League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“Hey, Aijing, you’re here.” A soft, melodious voice rang out.

Luocheng had just wanted to ask for more information from Aijing when a beauty who was wearing a white t-shirt came walking in their direction.

Plump cheeks, a full bust, and that sweet melodious voice. Wasn’t this beauty always seen on the screen—Qi Qiao?

The Madonna of LOL, the embodiment of a goddess in the eyes of all the otaku boys…

Alright, Luocheng could admit that his thoughts had wandered. She was a normal professional commentator, okay, the comments about her were easy for peoples thoughts to wander off in the wrong direction.

“Qi Qiao, are you hosting this match?” Aijing looked to be familiar with Qi Qiao, not even a few words and they were already laughing up a storm.

“That’s right, I didn’t expect you to be here. Come over to my place to eat later.” Qi Qiao said.

“Sure, I’ll get to eat your vinegar fish dish again.” Aijing said.

The two of them were happily chatting, and Luocheng stood at the side listening. In fact, he had wanted to ask a question.

Lin Dong had managed to find out from the IP address that Snowfall, who played with him a lot, was actually from GTV. After an investigation, it was determined that Snowfall was most likely the highly sought-after commentator in the LOL field…

That was why, when Qi Qiao appeared, he took his time to seriously appraise her. He couldn’t believe that the girl he had been playing with online turned out to be such a demure girl.

Only, why did her voice not sound familiar at all?

Luocheng clearly recalled that Snowfall’s voice had sounded mature, sexy, and gentle. When she was serious, it was dignified and cold…

Qi Qiao’s voice was cute, melodic, and there were no hints of it being like a queen.

Then, it wasn’t her?

Luocheng had a lot of suspicions in his heart.

Luocheng wasn’t thick faced enough to ask even though Lin Dong’s information had led them to Qi Qiao. However, Luocheng noted that Snowfall and Qi Qiao were very different, it was most contradictory.

***

“These are the members of Team Skycrown who have been performing amazingly in the preseason?” Qi Qiao smiled and asked, eyeing the members of Team Skycrown.

“That’s right, they’re a group of extraordinary people.” Aijing answered with a smile of her own.

“This is amazing, once you win this match, you would be a star of LPL. Good luck.” Qi Qiao said as she raised her fist cutely.

Xiao Bei’s face flushed immediately, while Da Luo and Lin Dong made no secret of their love for Qi Qiao!

“I’ll be going up onstage to warm up first, I’ll be looking forward to your performance later.” Qi Qiao greeted everyone and then left.

Xiao Bei secretly peeked at the stage area and found that there was already a reasonable crowd there, many faces were visible.

Following the appearance of Qi Qiao, there were cries of excitement from the audience area, it felt as if a group of wolves were about to be released.

This lady was really popular!

“Everyone, are you prepared?” The one in charge of the competition—Xi Xi asked.

Xi Xi was the person in charge of the event, after Team Skycrown had entered the finals, he was also the one in charge of arranging the matches.

This time, there was a handsome boy standing beside Xi Xi. He looked to be a fresh university graduate, and he was smiling warmly, saying to the members of Team Skycrown, “Team Skycrown really gave us a big surprise, it’s possible that I would need to change the text of the LPL this time to write your name in.”

The members of Team Skycrown smiled politely, and even after the handsome youth left, they were still confused.

At this time, Wu Sen said quietly to the team, “His name is Ai Ke, he’s the general manager for all matches related to League of Legends. From small competitions to the bigger internet cafe leagues, all the way to the world’s competition, he’s the one who’s managing all of it!”

The other members of Team Skycrown and the E-sports Club could only look on with wide eyes.

Yang Ying couldn’t stop himself from saying, “F*ck, that’s boss level, I thought he was an intern, how could he possibly look so young as if he was a university student like us!”

“Holy sh*t, so the one in charge of the event is someone who’s so handsome and serious.” Meiqi said, her eyes sparkling.

No matter how, Team Skycrown was considered to have entered into the public eye. They would most likely have more contact with these organizers of competitions in the future. Luocheng really thought that those in charge of these things would be some serious, professional-looking uncle. Who knew that it would turn out to be such a young man, it really was a blow to his ego.

“If you guys manage to enter the LPL, you’ll see our boss—Ai Ke more often.” Xi Xi said.

Team Skycrown hadn’t even entered into LPL, it would certainly be difficult to be in contact with the higher members of LOL. Alright, a boss that needed to be worshipped had easily run away just now, if they had known, they would have tried to talk a bit more. They had missed a golden opportunity since it had felt like that very same boss was just a peer person.

“Fudan University team should also be in place already, they’ve participated in a lot of competitions and should be familiar with the venue and atmosphere. You should spend some time getting to know people from Tencent, it will benefit you in the future. The source of income and bonuses to you players come from them, and are depending on the organizers of these LOL projects.” Aijing said.

“Understood.” Lin Dong said as he nodded his head.

Team Skycrown had been formed not too long ago, and what they had was exceptional strength. However, for a team to really be in a stable position and continue to grow, they still had a lot more to manage.

Other clubs had fixed training bases, professional managers, fixed sponsorships, and consistent media exposure. They had public platforms such as their YY, QT, Weibo, Qzone, WeChat, and other video platforms to sustain their popularity and income.

Team Skycrown didn’t have any of these.

Working so hard, even if they won, they would only receive the reward. The rewards were a fixed amount, it wouldn’t be enough for a team of five to six people to share among themselves.

What Lin Dong meant was for them to rely on their absolute strength to make Team Skycrown’s reputation known in LPL first, and then slowly manage things from there. However, it was hard to say whether this method was correct…

Team Skycrown were still stumbling around in the dark, and the only thing they had was their passion and a strong heart for e-sports. These were all just incorporable things, nothing tangible. The team could survive on this for a little while, but they couldn’t continue like this forever.

Luocheng didn’t recommend any of them taking on orders to boost accounts if they lost the competition, the reason being that if they did do that, they would be playing against players who were not of their level, and this would deteriorate their capabilities. They could earn their income this way, but they wouldn’t be able to compete with the professional players anymore. Being unable to compete with them, they would be forced to continue taking orders which would further deteriorate their capabilities, it would be an endless vicious cycle.

***

As the time of the match drew closer, Luocheng’s mind wandered through all kinds of images…

He recalled the time when Lin Dong had been drunk, standing in front of the university gates, that lonely back of his…

He recalled the university, where he had wanted to learn more about computer technology. He didn’t want to be left behind in this fast changing technology era, he didn’t want to get lost among a sea of people. His hard work on bringing Team Skycrown back together and growing them, taking advantage of the fact that he hadn’t rotted in the city, once again fighting hard!

Recalling back to the time when Da Luo had been hurt by Shui Mo, the tear tracks on his face, the Lone Gull had returned to the team.

He had turned from a playful child into a hard working youth, devoting all of his efforts toward a person who was not worthy of his love, and was thrown away easily after that. He had nothing, just a fragment of shattered gaming dreams. Now, he was picking up the pieces, hanging them on the dirt-covered wall of the room and reminding himself everyday. Make a comeback, embark on this dangerous road once again, and you have to succeed.

And then there was Zhou Yan, his return seemed to be the most simple. However, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t able to let go of e-sports when he was running and tired of this judgemental society. In other words, all these years, the Gale Crane had been waiting quietly in a place where he didn’t belong to. Even if the dirt and mud stained his feathers and body, he always kept his wings clean and lively. As long as somebody came along and pulled him gently, he would abandon that muddy place, spreading his wings and welcoming the winds to fly. Even if he were to break into pieces if he took flight, he would rather do so than stay any longer in the quagmire.

Unknowingly, two or more months had passed and they were flying higher and higher. They had gradually left the constraints of the land, once again seeing the blue sky behind the densely packed clouds.

As long as they could overturn this rampant storm, as long as they were not scattered by the violent winds, they could rebuild their sun and take flight in the sky of e-sports!

Team Wings, so what if their wings had been broken. So what if their flesh had been torn, after they healed, they would still rush toward the blue sky that belonged to them, letting everyone see their most beautiful figure!

***

They could definitely do it!

They would definitely take victory in this match!

***

Boom!

Suddenly, a deafening boom vibrated throughout the area. The sound resembled a thundering war drum, resounding right into your heart and soul. As long as there was some hidden e-sports dream inside you, it would instantly be ignited by the exciting music!

This was the signal that was blown before any battle in e-sports, it was so familiar, what a nostalgic melody!

All the past small competitions couldn’t compare to this passionate, pure, and ingenious opening, even more so that it would instantly pull everyone present into this gorgeous scene of e-sports!

The flashing of colorful neon lights, dazzling currents running amok, cheerings and hands raised together with shouts of excitement!

A spacious stage full of the games’ artworks and banners, ten computers which looked like machines decorated like weapons for war, and the players who were being welcomed onto the stage…

What a familiar sight!

His quiet heart skipped a beat unconsciously, the scene of laughter and tears mingling with each other projected onto the stage in Luocheng’s mind. The dormant blood in him suddenly started boiling again.

How long had it been that he had not experienced this e-sports atmosphere with his own body? He had always thought that his heart had sunk to the bottom of the pit, and yet it turned out that it wasn’t so, and with such an exquisite sight, had managed to move him to the core of his very soul!

It would be alright. Xiao Bei, Lin Dong, Zhou Yan, Wu Sen, and Da Luo, who were stepping onto the stage felt the same as him, and he just needed to watch over them…

Especially Xiao Bei, he was so similar to the younger version of himself. The same age, the same passion, and the same talent.

Xiao Bei was luckier than himself, no fetters or concerns weighing him down.

He just needed to be himself, and he would go even further. He would take Luocheng’s hollowness, together with his regrets, and reach the peak of the world!

Break away from the past wings, Fighting Hawk, Lone Gull, Sky Swan…

In the baptism of water, once again take up the rusty crown and place it on your head. Rise from the burning fire as a phoenix and take flight, soar into the sky!