- xiaobai mentioned korean championship have bad internet access and they have to go to internet cafe to play the championship several years ago... Even several years back, Korea have one of the fastest internet speed, free........ Not to mention an esport championship.........

-Available equipment for championship was dissed, lemme repeat, the author described the equipment was less than what they have at home (that was the equipment for worldwide championship)

-The "Shitty plot" aka sudden "bug" and rewind 8 secs like... was the korean committee need to be painted so s*upidly? I mean, if it's like, a mall championship I can probably believe it but worldwide championship? Just for money and helping some team get advertisement they're willing to make people question their integrity? In 2019??? I mean if it happened in 2009-2010 I can probably believe it. But 2019 or 2020?? THIS IS MY MAIN ISSUE BTW like no, stop defending it, just admit it's shitty arc and move on.

If author want to make it more believable, she should write match fixing instead of whatever mess she wrote because THE FIRST KNOWN MATCH FIXING was from SOUTH KOREA and they have been caught to do it again.

-Subtle dig at korean hierarchy like "why is savior calling that guy brother". (As if chinese didn't have the same hierarchy/structure although not as strict as korean)

-Author also love to make the enemies super ugly "Full of pimples with thick glasses" or at least less handsome like "Round face with glasses"or"Fat" etc. Just to highlight MC/ML's handsomeness. I noted that it happened with author's two other novels, which is quite juvenile.

That one world championship arc. It's only that last main competition arc that slightly put me off. Yes, the Chronobreak part. There's no way for something like that to happen in an international championship. And even if it happens no party will so easily accept it like TTC did. The author just kept on downgrading the Korean esports committee starting from equipment to internet.

Also with how she depicted them having unpleasant facial characteristics.

But she didn't make all the Korean teams as villains. Its only that HT team. Others were mentioned many times as pretty good.

I know many famous korean novels equally do this to others countries in their novels. And it irritates me then too.

But I guess the trick lies in how smoothly and smartly its written. Also the readers can just skim through that arc.

The only thing I did see were teams from different countries facing each other. I never saw that they insulted anyone specifically for being from a certain country, the insults were due to the person themself, not due to their nationality. There was a Korean team that constantly made fun of the Chinese league, but they didn't make fun for being Chinese, but because they were rivals.

The author isn't horribly racist. There's no direct attacks on Koreans in the novel as a race. However, most of the Korean characters (except Savior) are depicted in subtly negative ways.

Now, the MSI tournament in this story is setup as a Chinese team against a Korean team, and so there's going to be team and country loyalties. I have no issue with fans being outspoken about the teams they support. Also, it makes sense that the author wants readers to cheer for the MC, so the MC's team is going to shown in positive way. Again, perfectly fine.

The issue I have is how unprofessional the Korean esports scene is depicted in this novel. This is especially strange for anyone familiar with IRL esports. I found the following unnecessary and detracting from the quality of the story:

• The Korean tournament organizers treating the Chinese teams/LPL poorly (no need to make them be petty and unprofessional)
• HT team members all being arrogant jerks (they're the best team in Korea, surely someone on the team is not a bully who hates LPL)
• HT resorting to unsportsmanlike behavior to win and the tournament organizers supporting that (again, these people are professionals. It hurts to see them written like schoolyard bullies)
• HT being a top Korean team yet somehow only one person on the team is actually skilled and the rest of the team is mediocre (makes no sense, they have lots of resources and experience to build a good team)

Both LPL and LCK are well established, organized professional leagues. Both teams are talented pros from their leagues and have worked very hard to get to this tournament. It would've been much more satisfying to recognize the strength and hard work of both teams. That would have made the ultimate (predictable) victory by the MC's team more rewarding.

Listen, I know Chinese nationalism is intense and that the author needs to paint the main characters and their team as really good, but let's keep it within the realm of reason, yeah? Everyone agrees that Korea blew up e-sports and that they have some of the best professional players in the world (*cough* Faker *cough*), especially in LoL. There's no need to paint the Korean players in this novel as inferior to the Chinese characters. Why can't we have them both be good and have an intense competition, rather than have it be a one sided steam roll fest?

The xenophobia is just so... unneeded. I didn't expect it from this author in particular (they seemed chill in their other novels) but I guess I live to be disappointed.

side couple with Xiao Bai and Pine, two of the MC's teammates. Not going to lie, maybe I'm just blind but I never saw it coming until I read the recent chapter, where someone mentions Xiao Bai getting a girlfriend and Pine starts paying attention. In any case, I support them! They have a really cute dynamic, with Xiao Bai being a funny loud oblivious idiot and Pine being the ever suffering victim of his blabbermouth. They have a CP and "sell rot", in which Xiao Bai is carrying, so poor Pine, having to deal with fake flirting from the person he likes haha. In any case, I really hope we get to see more of this relationship develop past mere "implications" and that we get extras about them getting together.

they start playing in the Korean server, and both of them get harassed by trolls. Savior gets it especially bad, and he loses a bunch of games. When the MC finally accepts to play with Savior, he teaches him how to get back at trolls even if they're on the same team, and ultimately this ends up with Savior's manager yelling at the MC's manager, saying that the MC is teaching Savior bad things (lmaoooo). Then, to stop their fans from arguing about this online, Savior write a Weibo post going on about how the MC is his favorite Chinese friend outside of his teammates and that he wants to play with him more, which everyone takes as a love confession (LMFAOOOO).

the disses against Korea and the plot gets worse

my favorite shining moment of MC’s little fans was when TTC went abroad for competitions. When jian rong when on the stage and looked at the unfamiliar crowd, he recognized a signboard from his first professional match. That made me really love these crazy fathers of his.

i’ll summarize my thoughts through bullet points so it’s easier to read even though I want to vent so bad because it’s really such a shame how this would have been cute if the MC was at least 20 at the youngest but it had to be where he was barely legal 💀

• the ml, conveniently, starts dating the MC when he’s 18 but started liking the MC before that: the MC starts out as 17 and his birthday still happens a lot of chapters later. sometime after his birthday, the ml’s “love” blooms and he starts chasing. really weird to do when he met the MC before he was an adult. you can’t tell me he didn’t like him before he was 18. you dare to tell me that the ML started liking the MC from 12 am of mc’s birthday to the few days he was already 18 before the ML started pursuing him? when he was already showing slivers of fondness and interest for the MC here and there before his birthday? okay, but even if he “waits” for MC to turn 18 that concept in itself is already creepy and predatory, like he knows it’s immoral for him to be with the MC since he’s a minor so he’ll wait for the time the MC is an adult so that he’ll be in the “safe zone” because they’re both adults now.
• here are some examples to put inti perspective why this dynamic is disgusting and wrong: (1) a 23 year old is far, far more mature and developed than an 18 year old and we see that a lot, very easily, in the contrast of MC and ML in where they are at their career: MC is just starting and has so much potential because he’s YOUNG and talented while ML is near the age where injuries may be catching up to him and the end of his career is starting to haunt him; (2) if we look at them based on how they’d be like as students since they are pretty much within university-working young adult age: MC would be a freshman in college—if not a senior in high school who is about to graduate—and ml, by his age, would have already graduated with a bachelor’s and started working; (3) MC is always mentioned to look young and like a f*cking highschooler or college freshman (these exact words are actually used as descriptors) like it’s part of his “charm”/makes him more handsome which is so f*cking off???? is the author just attracted to high schoolers and wanted to self-project on ML so they could have a high school-aged boyfriend??? I hope the author stays away from high schoolers. sincerely, I am begging you to just send yourself to jail if you find a high schooler attractive as an adult; (4) their dynamic outside of age is also just as skewed and imbalanced, ML is rich and the captain and almost like a mini boss for the team while MC is just a sprout with no parents and who had to strive to earn money by himself the moment he was a teen. who has more power? who could take advantage of who? (5) if you just can’t face that this is wrong because the MC is a man and “he can take it, ” you are f*cking wrong but fine, imagine if the MC were a girl then. the ML would be on a watchlist and in jail by now.

i love doting type ml’s but with how young the MC is, this was way, way off and even predatory. it’s just not it. it was also really weird for ML to say “i’m glad he joined when he was turning 18 or I would have seduced a minor” too. I had to pause because, what the f*ck??? what is wrong with this author?? ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THE AUTHOR SEXUALIZED THE MC, WHO WAS STILL 17, THE MOMENT HE TURNED 18??? that birthday stream where he had to crossdress and he even lifted his pants and showed his leg which looked “suggestive” to others was such a huge red flag. author, go to jail. I had to skim through that and skip the weird parts. that was oddly s*xual for a time where MC was just turning to an adult in age. remember, 18 still isn’t a fully developed adult. LITERALLY, that’s when you’re at the beginning of adulthood and still way more immature compared to a 20-year old.

why did the antagonists-ish have to be a korean team and a bunch of its members. also, not the author applying the racist stereotype slapped onto All east asians on that one member (rish) by describing him with “small eyes”.... this author has issues, seriously. what was with the anger for koreans??? I don’t know what they were trying to do. if it’s to make it look like koreans hate china, and so, china is a victim, then they’re doing a bad job of trying to look like a victim lol. with how korean members are referred to as “imports” like they’re just foreign goods, the author might as well admit they hate anyone outside of china lol. if you wanna get with that topic, then they should accept that some countries have reason to hate their country, but it never extends to its citizens for no reason and out of nowhere like hating them just because they’re chinese lol.

in this book, Xiao Bai and Pine were together in the team for most of the book and yet only had the relationship climax in that short moment in the extra. Would have been better to have a stronger build up in the main story throughout the timeline? Just my opinion. They did have some chemistry in the main plot.