Superstars of Tomorrow

Fang Zhao couldn’t tell anyone except Nanfeng and the other two about him participating in the Fiery Bird All-star Match as a special guest.

Nanfeng was especially delighted upon receiving this news. If it hadn’t been confidential, he would have bragged about it to his friends. Only those god level players could snag a special guest invite to participate in the All-star Match. He had thought that Fang Zhao would only show himself in public after officially graduating, but there was a chance now!

“There are still a few days before the date set by Fiery Bird. I will still be staying in school before that. Venerable Mo has left me some tasks,” Fang Zhao said.

“Don’t worry boss, I will arrange everything,” Nanfeng pledged repeatedly. “We definitely won’t leak this news!”

Beside him, Zuo Yu and Yan Biao also expressed that they would absolutely keep it a secret.

Fang Zhao believed them in this aspect. Thus, after the travel arrangements were done, Fang Zhao continued with his preparation for his graduation concert. Fang Zhao had completed his dissertation, so the next task would be the concert.

Fang Zhao’s movements after his dissertation defense had been photographed by a number of paparazzi that were camping at HuangArt. Sometimes, Fang Zhao would also be photographed outside Mo Lang’s residence. Thus, it seemed very unlikely to many that Fang Zhao would appear at the All-star Match.

In the entertainment circle, if a celebrity didn’t make the news for half a year, they would gradually become the content of stories and myths.

Fang Zhao was one of these people. However, unlike the majority of retired gaming gods, Fang Zhao was still rather active outside the gaming circles. People still frequently saw news concerning him, even if it was in a different industry. An esports reviewer had once said that Fang Zhao was “a shooting star that passed by and left to pursue the musical arts.”

Point-sweeping demon? That was something a long time ago and had now become folklore. Now, people could only watch and worship past videos.

Fiery Bird All-star Match competition grounds.

Minor games were essentially treated as warm-up on days one and two. As more “Battle of the Century” gaming gods arrived, attention on the All-star Match rose. Many film and entertainment celebrities also showed up to take advantage of the hype.

Now, the most-discussed subject was who the special guests invited by Fiery Bird would be this time. On Fiery Bird’s official All-star Match web page, there were twelve grayed out silhouettes of the special guests.

Jinro had also discussed this with his teammates.

“Somebody said they saw Rex show up in person at Fiery Bird HQ, but they didn’t have enough time to snap a photo,” Schwarzer said while browsing through news online.

When a certain older coach heard this, he said with a reminiscing smile, “Rex was my idol! Back then, he lit up the entire scene during my secondary school days. By the time I entered the professional circles, R-god had already retired from competitive gaming.”

“Forget about R-god. Someone managed to snap a photo of Bin-god! Didn’t Bin-god retire from the gaming circles to become a stay-at-home dad and look after his kid?” Schwarzer was slightly unfamiliar with the names of these old-time gaming gods. When these gamer gods had been prominent, Schwarzer had yet to be born.

Jinro knew a little more about this person. “Dabin becoming a stay-home dad was over ten years ago. Now, he is more like a stay-home coach and supporter. His son is an exceptionally talented kid and is not at all inferior to Dabin. Wait another five years! He will enter the professional circles and shoot straight up.”

“15 years ago he was beating his son, now 15 years later he is getting beat by his son.” Schwarzer couldn’t help but chuckle.

Regardless of what sort of lifestyle these people had after retiring professionally, they still were representatives of their generation. People associated them with various melancholic sentiments.

Fiery Bird was quite successful in capitalizing on the fans’ nostalgia.

As they continued chatting, a few of them received a new notification.

“Let’s go, time to draw lots.”

Jinro and the other Silverlight members went to the designated venue to draw lots. The various gaming gods from all twelve continents would be scheduled according to the number they drew.

“Nine?” Jinro was beaming. “Good number! It’s my lucky number!”

Beside him, Schwarzer moaned. “One! How am I so unlucky!”

Number one was the first to compete in the special guest match.

Schwarzer wasn’t happy. The first match was too close to the start. He wouldn’t have time to get used to Fiery Bird’s modes for the All-star Match. Perhaps he wouldn’t even be able to display half of his talent and genius.

Jinro and the others were all in team 3 or higher. Schwarzer was the only one who had drawn a 1. Schwarzer felt that the opening match wasn’t favorable and became gloomy. However, the outcome couldn’t be changed. All he could do right now was to think about how to deal with the first match.

There would be two special guests matches in the late morning and two in the late afternoon. Although each special guest match would last half an hour on average, the scheduling was tight, and there were other activities before and after the matches.

According to the number card drawn, Schwarzer would be in the first match on the first day. Jinro’s match would be two days later, and he would have ample time to practice.

Jinro held his own new team card and went to great his new teammates who had also drawn the “9” card.

“Bruce? You are also in team 9?” Jinro saw Phoenix E-sports Club captain Bruce from Huangzhou.

They had both been captains of their respective teams, but Jinro’s Silverlight team hadn’t ranked as high as Phoenix in the overall rankings. On the individual leaderboards, Jinro was also one spot beneath Bruce. However, Jinro wasn’t willing to lower his head when they met.

“A team can only have one captain. What now? Should we draw lots? Or have a match?” Jinro said.

“Draw lots, I guess. It’s simple and quick.” Bruce also had the same intention. A team could only have one captain. Who would be willing to be vice-captain after being captain for so long?

Jinro ended up drawing a higher lot than Bruce.

Jinro felt that his good fortune was bursting at this iteration of the All-star match. He had a feeling that he would surely break out at this All-star match!

Furthermore, he was delighted from seeing entertainment news regarding Fang Zhao’s dissertation defense. Many fans expressed doubt that Fang Zhao could attend due to his school commitments!

He still remembered the previous time when Old Master Mo had said, “Strike a balance between work and rest. With tension there must be relaxation”. Back then, Fang Zhao had just finished a lot of practice questions in preparation for his entrance exams and hadn’t vented his stress yet. Thus, he had thoroughly decimated the whole group of pros. Fortunately, Jinro had been wise at that time and avoided it smoothly by putting the blame on his son.

It was just so fortunate that this All-star Match coincided with Fang Zhao’s dissertation. Fang Zhao can’t come~~~

Jinro was in high spirits. When it came time for the first special guest match, Jinro watched team 1’s miserable performance from the viewing terrace. “Hahahahaha!”

“Such a ferocious operation and only 5% damage to the boss. That coordination won’t do. With such high defense and damage, the only way is to outsmart the boss,” the unfortunate vice-captain Bruce said.

Another gaming god in team 9 chimed in. “We have to understand that some special guests have never played ‘Battle of the Century’ before. The officials have to give them special treatment.”

“Team 1’s special guest has chosen to appear in the form of a monster. I wonder what sort our team will face.”

“I’d rather face a boss in the form of a monster. That would mean that the special guest hasn’t played that before. However, if the boss is human, that would be slightly more troublesome.”

Jinro expressed his agreement.

On the day before the ninth special guest match, Jinro represented their team to draw lots.

“Leave the drawing to me. My luck is especially great.”

The others in team 9 believed Jinro. If Jinro didn’t have such good fortune, how could he have become the captain over Bruce?

They were all gaming gods. What right did one have to be captain? Everyone had similar ability, so why would they have to listen?

Thus, the other members of team 9 had another round of lot drawing. Jinro’s results were still the highest.

They had no choice but to accept this luck.

“Alright, Captain Jin, draw it. We believe in you!”

Thus, Jinro drew the lot under the watchful gazes of all the gaming gods in team 9.

“Survival Mode?”