ctnovel Chapter 29: Public Opinion Explosion
Chapter 29: Public Opinion Explosion
The review ended hastily, and Karam and Mafa left the training room. None of the IG players showed any joy after winning the game.
JackeyLove slumped in his chair, Ning was looking down at his phone, and the training room was eerily quiet except for TheShy's keyboard tapping, like the calm before a storm.
"strangeness."
Chen Song observed that the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.
They clearly won the game.
The process was somewhat dramatic, and DMO almost turned the tide.
But it shouldn't have turned into the atmosphere it is now, right?
To be honest, in Chen Song's opinion, even if DMO lost the game, their post-match analysis wouldn't necessarily be as depressing as it is now.
It's like... it's like, all of them are carrying resentment?
If I had to describe it, it would feel a bit like a power struggle within a harem.
"Could something have happened recently?"
With this curiosity in mind, Chen Song leaned back in his chair, took out his phone, and opened Weibo.
As soon as you open the page, trending search terms come to mind.
#Rookie Support's Debut Was a Disappointment#
#What the heck is Baolan as a substitute?#
#Can IG management please stop causing trouble?#
One trending topic after another appeared on the hot search list, all marked with a red "hot" icon.
He clicked on the post-match updates from IG's official League of Legends Weibo account.
It's only been a little over an hour since the match ended, and the comment section has been completely flooded with comments that are still increasing at a visible speed.
The top-rated comment is pinned to the very top and has already received over 10,000 likes:
[Please, management, have some decency! Can't you just start Baolan? His ultimate was useless, and you dare to force this kind of support into the starting lineup?]
Scrolling down further, all the opinions were one-sided.
The 2-1 victory felt incredibly lucky, and the entire match was incredibly frustrating. DMO completely dominated the bottom lane, and Lucas and JackeyLove were simply out of sync.
[It's obviously a power struggle within the management. They benched Baolan for the first two matches and forced rookies from the second team to practice. Are you trying to compensate for IG's poor performance with your internal strife?]
[My heart aches for Ah Shui. He returned from MSI in high spirits, only to be let down by the team's rotation players. He couldn't carry the team and couldn't perform at all.]
[Ning just wandered around aimlessly, there was absolutely no synergy between the mid and jungle, and the top lane was constantly being ganked by four or five people. What's wrong with IG right now?]
Hidden sapphire blue?
Internal strife within management?
Chen Song looked at each item one by one, completely baffled.
So it seems that today's hard-won opening victory has brought all these hidden things to light?
Lucas, sitting to the side, was restless, clutching his phone tightly in one hand and secretly glancing at the comments section with the other.
The screen was filled with accusations, ridicule, and even some harsh personal attacks. Some people even directly labeled him a "nepotism heir," and every word was hurtful.
This was his first game after being promoted to the first team, and he was filled with guilt and nervousness. Now, looking at the overwhelming public opinion, his head was buzzing, and he lowered his head even further, not even having the courage to look up at his teammates.
JackeyLove's phone kept buzzing with messages. He picked up his phone and casually clicked on the trending topics, glancing at the content. His brows furrowed with frustration and helplessness.
Having partnered with Baolan for so long, their chemistry was already deeply ingrained. Suddenly switching to a rookie support with almost no prior experience resulted in a complete mismatch in laning rhythm, team fight decision-making, and positioning coordination.
Only he knows how frustrating the first two games were today.
But the management team decided on the starting lineup without saying a word, completely disregarding their own feelings.
JackeyLove sighed, slammed his phone screen down on the table, his lips pressed into a straight line, his heart filled with anger that he had nowhere to vent.
Rookie glanced at the trending topics, then looked at the dejected Lucas and the resentful JackeyLove beside him, sighed softly, and said nothing.
TheShy remained calm and composed, as if the outside world's insults and public opinion had nothing to do with him. He just sat there quietly, but deep in his eyes, there was a trace of weariness that was not easily detected.
Ning lay half-reclined in his gaming chair, looking at his phone and swaying back and forth as he casually scrolled through Weibo and Tieba, taking in all the comments and posts criticizing his jungling performance as sleepwalking and his attitude as sloppy.
He chuckled, his tone laced with a hint of cynicism and a touch of self-mockery:
"Another night of the official Weibo account being flooded with negative comments, I'm used to it."
The management only cares about having fun with their own power struggles, regardless of how difficult the challenges are for us. They praise when we win and criticize when we lose, but the players are always blamed in any exceptions.
The voice wasn't loud, but it reached the ears of the others. No one responded, but they all tacitly agreed with what was said.
In the training room, everyone wore different expressions.
The Weibo public opinion has been in complete chaos, with infighting among fans, fan groups tearing each other apart, and angry criticism of the management.
Meanwhile, undercurrents were just as turbulent within IG's base.
Lucas's anxiety, JackeyLove's dissatisfaction, Ning's tackling, the unspoken estrangement among the team members, coupled with the power struggle within the management, all these conflicts were brought to the forefront with IG's narrow victory in their opening match.
Chen Song looked through the public opinion and realized that he had been completely drawn into this palace intrigue.
......
The aftershocks of the incident on the night of June 3rd had not subsided at all. By the next day, June 4th, IG had completely dominated the LPL scene and Weibo esports rankings.
#IG's Hidden Royal Blue#
#Lucas's cronies#
#Infighting within IG's management#
Several related terms surged simultaneously, immediately climbing to the top of the trending searches and remaining there for an entire day.
Last night it was just about the official Weibo comments, but today it has completely turned into a nationwide exposé.
Some people have uncovered that the promotion of Lucas to the second team is actually orchestrated by Zang Libao, who can suppress Baolan.
Some people dug up past interactions between the team and compared the chemistry between Baolan and JackeyLove to the current incompatibility of the bot lane.
Some fans even spontaneously gathered and flooded the official Instagram account and supertopic with petitions demanding an explanation.
The super topic is divided into two camps:
One faction fiercely defended Baolan, vehemently criticizing the management for being too self-serving, causing internal strife within the team, and forcing newcomers into the team, thus hindering Ah Shui and the entire team.
Another group of casual observers and laid-back fans lamented that newcomers should be given a chance, but their debut performance was so poor that the coaching staff and management didn't even offer an explanation, which was outrageous.
The atmosphere in the IG training room was even more oppressive than yesterday.
Lucas dared not use social media at all, kept his phone on silent and stuffed it in a drawer, played timidly in training matches, and his performance was distorted.
JackeyLove maintained a cold expression throughout.
During practice matches, the bot lane coordination frequently went wrong. He and Lucas were completely out of sync, communicating very little. When a mistake was made, JackeyLove would just silently shake his head, without even bothering to complain.
It was obvious to everyone that he was holding a grudge, and his resentment towards the management's forced replacement of the assistant coach was written all over his face.
Ning maintained his nonchalant attitude, slacking off in scrims and not practicing jungle carries in ranked games. He spent all his time playing AD champions like Ezreal and Caitlyn. When someone tried to advise him, he casually remarked, "In the end, it's all our fault. Whether we play well or poorly, we'll still get flamed in the end."