Believe me, I really am a professional League of Legends player.

Chapter 96 The exaggerated timing, the terrified crowd!
EDG ended their regular season campaign with a resounding five-game winning streak, finishing with a record of 11 wins and 5 losses.

Whether they ultimately finish first or second in the regular season is in the hands of WE and NB.

If WE can defeat NB, they will secure first place with a record of 12 wins and 4 losses. If WE loses, then EDG will take first place due to their superior point differential.

Although the suspense remains, the EDG players, who finished the season with a strong performance, have given their all and can now take a breather before preparing for the playoffs.

As for whether it's first or second place, there's really no other way to say it. No matter who the opponent is, the only option is to win.

However, just as League of Legends viewers were still focusing on the final round of the regular season and debating the playoff matchups, a trending topic that seemed completely unrelated to the LPL playoffs suddenly appeared at the top of the list at an astonishing speed, instantly attracting the attention of the vast majority of players.

#Unreal has arrived at the QQ Speed ​​SSC Spring Tournament Top 8 venue#
Among the trending topics were several slightly blurry photos, but it was clear at a glance that they were of Li Fan.

In the photo, Li Fan is dressed in simple casual clothes and is signing in in front of a backdrop that is clearly the QQ Speed ​​competition venue.

However, this trending topic... was like a bomb, causing an uproar among League of Legends viewers.

Many people clicked in to join the discussion.

【Wait, did I read that right? EDG just finished their regular season, and the playoffs are about to start, and he's already going to participate in a QQ Speed ​​offline tournament?】

Holy crap, is he serious? I thought he was just joking during his livestreams and interviews? He actually went right after the match?

[Has the club gone mad? They actually approved this? No playoff preparations? No scrimmages? And then they're just going to be eliminated? What's the point of needing a Mid-Season Invitational qualification? We're already the Mid-Season Invitational champions, right?]

Many people even tagged EDG's official Weibo account.

Faced with the overwhelming public opinion, EDG Club remained surprisingly silent, offering no explanation or statement.

[My god, is this the capriciousness of an all-around genius? He just made a name for himself in the LPL, and now he's off to do a side hustle?]

[Haha, all the goodwill I just built up is gone. Looks like you really don't treat League of Legends as your main job, you're just playing around. What kind of professional League of Legends player are you then? You're completely irresponsible towards your teammates.]

[Why the rush? EDG has already finished their regular season, and there's a several-day gap between the regular season and the playoffs. What's wrong with them taking some time to participate in a tournament they registered for a long time ago?]

[I'm just confused. If someone goes to participate in a competition, it means the club and teammates agree. So what are you all saying in this situation? Everyone else agrees except the netizens?]

[Exactly. Unreal is a top-tier professional player in the racing world. What's wrong with him fulfilling his promise to participate in the competition? Besides, he's in such hot form, leading EDG to a five-game winning streak. What's wrong with taking a break and clearing his head?]

[As we said before, we racing game players are really looking forward to Unreal Engine bringing its talent to the racing game.]

Public opinion instantly polarized...

The main reason is that Li Fan has gained a lot of fans during this period.

Many League players are currently taking a wait-and-see approach and have not actively participated, as they have many precedents to learn from.

They were all photographed by Unreal's little fanboys and uploaded online.

Even with thick censorship, didn't he still become a clown that everyone remembers?

Therefore, it's better for them to remain silent for now.

Fans of other games would love for Li Fan to participate, so they could encourage him to participate in future game competitions.

Naturally, we will show our support in this trending topic.

As a result, although there were many people criticizing it, there were even more people supporting it!

Those who opposed the movement, seeing so much support, could only silently swallow their dissatisfaction and wait!
If EDG performs exceptionally well in the playoffs, they can turn the tables on their former rivals.

The regular season is the regular season, and the playoffs are the playoffs.

The strength is completely different.

The main reason is the number of matches.

There's a lot of randomness in best-of-three (BO3) matches. Besides, top-ranked teams often practice their lineups during the regular season.

Once this lineup and tactics are practiced, the rhythm of the game becomes a bit stiff, which makes it easy for strong teams to lose to weak teams.

But isn't the regular season just a time for training and development?

Once you know where the problem is, then you just need to solve it.

If we wait until the playoffs or the World Championship to pull it out and practice it, it will be too late.

Therefore, they do not believe that Li Fan, who has only played one ranked game in three months, can have any outstanding performance in the playoffs.

They're hyping it up so much now, but they'll all have to pay it back in the playoffs!
The official QQ Speed ​​team doesn't have time to deal with these things.

They seized this sudden surge in traffic and swiftly released an official Weibo post: 【QQ Speed ​​SSC Spring Season Quarterfinals are about to begin!】

List of contestants: Li Fan, Jiang Zhangchuang, Xiong Mengqi, Hu Xu, Luo Wei, Liang Haipeng, Liang Haihui, Chen Zi.

The quarterfinals will use a timed format on specific maps. The first round of grouping will be based on the fastest lap times of the players on the two maps, Rainbow Windmill Island and Western Mine.

As soon as this Weibo post was published, it immediately became a trending topic among fans of both sides and onlookers looking for some fun.

[Rainbow Windmill Island? Western Mines? These are old maps; looks like they're testing basic skills and stability.]

I also watched his Unreal Engine racing game. He's really good at using air-based maps, but I feel like he doesn't have a significant advantage on older maps, and it's not like he can guarantee a win.

[Stop analyzing. Racing game players say there are no weak players among those who made it to the top eight, especially Luo Wei, the Three Realms Racing King; he's the real favorite in this year's racing competition.]

The official Weibo account for the racing game is clearly capitalizing on this trend; regardless of Unreal's performance, their competition is getting massive attention.

[Pshaw, QQ Speed ​​still has some shame. If it didn't, it could easily be on Spring Festival Gala or Desert Inn.]

Isn't this a good thing? Unreal was eliminated on the first day of the competition, so they can come back and train with the team for two days to prepare for the playoffs.

[That makes sense. The official QQ Speed ​​team didn't choose to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. As long as Unreal Engine's League of Legends performs well, its popularity will remain, and QQ Speed ​​will also maintain its popularity.]

Meanwhile, backstage at the QQ Speed ​​SSC quarterfinals, at 8 p.m. sharp, eight top players gathered to await the draw that would determine the order of the first round of time trials.

During the waiting period, the atmosphere in the venue was very tense, with an inexplicable sense of tension.

The scene in the athletes' rest area was quite intriguing, clearly divided into several small groups.

QQ Speed ​​professional players also have their own circles.

Jiang Zhangchuang and Liang Haihui huddled together, talking in hushed tones, glancing at the other contestants from time to time with assessment and hostility in their eyes, forming the first small clique.

On the other side, Hu Xu, Liang Haipeng, and Chen Zi sat around chatting, occasionally bursting into laughter, appearing relatively relaxed. This was the second small group.

Looking at these two small groups, Li Fan couldn't help but want to laugh.

The two brothers, Liang Haipeng and Liang Haihui, are now at odds. They haven't spoken a word to each other for three or four hours since they signed in and put their things down, and they haven't even looked at each other.

This is truly the most familiar stranger...

However, Li Fan had only heard about what happened between the two brothers: Liang Haipeng made a lot of money from live streaming, but he didn't include his older brother.

Liang Haihui was ruthless; he directly colluded with Jiang Zhangchuang to set up a scheme that cost his brother several million yuan.

I don't know if it's true or not, so I'm not very interested in it.

Mengqi seemed more active, sometimes chatting with Jiang Zhangchuang and the others, and sometimes joining in the conversation between Hu Xu and the other two. She seemed to be quite familiar with both sides and knew people from both sides.

However, he did not allow these two groups, who were like oil and water, to talk together.

It is precisely because we understand this that we know what the conflict between these two small groups is.

In short, it's about those who cheat offline...

They had more than a dozen matches, and Jiang Zhangchuang almost brought Hu Baibing and Chen Zi to bankruptcy by cheating.

Luo Wei, a three-time champion and widely recognized as the biggest favorite in this competition, sat alone in a corner, resting with his eyes closed.

The other person sitting on the side is Li Fan, a professional League of Legends player. He had never played team races before, but he emerged as a dark horse this year, snatching a spot in an online competition and showing terrifying strength.

The others were curious, but none of them came over to chat.

After all, their fields are different.

Many people believe that Li Fan's visit here is merely a formality to experience the atmosphere of an offline QQ Speed ​​competition. He might not participate in future competitions even if a spot becomes available.

After all, the racing championships are all held in August, which is a crucial time for League of Legends competitions.

The points earned in the Spring Split are important, but not that important. However, the Summer Split is a completely different story, as it determines qualification for the World Championship.

In this situation, who has the time or inclination to deal with these things?
I definitely won't participate.

So after this experience, there wasn't much contact with them afterward.

There are also athletes who excel at time trials, but in actual competitions they are a mess.

Even in the quarterfinals, it's not guaranteed that anyone can escape.

Soon, staff members came in with a lottery box.

All eyes were instantly drawn to it, and the chatter in the rest area came to an abrupt halt.

A tense atmosphere arose at this moment, and the pressure of deciding who went first and who could observe the opponent's performance from behind inexplicably increased.

The draw began, and according to the online points ranking, Li Fan, as the first place winner, was the first to step forward and draw a slip of paper from the transparent draw box to determine the order of appearance.

He expressionlessly reached into the box, fumbled around for a moment, and then took out a folded piece of paper. When unfolded, the number "1" was clearly printed on it.

Li Fan showed no emotional fluctuation on his face, and simply handed the note to the staff member next to him who was waiting to record it.

For others, this order means that he will have no reference points and will have to rely entirely on his own strength to achieve a result. At the same time, it will give all the runners behind him the opportunity to observe and study the details of his running style.

The pressure is undoubtedly greatest in this situation...

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that number one had been eliminated.

Next, the other contestants also stepped forward to draw lots.

Jiang Zhangchuang was seventh... Luo Wei... Xiong Mengqi was the last to appear.

As soon as the draw was over, Li Fan went straight to the designated computer for the competition.

Then open the settings and start adjusting the buttons.

QQ Speed ​​can use the default key bindings, but the adjusted key bindings are more convenient.

It's worth mentioning that everyone else brought their own keyboards, while Li Fan used the keyboard that was connected to the computer on site—an eighteen-yuan Double Swallow keyboard.

Based on my own button habits, I changed the drift button to q, the item button to e, and the 8, 4, 5, and 6 buttons to the directional buttons.

Another reason for this change is that the right hand is indeed more flexible than the left hand.

The vast majority of people are right-handed...

If you don't adjust it this way and use the left-hand forward movement, it's easy to get stuck in a situation where you can't release the forward movement button.

Li Fan started playing QQ Speed ​​the same way. Later, when he was learning various skills, he forcibly switched to the keyboard and found that it was like opening up a new world. The operation became much simpler.

Some people might ask why not just press the original right-hand arrow key.

Because the original right-hand directional keys were positioned slightly lower, this made it asymmetrical for your left and right hands, which made pressing them uncomfortable.

After the adjustments were made, the referee immediately came over to ask if we were ready.

Li Fan nodded.

The first game started very quickly.

The first picture shows Rainbow Windmill Island.

The map itself isn't particularly difficult, but there are some evolving ways to run it.

For example, Li Fan used a nitro boost when exiting a normal turn on an uphill slope.

When you're about to take off, press W to give yourself a quicker and denser boost, which will allow you to fly higher.

Another tip is not to rush to use the mini-boost when landing; try to overlap it with the air boost on the bridge.

Then, towing begins before landing...

Soaring through the air!
The final drift and triple boost technique finished the run into the corner, completing the entire sequence.

The people standing behind were already getting restless.

They had never seen this operation before...

What exactly is this drifting cornering?
quickly!

All I can think about is speed.

This "broken mid-air glide" technique only became widely used in 2018, and professional players started learning it one by one.

As for teaching, it took a full three years before large-scale teaching could begin...

As for the three-spray technique, it's even more exaggerated. Even after two or five years, professional players still couldn't learn it. Cao Yi himself admitted that using it was worse than not using it at all, as he had no proficiency at all.

In this picture, under the new running method, Li Fan directly used the Razor technique to run a time of 1 minute 13.88 seconds!

Once you master this technique, even professional players won't be able to beat you in the end.

However, professional players at this stage generally finish in one minute and twenty seconds... and with Razor, it's around one minute and twenty-two seconds.

Upon hearing this result, the entire backstage rest area fell into a deathly silence.

The other seven contestants stared wide-eyed at almost the same time, their faces filled with disbelief.

"How much? 1 minute and 13 seconds?" Hu Xu suddenly stood up from his seat, his voice trembling.

Liang Haipeng and Chen Zi exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes. This single image was no longer a matter of strength; it was an attack from a lower dimension!

The ease on Jiang Zhangchuang and Liang Haihui's faces had vanished; the "techniques" they had discussed seemed utterly powerless in the face of such absolute strength.

"That turn...that leap...how did he do that?"

"That's too fast, I've never seen that kind of running before..."

"Referee, I'm going to run the next map."

"Li Fan, are you sure? You have three chances."

"At my speed, there's no need for me to run."

"Hmm..." The referee nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

……

When the western mine started operating, the people who were initially standing at the back couldn't stand still anymore. They stretched forward, craning their necks to look at Li Fan's monitor.

This is the normal way to start at this level, but he immediately used a triple boost on the first corner, followed by a series of boosts and a violent cut-off on the S-curve. This is completely different from their old method of using a single boost to exit the corner...

Only 24 seconds had passed when we took the shortcut!
Continue with a triple boost after the first bend on the side road.

Pull the front of the car and force your way into the shortcut, then speed all the way to the finish line!
1 minutes 06 seconds 28!

Another achievement that's hard to reach!

Li Fan stood up from his seat.

"sign!"

The referee then belatedly realized what was happening and hurriedly handed the autograph sheet to Li Fan...

"This is the true time-running king of the Chinese server!"

(End of this chapter)