Late at night on the short-video platform Douyin.
A livestream video of the rookie streamer Exalted Emperor brutally crushing the expert streamer Zongshi shot straight into the top three trending searches. Riding that wave of attention, Exalted Emperor's Douyin livestream account gained followers at a staggering pace, breaking the 100,000 mark in just a few hours.
Players flocked to log into Honor of Kings and search for Exalted Emperor's game account, all eager to see the rookie who had crushed Zongshi. What they found left them stunned.
"Holy shit! Are these really results a human being could get? Top MVP ratings as far as the eye can see!"
"He only went on a winning streak from Bronze to Mighty King this morning, and he's already reached Glory King tonight? Damn, does it have to be this ridiculous?"
"What's Exalted Emperor trying to do? Is he going to charge straight to 100 stars in one go?"
"It's looking that way, but I think Exalted Emperor's aiming for far more than that. As of now, he's at Glory 58 Stars, with 56 ranked matches in total, and every single result has an MVP badge."
"Bro, you mean Exalted Emperor wants to build an account with a perfect win rate and an MVP in every match?"
"I reckon that's pretty likely, but I don't fancy his chances. Even King-Titled Players in five-man premade teams can't get MVP every match, so how could a rookie like Exalted Emperor do it? I'll sit back and wait for what happens next. Please prove me wrong."
Chengdu, AG Super Play's training base.
"Things are starting to spiral out of control." Yinuo kept refreshing Exalted Emperor's match history on the camp app. The next second, Exalted Emperor's latest result popped up.
[Sun Quan, 16/0/8, 15.9 rating, top-tier badge]!
"I never imagined Exalted Emperor could crush Zongshi, much less keep getting top MVP ratings all the way to this point." Zhongyi looked through the match history on Exalted Emperor's profile, equally stunned. "Holy crap! A 100% win rate with Zhao Yun, a 100% win rate with Sun Quan... That's terrifying."
"Fucking incredible. I've got nothing to say." Beside him, Xuanran stared at Exalted Emperor's unbroken string of MVP results, his eyes wide and round.
Since Honor of Kings launched, only four accounts had managed to win their way from Bronze to Glory with MVP ratings all the way.
And three of those four accounts belonged to Champion Emperor players!
Now the rookie Exalted Emperor had burst onto the scene and become the fifth player to achieve this feat. How could anyone not be shocked?
"Captain Nuo, why do you look so awful?" Zhongyi noticed something was off with Yinuo and asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Fine beads of sweat covered Yinuo's temples, and his face was a little pale. He looked at the detailed stats from Exalted Emperor's matches as a marksman. "Before, I always thought this Exalted Emperor was a jungler, but now it looks like I was completely wrong!"
"His jungling skills aren't just incredible; he's exceptional in the farm lane too."
"He's the first ordinary player who's made me feel threatened."
At those words, Zhongyi's expression changed drastically, and even Xuanran's face changed.
Gu Shi, who had caused a huge stir online and was known as the nation's number one marksman, had never made their Captain Nuo feel threatened. Yet Exalted Emperor, a rookie streamer who had only emerged two days ago, had made their Captain Nuo feel a sense of crisis.
It was a little frightening.
"Exalted Emperor climbed to Mighty King using jungler heroes, then switched to marksman heroes to reach Glory King. Captain Nuo, if you feel threatened because his marksman results are too impressive, there's really no need."
Zhongyi reassured him, "I believe that if it were you, you could definitely do what Exalted Emperor has done, or even surpass him."
"You've misunderstood. Even if his farm lane skills were on par with a King-Titled Player's, I wouldn't feel threatened at all. What really makes me feel threatened is how fast he's growing."
"Fast! Too fast! So fast it's outrageous!" Yinuo's pupils trembled, and his fingers shook slightly. "It's been less than two days, and everything he's shown can already be compared to a King-Titled Player. If he's allowed to keep growing, one day he'll become a true King Title!"
Zhongyi heard the implication.
As last year's strongest Overlord, Yinuo had all the game skills of a King Title, along with a King-Titled Player's connections, influence, ability to rally support... It was just that King Titles were awarded only once every three years.
That was why he had never received one.
The King Title selection was being held this year, and Yinuo had a very good chance of defeating the previous Farm Lane King, ascending the throne as the new King, and becoming the first AG player to earn a King Title.
But Exalted Emperor's appearance had thrown all of that into doubt.
Although Exalted Emperor was only a small streamer for now, with just over 100,000 followers, and his solo-queue climb also suggested that he had few connections in the scene,
he already possessed the hardest requirement, King Title-level game skills. As for soft assets like connections, influence, and the ability to rally support, he could quickly build them by affiliating himself with an amateur team or joining a professional team.
It was foreseeable that Exalted Emperor would very likely appear at the Overlord Feast as a challenger.
If Exalted Emperor chose to challenge Yinuo in the farm lane then, it would be a very thorny matter.
The odds of Yinuo losing were extremely small, but there was still some possibility.
And if he did lose and was stripped of the Farm Lane Overlord throne, Yinuo would not be eligible to take part in the subsequent King Title selection.
"Captain Nuo, what do you want to do, then?" Zhongyi narrowed his eyes. "Should I arrange for the youngsters on the second team to meet this Exalted Emperor first and help you scout out some information in advance?"
"The youngsters on the second team are no match for Exalted Emperor. They'd only be cannon fodder if they went." Yinuo wiped away his sweat, having calmed down by now. "Let's contact the coach first and see if we can bring Exalted Emperor into AG. As long as we make him one of us, every problem will come apart at the seams."
Zhongyi recalled, "Captain Nuo, when Exalted Emperor was streaming this morning, Huahai offered him a chance to go pro, but he turned it down. Exalted Emperor also said he had no intention of going pro. I'm afraid he'll turn us down too."
"How would a fish bite a hook with no worm on it?" Yinuo sneered. "As long as we offer a generous enough signing bonus, I don't believe he won't be tempted."
"All right, I'll get on it right away."
That night, Huating Residential Complex.
As midnight approached, Su Hang looked at the Honor of Kings screen, which had once again popped up with a mandatory rest notice, and nodded in satisfaction. "In one evening, I went on a winning streak from Mighty King all the way to Glory 58 Stars, and every result was a top MVP rating. My ranking speed was decent enough."
"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll reach Legendary 100 Stars tomorrow."
Su Hang was completely confident he could reach Legendary 100 Stars with a perfect win rate, but whether he could keep up his string of MVP results was another matter.
Just then, the phone suddenly rang.
It was an unfamiliar number registered in Chengdu.
Is it a spam call?
Su Hang frowned and answered, but didn't speak immediately.
"Hello, is this Mr. Su?"
A polite young man's voice sounded. "I'm the recruitment manager for the KPL professional team Chengdu AG Super Play Club. My surname is Pei."
"AG's recruitment manager?" Su Hang paused, alarm bells ringing in his head. "How did you get my contact information?"
"Please don't misunderstand. You see, your Douyin livestream account has Xingtu enabled, so we placed an order through the backend for a promotional partnership worth 10,000 yuan. That was how we obtained your contact information," Manager Pei explained quickly on the other end.
"Oh." Su Hang's guard didn't drop in the slightest. "I enabled Xingtu by accident. I have no intention of promoting anything, and I'll refund you the money later."
"There's no need to worry. My main reason for contacting you is to ask whether you're interested in going pro. Our team's coach thinks very highly of your game skills," Manager Pei said enthusiastically.
"No." Su Hang was brief and to the point.
"You've surely heard of AG. We've just made history with back-to-back championships, and we're a famous powerhouse team in the league. As long as you join AG, we're willing to offer you a signing contract worth a million..."
"Not interested. I'm hanging up." Su Hang ended the call.
A few seconds later, the phone rang again. It was the same number.
Su Hang answered again. "Anything else?"
This time, Manager Pei's attitude took a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
"Mr. Su, I hope you understand one thing. Other teams won't dare take a player who rejects an invitation from AG."
Su Hang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you threatening me?"