Chapter 19 The joy of successfully passing the preliminary selection lasted only a short time...

The joy of successfully passing the preliminary selection was short-lived. Zhao Zhinian immediately threw herself into the upcoming offline selection interview in Beijing. She booked her flight and hotel in advance, and after everything was ready, she continued to cram for the exams, followed by her Glory Knowledge study.

The night before departure, Zhou Zekai, who had already started training for the new season, sent a brief greeting as usual, asking, "Flight number? Time?"

Since Zhou Zekai officially started training, their conversations have become much shorter, as they both have things to do and goals to strive for.

The two were less chatting and more exchanging daily updates with a slight "time difference," tacitly maintaining their connection.

Upon receiving the message, Zhao Zhinian instinctively sent her flight information, but then immediately regretted it. She worried that if Zhou Zekai really came to see her off, it would disrupt his training, and she wasn't good at handling farewell scenes. So she quickly added, deliberately using a lighthearted and joking tone to try and downplay her emotions: "Please don't worry, Captain Zhou, I'll take good care of myself and arrive in Beijing safely! You just focus on your training! Let's each do our best, and then meet in Beijing, okay?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the screen before Zhou Zekai's reply appeared: "Mm".

Sensing that the other person might be in a bad mood, Zhao Zhinian quickly comforted her and added, "After this selection, I still have to go back to Shanghai. There is still some finishing work to be done in Shanghai before September. Wait for me to come back."

This time the reply came quickly: "Okay! Good luck to everyone!" Zhou Zekai obediently agreed and did not insist.

Zhao Zhinian breathed a sigh of relief, but a faint sense of disappointment lingered in her heart. She shook her head, trying to shake off this inexplicable emotion. With the competition about to begin, the training for the Reincarnation Tournament must have already begun in earnest, and she needed to focus on preparing for the selection, so this was for the best.

Zhao Zhinian arrived in Beijing alone. After checking into the hotel, she made a point of going to the Glory headquarters a day in advance to take a look around. After all, one cannot fight an unprepared battle, and familiarizing oneself with the venue beforehand is a way to relieve tension.

The interview took place as scheduled the next day.

The selection process took place in a large conference room at the alliance headquarters. The waiting area outside was filled with contestants from all over the country, and a tense atmosphere silently permeated the corridor. Zhao Zhinian, who had received her interview number, took a deep breath, calmed herself, and tried her best to appear composed.

Finally, it was her turn. She politely knocked and entered. At the front of the room was a long table where several judges sat, including veteran commentators Pan Lin and Li Yibo, as well as a person in charge of the league's esports department. A fierce match was paused on a large screen to the side. Zhao Zhinian glanced at it quickly; it was the video she had submitted during the preliminary rounds.

"Hello, teachers. I am contestant number 15, Zhao Zhinian." She gave a polite smile and bowed slightly.

Pan Lin spoke first, speaking in a gentle tone. He first affirmed her audition video: "We just watched your audition video. It was excellent. Your interpretation of the eighth season finals was very novel, especially your analysis of the tactical intentions of both sides, which was very insightful."

"Thank you, Teacher Pan Lin." Zhao Zhinian quickly expressed her gratitude, feeling a little ashamed, since the tactical analysis in her audition video had been personally reviewed by several people involved in the competition and had exclusive insider information.

"Looking at your resume, hosting is your main job, right? You have quite a lot of hosting experience. You've even interviewed Zhou Zekai from Samsara and hosted Gao Yingjie's offline events. You have quite a connection with Glory." Pan Lin flipped through Zhao Zhinian's resume, making a joke to help ease the tension for the contestant. "Actually, as soon as you came in, I could tell you were a host by looking at your appearance. Your looks are way better than mine and Coach Li's. I hope you perform well in the upcoming interview and help raise the average appearance score of our commentary team."

Knowing that the senior was trying to lighten the mood, Zhao Zhinian smiled and nodded in response, becoming even more humble: "Yes, my past work mainly involved hosting, during which I had the opportunity to interview several Glory professional players. These valuable experiences not only gave me a deeper understanding of Glory professional esports, but also became the reason why I was determined to devote myself to this industry. I really look forward to the opportunity to join your commentary team and contribute my share."

Li Yibo then explained the assessment rules: "Your audition video shows that you are well-prepared, but we will now assess your performance under pressure. Please draw a slip of paper and give the number to the staff. The slip will have the main character and contestant information from the corresponding competition video. You will then have two minutes to prepare quickly. After two minutes, the staff will announce the start and play the competition video you drew. You will need to provide a live commentary for about five minutes."

"Ready?" Zhao Zhinian nodded and stepped forward to draw lots.

She drew video number 21, a regular season match between Huangfeng and Hewu. The character and player names on the slip of paper were relatively obscure, not the well-known powerhouses or superstars. However, Zhao Zhinian wasn't too flustered. She had guessed beforehand that the interview might test her knowledge of less popular teams, so she had prepared by memorizing the basic information of all the teams and the characteristics of the players.

Her mind raced, drawing upon all the information about the two teams that she had crammed and memorized over the past few days.

The two-minute preparation time passed in the blink of an eye.

The staff signaled to begin, and the match replay started playing on the big screen. It was a local skirmish in a team match; the pace was fast, and the scene was somewhat chaotic.

Zhao Zhinian's eyes were fixed on the screen. Without the slightest hesitation, she began her narration in a steady and clear voice:

"Hello everyone, what you are watching now is a wonderful clash between the Royal Wind Team and the He Wu Team in the team competition of the eighth season regular season! Player Tian Sen, playing the Sweeping Incense Burner, took the initiative and tried to use the Exorcist's crowd control ability to break up He Wu's formation! We can see that his positioning is very tricky and his prediction of the sealing spells is also quite accurate!"

Her voice gradually intensified with passion, striving to capture every crucial move: "But He Wu's response was textbook perfect! Zhao Bin! The Qi Master came to the rescue just in time, 'Qi Piercing Rainbow' forcibly halting the opponent's offensive, followed instantly by 'Qi Explosion' that exploded with a deafening roar! This combo was so fluid and seamless that it instantly extinguished Huang Feng's attempt to launch a sneak attack from the flank and stabilized their position!..."

Five minutes passed quickly, and the recording stopped.

Pan Lin smiled approvingly: "Very good! Quick reaction, accurate grasp of key information, fluent language, and excellent emotional engagement. Especially when it comes to players from non-elite teams, you can quickly grasp their professional characteristics and tactical intentions to provide commentary, which shows you've put in a lot of effort."

Because Zhao Zhinian was so engrossed in her explanation just now, she was highly focused and could still feel her cheeks tightening and going numb from speaking too fast.

She composed herself, quickly smiled and nodded to thank her senior for the praise, and roughly understood that Senior Pan Lin was the "praiser" in the interview, responsible for encouraging the candidates and setting the mood.

The head of the event department concluded with a standard question: "If you suddenly realize during a live commentary that you've made a mistake in one of your judgments, such as mispronouncing a player's name or a character's name, how would you handle it?"

Zhao Zhinian thought for a few seconds and answered sincerely, "If it's a minor slip of the tongue, I will naturally gloss over it in a relaxed tone and correct it immediately without affecting the flow of the game or the audience's viewing experience. If it's a more serious tactical judgment error, after confirmation, I will honestly explain and revise my previous viewpoint to the audience again at an appropriate time, such as during a break in a team fight. Honest and quick corrections can maintain the credibility of the commentary and also demonstrate respect for the audience and players. Finally, post-match analysis and self-optimization are necessary to minimize the occurrence of such situations. If it does happen, maintaining a calm and professional attitude is key."

The interview finally ended, and Zhao Zhinian walked out of the room, letting out a long sigh of relief. She had done her best, no matter what.

However, the days of waiting for the results seemed exceptionally long and agonizing. The official response was that the results would be sent via email within three days. Zhao Zhinian explained the situation to her company and decided to stay in Beijing for a few more days to wait for the results, avoiding the hassle of traveling back and forth.

After relaxing, she took the opportunity to let Zhou Zekai know: "The interview is over, and it went pretty well. I'm ready to start my Beijing tour."

Zhou Zekai replied during a break in evening training: "Congratulations, I'm envious, I wish I could do that too."

Zhao Zhinian was unusually relaxed, browsing Beijing's local delicacies while replying to him with eight words in a good mood: "Train hard, there's plenty of time."

On the other side of the screen, Zhou Zekai looked at the words "there's plenty of time in the future" and a slight smile appeared on his lips. He was already silently planning a trip for the two of them at some point in the future.

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhinian was still hesitating over which tourist attraction to visit first while looking at the travel guide.

She remembered that she hadn't yet sent the Shanghai specialties she brought to Gao Yingjie and the Tiny Herb manager, so she contacted Gao Yingjie first.

During this period, they communicated intermittently. Gao Yingjie knew that she was preparing for the Glory commentary and hosting, so he enthusiastically helped her explain a lot of knowledge about the Mage class and shared a lot of practical strategies and insights.

To express her gratitude, she specially brought some local specialties for Gao Yingjie and the Tiny Herb manager, planning to deliver them to the Tiny Herb team's door when she had some free time. Therefore, she wanted to confirm Gao Yingjie's convenient time to go out.

Unexpectedly, the next day at noon, Gao Yingjie took the initiative to contact her, saying that the manager of Tiny Herb and he would treat her to dinner and to express their gratitude for the previous meeting in Shanghai.

In the end, the two made a special trip to eat Peking duck, a local specialty. Unfortunately, the manager of Tiny Herb, who had originally planned to come along, was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances with the team.

Although Gao Yingjie was still somewhat shy, Zhao Zhinian deliberately steered the conversation towards Glory. Once Glory was mentioned, entering a familiar area, Gao Yingjie immediately became eloquent and his analysis was very logical.

Zhao Zhinian brought local specialties with her. The gifts weren't expensive: a classic White Rabbit milk candy gift box and a butterfly pastry gift box. She gave one to Gao Yingjie and asked him to pass the other on to the Tiny Herb manager: "It's just a small token of my appreciation, please don't mind."

Gao Yingjie expressed his sincere gratitude. Knowing that Zhao Zhinian was interviewing for the Glory host position, he returned to the base and first delivered the manager's gift to her. After obtaining the manager's permission, he took a picture and posted it on Weibo, tagging Zhao Zhinian, thinking that it might help her increase her exposure and attention in the future.

"Thank you for the gift, Chinen! The roast duck was super delicious today! @ZhinenZhao"

Upon seeing this, Zhao Zhinian immediately understood Gao Yingjie's good intentions. Feeling warm inside, she smiled and reposted his Weibo post: "Thank you for your hospitality, Yingjie! I'll take you to eat something delicious next time you come to Shanghai!"

The official Weibo account of Team Tiny Herb quickly appeared below this friendly and interactive post.

Tiny Herb's official Weibo account commented on Zhao Zhinian's reposted Weibo post, using careful yet polite wording: "Thank you, Ms. Zhao, for your thoughtful gift! The collaboration at Yingjie's last offline meetup was very pleasant, and we thank you again for taking care of Yingjie!"

The manager of Tiny Herb also quickly commented, in a more friendly tone: "Thank you for the gift, Chinen! I've already started eating it! It's a pity I missed the roast duck! [crying emoji]"

The comments from the official Weibo account and the manager not only expressed their gratitude but also cleverly defined the relationship between the two within the framework of "work collaboration" and "senior taking care of junior," politely preventing some netizens from making gossip speculations and clearly demonstrating their intention to protect the contestant.

Although Gao Yingjie's Weibo post didn't cause much of a stir online, there were always sharp-eyed and gossipy people in the Glory professional player group who were able to spot the gossip in the industry immediately. Late at night, they posted screenshots of the interaction in the group and joked, "The future star of Tiny Herb is indeed extraordinary."

"Wow! Yingjie's got some good stuff! He even went out for dinner with the beautiful host!"

"Wang Jiexi, your team's newcomer has a lot of potential!"

“Our Yingjie has grown up too [smugly lighting a cigarette.jpg]” Yuan Baiqing of Tiny Herb sighed, feeling like Gao Yingjie’s guardian.

"These newcomers these days are unfathomable!"

"@Mu En, tell me honestly, what's going on?" Liu Xiaobie knew that Gao Yingjie had taken the day off tonight, but he didn't expect that the other party was going out to have dinner with a girl. He was close to Gao Yingjie, so he directly asked him by name.

After being tagged, Gao Yingjie quickly scrolled through the comments and realized they had misunderstood and were just teasing him. He hurriedly explained in the group chat: "It's not what you think! Sister Zhinian is a host I used to work with. She's a very nice older sister who took good care of me. This time she came to Beijing, so I was just being a good host. We're good friends, so please don't spread rumors!"

After all, Captain Zhou is also in the group chat.

He was frantically explaining when suddenly, someone who almost never spoke up in such gossip topics appeared.

Zhou Zekai: "?"

A note from the author:

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