The moment TES bulldozed LNG's base, the livestream chat went completely insane.
"Holy shit, holy shit—who still dares say Brother Infinite Borders isn't good? That Syndra still isn't good? From this game alone, he basically held the whole team up by himself."
"I don't even know what JackeyLove was doing. He was sleepwalking all three games. Especially in Game 3, I almost thought Tarzan's kick was going to create a miracle. Scared me to death. Good thing Syndra's damage was absurd. If LNG's items were just a bit better, they might've actually turned it."
"I really don't get it. Brother Infinite Borders played in Naraka: Bladepoint recently, and still found time to play Go with Zhan Ying and Jaguar—yet his form didn't drop at all, it got even more terrifying. Are these plays even humanly possible?"
"That's just how it is. There's no logic. You think JackeyLove doesn't work hard? Two days ago he and Mark trained all day. But the results still weren't pretty. I already felt this series might be shaky. Tian—you don't see highlight plays from him, but he's stable. Treating him as a breakthrough point is basically impossible."
"The water ghosts are still here preparing to 'judge' Brother Infinite Borders. I suggest you go back and attack JackeyLove first. Who knows where he's been training lately—almost flipped the whole match. What should've been a 2–0 turned into a Game 3. Luckily the result was good."
Of course, plenty of angry little haters immediately turned their guns on LNG.
How do you fail to seize such a good opportunity—aren't you trash?
"Doinb is so stupid. Always doing weird stuff, can't even hold lane. After the first two games I thought he'd figured out mid and could stabilize lane, but he's still a pile of dogshit—reeking. Losing lane is one thing, but getting ganked over and over? Absurd!"
"Ale is an idiot too. No brain, perma-pushing into Sion. What, copying TheShy's suicide-style Jayce? Even when TheShy feeds, his items don't fall behind and his teamfight damage still spikes. Ale's Jayce did nothing—just gets one-shot by Syndra ult."
"Just disband. LNG has no future. I thought they had a chance to challenge Worlds, but after watching this, it's playoffs first- or second-round exit again. Worse than Weibo."
"Don't force it. Weibo has only won one BO5 so far. As for TheShy, he's only won two BO5s in two years. LMAO—IG's 'three-pronged spear' had the worst life, and it was TheShy. I don't get how he has so many fans."
"I don't get it. How can so many teams lose to a mid laner who doesn't train and never practices? People who work hard are worse than people who lie flat? What kind of fantasy novel world is this?"
"No matter how many honors Brother Infinite Borders gets later, he'll never earn my recognition. A player without professional attitude—I have nothing good to say."
"Agreed. Faker has been consistent for years—seventeen to eighteen hours of high-intensity practice every day, and that's how he became a three-time champion. That's the industry standard, what pros should learn from. So Brother Infinite Borders and Faker are worlds apart—get a little success and start getting smug."
"LMAO, why does Faker have so many filial fans? I still remember MSI—him sitting there crying his eyes out."
"Those 'Korean filial' brains are wild. I can't understand how winning is worse than losing. Faker hasn't even touched Worlds finals these past two years. Is that what you call 'hard work pays off'? I'd rather be like Brother Infinite Borders—don't train and still keep winning."
Meanwhile, over at the esports forum, tons of threads popped up before the match even ended.
After it ended, one thread got pinned high:
[Talking about Dine: No matter the results, his professional attitude is the worst in the entire league! Even worse than Song Jiang!]
Below it was an image—Lin Fan on stream, playing in Naraka: Bladepoint.
"Ever since MSI ended, I've been certain TES will collapse because of Dine. Reality proves I wasn't wrong. The team's terrible state is because Brother Infinite Borders keeps laughing and playing other games all day, and now it's affected everyone's form. The players' form will only get worse! TES is finished."
"The only way to change this is to sell Dine. Given Brother Infinite Borders' slacker traits, Weibo is a good destination—mid and top can slack together. And the bot 'seaside boy' isn't a good guy either. If Weibo collapses, it collapses offering minimal impact."
TL: Seaside boy refers to JackeyLove, because his back Chinese character is Shui, Chinese pinyin for water.
The OP spoke passionately and seriously about what would happen if TES didn't sell Lin Fan—like they were doing it all for TES, for the pros, and for the future.
Fans swarmed the comments.
"For a second I couldn't tell if you're a zombie fan or a TES fan… but I'll bet zombie fan."
"If Brother Infinite Borders didn't turn the tide today, TES would've gotten chewed out going home."
"Swap in Pi Shou and you can win? I don't think so."
"I actually agree with the OP, but Weibo isn't the best choice. Send him to IG. No big stars there. Brother Infinite Borders can slack all he wants, and with mid as the core he'll put up beautiful numbers."
"If we're picking teams, I've got opinions too. I think LGD is pretty good. Everyone slacks together, and when you meet a strong team you can rob the rich and help the poor—show your hands and remind people Brother Infinite Borders exists."
"Now I can't even tell if Brother Infinite Borders is strong or weak… but JackeyLove's form today really was awful."
"No one paying attention to Brother Infinite Borders' damage today? 22,000. Good lord—equal to ten Uzi's."
The thread's discussion skyrocketed, and its heat climbed higher and higher.
The content was interesting. You could step on TheShy and flame Lin Fan at the same time.
And both groups of haters were terrifyingly large.
Of course, their fanbases were also terrifyingly large.
Within minutes, it turned into a massive fight.
And that only proved Lin Fan was the traffic password right now.
Countless pro teams envied TES—this year TES was making absurd money.
…
Inside LNG's official home venue in Suzhou.
Led by Zoom, TES walked over to LNG's player side to shake hands.
Seeing Lin Fan approach, Doinb had an instinctive stress response and stood up immediately.
The same thing had happened in Spring Split.
Back then they lost badly—0–2, cleanly swept.
Today at least they took one game.
From that perspective, it was a major victory.
After all, improvement was good.
By playoffs, maybe in a BO5 they could flip TES.
But when Lin Fan extended his hand, all that ambition vanished instantly.
Against TES, you shouldn't expect too much.
If you lose, you won't be disappointed.
If you win, it's an unexpected bonus—you'll be happy all day.
"Coin-bro, you played really well today. You must've studied a lot before the match, huh? If you were two or three years younger, I might've actually not been able to handle it," Lin Fan said with a smile as they shook.
"Sigh. I already went all out today, but you still killed me like a dog. The pressure was huge. I don't feel that kind of pressure against anyone else. Even if I were two or three years younger, I still wouldn't be your opponent," Doinb replied quickly.
"I haven't forgotten—you used to be an assassin specialist. Back then your Katarina was slaughtering the whole league. Even now you're still a system man. No need to belittle yourself."
"Hahaha, I still can't beat Brother Infinite Borders. I feel like this year you really have a chance to win Worlds. As for me, just making Worlds will count as a win."
Tian frowned slightly as he listened.
After the handshake line, Tian lowered his voice to Lin Fan.
"Doinb's good at putting on a show. Don't get fooled. He's laughing with you now, but who knows what messy stuff he's thinking behind your back."
"Mm. I know. It's fine," Lin Fan replied.
Everyone knew there was a big conflict between Tian and Doinb.
But that was between them.
Without knowing details, there was no need to get involved.
Don't even think about mediating—this depended on what both sides wanted.
If they wanted, later they'd laugh it off.
If not, no amount of persuasion from outsiders would matter.
Then everyone went to center stage, bowed to the cheering audience, packed up their gear, and returned backstage.
The next step was obvious.
The interview segment.
…
LNG's home host, Xixi, held up the mic and asked Lin Fan:
"In today's series, you lost Game 1, but then came back and won two in a row and took MVP. Anything you want to say?"
"Mm. LNG's players are very strong—especially Doinb in mid, steady as a mountain. He didn't give me any openings."
"Losing Game 1 gave us a huge sense of crisis. We were sweating. In the backstage lounge, everyone kept discussing how to play in order to win."
"With everyone's efforts, we finally found a crack, entered bit by bit, and broke through. So we're very happy to win today."
"Of course, later we'll train even harder, to avoid another situation like this."
Hearing that, everyone couldn't help thinking of what happened these past two days.
Real training, or fake training?
When you say it like that… why don't we believe you?
…
"Let's watch tonight's behavior first. If he doesn't go straight back to Infinite Borders, I'll increase my confidence and believe him."
"Uh… I don't really believe it. For this kind of thing, I'll doubt first, then believe."
"Hahaha, then everyone watch and supervise, see whether it's real."
…
After the interview, TES quickly boarded the team bus back to base.
All three games ended after nine p.m.
Without at least two and a half hours, they wouldn't make it back.
If they delayed more, they'd arrive at base at one or two a.m.—how would the players rest?
That was one downside of having a home venue: the travel was urgent.
Of course, the upsides were also big.
It expanded esports influence in a region, boosted tourism, and supported multi-layer development.
It was 12:30 a.m. when TES's bus finally returned to base.
Yawning, Lin Fan went back to the dorm, washed up, and went to sleep.
Worth noting—the other four quietly went to the training room…
They practiced until three or four in the morning.
Clearly, they were dissatisfied with today's performance too.
There are ways to "slack," sure—but you can't become a negative influence on the team.
At the very least, you can't become the enemy's breakthrough point.
TES fans noticed this scene and posted it on Weibo and forums for discussion.
"I train hard ×, my teammates train hard √."
"I told you—doubt first, then believe…"
"Actually, this BO3 was Brother Infinite Borders and his two wards and two flaws."
"Good. At least they know shame and will fight harder. We can keep expecting more in the next matches! TES, charge!"
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup