76: Chapter 76 This is the Night of Battle!

Saturday.

In the alley behind Shenzhen University.

Two figures walked with hurried steps, heading quickly toward a familiar direction.

A-Shui looked annoyed, yawning while glancing at Liu Yang.

"Why so early?"

"It's finally the weekend; I wanted to sleep in."

"Usually on weekends, I don't get out of bed until noon."

The two were not in the same dormitory, but they were both students at Shenzhen University. After bonding over league of legends, they went out to surf the web whenever they had time.

Liu Yang couldn't play games on his laptop, and A-Shui didn't even have a computer.

"Today is Battle Night, so it's going to be crowded."

"If we come late, there won't be any machines left."

A-Shui shook his head and checked his watch.

"Usually, net cafes only get full on weekend afternoons. Today, at most, it'll be a few hours earlier—maybe noon. But it's only nine in the morning; how could there be no computers?"

"You don't have to wor—"

A-Shui didn't even finish the word 'worry' because it got stuck in his throat.

The reason was that, while talking, they had already arrived at the entrance of their usual net cafe.

The counter behind the glass door in the distance was surrounded by people, and the net cafe further inside was completely packed. With just one glance, they couldn't find a single empty seat; it was deafeningly noisy.

There were even people at the entrance of the net cafe.

Some had brought folding chairs and were sitting outside with breakfast, just to line up and wait for a machine!

Seeing this scene, A-Shui rubbed his eyes, his voice sounding a bit raspy.

"Are you kidding me?"

Liu Yang muttered as well.

"I thought I was early, thinking everyone would be sleeping in on the weekend."

"But I guess I was still late."

They exchanged a glance and squeezed to the front of the counter, wanting to ask if it was really full.

The manager's voice was completely drowned out by the chaos.

"No machines, it's full, you have to wait!"

"The next one won't be free until noon!"

"Don't ask me what time, I don't know!"

Meanwhile, after the manager finished speaking,

A few young people nearby were walking out while talking on their phones. One of them was on a call, and his voice was so loud that half the street could hear him.

"What? You don't have machines there either? Are you kidding me?"

"I heard Old San has a few, let's hurry over there before they're gone!"

The group practically ran out of the net cafe and dove into a taxi on the side of the road.

A-Shui stood where he was and swallowed hard.

"That's insane. Is this the value of Battle Night?"

"And they call it Battle Night, but why is the battle starting in the morning?"

He turned his head to look at Liu Yang.

"It's over, I don't think we'll be able to play today."

Liu Yang took a deep breath and looked in another direction outside the net cafe.

"I know a very old net cafe, hidden in an alleyway. People outside usually can't find it."

"I used to sneak there to get online when I was a minor."

"There must be machines there. The specs are bad and the environment is poor, but we can't wait any longer today!"

With that said,

Liu Yang prepared to lead A-Shui away from this net cafe.

However, just as they were about to leave, a familiar voice rang out from deep inside the net cafe.

"Liu Yang! A-Shui! Over here!"

Fatty stood up from his seat, shouting because the net cafe was too noisy.

"I know the manager of this place, I saved two machines for you!"

"Hurry up, the manager already came looking for me; if you don't come now, they'll give the machines to someone else!"

This was the fatty who previously claimed that league of legends wasn't fun.

After Liu Yang and the others proved him wrong, the three became a regular gaming team.

As for dota 2,

After that last time,

Fatty had not logged in again.

Liu Yang and A-Shui hurried over to Fatty, sat down, turned on the PCs, and logged in, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"You're a lifesaver."

Liu Yang patted Fatty on the shoulder.

Only then did the two relax. Looking at the packed net cafe, they couldn't help but click their tongues.

"I wonder how many net cafes across the country are packed like this today."

Fatty looked at the two of them with emotion. If he hadn't greeted the manager in advance, who knows when the three of them would have been able to play today.

"If Google Trends is accurate, it shows that league of legends has significant popularity overseas too. I suspect a huge number of players will log in today, not just domestically."

Liu Yang nodded from the side.

"If league of legends didn't disclose daily active users before because it was just shy of dota 2's three million, then after today's Battle Night, I believe league of legends will definitely reach three million daily active users."

But listening to Liu Yang's words, A-Shui shook his head.

"I've played games for so many years, but I've never seen a scene like this. It's too crazy."

"I'm afraid league of legends' daily active users already surpassed three million, surpassing dota 2, a long time ago. Today is about hitting an even more insane record. I don't know how high it will go, but it will definitely be huge."

"Enough talk, let's start."

As they spoke,

Fatty had already created a room and pulled the two of them in. As expected, the match was found instantly.

They picked their champions and were in the loading screen when Liu Yang suddenly thought of something and spoke up.

"By the way."

"Whatever happened to the esports that league of legends was supposed to launch?"

A-Shui thought about it.

"league of legends hasn't even launched its ranked system yet, so esports will probably have to wait. But I believe they're serious about it."

"I think after today's Battle Night ends, league of legends will officially launch ranked ladders and start their esports tournaments."

As he finished speaking, the loading ended, and the Summoners Rift screen appeared on the monitor.

Meanwhile,

Just as the three of them entered the game,

A commotion broke out at the entrance of the net cafe.

Two thugs, one tall and one short, pushed the glass door of the net cafe open.

The tall one tapped on the counter with his finger, his voice neither too loud nor too soft.

"Manager, come out."

The manager looked up; he was a young man wearing glasses. When he saw these two, his expression changed.

"Brother Feng, what brings you here today?"

"Cut the crap."

The tall one leaned on the counter and pointed at the manager with his finger.

"When are you paying back the money you borrowed?"

The manager lowered his voice.

"Brother Feng, give me a few more days. I'll pay you when I get my salary this month."

The manager had borrowed money from the two, and it wasn't due yet, but he hadn't expected them to show up today.

"But I'm tight on cash, I can't wait that long. What are you going to do?"

The manager's face changed.

"Isn't it not due yet? I really don't have money today."

"No money?"

The tall one turned to look at his accomplice, then back again, his smile turning very ugly.

"Do you think we came here to negotiate with you today?"

"If you don't pay today..."

He scanned the hall of the net cafe and gave a signal to the short one.

The short one acted with tacit understanding and walked directly to the corner. There was a row of circuit breakers there, and he reached directly for the cover of the box.

The tall one continued, his voice piercingly sharp.

"If you don't pay, be careful, or we'll shut off your power!"

He said this loudly enough for the entire hall to hear.

In that instant,

the previously noisy net cafe went silent. A deathly silence, as if you could hear a pin drop.

In the darkness, countless eyes turned red, staring fixedly at the two who had just entered.

The tall one broke into a cold sweat. Although he usually talked big and feared nothing, in that moment, his subconscious told him that if he really cut the power, he probably wouldn't walk out of that door.

The short one in the corner was shaking, his legs trembling, and he felt his pants getting wet.

"To, today, we'll, we'll let you go."

"Number Two, let's go!"

...

Meanwhile, on this day of Battle Night,

It was just as Fatty predicted.

The same situation was happening in countless net cafes across the country.

It was fine in the morning, and some net cafes still had spots, but by the afternoon, you would have to travel far to find a net cafe with an available machine.

More often than not, in almost every net cafe, there were people waiting for others to finish their session.

For these net cafe owners, the appearance of league of legends was practically a massive windfall.

And attracted by the rewards of the Battle Night event,

Countless players flooded the league of legends servers on this day!