The two-day semi-finals finally came to an end in Berlin, Germany.
What was left was the final five days later, which would be held in London, the capital of England.
There were still five days left.
Relatively speaking, it was more than enough.
According to the usual practice of the group stage to the quarter-finals, the teams that had just finished their matches would have to rest at the hotel for a night or have a celebratory feast as a reward. The next day, they would head to the next venue for another round of preparation and training.
But this time was different.
After the semi-finals, the players of Team God returned to the hotel in the evening. Together with the coaches and team leaders of their respective clubs, they immediately began to pack their luggage. The bus to the airport had also been arranged —
That night, the plane tickets were booked from Berlin to London.
There was not even a night of rest. After the semi-finals, they immediately rushed to London and checked into the hotel to begin the final preparations.
This was also an impromptu arrangement outside of the original plan.
According to the original ideal situation, if God- Hand of God and KG were able to defeat their respective opponents in the semi-finals and enter the finals together, then the pressure of the final battle would basically be negligible.
In any case, it was just a showdown between brother teams. It was just a matter of who would be the champion and the runner-up. Before the final battle, the two teams could sit down and have a celebratory feast together. Finally, they could compete in the finals based on their strength.
That would be really relaxing.
However, the current situation wasn't going according to the script that they had originally predicted.
The script was only half right.
Team God had defeated their strong rival Legend and successfully advanced to the final; but KG still failed to create a miracle and lost to SSK and was regrettably eliminated.
Therefore, the final battle could not be carried out according to the blueprint that people most desired and anticipated.
It wasn't that the sibling teams were amiably discussing things with each other.
In the end …
It was still a battle of life and death between the LPL and Korea's LCK.
Not all the trophies of the champion and runner-up could be secured.
But facing the Korean team that still stood on the throne of the world, it was still extremely difficult to win the summoner's trophy from the hands of the opponent.
Therefore …
There were only five days left.
It sounded like plenty of time, but if their opponent was SSK, even if every minute of the five days and 120 hours was used meticulously, it would still be extremely tight.
The current situation had already been laid out clearly on the table.
God and SSK.
The various strength statistics between the two teams, from the overall evaluation to the details of each area, were all clearly available for comparison.
The variables that existed in each of the two teams … would directly affect and even determine the final winner of the set of best-of-five matches.
That was the mid laner of each side.
The captains of their respective teams.
Just a little bit more.
And this was the last bit. What they needed to see next … was whether or not they could be a step faster in the last five days and make up the last bit of difference in time.
…
The shuttle bus waiting outside the hotel lobby was not the only one from the God Club.
The other car was also headed to Tegel Airport in the northwest of Berlin.
Although the two buses were headed to the same destination, after arriving at the destination, the passengers on each bus had to fly in different directions.
When the members of Team God took the elevator down to the lobby, they coincidentally met the members of the KG club who were carrying their suitcases out.
They hugged, patted each other on the shoulder, comforted and encouraged each other.
"Remember to cheer us on when you get back!"
Huangxue Nightsong reached out and punched Tian Tian's shoulder, jokingly saying, "Wait for five days, we'll avenge you guys ~"
"Definitely!"
Tian Tian promised seriously, then looked at Huangxue Nightsong and Morning Star beside him with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry, I've let you guys down. I … really wanted to stand with you guys until the end."
Yes.
Just a day ago, the members of the two teams were still chatting in the training room, imagining the beautiful scene of brothers standing together on the field, walking to the podium together to pick up the trophy of the champion and the runner-up. They thought that if they won today, they could hold a lively celebration party tonight along with Team God's victory yesterday.
Unfortunately, reality was always crueler than imagination.
The two LPL teams had one win and one loss in the semifinals.
Although both of them were heading to the airport tonight.
But one was heading to the finals, and the other was returning home.
Morning Star stretched out his hand and patted Tian Tian's shoulder, looking at him sincerely.
"There's nothing to apologize for.
"You've already done enough."
In fact … we should be the ones thanking you.
"At the very least, you guys helped us figure out more about SSK's strength in today's set of best-of-five matches. It's enough for us to prepare for the next few days.
"If we win, then half of the credit will go to you, KG."
Tian Tian nodded.
"Yeah!
We have to win! "
Not far away, Lin Feng, Li Shiyi, Ceng Rui, and Tang Bingyao stood together. Li Shiyi sighed. "It really wasn't easy. KG and Old Tian performed so well today."
Lin Feng rubbed his nose.
"Yeah.
It wasn't an embarrassing loss, and it wasn't a loss either.
"If we win in the end … it won't just be Team God's victory, but the glory of the entire LPL."
Beside him, Tang Bingyao had a look of approval on her face. "King, you played really well!"
Li Shiyi nodded.
"Yeah, that's the truth. There's absolutely nothing wrong with KG's performance today. In all these years, there aren't many teams that can push SSK to this extent. The reviews online are all positive, right? No one is criticizing KG for losing … The public opinion is still on KG's side."
It was indeed rare.
If it had been in the past, any team that represented the LPL region in the World Finals would have been criticized by countless players and netizens on the server if they lost in the World Finals. There were even a lot of fake reviewers who would immediately be mobilized, using extremely unpleasant insults. In an instant, it was as if the players who had gone out to win glory for the country had become the sinners of the nation.
However, things seemed to be different now. Although KG's defeat had made the Chinese players feel extremely dejected and regretful, the majority of the Chinese players still showed their understanding of KG after they had adjusted their emotions slightly. The various posts on the online forums were also rather rational and objective in their analysis and evaluation, and some even encouraged and comforted KG's team members.
"It's too early to say that."
Ceng Rui suddenly spoke up, his expression calm.
"Although that is indeed the case now —
"But after this …
"You might not be able to maintain it forever."
*****
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