Chapter 5: EDG Falls, Chen Yan’s Commentary Goes Viral

Waking up, Chen Yan remembered the call from Ah Bu.

"This... I think I might have offended the boss."

At the time, he had been sound asleep, but now that he was fully awake, he felt a slight twinge of embarrassment. Still, it didn't really matter. Once his contract with EDG ended, there wouldn't be many opportunities to see them anyway. His top priority was to brainstorm content for his stream.

Chen Yan’s rise to popularity wasn't just luck; he had integrated the characteristics of many top streamers from the future. For example, the passive-aggressive and trolling nature of Xuan Gou, the frantic shouting and hyperthyroid-like energy of Zztai, and the way Doinb stirred up drama. By switching between these various broadcasting styles, coupled with his solid skill, he had quickly grown from a complete nobody into a top-tier streamer in the League of Legends section.

Of course, that was only within the Dogya platform. He was still some distance away from the true top-tier influencers of the entire web, such as 55 Kai, PDD, and Da Si Ma. However, Chen Yan believed that one day, he would reach the top as well.

...

He started his stream and spent some time "smurfing" in the Diamond-tier ranked games on the Chinese server. Once he saw his viewer count rising, he changed the stream title to: "Casting the EDG Match."

Back then, the concept of a "secondary broadcast" didn't really exist. As an EDG substitute mid-laner, his choice to cast the EDG game attracted many fans of the team. Although the traffic for casting the match wasn't significantly higher than his usual streams, Chen Yan knew that these viewers were "match fans," a different demographic from his usual audience.

Being a streamer was actually very stressful, because if you didn't do anything, your viewership would only decrease, never increase. To maintain the status quo or advance further, one had to find ways to attract new fans. Only when the growth of new fans outpaced the loss of old ones could it be considered progress; this was the reason why those big streamers were always racking their brains to come up with new stunts.

On the screen, the match was about to begin. Chen Yan placed his takeout on the table and said with a grin, "Brothers, I'm about to dig in."

The chat found this amusing, especially given his status as an EDG substitute.

"If you didn't cast, I would've forgotten you were even a pro player."
"Do you actually think of yourself as a pro player?"
"Just wait until you see Scout styling on them in the match; Yan-gou is going to be furious in the stream."
"Streamer, streamer, why don't you play in the matches? Is it because you don't want to?"
"EDG won't even let Yan-gou into the base anymore. He's probably already secretly retired."
"Don't spread hate, the streamer hasn't retired, he’s just not allowed to play."

The chat was incredibly lively. Chen Yan wasn't offended at all. He pulled up his call logs and waved them at the screen. "You bunch of haters, Manager Ah Bu called me just yesterday to return to the base. But who am I? I rejected him right on the spot."

"It’s like Liu Bei visiting Zhuge Liang three times at his cottage before the sleeping dragon would emerge; I have to test Ah Bu's sincerity."

*Pfft!*

The viewers in the chat went wild with laughter, and the comments flooded in even faster.

"You're a 'Sleeping Dragon'? You look more like a 'Weilong' snack to me!"
"Just another fantasy before the streamer finishes his session."
"If you ever get to play on stage, I'll eat my computer monitor."

Chen Yan caught the comment about eating the monitor, took a screenshot immediately, and cursed playfully, "I saw that, you kid! I’ve taken a screenshot, so get ready to eat that monitor."

The chat was filled with "hahaha"s, with everyone saying they wanted to see the monitor-eating even more. The atmosphere was incredibly festive.

At this point, the match on the screen had entered the Pick/Ban phase. EDG’s opponent was Team NB. NB was actually a team on the verge of disbanding, but to call them weak? They weren't actually that weak. Their mid-jungle duo was CoCo and Swift, and their AD carry was Lwx; only their top and support were mediocre. As for EDG, iBoy couldn't play during the Spring Split, and Clearlove was still in seclusion adjusting his form, so the player on stage was Fireloli.

In Chen Yan's view, NB actually had better odds. However, the viewers naturally didn't have his level of game understanding; they only looked at the team name and felt that even an emaciated camel was bigger than a horse—EDG should be able to handle NB easily.

"EDG isn't going to win this easily."

When Chen Yan voiced his opinion, it immediately drew mockery from the viewers.

"Quiet, substitute."
"Don't be so bitter, streamer!"

Chen Yan didn't explain. He took a big bite of his food, his eyes fixed on the match’s draft. Seeing that NB didn't ban Kalista or Ashe, but banned Varus instead, he couldn't help but shake his head.

"NB's coach isn't very good. If it were me, I’d just lock down Zet’s champion pool. Zet only plays Ashe and Kalista well; banning those two is equivalent to removing one of EDG’s carries."

The chat didn't argue with him this time, because they realized that Chen Yan’s analysis was indeed spot on.

Later, during the selection phase, Chen Yan directly predicted EDG's top-lane choice. "Maokai was snatched by NB. If nothing goes wrong, EDG will pick a tank that can play reactively. It's most likely Poppy."

EDG hesitated for a dozen seconds, and in the end, they locked in Poppy.

"666!"
"A pro is still a pro; he knows his stuff."

A moment later, the picks were finalized. EDG on the blue side: Poppy, Lee Sin, LeBlanc, Ashe, Zyra. NB on the red side: Maokai, Rek'Sai, Ryze, Ezreal, Malzahar.

The chat began debating whose team composition was better. Chen Yan chuckled bitterly, "EDG is probably done for."

*Huh?* Everyone was stunned. The game hadn't even started, and they were already "done for"?

Chen Yan explained, "The tempo of this patch is still on the slower side, but EDG has an aggressive, early-game lineup. If they don't gain a significant enough advantage early, they lose in the late game for sure. Of course, that's not the key point. The key is that EDG lacks a reliable way to initiate. If NB is determined to turtle, EDG has no answers."

"Stop being sour, streamer."
"Looking forward to EDG proving you wrong."

The chat clearly didn't believe him. Chen Yan didn't offer any more analysis, simply waiting for the match results. At the start, EDG’s tempo was smooth, and they kept pressure on NB. The chat mocked him mercilessly.

But by the thirty-minute mark, EDG hadn't secured a decisive advantage, and their gold lead was stuck at a threshold, completely unable to grow.

"Scout’s LeBlanc is the breakthrough point right now; he’s going to throw the game any second."

As soon as Chen Yan said this, the chat exploded. Yet, the next second, the chat was filled with question marks. Because Scout really did throw—when he W-ed in, he was caught by the opposing Malzahar’s ultimate and killed. Immediately after, NB took Baron and quickly clawed back the gold lead. By the forty-minute mark, the weakness of EDG’s lineup was fully exposed, and NB pushed down their base.

As the EDG base exploded, Chen Yan’s stream chat exploded along with it.

"Jinx!"
"The streamer really knows his stuff."

Some said EDG lost because Chen Yan cursed them, while others realized his take on the match was truly insightful. Soon, the second game began. Chen Yan's commentary remained incisive; whether it was his judgment of the situation or his critique of the players' moves, everything was logical and convincing, winning over countless viewers.

The popularity of his stream had multiplied since the start, breaking through 1.5 million viewers. The only thing people criticized was that Chen Yan didn't hold back on Scout during his commentary, which led viewers to joke that he was being far too bitter. However, Chen Yan wasn't pushing a personal agenda; he talked about Scout because whether EDG could win depended entirely on Scout’s performance. The result was that while Scout was indeed playing like a "carry," it wasn't a complete performance—he would inevitably make a mistake and throw away his advantage.

In the second game, EDG lost again, falling 2-0 to NB.

"What a shame," Chen Yan sighed.

But when he looked at the chat, everyone was spamming, "Streamer, if you want to laugh, just laugh; stop holding it in."

Chen Yan couldn't contain himself either and burst out laughing. The chat immediately responded, "Stop pretending, you're not even acting anymore."

Sensing that the situation was getting out of hand, Chen Yan ended the stream at light speed. Yet, even so, he made it onto the Weibo trending list the next day:

[EDG defeated, substitute player Chenyan laughs during his stream]
[Chenyan casts EDG match, predicts from the start that EDG would lose]
[Chenyan scolds Scout on stream, points out massive issues in his play]

...

Seeing these headlines, Chen Yan couldn't help but feel a darkness wash over his vision. At the same time, Ah Bu was also clicking on the trending news articles about Chen Yan.