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

Lin Shu was having a great time, casually playing ranked games on the Chinese server and occasionally streaming to entertain others. He also posted a couple of close-up photos of the training room on Weibo to build up his fanbase for HWG's opening match.

Little did people know that the outside world had already been buzzing with discussion over the past two days about the official LPL opening match's outrageous arrangements.

On one side is the team with the most fans across the entire network, and on the other side is the individual with the most fans across the entire server, plus the current strongest player in the rankings.

The matchups were so intense that describing it as a clash between Mars and Earth wouldn't be an exaggeration.

From Duowan forums to Tieba, from Weibo to QQ Space, hundreds of millions of players are going crazy with their energy.

The discussion reached tens of millions of views, even drawing in people who usually only watch the NBA and browse trending topics.

Fourth on Weibo's trending topics!

#LPL Opening Match: World Champions WE vs. Dark Horse HWG, Who Do You Think Will Win?#

The comments under the LPL league's official Weibo account, specifically the match schedule updates, exceeded 10,000.

[Wow, this schedule is amazing! I can only say the planners are geniuses; they're really squeezing every last drop of traffic out of the audience.]

[The group with the most fans in the Chinese server versus the individual with the most fans – the buzz is off the charts! The official team clearly understands how to generate buzz.]

[Seriously, LPL officials, are your operations and venue management people not the same group? You made such a big fuss, and then you tell me you're only selling 500 tickets? 500?? Who are you looking down on?]

[Five hundred? I suggest adding a zero. If not, brothers, charge into headquarters!]

[Subscribed, eagerly awaiting the start of the competition; snacks, peanuts, and bottled water are ready.]

[Who's more likely to win? WE just won the world championship, dominated IPL5, and have more professional experience. I think WE has a higher probability of winning.]

On the contrary, I think HWG has a better chance of winning. E's individual skill is undeniable; he can easily dominate the mid lane. Everyone has witnessed the performance of the top and jungle duo in duo queue on the Chinese server. WE's only win was against their bot laner, WeiXiao. And right now, the popular mid lane champions are all assassins; how can an AD carry carry?

Indeed, in those few matches during the qualifiers, HWG's strength was a bit too much; they played against everyone like they were playing against bots.

[The key is whether Ruofeng can hold on. If the mid lane holds, and the game drags into the mid-to-late game team fights, WE's experience and teamwork will be formidable.]

[Hold on? You're telling me how Ruofeng can hold on? He was sweating buckets against Zz1tai in the IPL5 semifinals, and now he's facing E, who can farm Zz1tai like a cannon minion. If Ruofeng doesn't give up first blood in five minutes in the mid lane, that's a success, really.]

[What kind of people are upstairs? WE will definitely win! We, WE, are the number one team in the universe, no arguments allowed!]

[Here they come! The classic cosmic team, though late, has arrived.]

Isn't that right? WE has had a winning streak of over ten matches in tournaments big and small since IPL5, without losing a single game. A rookie team that was just formed can be easily defeated with a couple of kicks. I really don't know what they're bragging about.

[Still calling him "E-God"? Our WE players are busy scrimming every day and don't have time to mess around with you, which is why you can dominate in casual games. Once you get to professional matches, you'll know what real intensity and grueling training are.]

[He's just a nobody streamer, what champion is he? He's probably never even touched a trophy.]

Come on, ladies, let's get moving and buy all the tickets! Let him experience what it's like to be at WE's home ground!

[Holy crap, I really can't tell if the person upstairs is a die-hard WE fan or a troll. How can you say something like that?]

[Stop bringing trouble to WE, okay...? Even ignoring the fact that Emperor has topped the ranked ladder for over 100 days, just the fact that he freely uploads tutorial videos teaching everyone hero skills and game understanding is enough for us to criticize him. I really don't know what some people are thinking.]

[When it comes to die-hard fans, 60E is still the authority, you can't argue with that.]

Why bother with them? Guys, HWG's official Weibo account is having an event. If you're a fan of E-God, go help retweet and share it. There's a chance to win free prizes, I heard there are autographed photos and custom keycaps.

The online public opinion is snowballing, getting bigger and bigger, and the arguments are getting fiercer and fiercer.

Strangely, neither the two clubs involved, WE and HWG, nor other teams in the esports scene seemed to have agreed to remain silent about this opening match.

In this crazy and bizarre atmosphere, the calendar pages turned one by one, finally reaching the first day of the 2013 League of Legends Pro League.

2013 3 Month 16 Day.

On the day of the opening match.

The crowds outside the Taicang venue arrived earlier than anyone expected.

More than an hour before ticket check-in, a long, crooked queue had already formed at the entrance.

The most eye-catching thing in the crowd was a sea of ​​red. WE's red team jerseys were everywhere, with the words "TEAM-WE" printed on the front and the player IDs on the back.

Of course, most of them are male and female college students dressed in everyday outfits such as hoodies, jeans, and sneakers.

To the left of the venue's main entrance, two folding tables were pushed together, covered with a black cloth. Several stacks of stickers, banners, and small plastic badges were neatly arranged on the cloth. Behind the tables stood two girls, wearing HWG badges on their chests, engrossed in unpacking newly delivered boxes of supplies.

"Come help me." The girl with the ponytail pulled out a hollow plastic stick and held it up to the light to pull the poster, which was rolled into a tube. "Do you think this poster is a bit short? I feel like it's crooked."

Another short-haired girl leaned over and squinted at it: "It's not crooked. It was like this when we took it out of the club. Hurry up and fix it, then help me hand it out. We'll be too busy when there are a lot of people later."

The two were part-time jobs that Xia Xun recruited from a local university group. They were paid 20 yuan an hour and a boxed lunch was provided.

The task was simple: distribute support items to HWG fans or casual viewers who wanted to show their support before the show started.

Just as the two of them set up the display stand, a group of ticket holders strolled over.

The first to walk over were two boys wearing WE team jerseys, with WE team logo stickers on their right cheeks.

One of them glanced at the things on the table and slowed down.

"HWG's support?" He tilted his head and looked at the words on the banner—"HWG, charging forward, becoming the sharpest in the world..."

"Yes, it's free. Any HWG fan can take one if they like." The girl with the ponytail smiled and handed the banner forward.

Upon noticing the WE logo on the other person's clothing, he added:

"Of course, if not, you can follow our team's official Weibo account now, or post a message on QQ Space to support HWG's first match."

The boy paused for a moment, then waved his hand, "Never mind, I'm a WE fan, it would be weird to take it."

After saying that, he pulled his companion away, but after taking a couple of steps, he looked back at the badges on the table, as if wondering whether he should take one back as a souvenir.

"This badge is actually quite nice," he muttered.

"I've been a WE fan for two years and I don't even have that much..."