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

Time flies by like being chased by a dog.

In the blink of an eye, 2012 has come to an end with the ringing of the New Year's bell.

On New Year's Day, Lin Shu gave everyone a holiday.

He set off two strings of firecrackers at the entrance of the base and took a picture of the night view of Taicang, which he posted on his personal Weibo account with the caption "See you in the LPL in the new year".

The calendar has turned to January 29, 2013.

Before dawn, the fog in Taicang, carrying the chill of winter, clung to the windows. The heating in the base was on full blast, and the temperature in the corridor was just right for wearing a sweatshirt.

Xia Xun got up very early.

As the team leader of HWG, she always sets higher standards for herself than the boss. The club has the same time requirements for training staff as for players. They must be on duty before 9 a.m. While the players can rest during night training, she must be present throughout the competition.

Anyone else would have complained long ago, but Xia Xun didn't.

Her thinking was very clear. The boss was offering excellent benefits, including room and board, and the salary was much higher than elsewhere. If you were to be picky about a job that didn't require much skill, you would be ungrateful.

She climbed the stairs to the second floor, and a hazy light shone through the window at the end of the corridor, revealing tiny dust particles floating in the air.

She raised her hand and knocked on the door of the players' dormitory, knock-knock!

"It's 9:30. If you're still not up, call out to each other."

There was a rustling sound coming from inside the door; someone turned over, and the bed creaked.

"Aunt Wang hung your team uniforms on the balcony last night, go get them yourselves. If you haven't washed your hair, wash it before you come to eat breakfast, don't sit at the table smelling of greasy hair."

"Alright—"

Someone inside responded in a drawn-out voice, but it was impossible to tell who it was.

Xia Xun didn't say anything more, turned around and went downstairs to help in the kitchen.

Inside, there was a four-person room.

On the upper bunk, Sima Laozei sat up, the blanket slipping off his shoulders, and pinched his slightly swollen brow.

On the opposite bunk, a white crescent moon was wrapped in a quilt, with only its head showing. Its eyes were half-open and half-closed, and its whole body looked like a lump of dough just taken out of the refrigerator.

I said—

White Crescent's voice was hoarse, and her eyelids were almost drooping as she asked, "How do you two manage to have so much energy every day?"

The "you two" he was referring to were Zhang Hai and Li Nan, who had already washed up and were dressed neatly.

Zhang Hai was standing in front of the mirror, fiddling with his hair. His hoodie was zipped up all the way, and his team uniform was draped over the back of a chair, not yet on.

Li Nan was squatting on the ground tying her shoelaces when she heard this, so she looked up and replied.

"Hehe, it's fine once you get used to the routine."

"Habit?"

The white crescent moon is a mystery to me.

He doesn't consider himself a lazy person, but compared to these two, who get up early every day, he feels like an old car that hasn't even started yet.

During the two months he lived at the base, he gradually came to understand a principle—

Sometimes, those privileged second-generation rich kids aren't necessarily the useless people you might imagine.

On the contrary, in many areas, they often perform better than ordinary people because of their parents' strict requirements.

Just like Zhang Hai and Li Nan right now.

Needless to say, in the game, his basic skills, lane management, awareness, and team fights far surpass his and Lao Bai's performance.

No matter how late the training goes each day, I always make sure to be washed up, my bed is neatly made, and I'm sitting at my desk, full of energy, before 9:30 the next morning.

Not occasionally, but every single day.

This almost rigid self-management is not forced upon them, but rather an instinct cultivated by their childhood environment.

They're not used to sleeping in late, staying in bed, or crumpling their blankets into a ball.

Sima the old scoundrel withdrew his gaze and looked down at his bunk—the quilt was folded, but the four corners were not aligned at all, and there were a few strands of hair on the pillow.

He glanced again at the white crescent-shaped bed opposite him, the blanket rolled up in a ball and stuffed in the corner, the pillow lying across the blanket... Hmm, he'll probably get nagged by Tang Jingli again tomorrow.

Then he turned to look at the lower bunk.

Zhang Hai and Li Nan's bunks were side by side on the lower bunk, their blankets folded neatly.

The pillow was placed neatly on top of the blanket, and the sheets were perfectly smooth without a single wrinkle.

Even the items on the bedside table were neatly arranged—on the left was a phone and a data cable, and on the right were anti-fatigue eye drops and a pack of tissues provided by the club, each in its own place.

Her tidy appearance is unlike what one would expect from someone her age.

Sima the Old Thief sighed inwardly but didn't say it aloud.

He propped himself up on the edge of the bed, folded the blankets again, and then jumped off the floor to wash his face in the bathroom at the end of the corridor.

White Crescent Moon was still struggling on the bed, squinting against the covers as it said, "Old thief, count down five more minutes for me, just five minutes!"

"Today is our first battle..."

Before he could finish speaking, the white crescent-shaped figure had already jumped off the bed.

"Damn, I almost forgot."

……

downstairs.

HWG dining area.

Zhang Hai and Li Nan had already sat down, each with a bowl of millet porridge in front of them, and two fried dough sticks and a half-peeled boiled egg on a plate next to them.

Zhang Hai slurped his porridge loudly, and Li Nan gave him a disapproving look but didn't say anything.

Footsteps echoed down the stairs.

It was those two old thieves.

"This way." Zhang Hai gestured towards the kitchen. "Today's breakfast is steamed buns and fried dough sticks, along with congee and millet porridge. The manager said to keep it light today."

"Why?" White Crescent yawned as she walked toward the kitchen.

"They said they would take a car to Shanghai in advance to check out the situation at the competition venue."

Li Nan picked up the conversation, took a bite of the fried dough stick, chewed it a couple of times, and said, "I was worried we'd get carsick on the way."

"Where's the boss?"

Zhang Hai and the other man addressed Lin Shu as "Master," while White Crescent chose a more江湖-sounding term.

"Making a phone call, probably for another sponsorship..."

"Hesitatingly speaking."

The team had developed some resistance to the strange attraction of their sponsor.

White Crescent ladled out a bowl of millet porridge and took out two large meat buns—he had promised a light meal, but he couldn't resist.

Sima the old scoundrel only took a bowl of plain porridge and a fried dough stick, sat down opposite the two of them, and slowly broke it apart to eat.

"Who are our opponents today?" White Crescent asked, taking a bite of her steamed bun, her words muffled. "The results aren't out yet?"

"No," Li Nan shook his head. "It seems like they're saying the offline tournament will be streamed live, and the organizers are preparing to draw lots on-site."

"Damn—they only found out who their opponent is before the match?" White Crescent's eyes widened. "LPL really knows how to play games."

"Hehe, but it doesn't matter." Zhang Hai put down his porridge bowl, grinned, "No matter who it is, there's only one way forward in front of us."

White Crescent paused for a moment: "...A dead end. You mean a dead end."

Almost, almost.

Sima the old scoundrel remained silent, lowered his head to drink his porridge, picked up a fried dough stick with his chopsticks, soaked it in the porridge until it softened, and then ate it.

This is how he's eaten since he was a child, and he can't change it.

Sima Laozei didn't respond to his two teammates' outbursts.

I simply went through the information of the other eleven teams in my mind.

WOA Dawn Wings, IG, LGD, OMG, DF Peak Force, Duoduo, Fantuan, Huayi Spider, and Shaohua Baishou.

Although Lao Zhang's words sound a bit exaggerated, they are actually true. Among the eleven teams, only IG, LGD, and OMG can truly be considered "strong".

however--

The three strongest teams in the qualifying rounds had the following head-to-head record against HWG in the previous online qualifiers;

Three to zero!