LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

The vortex of public opinion was more intense than expected.

The article, titled "Shocking Revelation!", spread like wildfire across major esports forums, social media, and short video platforms.

Countless self-media outlets and marketing accounts, driven by the pursuit of traffic, disregarded the truth and readily reposted the content, adding embellishments and creating derivative works.

"I've disliked Su Mo for a long time. He got a championship and started acting all high and mighty. He's definitely no good!"

"Holy Gun is so pitiful. Not only did he not play in the World Championship, but now that he's back, he's being suppressed by the Rookie King. Is this how EDG treats its veteran players?"

"Heh, the photos are out now. He's flirting with that female capitalist. Who would believe there's no deal behind it? The e-sports world is a deep and murky place!"

"I've gone from being a fan to a hater. I never expected you to be like this, Mo Shen. You even betrayed your teammates for your own status. Disgusting!"

A torrent of profanities flooded in, and Su Mo's Weibo comment section was completely overrun within just a few hours.

EDG's official account is also filled with angry comments demanding that the club "severely punish the team bully" and "give Flandre justice."

Su Mo and others gathered at the EDG base to train their strength.

Jiejie slammed her hand on the table and said, "Are these people blind?! Can't they see how Mozi treated Qiang? Losing to IG is everyone's problem, why is it all blamed on Qiang? And why the hell are they attacking Mozi?!"

Saint Gun sat in his seat, his lips tightly pressed together.

He wasn't upset because he was being scolded, but because he himself had become a weapon used by others to attack Su Mo.

Abu's face darkened slightly as he paced back and forth in the training room, phone in hand, muttering to himself, "Investigate! We must dig out the inside story of this 'e-sports insider'! Tell the PR department to prepare a statement and send a lawyer's letter right away!"

“It’s no use, Abu.” The factory manager sighed. “These marketing accounts are all shell companies; you can’t win a lawsuit against them. If you issue a statement, they’ll just say it’s ‘capital-driven commentary control,’ making things worse.”

Everyone was seething with anger, but had nowhere to vent it, so they could only watch helplessly as Su Mo was smeared with bucket after bucket of dirty water.

At the center of the incident, Su Mo remained unusually calm.

He leaned back in his gaming chair, even having the leisure to scroll through the comments criticizing him, occasionally chuckling when he came across a particularly "creative" one.

"Brother Mozi, you..." Brother Shengqiang looked at him and asked strangely, "How can you still laugh at a time like this?"

"What else? Cry?" Su Mo put down his phone, looked around at his indignant teammates, and waved his hand. "Don't act like the sky is falling. Abu, don't make any moves in the PR department, and don't release any statements."

"Why!" Abu asked, puzzled. "If you don't clarify, won't your public image be completely ruined?"

"Do I have a persona..." Su Mo asked back, then stood up, picked up his phone, and said while operating it, "The best way to deal with rumors is not to explain."

"What is that?" Everyone looked at him.

Su Mo's lips curled into a playful smile: "Let's flip the table and make sure they can't play anymore."

After saying that, he pressed the send button.

The next second, a brand new Weibo post appeared at the center of the storm.

@EDG.Mo: Which idiot is trying to smear me? I'll fuck your mother!
There was no explanation, no clarification, just a simple insult.

This Weibo post was like a deep-sea bomb dropped into a calm lake, instantly igniting the entire internet!

The comment section, which was originally engaged in a heated online debate, suddenly froze for a few seconds.

Immediately afterwards, the number of likes, comments, and shares began to skyrocket at an alarming exponential rate!

Holy crap! The main character has joined in!

[Hahaha, as expected of you, Mozi! While other idols send lawyer's letters, you just start cursing!]

This style is fucking amazing!

[Hilarious! The PR team must be stunned. They've never seen anything like this in ten years in the industry.]

Su Mo's Weibo post, in a rather unreasonable way, instantly diluted the originally heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

Countless casual netizens, caught up in the hype, were drawn to this uniquely styled Weibo post and began watching with a gossip-loving attitude.

Su Mo's fans and truly rational viewers, on the other hand, seemed to have found a clarion call to fight back.

"You can't even criticize properly, I'm really laughing. Someone who's willing to give up his starting position to be lazy, and even wants to lie down and watch his teammates carry every day, you call him a 'team bully'? What does he bully? The water bench?"

"Exactly! If Mozi really wanted to mess with Holy Gunner, why would he be a substitute himself?"

"The person upstairs is right, the logic in that leak is completely flawed! Mozi was clearly playing for FPX to save the day, so how did that become suppressing his teammates?"

"I'm starting to suspect that Brother Mo has offended someone. Those photos from the wine tasting were clearly taken secretly, and they only showed him and that President Qin. I remember there were a lot of people there at the time; this is a classic case of malicious manipulation!"

Public opinion began to take a surprising turn.

Su Mo's simple and blunt response, on the contrary, aroused the public's rebellious mentality and desire to explore.

More and more people are beginning to think that there might be something fishy going on behind this incident.

Soon, tech gurus stepped in.

A netizen with the ID "Code Farmer" posted a technical analysis: "I tracked that 'Esports Insider' and the first batch of accounts that forwarded and stirred up trouble, and found that their IP addresses were highly concentrated on a few fixed overseas nodes, and the posting time and comment format were highly consistent. This basically confirms that it is a professional 'water army' organization carrying out a premeditated smear campaign."

This post, like a boulder, smashed open the door to the truth.

Following this, another executive from a company who also attended the wine tasting that evening, apparently disgusted by such underhanded tactics, anonymously revealed on the forum: "I was there that night. When Su Mo and President Qin were chatting, there were several other people around, including Zhou Yi from Shengshi Group. That CEO of Tianhong Capital, surnamed Li, got drunk and made a nasty remark, which Su Mo humiliated him on the spot, leaving him speechless and turning his face green. If anyone has a motive to smear Su Mo, that person is the most suspicious."

The clues were connected one by one.

Motive (Li's revenge after being publicly humiliated), means (hiring online trolls), and evidence (technical analysis and anonymous testimonies) form a complete logical loop!
Netizens instantly transformed into Sherlock Holmes, digging up every detail about Tianhong Capital and its CEO, Mr. Li.

They discovered that the public relations firm this company had invested in happened to be a company in the industry known for its "dirty tricks".

Now the truth is out!
The hashtag #SuMoTeamBeater# disappeared from the trending topics at a visible speed, and was replaced by #HeartacheForSuMo#.

The previous comments that insulted Su Mo were completely wiped out by countless angry netizens, and were replaced by an overwhelming demand for an apology and support.

At the EDG base, Abu and his teammates stared in disbelief at the miraculous reversal of public opinion on their phones, speechless for a long time.

They tried every trick in the book: press releases, lawyer's letters, chains of evidence... but before they could even make a move, their enemy had already been "doxxed" and knocked out by Su Mo and netizens using the most primitive methods.

"Brother Mozi... awesome!" Jiejie held back for a long time before finally uttering these four words, her eyes filled with admiration.

Saint Gun Bro stood up excitedly, walked up to Su Mo, and bowed deeply: "Brother Mo, thank you."

Su Mo patted his shoulder and laughed, "We're brothers, don't be so formal. Besides, this has nothing to do with you."

……

In the top-floor office of the Qin Group in another city, Qin Lan watched the farce on her phone come to an end, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up slightly.

"Young Miss, this Su Mo... his way of handling crises is truly unique," the assistant beside her couldn't help but comment.

“He’s not dealing with a crisis,” Qin Lan said, picking up her coffee, her beautiful eyes sparkling with admiration. “He’s just being himself. He doesn’t care about those rumors at all. He believes in his fans and in justice. This confidence and insight into people’s hearts are far superior to any business tactics.”

She paused, then murmured to herself, "This man is becoming more and more captivating." Meanwhile, at Shengshi Group, Zhou Yi also saw the news. He simply smiled gently and instructed his secretary, "Remove Tianhong Capital from our future cooperation list. People with narrow minds don't go far."

At this moment, Mr. Li, the instigator of this whole mess, was trembling with rage as he looked at the shattered fake antique vase scattered all over the floor of his office.

Not only did he fail to smear Su Mo, but he also dragged himself and his company down with him, becoming a laughingstock online. He knew that his reputation in the industry was completely ruined.

The afternoon after the commotion subsided, Su Mo was wearing headphones and comfortably watching an old movie on the sofa in the training room when his phone suddenly vibrated.

It turned out the message was from Qin Lan:

"My father has removed Mr. Li from the board of directors of Tianhong Capital. All channels under the Qin family have also terminated their cooperation with Tianhong Capital and its affiliated companies. This is just a small lesson to help you vent your anger."

The text message was concise and to the point, yet it exuded an undeniable and powerful force.

Su Mo took off his headphones, looked at the few lines of text, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He didn't expect Qin Lan to act so quickly and so ruthlessly.

With the chamber of commerce expelling him and terminating the cooperation, Mr. Li's days in the industry are likely to be very difficult.

Although he didn't take that clown seriously, he still felt obligated to acknowledge the favor someone had done for him.

He thought for a moment, then dialed the number.

The call was answered quickly, and Qin Lan's voice, tinged with a smile, came through: "I saw the message."

“I saw it,” Su Mo said politely. “Miss Qin, you’ve gone to a lot of trouble. There’s really no need to get angry over someone like that.”

"If he makes you unhappy, then he makes me unhappy too." Qin Lan's voice carried a domineering air of self-righteousness. "Besides, I don't want my partner to be bothered by any flies. This isn't just for you, but also to protect the image of my future 'e-sports empire'."

She made no attempt to hide the fact that she brought up that grand plan again.

Su Mo smiled helplessly, knowing that this topic couldn't be avoided.

Anyway, thank you.

“A simple thank you isn’t enough,” Qin Lan said smoothly. “To celebrate our future ‘king’ clearing the pebbles from the road, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight, how about it?”

Again.

Su Mo could almost imagine the look of determination in Qin Lan's beautiful eyes on the other end of the phone.

He leaned back on the sofa, shifting to a more comfortable position, but his tone was very sincere: "Thank you very much for the invitation, Ms. Qin, but the team's training has been very intense lately, and the playoffs are just around the corner, so I really can't find the time. I'll treat you after the season ends."

He cleverly regained control, neither directly refusing and offending the other party, nor delaying the matter until a distant future.

He really didn't want to go.

Firstly, he dislikes dinner parties with strong ulterior motives;

Secondly, he is currently enjoying the relaxed lifestyle at EDG, where he can "play when he wants and rest when he wants," and he doesn't want to experience the "empire" that requires him to shoulder everything for the time being.

Qin Lan, who was on the other end of the phone, was very clever and immediately understood Su Mo's subtext.

Instead of getting angry, she chuckled and said, "Okay, I'll remember that. Well then, I wish you all the best in the playoffs. I'll be waiting for you in the finals."

After hanging up the phone, Su Mo breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if he had escaped a troublesome task.

He tossed his phone aside, put his headphones back on, and refocused his attention on the movie. It was as if the phone call he'd just had, and the underlying power struggles, were merely a minor episode in his life, far less interesting than the spectacle on the screen.

……

In the days that followed, the atmosphere at the EDG base returned to normal.

The shadow of the crushing defeat to IG and the online controversy dissipated with the victory over FPX and the revelation of the truth.

The entire team is putting 100% of their energy into the final stages of the regular season and preparations for the upcoming playoffs.

In the training room, the constant clicking of keyboards and mice became the main theme of the day.

After experiencing that team bullying incident, Flandre's mentality actually became more calm and resilient.

Su Mo's words, "To deal with a madman, you can only be madder than him," woke him up.

He became less timid in training and began to try more aggressive heroes and playstyles, striving to better integrate his own style with the team's needs.

The synergy between Jiejie and Scout in the mid-jungle is becoming increasingly seamless, while the bot lane duo of Viper and Meiko remains EDG's most reliable carry.

The entire team, like a sophisticated machine, resumed high-speed operation.

Su Mo, on the other hand, naturally entered "sage mode," focusing on slacking off.

While his teammates were having heated discussions in voice chat about how to handle a ward or a wave of minions, Su Mo was leisurely scrolling through short videos.

While the factory manager and Abu were holding tactical boards, studying the next opponent's draft strategy and discussing it until their faces were red, Su Mo was holding a cup of milk tea, studying the newly released collection, and thinking about what new items he should add to his collection.

When the team members finish a day of intense training and matches and collapse into their chairs, Su Mo is often the one with the best spirits. He will be the first to rush to the cafeteria or drag Meiko to play a couple of matches, playing some fun games such as "AD Malphite" or "AP Jarvan IV", ostensibly to relax and expand their understanding of the heroes.

The factory manager was already used to this. He knew that Su Mo's terrifying strength lay not in the amount of training he received, but in his innate gaming instincts and his composure under pressure. As long as he was in the base, even if he was sleeping, he gave everyone a sense of security.

That afternoon, EDG arranged to play a practice match against WBG.

Saint Gun was laning against TheShy in the top lane, and he picked Jayce against Quesant, playing with exceptional focus.

Su Mo casually moved a small stool and sat not far behind Saint Gun Bro, slurping instant noodles while watching the game.

"Hey, Gunner, your cannon angle is wrong. Move half a body length to the left, and you can block his hand-raising motion when he's replenishing the siege engine."

"Don't rush to switch to hammer, his rage is almost full, bait him into using W first."

"Jiejie, don't go down there. TheShy doesn't have Flash. Just dive him directly, and he'll die."

With noodles in his mouth, Su Mo was giving his "off-field guidance" indistinctly. Yet, every point he made accurately predicted the opponent's movements and psychology.

Saint Gun was a little nervous at first, but after he found that playing according to Su Mo's instructions greatly reduced the pressure in the laning phase and even allowed him to gain an advantage, he was completely convinced.

After a training match, EDG won easily.

Saint Gun took off his headphones and turned around with a face full of admiration: "Brother Mozi, you... have X-ray vision?"

Su Mo slurped up the last mouthful of noodle soup, let out a satisfied burp, wiped his mouth, and said, "What 'xianxia'? That's called the awareness of a top-tier player. Learn from this; you're still a ways off from me."

After saying that, he patted his butt, picked up his instant noodle bowl, and sauntered towards the break room, leaving his teammates speechless with amusement.

For him, giving orders and directing the affairs of state is far more relaxing and enjoyable than personally taking charge.

As for that broader stage, that e-sports empire that belongs to him?
Su Mo looked up at the bright sunshine outside the window and stretched.

We'll see. The weather's so nice today, taking a nap is more important. (End of Chapter)