Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After each of the four players had been interviewed, it was the time everyone had been waiting for: The award ceremony!
Brandon Greene who was PUBG’s designer, and the Chief Executive Officer of Tencent Games, walked onto the stage shoulder to shoulder. The former was dressed casually in a short-sleeved shirt, while the latter was in a formal suit.
Brandon Greene was handed a shining golden frying pan by a young lady. He went up to 4AM and handed it to them. After wishing each of 4AM’s members congratulations, he stood to one side.
The CEO of Tencent Games took two medals that were on a tray held by another lady.
One of them was for the MVP of the Squad Tournament!
The other was for the “God of Kills” of the Squad Tournament!
Unquestionably, these medals ended up hanging from Liu Zilang’s neck.
A loud wave of cheers erupted once again from the audience!
The caster’s camera panned across the arena. Countless Hua Xia flags were waving in the air.
Tonight… no!
For the players and viewers back in Hua Xia, a new day had just begun. It was going to be a restless one.
The instant Se7en got hold of the chicken dinner in the last match, every single online media channel in the country exploded with activity!
The segment of “Team Se7en’s reunion eliminating their old adversaries SKK” had been clipped, commented, liked, and shared like crazy on Weibo.
One thousand shares in a minute, ten thousand in ten minutes. In an hour, it had reached the top spot of the front page’s trending topics.
On Weibo’s front page, the first video in the recommended videos section was of the showdown between Se7en and SKK, and the scene where the red flags of Hua Xia took over the entire arena during 4AM’s award ceremony…
The video of Se7en and SKK had a simple title:
“They’re Back!”
On the roads, in the trains and on the buses, many sleepy-eyed working-class adults traveling to work had tapped on the video while scrolling through their feed. They immediately became awake as they watched the video!
Some of them got too caught up in the action and even cheered out loud while raising their fists. They did so, blissfully unaware of how people were looking at them with confused eyes…
The impact of the video became more immense.
Online Western netizens had shared the clip on social media websites similar to Weibo like Twitter, as well as video websites like Youtube and Twitch!
SKK was nevertheless a legendary tier esports team, it’s core had been formed by five “First God”-level FPS players.
A year ago, in the “Clash of the Titans”, they were crowned the champions. They had stopped the advance of the “Eastern Pantheon” in its tracks with their own bare hands. Thus, affirming their unshakeable dominant position in the FPS world!
Who would have expected the remnants of that Eastern pantheon to come together under the worst circumstances and overturn the supremacy of the legendary SKK!
That sentence would send one’s blood pumping, just by thinking of it!
The fateful encounter between the two teams had attracted the eyes of viewers from all around the world.
In various forums and groups where FPS lovers congregated, there was no other topic other than the fateful showdown…
…
Back in California, after the award ceremony, the four people went backstage. In their hands were golden pans and prize money.
Liu Zilang noticed that Aluka was on cloud nine carrying his golden frying pan. He checked to see that there was no one else around them before he blurted out, “Shouldn’t the designer of PUBG come up with other designs for the trophy? A frying pan as the trophy of an FPS competition. Those who are unaware of it might think that we were in a competition organized by New East.” 1
Nobody knew how to reply.
GodV rolled his eyes and then smiled out of the blue. He walked over to Aluka, took out two coins from his pants, and tossed them into the pan.
“Let’s get the ball rolling. Aluka, you’ll squat at the audience’s exit while holding your pan later. I’ll bet it’ll fill up really fast, and you’ll be the biggest winner of the night!” he joked.
“Ahem…” Aluka coughed, and his face turned serious. “Do I, Brother Lu, look like that kind of person?”
“You actually do…” Cpt, who had been silent all this while, said quietly under his breath.
Aluka: …
Long Shenjue was relieved when he saw them joking around with each other.
“I believe everyone’s wondering about the arrangement of tomorrow’s Charity Duo Tournament,” he said while smiling. “The organizers want two pairs composed of a professional esports player and a non-professional. This means only two out of the four of you will be playing. What do you think?”
“One spot definitely goes to Vic! He was the star of the show tonight!” the other three people said at the same time while smiling.
“Charity Duo tournament? That sounds meaningless…” Liu Zilang protested, “Why can’t I get a day off? I haven’t traveled on the company’s dime for a long time.”
Long Shenjue ignored Liu Zilang’s protests and checked the box next to Liu Zilang’s name on his tablet.
He continued, “There’s one more slot. As for you three…”
Aluka chuckled. “I know, let Wei-chan play. He hasn’t been clocking in his hours since his blood sacrifice during the last match.”
GodV felt salty after hearing his words!
As for Cpt, he was ambivalent toward the decision. After all, there was no prize money to be won in the charity tournament.
The real ordeal was the solo tournament happening on the day after the charity tournament. It was the tournament where the individual skills of each player would be tested!
The winner of that tournament would be the indisputable Solo King of the world!
If he had the day free, he would rather be practicing his solo skills.
After deciding on the two slots, it was time to determine their respective partners.
GodV exchanged glances with Long Shenjue. They smiled at each other, and a million unsaid thoughts were exchanged between them…
The other three cringed as they saw this scene!
Liu Zilang rubbed his chin. “For the partner… anyone will do, right?”
“Of course,” Long Shenjue said while smiling. “If you’re willing, you can even pull someone in from the streets. That is as long as the said person isn’t a professional competitor in this tournament. Don’t worry too much… it’s just a casual exhibition match. Anyone can play without there being too much stress. Treat it as a stress reliever.”
“If that’s the case…” Liu Zilang nodded, and an incomprehensible expression was seen on his face. He abruptly continued, “The names need to be submitted by today, right? Hold on, let me call someone.”
“You know someone in California?” Some of them were curious.
“An old friend.” Liu Zilang smiled.
“Who?”
“A big, macho man!”
“…”
Beep beep beep!
The call connected and a lazy voice was heard across the receiver.
“Heheh, I knew you’d be looking for me. Is this about tomorrow’s Charity Duo tournament?”
“Oh?” Liu Zilang was stunned and his heart skipped a beat.
“I’m sorry, but Li Muqiu came to look for me right after the tournament. I’m taken,” the voice said jovially.
“Ah? Brother Yang? Master Yang! Please reconsider!” Liu Zilang said hastily, “This doesn’t come from me but Ol’ Qiu’s skills suck to the max! There’ll be a lot of strong Western players out there tomorrow, you won’t be able to experience much of the game.”
“Oh, tell that to his face,” Gan Yunyang suddenly said. “I’m on speaker and Li Muqiu is right beside me.”
“…”
As expected, the next moment, an angry voice came from the other end!