Seeing the announcement, Lin Fan immediately messaged Old Dai on WeChat.
Then he forwarded the official Weibo post.
"So—what do you think?"
Unexpectedly, Dai Lao Liu was awake early too and replied right away.
"Then we go. Didn't think we'd still have this chance. Teaming up with a League pro to play trios—haha. That's absolutely a bold stroke in my career. If we win the title, I'll have something to brag about after I retire."
"Okay, then third person—YaYa or DaBao?"
"YaYa."
After all, YaYa playing support tools like Hu Tao and Ning Hongye is solid.
And DaBao, once he gets heated in-game, he tends to go full ego and ignore calls. If that happened in tournament, he'd get raided by Brother Infinite Borders' massive fanbase.
Young guys can easily crumble under that pressure and tilt into oblivion.
Just like their earlier team fights: serious internal atmosphere plus fan pressure, turbo-charged.
One normal ranked game plus a few arguments, and then it escalated into an all-out brawl.
That also planted the seeds for their team becoming what it is now.
He was already older. Retiring was the best choice. That way, his teammates could go to other teams.
With their skill, joining a top-tier squad is absolutely possible, and maybe they'd even get results.
Before he retired, riding one last wave of clout was actually pretty good.
So he'd go all out and join Brother Infinite Borders in the Elite Cup.
"Brother Infinite Borders, since we're signing up, let's think of a team name. Using our old team name isn't great. Elite Cup is an extra event—whether you're a pro squad doesn't matter much. Everything follows the format."
"Then let's call it TOP. TES."
Back when TES first joined the LPL, their short name was Top. They only changed to TES in 2019.
So this worked perfectly. Naraka doesn't have a TOP team anyway—just open a division.
"Works. You're the captain, you decide. Never thought I'd become a TOP team member one day."
"Then send me your info. I'll submit the registration right now.
Our luck is really good—Naraka expanded the schedule. Looks like the original registration window was too short and they didn't have enough trios teams, so they added two more days. Pretty nice," Lin Fan said with a sigh.
"Yeah. Think about it—your reasoning was that finding unfamiliar teammates would require training and be too annoying, so you didn't look. A lot of people think like you. So most chose solo, and trios mostly filled up with pro squads. Without those pro squads, it'd be hard to even run the event."
Dai Lao Liu couldn't help shaking his head.
The game is good, but the heat is dropping day by day.
Even income makes it obvious—Naraka is fading fast, month by month.
The officials definitely see it even clearer through data.
Otherwise they wouldn't host an Elite Cup now.
If it really takes off and gets enough heat, maybe it can actually revive.
The planners finally did something decent for once.
You can see it from other competitive titles:
The higher the tournament heat, the more people watch.
That drives more streamers to stream.
Then it becomes a virtuous cycle.
League's pro league model is a great example.
People always say the game is dying, that it'll be finished later—but the league scale is right there. Add in heavy capital backing, and a game that started declining five or six years ago has still lasted twelve years and remains one of the hottest games in the world.
That's tournament heat.
Even years later, plenty of people don't play the game anymore, but they still like watching league broadcasts.
When the region wins, and there are champion skins, people still want to buy them.
If a game wants to grow big and strong, a pro league is essential.
With League's current trajectory, conservatively, it can keep going five more years. Stretch it out and ten years isn't a problem.
"Alright, I've submitted our registration. The three of us have practiced blades so much that we're already familiar. When we're free, we can just play two or three games—should be enough.
If we get results, great. If not, whatever. Don't pressure yourselves."
"Hahaha. With Brother Infinite Borders carrying, I feel like even without winning, we can still place top ten. Your dueling ability is terrifying. Honestly, there aren't many pros who can beat you.
If you don't get mobbed, in a 1v1 you're a slaughter machine. Good luck in today's solo qualifiers."
"Then after I finish solos, we practice a bit more?"
"Sure. DaBao is also in solos and is grinding on his own. After you finish, we'll have time," Old Dai said.
For him, evening is prime streaming time. Going live then would definitely spike traffic.
If he's retiring, he also needs to think about his future streaming heat.
Meanwhile, Lin Fan's chat was already polarized about him now entering trios as well.
But TES/League fans were still a minority compared to the massive gamer crowd.
And mixed in were plenty of people fishing in muddy waters, trying to hide drama now so they could blow it up later.
So the majority actually wanted him to do well.
Because many didn't even start following Lin Fan because he's a League pro.
They followed him because of the other games.
A streamer who can do his main job well and still stream fun shenanigans like this is rare.
"Hahaha, didn't expect Brother Infinite Borders to create a TOP Naraka division!"
"Then this trios is a must-watch. Really interesting."
"Yeah, it's hype."
"I don't get it. Isn't Elite Cup already set? Why did they suddenly reopen registrations? I'm confused."
"I seriously suspect Naraka officials are living in Brother Infinite Borders' stream. Yesterday he said he wanted trios but couldn't register. Today they expand the format and add teams. That's absurd."
"Not impossible. But it's also normal. Look at Naraka's heat right now—it's climbing fast. If I were the officials, I'd wait and then let Brother Infinite Borders sign up."
"I think it's pretty likely. Thinking about it is hilarious. Naraka's planners and ops probably camp his stream every day."
"Someone has to be watching. Otherwise how could they move that fast? Nobody would believe it."
"Can't wait for Brother Infinite Borders' Naraka matches this afternoon."
"Streamers across platforms already posted a 'wanted' bounty list. With that, advancing might be shaky."
"Like Old Dai said: in 1v1, Brother Infinite Borders is top-tier even among pros. The real problem is: solo qualifiers are a chaotic brawl. If everyone targets him, there's nothing he can do."
While chat argued, Lin Fan had already played a couple solo games.
In one of them, he deliberately ran into a crowd to draw aggro. Pulling and dragging against two or three was fine.
But once the number got bigger, pressure instantly skyrocketed. Other heroes couldn't handle it. Without Tarka Ji's mobility, he'd have died.
In fact, Lin Fan did this on purpose.
In today's tournament he's the biggest name, so getting targeted is very possible.
Better to adapt now, so he isn't helpless later.
Thankfully, Tarka Ji is flexible enough. With his displacement and ultimate, escaping pursuit isn't too hard.
"I'm just worried about illegal teaming. If they don't fight anyone and only stare at me the whole time, I could be a god and still can't play."
"But in a real tournament, that probably won't happen. It's not a viewer lobby."
Viewer lobbies are the real targeting hell—fan meetups, chasing you to death.
With the 5 p.m. start time, Lin Fan headed to the cafeteria and filled his stomach first.
Then, after the referee's notice, he entered the lobby to wait for matches.
The moment he entered, it was already noisy.
Everyone kept dragging the topic toward Lin Fan.
Because even the officials knew: Naraka's heat has been dead for ages. This Elite Cup was this hot largely because Brother Infinite Borders joined.
Some people even studied the schedule and became even more convinced:
The Elite Cup schedule was basically customized for Brother Infinite Borders. No conflicts with the League pro league at all. Just absurd.
Add in the sudden trios reopening, and it becomes even clearer.
They spent this much effort. If Brother Infinite Borders gets eliminated early, that's embarrassing.
So in this moment, attention from all sides focused on the Naraka Elite Cup.
To the point that the LPL stream next door only had 2 million viewers, while Naraka's official stream had 7 million—and was still rising.
This kind of situation hadn't happened in a long time.
"Hello everyone, I'm caster ZhaZha."
"Hello everyone, I'm caster Corgi."
"Today's Elite Cup is something everyone has been waiting for. And today's group is especially heavyweight—Group A, where Brother Infinite Borders is!"
"Right. When the roster dropped, I got scared. I didn't expect Brother Infinite Borders to sign up for Naraka. I've seen his Tarka Ji before—final circle, blink, 1v3, first place, chosen one."
"Brother Infinite Borders' personal skill is beyond question," Corgi said with a grin.
"Let's see if he can produce some eye-catching plays today."
As they talked, the screen finally transitioned into the match.
Even though the official stream had ten million viewers, the biggest crowd was still in Lin Fan's stream.
Most viewers prefer first-person POV. Even if it's slightly delayed, watching his hands and listening to him is more fun.
"Morus Isle or Tianren City. Other places aren't that interesting."
He picked inside Tianren City.
More buildings means more outplay potential if he gets mobbed.
Right after landing, he grabbed a gold stash.
Tournament loot rates were boosted a bit, and Lin Fan's luck has always been good.
He instantly pulled gold armor.
"Brother Infinite Borders opened gold armor!"
"Next: 1v2, double kill."
"Stop spoiling. You're watching the official stream and yelling spoilers?"
"People who love spoiling even in streams… that's their whole life."
Just like chat said, Lin Fan ran into two opponents back-to-back.
Even with only blue nunchucks, relying on gold armor and Tarka Ji's mobility, he used buildings and outplayed in a 1v2, securing a double kill and two kill points.
After looting their gear, he swapped to a purple katana.
With armor repair and healing packs, he was clearly the strongest on the map.
Lin Fan didn't hide it. He started strolling around Tianren City, extremely arrogant.
A lot of players saw this Tarka Ji and got ideas, but nobody dared to commit—still uncertain.
Lin Fan didn't care. He went in and fought.
A smooth katana combo forced the Monk ultimate.
Solo Monk is mediocre. The only good point is Big Buddha can push people away.
But once distance opens up, you get mobbed and shot by ranged weapons.
Forcing the ultimate inside Tianren City makes you a live target.
And sure enough, a swarm appeared and started spraying the Big Buddha.
Lin Fan backed up and used a right-click three-stage charge, easily taking the Big Buddha's head.
The moment Big Buddha fell, everyone got the system notice and knew this Tarka Ji was Brother Infinite Borders.
In that instant, everyone's grapples fired.
Sandman, Yoto Hime, Kurumi—everyone zipped toward him.
A top-tier brawl broke out.
Even though some people were "teaming," there were also plenty of muddy-water players.
If you're in Elite Cup, you're here to win, right?
So many people gathered—aren't these kill points delivered to your doorstep?
Especially when everyone's eyes are on Brother Infinite Borders.
Two people already quietly dropped.
From the spectator view, it was even more shocking.
Tianren City was packed with people, all charging toward one direction.
"Brother Infinite Borders got spotted. Nice! Blink out, grapple wall-hit to create distance."
"Wow—ASE's 2eggs caught up!"
Lin Fan saw the grapple connect and instantly started charging.
2eggs had experience and was ready to bait an empty parry.
He saw Tarka Ji step forward with a quick dash.
Sure enough—trying to bait empty parry. Most people would fall for it.
2eggs landed and wanted to challenge.
But the Tarka Ji on the flank charged and slashed.
Once 2eggs committed, there was no more empty-parry window.
He ate a charged slash. His blue armor dropped by over half.
Before he could respond, he got staggered repeatedly—every hit landed during stagger frames.
It felt awful.
His armor got deleted. He had to pop his parry.
Lin Fan didn't stay. Too many people behind. If he stayed, he'd get pinned.
Other players saw the low-HP fireboy and wanted to finish him, so 2eggs was forced to ult.
He had thought this was just a solo-queue king. Maybe strong, but not the myth.
He never expected to get styled on in the first exchange.
WBG once tried to buy him with big money—turns out it wasn't hype. His skill is real.
2eggs controlled the fireboy and ran, low HP and terrified.
He took two steps and got shot by a bow.
Dead.
TOP dine eliminated ASE.2eggs.
The first pro player eliminated in Game 1 appeared!
"Beautiful—Brother Infinite Borders' arrow was a true bullseye, cleanly taking 2eggs for his fourth kill."
"Tianren City is absolute chaos! Over a dozen players are brawling here!" Corgi casted with passion.
In normal tournaments, it's hard to see scenes like this.
But this Elite Cup delivered a high-intensity fight from the very start.
From the moment the match began, everyone was fighting nonstop.
And it all happened because one person triggered a massive brawl.
"Brother Infinite Borders' play is so clean."
"They're still chasing, but Brother Infinite Borders is using buildings to pull and drag. Parry! Parry counter! Is this stance katana really that strong? One combo, delete."
"The first circle hasn't even closed and there are only 54 players left! This is insane."
"Brother Infinite Borders gets another kill—Tianren City lord, war god of the match."
"Even when mobbed, he still looks effortless. So strong. Too bad the only pro he fought was 2eggs. 2eggs grappled in too carelessly and got punished—one combo took half his HP."
Other participating streamers could at best ride clout in their titles. Very few could even survive two exchanges.
In Tianren City, Lin Fan truly became the Tianren City lord.
Eleven kills before he even left.
Hands drenched in blood.
"Brother Infinite Borders is playing Naraka like League."
By the time the toxic circle reached the fourth phase, the match entered final circle.
Lin Fan's gear was fully updated—he even had a dagger.
At this stage, he started hunting aggressively.
Only three players remained.
He didn't know what the other two looked like, but he had already killed 17.
Absolute war god: 37k damage.
He saw Gu Qinghan and instantly engaged.
Another Tarka Ji tried to steal and began charging Soaring Dragon.
Lin Fan empty-parried and knocked the dagger out.
Then countered. With gold dagger damage, one combo chunked Tarka Ji to near-death.
He swapped to the gold honeycomb cannon and cooked him.
Tarka Ji burned to death.
Now only Gu Qinghan remained.
In a 1v1, Lin Fan was unbeatable.
He tapped twice, blink-stepped, dragged time, then backed off and used the honeycomb cannon to burn again.
After burning, he swapped back to gold dagger, caught the recovery frames, and used a three-hit chain.
The last hit had blue super armor and finished Gu Qinghan.
"Brother Infinite Borders lands the three-stage chain—congratulations to Brother Infinite Borders for taking today's first solo 'Chosen One'! His kill points are at a terrifying 19, and with Chosen One, Game 1 ends with an absurd 35.4 points!"
Second place, Dao Ge, only had 17.4 points—an 18-point gap.
That gap was huge.
And because the top kill counts were stacked, the mid ranks were tightly compressed.
40 people advance. The current 40th place only had 2 points.
Behind that, tons of zeros.
You could tell: skill gap between participants was massive.
Chat went insane.
"Holy crap, this was a pure solo show. Start to finish, it was Brother Infinite Borders' performance."
"Those Tianren City building outplays and kill chains—didn't expect it. I thought he'd get hunted."
"My mom is asking why I'm watching the monitor on my knees!"
With this win, Lin Fan's advantage was enormous.
Even if he died on landing every match after, advancing wouldn't be hard.
So he played even more arrogantly.
One match he landed and 1v7'd without playing the building pull-and-drag style.
He got gang beaten and died.
No kill points, no placement points, so the score was low.
But with his earlier points, he was still first overall.
He easily secured elimination-stage qualification.
Naraka's officials finally sighed in relief.
During grouping, they had "pulled a small trick" and placed most pro players into Group B.
That made Group A weaker.
Less competitive on paper.
But the result was perfect: Brother Infinite Borders advanced as Group A #1.
As long as he stays in the tournament, the heat won't drop. They'll have more topics.
The moment Group A solos ended, the official Weibo posted results immediately.
Waiting for fans to bring heat was too slow—officials had to do it themselves.
"Congratulations to TOP dine for taking Group A #1 and advancing to eliminations."
They even attached Lin Fan's photo and his five-game stats.
Some people who didn't know the context froze when they saw the ID.
Then they saw the photo and felt the world spinning.
What?
Did TES open a Naraka division?
And transfer Brother Infinite Borders there?
Of course they didn't panic too hard—Brother Infinite Borders trending is often clickbait.
Most trends are written to manufacture anxiety.
In reality, besides loving games in private, Brother Infinite Borders is still a very serious pro.
But the process still had to happen.
Soon enough, "Brother Infinite Borders Group A #1" climbed onto Weibo trending again.
Then people started asking TES:
What's it like having a player who loves causing trouble, enters other tournaments, and still gets results?
TES answered cheekily:
"Of course we love him to death!"
They're eating traffic until they're full. How could they not be happy?
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup