LPL didn't want me? I joined SKT instead!

Update released! Book lovers, go read Cola Novels!

"There's no need to watch the World Championship this year. Just award the championship trophy to SKT, and let the other teams compete for second place."

In the LCK region, the whole country rejoiced. Korean esports media used the most eloquent language to elevate SKT to godlike status.

The Great Demon King Returns to the Throne! The Grim Reaper AD Arrives! The SKT Dynasty Restored!

The Invincible Five! LCK's Absolute Dominance!

When the entire SKT team returned to Seoul Incheon International Airport by plane, tens of thousands of fans surrounded the airport.

Flowers, applause, and screams filled the air, as if welcoming a triumphant hero.

However, the SKT players at the center of the storm remained remarkably calm.

Back at SKT's training base, head coach Kkoma did not give the players a long break.

"The MSI championship is just an appetizer. Don't forget, our real battleground is the Summer Split, at Worlds!" Kkoma, holding his tactical board, swept his stern gaze across the crowd. "The whole world is studying us, trying to find our weaknesses. If we stop, they'll tear us apart!"

"Coach, you're overthinking it." TheShy said in broken Korean, a shy yet extremely confident smile on his lips. "They can't find a weakness."

Faker pushed up his glasses, silently opened a Korean ranked game, and showed his attitude through his actions.

"Being invincible is indeed lonely," Xiao Yan murmured to himself. "Hopefully, the LCK Summer Split can bring me some surprises."

Just when everyone thought that SKT in the Summer Split would be like a bulldozer with its engine fully fueled, effortlessly sweeping aside all LCK opponents and even securing the S-series championship in advance, a sudden piece of news was like a bombshell dropped on a calm lake, instantly igniting the global League of Legends esports scene.

Three days before the start of the LCK Summer Split, SKT's official Twitter and Weibo accounts simultaneously released an announcement:

"Following careful evaluation by the coaching staff and medical team, in order to protect the player's hand health and ensure peak performance for the upcoming S-series World Championship, our starting AD carry, XiaoYan, will take a rest during the first half of the Summer Split. During this period, the highly talented young player Sirius, promoted from SKT's academy, will take over the starting AD carry position. Thank you for your understanding and support, SKT will continue to fight for the championship!"

The announcement caused an uproar throughout the esports community.

The LPL region's "Anti-Pressure" forum and Weibo trending topics were immediately ignited.

"Holy crap? Xiao Yan isn't playing in the first half of the Summer Split? What is SKT doing?"

"They've gotten arrogant! Absolutely arrogant! They think they've forgotten who they are just because they won an MSI championship? Do they really think they can dominate the LCK by just swapping in any trainee?"

"To be fair, from the club's perspective, it's understandable. Xiao Yan's high-intensity gameplay at MSI put too much strain on his mouse hand. Kkoma is being shrewd, keeping some cards up his sleeve for the World Championship."

"It's dawn! LPL is saved! While Xiao Yan is away, let's quickly study SKT's other lanes; maybe we really have a chance in this year's World Championship!"

In the LCK region, Korean fans have mixed feelings.

The worry is that we won't see the "Grim Reaper" who used to dominate the bottom lane anymore. The good news is that SKT has finally started to pay attention to youth training and talent reserves, and they still have blind confidence in the top, mid and jungle combination of TheShy, Faker and Peanut.

"Even without XiaoYan, our top, mid, and jungle are still the best in the world! Just pair them with a reliable AD carry, and we'll still dominate in the LCK!" the Korean commentator confidently stated during a pre-match prediction program.

However, reality is far more brutal than imagined.

As the Summer Split officially began, the invincible team that struck fear into the hearts of the world at MSI suffered an unprecedented setback right at the start of the season.

The "MSI Comprehensive Curse," a curse that has plagued countless champion teams, has finally befallen the newly rebuilt SKT.

Having just experienced a high-intensity international competition, the entire SKT team is in a period of extreme fatigue, both physically and mentally.

In addition, the huge changes in the summer version—the adjustment of turret plating economy, the increase in the strategic importance of Rift Herald, and the change in the bot lane ecosystem—made this team, which was used to the system of "absolute bot lane dominance and endless jungle invasion," suddenly feel somewhat lost.

In the opening match of the Summer Split, SKT faced off against Afreeca Freecs, who had a mediocre performance in the Spring Split.

Before the match, everyone thought it would be an easy 2-0 victory, a chance for the new AD carry player Sirius to practice.

Sirius, a 17-year-old youth trainee, sat under the spotlight under the immense pressure of being "Xiao Yan's successor." His hands trembled slightly, and his eyes showed both a longing for the stage and an undisguised nervousness.

The problems were immediately apparent as soon as the first game began.

Although Sirius possesses an extremely high rank in solo queue and decent mechanical skills, he completely lacks Xiao Yan's innate "killer aura" and his abnormally precise control of distance. Facing the standard pressure from AFs' bot lane duo, Sirius opted for the most conservative approach: farming under the tower.

This means that Peanut has lost its biggest protection in the jungle.

Five minutes into the game, Peanut, as usual, tried to invade AFs' lower jungle to steal the F6 camp, but was caught off guard by AFs' jungler Dread and his support, giving up the first blood.

"First Blood!"

When the system notification sounded, the entire audience was stunned. At MSI, SKT usually secured First Blood within five minutes. When did it become someone else's turn to provoke SKT?

The stealth of the bottom laner triggered a chain reaction.

After confirming that the bottom lane was absolutely safe, AFs' jungler Dread began to focus all his energy on the top lane.

TheShy is still TheShy; he picked Aatrox and continued to dominate the lane. However, without Xiao Yan drawing the enemy jungler's attention in the bottom lane, TheShy's aggressive lane-pushing style instantly became his most fatal weakness.

Seven minutes in, Dread, in coordination with the top laner, tower dived and killed TheShy.

Ten minutes later, AFs' mid laner ganked top lane, and three players surrounded him, resulting in TheShy's death once again.

Faker desperately tried to create momentum in the mid lane, his Azir repeatedly attempting to use his ultimate to push back key targets, but all his efforts seemed futile against AFs' tight defense and huge economic disadvantage.

Thirty minutes later, AFs destroyed SKT's base crystal.

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Although Faker picked LeBlanc in the second game and carried the team to tie the score, SKT still exposed extremely serious problems with team synergy in the decisive game. Sirius made a positioning mistake in a team fight and was instantly killed by the enemy Rakan, leading to SKT's defeat.

1: 2.

SKT's first match in the Summer Split ended in a shocking defeat to AFs.

This defeat was like toppling the first domino.

Over the next two weeks, SKT's performance could only be described as "mediocre" or even "struggling".

They narrowly defeated the bottom-ranked team 2-1, but then suffered a crushing 0-2 defeat to the then-rising LCK powerhouse, DWG.

That match against DWG was arguably SKT's most painful memory of the first half of the Summer Split.