For tomorrow's TES vs JDG match, plenty of people had been checking the schedule since the season began—specifically for this series.
Because for everyone, the clash between TES's former starting mid and their replacement mid was simply too interesting.
Especially when the former starter got kicked out.
Revenge suddenly became a very entertaining storyline.
And Knight would definitely go all out. He'd give it everything to beat TES and prove himself.
As for Brother Infinite Borders, firmly sitting in the starting spot, he also had to prove his own strength.
That the club and coaches made the right choice.
And there was 369 too…
Last season he got beaten up badly. This season he definitely wanted to get the runback.
TES's former top and mid are both on JDG now.
No matter how you look at it, tomorrow's match was going to be exciting.
So very quickly, every major forum and community was full of discussion about tomorrow's match.
"The most exciting match of Week 2. Traffic and topics are maxed. This is so fun."
"Knight has actually been pretty good lately. Everyone calls him 'that guy,' but JDG's results aren't bad either—two wins to start. In the two games he played, his KDA was 14–3. If this keeps up, Yagao's starting spot won't be safe."
"True. Knight expanded his champion pool a lot during the off-season, and he definitely put in work. But Brother Infinite Borders still has too many hidden trump cards. He even pulled out Yone. Who knows how deep his pool really is."
"If he plays Yone well, that means Yasuo can work too. I want to see Brother Infinite Borders play Yasuo."
"Yone doesn't feel great into some mages, but into Ornn it's easy. You can pressure early and it only gets easier later. Yuekai is actually a talent—he thought of mid Ornn to absorb pressure. But in that case, he might as well pick Renekton. Mid Renekton is cracked."
"Brother Infinite Borders' pressure is just too big. But mid Renekton has two extremes: Brother Infinite Borders' claw Renekton, and Doinb's Goredrinker Renekton. Mid needs damage though, so I still think Brother Infinite Borders' Renekton is stronger."
"No kidding. Faker got beaten into depression. How can Renekton not be cracked? He probably has PTSD now."
On Weibo and other forums, you basically didn't see people using Lin Fan's Naraka tournament as ammo anymore.
They still thought about it in their heads, but saying it out loud would be too stupid.
Mainly because everyone had gotten slapped in the face too many times.
They said he wasn't training, he would collapse, TES wouldn't go far, probably first-round exit—spring champions.
Then MSI group stage went 10-0 and he still insisted on playing TFT China Finals.
People said he wasn't focusing on international competition, he was splitting focus, he'd lose to NA in semis, and even if he won, he'd lose to SKT in finals.
They demanded the club intervene and stop him from playing "random events," forcing him to train and not ruin form.
Brother Infinite Borders ignored them. He insisted on the China finals. The whole club even went to cheer.
Fans didn't get what they wanted, so they started cursing harder.
TES would lose to SKT. Then they'd regret it.
But… TES 3–0'd SKT with a perfect scoreline.
Brother Infinite Borders is too weird. Don't judge too early. Wait until he actually loses.
Right now, the wall isn't even close to falling. You can't push it down even if you want to.
"Match hasn't happened yet. Saying more is pointless. Just watch how both teams perform tomorrow!"
"I'm guessing JDG starts Knight. Facing the old team, they'll give him that face."
"No need to guess. JDG already posted the starting lineup announcement—Knight is starting."
"That's perfect. If Yagao started it wouldn't be as fun. Starting Knight means we'll at least get two full games."
"What do you mean? You think TES 2–0's JDG?"
"Same line as always: if Knight got benched, it's because he wasn't good enough. When can a sub challenge a starter? Like Letme said: you can say I'm bad, but you can't say Zz1tai is better. That's the logic."
"But neither Knight nor Brother Infinite Borders is retired. Isn't it too early to say that? It's about form. Knight's form is solid."
"Forget 'that guy.' Bad is bad. One line I love: talented but immoral."
The big platform was arguing like crazy.
A lot of people supported Knight.
Simple reason: Brother Infinite Borders has a ton of fans, which means he also has a ton of haters.
So many haters turned into "supporters" of Knight.
In reality, given 'that guy's' lifestyle and the mimicry behind him, it's already absurd that he has fans at all.
But netizens are best at two things:
Top-tier malice, and cheap kindness…
On Douyin, they curse pretty girls nonstop, but after cursing, they still watch—and if they really got one, they'd want to stuff an egg inside.
…
Meanwhile, at JDG's base—
"Knight, how do you feel about his form? It's completely different from what I imagined. He's been playing other games and somehow his League form still holds. His energy is insane."
"Yeah… it's true. He's the same as spring split—stable and strong."
Knight still couldn't believe a player like this existed.
Never trains, or maybe plays one or two games a week.
If the team schedules scrims, he plays a bit. If not, he fishes all day.
And yet his form doesn't drop—he even looks stronger.
Two words: absurd.
But the teams TES played recently weren't strong.
If it was Knight, and he didn't train for two or three days, he could also casually win.
So those games didn't prove anything.
"That day was the most humiliating day of my career…
This guy must pay the price. I've worked this hard for what? To get it all back tomorrow.
Tomorrow I'm going to bring 100% form and smash you in lane."
Knight stared at his monitor and clenched his fist.
Then he looked at Kanavi beside him.
A jungler with no skill will just hug mid and 2v1 you. Even if you're stronger, there's nothing you can do.
If you want "fair," 2v2 is the real fight.
That means jungle has to help mid a little.
"Kanavi, tomorrow's match… I need you to take care of me. Mid 2v2, we can definitely smash them."
Worried Kanavi wouldn't understand, he even had the translator translate it.
"No problem. As long as you play lane aggressively, our synergy will definitely beat TES!" 'Porn-watching Bro' said forcefully.
Losing to TES in spring, he still couldn't accept it.
His jungle tempo was so good. The enemy jungler did nothing except stay mid, and somehow they got an advantage.
He couldn't accept that.
After that match, he didn't eat for two days.
Every day he was thinking about how to get the runback.
Too bad they didn't meet TES again in playoffs—they fell before reaching finals.
No choice.
So he stored the revenge and brought it into summer.
And now the schedule was perfect:
Week 2, last match day—JDG vs TES.
That meant heaven itself was helping him untie this knot.
After working with Knight for so long, Kanavi also understood:
Knight and Yagao are totally different types of players.
Knight is aggressive and wants to fight.
They are the best duo.
As long as they bring out that aggression, winning tomorrow is easy.
Seeing that Knight and Kanavi had reached agreement, Knight smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
The Avengers assembled today!
They would take back all the face they lost.
Why train this long?
Wasn't it for this moment?
Knight got his answer and relaxed mentally.
He casually scrolled Weibo.
"'Fetus Hand' can't fight Brother Infinite Borders. 'Fetus Hand' thinks with his belly, Brother Infinite Borders thinks with the game. True meditation training method. Don't forget: in Naraka he plays Tarka Ji, but that's basically Akali. I'm calling it now: Brother Infinite Borders will pick Akali tomorrow."
"You're exaggerating, but it's reasonable. A man thinking with his belly—how can he fight a pure player like Brother Infinite Borders? TES win. The only question is 2–0 or 2–1."
Knight read two lines and his face went dark.
"These idiot netizens keep saying dumb stuff. I think with my belly every day. If I don't get rid of it, do I give birth to it?"
Hmph.
What's the point of saying this stuff online? Clowns who only know how to type—have they played more than me?
Knight sneered.
He wasn't ashamed. He was proud.
What really pissed him off was one thing:
Not a single comment believed in him.
Everyone thought he'd get smashed mid by Lin Fan.
These people don't understand matches at all. If they did, they wouldn't be yapping here.
The reason they lost so much early wasn't because Knight was worse—it was because Tian was trolling him.
Has so much time passed and these people still can't see that?
Pure.
Too pure.
But it doesn't matter.
Tomorrow, his revenge begins.
They can look down on him all they want.
He'll slap them in the face.
He opened Lin Fan's stream and saw him playing Naraka trios with Dai Lao Liu and YaYa.
Knight's mouth curled up uncontrollably.
Thirty years east, thirty years west.
Tomorrow.
Just tomorrow.
Imagining the shocked expressions when he smashes Lin Fan tomorrow, he got more and more satisfied.
Keep playing your Naraka.
After tomorrow, you should retire and transfer to Naraka…
Then everyone will say Knight retired Brother Infinite Borders.
…
June 19.
5 p.m., AL versus BLG.
With Bin, everyone thought BLG should win easily.
Reality was extremely dramatic.
Mid Forge picked Sylas and went god mode, hard stomping FoFo.
"Why can FoFo find a job with this form?"
At 28 minutes, they forced Baron, killed FoFo and Weiwei, took Baron, and ended in one clean push.
Game 2, everyone thought BLG would stabilize.
AL is trash, right?
BLG is at least a playoff team. Getting 2–0'd shouldn't happen.
But Xiaohao's Nocturne went crazy.
He beat Weiwei's Viego so hard Weiwei couldn't find north.
In the final fight, Big Dog's Ezreal didn't even flash—he got deleted by one combo.
Even if Jax TP'd back from bot, it still couldn't change anything. No way back.
Today's match was a big upset!
BLG got 2–0'd by AL.
Instantly, posts exploded.
"It's over. Besides Liu Qingsong and Bin, the other three are just scamming Uncle's money!"
"I don't get it. With Big Dog's skill, why did he keep Uzi on the bench for so long in spring?"
"Was BLG losing to AL intentional or accidental?"
"Big Dog isn't as good as Uzi. But Uzi probably won't play again either. He's sandbagging on stream. What a shame. If he could be on the same team as Brother Infinite Borders, he'd return to peak casually."
"AL can upset? Then will TES get upset today too?"
"BLG isn't even that strong. Losing isn't an upset, it's just they're bad. TES won't."
"The first game was reverse, so the second game is probably reverse too. Upset. Those who know, know. If you get my meaning, you get my meaning."
A lot of posts refused to speak directly.
Simple reason: they got slapped too many times.
Now they speak in mysterious language.
If it happens, it proves they 'see the game.'
If it doesn't, they won't get face-slapped.
Smart, honestly.
But reading too much of it still made TES fans panic.
What if there really is an upset?
Waiting for the match made them more and more nervous.
As time ticked by, the long-awaited match finally began!
TES vs JDG!
With the arena lights flashing, and host Xiaoyu guiding the stage, both teams walked from backstage to the front.
Cheers erupted.
And online, viewership broke 20 million!
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup