Chapter 71 (Minor revisions at the end)
S City, as a major e-sports city in China, has always been known as the country's number one small e-sports region, and several strong teams have set up their headquarters here.
Three years ago, a team also came from here, making it all the way to the final round and securing a playoff spot.
Team LS is also here today.
Today, the team has undergone many changes. The team's original jungler and sidelaner have been recruited by professional teams' youth training programs, and one of them has even made it into the second team of the WRC team, which is quite prestigious.
In addition, support and marksman players have returned to real-life life and no longer participate in these competitions.
Of the five people, only the original captain is still participating in the competition.
At his strong invitation, the former support and marksman agreed to come back and play with him, while the two who went on to pursue a professional career were completely unwilling.
When the cobbled-together team name scrolled onto the big screen, it evoked memories for some of the older audience members.
"Hey, isn't that the LS team from before?"
"I haven't seen them in a long time. Are they still active? I'm kind of looking forward to it."
"This is definitely a top seed team!"
"Speaking of that LSG team, their name is only one letter different, but the expectations are way lower, hahaha!"
Before the match, the organizers prepared a small prize: audience members could scan a QR code to vote for their favorite team, and those who guessed correctly could receive some in-game skin fragments.
Riding on their past reputation, the LS team rose all the way to the top of the anticipation list, while the LSG team remained firmly at the bottom—other university club teams had senior students cheering them on, while their fans were pitifully few.
Youyou put her hands on her hips and said, "From now on, everyone listen to me, and no one should argue!"
The three adults who were just arguing were silenced by her imposing manner.
The Blue Team is racking their brains.
The pink toy wheel in front of me was taken from a drawer with a combination lock.
The clues to the password are simple; they are hidden in the other drawers of the same cabinet. By following the pattern and making slight arrangements, this little puzzle can be solved.
Le Xinzhou excitedly opened the drawer, only to find that there was only a small pink wheel inside.
Puzzled, he held the toy wheel up to the light, examined it carefully for a long time, and finally concluded: "Wow, it really is just a small wheel!"
Yun Jingcheng: "Will the little car wheels be a Christmas present for Xiaoxiao?"
Lei Ling said decisively, "Impossible. A Christmas present this meager? It should be at least a whole toy car. Something must be missing. Let me check the drawer again. Usually, there should be some small props stuck inside that are not easy to see!"
He reached out and pulled the drawer out forcefully, wanting to see if there was any hidden secret underneath.
"Clatter!"
He violently pulled the drawer out, and it fell out completely. Without the bottom drawer, the entire cabinet tilted forward, but fortunately, Shaoqi reacted quickly and caught it.
Shaoqi chuckled: "That's why it leaked."
The host's voice echoed in the room: "Please be gentle with the props, guests. We haven't set up any projects that require brute force."
The scene inside the red room was completely different.
Leng Zhi didn't get a chance to interject.
Before he could give any instructions, the four kids had already formed a small group, led by the oldest, Xiaoyu.
Xiao Yu's expression was very serious: "We must try our best to rescue Mingzhe's father."
Jiang Mingzhe, Duoduo, and Xixi: "Okay!"
Xiaoyu: "First, let's see if there's anything that can help Uncle Leng untie the rope! Like scissors!"
The other kids answered even louder: "Yes!"
Then they scattered and began searching the room like kites with broken strings.
The little kites had no idea what to do, but they tried really hard.
Duoduo from the east side: "There's a door here! I'll go ask another adult to get some scissors."
She reached out and pulled the doorknob, only to find it was a combination lock. Her plan was ruined.
Jiang Mingzhe, to the south, was digging in the trash can like a dog, trying to find something useful.
Xixi, who was in the north, was a little nervous, but she was also trying hard to figure out how to open the drawers of the cabinet: "Hmm, it seems to be locked."
Xiao Yu, playing the role of "central controller" in the west, replied to the other kids' reports: "Received! Continue the investigation!"
Only Leng Zhi, who was tightly bound in the center of the room, remained silent: "..."
According to the production team's plan, the combination lock on the door and the drawer in the cabinet should be subsequent steps. It should be that after the child rescues the guest, the guest will then lead the child to solve the mystery.
No one expected that the little one from the Red Team would shout to rescue Leng Zhi, and then reach for other clues with his little hand.
Only the team manager and Zou Lin were sitting in the audience.
Unlike Zou Lin, who was frantically sending messages to his teammates to recruit more players, the team manager gave up on looking at the popularity rankings.
Even now, she still feels like she might have joined a shell company.
Because of funding issues, they stopped renting the impressive conference room. Every day, she would go to Xinxing Internet Cafe with Yu Fu and the others, sit on a stool and watch them play games.
Damn it, what kind of team is this casual!
If Yu Fu hadn't generously advanced her three months' salary at the beginning, the team manager would have seriously doubted whether she would even be able to pay her next month's salary.
Zou Lin waved his hand in front of her: "Girl, why are you so listless? You're the team manager! I dare say, among all these small teams, only ours has a proper team manager!"
Team Manager: "...Do you really think we can win?"
The host on stage was introducing the teams present today one by one. At this moment, when he mentioned the LSG team, there was only a sparse applause from the audience. Zou Lin wished he could clap his hands until they were red.
"What a joke! My brother and the other guys are going to win the world championship!" Zou Lin said with an unwavering look in his eyes.
Inspired by his enthusiasm, the team manager gradually gained confidence: "Great! Then I believe in them too!" She still wanted to work hard for a few more years.
Because there are many participating teams and the competition has to be completed in one day, the city competition adopts a points-based system. Teams are drawn into pairs for best-of-one (BO1) matches, with the winners earning one point. Each team competes in five groups, and the team with the highest total points advances to the national qualifying rounds.
LSG was placed at the back of the queue, waiting in the players' lounge along with the other teams that hadn't yet played.
The lounge is divided into many small rooms, with each two teams sharing one room. LSG team happens to share a room with LS team, and a nameplate with similar letters hangs on the door.
Both sides were very polite, keeping to themselves and making their own preparations for the match.
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