Chapter 37 After sending the message, Zhao Zhinian played around again...
After sending the message, Zhao Zhinian played on her phone for a while, but still didn't receive a reply from Zhou Zekai. However, she could completely understand, since Glory was about to have a major update at midnight tonight, and Zhou Zekai, as the captain of Samsara, must be very busy at the moment.
Like the members of Yizhan, although they had handed over their account cards to the staff to level up in advance, they did not disband immediately after today's event. Instead, they all rushed to the technical department, presumably to stay up all night to study the silver weapon upgrade plan and secretly experience the updated new content.
In the world of Glory, money isn't everything. As a relatively wealthy emerging team, Yi Zhan, even after taking over some of Wuji's assets, still has far fewer rare materials than those of the top clubs.
The Silver Weapon upgrade plan is facing numerous difficulties, and the league is set to restart in a week. Gizen's individual skills weren't top-tier to begin with, and his Silver Weapons weren't plentiful either; now his equipment might fall further behind.
Lou Guanning and his colleagues had been troubled by this for several days, and the technical department even began to consider whether to purchase a batch of level 75 orange equipment as a temporary measure.
Zhao Zhinian had no say in professional matters and could only observe silently. Thinking about tonight's update, she impulsively turned on her computer and logged into Honor of Kings.
The tenth district was unusually deserted at this moment.
According to the normal leveling progress, most players in this region have already advanced to the God Realm, and the popularity of the tenth region has dropped considerably.
Tonight, the eleventh server and the new area of the God's Domain will be opened. Even members of the guild "Lone Drinker," who usually stays in the tenth server, have rushed to the front line of the God's Domain to prepare for the battle. This is not only to experience the newly opened area as soon as possible, but also to prepare for their team to compete for the latest dungeons and wild map bosses.
A few scattered comments about the update floated through the world chat, and only a handful of people remained in the main city; I guess everyone had gone to the Realm of Gods.
Although Zhao Zhinian hired a game booster, due to his skill level and recent busy work schedule, he has not yet started the God's Domain challenge mission and is still stuck in the tenth district.
After scrolling through her friend list, Zhao Zhinian realized that most of them were offline. Just as she was hesitating whether to do a quest or join a random group to run a dungeon, she suddenly received a private message.
[Genius Battle Mage Xiaoyuan]: Sister Nian Nian! You're online too! There are so few people here today! *crying to myself*
[One Knowledge One Thought]: Yes, everyone should have gone to the realm of the gods.
[Genius Battle Mage Xiaoyuan]: Are we not good enough for each other?! *crying* Want to run a dungeon together?
Zhao Zhinian had run dungeons with Xiaoyuan a few times before. This girl's skill level was quite good among ordinary players, and she was also cute, so she was invited to join the Samsara Guild. However, she was still in high school and had limited time to play, so her level never increased. As the other members of the guild gradually moved to the God's Realm, the two of them became the "unfortunate sisters" left behind.
Zhao Zhinian gladly accepted the team invitation. There were a few players in the team whom Xiao Yuan didn't know very well. They were probably brought in by Xiao Yuan because there were few people today.
[Genius Battle Mage Xiaoyuan]: What do we fight today? I'm fine with anything!
[One Thought]: Let's find something simpler. I'm a bit tired after just finishing work.
Xiao Yuan wasn't sure what Zhao Zhinian did for a living, only vaguely knowing she worked in the media industry. She first comforted Zhao Zhinian, then asked her teammates for their opinions, and chose a low-level dungeon. The group chatted idly while fighting monsters, all drawn by the update, and their enthusiasm wasn't particularly high. Fortunately, the dungeon was easy, and nothing went wrong.
Zhao Zhinian was one of the higher-level members of the team. After finishing the dungeon, she said that she didn't need the dropped materials or weapons and stood quietly to the side waiting for everyone to distribute them.
Unexpectedly, the simple task of assigning tasks went awry. Two players started arguing, and Xiaoyuan, as the team leader, could only try her best to mediate. Zhao Zhinian also chimed in, but the task assignments remained fraught with difficulties. Feeling a bit tired, she took out her phone again and saw a message from Zhou Zekai from not long ago: "Just got back to the dorm." Immediately following was another message: "Weakness?"
Zhao Zhinian briefly recounted Liu Xiaobie's amazing performance today, and then focused on describing how Wang Jiexi guessed the answer was Zhou Zekai by observing her micro-expressions. In the end, she said helplessly, "I have to pay attention to my expression management in the future! Captain Wang is really too perceptive! And he clearly knows everything, but he doesn't say it out loud, and he even uses this to help the team score points. I feel that he can definitely be included in the ranks of Glory's tactical masters."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Zekai didn't comment on Tiny Herb's performance or tactics at all, but instead sent a meme with eager eyes: "Want to see!"
Zhao Zhinian didn't react for a moment: "What are you looking at?"
"Your expression," Zhou Zekai replied, his tone full of curiosity. He wanted to know what Zhao Zhinian would look like when she inadvertently revealed her concern for him.
Zhao Zhinian immediately retorted, "What are you looking at! I already said it's an unprofessional expression! I'll definitely change it in the future."
"I definitely want to watch it!" Zhou Zekai said confidently. "When will it be released?" He was naturally asking about the release date of Tiny Herb and Yi Zhan's variety show videos.
Zhao Zhinian was both amused and exasperated. This person was usually so taciturn in front of the camera, how could he be so shameless in private?
"Lin Shuang and the others are doing post-production; they should be done in the next couple of days. You can watch, but be careful what you say and don't make any random comments," Zhao Zhinian couldn't help but remind her again. She did gain a lot of attention from Zhou Zekai's comment last time, but this attention was a double-edged sword. Opening her private messages was like opening a blind box; while some praised her, there were also many sharp comments, truly testing her mental fortitude. Her work had just started to pick up, and she didn't yet have the confidence to face more controversy.
Zhou Zekai replied quickly, obediently replying, "Okay," and then immediately sent another message: "I will try my best."
Zhao Zhinian was a little thirsty, so she went to the water dispenser in the dormitory corridor to get herself a glass of water. At that moment, she was holding the glass in one hand and replying to a message on her phone with the other. She didn't understand what he meant: "Strive for what?"
"What is yours cannot be hidden."
Zhao Zhinian almost choked on her water, her face flushed, and she quickly put down her cup, retorting angrily, "I won't be able to hide my expressions anymore! I'm going to become the most, most, most professional host!"
Zhou Zekai didn't mind her saying that. He played with the jade pendant Zhao Zhinian had given him and a smile appeared on his lips: "Then I'll try to change my approach... try to not be hidden."
Zhao Zhinian subconsciously touched her burning cheeks. Her current expression was probably even more "unprofessional" than when Captain Wang saw through her.
In the game, Xiaoyuan finally finished distributing the equipment and materials, and called out to her in the team chat: "Sister Niannian, shall we continue?"
Zhao Zhinian glanced at the chat box with Zhou Zekai: "Let's stop playing for now, I'm a little tired."
The low-level dungeons were neither difficult nor challenging, and teaming up with unfamiliar people resulted in a lot of arguments over material distribution. Xiaoyuan also found it boring: "Okay, I'm logging off now. Thanks for your hard work today, let's meet again next time!"
After exiting the game, Zhao Zhinian picked up her phone again. Zhou Zekai noticed that she hadn't replied for a long time and thought he had gone too far and made Zhao Zhinian shy, so he changed the subject: "What are you doing?"
She answered honestly, "I just finished a dungeon run."
Because of the update, One Shot Through the Clouds had been handed over to a game boosting service. Zhou Zekai, who rarely had free time, thought that he hadn't been back to the tenth server in a long time, so he sent out a game invitation: "Want to play together?"
"No thanks, there aren't many people here today. Gu Yin and the others aren't here either. We just randomly teamed up with some people to do a low-level dungeon. Besides, I have an event to participate in tomorrow afternoon," Zhao Zhinian declined.
"Honor event?"
“Yes, it’s an offline promotional event organized by Honor.” Zhao Zhinian explained, “It’s in a local shopping mall. We have a few fans who watch our commentary, so they have us take turns going to support them for a day.”
To promote this update, Honor of Kings organized offline events in multiple cities to enhance interaction with players. However, professional players were busy familiarizing themselves with the new skills and equipment and naturally did not have time to participate. Therefore, the official commentators were required to attend.
Zhao Zhinian had reviewed the specific procedures beforehand. There were computers provided by the sponsoring brands on site, mainly for playing the updated expansion pack, giving a simple explanation, and finally drawing a few players on site to compete and give away prizes sponsored by the brands.
Zhou Zekai hummed in agreement. Although he didn't want to waste his energy playing games, Zhao Zhinian didn't want their chat to end so quickly, so she brought up a new topic: "Are you going to stay up all night to wait for the update?"
After sending the message, Zhao Zhinian suddenly realized she had asked a silly question. How could Zhou Zekai, as a professional player, not pay attention to version updates?
Sure enough, Zhou Zekai replied quickly: "Wait secretly, the club lets us sleep."
"What if we get caught?" she asked deliberately.
"No." Zhou Zekai sent a meme of a little penguin wearing a headscarf and tiptoeing.
Zhao Zhinian was amused by the meme and continued to tease him: "As the captain of the Samsara team, you're plotting to violate club rules!"
“They are waiting too.” Zhou Zekai indicated that he was not the only “rebel.”
Zhao Zhinian burst out laughing. It seemed the entire Samsara team was "paying lip service"—promising the club they'd get a good rest, but secretly planning to stay up all night.
Zhao Zhinian glanced at the time, worried that staying up too late would make her face swollen and affect her appearance at the event. She suppressed the urge to wait for the update with Zhou Zekai, chatted briefly for a few minutes, and then went to sleep.
The second day's activities went relatively smoothly overall.
Zhao Zhinian, dressed in a beige dress, stood on a temporary stage in the mall's atrium, smoothly cooperating with the host to explain the new version's content. Her interaction with the players in the audience was also very pleasant. The large screen played a cool update to the game, and the players were very enthusiastic, with bursts of applause and exclamations frequently erupting from the audience.
Although she maintained a professional smile, Zhao Zhinian was silently lamenting in her heart: the audience members were all wearing thick down jackets or coats, and the male host was wearing a suit jacket, but she was the only one standing here in a thin dress, her bare arms and legs slightly chilly in the poorly air-conditioned mall.
Whether working as a commentator or a host, it seems there's no escaping the fate of "serving the beauty service," with women in these positions essentially having no freedom to not wear skirts. When announcing the scheduling of offline events, the official notice explicitly requires: commentators must wear makeup and appropriate attire, men must wear suits, and women must wear formal dresses.
These rigid requirements left her feeling helpless.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but sigh that Lou Guanning was truly a good boss.
After hosting the event twice at Yizhan, she mustered up the courage to suggest that she wanted to wear a suit or Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) for the event because it was getting cold, and Lou Guanning agreed without hesitation. Since Yizhan didn't provide costumes, Zhao Zhinian had to bring her own, and Lou Guanning even offered to reimburse part of the costume costs in the future.
However, Yi Zhan was unable to win, which made her start to place her hopes on metaphysics and believe in Lin Shuang's tarot card fortune telling: she should insist on wearing a red dress or cheongsam before her first victory.
After Yizhan's first victory, she changed into a warm suit, which was perfect for the exceptionally warm central air conditioning at Yizhan's home stadium.
If it gets colder later, she plans to wear Hanfu: she will choose a puff-sleeved shirt or a blouse to pair with a horse-face skirt. As long as she wears trousers or a petticoat underneath, she can wear thermal pants underneath because of the wide and loose fit of the horse-face skirt. It is both dignified and beautiful, warm and practical, and can also promote traditional Chinese culture.
Her thoughts drifted away and then returned. Because she had been freezing, Zhao Zhinian's fingers were a little stiff by the time the PK round started. She didn't know if she was too weak, or if the three audience members she had chosen were too strong, or perhaps it was just that the cold made her reaction slow. In the final PK round, she lost three rounds in a row.
"Congratulations to the three players for winning our exquisite prizes!" The host was sent by the brand, and the prizes just given to the players were products sponsored by the brand. The host was diligently promoting the sponsor's products. Zhao Zhinian, however, only felt cold and just wanted to finish as soon as possible.
"I didn't expect Chinen to lose three games in a row today. Shouldn't we have a punishment segment? How about Chinen gives us a talent show?" As soon as the host finished speaking, Zhao Chinen stiffened slightly.
This part wasn't even in the schedule! She was wearing a thin dress and high heels, her fingers were numb from the cold, and she had barely finished three PK rounds. Now she was being asked to perform a talent at the last minute?
The audience below the stage had already started to boo, and the staff from Honor were also giving her meaningful glances, signaling her to cooperate. Zhao Zhinian's heart sank; she knew there was no way to refuse. In any case, they couldn't refuse to cooperate with Honor's promotion.
She quickly composed herself. Although it was a difficult situation for the other party, it was also an opportunity to perform. As for what to perform? She thought for a moment. Singing was simple, but her phone wasn't with her, and after being frozen for so long, she didn't want to rack her brains to remember the lyrics. Just humming a few lines would seem perfunctory. She might as well take this opportunity to move around and warm up.
So she smiled, stood up calmly, and said, "Brother Liu is so considerate. He knew I wasn't dressed warmly enough, so he specially added a punishment activity today. It's a way to make me move around and warm up. I learned ballroom dancing for a few years when I was a kid, so I'll just show off my skills today. Please bear with me."
Upon hearing this, the staff in the audience immediately played a piece of music in response.
Although she hadn't practiced dancing for a long time, Zhao Zhinian still managed to smoothly complete a dance routine thanks to muscle memory: she started with basic movements, drawing classic square steps in place. Moving forward, backward, locking her foot, and then returning to her starting position, her steps were light and fluid, her beige skirt tracing arcs in the air, her knees straightening and bending, and her hips swaying naturally with the rhythm.
Although the dance lasted only a few dozen seconds, Zhao Zhinian maintained a proper and steady expression throughout, full of power.
As soon as the event ended, Zhao Zhinian didn't greet the brand's host. She went straight to the mall's restroom to change clothes. She had been freezing all afternoon and wasn't in a good mood. She was already being polite by cooperating. Since she had already made it clear on stage that the punishment segment was added by the host at the last minute, there was no need to pretend to be friendly.
The event planner from Honor came over to apologize, explaining that due to the brand's involvement and the enthusiastic atmosphere at the time, it was inconvenient to stop them on the spot, and they were very grateful for her professional cooperation.
The impromptu dance was also filmed by the audience and uploaded online. The poster's intention was to criticize the male host for deliberately making things difficult and adding scenes at the last minute. In the previous few days' events, when facing the male commentator, the punishment segment was not mentioned at all. Today, when it was the young lady's turn, she had to politely cooperate with the punishment even though she had been frozen for a long time.
Unexpectedly, netizens' focus completely shifted. Many commented, "No need to give an eye to someone you dislike," and "This host is obviously unprofessional," instead praising Zhao Zhinian's quick thinking and graceful dance.
That evening, Honor officially released a video of the offline promotional event as usual, and also shared the highly popular dance clip, jokingly captioning it: "Promotion is not easy, the commentator is performing for money."
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