"Did you get matched? Did you get matched?!"
"No..."
"Ugh~!"
"Who got in? Did anyone get matched?"
The people around him were chattering noisily, apparently waiting for something, only to end up disappointed one by one.
Sighs filled the air.
Xu Cheng turned his back on them and put on his noise-canceling headphones.
In an instant, the world went quiet.
"How'd it go? Did you get matched together?"
"No way, I'm on the same team as Uzi? Little Dog, my idol!"
"Uzi and Factory Director are on the same team? Good grief, the viewers watching the stream tonight are getting their money's worth. Just seeing those two IDs together is worth the price of admission!"
"Ah Shui got matched against them? Did you forget to wash your hands after picking your nose? Hahaha..."
Dou Sha Live.
Tonight, top streamer Ah Shui, along with Uzi, Xi Ye, Xiao Hu, and Factory Director, who was streaming on Penguin, had all gone live at the same time.
Official staff members like Rita and Yu Shuang were broadcasting the event from start to finish.
All the stars had gathered, shining bright.
Even before matchmaking began, the combined viewership across their livestreams had reached three million.
How incredible was three million viewers in 2016?
That was the influence of bringing together the two stars of the scene: Pig and Dog.
Tonight's livestream event had already achieved unprecedented success before the games had even begun.
The staff at the official organization and Dou Sha were grinning from ear to ear behind the scenes. Not only had tonight's event been a success, but because they had only privately announced that they'd be testing matchmaking among top players within a limited range, nearly every player across the country was now frantically queueing up and following tonight's stream.
They'd figured out how to boost the game's daily active users and viewership.
"So I'm really the only one over here?"
Of the five guests, Ah Shui was the only one on the other side. The opposing team had four professional players, and he was immediately dumbfounded.
But the next moment, he saw the ID he'd been dreaming about.
He wasn't just dumbfounded anymore. He was thrilled!
"No way! Bro! We're rich!"
"?"
"Who's rich? What the hell are you talking about?"
Factory Director, who was on the call with him, was startled.
"That guy who's rich—the one you asked me about last time. He got matched too, and he's on my team!"
After his initial excitement, Ah Shui had already calmed down.
Seeing Xu Cheng's ID pop up as he entered the room, he laughed to himself. "Hahaha, what goes around comes around! It's not that you won't get what's coming to you; it's just that the time hasn't come yet!"
"Tonight you've been matched against four top pros, and Factory Director and Uzi are on the same team for the first time in history. If we don't beat the crap out of you, you can call me by your name!"
"You mean that guy? He really got matched?"
Factory Director and the others were taken aback when they heard that.
Then they all laughed.
The livestream chat was going wild. Most viewers clearly had no idea who Xu Cheng was.
But they'd already heard Ah Shui talk about him and knew all about his various "misdeeds."
In fact, it wasn't just them. Over the past day or so, just about everyone in King Rank had heard of this outlaw named Xu Cheng.
After all, he was the connection-based AD. You knew how it went.
"This is gonna be good. That kid was so cocky last time, playing like that. Let's see if he dares to do it again when he runs into us."
"Even with a hundred times the nerve, would he dare? Does he think Uzi and Factory Director are amateurs?"
Xiye put on an exaggerated tone for the show. "Everyone, tonight we'll show you how to slaughter the opposition in a full three hundred and sixty degrees."
"Too bad Ah Shui isn't on our side. It'd be even better if he were."
"Come on, don't be like that. He's just an ordinary King-tier player. Going after him like this is bullying."
Uzi still had some conscience—or maybe he just had pride.
"How about this? We'll swap positions for this game."
"Okay."
"Sure."
"No problem."
Everyone agreed.
By now, countless viewers in the livestream chat had caught on—
So this was a grudge match!
Everyone got excited.
The Chinese loved watching a spectacle—
And they especially loved seeing a grudge match like this!
At the same time, they felt sorry for the young guy who'd somehow managed to offend so many big names.
"Let's not get too carried away. Besides Ah Shui, Beethoven and Official are over there too. This really is the most elite kind of ranked game."
Factory Director offered a reminder.
Apart from Xu Cheng, whom nobody knew, nearly all the other nine people in this official event were famous esports stars, renowned and dazzling in their own right.
Seeing such an unfamiliar ID lined up alongside theirs felt a little out of place.
As they discussed their picks, Xu Cheng had no idea that these so-called big shots had casually decided his miserable fate in just a few words.
Ever since he'd started playing LOL, he'd never paid attention to anything outside the game. He clicked the random selection button at the top.
A green portrait appeared.
Without hesitation, he locked it in immediately.
Once they reached the loading screen—
"Pfft, Thresh?"
"Didn't they already have Niu Tou? What's Thresh doing there?"
"???"
Seeing Thresh and Niu Tou, two support champions, on the opposing team, their teammates, opponents, and the viewers watching the stream were all taken aback.
"No way! He's really going to keep playing like this?"
Ah Shui slapped the desk, his face full of disbelief.
The last time he'd run into Xu Cheng, the guy had picked whatever he wanted, playing a support champion in the top lane. He'd been all about having fun and doing whatever he pleased.
Ah Shui had assumed that in a match this high-level, especially with all those big-name IDs, Xu Cheng would play normally.
He hadn't expected the guy to show them absolutely no respect—to be so cocky that he'd still pick whatever he wanted!
He wasn't the only one who hadn't expected it.
"Seriously? This guy's got some nerve."
"That's a bit of a slap in the face, isn't it? Uzi and Factory Director are here, and he's messing around with two supports?"
"He's got some nerve."
Even Little Dog, who usually didn't care much about this sort of thing, smacked his lips. He seemed to sense the other side's disdain and provocation.
An arrogant, imposing image of My arrogance, what can you do? sprang vividly to mind.
He was Mad Dog Uzi. He liked people who were just as cocky as he was!
"Good. I'll take you on today!"
Little Dog was brimming with interest as the game loaded into Summoner's Rift.
As soon as they got in, Ah Shui impatiently typed out a line—
[JackeyLove]: "Hey, bro, remember me?"
After a long while, he still hadn't gotten a reply. Just as he was wondering what was going on, someone pinged him a few times.
Ding, ding, ding!
[Bro! Our Family's Rich Now!]: "AFK? If you keep being AFK, I'm reporting you."
???
Ah Shui immediately felt like he was being ignored. He snapped, "I asked if you remembered me!"
[Bro! Our Family's Rich Now!]: "?"
[Bro! Our Family's Rich Now!]: "Who are you?"
"Pfft!"
Ah Shui nearly spat blood.
He hadn't expected the other guy not even to remember who he was!
He'd spent the past few days losing sleep over him, hoping for nothing more than to "see him again" and shout, "You must be happy!!"
That was a hell of a blow to his pride!
No, wait.
Ah Shui suddenly realized something.
Who was he?
A prodigy who'd reached National Server First at fourteen, a future star that every club was scrambling to recruit.
A top streamer on Dou Sha.
How could some guy in King Rank not recognize him?
He had to be deliberately humiliating me!
At that thought, Ah Shui laughed angrily. "Oh, so you've even forgotten me, huh?"
"Putting on an act for me? You almost had me fooled!"
After sending it all in one breath, he immediately felt he had the upper hand.
He felt refreshed!
But the next moment—
[Bro! Our Family's Rich Now!]: "Reported."
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