Ruofeng's popularity has been declining drastically in recent years.
Especially after the "Strawberry Incident," his relationship with Strawberry soured.
More and more black history about him has been exposed online…
The more Ruofeng explained,
the less clear it became.
It had a distinct "the more you explain, the worse it gets" vibe.
Just when he felt helpless,
the S-series competition kicked off.
Suddenly,
all LPL fans' attention was drawn to it.
No one cared about Ruofeng's little troubles anymore.
The pressure on Ruofeng instantly eased.
His mind started racing again.
He began to consider using the heat of the S-series competition.
He kept the commentary volume low, focusing on the visuals while providing his own commentary on the S-series in his live stream.
He played this trick every year.
He had a lot of experience with it.
First,
he needed to choose a well-known esports player.
Preferably an LPL player with inherent traffic and buzz.
Second,
this player needed to have a strong lane suppression ability, able to pressure any opponent and, with a good performance, even land a kill.
Third,
this player's fan base needed to be extremely loyal!
After screening through all of them,
the only active professional players who fit the bill were Uzi, TheShy, and Clearlove…
Ruofeng's mind raced.
He thought to himself: "Uzi is a veteran player from S2, with excellent skills and high popularity. Too many streamers are praising him, I'm just one among many. No matter how much I praise him, it's hard to bring out something new, to reach a higher level. Even if there's a slight effect, it'll be like a lotus in water, soon to disappear."
So, Ruofeng chose to praise TheShy.
Sure enough,
although IG encountered some setbacks in the group stage.
But TheShy was unstoppable.
He was able to suppress every top laner in the world championship.
Immediately bringing a massive influx of traffic to Ruofeng.
Especially in the quarterfinals against KT.
TheShy's performance was even more outstanding, sending the last remaining Korean team back home. LPL players felt a sense of vindication, and with Ruofeng's shameless praise…
More and more IG fans flocked to his live stream.
His popularity was slowly approaching that of a top-tier streamer.
But today,
this rookie top laner named Jiang Chen, dared to challenge TheShy directly.
Ruofeng was stunned for a second.
But then, a fiery glint appeared in his eyes.
He thought to himself: "This is a huge breaking point. RNG already has a large fan base, and they just completed a comeback in the BO5 series. Now, this substitute top laner, Jiang Chen, is actually challenging TheShy. If I can control this fishing net, becoming a top-tier streamer wouldn't be too difficult!"
He reached out to adjust his glasses.
He decisively began to rant in his live stream.
"This kid doesn't know what's good for him."
"Just because he beat Wunder, he thinks he can sweep all the top laners in the S-series?"
"When he meets Shy, his head will be twisted off."
The players watching the competition in Ruofeng's live stream were almost all IG fans, who echoed his sentiments.
"Exactly!"
"Shy is so handsome, and he's so strong. This bench warmer, who just watches the water cooler, isn't content with that, and he's actually trying to steal Shy's heat, so arrogant."
"Are you serious? No way, no way, you can't seriously think Jiang Chen can win, right?"
The barrage of comments became increasingly intense, with opinions overwhelmingly leaning in one direction.
Ruofeng glanced at the fan contribution ranking and seized the opportunity to advertise his Taobao store, feeling quite pleased with himself.
As they talked, Ruofeng got carried away.
He directly made a bet, saying: "If Jiang Chen beats TheShy in the lane, I'll wash my hair upside down on live stream."
The gifts in the live stream surged again.
His words were out, there was no turning back.
Big-nosed Ruofeng decided to go all in.
He instructed his video editor to clip this part of the live stream.
He posted it on Weibo, Bilibili, Douyin, and all major video platforms.
Jiang Chen's declaration of war against TheShy had already made it to the Weibo hot search list.
Ruofeng's antics.
Added fuel to the fire.
He rode on the traffic of these two teams.
Within two hours, he also climbed to the top of the Weibo hot search list.
Ruofeng was still live streaming at this point.
As always, he played the card master, Tryndamere.
He still took the sentimental route.
He could clearly feel that more people were joining the live stream, and he secretly took out his phone to check his Taobao store, which was selling like hotcakes.
He tasted the sweetness.
Ruofeng's words became increasingly exaggerated.
He made it seem like Jiang Chen had a huge grudge against him.
The key was that there were a bunch of people in the barrage following his lead.
They were all top-tier players who could protect their parents on the Zu An stage.
Even some casual players who saw the Weibo hot search and came to check it out were affected.
2018.
Was RNG's year.
Just their team alone.
Accounted for at least two-fifths of LPL's fanbase.
But these fans belonged to Uzi, Ming, Karsa, Xiaohu, and Junze. Jiang Chen had only a handful of fans, and not many were willing to speak up for him and launch a counter-attack.
Moreover.
This move of the big-nosed Ruofeng seemed reckless.
But what he said was that Jiang Chen would be crushed.
Not that RNG would beat them, advancing to the finals.
So, RNG fans didn't bother with this, they just sat back and calmly ate melons, waiting for the next development.
Jiang Chen, after all, was thrust into the spotlight.