Glory [e-sports]

Yuan Ze’s hand shook, and his cell phone fell straight down towards the floor.

Gary’s hand eye coordination was fast, and he caught it for him. The Old G who knew a little bit of Chinese glanced at it and saw some of the message, “Is it Close? Did he really come to North America? Where is he? How’s his arm? Can he move it? Can he solo? Can he…”

Yuan Ze snatched up the cell phone, “Shut up!”

Gary was aggrieved, “I really never thought that I was actually hammered into seclusion by an injured Close. It’s hard to imagine how strong he would be when he’s in his best state.”

Yuan Ze: “……”

In fact, Yuan Ze was also very curious about this. Close had been very strong when he’d been in FTW, but he’d still been a little immature. Especially when it came to cooperation, his performance was bad enough to get points deducted.

After FTW broke up, Close was deeply caught in the quagmire and couldn’t show his real strength.

It was true that he’d won consecutive singles championships, but a real god level player was never a lone wolf.

Yuan Ze had been led astray by Gary and forgot to reply to Lu Feng.

When he looked at the last message, he felt his teeth ache from gritting them tight as he typed, “Who do you want to see? Is it FTW, or… Q…”

He held back and didn’t finish typing. He always felt that his teeth would hurt even more after he was done.

Lu Feng: “Goodnight.”

Yuan Ze: “………………”

Gary was still making a fuss, “So? Is Close coming out? Should we go have Chinese food? How about hotpot? I love hotpot, do you think I can trade a hotpot meal for a round of solo…”

Yuan Ze pulled a cigarette out of the box and stuffed it into his mouth.

Old G was happy, “Your method of quitting smoking is really quite unconventional. You don’t smoke, then offer it to others instead.”

Yuan Ze wished he could kick him away, “Go away!”

Gary ran off. The smell of smoke was like adding fuel to the fire for people who were trying to quit smoking, he got it.

Yuan Ze stared at the message. He looked at it up and down, left and right, and the more he looked…

F*ck!

He couldn’t hide from it. In the context of this conversation, how come it looked problematic from any angle?!

Yuan Ze gave Kim Sung-hyun an overseas phone call.

Kim Sung-hyun glanced at his watch, “It’s three in the morning, and you haven’t slept yet?”

Yuan Ze came straight to the point, “There’s big news!”

Kim Sung-hyun switched to Chinese, “What.”

Yuan Ze avoided the people around him and took a deep breath, “I suspect that Little Close is…”

Kim Sung-hyun: “Is what?”

Yuan Ze was having some trouble saying it out loud.

Kim Sung-hyun asked him instead, “Is Close over there?”

Yuan Ze: “He just arrived yesterday.”

Kim Sung-hyun: “How’s his shoulder?”

Yuan Ze: “Can’t see anything just by looking at it.”

Kim Sung-hyun was quite puzzled, “He’s only 21, and he normally lives like an old man. How can it be so serious?”

This was also the thing that Yuan Ze couldn’t understand.

Lu Feng had become famous early, but he hadn’t entered the industry very early. There were many others who’d started competing at 16, 17 years old.

Although Lu Feng was now 21, and it seemed normal to have some occupational diseases after already playing for four or five years, now was only when he’d announced the problem and certainly not the time when the illness actually began.

As professional players, they all understood.

Strain was chronic. It took at least a year or two to progress from showing symptoms to requiring treatment.

According to this pace, Lu Feng may have already had symptoms when he was 18 or 19, which was really too early.

Fans only saw Close’s injury, and only saw that he was going to North America for treatment, but they didn’t think about how Lu Feng had endured it, and had never thought about how bad it had to be for him to leave his club to go to M Country for treatment.

The hidden dangers left by his departure were immeasurable.

If Close’s shoulder injury wasn’t very serious, he would never dare to take on such a risk.

Kim Sung-hyun and Yuan Ze didn’t say it clearly.

But both of them had a suspicion in their hearts: was Close’s shoulder injury really from strain?

Burning out after only one or two years?

It didn’t seem possible no matter how they thought about it.

Then, what was going on?

What had happened to Close in the year that FTW disbanded?

When he thought of these things, Yuan Ze’s heart felt very uncomfortable.

Kim Sung-hyun’s voice also grew distant, “I have a game later, I’m hanging up now.”

Yuan Ze: “Mm.”

After hanging up the phone, Yuan Ze looked at his cell phone and spaced out for a while, then glanced at his chat interface.

Yuan Ze: “……”

He’d forgotten all about it!

Forget it, for something like sexual orientation, it didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t aimed at him.

After closing his conversation with Yuan Ze, Lu Feng used a projector and leaned back in bed to watch the live broadcast.

When the five people in FTW appeared, the camera started by sweeping over their top-laner before panning back, stopping for a longer time when it came to Wei Xiao.

In the screen, the youth was wearing FTW’s black team uniform, his zipper loosely done up to his chest and revealing the white shirt inside that was a little too large, exposing hints of his collarbones. Following the beautiful arc upwards was his slender neck, thin jaw, handsome facial features, and his black eyes that seemed filled with lights.

When Wei Xiao wasn’t smiling, his drooping eyelids made him seem a little cold, and his lips looked thin. When his sidelong glance landed on the camera, his arrogant little look elicited countless screams from the fans.

Lu Feng could hear it. His dark eyes watched the screen without blinking.

Wei Xiao was very good-looking. When he stood there on the brilliant stage, he became even more attractive.

The game started without much nonsense.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a game without any suspense.

FTW against LH. It didn’t seem like they could lose no matter what.

However, due to Lu Feng’s departure, everything was now in question.

Could the FTW that didn’t have the great demon king stand up on its own?

Could the new jungler Quiet hold things up?

Had this team that had lost its captain, also lost its soul?

Regardless of whether they were fans, haters, or even passers-by, everyone was curious about this.

This game was no longer a boring match where a strong team crushed a weak team, but a new start, a game to prove themselves, a game where the curtains were slowly being drawn up!

This was exactly what Chen Feng was worried about.

This was a game that they would basically win as long as Close was there. If FTW lost now…

How big of a blow would it be for the five starters in the team, the worried fans, and the countless people who supported them?

And there were countless possibilities and opportunities in every game.

The players’ states, the BP line-up, or even one careless move in the canyon could cause them to lose the entire game.

There were no games where wins were guarantees, only endless surprises and possible accidents.

This was what competition was.

Chen Feng wasn’t someone who was afraid of losing, but he was afraid this time.

He was afraid that FTW would make a mistake, that FTW would lose, and he was afraid that if they didn’t do well, the crowd would push them down even further.

From the moment that Close left, FTW had stood on a tightrope wire that was strung across a cliff.

Walking across it wasn’t necessarily a smooth path; once they fell, there would be nothing but an abyss waiting for them.

With such pressure, Chen Feng was very nervous.

Tang Chen noticed it, but he didn’t know how to inspire others. He scratched his head and didn’t know what to say.

Chen Feng tried hard not to let his emotions infect the players. After all, based on their current state, the four little ones were still doing okay.

Wei Xiao glanced at him while adjusting his headset.

Chen Feng: “……”

BP started. LH had the first ban, and they didn’t hesitate to send the shadow thief to the ban position.

It was too terrible. FTW’s inherited shadow thief was poisonous, and LH still had a strong desire to survive.

Wei Xiao: “What are they afraid of? Laozi can’t do nine light arcs anyway.”

Bai Cai: “Would you die if you spoke a little less?”

Wei Xiao: “I really can’t, hey! This segment can be broadcast, and it’s better if they repeat it three times so that all the teams can hear it clearly. I, Quiet, can’t do nine light arcs. Hurry up and save on that ban position!”

Brother Cai: “… I suspect that you’re putting on an act.”

Lele: “… And we have the evidence to prove it.”

Little Ning: “Cough.”

Wei Xiao: “Sigh, things are bad this year. Nobody believes you when you tell the truth.”

Chen Feng: “……”

All of his worries were completely swept away by this brat’s antics!

Wei Xiao moved his mouse lazily, “Coach, I want to play the berserker thief.”

Chen Feng glanced at him, “Hm?”

Wei Xiao smiled at the camera, “It’s time to let everyone know that my scythe is even deadlier than my nine light arcs.”

His easy tone rang directly through the headphones, bringing some strange magic with it.

Arrogant, frivolous, and brazen.

But once these words came from Quiet’s mouth, it all became something that went without saying.

Chen Feng suddenly remembered the glance that Wei Xiao had shot him prior to the BP link.

Damn it.

He was being cared for by a little brat.

A gust of dizzying warmth burst out in Chen Feng’s heart, melting the nervousness and uneasiness.

What was he afraid of?

What was there to be afraid of?

If he, as the coach, was scared, then what should the players do?

He couldn’t accompany them to battle through the canyon, and he couldn’t fight side by side with them, but what he could do was fight for the best line-up for them, help them loosen any shackles and create a foundation for them to fly freely!

He couldn’t panic; he couldn’t be afraid.

They would be beyond redemption if they lost, but they would never lose!

Chen Feng stared at the BP interface and calmly analyzed LH’s intentions, “Their mid-laner’s hero pool is a little shallow. If we ban the flower mage, it’ll be equal to having them lose a leg.”

How would they win with only one leg left? Even worshiping Buddha would be of no use!

FTW’s side’s BP was very quick, and there was almost no hesitation.

On LH’s side, except for their speedy ban of the shadow thief, every decision after that came slowly.

Professionals could tell a lot about the teams from BP.

If they banned and selected talents quickly, it meant that they had a well thought out plan.

If they were slow and cautious, it meant that their hearts were flustered, and they were uncertain.

The camera switched to Chen Feng who was standing behind Wei Xiao, his eyes drooping as he stared at the computer screen.

Lu Feng was too familiar with him and could see his mood change through some of his subtle expressions.

From the tension to the beginning to the current calmness, he wondered what Wei Xiao had said.

The corner of Lu Feng’s lips curved slightly.

Someone sent out a sentence on the scrolling comments––the FTW without Close had no soul. How could they win?

Lu Feng sat up straight and typed out a line on his tablet, “Close isn’t the soul, Quiet is.”

As soon as these words came out, countless people began to scold and curse.

In particular, Close’s battle fans all exploded on the spot, wishing that they could scold this string of numbers (his ID) into quitting the live broadcast studio.

Lu Feng didn’t say anything else. He simply sent out 888 hearts for Quiet.

One heart was ten yuan. 888…

The scrolling comments grew quiet, and a group of people called out, “6666, this big boss is really amazing!”

Lu Feng changed his ID.

His previous ID in the studio had been a default string of numbers, but now he changed it to LU.

There was a list of players in the live broadcast room. For example, in this team, the starters from both teams and the coaches were all on the list.

Fans could send out gifts for their favorite players in order to build up their popularity.

The popularity list and KDA (the comprehensive data on a player’s kill rate, death rate, and other indicators) list were updated in real time and would gradually become white hot as the battle progressed.

In recent years, China’s popularity list and KDA list were dominated by one person.

Of course it was Close. As for this year…

Close had become Quiet’s number one supporter on the list.　

The fans were amused when they saw this ID on the list, “LU? LU!”

“Isn’t this my Close’s favorite alt account ID?”

“As everyone knows, all of Close’s alt accounts use this name.”

“Could it be, maybe, is it that…”

“What are you thinking? How could Close be bored enough to smash gifts for the players from his own team.”　

“Big boss, you’re going too far with this act!”

“Fake… very fake… it hurts this CP fan.”

Lu Feng didn’t look at the scrolling comments. He just stared at the screen, rhythmically brushing out his love.

Quiet took First Blood, LU sent 520 hearts.

Quiet got a double kill, LU sent 1314 hearts.

Quiet got a triple kill, LU sent out 6666 hearts.

Quiet got a pentakill, LU sent out 9999 hearts…

Finally, some fans discovered these magical numbers and exclaimed in surprise, “Quickly take a look at this big boss’s gifts ahhhh…”

“Holy shit, this person’s heart and eyes only have Quiet!”

“Quiet is indeed very excellent, but these gifts are all filled with love!”

“Jealous, jealous, I also want to have so many little hearts!”

After the end of the first game, FTW won the game beautifully, while Quiet became the number one person on China’s popularity list.

At the same time, the terrifying KDA of 18 kills and 0 deaths also took him to the top of the list––this wasn’t only first place in China, but also first place in the world.

Even if it was just temporary, it was still shocking!

xiin: i’ve always wondered… is western live streaming also this crazy with gifts?