Kicked Out of the LPL, I Became SKT's Savior

[No heroine (or just one) + LCK + slightly overpowered early on + champion pool follows the meta + calm and decisive]

November 6, 2022, Chase Center, San Francisco.

LCK's fourth seed, DRX, toppled three-time champion T1 and lifted the Summoner's Cup.

Top laner Zeus sank to the ground after the match, getting flamed by the entire internet.

That same day, in the lounge of an LPL team

“Lin Meng, you're too old, and you don't have any experience in major tournaments. We can only terminate your contract.”

A twenty-year-old pro player was being called old.

Ridiculous.

Even more ridiculous was that three days later, he was holed up in an internet cafe in Seoul's Gangnam District, sitting in an esports chair with tournament-grade equipment and fighting his way up the Korean server ladder alone.

At four in the morning, he queued into that man.

Faker.

Lee Sang-hyeok.

At the end of the game, Lin Meng's Fiora had racked up 14 kills and solo-killed Faker's Sylas three times in lane.

A friend request popped up on the results screen.

[Hide on bush]: Are you a pro player?

[LM]: The kind who got kicked out.

[Hide on bush]: Can you come by the T1 building tomorrow? We need a substitute top laner.

Lin Meng stared at the screen and smiled.

Someone the LPL had tossed out as worthless had been picked up by the god of League of Legends.

At that moment, he had no idea

He was about to become the first LPL-born starting top laner in LCK history.

He had even less idea

Three years later, in that very same arena, he would carry Faker onto the awards stage himself, completing an unprecedented three-peat.