Rebirth is fine, but I get eight hundred dollars right from the start?

One after another.

One after another, young faces, almost childlike, appeared in front of the camera.

When asked in interviews why they chose to pursue a professional career, their answers varied greatly.

Why play esports?

Because I need to make money!

Because it's a job!

Because this is an experiment!

Because I like it!

For a moment, countless people sitting in front of their computers fell silent.

Among them are people who already love e-sports, as well as outsiders who were attracted by the recent success of the show in breaking into the mainstream due to Lin Shu's massive fan base.

Regardless of who they were, at this moment, a thought inevitably arose in their minds;

Before this, they seemed to have some misunderstandings about esports.

The promotional video's progress bar is still moving.

A voice-over suddenly came through the screen.

"Because I also want to know how far I can go. No matter how far, I want to see the finish line."

"I want to hold on a little longer!"

"We've been playing for so long, it would be such a shame if we couldn't win a championship."

"All I know is how to play video games. If I can't even succeed in this field, then I'll really be like what others say about me—a complete failure in life."

The screen returned to the leaderboard.

A hand reached out and gently moved a nameplate—from the "Advancement Zone" to the "Pending Zone".

The metal slot made a soft "click!" sound, as if something had been settled.

……

"Dreams—the pursuit of dreams—are an eternal theme!"

"Esports is brutal; it is far more dangerous and narrower than the normal path."

"Next Stop, Career!" doesn't create dreams, it just breaks them down for you to see.

"Thirty people entered this base. They underwent complete training and assessment through the HWG professional youth training system."

"Some people leave, some stay, and some depart."

The narrator's voice softened slightly, but remained steady: "This is professional esports. It's not a game, not entertainment, not an escape—it's a competition where you have to face your own limits every single day."

The final image falls on a wall.

HWG's team logo was clearly visible under the lights, below which was the phrase printed on: "A true master always has the heart of an apprentice."

Against a deep blue background, the gold-embossed program title slowly emerges—"Next Stop, Career!"

The narration concluded with its final line, spoken at a steady pace but clearly: "This program doesn't promise you'll be a champion, nor can it promise you success. It only promises one thing—"

The screen went dark.

"You will see, you will experience firsthand, what the word 'professional' truly means."

The screen went black for three seconds, then the main visual of the program lit up;

On a dark background, thirty silhouettes stand under a spotlight, facing a long, seemingly endless staircase.

The title reappeared, with a new white subtitle below: "Beyond talent lies choice."

Just when everyone thought the promotional video was over.

The program title appeared briefly but didn't disappear; instead, it shrunk to the bottom right corner of the screen.

A voice-over rang out, and the camera zoomed in on Lin Shu, who looked at the camera and greeted it:

Welcome to "Next Stop, Career!"

"I guess most people watching this video are familiar with the term esports. Some have watched matches, some have played ranked games, and some may have even thought late at night, 'Could I become a professional esports player?'"

"But before you make this decision, there's one thing you need to understand: esports and playing games are never the same thing."

"Playing games for fun is your own business. You can play if you're happy, and turn it off if you're not. You can yell at your teammates if you lose, and you can take a screenshot and post it on social media if you win. But once you sit in this training room—no."

"Because the word 'professional' means that your daily training, schedule, diet, and mental state must all be executed according to a precise standard. If you win, it doesn't mean you were in good form that day; if you lose, it's not because you were unlucky. Every detail will be analyzed, and every match will be reviewed until dawn."

"What our program aims to do is take you on a journey along this path—"

"—Then give the choice to yourself."

"Everyone, the program will premiere online tomorrow at the same time. See you there!"

The video ended there, but the chat in the Huya live stream room for "Next Stop, Pro!" exploded.

[After watching it, all I can say is awesome!]

Wow, wow, wow, wow, this is a huge production!

[There really are thirty people! My goodness! Now, it's fair to say that HWG is the number one esports club in China, right?]

[No hair, E-God is amazing, unbeatable when it comes to creating drama and stirring things up.]

【Wait, why does this promotional video feel like a documentary? That shot of the empty card slot on the leaderboard is giving me the creeps. They're just showing it to you to make it clear "someone left," right?】

I thought it would be another one of those cringeworthy movies where contestants shout slogans like "My dream is to be a champion," but it gave me goosebumps.

Guys, just watching documentaries is enough to make you feel incredibly stressed.

So, the show won't officially air for another day, right?

No!!! Another 24 hours?!

[I don't think so. I remember the official program announcement stated that the entire process would be broadcast live from multiple cameras, with the video edited and uploaded to the platform later.]

[Great! For those of you who can't watch the live stream, you can watch the final cut later.]

Let's fight it out.

Compared to the home base of "Next Stop, Pro!" on the Huya platform, the level of activity here is just as high.

[LOL esports variety show - "Next Stop, Pro!" Special post]

[Wuhu, family members, I checked the program's official website, and they've created a contestant information page. All thirty contestants' numbers, IDs, ranks, ages, and regions are publicly available.]

Okay, okay, so there's a voting part here, right?

I thought Emperor was just joking around, but I didn't expect him to make such a big move so quietly.

[Quietly? Dude, you should know that this show's sponsorship fees for a single season are already over thirty million.]

How much? How much did you say? Thirty million?

[Hmph, what do you think you are?]

[Here are some statistics: the promotional video alone, released just one hour and seven minutes ago, has already surpassed three million views across the entire internet. It has been retweeted 1.2 times on Weibo, and currently has over six thousand comments.]

[My goodness, this is outrageous! Is the esports market really that big?]

[Just don't let high expectations lead to greater disappointment. A well-made promotional video doesn't guarantee a high-quality finale. With this kind of documentary-style program, if there isn't enough genuine charisma from the contestants and real conflicts that arise during training, it can easily become a monotonous chronicle by the middle stages. Hopefully, Lin Shu has an alternative pacing plan for the program.]

[The first episode hasn't even aired yet, and you're already worried about the pacing in the middle? Dude, that's ridiculous. Let's see how it goes first.]