For Love of the Game

The next day, Chairman Pi personally held a press conference for them. Reporters from major e-sports media rushed to the scene, waiting to interview these triumphant heroes.

The contestants walked into the interview hall from the backstage, and the eyes of the reporters suddenly brightened.

These players are almost all well-known masters in the circle, and they are also the best of each team, and they are often interviewed by them.Now seeing them wearing the same style of team uniforms with the "Loong" team logo embroidered on their chests, charging forward for a common victory, it feels like they are dreaming.

The reporters raised their hands one after another and expressed their excitement with the warmest applause.

Chairman Pi, as the chairman of the "City of Despair" China Competition Committee, also attended the press conference.

He said, "As the Chinese representative team, the Loong team won the championship in this World Wild Card Tournament. Everyone comes from different teams. I am very moved to be able to gather together and do our best for the honor of the country. It is this effort that makes They achieved ideal results, and let players around the world recognize the Chinese team's demeanor! Although the final video of the wild card game has not yet been released, I believe that as the first year after the restructuring, the video will definitely cause worldwide attention after it is released. Pay attention, players from all over the world will be shocked by the wonderful performance of the Chinese players!"

The reporter asked, "Chairman Pi, can you explain in detail about the restructuring of the Wild Card Tournament?"

"The purpose of the wild card competition every year is only to determine the number of countries that can participate in the World Championship that year. The competition is low-key and secret. I will definitely participate in the World Championships, so the wild card tournament and the World Championship are a bit repetitive, and few people pay attention to them. And there are old faces every year, and there is nothing new. This year, I want to make the wild card tournament more exciting, and also to give other levels a good impression. This is an opportunity for players to participate in world-class competitions, and all players participating in the wild card competition this year will be on the shortlist for the world ranking, and it is a good thing to compete for the world ranking with great players from other countries.”

"Then may I ask Chairman Pi, how are the members of the Loong team selected?"

"After discussing with Chairman Hua of the China E-Sports Association, I decided to allocate corresponding places to each team according to the ranking of the domestic competition. The top three teams will each have two players, and the bottom five teams will each have one player. The captain will be appointed separately. The selection is not counted in the quota. At the same time, in order to ensure the victory of the game, we require the four teams of Xiaolang, Maple Moon, God of War, and WG to send the strongest players to participate in the battle, and the rest of the teams will select their own players to participate in the wild card competition according to their quota. Coincidentally, the final candidates are all players who have made outstanding contributions to each team and have good strength. We have a good atmosphere in the Chinese e-sports circle."

The reporters applauded again with great dignity.

"May I ask how the captain was selected? Although Yushen is very powerful, he has no experience in leading the team. Team Guan has participated in the wild card competition and the World Championship many times, and has rich experience. Why is he only the vice captain?"

Chairman Pi said frankly, "Because this wild card competition was originally intended to give the players of each team a chance to perform. The selection of the captain is not directly appointed by me or Chairman Hua, but by everyone recommending themselves and then selected through voting. Shen Huai got the most votes and was successfully elected as the captain. Guan He is naturally the best candidate in the minds of Chairman Hua and me, but the facts have proved that Shen Huai has not let us down. His ability to lead the team is very strong, and he is very serious and responsible, far surpassing me expectations."

The reporter asked again, "Then which player's performance are you most satisfied with?"

Chairman Pi smiled and said, "I am very satisfied with the performance of each player. I haven't seen the video of the wild card game, but the team assistant has told me the daily game situation. The highest level! Of course, Shen Huai is the most satisfied. During this period of time, he led the team to get up early and go to bed late every day, carefully drawing up training plans for each player. Although some unpleasant things happened during the process, he was tolerant at all He didn’t take it to heart. After the game started, he tried his best to give up the opportunity to play to his teammates. He was even regarded as an image ambassador by foreign players. In the last game against the United States, he played when the team fell behind by a large margin and beat three American players in a row. Winning the championship, regardless of strength or character, I admire very much."

Shen Huai immediately stood up and bowed slightly to him, Chairman Pi waved him to sit down.

The reporter heard something in Chairman Pi's words, and hurriedly asked, "What is the unpleasant matter?"

Chairman Pi did not answer directly, "You will know soon, well, the contestants are the protagonists today, let's visit them!"

The reporters had already prepared a bunch of questions and couldn't wait to ask them.

"May I ask Yushen, why did you take the initiative to run for captain?"

Shen Huai took the microphone, "Because this wild card game still has a special meaning to me, it is my biggest regret not being able to compete with Team Yan in the arena. I hope that by winning the wild card game, WG Qualified to participate in the World Championship."

"Since this is the case, shouldn't other experienced captains lead the team? It doesn't have to be through running for the captain."

Shen Huai's eyes fell lightly on that person, and the reporter suddenly felt his heart pounding.

"I think I have the ability to lead the team. The Loong team won the wild card championship is the best proof. Of course, Team Guan and other captains are also my most solid backing. I have benefited a lot from leading the team this time. Learn more about the pressure and burden of being a captain.”

Another reporter asked, "I think the team name Loong is very good. It symbolizes the meaning of the Chinese dragon. May I ask who came up with this team name?"

"It's me, and I am very honored to be recognized by everyone."

"Yu Shen, your 1V3 performance in the arena against the US team is really shocking. Do you think the US team performed poorly, or you are better?"

Shen Huai said frankly, "Honestly speaking, the US team has a very strong lineup this year. In order to win the first championship after the reorganization of the Wild Card Tournament, they did not follow the principle of selecting players from each team in each country, but directly let the domestic best The strong PD and D2 teams form the wild card team, and they are the biggest opponents of the Chinese team in the wild card game. David and Gina in the double arena, Jack in 6V6, Wayne and Burt in 1V1 all have The old player who is ranked in the world and I was familiar with before I played professional e-sports. I have made full preparations for this, and I have performed well on the field.”

The reporter laughed, "Of course we believe in Yushen's strength. I heard that the American player Gina publicly stated before the game that if she wins the game, she will ask you to be her boyfriend?"

Shen Huai said flatly, "It's just a girl's joke."

"Can you comment on the members of Team Loong?"

Shen Huai evaluated each player one by one according to the script prepared in advance, including not only their performance on the field, but also their cooperation during training and their progress during this period. He himself wants more.

But he didn't mention Xiao Zhang. Shen Huai's ambiguous attitude had aroused the reporter's suspicion as early as when he was picking up the plane at the airport. Now Xiao Zhang neither attended the press conference nor Shen Huai mentioned him. Everyone is curious.

"What about God Xiao? How does God Feather evaluate him?"

Shen Huai said perfunctorily, "Xiao Shen is an old senior in the industry. Everyone has their own evaluation of him, and it's not my turn to say it."

To put it mildly, it doesn't look like that.

The reporter asked: "Why didn't Xiao Shen go back to China with the team, and didn't attend the press conference?"

"I don't know."

"As the captain, why don't you even know the whereabouts of your teammates?"

Shen Huai didn't feel ashamed at all, "Xiao Zhang is a person with independent will, he doesn't need to report to me for any decisions he makes."

The light and fluffy sentence blocked the reporter's mouth tightly, and he couldn't ask another word.

Chairman Pi came out to smooth things over at the right time, "Due to a recurrence of hand injury, Xiao Zhang is temporarily staying in the United States for recuperation and treatment. The time for returning to China has not yet been set."

When the other team members heard it, their hearts sank. It seemed that the God of War Club had already acted preemptively, and they cried to Chairman Pi.

Shen Huai had thought of it a long time ago, and he was not surprised to hear Chairman Pi say that.

After Chairman Pi said that, the reporters changed the subject one after another to save him, and began to ask each player one by one, including some interesting things that happened in the wild card game, Shen Nuo reserved the VIP area to watch the game, and so on.You Sijin was such a lively treasure that the atmosphere was lively, and there was a burst of laughter from time to time at the interview site.

There are also curious reporters who always want to find out the news about Xiao Zhang, making all kinds of insinuations, but the members of the Loong team have a tacit understanding. No matter who is asked a question about Xiao Zhang, they will throw it back in fours and twos, and the tone is blunt. , making people scratch their heads and wonder what happened.

This is also Song Xueyang's meaning, to satisfy everyone's appetite first, and let the enemy mess up. The more people pay attention, the greater the impact will be when it is exposed in the future.He was the only one who could think of such a poisonous trick.

In addition, the reporters were also very interested in the fact that Guan He would team up with Zhou Ning to play 2V2. After all, everyone knew Guan He's rules, and he hadn't played 2V2 for so many years.

Guan He's answer was impeccable, "As long as the Chinese team can win the championship, I am willing to go all out. And Zhou Ning is a strong and steady player. He killed David and Gina at the same time. When it comes to double play, it feels good to be a partner with him, and I hope to have such an opportunity in the future.”

The reporters all admired Guan He's dedication to letting go of personal rules for the team, but Jin An twitched the corners of his mouth, completely disbelieving this set of rhetoric.

Not to mention that when Zhou Ning invited Guan He to form a team, Guan He agreed without even thinking about it. Even during the entire game, he and Zhou Ning have been in and out of each other. .

Why sacrifice for the team!If you want him to see, he clearly wants to cling to Deputy Team Zhou!

Zhou Ning also praised Guan He very cooperatively. The two praised each other for business, so that the whole team fell silent.

Another sharp-eyed reporter discovered that Shen Huai and Song Xueyang were wearing the same ring, and immediately asked, "Yu Shen, the rings on your and Xue Shen's hands are a pair, right?"

After he finished speaking, everyone raised their cameras to take a close-up of the two, and the flashes flashed together.

Si Jinjin scolded Song Xueyang from the bottom of his heart, and reminded them to keep it secret two days ago. Now that he even put on the ring, he wouldn't believe it wasn't Song Xueyang's bad idea!

Shen Huai was silent for a moment, "Yes."

A female reporter screamed excitedly, and some fans shouted Cod CP.

The reporter asked, "Then why do you both wear the same ring? Rings have special meanings, right?"

Song Xueyang picked up the microphone and showed the ring on his hand, "Shen Huai and I saw it without any objection when we were buying souvenirs for our teammates. It looks very good. The store is holding an event, and the second one is half price."

Everyone at the scene: "..."

Do you think this is buying milk tea?Half price for the second glass?Is it still 20 discounts, four free for one, and free nationwide delivery for over one hundred?And why is the way American stores conduct activities so similar to China?

Song Xueyang didn't change his face, didn't feel guilty, and even generously hugged Shen Huai's shoulders, "Of course it has a special meaning. It proves that Shen Huai and I are good partners, and we can still beat the audience in the World Championship!"

Si Qianjin: "..." Is the reason so far-fetched? ?

Reporters at the scene applauded.

Si Qianjin: "..." This bitch believes it, are you blindfolded by lard!

The press conference finally ended in a "joyful" atmosphere, and the team members also bid farewell backstage one by one. Then they will return to their respective teams, either to prepare for the next World Championship, or to prepare for next year's Professional leagues make plans.

In less than a month of getting along day and night and fighting side by side, everyone has formed a deep friendship. Although their relationship was good before, after the experience of this wild card game, they understand each other better and talk less politely.

Luo Lie said, "Team Si and Team Tao, thank you for your care. I have learned a lot in this wild card match. I hope to have the opportunity to form a team together in the future!"

Si Qianjin patted him on the shoulder vigorously, "Of course, just because you don't dislike me for snoring, I will definitely cover you."

Tao Lele also said, "When we have time, we can form a team in the game to play in the arena. Luo Lie, you have to work hard, and don't fall out of the top eight in the professional league next year."

"I will work hard!!"

Jin An was very reluctant to part with Liang Minghui and Jia Yunge, "Fire Guy, Yunshen, thank you for taking care of me this time, will you take me to the double arena when you have time?"

Jia Yunge smiled and nodded, as if saying "Okay, okay~", Liang Minghui laughed and laughed, "Succeed, when the World Championship is over, as long as you don't remember that I killed you in the ring."

Jin An's face froze for a moment. The incident of being randomly selected for the national competition and being brutally tortured by firemen was really enough for him to remember for a lifetime, and he felt ashamed when he thought about it.But after going through so many things, he finally won't be like before, jumping angrily when someone mentions it.

Sunny and Jin An are roommates, and they know his little temper very well, "Okay, there are no less than a hundred players who lost to the fire guy, you have to work hard if you want to get rid of your shame."

Jin An suddenly said in embarrassment, "What a shame, I don't think it's a shame to lose to Huoguo."

Everyone stopped teasing him and laughed.

Shen Huai was gratified and cherished seeing everyone in a harmonious atmosphere, like a family.Everyone came to bid farewell to Shen Huai, and Jia Yunge even gave him his doll.

In the afternoon of the same day, the reporters wrote the content of the interview and posted it on major e-sports platforms. Because the lineup of this year's wild card game is completely different from previous years, fans are paying special attention to it. As soon as the news was released, countless netizens gathered to watch.

【Blow up my Feather God! ! ! !Ring 1V3!That's awesome!I can play the whole game by myself!Ha ha ha ha! 】

【Ahhh!Cod party me screamed!What a good partner, the second one is half price, hhh thanks to the old fox who figured it out, we don't believe it!This is clearly love!To use a word from Xueshen's live broadcast to describe it, that is brotherhood! ! 】

[Congratulations to Team Loong for winning!Everyone is great!It would be great if all the gods were on the same team, they would have beaten the Korean team long ago! 】

[If the masters are all on the same team, how boring is the domestic competition? They win 100% of the time, it's interesting to watch them fight each other!This is the charm of e-sports!But it's interesting to watch them play a foreign team in the same team. When will the video of the wild card game be released? 】

【Oh My God! !My male god, Team Guan, actually fought 2V2 with Ning Shen? ? ?It is agreed that you are not good at cooperating with your teammates, so you don't want to play 2V2?Team Guan, I misread you! !It turns out that you are also a man who bows his head for beauty! ! 】

[Team Guan and Deputy Team Zhou... Isn't this sense of CP too strong?I remember that in the previous match between Xiaolang and Fengyue, Team Guan stood still and let Vice Team Zhou kill him, and when he asked him if he was relieved, netizens said that the two of them had a sense of sight of the emperor and the queen...I like it What if the men are together! 】

[Everyone in the Loong team is also amazing! WG has won the qualification to participate in the World Championship, and we can see the Hot Blood Word team smashing the Quartet on the field again!Hope Feather God can get his wish and fight Yan team! 】

[Am I the only one who wonders what Chairman Pi said about "unpleasantness that you will know later"?Is something wrong? 】

[With so many players from different teams together, something will happen!I guess God Xiao is the most suspected. He lost 50% of his blood volume to Wayne, who is ranked far below him. I guess there is something inside, just wait for the news. 】

[Hehe, the person who said that the male god is suspected is not serious, right?God of War has no chance to participate in the World Championship. The wild card competition is the only way for the male god to keep his world ranking. Why did he deliberately lose the game?And God of War has officially clarified that the male god lost the game because of a hand injury, and the unscrupulous keyboard man sprayed him brainlessly?Did you choose not to see the fact that he beheaded his opponents in the previous few games? 】

In response to this "unpleasantness that you will know later", the netizens were arguing in full swing, and the people who eat melons built the building layer after layer, but there was no movement from the competition committee.

At this time, Shen Huai, Song Xueyang and Zhou Ning had already arrived in Shanghai by plane.

Fan Jingming agreed to come to the airport to pick them up, and the three of them were not surprised when they saw the car, but as soon as they opened the door, they saw three little heads turning around in unison, and then burst into enthusiastic cheers.

"Welcome back to the team!" "Congratulations on winning the championship!" "Finally back, do you have any souvenirs!" "Get in the car! There are reporters!"

Several people jumped into the car quickly, and Fan Jingming pushed the reporter away with the gas pedal.

Song Xueyang asked, "Why are you all here?"

Fan Jingming looked in the rearview mirror, "I missed you guys! I haven't seen you for a month, and when I said I would pick you up, the little ones couldn't sit still."

Hai Xing retorted, "We're thinking about Yushen and Brother Ning, but we don't think about Captain at all."

Fan Jingming laughed loudly, "Yes, yes, I don't miss you."

Song Xueyang said, "Why don't you stop the car and let me go down!"

"That's a good feeling."

As he said that, he really wanted to stop the car, which was a blow to Song Xueyang.

The atmosphere of the team was different once back, everyone was noisy, and they had no scruples in speaking. The city outside was so familiar, and even the billboards on the way from the airport to the club made people feel very friendly.

Hai Xing asked curiously, "Eh? What is the unhappiness Chairman Pi is talking about? I see that there is a lot of noise on the Internet."

Song Xueyang rushed to answer, "I won't tell you."

"Tch, I didn't mean to ask you. Brother Ning, what is it? Tell me?"

Zhou Ning smiled helplessly, "It's not that I didn't tell you, it's that I really don't know."

"Feather God~"

Facing Shanghai Xing's pitiful eyes, Shen Huai ignored Song Xueyang's obstruction, "It's Sun Yuan."

"Sun Yuan?"

Shen Huai went on to tell how Sun Yuan tried to replace him through passive training, and then leaked the lineup to other teams after retiring from the team.

Zhou Jing said disdainfully, "It's really contemptuous."

Shi Yi also said, "Yes! The wild card competition is a major event related to China's participation quota, and he doesn't care at all."

Song Xueyang narrowed his eyes, "The person who cares the least is Xiao Zhang."

Then he told what Xiao Zhang did.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"He dared to release water on purpose, isn't he afraid of being criticized?"

Fan Jingming said in a deep voice, "Xiao Zhang is God of War's cash cow. Without him, God of War will have no foundation. Based on this alone, even if he makes a huge mess, God of War will protect him."

Song Xueyang said, "Not necessarily, as long as there is evidence, God of War can't protect him no matter how powerful he is."

Zhou Jing asked, "But where can I find evidence?"

Song Xueyang smiled, "It's already there."

When everyone asked again, he didn't say a word, and changed the subject, "Have you trained well according to my plan?"

"Yes!" Shi nodded again and again, "Don't dare to relax for a day!"

Hai Xing said, "If I don't train, I'm afraid you won't bring me gifts."

Song Xueyang patted him, "That's a good proposal!"

Hai Xingyun was in a fog and didn't understand what he proposed.

"I'll check your training results as soon as I return to the team. Those who meet the standard can receive a souvenir!"

Everyone: "..." Captain, have you been away from the team for too long and have lost your mind, treating us as children! !

Song Xueyang did what he said, and he didn't feel tired. He started to check everyone's training results when he returned to the team. Everyone complained and called him inhumane.

But the final result is that everyone's training results really exceeded expectations. Even Shen Huai didn't expect that they would improve so much in this month. It can be seen that everyone is also training hard.

Shi Yi laughed and said, "You all went to participate in the wild card game, we can't be left behind."

Taking advantage of his height, Fan Jingming rubbed his head when he hugged him, "Before we lost to Xiaolang in the national finals, everyone was very attentive. This training is even harder than before."

Shen Huai nodded, "The World Championship will start soon, and it is also very important to recharge your batteries."

Song Xueyang took out the suitcase, "Not bad, not bad, send out souvenirs."

"cut--!"

Everyone was very uncommon, but in the end Song Xueyang coaxed them to send them out one by one, which made Shen Huai laugh.

After returning to the dormitory at night to clean up, the news about Sun Yuan broke out.

Chairman Hua personally posted on Weibo to denounce Sun Yuan for being expelled from the team for holding a grudge, leaking the wild card lineup to other countries, and saying that such a person is not worthy of being an e-sports player!

Attached below is a screenshot of the chat between Sun Yuan and players from other countries who secretly revealed the lineup. Not only the one in Shen Huai's hand, Chairman Hua also found his chat records with the American and Nordic teams, all of which are on the same account.

This matter is also interesting to say, Sun Yuan has already been very careful, and registered a small account on the European server. The IP address search is a remote Internet cafe. Because of the special card for logging in to foreign servers in China, he registered another account with someone else’s identity. Youshen Accelerator, thinks it is safe.The WeChat payment he used to pay for the accelerator happened to be his own, and Chairman Hua saw through it at a glance and caught the pigtail.

Sun Yuan was caught off guard by being exposed, and immediately lost his position.One moment he said that his WeChat account was stolen, and another moment he said that a friend asked him to pay for it, but he didn't know about it.

His inconsistent answers just proved that the person was him, and netizens left messages below to make fun of him.

[Pull it down, don't explain, I don't believe that this rubbish's English level is not yours. 】

[Dare to act or not?I can guess with my toes that you left Fengyue to take revenge on your old club!It's right to change to Sunny, you, a rookie who just joined the team, what qualifications do you have to occupy the spot in the Supper team? 】

[Being kicked does not look for reasons from oneself but expects the team to lose the game, and even leaks the lineup to players from other countries?Don't say that you are not worthy of being an e-sports player, you are not worthy of being a Chinese! 】

At one o'clock in the morning, Sun Yuan called Shen Huai, and Shen Huai directly pressed the reject button when he saw the caller ID.

Soon, Song Xueyang's cell phone rang.

Song Xueyang picked it up with a smile, "Hello? My old teammate, why did you remember to call me?"

Sun Yuan was so angry that he couldn't speak clearly, "Okay! You can really do it, don't think that you can destroy me by doing this, with the contacts I have accumulated in the circle for so many years, no one wants me to leave! You guys Wait for me!"

Song Xueyang nodded obediently, "Yeah, I'll wait. But I want to remind you, this circle still respects strength."

The phone was immediately hung up.

Netizens' accusations caused Sun Yuan's Weibo to fall completely. The Supper team was already seriously injured because of what happened to Manager Wang before, and now they have more than enough energy to protect Sun Yuan.

Due to the pressure, the Supper team took the initiative to terminate the contract with Sun Yuan. Because Sun Yuan ruined the team's reputation, he was expelled from the house without getting a penny.

Stuck at this juncture, Youshen Live Studio also announced that it agreed with Chairman Hua's proposal and banned Sun Yuan.Sun Yuan's live broadcast room was completely dark, his avatar also turned into a blank, and all personal homepages were deleted.

Although Chairman Hua did not say that he would completely expel Sun Yuan from the e-sports circle, his reputation was ruined, his former friends avoided him, and he was not as strong as Xiao Zhang, even the audition team was unwilling to take him in.

It wasn't until this moment that he understood what Shen Huai said before, that a person who has no real talent and learning, and relies on personal connections to maintain his status will not be able to go very far.

It's a pity that time is gone, and he didn't cherish the past days.