Chapter Two: No Exaggeration, No Undermining—The Streamer Is Truly Impressive

“Streamers never blindly bash; what they say is always the truth.”
“The Factory Head really underperformed at this year’s World Championship—he got completely dominated by Peanut.”
“There is indeed a gap between the LPL and the LCK, but you can’t lose to the Brazilian Barbecue team and get beaten up by fans. The number one seed barely advancing as second in the group, really.”
“To play like this, one must have no shame.”
“Just to clarify, I’m not a hater of the Factory Head. I’m just a neutral bystander offering my honest opinion.”

In a clean and tidy bedroom in an apartment in Shanghai, a seventeen-year-old named Lin Ruo sat in front of his computer, deeply engrossed in playing the recently trending game Overwatch.

At this moment, EDG’s management was secretly watching his live stream the entire time.

“What? They’re asking if the streamer is a professional League of Legends player?”

Lin Ruo replied matter-of-factly, “Of course the streamer is a pro. He just plays other games in his spare time for fun. Don’t misunderstand.”

[But you’ve been playing all day.]
[Must be new here. I’ve watched his streams for half a month and haven’t seen him play League once.]
[Wow, then why is he still in the League section?]
[He’s so good at Overwatch he could be a pro there. He should just switch careers honestly.]

“Come on, LPL can’t be without him,” Lin Ruo joked while playing and watching the sparse chat messages.

The viewers were amused, and the chat became livelier.

[If the streamer announced his retirement today, no one would even care.]
[Don’t bash him. He still had some heat when RNG kicked him out during the Spring Split.]
[Oh, so he’s that trainee substitute who got released for playing other games during training? No wonder he looks familiar.]
[Playing Overwatch every day, his professional ethics are in ruins.]

Lin Ruo ignored the comments, and in a relaxed manner, he finished his ranked match with fifty kills, leaving the viewers dazed.

[Finished an Overwatch ranked match, boosting League of Legends attributes.]
[Awareness +1]
[Reaction Speed +1]
[Hand Speed +1]
[Operational Skill +1]

Listening to the system’s prompts in his mind, Lin Ruo exited the game and stretched lazily. Today had been another fruitful day.

As a man endowed with a system, he was naturally unsurprised by his identity as a time traveler.

Yet, as a time traveler, becoming an RNG trainee was undoubtedly the most painful experience.

Everyone knew the formidable reputation of the RNG contracted team, both domestically and internationally.

But this was the end of Season 6, far from the glory days.

RNG wasn’t a team for amateurs, but once Lin Ruo had the system, he was no longer a novice.

Moreover, his system was extraordinarily powerful.

Besides his main profession of League of Legends, playing any other game would simultaneously improve his League skills.

It came with a passive skill: the more abstract his behavior, the higher the bonus rewards.

In other words, to become a top-tier League pro, he had to play other games day and night while cultivating an abstract persona.

Although somewhat disgusted, Lin Ruo had no choice.

During his two and a half years at the RNG base, he spared no effort—eating, sleeping, gaming, and even playing puzzle games while using the restroom.

He would play League while simultaneously switching screens to plant Peashooters in the backyard, a true master of multitasking.

Such antics couldn’t escape the management’s notice forever. During the Spring Split, Lin Ruo was handed a contract termination from RNG.

For violating regulations, he received no salary for March and had to leave the club with only fifty yuan for taxi fare, slinking away quietly.

Farewell to the cage…

Isn’t that a good thing? Of course, it was.

Lin Ruo wasn’t bashing RNG. Contracts would have chained him anyway, and with the management already eyeing the famous “Four Protect One” core player Zaizi about to transfer in, how could a trainee get a chance to start?

A professional player’s prime years are few; they can’t wait until Season 9 ends just to be worn out into retirement.

So leaving RNG was the first and most crucial step to making a name in the pro scene.

Without club restrictions, he could freely indulge in other games these days.

After three years of accumulation since his time travel, his skills had significantly improved. He had at least reached the threshold of the elite among professional players.

With skill comes the next goal: to trial for a team, make a name for himself, and aim for the world championship.

Damn it, no one knew him before time traveling, and no one knows him now—that’s a wasted journey.

Lin Ruo’s determination was unwavering. He opened the software store and re-downloaded League of Legends, which he had deleted half a month ago due to storage issues.

League, launch!

“Today, the streamer will show you what a top professional player looks like.”

[Holy crap, he’s playing League now.]
[Half a month without League, hope he doesn’t get wrecked and cry.]
[Get ready to watch a clown show.]

The chat was full of jokers, but little did they know, the streamer was the ultimate prankster.

Soon, a familiar voice echoed through the stream.

“TIMI…”

[Whoa, farming!]

The chat exploded instantly.

While the game was downloading, Lin Ruo expertly launched Honor of Kings and, under everyone’s watchful eyes, queued for ranked.

Within twenty minutes, he swiftly played two push matches using Hou Yi and Dian Wei.

Completely insane!

[Completed two Honor of Kings matches, increasing hero proficiency.]
[Ice Archer proficiency +10]
[Hand of Noxus proficiency +10]

Taking a tactical sip of water to calm his nerves, Lin Ruo put down his phone and shifted his focus back to the computer.

Logged in, queued up, and began a perfectly ordinary Korean server King rank match.

The opponents were none other than pros like Peanut and Ruler.

A few days ago, SKT officially announced Peanut’s joining, while Ruler signed a two-year extension with SSG. With ROX disbanded, these two LCK giants maintained their competitiveness.

[Holy crap, facing runner-up ADC Ruler, the streamer’s definitely about to get flattened.]

Seeing the usual pessimistic chat messages, Lin Ruo just smiled and let it slide.

Ruler picked Ezreal on the third floor; Lin Ruo counterpicked Caitlyn and got down to business.

From the start, Lin Ruo used his impeccable laning skills and hero counter-picks to exert pressure, relentlessly chipping away at the first turret’s health.

Unfortunately, the Season 6 patch had no plating; only destroying turrets granted gold income.

He couldn’t build a significant economic lead.

At level three, Peanut used Shaco’s invisibility to set up a gank, and a deep-pushing Titan gave away a kill.

The current season update was at the pre-Season 7 version, featuring major assassin buffs.

For example, Shaco was strengthened; his clone now exploded three surprise boxes, officially entering ultimate torment mode.

[The opponent’s Peanut, and you still dare to push? You really aren’t afraid of getting caught.]

“Come on, Caitlyn can’t just sit back and push turrets without pushing the lane,” Lin Ruo mocked the chat’s cloud players, recalling to base to buy a Pickaxe before heading back out.

At level four, the bottom lane erupted into a fierce skirmish. Shaco lurked behind, trying to ambush a kill again.

Thresh aimed to peel for Titan, who promptly used Q and followed up with a passive Earthshatter to lock down Thresh.

Lin Ruo, controlling Caitlyn, unleashed a combo that nearly wiped Thresh’s health.

Titan’s health was also looking grim. After Shaco appeared, eyeing the nearly full-health Caitlyn, he naturally used his skills first to secure Titan’s kill.

Thresh flashed backward, and utilizing Caitlyn’s early long range, Lin Ruo didn’t even have to flash—one fully charged passive precision shot secured the kill.

Lee Sin rushed in from the river, and the bottom lane chaos continued; Ezreal wasn’t spared.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Ruo claimed two kills.