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

Lin Shu patted him on the shoulder, said nothing more, and turned to walk to the next one.

Easy, SS, Dull—I shook hands with them one by one.

As he walked up to Dull, White Crescent peeked out from beside him, grinning, and said, "Brother, don't challenge me to a one-on-one fight tonight, I'm not taking it."

"You just wait." Dull rolled his eyes, but his grip tightened, and he couldn't help but smile.

The last one is the jungler.

After shaking hands with the last person, Lin Shu took a step back and nodded slightly as a sign of acknowledgment.

Seeing their leader act this way, the HWG members behind him naturally followed suit obediently.

In the commentary booth, Wawa's voice softened noticeably. After a couple of seconds of thought, he organized his thoughts and said, "HWG... took the initiative to walk towards the Wayi Spider's booth and bump fists and shake hands with each of their opponents."

"This scene—"

Joker paused for two seconds, as if searching for the right words, "It's really heartwarming, to be honest. Emperor's actions have shown us that esports is also a competition, and the spirit of 'friendship first, competition second' is being upheld by the players as well."

"right."

Wawa nodded, his voice much steadyer than before, "Winning without arrogance, losing without discouragement. Winners aren't haughty, and losers aren't dejected. HWG is showing everyone in this way—esports is about more than just winning and losing; it's also about respect."

The sentiment in the comments section has completely shifted.

Is this what competitive spirit is...?

[E-God has opened up a new chapter.]

Who was it that just said they wanted to do freestyle fighting? Come out and take your beating!

[Exactly! Has E-God forgotten everything he teaches in his tutorial videos?]

Friendship first, competition second; E-God embodies this principle not only in ranked games but also in competitive matches.

[Those members of the Wayi team were actually quite endearing; they didn't shift the blame after losing, and they were even joking around with each other.]

Hopefully, Wayi can adjust their strategy and qualify together!

Well done, HWG! They won the game and won hearts and minds.

[Friendly reminder: In the final wave, E, who had a perfect score with zero deaths, intentionally gave away his own kill.]

【Okay, okay, now that you mention it, I suddenly remembered that in the pre-match stats, E's KDA was terrible once. Could it be that he gave away the win like that?】

[HWG will never shut out a team? (laughs)]

The event organizers' backstage area, the control room.

Several screens were arranged on the monitor wall—the main stage, the players' seats, the commentators' seats, and camera positions at different angles.

On the largest screen in the middle, a video is playing showing the five members of HWG shaking hands with each of the Huayi Spider members.

There was a two-second silence in the control room.

"What is HWG doing?" someone asked.

No one answered.

It's not that I don't know the answer, it's that I haven't figured out how to define the scene before me.

There was no post-match handshake event scheduled by the organizers; it was not included in the event schedule or the player instructions.

From the perspective of the competition format, these five young people did something that was not planned.

But from another perspective—

"This is good."

A voice came from the back of the control room.

Everyone turned around.

The head of operations for the LPL league stood at the door, beaming with smiles.

"Who arranged this in advance?" he asked.

No one responded.

"That's what the player himself thought."

The operations manager took two steps forward, leaned closer to the monitor, and looked at it for a while. "Cut the camera closer and give us a close-up of the handshake."

"Take a screenshot," the operations manager continued, "and post it on the official account."

What kind of copy should we use?

He thought for two seconds: "Beyond competition, there is also respect. Victory without arrogance, defeat without discouragement—that's the LPL."

"League of Legends eSports Professional Tournament!"

……

Meanwhile, in the conference room of the 2013 Shanghai New Economy E-sports All-Star Event, also watching the match.

Lin Shu was unaware that his attention-grabbing post-match handshake arrangement had actually caught the attention of the event's promotion team.

"They did this spontaneously?" The event organizer looked at the screen, a hint of surprise in his voice. "I thought it was a special opening program you arranged."

"No," another colleague shook his head. "I haven't arranged anything here."

"Those kids are quite well-behaved."

"sensible?"

The oldest person in the conference room, who also came from traditional sports events, pushed up his glasses and said, "This isn't called being sensible; this is called professionalism."

"I've been in the sports industry for twenty years and I've seen countless people roll their eyes and walk away after losing a game, and then act arrogantly after winning. This kind of initiative to go over and shake hands with the opponent is a plus, not just for esports players who are mostly teenagers, but for anyone."

"So? Should we give him a compliment?"

"What are you praising?"

The consultant smiled and said, "This kind of thing shouldn't be praised, otherwise it will lose its meaning."

Are you suggesting that you issue an official title or something like a "Spiritual Civilization Award"? That would likely backfire.

What is the best way?

From then on, the post-match handshake became a fixed part of every game.

Let everyone know that this isn't HWG's exclusive right; it's the LPL, it's a tradition of our esports.

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

"...Okay, I'll write it down. I'll add this to the player handbook after LPL enters the main tournament."

"Get it done quickly."

"The only concern the authorities have about promoting the event is that esports has a very negative image in the minds of Chinese people."

He didn't use the word "terrible," but everyone understood what he meant.

Yes, esports.

What did these three words mean in China in 2013?

It means "playing video games".

It means "not doing one's proper job".

This means the parents' threat, "If you play video games again, I'll send you to electrotherapy."

This means that headlines like "Internet-addicted teenager dies suddenly in internet cafe" appear in newspapers every now and then.

This means that most people's understanding of this industry is still limited to "a group of ignorant young people sitting in front of computers all day long".

The event team has done countless promotions and invested countless resources during this period, but they still can't get around this hurdle.

That makes sense when you think about it. If a parent turns on the TV and sees players either competing or smashing keyboards, how could they possibly support their child going on to play professionally?

How could I possibly feel comfortable letting my child watch this competition?

Seeing everyone deep in thought, the advisor smiled.

"We're lucky. We've just started testing the waters, and this young guy has already emerged—a top-ranked player in the national server with exceptional skill. Crucially, he also has a strong sense of sportsmanship. This is definitely a breakthrough for promoting the tournament!"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's be bold, we can definitely set it as a benchmark for the competition."

The LPL, or rather the entire domestic esports scene, is still in its infancy, a makeshift operation, and nothing is yet finalized.

Let alone the fact that the audience's perception of "e-sports players" still wavers between "internet addicts" and "people who are good at games".

So, what is their understanding of the culture of this event?

I don't know either.

What is the spirit of this competition area?

It is also undefined.

At this moment, someone suddenly stepped forward and demonstrated: the winner shook hands, and the loser accepted the outcome.

Isn't this the most basic form of sportsmanship?

As the event organizers, they can certainly use this to their advantage.