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

October 2017, Wuhan, China.

Autumn came a little late to Jiangcheng, and the air was still filled with the unique heat and dryness characteristic of the Yangtze River region.

As the bus bearing the "SKT T1" logo slowly drove out of the airport, looking out the window at the familiar Chinese road signs, the flashing neon lights, and the bustling yellow-skinned faces, a complex emotion flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes.

"Finally... I'm back."

He murmured softly, his fingers unconsciously tracing the car window.

A few months ago, he was a discarded player who had been kicked out of LPL teams and no one wanted him, and he left this land in a sorry state.

At that time, no one saw them off; instead, they were met with ridicule and cold stares.

Now, when he sets foot on this homeland again, his identity has undergone a complete transformation.

He is the newly crowned champion of the LCK Summer Split, the FMVP, and the starting AD carry for SKT T1.

"Xiao Yan, what are you looking at?" Peanut, who was sitting next to Xiao Yan, curiously leaned over and looked outside in the same direction. "Wow, China is so big, and there are so many people! And it feels like... there's a nice smell in the air."

Xiao Yan snapped out of his thoughts, a faint smile playing on his lips: "That's the smell of hot dry noodles and duck neck, and also... the smell of the battlefield."

"Battlefield?" Peanut blinked, not understanding the profound meaning of the question.

Just then, the onboard TV in the bus was broadcasting a replay of the S7 World Championship group stage draw ceremony.

Although the lottery results had already been released before they boarded the plane, seeing the group assignment screen again still caused a subtle fluctuation in the atmosphere inside the carriage.

On the screen, as the guest drawing lots slowly unfolded the slips of paper, the logos of the four teams were placed in the same group—Group C.

SKT T1 (LCK No.1 seed)

RNG (LPL third seed)

C9 (NA LCS third seed)

Misfits (EU LCS runner-up)

"The group of death? No, for some people, this might be a group they'd be laughing in their sleep." Xiao Yan looked at the golden RNG logo on the screen, his smile growing colder.

……

Meanwhile, the Chinese online world was already in an uproar because of this grouping.

Traffic surged like a volcanic eruption across various online forums, microblogs, and message boards.

Especially the RNG fan base – in this S7 season, which was called the "most promising year", their momentum was extremely strong, almost dominating half of the LPL's public opinion.

Holy crap! What incredible luck! RNG is destined for greatness!

[Hahaha, this is hilarious! They're in the same group as SKT? This isn't a group of death, it's practically free food for RNG!]

[Brothers, we've got this! C9 and the Rabbit team are just easy targets for experience points. As for SKT? Heh, is the current SKT the same SKT as before?]

[Exactly! Bang's performance has declined and he's been benched, while they've brought on Xiao Yan, a player rejected by the LPL. How can SKT compete with an all-Chinese team?]

[Have you guys forgotten how Uzi completely dominated Xiao Yan in the practice match? This is a father-son showdown!]

I can't wait to see Uzi crush SKT in the group stage! Let that traitor see what the world's best AD really is!

[RNG must advance with a perfect record! They must send SKT home in Wuhan!]

A near-fanatical, blind confidence spread wildly among the fans. In their view, although SKT won the LCK championship, it was because the LCK had declined and because the other teams were too weak. RNG, on the other hand, had a god-like Uzi, the strongest all-Chinese roster, and with their superior performance in scrims, crushing SKT was a sure thing.

Even fans of other LPL teams were drawn into this frenzy.

Although EDG fans (the "pig fans") and WE fans (the "60E" fans) usually fight fiercely with RNG fans (the "royal fans"), when it comes to "external" matters, their mentality is surprisingly consistent—that is, they look down on the current SKT.

To be fair, although I dislike RNG fans, I also think RNG can win this time. SKT's new AD is really bad, just a complete liability.

[Faker? The Great Demon King is getting old. It's the era of Xiye and Xiaohu now!]

[I hope SKT can make it to the knockout stage. I want to see EDG personally send Faker into retirement.]

[If Xiao Yan dares to show his mark during the competition, I'll storm into the stadium and throw water bottles at him!]

[Is this all the LCK champions are? It feels like any LPL team could win this year.]

This overwhelming trend of "belittling SKT and praising LPL" reached its peak after Uzi posted a Weibo post.

The Weibo post was very simple, consisting of only a selfie of him in front of the Bird's Nest stadium, with the caption:

"This is where this year ends. I want to send a golden rain down on the Bird's Nest."

This Weibo post instantly went viral and became a trending topic.

In the comments section, hundreds of thousands of comments were uniformly consistent:

Golden rain! RNG is awesome!

[God! Please lead us to victory!]

[That Xiao Yan isn't even worthy of carrying your shoes!]

[Defeat SKT and ascend to the top of the Bird's Nest!]

……

The lobby of the hotel where SKT is staying.

While checking in, Peanut idly took out his phone and started browsing Twitter and Weibo—he's been learning Chinese recently and specifically registered a Weibo account to interact with his Chinese fans.

However, when he clicked on the trending topics and saw the comments translated by translation software, his bright smile gradually froze, replaced by an uncontrollable anger.

"What...what are these people saying?"

"What...what are these people saying?"

Peanut's eyes widened, his finger trembling as he pointed at the screen, his voice rising several octaves in anger, "They said we won the championship because we were lucky? They said Sang-hyeok was a 'washed-up old man'? They even said... they even said Xiao Yan was 'picked up from the garbage dump'?"

This shout instantly attracted the attention of the surrounding teammates.

Huni leaned over to take a look. Although she couldn't understand Chinese, she could tell from Peanut's flushed face that it wasn't anything nice.

"Peanut, what's wrong? Who upset you?" Wolf asked.

"Look!" Peanut handed his phone to Wolf, angrily saying, "This is a Weibo post from that RNG ADC, and the comments are... utterly absurd! They said they crushed us in scrims, that we're going home in the group stage, and that Xiao Yan is a traitor, trash that the LPL doesn't want!"

Wolf took the phone and stared at the glaring words on the translation app—"bathing dog toys," "SKT retirement home," "fake powerhouse team"...

Wolf, who was always cheerful, instantly turned pale.

"Damn it... Are these people insane?" Wolf sneered. "A practice match? They only won one game, and Xiao Yan wasn't even serious except for the first one. They only won one game and they still dare to complain? And... saying Xiang He is washed up? Have they forgotten who beat them to tears in Seasons 3, 5, and 6?"

Even Faker, who had been standing to the side with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes upon hearing this.

He walked over to Wolf, took the phone, and calmly scanned the contents of the screen.

His gaze lingered on Uzi's Weibo post about "golden rain" for two seconds, then he looked at the comments that insulted Xiao Yan.

Beneath those distinctive single eyelids, a chilling glint suddenly flashed in those normally calm pupils.

The surrounding air seemed to drop several degrees in that instant.

Those familiar with Faker know that the Great Demon King rarely gets angry, and could even be described as somewhat adorable.

But once he gives that look, it means—someone is about to be in big trouble.

"Oh."

Faker chuckled and handed the phone back to Peanut.

"Sang-hyuk hyung..." Peanut looked at him with some worry.

"Ignore it." Faker pushed up his round-framed glasses, his tone as calm as if he were asking what to have for dinner. "Esports isn't about talking."

Although his tone was calm, everyone could hear the murderous intent hidden behind his words.

"But...they hurled such nasty insults! Especially the things they said to Xiao Yan!" Little Peanut still felt indignant, like a cat with its fur standing on end. "They have no idea how strong Xiao Yan is! These frogs in a well!"

Xiao Yan, who had been silent until now, suddenly burst out laughing.

He stepped forward, reached out and ruffled Xiaohuasheng's hair, messing up his carefully styled hair.

"Alright, stop being so sullen." Xiao Yan shrugged nonchalantly. "If a dog bites you, are you going to bite it back?"

"But……"

"No buts." Xiao Yan interrupted him, turned around, and glanced at each of his teammates present—the angry Huni, the gloomy Wolf, the expressionless but terrifying Faker, and the equally indignant Bang and Blank on the bench.

Xiao Yan clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Brothers, welcome to Wuhan."

Xiao Yan spread his arms wide, a signature, slightly roguish smile on his face, as if the overwhelming insults from before had never existed.

"This is my home turf, although... most people probably won't welcome me." He chuckled self-deprecatingly, then his eyes sharpened. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is that since you're here, you have to follow my rules."

"What rules?" Huni asked, bewildered.

"The rule is—" Xiao Yan snapped his fingers, "Nothing's more important than eating! To celebrate our arrival in Wuhan, and to celebrate our upcoming 'noob-slaying journey,' tonight's on me!"

"What do you want to eat?" Wolf's ears twitched at the mention of food.

"Hot pot!" Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow. "Authentic, insanely spicy Chinese hot pot that can make you breathe fire! Dare to try it?"

Upon hearing the words "extremely spicy," the expressions on the faces of the SKT players changed. While Koreans do eat spicy food, it's nothing compared to China's spicy hot pot.

"Go! Why not go!" Peanut was the first to jump up, gritting his teeth as he said, "I'm going to treat those trolls' flesh... no, I'm going to treat the beef as those trolls and bite it to pieces!"

"I'll go too," Faker said casually. "Perfect timing. I also want to try what this 'hometown dish' that makes some people so inflated in confidence tastes like."

"Let's go, let's go! We'll eat Xiao Yan out of house and home!"

The originally heavy and oppressive atmosphere dissipated almost entirely after Xiao Yan stirred things up.

……

Half an hour later, in a private room of a famous hot pot restaurant in Wuhan.

The red oil is bubbling and steaming hot.

The rich aroma of butter mixed with the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns hits you right in the head.

"Cough cough cough! Water! Water!"

Huni had just taken a bite of tripe covered in chili oil when she was so spicy that her face turned bright red, tears streamed down her face, and she frantically searched for water.

"Hahahaha! Huni, you're so lame!" Xiao Yan mocked mercilessly as he expertly cooked the duck intestines. "This is only mildly spicy, mildly spicy, you understand?"

"This...this is mild spicy?!" Wolf gasped, his chopsticks still going strong despite the spiciness. "But...it smells so good! Damn, this flavor is intoxicating!"

"This...this is mild spicy?!" Wolf gasped, his chopsticks still going strong despite the spiciness. "But...it smells so good! Damn, this flavor is intoxicating!"

Although Faker ate rather politely, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He took a sip of the chilled plum juice, and looking at his teammates who were grimacing from the spiciness but also shouting with delight, the coldness in his eyes completely melted away, replaced by a warm and firm feeling.

Xiao Yan raised the wine glass in his hand, which contained Wei Yi soy milk, and stood up.

"Come on, brothers."

His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the bubbling of the hot pot.

"I know everyone felt uncomfortable after seeing the comments online. They felt slighted and insulted."

Xiao Yan's smile faded, and his gaze became deep and sharp.

"But what I want to say is that this is actually a good thing."

"Good news?" Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Yes, that's a good thing." Xiao Yan's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Because the higher they're lifted up, the harder they'll fall."

"Does RNG want to rain down golden light at the Bird's Nest? Does the LPL think this is their best year yet? Do they think we're easy prey?"

Xiao Yan sneered and drank the soy milk in his cup in one gulp.

"Then we'll show them what despair is through the game."

"We want them to know that the so-called 'most promising year' is just the beginning of another 'failure to resist South Korea'."

"We must trample their pride, their illusions, and that so-called 'god' into the mud and crush them to dust!"

Xiao Yan's words were like a fire, instantly igniting the dry tinder in the hearts of the SKT members.

Little Peanut jumped up, raised his cup, and shouted, "Well said! Crush them! Shut them up!"

"Crush them!" Huni roared.

"For the glory of SKT!" Wolf shouted.

Faker slowly stood up and raised his glass. He didn't speak, but simply looked deeply at Xiao Yan, then gently touched his glass to Xiao Yan's.

The crisp sound of the collision echoed in the private room.

At this moment, there was no anger, no resentment, only a pack of bloodthirsty wolves sharpening their fangs.

Outside the window, the night in Wuhan was in full bloom.

Those LPL fans and RNG players who were still celebrating online and dreaming of winning the championship had no idea that they were about to face a vengeful team from hell, enraged and ready to fight.

They ate the hot pot with great enthusiasm.

But this was not just a meal; it was a rally to declare war.

As the SKT members walked out of the hot pot restaurant, a night breeze blew by, carrying a slight chill.

Xiao Yan walked at the back, glanced back at the brightly lit city behind him, and then at Uzi's Weibo post on his phone, which was still getting more and more likes.

He silently replied to Uzi's Weibo post in his mind:

"Golden rain? No."

"I will give you a bloody funeral."