Chapter Sixteen: You’re Only a Hair Stronger Than Zhu Kai

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The midday sun hung high in the sky as Abu stepped into the training room, his sharp voice piercing the air like it could shatter the clouds.
“Where’s Zhao Zhiming? Don’t want to train anymore? It’s the middle of the day and you’re still not here.”

The training room fell into a long silence; no one knew the answer.

Lin Ruo, sitting in a chair, yawned wearily. “You say Ailoli? He was up all night playing last night, probably still catching up on sleep.”

“How do you know that?” Abu asked, slightly surprised, hardly believing that Ailoli had worked so hard.

He had even prepared to catch him slacking off in the dormitory.

Lin Ruo replied calmly, “Because I was playing with him.”

He had stayed up all night, while Ailoli joined the battle at four in the morning; the two played until eight o’clock.

Only when Lin Ruo logged off to take a short rest did Ailoli follow behind, returning to his room to sleep soundly.

Lin Ruo himself wasn’t sure what Ailoli’s true motivation was.

The alliance’s super-account scoring was high; he played all night and managed to push up quite a few points.

Ailoli, if he didn’t keep up, would fall behind. He lost four out of five games, was naturally not very skilled, and staying up late drained his spirit terribly, leaving his performance a complete mess.

By day’s end, he was reduced to honestly playing the role of a gold-level gatekeeper.

The biggest problem was that Lin Ruo, after just two hours’ rest, was already rushing back to the training room to start again.

Ailoli, sleeping like a log, probably felt like his lungs were about to burst with frustration.

“We’ve got a training match this afternoon, and he’s still up late,” Abu cursed as he walked out. A few steps past the door, his face darkened again, and he couldn’t help but swear.

“Damn it! Who brought the mop from the bathroom into the training room? Does it stink or what!”

...

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the five starting players of EDG gathered, the training room thick with tension.

Today was the first training match of the new season.

Coach Nofe, wearing square-framed glasses, stood behind the team, notebook in hand.

His brightest achievement was leading ROX to the summer championship and reaching the semifinals of the World Championship.

But that didn’t stop him from being just a little better than Zhu Kai.

Since joining EDG, he claimed to lead the national team to renewed glory, breaking into the World Championship quarterfinals.

Yet two years passed, and in 2017, he made a reverse play at Lucian’s doorstep in the third game.

In 2018, the super four-protect-one strategy reliably secured the quarterfinals, still relying on Scout’s first-game LeBlanc burst to crush FNC, while the second game he stubbornly picked Galio to roam and support.

The worst part was that just yesterday this divine four-protect-one lineup was crushed by G2, and the next day he boldly brought back the same strategy to help EDG narrowly lose to FNC and fall behind again.

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Those unfamiliar might think he was paying homage to a legend.

Finally, pressured by public opinion, he resigned and returned to the LCK as AFS’s head coach.

In the 2019 Spring Split, they placed eighth; in summer, SKT one-shot four of them.

In 2020, he switched to HLE, leading Viper’s team to second-last in the league, forcing him to flee overnight at the season’s end.

A little-known fact: LCK has only ten teams; to lead a roster with decent potential to consecutively finish second-last and third-last over two years speaks volumes about his capabilities.

In 2021, he couldn’t find a job and resorted to commentary to make ends meet.

All in all, it proved that during his time at ROX, he was just a decorative piece.

Lin Ruo turned his head slightly, revealing a meaningfully subtle smile.

Nofe mistook it for a gesture of favor, kindly patted him on the back, and said in broken Chinese, “Good job.”

He had watched videos sent by Abu and was confident that Lin Ruo, who showed talent, would shine brilliantly under his guidance.

“Damn it, why didn’t you say we had a training match this afternoon? I’m not in the zone at all,” Ailoli rubbed his eyes, looking half asleep.

Lin Ruo stared at him blankly. “I didn’t complain, so why are you whining?”

“You didn’t sleep from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., and also didn’t sleep from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.? Eight hours still isn’t enough for you to recharge?”

Facts spoke louder than words; Ailoli silently shut his mouth.

“Everyone’s here, we can start now,” the simple and harmless A Guang called out.

In the custom game room, all IG players facing them were already present.

The two teams had always maintained good relations; it was common for them to team up for training matches.

Tian Ye, who created the room, began the game, and both teams entered the pick-and-ban phase.

Lin Ruo glanced over, recognizing a mix of familiar yet strange IDs.

Theshy and Ning, along with West, all joined IG only in the summer split.

Thus, the current IG top lane was the newly transferred champion-stoic Duke, the jungler was a kid nicknamed “You Shen,” who had a habit of barely touching the eyes.

The AD carry was an unknown player named Marge with average skills.

Only the mid lane and support positions were familiar faces: Rookie and Baolan.

With such a lineup, it was no surprise IG only reached the quarterfinals of the spring split.

For a long-standing powerhouse, this was nothing short of poor performance.

Otherwise, the club wouldn’t have signed three new players across positions in the summer split to try to change things up.

“Guang, the stress-resistant god Duke is here, be careful,” Tian Ye joked.

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The team had just added two rookies; lightening the mood was a good thing.

A Guang chuckled and played along, “Alright, we’ll both jungle top. I’ll be Treant, he’ll be Titan.”

“Nonsense, Duke isn’t a slacker. He single-handedly solo-carrying with Troll last year’s Worlds, okay?” Lin Ruo couldn’t help but correct him.

A Guang frowned. “What do you mean? You look down on me? Bet I’ll show you some Rumble skills and carry you.”

A Guang’s Rumble was quite a sight, and Lin Ruo had to admit it. After all, he led a comeback from a 1-2 deficit and tamed the god himself.

Especially daring to pick a damage dealer under heavy pressure, then win the final game and claim the summer championship—a tremendous act of courage.

In short, this was far more impressive than some top laner in Season 8 who only dared to pick Sion in a do-or-die match.

“Guys, what’s the game plan?” Nofe shouted in Korean, and team leader Xiao Tie immediately asked for clarification.

He was responsible for translating for Nofe and relaying instructions.

Starting with the veteran tone, Lin Ruo promptly threw the responsibility back. “Listen to the coach. I’m good with anything.”

Xiao Tie passed it on, and Nofe immediately opened his notebook and began pacing behind them, instructing A Guang to lock in Zyra on the first floor.

They continued the World Championship bottom lane strategy of lane control and dragon contesting.

IG responded by selecting Excavator and Ryze.

EDG then picked Titan and Mantis for the second and third lanes.

Nofe knew A Guang’s champion pool and habitually picked tanks for him.

It was fine to play tank top currently, but with Treant outside not contesting, Titan was picked as a counter—Lin Ruo couldn’t help but feel some resentment toward Nofe.

He was defying EDG tradition and suggesting a kill-oriented approach.

Two minutes later, the lineups were finalized: EDG had Titan top, Mantis jungle, Orianna mid, Jhin AD, and Zyra support.

IG had Treant top, Excavator jungle, Ryze mid, Varus AD, and Miss Fortune support.

Lin Ruo glanced at Tian Ye, who returned his gaze with a dazed look.

Nofe was letting himself go a bit too much.

The lineup he chose made IG’s side seem flawless—solid and great for team fights.

Though it was just a training match, Lin Ruo couldn’t help but ask, “Coach, where do you think our advantage lies with this lineup?”