Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Beijing Stamp Corporationâs Office.
âJX, we are going for supper later. Are you staying late again today?â JXâs commentary partner who had two dimples, Xiao Fen, asked.
âYea. I am still going through some videos. The gameplay is pretty outstanding. I plan to complete editing by tonight.â JX raised his head and an unkempt face emerged behind the monitor.
Xiao Fen couldnât help but laugh at JXâs messy hair. âHalf of your fans who fall in love with your voice would probably run away if they see the real you.â
âHehe.â JX smiled back and didnât say anything.
Itâs normal to see JX staying in the office for the whole night. He didnât have much choice due to his never-ending work. He needed to check out replays, live-stream his own game, and edit video by inserting his own commentaryâ¦
His body posture clearly displayed his exhaustion but his eyes were beaming with excitement. Those eyes belong to someone who had probably discovered rare gems.
âItâs decided. I am going to use these clips. Such a wonderful play. I think my mouth will be all dried up when Iâm done with this.â There was a smile on his face despite the complaint.
He opened Alipay and transferred five hundred yuan to a certain player after he confirmed he was indeed playing in the Korean server. If the views of the video hit a certain target, he was going to pay him more.
His instinct told him that this video would definitely make it to the top 3 in Duowan after release.
Right after he completed the payment, JXâs phone rang. He answered the call with his brows furrowed.
âHey JX, what is this? I have deliberately asked a player of Challenger rank to play non-stop last week and send you his video. Now you tell me you donât want them anymore?â The voice on the other end was clearly displeased.
âI discovered better materials from the Korean server. It was too exceptional to pass on,â JX explained.
âDonât be nuts. You should be the one who knows best about the strength of the Challenger-ranked player that I had hired. How can he be compared to some puny players from the Diamond rank? I understand you wanted clips with more actions but is it really meaningful to release a video of one-sided slaughter?â
âSun Liang, just wait until the video is out and you will know. This player and his partner played really, really well together,â JX emphasized once more.
âAlright. Letâs set this matter aside first. On another note, I heard that you plan to dig out highlights of Team Skycrown and edit it with your commentary?â Sun Liang interrogated.
âTrue. Their last match was pretty fun to watch. A lot of my fans have specifically requested for my version of it. After wrapping up my current theme, I am planning to make tournament-related videos. Using that match as an introduction seems to be a good ideaâ¦â JX revealed his plan.
âAre you stupid or what? Donât you know three members from Skycrown have currently been blacklisted by Sky Club? You seeking your own demise if you launch their video at this point. Many online resources would instantly be removed and I guarantee you, your video viewership will be immediately halved, tooâ Sun Liang warned.
âOh, I didnât know that Sky Club and Team Skycrown had such a huge conflict. I will focus on other teams then,â JX yielded.
âThatâs my boy. Our manager has instructed continuous defamation on Skycrown even if they manage to get into LPL.â Sun Liang repeated.
JX had been in this industry for a long time. He understood how deep the influence of an E-sports club could go. He didnât want to get involved with othersâ dispute and more importantly, he was not bold enough to offend big shots like Sky Club in China E-sports.
Nonetheless, he felt that it was such a shame for Team Skycrown. The personal skills of all five members were highlight-worthy and really suitable to be used in his next program.
***
âRemember to show the interface that displays your rank when you record your play. This helps to convince others that you are not acting or playing bully,â JX sent a message to Yu Luocheng through QQ.
JX did not doubt Yu Luochengâs true capability. He could tell that players from both teams were at least Diamond ranked or above.
The problem was some low-tier players always questioned the authenticity of JXâs videos. They would leave all kinds of horrible comments if the solid proof was not presented.
âOkay! But as we have agreed, you have to pixelate my partnerâs ID in all your videos,â Yu Luocheng replied.
âNo problem. By the way, do you two always play on the Korean server?â JX asked.
âNo. Last week was our first.â
âHow did you get your account then?â
An account in the Korean server requires identification so it is not easy to get one. JX was curious about their true identity. Judging by their gameplay, they were one of the best in this country but oddly, he had never heard of them.
âItâs a Level 30 account that my partner bought,â Yu Luocheng typed.
âThe Diamond account in Korean server is quite expensive,â JX pointed out.
JX would be called out easily whenever he played on the local server. Itâs difficult to play the game properly once someone recognizes you. This greatly dampened the quality of his live-game so he wished to play in the Korean server someday. Unfortunately, he didnât find any available account till now and had no idea how much an ID there exactly costs.
âI have no idea how much it is for a Diamond-ranked ID. These two that we bought should be cheaper,â Yu Luocheng replied.
âWait⦠You mean you guys did not get a Diamond-ranked ID?â JX was hit with a sudden realization.
âNah. The one we bought was just a normal full level ID.â
âThe f*ck! Donât tell me the games that you recorded were actually of Gold and Platinum rank!â JX almost lost control.
âIt canât be. Both sides displayed exceptional skills. Could it be that casual players from Korea are already this good?â
âRest assured. The videos that I provided were all Diamond Ranked games. We reached the Diamond Rank in five days. The videos sent to you were recorded on the sixth and seventh day. Our teammates and opponents should be either one rank above or below Diamond II,â Yu Luocheng clarified.
âDiamond Rank in five days?â JX was stunned.
Korea only had one main server. All Korean players play on this server. Besides, many professional players would train on this server too. The standard of the Korean server was light years ahead of the national server.
How was it possible for them to reach Diamond in just five days? JX had once heard his friend, who was a Diamond I in China server, was stuck at Platinum Rank after playing for two months there.
âI am serious. We could reach even faster if not because my partner can only manage five games per day,â Yu Luocheng said.
ââ¦â
JX was speechless seeing Yu Luochengâs reply.
Five games per day in a total of five days. In other words, they had only played slightly more than twenty games within that span.
Diamond rank after twenty games. âYou guys must have won every game so far!â
JX would not believe such bullshit if he had not seen how they slaughtered the Korean players freely. To achieve a twenty-plus win streak in the Korean server was wishful thinking until now.
Of course, JX would be in greater disbelief if he was told that these two were the ones who had successively created the longest win streak (25 and 26, respectively) in Chinaâs server history.
These highlights were very valuable to JX.
âThey are real pros!â JX realized he must have bumped into two rare talents.
He questioned why such high caliber players were not yet recruited by clubs. âCould it be that they are professionals who use this holiday period to earn extra income behind their employerâs back?â
Yet again, JX had watched the gameplay of almost all professional players in this country before. He could not recall any pair that played so tacitly and aggressively.
The professional players are indeed strong. But JX was clearly aware that some top players were still hidden among the casual players waiting to be discovered. If they get to pick their best champion, they could easily defeat those pro-players too.
Perhaps no one would believe but JX knew exactly such a person.
This strong player was initially recruited by Team Revelation and his personal skill was on par to Bai Feng. However, due to the playerâs uncooperative behavior, he was sacked by the club.
There was a great deal of such disobedient players in China. They prefer freedom more than fame and sometimes play as much as a professional player would every day. They used their ability to earn income from various internet sources.
These two must belong to the latter group. They had unmatchable skills but were unwilling to be restricted by a club.
âHmm. I must tap in with him constantly.â JX was confident that the new video compilations revolve around these twos would become an instant hit in the gaming forums!
***
Lecheng, Rising Dragon Cyber Café.
For awhile now, whenever Yu Luocheng joined a game, there would be a group of enthusiastic fans gathered around him.
There was a time in the past when internet café were still popular, a lot of café visitors who did not have a seat or enough money to play would have done the same. In his earlier days, Yu Luocheng was also one of those who squatted behind others and watched.
âHey, who is that guy? Why is the entire Team Scarlet gathered behind him when he starts to play?â On the other side of the café, a few secondary school students raised their heads and looked toward Yu Luocheng.
Team Scarlet was considered popular in most cafés around Lecheng now. Those who frequently visited cyber café would have at least heard of them.
Among the elementary students who played LOL, Team Scarlet was the best team they got to see up close. They were the definition of professionals around here.
However, a strange phenomenon had taken place in the café recently. All players from Team Scarlet were always seen gathered behind a teenager to watch him play like a group of obedient apprentices.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Why was this happening? Why were the top five players of Lecheng so submissive to a young man?
The celebrity effect had resulted in everyone holding a VIP card to crowd behind Yu Luochengâs seat. It was a rather spectacular group!
âI am going to pee. Huang Yu, please pick my champion for me.â Yu Luocheng stood up from his place.
He turned around and was shocked to see the packed crowd behind him. âHey you guys, at least left a clean path for me to get through. My bladder is about to burst. Donât you all need to protect your own butts being so close to each other?â
Yu Luocheng rushed to the toilet after he forced himself through the crowd.
After Yu Luocheng disappeared into the bathroom, the people around began to talk.
âThe opponents in previous games look unusually weak. He went through most of them without a sweat. I bet those were only Gold or Platinum games,â a tall guy commented.
âSame feeling here. I think the players from the Korean server are not that strong after all. I wonder why we couldnât defeat Koreans in the previous S competition.â A guy in his school uniform added.
Huang Yu turned around and glared at them after he heard what they said.
âThereâs certainly a lot of twisted minds nowadays. You seriously think this is a Gold or Platinum level game? Have you ever seen such a quick covering speed in those games? Is it possible for an ADC at the lower-tier managed 80 CS in ten minutes? Is it common to see all sorts of ulti-avoiding-Flash in an ordinary game?â
To shut them up, Huang Yu purposely called out Yu Luochengâs personal LOL info.
Perhaps nobody in the café could read the worm-like words but everyone could definitely recognize the Diamond shield.
A glossy Diamond II! Nobody could have faked that!