Chapter 60 (Trash Talk Promotional Video)
Nan Zhiyi learned of this news three days later on her way home after playing against the NJ team.
The match against NJ will also be a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the finals of this tournament.
Perhaps they're not quite used to the new version, because NJ just lost to CG a day ago, and their performance on the field was clearly poor. But they're still more than capable of beating a makeshift streamer team.
A best-of-three series went all the way to the 50th minute of the decisive game, and by the end, Nan Zhiyi was completely numb.
Back then, he had only participated in a few minor training matches, never before had he faced such a high-intensity opponent. Towards the end, the map's information became so complex that he could barely think straight, and all his decisions and actions were almost entirely based on instinct.
It wasn't until the little fish excitedly rushed over and crashed into him, making his chest ache, that he suddenly realized... they seemed to have won?
"Unbelievable! When this team was first formed, who could have imagined they'd get this far?" The commentator was shouting. Nan Zhiyi recognized the voice as Aoki's, the one who had asked him for a photo before. "A team of broadcasters, able to reach the knockout stage of the Contenders Cup, and make it all the way to the finals—"
"The outcome is still uncertain; we could all be dark horses!!"
Xiaoyu delivered an outstanding performance in her last game today, winning MVP. On the way back to the backstage area, she kept stammering and talking.
Nan Zhiyi had some suspicions that he was the legendary potential player for major tournaments: he would keep a low profile in regular matches, but once he entered a crucial game, all his potential would be unleashed under immense pressure, resulting in brilliant plays that exceeded everyone's expectations.
Looking at the child's face, flushed with excitement... it's true, there's absolutely no indication that he has this potential.
On the way back, they ran into the miserable Guard, who had just been scolded by the coach: "Is the haunted house really that fun? Playing all night long?" He waved to You Xin, leaned over and patted his old partner from the secondary league on the shoulder, and complained in a low voice: "You went too far, didn't you show any mercy?"
"It's alright, it's just that you guys played terribly," You Xin said after thinking for a moment.
guard: "…………"
Once she was in the car, Nan Zhiyi was able to relax and find a chance to look at her phone.
The WeChat messages were buzzing with activity, mostly from friends congratulating them on their victory. Nan Zhiyi pursed her lips and replied to each one with satisfaction.
When Nan Zhiyi replied to the congratulations sent by Tao Xing, she was stunned for a moment after clicking into the chat box.
The other party had sent him a message just a few hours earlier.
[Tao Xing: Xiao Yi, did you know? Lord Qiu's account has been deleted across all platforms.]
It took Nan Zhiyi a while to realize the meaning behind the other person's words.
He first opened Weibo and tried searching, but couldn't find the ID "Lord of Qiucheng". Then he saw the punishment announcement and finally opened Stars. For some reasons to avoid his fans getting into negative arguments, he has not yet unfollowed Qiucheng, but several accounts in his following list have been changed to "user deleted".
His fingertip lingered on the screen for a moment, and he felt surprisingly unsurprised by the result.
[Xiaoyi Xiaoyi: Sister Xingxing, do you know the specifics of what happened?]
[Tao Xing: I know a little bit. It was probably last year when they met some card-playing friends and often went out to play cards together. Tangyuan invited me a few times, but I didn't feel comfortable going.]
[Tao Xing: It probably wasn't a serious poker game. As for whether they owe money to pay back for betting on their own team's bets, or if they just wanted to make some money, I'm not sure.]
last year.
Looking back, Nan Zhiyi realized that it must have started last year when Qiu Cheng suddenly became very anxious about his online traffic, often going out all night to have fun, and returning with dark circles under his eyes.
Thinking about it carefully, it must have started around that time.
Having all accounts on all platforms deleted means that this person can no longer show their face on the internet, their identity information is blacklisted, and every time they register an account, that account will be monitored.
This means that his path to becoming a livestreamer is now completely over.
Nan Zhiyi suddenly remembered that one night many years ago, Qiu Cheng's mother knocked on their door, threw herself on Nan Kui and cried about how her husband had taken away the children's school fees, and Qiu Cheng was behind her, silently bowing his head and clenching his fists.
As time has passed, the boy who slew the dragon has become the dragon himself, giving a sense of absurdity, as if a fairy tale has come to a realistic end.
[Tao Xing: By the way, I heard this matter is also related to the owner of Qiannian Casino. It seems he was taken away for investigation. I heard from acquaintances that it might be for crimes like operating a casino.]
Tao Xing: This guild is pretty much finished. If you have any friends in there, you'd better tell them to get out as soon as possible to avoid getting involved.
[Tao Xing: Is that kid on your team from a thousand years ago?]
[Xiao Yi Xiao Yi: He had already left the guild before the competition.]
Tao Xing: Oh, I see! He's quite lucky then.
Nan Zhiyi stared at the sentence for a long time, then gave a helpless laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" At this moment, You Xin walked past him, holding the escaped bird in his hand. They didn't know when it started, but Daodao suddenly learned to open the door. They had been thinking about replacing the door handle with a new one for the past few days, but they hadn't had time to do so yet.
"Nothing, just seeing bad people get their comeuppance made me a little emotional." Nan Zhiyi looked up from the screen, her gaze falling on the bird's beak, then she exclaimed in surprise, "Wait? What's that in its beak?!"
You Xin held the bird up to his eyes and took a look, then pulled a sparkling ring from its beak: "It looks like my FMVP ring. I wonder where it found it."
Seeing its beloved, sparkling treasure being snatched away, the parrot was extremely indignant. It struggled several times in You Xin's hands, but to no avail, and finally cried out twice in grievance.
Nan Zhiyi: "…………"
Replacing the handle really needs to be put on the agenda.
-
The final of the Contenders Cup is scheduled for May 18th at the main stadium in S City.
6,000 tickets were snapped up in seconds, with everyone wanting to witness this epic battle – a former core player kicked out of the team due to a contract dispute, leading a team of streamers all the way from the Streamer Cup to the Contenders Cup, all the way to the finals, and finally facing off against his former team – anyone who heard this synopsis couldn't resist coming to the scene to find out for themselves.
The day before the competition, the four members of the Nan Zhiyi team arrived early to record the trash talk segment for the final, as arranged by the league.
The league thoughtfully staggered the CG recording time with theirs, perhaps to prevent them from starting a fight backstage. In that case, what would be broadcast would probably be not trash talk, but the octagon itself.
Overall, this part of the process was quite flexible. The staff didn't provide them with a script; they were simply asked to submit their trash talk for review.
Nan Zhiyi strongly suspected that this requirement was specifically designed to target You Xin, to prevent him from repeating his performance at the "Award Ceremony." He then watched helplessly as You Xin's script was returned to him six times in a row by the staff: "…………"
When the recording ended, he couldn't help but ask, "What did you say?"
You Xin said with a sour face, "They brought You Qing into this process too. I couldn't help but curse a few more times."
Nan Zhiyi then remembered that the special guest commentator for this final was You Qing again. It was probably because the league coveted the traffic of his fans and wanted to attract some new viewers to join the game.
He asked with a smile, "So, did you succeed in getting the message across in the end?"
“Of course.” You Xin raised his chin and said dismissively, “They say they don’t want us to say anything too provocative, but they actually hope the content is as sensational as possible. After all, all they want is traffic.”
The pre-match trash talk was finally released on the morning of the final. The four members of the Angels team were busy until the afternoon when they arrived at the venue and entered the locker room, before they finally had time to huddle together in front of the screen to watch it.
The trash-talking promotional video was only two minutes long, with CG's team appearing first, followed by Angels' team. The league clearly positioned this streamer team as the "challengers."
The first two players to appear were the secondary center positions.
Beer sat in his chair, his expression tense: "The same way I knocked you out of the starting lineup two years ago, I'll beat you today."
They started by being provocative.
The camera shifts to Song Meng sitting on the edge of the stage, smiling gently: "If we can't even beat someone who's been retired for so long... doesn't that mean someone else should be retiring?"
Viewers who see this can't help but gasp in shock.
Song Meng was known for being a nice guy in the league back then. Even when he was recording pre-match trash talk, he would often praise the opponent's performance, which earned him the label of "boring".
So after disappearing for two years, he came back and his speech became so explosive?
“Uh… because I thought you guys would probably all attack the other side, and if I were too humble at this time, it would seem a bit out of place,” Song Meng explained from the side. “Actually, I originally wanted to say that I would make the other side wet the bed, that is, my joke… but they rejected it.”
Nan Zhiyi: "…………??"
The second matchup is between support and lane.
Wind still wore that meticulously crafted, fake makeup: "Why don't you hire a coach to play against us again? I'm afraid you won't even last an hour."
Nan Zhiyi then replied: "We have already sent away players with one championship, and we are not considering players with zero championships at the moment."
"Pfft—"
The other three people in the training room burst out laughing in unison.
Song Meng laughed as he said, "Xiao Yi, that move was too ruthless. I think you've already mastered Xiao You's essence."
Yu Xin added in confirmation: "Wind is indeed most concerned about what others say about him not having won a championship."
Next up is the tank position.
Perhaps because he's been criticized so much these past few months, Bost simply said, "I will lead the team to victory in this match."
Xiaoyu replied with a strong sense of justice: "In today's match, I will protect my teammates instead of just rushing to the front to get kills!"
He was referring to Boss's performance in the finals six months ago, so the camera switched back to Boss, giving him a silent close-up.
Finally, there's the center position that everyone's been waiting for.
xww: "Today I will prove that the future of the main center position is mine!"
The scene shifts to You Xin sitting in the audience, casually replying, "He played in the secondary division for three years and nobody wanted him. He only got a starting position by picking up scraps. At his age, does he really have a promising future?"
Silence fell over the training room for a moment.
"..." After a long pause, Song Meng patted You Xin's shoulder earnestly, "No wonder your script was rejected six times."
This isn't the end.
The camera focuses on You Xin, and a staff member's voice comes from off-screen: "Our special guest for the finals, Mr. You Qing, the partner of the CG team, is also participating in this segment. He has something to say to you—'I don't think e-sports is the right path for you. Based on your appearance and the character of your fans, if you want to pursue other career paths, you can come to me, and I'll help you get introduced to a better one.'"
That's a very unpleasant thing to say.
Generally speaking, trash talk is only directed at the contestants themselves. Although fans often insult each other's "fandom" in daily life, this is the first time it has been brought up so openly.
In the video, Yu Hsin thought for a couple of seconds before answering the camera, "I'm almost a Grand Slam winner, what about you? Are you planning to win the Golden Broom Grand Slam?"
He paused, then said, "Oh, sorry, I forgot you've only acted in one movie."
The lounge was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
There were no bullet comments on the screen, but everyone present could already imagine the explosion of bullet comments that would happen at that moment.
"..." After a long silence, Xiaoyu spoke tremulously, "Won't this person's fans... call us?"
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Author's note: The whole team's morale has been ruined [spoiler]
...I forgot to check my saved drafts today and published it directly, how could this happen?!
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