Chapter 37
[Ugh, why would someone who doesn't play games participate?]
[Make way, let me handle this!]
[Mingzhe baby, pick me! Pick me!]
The bridal suit was tossed onto the hanger by Leng Zhi, who quickly changed into his original loose T-shirt and returned to the show's set.
Le Xinzhou had already heard everything that happened in the last room from Duoduo, and he teased, "Hey, isn't this Duoduo's favorite bride uncle?"
Leng Zhi's answer was concise: "Get lost."
Le Xinzhou was scolded, but he wasn't annoyed at all. He just hugged his stomach and laughed to himself.
While the guests were preparing for the haunted house, Li Chi had already informed the children about the rules for distributing stars in the haunted house game.
Any adventurer who successfully completes the level will receive a reward of two stars. If they perform exceptionally well, they will also receive an additional MVP star.
The game in the haunted house didn't go quite as the production team expected, and the young adventurers' performance was hard to describe as "outstanding."
They saw through the guests' disguises and even gave the staff playing the roles of the Black and White Impermanence a big fright.
Li Chi had no choice but to announce: "Because the little adventurers performed exceptionally well, each of them will receive an extra star!"
After a day of games, all the kids won big, even Xixi, who was in debt after losing to Lei Shen, earned enough stars to cover her room and meals for the next two days.
Lei Ling was very satisfied. He was full of confidence and even felt that he still had a chance to overtake them.
"XiXi, let's keep up the good work tomorrow!"
Li Chi chuckled and picked up where he left off: "It seems our guests who are behind are quite confident. The good news is that there's an extra surprise event tonight, giving the guests who are behind more opportunities to catch up!"
Lei Ling immediately perked up: "What kind of surprise event?"
Li Chi remained silent for a moment, feigning mystery, before saying, "This event is exclusively endorsed by the game developer, Diyao, so the content is a special competition from Diyao!"
Lei Ling was still smiling at Leng Zhi. Although he wasn't looking at the backstage comments, he was confident in his performance.
Lei Ling wasn't lying; he was indeed Xi Xi's cousin, but not as close as he implied. There were four generations between them, and the two families didn't visit each other often.
If you really want to find some connection, on the way back to the training camp in the van, Leng Zhi suddenly licked his lips.
Everything seems normal, yet something seems different.
He suddenly recalled the kiss from the day before yesterday. Jiang Yijing lowered his eyes, looking easy to talk to, but his actions were unexpectedly... so reckless.
To be honest, he almost suffocated. When his lips and teeth finally separated, his lungs were filled with a large amount of fresh air, and even his brain was somewhat oxygen-deprived.
What's worse, before he could even finish taking a breath, Jiang Yijing asked again, "Continue?"
Before Leng Zhi could even answer, a second kiss landed on him.
Now he couldn't spout nonsense like "boss and subordinate" anymore—no boss and subordinate would kiss each other repeatedly.
In short, this delicate romantic relationship has been temporarily established.
Although Jiang Yijing insisted that these were all minor details, Leng Zhi still carefully explained the cause and effect of his time travel.
It's unclear whether Jiang Yijing listened or not. His expression only changed slightly when he heard about the hand injury.
The plane took off early the next morning. Because it was a last-minute rebooking, the airline provided a red-eye flight to help him adjust to the time difference. In an instant, Leng Zhi was back to his intense training.
"Captain Leng? What are you daydreaming about? Get off the bus!" Zou Shu nudged his elbow. "Never mind what you were thinking about, it's time to prepare for the next game."
Manager Chen rented a conference room in a local office building and also booked a private five-person room in the internet cafe next door. This area will temporarily serve as the training base for this week.
"It's a bit basic, but you're probably used to it by now. Let's begin!"
The teams participating in the World Invitational Tournament come from various countries. Like the LSG team, they all qualified for the international stage by participating in their country's highest-level competition.
However, although the esports trend has swept the globe, there are still some differences in the level of competition between different regions.
The three strongest teams in Asia are China, Japan, and South Korea. In addition to them, there are also some teams from weaker regions participating. However, in reality, only those teams from the strongest regions have made it to the final round in previous years.
Unfortunately, while esports has a low skill floor—you can play as long as you have a keyboard and mouse and download games—the top few still need professional training and guidance, along with government policy support, to even make a splash.
Tang Wenshi activated the projector in the conference room: "This year, there are a total of twenty competition zones and thirty-two teams participating. Everyone has seen the list, right?"
The projected screen listed the names of forty-eight teams and the regions they came from, before moving on to the next slide.
This PowerPoint presentation lists the detailed format of the World Invitational Tournament.
"In order to ensure that the spring regular seasons of each region can proceed as scheduled, the World Championship is not long and the pace of the competition is very fast. The thirty-two teams will directly enter the knockout stage... This is a rather brutal competition system."
Even if you are strong enough to win the runner-up title, you will still be eliminated from the top 16 if you face the champion in the first round.
"This means we can't afford to lose a single game."
The single-elimination format has a high degree of randomness, but this brutal mode also forces every team to give their all in every match.
"Alright, I know what you're going to say," Tang Wenshi said, spreading his arms and resting them on the table. "LSG's only goal is the championship, so it doesn't matter who we draw. You don't need to remind us of that again."
After several months of getting to know each other, Tang Wenshi finally understood the personalities of the five team members.
That is, both of them signed with the same MCN, Qikan Media.
Despite his efforts, Lei Shen has been suspended by Qikan Media following his performance mishap last night.
However, the variety show is still being filmed, and the production team cannot find other guests to fill the vacancies of Lei Shen and Xi Xi in the short term. Due to the competition format, it is also difficult to explain such a change to the audience.
Lei Ling was originally a short video streamer under Qikan Media, mainly shooting videos of half-covered transformations. The agency was waiting for him to become popular with his transformation videos before letting him show his face, creating a sense of contrast and generating buzz.
However, after joining the organization, he changed several accounts but failed to create a viral video.
Lei Ling couldn't wait any longer. He seized the opportunity of Lei Shen's loss of power and found Lei Shen that very night.
"Brother Shen? Long time no see, haha! Don't, don't tell me to get lost, my dear brother, I'm not here to laugh at you. I have a great idea that can save your influencer career. Are you interested in hearing about it?"
"Well, it's not really a great idea. Here's what I'm thinking: although it's not good for Shen Ge to be in the public eye right now, Xi Xi hasn't done anything wrong! The audience still likes Xi Xi a lot, so as long as we can maintain Xi Xi's position in the children's variety show, it's not a problem. The kids can be a cash cow..."
Upon hearing this, Lei Shen stopped getting angry. He pursed his lips tightly and listened as his cousin, whom he hadn't contacted in a long time, finished explaining the entire plan, before falling into a long silence.
Lei Ling's intention was simple: he would take over Lei Shen's position in the production team as Lei Shen's uncle, and Lei Shen would find a reason to leave. This way, the MCN agency and the production team could both justify their departure and would not make things difficult for them.
Lei Shen hesitated until he received Leng Zhi's "Get lost" the next day.
After smashing his phone, he stared blankly for a while before finally agreeing to Lei Ling's proposal.
Xixi was confused as he threw her into the arms of this strange uncle.
"Xixi, when you get back to the production team tonight, Lei Ling is me, understand? You have to listen to him and act the same way you did when you performed with me before."
Xixi was a little scared of the handsome uncle, and he hesitated before saying, "But I want my dad to be with me..."
The next second, Lei Shen gave him a warning slap on the forehead: "Accompany my ass! From now on, listen to Uncle Ling when you're on variety shows, understand?"
Xixi held her head and said, "Okay...okay."
Afterwards, Lei Shen rehearsed several scenes for them, explaining the ins and outs of the script, and forced Xixi to memorize them word for word.
Even as the nanny van arrived to pick him up in the evening, Xixi was still whispering into her ear, "Dad fell at noon today and broke his leg. He's resting in the hospital."
Lei Shen was very satisfied: "Very good, that's how it will be, word for word. I'll post the corresponding Weibo post at the appointed time and see if it can quell the audience's displeasure."
Lei Ling almost fainted after hearing that.
His cousin was ruined in that special duo event that night. That damn game developer, are they trying to ruin his career? Why did they do it again?!
He glared at Leng Zhi with hatred.
Anyone with eyes can see who benefits from this arrangement—he must have brought his own funding to get into the cast! Having a wealthy husband is truly a blessing; even with an overwhelming advantage in the number of stars, he still has to organize these activities to widen the gap.
He was the first to object: "But I don't know how to play Diyao. I've only played the mobile version, and I don't even know which keys to press on the PC version..."
Lei Ling tried to form a group: "Sister Shaoqi, do you know how to play? Brother Xinzhou, what about you?"
After receiving hesitant shakes of the head from some of the guests, he became more confident: "Right? The audience probably wouldn't like watching such an unfair event."
Li Chi anticipated his concerns and waved his hand confidently: "Don't worry, this is certainly not an ordinary five-player team; that would be too unfair."
Lei Ling: "...?"
How can I not be worried! He's here to ride on Xixi's popularity, not to compete in esports.
Li Chi explained, "The organizers have prepared a special game mode for our program to ensure that even guests who have never played the game before can find enjoyment, and players who are familiar with the game will be brought to the same level!"
Leng Zhi: "?"
Is this targeting me?
[How come Brother Leng is still so talented!]
[The game isn't even halfway through, and Leng Ge has already got seven kills!]
[Mingzhe baby played so seriously, he really didn't hold the team back!]
[Hahaha, the little one got bullied by the audience!]
Two brains still can't beat someone with only one brain!
[I never expected it would be the audience bullying the guests, hahaha!]
LSG team won cleanly and decisively, securing their third consecutive victory with a steady tactical style.
A clean sheet! As they spoke, they arrived at the players' rest area.
PX team captain Shen Yingcai is already waiting here.
When Shen Yingcai saw Leng Zhi, he was taken aback for a moment, then quickly stood up and shook hands with Leng Zhi: "Hello, Captain Leng. They are all ready, only the coach is missing. We can start in a little while."
When he saw that two little babies had entered with the group, he couldn't help but slow down his movements.
Leng Zhi explained, "I didn't feel comfortable leaving the kids at home with me, so I brought them along on the way."
Shen Yingcai's eyes were filled with respect: This team is truly full of hidden talents, managing to balance both competition and personal life without neglecting either.
With fifteen minutes to go before the coach was supposed to arrive, he couldn't resist taking out a cigarette.
As soon as he lit the lighter, he suddenly felt several pairs of eyes staring at him.
"Captain Chen, cough cough, there are kids here, please bear with it."
With his own team manager undermining his ability to provide lighters, Shen Yingcai had no choice but to give up.
His gaze fell on the small blue flower in the manager's shirt pocket: "When did you switch careers to picking flowers?"
The manager rubbed his nose and changed the subject: "Why isn't Coach Tang here yet?"
"He said 15 minutes, wait a minute," Shen Yingcai said impatiently, glancing at his phone. "He just sent a message saying there's a traffic jam and it'll take two hours?"
“We can start,” Leng Zhi suggested.
Shen Yingcai did not object: "Okay, let's go next door then."
He couldn't help but glance at Leng Zhi again—he felt that Leng Zhi looked somewhat familiar.
Unlike official matches, training matches don't involve many formalities beforehand; players simply need to sit in the training room and log into the training system.
The league has developed custom software for team training, which official teams can use for free, while smaller teams have to pay a large season rental fee.
Many small teams lack proper training facilities and often use custom rooms to schedule training sessions in a rather primitive manner.
PX team has a strong financial foundation, so naturally they use the latest system.
After a few simple steps by the manager, both sides quickly entered the official match simulation page.
This training match was quite formal, using the same BO5 format as the official qualifiers.
BO5 is not just a simple best-of-five series. The bans and picks of heroes cannot be repeated in each game. This means that players in each position must have a pool of at least eleven commonly used heroes in order to avoid being countered and unable to pick any heroes during the draft phase.
In actual matches, considering the compatibility of the lineup, this number is often required to be even higher.
In the first game, neither side understood the other's esports style, so the hero bans didn't come up with any surprising moves.
PX cautiously banned two strong heroes from the current patch... as well as Bloodlust.
The last choice was somewhat unexpected.
Although Meng Cheng's blind-play Bloodthirsty Blade Battle was impressive, the hero himself is actually only third-rate and not worth wasting a ban slot on.
The commentator's voice was excited: "Only the second day of the qualifiers, and we've already had our first shutout match! This is unprecedented in previous years! Congratulations to LSG for successfully advancing to the top 32!"
A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience. Zou Lin had brought all his good buddies, whose hair was dyed in various colors, with him today.
A few of them took the lead and started shouting slogans from below the stage.
"LSG will win! Coldzera is invincible!"
"LSG will win! Coldzera is invincible!"
The slogan was a bit corny, but it successfully got other fans chanting along, making the qualifiers feel like the playoffs.
Today, the contestants from other groups sat in the special spectator seats and watched with great interest.
The three celebrities invited by Diyao are all real gamers. They rarely have the opportunity to watch e-sports events without wearing masks and hats, and they are very excited at this moment.
Le Xinzhou grinned from ear to ear. He pointed at Leng Zhi on the stage and said to the other two people next to him, "See that? The captain of the Zero-Ban team, he's my buddy who was on a variety show with me before, you know what I mean!"
The other two idols looked on with envy: "Wow, can you get me an autograph?"
Le Xinzhou patted his chest loudly: "It's all arranged! My daughter and his son are good friends too. I'll get you an autographed jersey later!"
The All-Star team was clearly divided into two discussion groups: laymen watched the spectacle, while experts focused on the intricacies. On one side of Gu Zuo was Jiang Shang, the marksman from the QL team who had been recruited by the league, and on the other side was Coach Tang from the PX team.
Tang Wenshi praised, "Textbook-level management; with this team, they definitely have the potential to compete in the playoffs."
Jiang Shang agreed: "Although it's a bit unfair to my support player to say this, I really hope that Leng Zhi is my teammate. Good supports are hard to come by, and only marksmen understand that."
Gu Zuo rolled his eyes: "Only supports would understand. Good marksmen are a rare find. Jiang Shang, why have I never seen you praise me like that before?"
Jiang Shang joked, "I wouldn't dare to snatch players from the WRC, or your manager would tear me apart."
This topic touched on Gu Zuo's painful memories, and he shook his head: "But this marksman is also quite good. It reminds me of a training match that a friend invited me to play last time."
"It wasn't really a scrim, it was more like kids playing house. They called me because they needed a support, but I played with that marksman all the way, and his gameplay was really smooth. I even thought about inviting him to play professionally, but guess what happened?"
Jiang Shang asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"He actually refused, and even asked me if I understood the God of Support! He's really taking advantage of me, I don't know where this arrogant idiot came from!" Gu Zuo said angrily.
Tang Wenshi also became curious: "You speak so highly of him, what's his name?"
Gu Zuo recalled: "That day in Mai Li, I think I heard them all call him... Zou Shu?"
Tang Wenshi was taken aback. Having played training matches with the LSG team, he recognized every member of the team: "Isn't that...?"
At the same time, the winning team's information was displayed on the big screen, with the identity information of each player listed below. The third line prominently displayed:
[Gongsun Shangxiang 2: Brother Leng, your brother Zou Shu is still better.]
[Announcement: We apologize, but to ensure the smooth running of the variety show, the public chat function in this room will not be displayed to other players!]
[Qin Xuemei: Senior, breaking news! I found Zou Shu on set.]
WRC team base.
"Don't be nervous. Although this is the first time we've made it to the finals in three years, brothers, don't be nervous."
Gu Zuo was speechless. He didn't give Bian the courtesy he deserved: "Who's nervous here, Bian? You're already nervous in the finals? What about the World Championship?"
Bian Xiangyu slapped the table, trying to regain some of his captain's authority: "Gu Zuo, be serious, I'm trying to calm everyone down."
"You're our strongest sidelaner," Gu Zuo said softly, then raised his voice, "Why don't we discuss tactics for next Saturday's match? Has everyone watched the LSG team's replays?"
The remaining three teammates immediately discussed:
"I've seen it. Their core-shooting and core-farming system is incredibly powerful. Besides that, they must have also researched the front-line combat system. They're practically... omnipotent gods."
"Don't be too scared. In short, we should follow the meta. After all, it's a jungle carry/marksman carry meta. We just need to do a good job in the draft and pick phase and handle the details in the game!"
"Exactly, even if they use a side-lane system, the side-lane teams aren't afraid."
Gu Zuo was very satisfied with his teammates' ideas: "Yes, the simplest way is the best. The essence of the game is to adapt to the version and do a good job in the operation of the three lanes and the jungle. Among the strong, the basic skills are the most tested."
He hesitated for a moment, then nudged the archer sitting next to him with his elbow.
"Jingcheng, let's practice our online skills more this week. The enemy's marksman and support duo is terrifying... To be honest, I'm not very confident."
Jing Cheng was a newcomer to WRC, and he knew very well that Gu Zuo actually had some disdain for his skills. However, the two never had any arguments during training or matches.
"Understood, Captain Gu, we'll practice harder!" He clenched his fist, thinking to himself that he couldn't become the team's weak link and had to work even harder.
Gu Zuo nodded: "Okay, that concludes today's meeting. Everyone, go back to training. If you have any questions, ask your coach."
On the way to the duo training room, Jingcheng couldn't help but ask, "The captain's side lane is so strong, why don't we develop a side lane system? I watched the LSG vs. KM match, and their side laners played as carry in both games. The captain should have that ability too!"
He lowered his head: "Vice Captain Gu, of course I will listen to the team's command, but your support can only truly play its role when it is with the captain. Actually, I... the sharpshooter is my best hero."
Jing Cheng's voice gradually faded away. He knew very well that his way of playing was not mainstream at all.
Sharpshooter... Gu Zuo thought of several similar marksman heroes.
To be fair, Jing Cheng and the other heroes did play quite well. He had witnessed their decisive and ruthless actions, which were truly first-rate.
This is a marksman with a unique role. He can defend a tower by himself without relying on a support. He is a typical marksman who can withstand pressure. However, because he is not suitable for the marksman-centric meta, he is not commonly seen in competitive matches.
Several other marksman heroes with similar roles have also been relegated to the sidelines for the same reason.
Gu Zuo patiently explained, "The captain does have the ability, but our WRC has always used open tactics and adapting to the version is the way to win. The current version of Earthly Glory is to concentrate resources on the marksman and jungler to maximize the benefits. Instead of thinking about those unorthodox methods, you should train for another hour."
His words reminded him.
Vice Captain Gu decided to put this hopeless shooter through some more time.
"Hmph, I'll keep you company with an extra hour of training today."
Jingcheng pouted, his eyes brimming with tears: "...Received."
[Li Yang: Please elaborate!]
[Qin Xuemei: Don't worry, I'm still busy editing the video. I'll tell you the details after I get off work.]
[Li Yang: !!!]
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