103: Chapter 103 is a garbage game; I can't even get in.

"Boss, just sponsor us."

"When the time comes, this internet cafe will definitely be a hit across the country—no, across the globe!"

In the internet cafe behind Shenzhen University.

Liu Yang stood in front of the counter, his tone carrying a hint of ingratiation; he had been talking to the cafe owner for quite a while now.

"We just need a private room for free internet access on the weekends, and maybe some food. It won't cost much."

The internet cafe owner leaned back in his chair, holding a cigarette, his brows furrowed tightly.

He had been running this internet cafe on this street for many years and had seen people playing games all night, as well as students skipping class to surf the web, blowing all their living expenses on internet fees.

But this was the first time someone had come asking for a sponsorship.

"This esports thing you're talking about..."

The owner stubbed his cigarette into the ashtray.

"What if nobody watches it?"

He looked up at Liu Yang.

"You say you'll run advertisements, but if nobody is watching, what's the point of the ads?"

Liu Yang had already prepared his spiel before coming here.

"How about this, Boss, I'll give you two options."

He counted on his fingers.

"First, we get free internet and food while we play our matches on the weekends. We'll owe you the money for now, and once we make it to the offline tournament and win the prize money, we'll pay you back with interest."

The owner didn't respond.

Liu Yang continued.

"Second, we promote your internet cafe. If we manage to make it to the Global Finals, the impact of the advertising will be huge."

"I've even thought of the slogan."

"'Youjian' Internet Cafe behind Shenzhen University is just the best!" The name of this internet cafe was indeed Youjian.

After hearing these two options, the owner felt like something was off.

He instinctively felt the second option was unreliable, and after hesitating for a long while, he spoke up.

"Let's go with the first one, then."

He had just finished speaking.

Liu Yang patted the owner's shoulder firmly.

"Great, it's a deal."

Then he turned and ran off.

A handwritten sign was hanging on the door of the private room behind the counter, with the words "Team Training Room" scrawled crookedly on it.

Liu Yang pushed open the door and shouted to the people inside.

"A-Shui, Fatty!"

"The internet cafe owner agreed to sponsor us! We can surf for free this weekend!"

On the other side.

The owner at the counter finally realized something was wrong.

Both of these options just meant letting them eat, drink, and surf for free!

Meanwhile.

Just as the internet cafe owner was wondering if he had been scammed, a group of people suddenly flooded in through the entrance.

"Boss, three computers."

"Hurry up, crossfire and alliance of valiant arms are about to launch their servers."

The person leading them was a tall, thin guy with messy hair, wearing the school uniform of a nearby university.

The owner stood up to take a look and led them toward some empty seats further inside.

Although it was only morning, the internet cafe was already quite full, and most people's screens displayed the login interfaces for two different games.

The remaining screens were occupied by league of legends, which had been dominating the market share in internet cafes.

There was only one reason there were so many people today: two new games were entering open beta.

crossfire and alliance of valiant arms.

Under the promotional blitz before the open beta of these two new games, many players wanted to try them out as soon as possible to see which one was more fun.

Whenever a game with a massive promotional campaign enters open beta, it's always when internet cafes are at their busiest.

While waiting for the servers to open, the players in the cafe started chatting among themselves. This group of players waiting for the launch was divided into two camps, with the majority favoring alliance of valiant arms, believing that graphics were more important.

A few players in the row by the window spoke up first.

"Graphics are the most important thing in a shooter. Have you seen the image quality of alliance of valiant arms? I've watched the trailer for the tank mode a few times already."

"The scene where that tank crashes through the wall is just awesome."

Another person nearby chimed in.

"What's the use of good graphics? Gameplay is what matters. Even though crossfire has average graphics, it might be more fun."

"I think so too; graphics don't determine anything."

Neither side could convince the other.

However, whether they supported alliance of valiant arms or crossfire, this group of players had one consensus: regardless of which game they played first, they would definitely try the other one too.

It was free anyway.

They'd just stick with whichever one was more fun.

Finally.

It was time for the open beta.

These players logged into their pre-registered accounts one after another and clicked to launch the games.

Chen Yang sat in a corner seat, with a half-drunk bottle of mineral water by his side.

He wasn't interested in MOBA games; he only loved shooters. He had been playing CS for countless years, and now he had finally waited for two new shooters to enter open beta at the same time.

He had been waiting for this day for a long time.

He had come with his roommate, Old Chu.

Old Chu was sitting at the computer next to him, and before launching the game, he was searching for a guide for alliance of valiant arms on the browser.

"Graphics are the most important. The image quality of alliance of valiant arms is just too good. CS has been out for so many years; it's time for a shooter with good graphics."

Old Chu said as he clicked on alliance of valiant arms.

Chen Yang, on the other hand, stood on the side of gameplay and mechanics, valuing whether a game was fun to play rather than its graphics.

So, he played crossfire first.

He logged into his account.

The interface loaded.

The opening animation of crossfire popped up on the screen, finally freezing on the game logo.

Below the logo, five characters were written.

The shooting dream of three hundred million mice.

Chen Yang smiled.

"Three hundred million mice, quite ambitious."

He selected a character and entered the beginner tutorial.

The movement and aiming training at the beginning were standard, with no major differences from other shooters.

Chen Yang followed the prompts step by step.

When he reached the later shooting training, he twitched his fingers holding the mouse, and the crosshair on the screen moved slightly with his wrist.

He clicked the left mouse button.

The bullet hit the target, and the crosshair jumped up a little bit.

He tried a few more times and found that the crosshair would continue to move upward during continuous fire, but if he pulled it down slightly, he could control the recoil with the mouse.

The feeling of recoil control was lighter than in CS, and it didn't require much time to adapt.

The shooting sound effects were crisp, and the sound of the bullets hitting the target was clean and sharp.

For some reason, just shooting at the target made Chen Yang feel quite satisfied.

Meanwhile.

Other people in the internet cafe playing crossfire had also entered the beginner tutorial one after another; some were asking how to tap-fire, and others were studying the mouse sensitivity in the settings.

But on the other side.

Those who chose to play alliance of valiant arms first were still stuck on the loading screen.

Old Chu stared at the progress bar on the screen; he had been waiting for nearly a minute, and there was still no movement.

He turned his head and glanced at Chen Yang.

"Your game is boring; the graphics are too primitive."

Chen Yang didn't even turn his head.

"You haven't even gotten in yet."

"What's the rush? A game with good graphics naturally takes longer to load."

Old Chu rubbed his hands together, watching the progress bar finally start to move forward.

One step.

Two steps.

The progress bar was almost at the end.

Old Chu took a deep breath, ready to go on a killing spree in this game, but the very next second—

Beep—

The game crashed, and the window disappeared entirely!