173: Chapter 173 External Attitudes Towards Esports

Meanwhile.

After the first two games of the Opening Match concluded, because there were so many league of legends players watching the live stream, everything related to the match quickly trended on major platforms.

Many league of legends players couldn't help but discuss the match with others during the breaks.

On Weibo, the related trending topics even hit the top spot.

However, whether it was the heated discussions among players or the trending topics on Weibo, none of it was positive.

"How boring league of legends matches are."

This Weibo trending topic even had a "burst" tag next to it, which was enough to show just how dissatisfied the league of legends players watching the match were with this so-called esports competition after the first two games.

"It really is a bit boring. I almost fell asleep watching it. If it weren't for the skin chest rewards, I probably would never watch a gaming tournament."

"And I don't know how they chose the Opening Match; the situation is completely one-sided. A Shui Team got three kills in the first game and two in the second. Does that mean in the third game they'll only get one kill before their base is pushed?"

"I wanted them to play the full set before, but now it seems like playing the full set would just be torture. This tournament is completely pointless, so they might as well finish the last game quickly, collect the skin chests, and be done with it."

"I still hope they play the full set. I'm bored anyway, so I can keep watching."

Originally, judging by the publicity and promotion of league of legends during this period, as well as the massive investment involved, there were indeed some league of legends players who truly developed some expectations for this tournament.

They felt that Qin Mo must have seen the potential in esports, which was why he chose to invest so much in this field.

After all, before this, the markets Qin Mo chose never had any issues.

But this time, watching such boring first two games, even those few players who thought league of legends matches might be good grew disappointed and just wanted to collect their skin chests and be done with it.

It could be said that after the first two games, almost no one in the outside world had any faith in this so-called esports.

At this moment, during the break, because no capital had entered the market and there were no sponsors, after promoting some new league of legends skins, the live stream feed cut to the commentators and the venue.

"We have received news that for the third game, A Shui Team has finally chosen the red side. It looks like they are preparing to change their strategy."

"That's right, but the most important thing for them now is to adjust their mindset. They were beaten too badly in the first two games."

Just as Colonel Guan finished this sentence, the camera in the live stream focused on the audience.

It could be seen that most of the audience members were almost all looking down at their phones, as if they hadn't looked at the stage at all.

Since the first game began, few audience members had lifted their heads, whether during the match or during breaks. The camera hadn't originally been pointed at the audience, but the director seemed to have spotted something at this moment.

At this time, the chat was still frantically mocking them.

"They really did go to the venue just to play on their phones."

"Suddenly, I'm a bit envious. We have to keep watching this boring match, but they can just play on their phones. Not fair!"

"If I had known, I would have gone too. But what's the point of the director showing the audience now? Is it just to make us laugh?"

While the chat scrolled, the camera arrived at the very front row of the audience, capturing the figures of a handsome man and a beautiful woman.

Watching these two figures who weren't playing on their phones but instead watching the stage with great interest, the chat quickly recognized them.

"It's President Qin from Langchao Group and Jiang Youyou! The outside world said they were childhood sweethearts who knew each other from a young age—it's true!"

"President Qin, this tournament is really boring. You should just stop it; you're losing money. There aren't many conscientious entrepreneurs like you left. Wouldn't it be better to save this money and give benefits to the players?"

"Actually, I also wanted to support President Qin, but this esports thing is really boring."

"But President Qin and Jiang Youyou are truly a perfect match."

Besides the scrolling chat, Colonel Guan also introduced the two of them.

"The camera is now on President Qin, the founder of Langchao Group, and next to him is the first creator to join Douyin, as well as Jiang Youyou, a blogger who now has over 50 million followers on Douyin."

"Note that I said the first to join, without exception. Many people might not know that when Douyin was first developed, the first person President Qin sought out was Ms. Jiang Youyou."

"That's right, the two have known each other for a long time. Even before Douyin came out, Jiang Youyou already had many fans on other live streaming platforms."

...

"If today's Opening Match ends like this, I'm afraid there really won't be many people in the outside world who are optimistic about esports."

As the camera pulled back and was no longer focused on them, Jiang Youyou's voice sounded somewhat worried.

After a moment of silence, looking at the two huge statues on the stage, Qin Mo slowly spoke.

"It's just a waste of a little more time."

"Even if the Opening Match isn't exciting, the potential of esports will still be gradually unleashed in subsequent matches. I just wanted to shorten that time."

"However, I didn't expect today's match to be in this state."

Pausing, Qin Mo let out a long sigh.

"At the end of the day, most of them are still students. Jumping from online matches to offline matches, with tens of millions of people watching the live stream, the pressure is indeed too great."

"Online versus offline—for them, it's completely two different states of being."

"But regardless, I still hope they can play an exciting match."

"The match isn't completely over yet."

Regarding the current situation, Qin Mo wasn't too worried.

At most, it just meant esports would take a little longer to take off; it wouldn't affect the big picture.

While the two were talking, just a short distance behind them, Zhao Erming's phone rang. He didn't even need to pick it up to know that it was definitely his roommates mocking him in the dormitory group chat.

At this moment, Zhao Erming's gaze remained fixed on Qin Mo's back in the distance.

"It really is President Qin."

"I didn't expect a big boss like him to come watch a league of legends match offline just like me."

"It seems he is really confident in this esports tournament."

"But at least for today's match, there shouldn't be any suspense left."

After muttering a few words, Zhao Erming withdrew his gaze. After unlocking his phone, messages from the group chat instantly popped up.

"Zhao Erming, the team you formed before lost to this kind of team?"

"Old Zhao seemed to say at the time that this A Shui Team was very strong, and they lost without being able to put up any resistance. Turns out this is it? They are way too weak, aren't they?"

"What do you say? Old Zhao, do you still think this esports thing can take off? With something that has absolutely no entertainment value, who would watch it without the rewards?"

"It should be 3-0 today. You can still make it back in time to eat with us."

Seeing that Zhao Erming didn't reply immediately, the group chat even directly @ mentioned him.

After a long sigh, Zhao Erming finally replied with a message.

"There's still the last game, don't be in such a rush to jump to conclusions."

"When I used to play in tournaments, winning after coming back from two games down was the most exciting thing. Maybe A-Shui and the others can do it today, even coming back from three games down."

After typing these lines, without caring about what others replied, Zhao Erming directly put his phone into airplane mode and looked back at the stage.

This was because after the short break, the two teams had already returned to the stage and sat back in their positions.

Regardless, A Shui Team was indeed on the edge of a cliff now.

Whether the charm of esports could be discovered by the outside world in the Opening Match all depended on this game!