Chapter 596
There will be another one.
However, the little golden figure was a bit dark in color and not very bright. When Lin Ruo took it, she suspected that the paint was chipped.
Wait a minute, if the paint can peel off, is it pure gold?
I don't know.
The organizers didn't give him much time to think, because a third hostess came up and handed him a large prize plaque that was big enough for Lin Ruo to hold with both hands.
The amount written on it was 2.8 million in Korean. Not bad, Lin Ruo was quite satisfied.
This week of competition was worthwhile.
But if you have a big sign, you can't carry anything else.
So Lin Ruo could only hand the flowers to the organizer on her left with her left hand, and then hand the trophy to the leader on her right with her right hand, before continuing with the second round of awards ceremony and photo session.
The champion's interview followed immediately afterward.
The first question the media asked was, without a doubt, about his feelings on winning the Samsung Cup.
Without much to say, Lin Ruo began by expressing her gratitude: "Thank you Samsung for sponsoring such a generous prize, and thank you for meeting so many respectable players, which made my journey to victory so fulfilling."
Ok.
The two Samsung leaders who had just left immediately felt a chill.
What do you mean? Are you saying that Samsung is giving money away to Chinese athletes every year for nothing? That seems to be true, and there's nothing to refute.
After all, the champions of the last five years have all been Chinese players, which really proves this point.
But what does the following sentence mean? Thanking so many respectable players, are you sure it's not thanking them for giving you the experience of crushing noobs? I don't know.
"Lin Ruo has won two world championships in just six months since her debut. What are her expectations for her future Go career?"
The media asked questions one by one in turn, and Lin Ruo on the podium answered them one by one: "I don't know about Zhanwang. I have to go back and play League of Legends. The League of Legends Spring Split is about to start."
See here.
Tencent can rest assured.
They were really worried that Lin Ruo would get addicted to Go and switch careers and never come back, since EDG hadn't officially announced a contract renewal with Lin Ruo yet, even though they had verbally agreed to it with Edward Zhu.
If you don't say something soon, we'll really run out of things to say.
However, people always have something to say about the fun things people do in Wild Fox's live stream.
[Lin Ruo still has a chance of losing in Go. After all, he almost lost to Shin Jinseo after being at a huge disadvantage. So, those who know, know. Although Lin Ruo won the championship, he thought it would be more fun to come back to the league and dominate the weaker opponents.]
[Yeah, yeah, we can't afford to lose to the League of Legends. LPL, I, Lin, am coming back to crush you all! RNG and IG, get ready to get beaten up, and SKT and GRF next door, get ready too.]
[Lin Gou has finally realized the importance of playing in the league to make him happier.]
No, Lin Gou simply thinks playing in the league pays more.
...
Towards the end of the awards ceremony interview, Lin Ruo was surprised to find that Tang Weixing's role was also involved.
Yes, it turns out that the runner-up also gets a small trophy and will stand on the podium with the champion for a photo.
When Lin Ruo saw Tang Weixing walk up and the hostess hand him the trophy, she truly understood what it meant to destroy someone's spirit.
You don't think Tang Weixing would be happy to get second place, do you? Of course not.
Unless Tang Weixing has never won a championship or a runner-up title before, he would naturally feel "Wow, not bad!" about this runner-up title.
The problem is that Tang Weixing had already won a championship a long time ago, the year he first participated in the Samsung Cup.
Therefore, he was absolutely not happy at this moment, and could only force a smile and pose for the media cameras with a look of utter despair.
Then he glanced at Lin Ruo with a resentful look.
Once upon a time, when he was a professional 3-dan player who defeated the legendary South Korean Go player Lee Sedol to become the world champion, he was even more arrogant than Lin Ruo is now.
I'm a professional 3-dan player, and I directly defeated a professional 9-dan player, who was the man who dominated the Go world at the time, to win the championship.
How could this not be amazing?
Therefore, Tang Weixing couldn't help but fantasize about his future glorious achievements, but the setbacks in the Chinese Weiqi League shattered his fantasies in the end.
It was only then that Tang Weixing realized that he was indeed very strong, but there seemed to be a qualifier in front of that, namely, that he was only strong in the Samsung Cup.
What does it mean to have someone who can sweep him in the Samsung Cup?
Tang Weixing looked at the spirited young man beside him, who looked just like he did five years ago. But no matter what, he couldn't see any sign of the young man falling from grace.
After the group photo and subsequent handshake, the Samsung Cup's journey this year came to an end.
Photos taken by the media were circulated on online news, creating another huge wave of buzz.
For example, Weibo is currently filled with trending topics about Lin Ruo winning the championship.
Lin Ruo wins the Samsung Cup, becoming the fastest player to win two professional titles in Go!
[Final 2-0, Lin Ruo's Samsung team remains undefeated this season.]
[Another new champion in the history of the Samsung Cup.]
[Invincible! From the start of the Dream Lily Cup to the Samsung Cup, Lin Ruo hasn't lost a single game.]
The online discussion has already reached fever pitch.
Even Nie Weiping, China's chess master, publicly expressed his absolute admiration for Lin Ruo.
This praise is not without reason.
Because Tang Weixing was Nie Weiping's apprentice, Nie Weiping paid close attention to this final match. After watching it, he inevitably became very interested in Lin Ruo.
He could tell at a glance whether someone was strong or not.
Now, which Go player wouldn't praise Lin Ruo?
[A new future for Chinese Go has arrived. Will Lin Ruo win more than a dozen world championships like Lee Chang-ho?]
[Those who don't know, only that Lin Ruo seems to have no rivals now.]
[Just think about how he came to the Samsung Cup unprepared and still won. That should tell you how invincible he is. I really can't imagine anyone beating him in the future.]
[Haha, who else can do what Lin Ruo did? He crushed all four of the top Korean players in the Mengbaihe Cup, and then crushed the top two Korean players again in the Samsung Cup. He completely overwhelmed these top players right from the start. Isn't that invincible?]
Yes.
Chinese netizens can't even imagine how unpredictable Lin Ruo's future will be.
Make a stark contrast.
Before this Samsung Cup, among netizens and the Go community, Ke Jie was undoubtedly the one most deserving of the title of China's number one Go player. After all, Ke Jie had already won more than five world championships, making him the undisputed world number one at that time. Simply calling him the number one player in the Chinese Go world would be a bit of an understatement.
However, Lin Ruo's appearance shattered all of this.
But at this point, some people might ask, Lin Ruo has only won two world championships, how can he surpass Ke Jie?
The real root of the problem always lies in the fact that Lin Ruo's background in winning the world championship is too exaggerated.
He is just a professional League of Legends player, and Go is a hobby he crossed over into. With this identity, he won two world championships in half a year.
No one could help but imagine him as a being from some cosmic civilization, descending upon a backward Earth to launch a dimensional attack.
Otherwise, why would they have dried everything as soon as they arrived?
We've taken down all five of South Korea's top teams, and we've also taken down the top teams from China.
Ke Jie failed to win because he was defeated by Lin Ruo both times.
Yes, Ke Jie doesn't even have the qualifications to face Lin Ruo.
When it takes off at such a speed of light, a little talent can sweep away everything with invincible power.
He easily surpassed Ke Jie's prominence in the chess world over the years, becoming the stronger and more arrogant one.
Moreover, this isn't just what Chinese netizens think; South Korean netizens believe it even more.
Just during the time of Meng Baihe, South Korean netizens were already collectively overwhelmed by the unexpected genius who appeared out of nowhere.
Now the Samsung Cup is happening a second time.
It's no wonder that South Korean netizens are both impressed and resentful; even those who were beaten felt the same way.
Just after the Samsung Cup final ended, Park Jung-hwan, in another interview, spoke candidly about Lin Ruo's victory.
Simply put, the content is...
As one of only two top-ranked Go players in South Korea, Park Jung-hwan felt he had no chance of winning against Lin Ruo in both of his matches, essentially being the one who was naturally countered.
After all, Park Jung-hwan is the opponent Lin Ruo has played against the most since her debut, with a total of four games against him.
From move thirty onward, Park Jung-hwan never once believed he could win.
He seemed to have seen a demon.
Now, this demon belongs to the entire chess world.
When this got back to Korean websites, what could Korean netizens do? They were helpless.
[While we were still figuring out how to deal with Ke Jie from China, suddenly someone even more terrifying than Ke Jie emerged, bringing us despair in just six months.]
Yes, and this despair isn't just limited to Go. In another sport we value even more, League of Legends, this kid has directly broken Korea's dominance. Now it seems like we're the real challengers.
How can someone like that not inspire despair...?
To be honest, I can hardly see any hope for the future of Korean Go. Shin Jinseo, whom we've nurtured for so many years, was just starting to grow when this kid, Lin Ruo, suddenly appeared and shattered his potential. It's an unprecedented and utterly terrible thing.
In short, the first thing we need to do now is to try and beat that brat Lin Ruo in these two areas. Only in this way will he not become our eternal nightmare.
Faced with such an intimidating opponent, South Korean netizens have lowered their expectations to win at least once; they can't believe their opponent isn't invincible unless they win.
And it's not just them who want to win; every player defeated by Lin Ruo, whether Korean or Chinese, wants to win at least once.
Tang Weixing spent almost two hours in his dorm room reviewing the events with Lin Ruo after they got back.
Yang Dingxin and Liao Yuanhe were no exception.
After being tormented by the three people in turn, Lin Ruo finally had time to reply to messages and answer the phone. On the other end of the line were congratulatory messages from familiar faces.
"You're awesome, kid! You won the championship again. You should ask Old Zhu to open a Go academy. If you become a teacher there, the business will definitely boom."
"How about we name it Ruozhi Dojo? It's an abbreviation of Lin Ruo's wisdom..."
Ha ha.
Mingkai is still as flamboyant as ever, truly living up to his reputation as the most witty and sarcastic man in the entire league.
Lin Ruo naturally replied as usual: "The Demacia Cup is about to start, be careful not to get a draft disadvantage while I'm not around, Kai."
Unlike Abu, he was much more worried: "Are you coming back? If you're coming back, come back quickly. The contract renewal hasn't been fully signed yet. Don't think that you can just win another world championship and run off to another game. League of Legends is your main job, understand?"
Looking at how Lin Ruo is making headlines everywhere, it's true that winning a world championship in Go is much faster than becoming famous in League of Legends.
Abu couldn't help but feel deeply worried. It seemed that the people competing with him for Lin Ruo were not just other LPL clubs anymore, but also from outside the league.
"I'll be back the day after tomorrow. There are also post-victory activities tomorrow."
Just as Lin Ruo hung up the phone, team leader Tian Bin called again.
"You're amazing! I knew you could do it. You're fantastic. Our Shanghai team's great achievements this year are all thanks to you. You won two world championships in one year. I'll call you again for the next competition."
No, are you treating me like a donkey, taking advantage of me as much as you want?
Lin Ruo had to ask a very cautious question: "What's wrong, team leader? You're not content with just being a director in the future, are you? You want to get promoted, right?"
Tian Bin smiled without saying a word, only expressing his wish that Lin Ruo would become the number one Go player in the future.
Lin Ruo just wanted to say, "I don't believe you for a second."
After a night, Yang Dingxin and the other two boarded a plane back to China the next day, but Lin Ruo remained at the training institute.
It's normal for him to cooperate with Samsung's official sponsors on promotional activities, since the prize money comes from the sponsors, so there's nothing wrong with him promoting their products.
In addition, there is the classic "Entering the Chess Academy to Play Chess" activity, where one person teaches Korean children how to play chess against multiple opponents.
Is that so? Then Lin Ruoke needs to take this seriously. It's time to let the kids know what the cruelty of Go is. They should know when to retreat and not persist. There's no point in persisting in front of a master like me.
After doing all this, Lin Ruo finally boarded a plane back to Shanghai the day after the competition ended.
This time, Lin Ruo knew he was really famous, because as soon as the plane landed at Shanghai Pudong Airport, he found the airport packed with people inside and out.
To determine whether someone is a fan of a particular Chinese celebrity, you only need to look at their gender.
So when Lin Ruo saw this, she realized it was bad. It seemed like the boys made up 60% of the group. Oh no, they were coming for him!
Having anticipated this, Lin Ruo chose to secretly use the VIP channel while simultaneously posting the most important Weibo post of his life.
"Don't get so excited, this is just the beginning. See you on the next stage!" (End of Chapter)