Explosive Popularity Across the Web, Frenzied Bounty Order

A Flash exploded into popularity at a speed no one could have imagined.

In the past few days, the streamer's channel had been gaining more and more viewers every day thanks to Xu Cheng's presence. By today, it felt like the entire internet was watching this livestream. Xu Cheng himself had no idea that, through a twist of fate, his reputation both inside and outside the scene had completely blown up.

As soon as the livestream ended, clips of Xu Cheng's Fiora A Flash were already cut and posted on forums, short video platforms like Bilibili, and major media sites. They sparked endless awe and admiration from countless viewers.

[Holy shit, that A Flash alone made me wet!]

[Too damn cool, the one-second four-break is nothing compared to A Flash!]

[Light-speed four-break, the Godfather is truly insane!]

[Anyone know who the Godfather is? Does he play pro? I seriously feel like if he went pro, LPL might still have hope...]

[Wuwuwu, Godfather, take us all charging one more time!]

[Ten thousand signatures begging the Godfather to start streaming and teach A Flash!]

[...]

Once the Fiora A Flash move came out, Xu Cheng was hailed as the Godfather by countless Fiora players, and this nickname spread far and wide. In no time, it even made it onto Weibo's trending list.

[Bro, I saw your match history—do you know Data Freak? Give me a way to contact him!]

[You don't know him? Then how did you run into him three times in a row? Don't worry, money's not an issue!]

[Really don't know him? Fine...]

"Hey, buddy? I want to ask you something—do you know Data Freak? Yeah, that one who's been blowing up lately... Here's the deal, our club has given us orders..."

"Can't find him, dammit. He really doesn't mix with the esports scene at all, huh? Why doesn't anyone in the circle know anything about him?"

A youth training manager from some club hung up the phone, already dizzy from the search for Xu Cheng. He felt like bowing to a Buddha on the spot, kneeling down and crying out: "Godfather, who the hell are you? Where are you?" "Can you stop torturing us working stiffs? Please, just come out already!"

"..."

That's right. Every club was going crazy tonight.

Viewers and fans only thought Xu Cheng's A Flash was the most impressive and the hottest topic out there. But as insiders, they valued even more the potential and talent Xu Cheng had shown today. Forget developing champion mechanics. Tell me—someone who's never gone through any systematic training, whose basic knowledge is worse than an average Challenger player, who relies purely on raw talent to brute-force his laning awareness—and yet he still pulls off this kind of result. Just how insane is his talent?

Smart people weren't limited to the streamer alone. Every club was full of sharp operators. After today, they fully realized they had underestimated Data Freak before. This guy was absolutely a super genius, no worse than JackeyLove, maybe even better. Whoever could snag him might gain an extra future for their team...

But Xu Cheng had never had any connection to the esports scene before. So after all the clubs had been using their networks to search for so long, they still hadn't found a single lead. After today, the competitive pressure had skyrocketed, and all the clubs were gradually losing their minds.

Word had it that Principal Wang issued a "bounty order" that very night—anyone who could provide information on Data Freak would receive a generous cash reward. This move was so absurd it practically set a precedent in the scene. It also made countless people realize: for Season 7, IG was going all out.

[I heard the bounty is a hundred thousand—so tempting, so tempting...]

[Principal Wang is way too rich. A hundred thousand for a pure rookie who's never played pro, just because he has talent... Looks like S7 being held in China really got to all the teams...]

[Definitely. The Bird's Nest—can you imagine an esports competition being held at the National Stadium? That's huge historically. S7 might be the biggest World Championship ever.]

In the Bodhisattva Girls' group chat, the ladies still grinding at the bottom of the esports scene were also stunned by the barrage of news from inside and outside the circle today, sparking a heated discussion. Among it all, the big news of Principal Wang throwing around a fortune just to "win a smile" had a few of them wide-eyed with envy, sighing to themselves.

[At the end of the day, it's because Data Freak's performance was too insane. That learn-on-the-fly plus A Flash—damn, even I thought his mechanics were sick!]

Xiaoyu didn't have to pretend at all in the group. She cursed when she wanted, cracked dirty jokes when she felt like it. After all, no man would ever know she was like this.

"Yeah, even a Silver noob like me can tell he's insane. How is this guy built? How does he have talent like that... and not even realize it?"

"Haha, Factory Director's been putting on an absolute show lately. He's already started reverse-gaslighting the Data Monster..."

As the girls chatted, Xiao Yu noticed the black icon for [Cheng Cheng] light up among her friends. Her eyes brightened:

"Cheng Cheng, when are you coming to Magic City? Sister's all ready to welcome you!"

Huh?

Xu Cheng froze, then quickly typed: "Sister Xiao Yu, didn't Cheng Cheng tell you? I found my second uncle..."

"Don't give me that worn-out excuse. Don't you want to see us?"

Xiao Yu was a little annoyed at that.

Don't want to see?

I'm fucking terrified that if I see you all, I won't make it back alive!

The moment Xu Cheng imagined his good sisters in the group discovering he was a guy, would they just snap and kill him on the spot?

Even just the sheer social death of that scenario was unbearable!

Steeling himself, Xu Cheng started his daily unhinged routine: "Setting the facts aside, how can you think that? Sister Xiao Yu, we're besties, you know~"

"Wouldn't besties want to meet even more?"

"Actually, I'm doing this for your own good. You're so strapped for cash, how much can a nail salon really make? I've pulled some strings for you—you can come interview for a director position at LPL. If you pass, you'll earn way more."

Xiao Yu genuinely cared about Xu Cheng.

She'd even called in a big favor to get that connection for her.

In the increasingly booming LPL scene, the director job had long become a hot commodity—not just anyone could do it.

"Yeah, yeah, Cheng Cheng. We all know things are tough at home. Just come to Magic City once. It's not like we're gonna eat you~~"

Tuozijie chimed in then.

Seeing the other besties all speaking in unison, their concern and longing plain to see.

Xu Cheng could only reply quietly:

"Alright, I'll see when I have time and come visit..."

But inside, he sighed—

Looks like this group was done for.

These sweet, naive girls had no idea that the moment they forced Xu Cheng to meet them—

The purest, most beautiful monetary relationship between them had already shattered.

He'd find a time to leave the group.

Then forget each other and move on.

Before that, he needed to figure out a smooth, graceful way to bow out, without hurting these sisters who genuinely cared for him.

Fourth chapter today!

Been going hard these past few days. Author's hand speed is slow, no backlog, so chapters are written and posted live. Sometimes the update time is unstable—please bear with me.

Also, following along really matters. I beg you, dear readers, to follow daily to the latest chapter. Don't just stockpile, please~

One more chapter today, probably around midnight!