Chapter 4

On Saturday morning, Li Xianghe had been helping out in the store. The new MAD video's popularity saw a second surge on Saturday, with fans of the e-sports game queuing up in front of the store all morning. It wasn't until noon that the crowd thinned out. Li Xianghe checked the time and, after greeting Park Seok-beom, changed his clothes, pushed out his bicycle, and hurried home.

When he got home, only Mei'er was there. Her father had a meal at his workplace, so he usually didn't come home for lunch. Normally, Li Xianghe and Mei'er would have lunch at their respective school cafeterias, but today that wasn't possible. Li Xianghe quickly made lunch and called Mei'er over. After they finished eating, Mei'er enthusiastically offered to take over the dishwashing. Li Xianghe smiled and watched the kitchen from the sofa for a while, noticing that nothing was broken, he then said goodbye to Mei'er and pushed his bicycle to Zhicheng Audio-Video Store.

On his way, Li Xianghe noticed a kimchi store at the street corner. It was called "Bajabaja," a name that vividly described the sound of kimchi. The owner, a young man who looked under thirty, was sitting on a sofa inside, watching TV out of boredom.

Korean kimchi is a fermented food primarily made from vegetables, with various fruits, seafood, and meats as ingredients. It is one of the main dishes in Korean cuisine, known for its delicious and refreshing taste, with a unique aftertaste that is both sour and spicy. It is also rich in nutrients, primarily lactic acid bacteria, and contains abundant vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals, as well as over a dozen amino acids essential to the human body. It has even been listed as one of the world's five healthiest foods by Time Warner's *Health Magazine*. The owner's desire to promote his kimchi store was not far-fetched, as there are many large kimchi chain stores in Korea.

After arriving at Zhicheng Audio-Video Store, Li Xianghe parked his bike and was about to change clothes in the storage room.

At that moment, Park Seok-beom, who saw Li Xianghe enter, excitedly came over and said, "Xianghe, you don't need to change clothes this afternoon. Uncle has already negotiated it for you!"

"Really? Uncle, that was quick!" Li Xianghe was surprised, as he was not a well-known player, and it was rare to secure an endorsement so easily.

"Hehe, but they said they would give you an unranked account first. You need to reach the Platinum tier within five days. They'll give you 50,000 yuan. Then, if you reach the Diamond tier and enter the top ranks of any champion, they'll give you another 100,000 yuan. Finally, if you can maintain your rank for a month, they'll pay the remaining 150,000 yuan, totaling 300,000 yuan. How does that sound?" Park Seok-beom asked, a bit worried.

"No problem, Uncle Seok-beom. Hehe, it won't take five days," Li Xianghe smiled lightly.

In his previous life, he had reached the top of the Korean server with around 100 games, eventually climbing to the top with a win rate of 82.5% in less than 300 games, shocking the entire e-sports world. In this parallel world, although the overall e-sports environment in Korea had improved, with a more vibrant e-sports atmosphere, the e-sports literacy of the people had also increased. However, he, who had once stood at the pinnacle of e-sports, still retained his confidence and pride in this field.

Under Park Seok-beom's urging, Li Xianghe entered Park Ji-seong's room. Park Ji-seong, who was supposed to learn techniques from Li Xianghe today, had been called by some like-minded classmates to watch a training match between SKT and SSW's trainees at the SKT club. Before leaving, he asked his father, Park Seok-beom, to tell Brother Xianghe that he would be back soon.

Li Xianghe turned on the computer, took a deep breath, and logged into the familiar game interface with the account provided by the kimchi store owner. Following the requirements, he opened the name change interface and started typing the ID, which naturally began with "Gwangju Bajabaja Kimchi Store." When it came to the suffix, Li Xianghe hesitated for a moment but ultimately typed in the ID "smile."

In his previous life, due to family reasons, he always had a cold, unsmiling face, both at the competition venue and at fan meetings. Because of this, he was often called "the one who never smiles" by commentators and fans in the e-sports circle.

In this life, he typed in this ID again, but this time it was for his family's happiness. This feeling was something he had never experienced before, so he was very happy, and a smile involuntarily curved his lips, "smile."

In this parallel world, the League of Legends tournament was in the early stages of Season 3, and the ranking system had just changed from the original rank points to tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Challenger. The top 50 players on the server were considered Challenger. Most of these spots were occupied by professional e-sports stars, but there were also a few talented players like DOPA, though they were very rare.

When considering which champion to use to climb the ranks, Li Xianghe hesitated for a moment. He didn't really want to play Riven again, as he had played these top lane champions so much in his previous life that he was tired of them.

Li Xianghe's gaze scanned the game interface and suddenly noticed a post about Zed, the Master of Shadows, who had just been introduced to Summoner's Rift at the end of Season 3. When the champion was first released, many players found it underwhelming.

Li Xianghe clicked on the post and, as expected, the first post was a complaint from a player with the ID "Qingkong" about the champion.

First Post: What's the new champion Zed supposed to do? Is he going to be the next Syndra?

Can he play top lane or jungle? It's so hard to deal damage, and he has no crowd control or tanking ability. Looks like he's going to be the next underwhelming champion.

Second Post: He's probably a mid lane AD assassin like Talon. From my experience, it's hard to deal damage, and his energy management is poor!

Third Post: The two above are right. If he had Akali's burst damage, it would be one thing, but his shadow dash is too short. In comparison, Akali's dash is like a flying leap, BIU! BIU! BIU!!

Fourth Post: 3L is a noob, but it's true. In terms of burst damage, Zed is far inferior to Talon. He feels more like a scorpion, relying on his E to stick to enemies. His W looks cool, but the cooldown and range are unbearable.

Fifth Post: @3L, I heard that Shen and Zed are classmates, so Shen married Akali to suppress his classmate Zed?

Sixth Post: ...

Li Xianghe couldn't help but laugh. He wasn't amused by the fifth post but rather by the memory of a professional player named Faker in the Korean e-sports scene, who was crowned the "Naruto" after using Zed in a match.

In this parallel world, there were many people and things similar to his previous life, such as famous professional teams like SKT, SSW, and KTA, and idol groups like Girls' Generation, BIGBANG, and T-ARA. However, some people did not exist in this timeline. He had been in this world for a long time but had never heard of Faker. Whether Faker truly didn't exist in this world or had taken a different path, even without Faker, was Zed really as useless as they said?

Li Xianghe smiled and opened the champion purchase interface in the game, immediately seeing the ninja-dressed champion Zed at the top.

Zed is the first ninja in 200 years to break the ancient, forbidden path in the Land of Balance. He defied his clan and mentor, abandoning the balance and creed that had bound him for life. Now, Zed empowers those who embrace the secrets of the shadow and slaughters those who cling to convention. Ha! This hero is so much like his former self!

Without hesitation, Li Xianghe clicked to purchase the champion, and it was added to his inventory. He then configured a set of penetration runes and talents commonly used by mid lane AD assassins.

After clicking on solo queue, he quickly entered the game, as the bottom of the e-sports pyramid always had a large number of players striving for their dreams. Unlike in his previous life, where a game could take over half an hour to queue, he was quickly matched.

In the ban-pick interface, Li Xianghe found himself in the first pick. He banned a few popular champions and immediately selected Zed.

"Balance is a lie. We are the true ninjas!"

Li Xianghe typed a few words, "1MID."

This impulsive behavior naturally drew criticism from his teammates.

The player with the ID "Korean Pro" on the second pick complained, "What heroes did the first pick ban? Does he even know how to play?"

The third pick also said, "Zed? First pick, are you kidding? This champion is terrible!"

However, the fifth pick player noticed Li Xianghe's ID and asked, "First pick, are you using an endorsement account?"

The second pick immediately showed disdain, "No way, just look at how he banned heroes. He's clearly a noob."

After all, there were many players in the lower tiers of the Korean server with similar ambitious IDs!

Li Xianghe just smiled and typed another message in the chat.

"Don't worry, I'm the Naruto! I'll carry this game!"