Globalization of Fans

"Peanut, you've grown so much this year. To be honest, that top lane play really startled me. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to reach level six just in time."

Li Chen's smile was sincere and his tone was humble, leaving no room for criticism.

Even though Little Peanut didn't quite believe Li Chen's words, he couldn't help but start to have doubts.

Immediately afterwards, Li Chen approached BDD and said with a serious expression, "You are indeed very strong, BDD. You almost turned the tide of the game in the bottom lane. I'm already looking forward to our match."

"Actually, Khan... I'm really looking forward to it too!"

BDD originally intended to say that the Khan would prefer to fight Li Chen, but a murderous glare from the side made him change his mind.

After shaking hands with the two elders of Xuanming, Li Chen and the others bowed and left the stage to return to the lounge.

Unlike regional competitions, the post-match interviews at the MSI Mid-Season Invitational were conducted on multiple channels, so the EDG members had to split up.

As the preferred target for each region, Li Chen felt that his first appearance at MSI should be with a local from the EU, so he accepted an interview with an EU broadcaster.

Long legs, big waves, blonde hair with an S-shaped silhouette—that's how Li Chen internally describes the EU interview host.

Unlike the post-match interview hosts in China, the EU host had no prejudice against him and did not give him any advice or warnings before the interview.

After confirming that Li Chen knew a little English and wouldn't need much translation, the interview officially began.

"Hello everyone, I'm Chris Tina, your host for today's post-match interview. Today we are honored to have with us god_C, a player from the world-renowned EDG team. Without a doubt, he is a true legend on the field."

After introducing herself, Tina smiled and looked at Li Chen, saying, "God_C, this is your second time participating in the MSI Mid-Season Invitational, and also your first time playing in the EU region. Could you say hello to your EU fans?"

"certainly!"

Li Chen smiled and nodded, then took the microphone, looked ahead and waved, saying, "Hello everyone, this is our first meeting. You should all have heard of my ID to some extent. That's right, I am god_C, the champion of last year's finals."

Actually, I've always liked the EU region. Some of the teams here have left a deep impression on me. Before coming here, I wondered if there would be any Summoners in the EU region who like me. Can the people here give me a positive answer?

"Yes!"

"God, I love you!"

"god_C! legend!"

Not many contestants could directly see the interview stage, since the venue could only accommodate a few hundred people.

However, when Li Chen waved to the camera, the audience responded enthusiastically.

"Thank you all for your support. It's wonderful to receive such applause and cheers in a foreign land. I will repay your support with even more exciting matches!"

Li Chen smiled and waved, like an idol holding a fan meeting.

However, this seemingly normal, almost human-like behavior was met with skepticism from summoners in his own region.

[If you don't understand, is this a C-level question?]

That's right, he always acts like a normal person in public!

[C will adopt different skins depending on the target audience.]

I understand now; this is what's called global fan base.

No, no, no, this is called global fandom!

Li Chen couldn't see the comments for his own region; all he knew was that EU fans were incredibly enthusiastic.

Because the interview time for the group stage was short, Tina quickly moved on to the next question: "God_C, there are rumors online that the mid and top laners of the KZ team issued a challenge to your team. Is this true?"

Li Chen immediately shook his head. He couldn't reveal that he was the one who had been behind this, otherwise no one would invite him to dinner anymore.

"That's not entirely true. I actually have a very good relationship with Khan and BDD. They are both excellent players, and Coach Hirai is also a fantastic coach."

We had dinner together in Berlin a few days ago. It was because we hadn't seen each other in a long time, so we met up and chatted. After all, we're still friends off the field, so there's no question of us issuing a challenge.

"Really? But god_C, your position this year is mid lane, so why did you go to the top lane to face Khan today? Isn't that a form of challenge?" Tina continued to press.

"Tactics, of course!"

Li Chen smiled gently: "Actually, the current version of Irelia is very strong and can counter Jayce very well. I originally wanted to play Irelia in the mid lane in this game, but KZ picked Jayce, so I temporarily followed their instructions and went to the top lane."

Tina nodded: "I see. But Jayce is also your signature champion, god_C, and you're widely recognized as the best Jayce player in the world. Why didn't you first-pick Jayce when it was available?"

"I've already answered this question; it's because of restraint."

Li Chen said seriously, "Although Jayce was allowed in this match, Irelia was also allowed. You have to know that Jayce is currently completely countered by Irelia. If I pick Jayce and the opponent picks Irelia, I'm afraid..."

At this point, Li Chen deliberately paused, waiting for Tina to continue asking questions.

Tina, knowing the audience would be interested in what followed, naturally followed suit: "Does God_C have some unspeakable difficulty?"

Li Chen shook his head and said, "Actually, there's nothing hard to say. Even though my Jayce proficiency is pretty good, I have to admit that I have no confidence against Irelia. This lane matchup is too difficult."

Before Tina could speak, Li Chen continued, "To be honest, if Khan and I had switched heroes in today's match, I would definitely have lost. This counter is too severe. I hope everyone will pay attention to this when playing ranked matches."

At this very moment, in the KZ team's rest room, footage of Li Chen being interviewed is playing.

Although they couldn't understand Li Chen's English, they had a responsible translator who translated it for them.

Hearing Li Chen's words about heroic restraint, the Khan felt that they sounded familiar, as if he had heard such words somewhere before, but he certainly wouldn't believe them.

But as the best wingman, Hirai was now genuinely considering the veracity of Li Chen's words.

"Does Irelia counter Jayce? Khan, do you think Jayce has a hard time against Irelia?"

When asked the question, Khan's body trembled almost imperceptibly; he didn't understand what his coach meant.

He just got completely dominated by Irelia with Jayce, does the other party want to get a different answer from him?

After a two-second silence, Khan finally replied honestly: "Coach, Jayce is indeed difficult to play against Irelia, mainly after level three. In the last game, Clearlove started in the top half of the jungle, so I didn't dare to push the lane too much in the first two levels."

"is that so?"

Hirai murmured softly, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

He didn't believe it easily, because it was still uncertain whether Irelia was a hard counter to Jayce; it was only Li Chen's side of the story.

However, this information deserves verification and attention.

With his brain racing, Hirai said in a deep voice, "Khan, and BDD, you two really need to improve your Irelia skills recently."