Chapter 368 I will take you to the World Championship

"Become...SKT's hero?" Listening to Lee Sang-hyuk's request word by word, Kim Hyuk-kyu leaned back slightly, with an uncontrollable look of surprise on his face.

Then he reacted and shook his head like a rattle: "No."

"A hero is... eh?" Li Xianghe was about to explain to Jin Hekui, but when he saw Jin Hekui's resolute resistance, he was stunned: "Why refuse?"

Kim Hyuk-kyu, who always obeyed Lee Sang-hyuk's orders, was very determined: "I can't do anything to let Sang-hyuk down."

He is not stupid, he knows very well what the results will be if he exerts his full strength during this period.

Perhaps his reputation and that of several other teammates can be slightly improved, but it will be a disaster for Lee Sang-hyuk, who has been praised to a height that does not belong to him yet.

Kim Hyuk-kyu knew exactly what would happen next, so he used the control variable method to catch the traitor.

It would be fine if it was under normal circumstances, but the key point is that Lee Sang Hyuk’s reputation is currently in a very delicate state.

The more excessive the publicity, the more likely it is to arouse the disgust of passers-by. When Lee Sang-hyuk's reputation in LCK reached its peak, he naturally accumulated a terrifying number of black fans.

The reason why these people haven't exploded now is because SKT used their influence to suppress them, and Lee Sang-hyuk is indeed the player with the most honors in LCK at present, no doubt about it.

But just because he can't be touched for the time being doesn't mean that no one wants to touch him.

At every moment, there are countless pairs of eyes watching the every move of this seventeen-year-old boy.

In fact, even in this game where they lost to KT, Lee Sang-hyuk's reputation was already on the verge of collapse.

In addition to mocking him for not being able to win the game, his crash into the wall after the game was also questioned as a deliberate show.

Even these guys who are good at imagining things have come up with many theories about the purpose of his show.

Some are dissatisfied with the management, some are dissatisfied with the playing style, and some are even out-of-the-box and speculate that Lee Sang-hyeok is dissatisfied with the prevalence of jungle cores in this version and its incompatibility with SKT, so he is asking Tenghai officials to reduce the jungle cores in this way.

Those idiots don’t even think about it. Their SKT is now just a MSI top four team. Fanhua doesn’t even have the privilege of a customized version, so why should they have one?

Do you really think that Tenghai headquarters would think highly of a small fry like Li Xianghe?

Amidst all the chaotic storms of public opinion, the most important reason why Lee Sang Hyuk did not completely collapse was that his previous personal performance was truly impeccable.

Various basic and high-level data suitable for mid-lane players are basically the first in the league by a cliff-like margin. In terms of pure data, they can firmly suppress Fat General and Dade.

In addition, the most profound impression given by his playing style during this period was that he was trying his best and doing his best, so it did not cause much controversy.

But what happens after that?

If SKT's strength drops significantly after losing Lee Sang-hyeok, then the audience will naturally not say much, and will only flash "Fly, the team is in danger, return quickly" in every live broadcast room they see.

But if SKT's drop wasn't so big...

All the flattery, praise and admiration for Lee Sang-hyuk before would instantly turn into the sharpest and cruelest weapon.

Kim Hyuk-kyu can even guess what Lee Sang-hyuk will think of him in the future.

Kidnapping teammates, craving for attention, being out of touch...even though Lee Sang-hyuk's performance in the game has basically nothing to do with these three words.

But so what? The audience is just looking for a reason to enjoy the pleasure of reckoning.

In other words, Kim Hyuk-kyu is not a time traveler and does not have much impression of a parallel world.

Plus, there’s a certain little fat guy and no one knows where he’s hiding right now.

Otherwise, he would know that this player, who was the absolute core of a team but failed to lead the team to victory, and also gained a huge reputation that did not match the honor in advance,

It is commonly referred to as a "shock wave".

In any case, Kim Hyuk-kyu could not sit idly by and watch Lee Sang-hyuk fall into such hell.

Anyway, he is used to being a sacrifice. There is no need for fake matches. If he performs normally, everyone will be able to see the importance of Lee Sang-hyuk to this SKT team.

Seeing Kim Hyuk-kyu's determined look, Lee Sang-hyuk shook his head helplessly, thinking about how to convince Kim Hyuk-kyu to do what he should do.

"He Kui, you are worried about the public opinion I will receive in the future, right?" The silence in the ward lasted for a while, and Li Xianghe suddenly spoke.

"...Yes, Brother Xianghe should pay attention to these things." Jin Hekui couldn't help but preach.

In the professional player circle, many people think that Lee Sang Hyuk has a good reputation, but only Kim Hyuk Kyu knows that he is completely passive and even disgusted by Lee Sang Hyuk's pursuit.

If he had no choice, he would never let himself be a puppet.

But even so, Kim Hyuk-kyu thought it was a bit too much to not care about his own reputation.

With the help of Jin Hekui's lecture, Li Xianghe finally sorted out his thoughts and said:

"But have you ever thought that by virtue of being injured, I was able to avoid most of the public opinion impact in the summer season."

"But what about the World Championship? What should we do in the World Championship? Hit the wall again?" Lee Sang-hyuk looked directly into Kim Hyuk-kyu's eyes.

Jin Hekui opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He also doesn't know what to do in the World Championship.

"Based on our current tactical reserves and personnel status, we have to fight hard to get the third seed in LCK. With such strength, how can we be competitive in the world championship?"

Li Xianghe's eyes were burning.

Among the three galaxy battleships in the LCK region alone, SKT's current combat power is at the bottom.

The world championship features the elite among the elite from each major region.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just take the LPL, which is currently temporarily occupying the world’s top division. The playoff-level teams make Lee Sang-hyeok terrified.

Not only the invincible Big Three, but even the several playoff teams below them have things that Lee Sang-hyeok can learn.

In addition to the invincible LPL, there is also the LEC, which was the runner-up of MSi. The European teams led by G2 are gradually finding their winning formula and are eager to avenge their defeat by MSi.

The situation in North America is even more outrageous. According to Mr. Oki, who has always maintained a good relationship with Lee Sang-hyeok, the LPL sent out a group of mercenaries, who are said to be the invincible young army in the LSPL.

Originally thought they were just here for training, but it turned out that their top, mid and jungle are ridiculously strong, and now they are definitely on their way to the championship.

If they make it to the World Championship, LEC's combat power estimates will have to be reshuffled.

SKT will go to the World Championship to represent LCK and compete with these teams.

So, what should we do to coach them? Do we trust Lee Sang Hyuk?

I'm afraid we can't even get past the quarterfinals, right?
"He Kui, the bomb of public opinion has been planted. It's only a matter of time before it explodes." Although he was talking about his own predicament, Li Xianghe was unexpectedly very calm.

"Even if you help me get through this difficult time now, there will always be times in the future when I can't get through it."

Jin Hekui stopped talking.

He knew very well that this was a dead end. It had been a dead end since Lee Sang-hyuk was valued by SKT officials and became a target of deification.

"But there is no other way—" His voice became much lighter and his attitude softened.

"some."

"what?"

"Win in the end." When he said this, Li Xianghe's voice suddenly rose to a higher level, and he began to become a little excited.

"All the criticisms I'm facing now, in the final analysis, are because my current strength and achievements are not worthy of the false reputation I have."

"As long as this reality still exists objectively, no matter how cautious you and I are, there will be a day in the future when the truth will be revealed. There is no escape."

"But what if my achievements are worthy of this reputation?"

Jin Hekui stopped talking again.

It was a long time before he spoke, and this time, he clearly lacked some confidence.

"Can you win?"

What kind of achievements would be worthy of Lee Sang-hyuk's current fame?

An LCK title is not enough, a non-world title is meaningless.

Reaching the top four in the world championship is not enough, that would only be tying with MSi himself.

It’s not even enough to make it to the finals of the S game. As long as you fail to win in the end, the second place will be the number one loser.

There is only one thing that can allow Li Xianghe to complete his transformation:
S-League champion.

But, can SKT, which can't even make it out of LCK, really accomplish this remarkable feat? "That depends on you," Lee Sang-hyuk chuckled, with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

"If you still expect me to take over the game, then needless to say, it's hopeless. Reaching the quarterfinals will be considered a victory."

"But if you can change and go back to who you should be, then the situation will be different."

"Don't forget, we formed this SKT team from the very beginning, wasn't it for the world championship?"

He suddenly straightened up, put his hands on Jin Hekui's shoulders, and forced him to look into his eyes.

"You're going to be SKT's hero, right, Hyukyu?"

……

"Brother He Kui, what did Brother Xiang He just say?"

After waiting for a long time, the other three SKT members finally saw Kim Hyuk-kyu coming out of the ward and quickly surrounded him to ask questions.

The ward required quietness, and they were not allowed to visit Lee Sang-hyuk together.

"It's nothing, let's fight hard in the next game." Kim Hyuk-kyu replied.

But for some reason, everyone present could sense that his voice had changed.

"How can we reach three stars without Brother Xianghe?" Jin Donghe who was in the top lane asked subconsciously.

Lee Sang-hyeok hit a wall, and the management was primarily to blame, and he was secondarily to blame.

He has not yet become the top lane pillar of DK in s11, and his condition is quite unstable.

If you are strong enough, you can kill the opponent easily. If you are smart enough, you can develop the I system every time.

Once he encounters a top laner who is stronger than him, the probability of him failing is very high.

This time, KT was defeated 3 to 1 and he was killed by Smeb, which was also a very important factor and dealt a heavy blow to his self-confidence.

Bengi ignored Kim Dong-ha's complaints and just looked at Kim Hyuk-kyu.

This old veteran had already guessed what would happen next from Kim Hyuk-kyu's voice.

And he, of course, stood firmly on Kim Hyuk-kyu's side.

The two of them looked at each other, and Jin Hekui nodded slightly, then took a deep breath:

"Everyone, are you willing to believe me for once?"

"I will take you to the World Championship."

……

Time flies, and several days pass. On the day of the game, Lee Sang-hyuk watched the defeat of SKT and Samsung in the ward.

This was a game whose outcome had been decided by most people before it even started.

Everyone felt that without Faker, SKT would not be able to form an effective resistance against Samsung.

Even on some prediction websites, more than 40% of the people predicted that SKT would be defeated 3-0.

But this time, they were destined to miscalculate.

If it were another world, they would probably know one thing:

One of the things that deft is best at is to lead a team that is full of problems and not trusted by anyone to hold on to the final bottom line.

Facing the Samsung stage is definitely the best opportunity for him to perform.

The player he faced was Ruler from Samsung.

Ruler is very strong, there is no doubt about that.

In S7, he was the center of attention and the FMVP who ended the dynasty. In S13, he was the strongest mercenary in history and the most trustworthy point of that JD team.

But the problem is, this is his first year since his debut, and he is facing the guy who miraculously destroyed the deified GENG in S12, Deft.

We have to admit that history sometimes contains a bit of metaphysics.

deft went crazy.

After understanding the intentions of Lee Sang-hyuk and Kim Hyuk-kyu, Bengi decisively chose to live in the bottom lane.

As for protecting the bottom, he is indeed not as skilled as protecting the middle, but it is still much better than playing the jungle core.

As for Khan, this time he rarely started to act aggressively right from the start, but instead played like a normal blue-collar worker, exchanging pieces with Cuvee.

Keep the middle and upper lanes stable, eat up the economy and become a C in the bottom lane——

Obviously, this version did not have the censer, nor an AD with an ID of three capital letters, but a certain style of play that touched the DNA of countless Chinese players appeared in the losing battle.

The fledgling Ruler couldn't stand up to Deft, who had countless buffs all over his body and had red eyes.

"He Kui...that's right." Looking at Kim Heuki leading the team to advance triumphantly on the screen, Li Xianghe's face was full of relief.

Although Khan's performance still makes Lee Sang-hyeok a little dissatisfied, the current SKT finally makes him see a little bit of what he expected when the team was established.

"But...is it really too forced?" Li Xianghe sighed.

Kim Hyuk-kyu's madness really made SKT play the best performance since the summer season. They even led 2:1 in the series and got two match points.

But after three games, Samsung, which has figured out SKT's current situation, also showed their trump cards.

In some parallel universe, he and Deft were once the best teammates, experiencing countless glories and lows together.

But now, they have become an insurmountable wall standing between each other.

He is called a soldier, but he is actually a general.

pawn.

Deft is strong, strong enough to temporarily replace Faker and carry SKT forward.

But SKT's substitute mid laner is too weak.

Lee Sang-hyuk can give Deft a boost and allow Deft to unite the other members of SKT on his behalf.

But he can't control the management's deliberate bad performance.

SKT's top management used reasons such as "can't leave the secondary league" and "train new players" to find a not-so-outstanding mid laner from the youth training camp.

A mid laner of this level can decide the future of the team as soon as he enters the game. He faces Pawn, the second best mid laner in the league after Faker.

The result was naturally disastrous.

After all, the middle lane can radiate more advantages than the bottom lane.

In the end, Samsung won two games in a row and narrowly won the fifth place.

It is said that in the last game, when SKT's main crystal was destroyed, the ones who were most sad were not the SKT players on the scene.

"deft!!!!!!!!"

"The strongest deft!!!! Why can't I play against him, but play against that basket three stars!!!!"

"I want to fight deft!!!!!!"

In the KT base, a twisted deft fan can't sleep anymore.

Seeing Deft finally showing his fangs and showing his full potential on the court, Pu Pu was so excited.

But the problem is that deft was sent off and couldn't come to the finals, which made IMP feel depressed.

"Okay, if you want to play against them, just use the information they got about Samsung and crush them in the final. SKT will naturally become the second seed."

There was a hint of respect in the coach's eyes.

If the previous SKT that only relied on Lee Sang-hyuk was not to be feared.

The current SKT is finally the team that eliminated them in the spring season, the king's team.

(End of this chapter)