Amu Flatterers Astonish the General Manager, RNG Opens Court to Catch the Traitor Within

The match ended.

Chen Yan took off his headset.

Hearing the crowd in the venue shouting his name, a surge of emotion washed over him.

This was an entirely different experience from streaming.

Though he was a top-tier streamer, he and the viewers in his chat room were mostly familiar strangers.

At this moment, however, he felt more like a celebrity. That sensation of being pursued and adored—even a monk who had renounced the mortal world would likely find it hard to resist.

Yet Chen Yan quickly pulled himself out of that intoxicating feeling.

Fame and fortune were fine, but money was the only tangible reality.

Rather than sinking deep into vanity, he might as well figure out how to leverage that fame and fortune to cash in...

Suddenly, Chen Yan noticed a hand extending in front of him—it was Clearlove's hand.

Clearlove was looking at him with a wide, beaming smile.

Chen Yan instinctively high-fived him.

However, the very next second, Chen Yan's words made Clearlove's expression darken.

"Stop smiling next time. It's a bit terrifying."

What the hell!

Clearlove almost broke down, but considering he had just been carried by Chen Yan for two consecutive games, he swallowed his pride and endured it.

He stood up to shake hands with the RNG members.

Looking at the dejected expressions of the RNG players, who looked as if they had just lost their parents, the EDG members couldn't help feeling a malicious sort of glee.

This schadenfreude wasn't born of malice, but rather carried an absurd, dramatic undertone.

They should have been the ones suffering, yet the reality turned out completely opposite.

EDG had defeated RNG countless times before, but never once had they felt a sense of achievement quite like this best-of-five.

Chen Yan, on the other hand, didn't have all those messy thoughts like his teammates.

Handshake completed, he walked away, neither joyful nor sorrowful.

It was as if he had merely defeated a group of NPC minion mobs.

This indifference made the RNG players sink even deeper into depression.

After the EDG members walked away, Xiaohu slumped back into his seat, dazed and unresponsive for a long time.

Recalling his matchup against Chen Yan, the pride he had accumulated recently was thoroughly shattered, plunging his entire being into a state of self-isolation.

Uzi, meanwhile, turned crimson with fury on the spot.

Losing a match purely on skill was one thing, but this game was clearly winnable.

Having a winnable game turned around like that dealt a devastating blow to the entire team.

Moreover, up until now, Uzi still couldn't figure out why they had lost.

Right now, only a single thought echoed in Uzi's mind:

Time for a trial!

Let's see who the traitor actually was!

...

Back in the backstage lounge, Chen Yan saw ZhuKai (AbBu) greeting him proactively, a flattering smile plastered across his face.

"You're an absolute natural at this!"

"Born for the pro scene."

ZhuKai showered him with compliments, backed by a chorus of agreement from the group around him.

It wasn't mere flattery; they were genuinely awestruck by Chen Yan's performance in that game.

In truth, everyone knew before the match that EDG's roster strength was inferior to RNG's this year, so they had already mentally prepared themselves to lose against RNG.

Chen Yan's sudden rise was a pleasant surprise of the highest order.

Even Scout wore a complex expression.

Ryze was also his signature champion, but he had to admit his own Ryze could never reach Chen Yan's level.

Chen Yan took a seat amidst the surrounding crowd.

Soon after, everyone began discussing various moments from the match.

The EDG members warmed up to the topic, opening up and chattering away excitedly.

Only Chen Yan showed minimal interest.

Noticing this, ZhuKai couldn't help asking proactively, "What's wrong?"

"I'm a bit tired," Chen Yan rubbed his temples. "Playing professionally isn't easy either."

Hearing this, the EDG members felt a pang of shame.

They had agreed to fight tooth and nail before the match, yet they had undoubtedly been the weak links and almost cost them the victory.

However, after this series, their recognition of Chen Yan's strength was absolute.

ZhuKai's eyes lit up as he frantically plotted ways to keep Chen Yan locked down in the team.

While thinking, he poured a glass of water for Chen Yan.

Seeing ZhuKai acting like this, Clearlove couldn't help covering his forehead in embarrassment, barely able to watch.

This guy was kissing up even harder than when Clearlove himself chased his girlfriends.

Still, deep down, he was also wondering what he could do for Chen Yan...

Should he sing the song *Father* for him?

...

The scene shifted, and Chen Yan's figure appeared on the screen.

His Ryze had secured the MVP of the match.

"Well-deserved. Without this Ryze, EDG could never have staged such a comeback from the brink."

"If this MVP had gone to anyone else, I'd have to suspect foul play."

"We also hope player Chen Yan can keep up the great work and maintain his current form."

Doll and Miller looked at Chen Yan on the screen with genuine joy.

Although both commentators had their favorite teams, they wished even more for the LPL as a whole to grow stronger.

Especially this year, with the World Championship being held at the Bird's Nest.

On home turf, neither of them wanted to see a repeat of previous years, where the LPL merely made a token appearance at Worlds.

Yet they were well aware that a power gap still existed between the LPL and the LCK.

Now that this genius rookie Chen Yan had burst onto the scene out of nowhere, how could the two commentators not be overjoyed?

Consequently, their praise for Chen Yan escalated even further, thrilling the audience and making them wish the World Championship would start right now so Chen Yan could smash the Koreans and trounce the Westerners.

...

"We didn't lose unjustly."

Over at RNG's side, upon seeing Chen Yan awarded the MVP, Coach FireFox silently let out a sigh.

The Ryze's stats were simply too extravagant.

Even more terrifyingly, even such stats failed to fully capture the extent of Chen Yan's impact on the team.

Conversely, for Xiaohu to take Ignite and still fail to pressure the Ryze was somewhat inexcusable.

Xiaohu's face flushed red as well.

To be outclassed by your direct opponent for the MVP was an undeniable and heavy blow to a mid laner who considered himself among the elite.

"Coach, I don't know where things went wrong this game. Losing like this makes no sense at all," Uzi spoke up, requesting a VOD review.

FireFox didn't refuse. In fact, he had already been reviewing the game in his mind while watching, albeit roughly and without meticulous detail.

Yet the reason for their defeat was crystal clear.

He began breaking down the review points for his players:

"First, we severely underestimated the strength of the enemy mid laner, never expecting him to withstand the pressure Xiaohu exerted."

"Second, Jayce taking Ignite rendered him practically useless past the laning phase; worse still, lacking Teleport severely restricted our tactical options."

"Third, we had no effective answer for Ryze's split-pushing, which allowed him to scale out of control and take over the game."

...

As FireFox finished, the RNG players instinctively glanced toward Xiaohu.

If anyone had to take the blame as the scapegoat, it was undoubtedly Xiaohu.

However, FireFox chimed in at the right moment: "Actually, it's not entirely Xiaohu's fault. The main issue was that the enemy mid laner capitalized on the split-push advantage, and our team composition happened to lack the tools to deal with it."

Hearing the coach say this, Xiaohu breathed a sigh of relief. Looked at that way, it really didn't seem to be entirely his fault.

What Xiaohu didn't know, however, was that FireFox had left one detail unsaid: if Xiaohu had managed to suppress Ryze during the laning phase, none of this would have happened in the first place.

Ultimately, it stemmed from Xiaohu's lack of sufficient prowess to pose a threat to the opposing mid laner, which in turn allowed him to farm with impunity and find a breakthrough via split-pushing.

Naturally, FireFox had no intention of voicing those thoughts aloud—after all, that would be far too damaging to Xiaohu's pride.

Yet even without FireFox saying it, the other RNG players seemed to read between the lines, casting rather strange glances at Xiaohu.

At that exact moment, Chen Yan's figure reappeared on the screen.

The post-match interview was about to begin.

...

We've reached one hundred thousand characters, which means it's time for this book to hit recommendations and a crucial turning point that decides its fate.

I sincerely hope my dear reader-daddies can hit the "Urge to Update" button whenever possible. With better stats, this humble author can at least afford three meals a day.