaha, Luo Sis was completely stunned."
But Lin Fan was hammering the keyboard, swapping characters and dumping damage into the boss.
He wasn't paying attention to chat at all.
"Yare… this damage is so low. My hands hurt from mashing."
But with zero investment, performing like this was normal.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup