168: Chapter 168 The Day of the Competition!

In the suite.

Liu Yang's voice continued to ring out.

"Everyone, get familiar with the feel of things. See what the difference is between playing a match with the five of us sitting together versus communicating over online voice chat. Sitting together is definitely better for synergy than shouting across screens. Let's take this time to iron out that feeling."

"We need to get used to the feeling of offline matches as soon as possible."

Hearing Liu Yang's words, the others all hesitated for a moment.

You have to understand, most of them were actually still students. Having finally managed to stay in such a luxurious hotel, their first thought was just to have some fun.

Now that the five of them had just met up, they were already being asked to play a scrimmage; wasn't that a bit too rushed?

Fatty leaned against the sofa armrest and couldn't help but speak up.

"It's just practicing a round or two, is there really a need to be so uptight?"

"It's only noon. We've already spent months refining our strategies for online matches. We still have two days. Let's go grab a bite to eat first. We can train when we get back; it won't take up much time."

But listening to Fatty's words, Liu Yang slowly took a deep breath.

His voice became much more serious.

"If our goal is to win the championship."

"Then."

"We cannot afford to slack off at all during the next month."

"We cannot waste even a single match's worth of time."

After a pause, Liu Yang continued.

"Although the esports industry has only just emerged, whether it's you, me, or the people over at Langchao Group, we are all essentially crossing the river by feeling for the stones."

"When it comes to esports, there are no ready-made rules, no templates to refer to."

"But during this time, I specifically studied how traditional sports events operate. Regardless of the sport, the lives of traditional athletes are quite disciplined and planned."

"If."

"We truly want to become the first generation of esports players in the true sense of the world, then we must start getting serious now. We can no longer treat matches with the 'just playing for fun' mentality we had before."

"This time."

"Perhaps it really is our chance to change our destiny."

After hearing Liu Yang finish, the others quickly realized that he wasn't joking. He genuinely wanted to lead this team to win the championship for the Great Xia region.

He even wanted them to use this as a stepping stone to change their destinies and become the first generation of true esports players!

This was indeed a chance to change their destiny.

The few of them exchanged glances, and a bit of seriousness appeared in their eyes.

But Zz1tai looked at Liu Yang and couldn't help but ask.

"But what should we do?"

Upon hearing this.

Liu Yang pulled a few sheets of A4 paper from his backpack and placed them on the coffee table.

"This is a schedule I prepared in advance. I have arrangements for you for the next month."

"Of course, these are just suggestions; after all, you are the ones playing the matches."

"But if our goal is to win the championship, we should take it seriously."

"Don't worry, there's plenty of time for leisure and relaxation on there—enough for us to go swimming or get a spa treatment."

"But I think that, at the very least, before the opening match begins, we cannot relax. There are only two days left. Brothers, can we hold our breath and push through?"

Looking at the dense schedule in Liu Yang's hands, the others didn't speak. They realized that during this time, in places they didn't know about, the preparations Liu Yang had made were no less than theirs.

After all, whether a coach for esports matches should even exist was still an unknown. The pressure Liu Yang bore was even greater than theirs, yet he had already done everything he could, rather than just ordering takeout.

The next second.

The group exchanged glances.

Zz1tai picked up his jacket from the back of the sofa, walked over to the row of computers in the corner, pulled out an esports chair, and sat down.

The two people following behind him also walked over, carrying their backpacks.

Xiang Guo took a red keyboard out of his bag and plugged it in, Hu Zi-ge was also lowering his head to adjust the height of his seat, and Fatty swiped another grape from the fruit platter, popped it into his mouth, and walked toward his own machine.

A-Shui also sat in his seat.

Afterward.

He looked back at Liu Yang, who was still standing in place.

"Coach, why aren't you coming over? What are you waiting for?"

"How are we practicing? Straight into five-stacking?"

Liu Yang laughed and ran over in a few steps, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and flipped to the contact group with the other teams.

"I've already contacted the teams that made it to the offline tournament. Quite a few are looking for other teams to scrimmage with."

"Let me see if there are any teams free right now..."

...

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Very quickly.

The day of the opening match for the Great Xia region in the third stage of the league of legends offline tournament arrived!

Although the match didn't start until the afternoon, as soon as the sky brightened, the top of the trending lists on all major social media platforms was almost entirely dominated by the league of legends esports event.

Although.

Most of this attention was due to the league of legends viewing rewards, but it certainly gave this match a significantly high level of interest.

The top three trending topics on Weibo were almost entirely occupied by related entries.

"It's finally here. I can't wait to watch the match."

"Don't pretend, the guy above. Are you dying to watch the match, or are you just dying to open the treasure chest?"

"Duh. league of legends has been preparing for this esports event for so long, and Langchao Group is promoting it at full force. Would they do all that if the match wasn't going to be exciting? So, obviously, I'm here for... opening the treasure chest!"

"Five games, five games! It has to go the full five games so we can open two treasure chests!"

Amidst countless comments.

Although there was a portion of players who genuinely wanted to see how this league of legends game match turned out, that portion of players was quite small—there were barely any.

Most players were still just here for the treasure chests.

As time passed.

Finally, it was afternoon. At this point, many people opened the league of legends client and could already see a viewing channel in the bottom right corner.

Furthermore.

This channel popped up automatically. As soon as you logged into the main page, the match livestream room would pop up the very next second.

However, at this moment.

Because the match hadn't started yet.

The screen in the livestream room was still showing the previously released promotional video for the match.

At the same time.

Almost all the contracted league of legends streamers on Douyin, along with the viewers in their livestream rooms, also entered the match livestream room.

Whether it was Shadow Zed, A-Sao, or other streamers, their only task today was to watch—to watch the entire match!

Furthermore, over at Douyin, they weren't forced to praise the match; they were only required to watch it. They could absolutely trash-talk it, and if they thought the match wasn't good, they could even insult it.

Douyin was very free in this regard.

So at this moment, the titles of these streamers' rooms showed almost no anticipation.

"Let me take a look and see if this match is actually any good."

"The number one Zed on the national server didn't even make it to the third stage. I want to see how strong these qualifying teams really are."

"Watch the match to complete the task, then stream the game at night."

And inside the offline venue.

Quite a few spectators had already started entering.

Although this time viewing was free, not many players came; they only occupied one-third of all the seats, only about three thousand people.

These people only came because they didn't want to keep watching the match and having to answer questions; most of them were actually just thinking about being able to scroll through Douyin inside the venue.

Finally.

As time passed.

The livestream screen on the league of legends client finally changed, beginning the final ten-minute countdown!

...

(Bonus chapter thanks: Thanks to Xiao Xiao, Ti Jian Kua Qi Hui Gui Yu for the Grandmaster-level verification, and Hun Dan Yu Men, Mu Die Lu Tu Bai, Xun Jie, Xi Huan Yuan Yang, Bu Hui Zuo Shi Ye, Sheng Ming, Xi Huan Zhun Jiao Long De Cheng Wan Li, Bai Mu Da San Jiao De Ying Shi Xi, Bai Piao 9527 for the gifts!!)